portrait photographer

Nov 20 2019

Ballerina In NYC Subway

Hello everyone!

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been wanting to do a ballet shoot.

I find ballerinas so beautiful and delicate and I just yearned to do a session.

I had this vision of what I wanted the session to be like and where.

I wanted to incorporate my love of nature and NYC to create a beautiful flow of elegance, boldness and art.

Our first stop was Central Park. I wanted something different, something that isn’t common when you think of ballet photo shoots. So we went deep into the park and found this cool rock.

Maya and her little sister Annika are both ballerinas. Sibling sessions are also one of my favorite sessions to do and this was the perfect opportunity. If you didn’t know by know, I’m a moody photographer. I’ve always being drawn to dark images. I find them artsy, mysterious and very appealing. I try to be consistent with my editing but sometimes I like trying different things. After the park we decided to go down to Lincoln Center. But while on the subway I just had to take a few shots on the train! These were definitely my favorites! Next stop was Lincoln Center. I was so disappointed the fountain was low. I was hoping to catch them in the background. But overall it was a fantastic session and one I’m very proud of.

I know there were some technical errors(like the cutting of the feet) but mom loved it and that’s what matters.

I’ll do much better next time 🙂

Aug 31 2019

Let’s Read!!!

It’s been a while since I wrote a blog post. I know, bad me, lol.

Today however, I wanted to share with you my latest session in hopes that it inspires you and your family.

As some of you might know, I have four kids. Ages range from 8 to 16, three girls and a boy. As it is with everyone, they all have very different personalities, likes, dislikes, etc. One thing they all agree on is reading.

Though not all love reading(only three of the four really love reading), they do enjoy going to the library. So I had been thinking for a while about doing a session in the library and finally got it done.

I took my camera with me and hoped for the best in terms of lighting, lol. This is part one of two since this time only my little ones were photographed.

I intend to do another one with my older ones but for that I want the old, big books to give it a more mature feel.

I hope you enjoy these and are inspire to go to your local library and get your kids reading.

She found this ballerina book and was so excited since she says she wants to be a ballerina 🙂

She’s the least book lover but she would read a series if it catches her attention.

Look at those faces 🙂

Next time you go to the library, try and take some photos of your little ones picking books. It’s a great way to get them excited to read.
See you next time 🙂

Feb 01 2019

Lady In Red

Since I found Sue Bryce, my creative side has always been in overdrive. I find myself constantly getting ideas for photoshoots. Whether with tulle, fabric, flowers, sometimes/almost always all three, I’m always trying to give my creativity life.

The hardest part is FINDING the right person that will help you make that vision come true and they believing such vision.

I had the enormous honor of working with Nicky after DMing each other a few times. By the time we actually met in person, it felt like we had been friends forever!

I told her about my idea of recreating this image by Sue Bryce and she was immediately on board.

View this post on Instagram

I AM WOMAN @profotousa B1 with soft beauty dish

A post shared by Sue Bryce (kiwi) (@suebrycephotographer) on Jul 21, 2018 at 6:13pm PDT

I had the dried roses and had bought the fabric to make the dress. All I needed was a beautiful model and she was it.

We got together and magic happened!
When I saw this in the back of camera and almost cried! Not only had I pulled off the dress but she looked like a goddess and everything I envisioned the image to be.

I took some with this golden dress but my jaw totally dropped when we changed into the tulle dress and recreated this image also by Sue Bryce

View this post on Instagram

Have a beautiful creative weekend. The beautiful @kaylamutterer hair|mkup @bri_oro

A post shared by Sue Bryce (kiwi) (@suebrycephotographer) on Aug 17, 2018 at 4:39pm PDT

Nicky was just perfect!

I couldn’t decide between the color or the b&w so I kept both

I have done many sessions that I love but I’ve never ever loved a session more than I did with Nicky.
She let me be as creative as I wanted, went along with my crazy ideas and the results were magical!

Don’t be afraid to do sessions just for you. Yes, it’s nice to have paying clients but sometimes doing something just for us is even more important.

It keeps our creativity and inspiration fresh; therefore burning out isn’t possible.

I hope you enjoy this post. Be sure to check both Nicky and Sue so you too can get inspired 🙂

Oct 29 2018

DIY girl’s dress

By now you might know that besides being a photographer, I’m also a crochet designer. For about five years I created crochet patterns of hats and newborn sets. I also sold Halloween costumes. My most popular to date were my Minion tutus. They became so popular that in just one year I sold about 5o for Halloween! It went on for two straight years and though it was profitable, it also became overwhelming and very, very tiring. So despite the success, I had to call it quits and just design regular patterns.

Eventually, I gave up crochet altogether and just do it for my own pleasure and leisure. My patterns are still available for sale here and here.

But right now my focus is photography and sewing.

Yep. Sewing. For the longest time I’ve been wanting to learn how to sew. I figured hey, I know how to knit and crochet; I want to learn how to sew as well. That would make it so much easier to come up with a wardrobe for my sessions.

So, for my birthday my husband bought me a sewing machine. Mind you, I’ve never taken sewing classes but I’m not one to just sit back and not try things just because I’ve never taken classes!

As a matter of fact, I’m self taught in everything I do: photography, knitting, crocheting and now sewing. YouTube is your friend!

When I first learn to knit and crochet, YouTube wasn’t around so I learned with books(it’s very hard to learn with books because they don’t explain step by step). So yeah, I learned the hard way, lol.

My thought was that sewing shouldn’t be hard. After all, I’m very good with visuals which is what helped me create my crochet designs. I was able to come up with a pattern just by looking at something. The hardest part was converting that into stitches and having someone read it, haha.

But it has paid off. My ability to visualize an idea and making it into a dress has been pretty easy. Of course, don’t expect the dresses to be perfectly lined, cut and sewn because they’re not. My dresses are purposely made as props for sessions but yes, you can wear them out.

They’re just not fancily sewn together and designer approved, lol. I’m not a seamstress nor do I claim to be. I’m simply a girl with a creative knack that wants to try new fun things and photograph them 😀

Since January, I’ve made these dresses and have loved every single one of them. The first image was my very first dress. It came out so beautiful! The next two have traveling around the U.S. and Canada. It has been so much fun seeing different photographers use the same dresses in so many different settings. But that’s a post for another day. This post is to share with you how I made this dress so you can make it yourself.

What you’ll need:

Pretty fabric approximately 3-4yrds

Fabric lining same amount

Elastic

Scissors

Pins

Measuring tape

Matching thread

Sewing needle

Sewing machine

The way I made this dress was by using about three yards for the bottom and about half a yard for the top. I lined both fabrics together and pinned them.

Once the fabrics were pinned together, I proceeded to sew them. I used the most basic stitch to sew two seams leaving space for the elastic. My trick is to leave the elastic ends unsewn and tie them instead. That way it fits multiple sizes 😉

The top is simply a tube top with elastic band on both top and bottom. Be sure to measure your subject’s torso and add a few more inches to make it bunch up.

The final results are just stunning! If you want to hide the crunched up waist, you can simply use some fabric to make a belt over it. It works both ways.
You can also use tulle and a crown to accessorize!

I used this tutorial for the crown. I simply just improvised with what I wanted the crown to look like.

And there you have it! A very simple way to make a dress without breaking the bank. I love for mine to be extra long but it’s your choice. I’m all about the savings so I hunted down a wholesale fabric store around my area and they have the cheapest prices. I’m in Philadelphia and the store’s name is Jomar textiles.

I’m sure that if you look around you might find something in your area. JoAnn’s fabrics is a bit pricey but if you can afford it, give it a go.

I hope you enjoyed this diy post and if you can share it with your photography/crafty friends, it’d be greatly appreciated 🙂

Until next time!