Month: February 2017

How We Met

Marbella contacted me a month or two ago about a couple’s portrait session in Duluth. We both picked February 4th as our date to shoot but a few weeks later, news broke. FALCONS ARE GOING TO THE SUPERBOWL and they’re playing on the planned shoot date. As time drew closer, I came so close to moving the shoot date to a different date. But then I remembered that Marbella and Mohammed were celebrating their 3 year anniversary. As a lifestyle photographer, you can’t change dates that are meaningful. You’re there to capture the authenticity of the day. I decided to go along with the game plan and I don’t regret it one bit.

Day of the Photoshoot

It was Super Bowl Sunday and I had a full day ahead of me. First off, I had a shoot with @freddybreeze early in the morning at McDaniel’s Farm Park. After that, my wife and I came home to prepare and eat lunch. Right after that, we had to rush to Wal-Mart to buy some supplies for church. Then we had to leave church early to make an order for wings at MJ Tacos for @toongyaang’s Super Bowl party, which I was going to be late to because I had to capture Marbella & Mohammed’s special day. I was feeling a little stressed out and once again wanted to ask if we could move the time to accommodate my schedule but I didn’t.

My wife and I finally met up with Marbella & Mohammed at the nearby park. When we arrived, we were surprised to see two couples: Marbella & Mohammed, and also Mohammed’s parents. This was the first time that I’ve ever met Marbella & Mohammed. The first thing that I noticed was that Mohammed’s mom had a hijab on and the father was wearing a suit. They seemed a little intimidating at first but eventually greeted me with the warmest handshake and hello. Well, I mentioned the hijab because Marbella is hispanic. I’ve heard stories of Muslim families giving a hard time to non-Muslim significant others. But this was not the case with this family.

Mohammed’s parents loved Marbella. I can tell by the way they smiled at her and gave her that look that showed her they adored her as their own daughter. It is really good to see that. In a country that is torn by racial problems, it is amazingly refreshing to see that love conquers all things. Love transcends skin color. Love transcends religion. Love transcends social class, language, and education. It was truly a blessing to witness this type of love.

A few things I learned from Super Bowl Sunday:

1. As a photographer, understand the why’s of your clients and make their priorities your’s.
2. Super Bowl Sunday is great but making your clients happy is better
3. Love Conquers All Things: race, religion, language, social class

If you want to see the entire photo set, can just click here.

How It Started

I received a phone call one morning at 7am. I was expecting an employer call that day but didn’t think they would call that early. “Hello,” I said in amy pretend awake voice.

“Hey, I saw you on instagram. Do you want to collab?” -@kittyconserve

That’s how it started. This company, Kitty Conserve, found me on IG and wanted to collaborate. Kitty Conserve is a t-shirt company that intends to sell shirts in order to help raise funds for the adoption of homeless and shelter cats. The CEO talked to me about the cause and said that he was a start-up. As a matter of fact, it just started. He needed photos to help with the marketing, branding, and website. We agreed on a few terms and I told him I would be able to shoot in a few weeks. I knew who I wanted to shoot with already. A few hours later, I texted @Shiiannes and asked if she would be up for a shoot. You can see the last photoshoot here.

Day of the Shoot at McDaniel Farms Park in Duluth, GA

So, I met with @kittyconserve at 4:30pm at a local park in Duluth, GA. @Shiiannes also met us there at McDaniel Farms Park. We walked about a half-mile until we reached the destination, which was a big open field. It was golden-hour, so the sun was just about right. The only problem was that the sun was hidden behind the trees. Other than that, everything else was perfect. As we were shooting, @kittyconserve asked me if he could invite over a friend to model a few more cat shirts. I was fine with that, but his model got lost and arrived as the sun was already half way down. We had to change locations to adjust to the light. Here were some of the results: