Christmas comes to Annapolis | Annapolis, Maryland music photographer

I’d like to take a moment and give a shout out to Annapolis Musicians For Musicians (AMFM). AMFM is a local non-profit that is a supporter of professional musicians in Annapolis. If for some reason an artist cannot work due to illness or other event, AMFM is there to help financially. This week Rams Head On Stage hosted AMFM’s yearly Christmas show, a two day event showcasing local musicians performing Christmas songs. I volunteered to photograph the second night, and am so glad that I did! I have not had the opportunity to make it to one of these shows in all the years that I’ve been living here…what a disgrace! It was a very fun night and I suggest that you plan ahead for next year’s shows since tickets go fast! Here is a selection of photos from the night.

click here to visit their website to purchase a live CD from past events or to make a donation

Nothing like American food to warm the soul.

These past two weeks have been nothing short of amazing. I never thought I’d be saying that three weeks ago when my main squeeze Ruben left for a mini tour of the UK with his Delta Blues duo “Swampcandy“. I thought him leaving was going to be so sad and I’d be so bored without him. Now, don’t get me wrong, I missed the heck out of him, but I took those two weeks and put myself to the test and devoured as much personal time as I could get. I dove into a great book “A Million Miles In a Thousand Years” by Donald Miller. This was the perfect book to ignite someone who is feeling a bit ho-hum in there life…which I was. It’s all about creating YOUR story and moments in your life that you can look back on and be happy about. Creating the stories that we want to tell instead of sitting back and listening to everyone around us and living through them. I thought to myself, how perfect is this that I am reading this book at this very moment. Ruben was out creating his own amazing story as he toured through England and Wales impressing the Brits with his hard-hitting blues. What was I going to do? After I returned from my mini vacation to Colorado, I started diving into all kinds of information to get my juices flowing. First, I started planning how I could save enough money to go on an amazing workshop in India this winter to learn about non-profit and NGO photography…something that I’ve wanted to do and be amazing at since I was a teenager. Then, I started watching an online workshop with the amazing wedding photographer Jasmine Starr. I started to realize that what I’ve been doing with my photography is just touching the surface of where I want to be and where I need to be. So, I started looking ahead and planning out the next few months. I am so excited about my ideas and where I see myself headed. I have two more weddings this season that I am shooting by myself (one in Philadelphia and one in Mexico) as well as about 5 more weddings that I am second shooter on (one is at the Newseum in DC!).
I am going to push myself like never before and really start to wow people with my style and my vision. Next up…India.

On Friday afternoon as I waited for Ruben to get through customs and make his way out of the gate to where I was waiting along with at least a hundred other people, I started looking around and noticing how awesome it was to be standing where I was standing. Everyone here was anxious and giddy with excitement that their loved one was just on the other side of that wall and at any moment they would walk around the corner and be reunited. I saw so many beautiful reunions that day which made me even more anxious for my turn. When he and his bass player Joey finally came around the corner looking pretty tired from the long two weeks they had (11 gigs in 15 days and sleeping on floors of kind people around the UK) I jumped up and ran right over to him and planted a huge kiss on his face. Yes! It was my turn and I got to have my buddy back by my side.

I asked him what he wanted to do when we got home, did he want to sleep, get a shower, go out to dinner, go downtown and see friends…what did he reply? I just want barbeque. Yes, a true American bluesmen he is…that man loves his barbeque. But then, after sitting in traffic for a long time during DC rush hour, we started thinking good ol’ Maryland crabs was the remedy and a wonderful welcome home. We finally made it home, dropped off his bags and headed down to Cantler’s (a local favorite for the hard shells) where our roommate joined us in quite a feast of crabs, beers, cream of crab soup and of course hushpuppies. We crashed by 8:30 that night.

The next morning I was awoken at 5:30am by Ruben asking if I wanted to go watch the sunrise. At first I shook my head NO and rolled over ( I am not a morning person)…but then I remembered the book I had just finished about creating a good story and I thought, why the heck would I not want to go see the sunrise with my best friend on his first morning back? So I rolled back over and said “OK, let’s do this!” He wanted to drive so that he could get back into the habit of driving on the right side of the road and we both agreed that now was probably a good time because nobody was out on the road at this hour on a Saturday. We made it down to the Bay Ridge community in Annapolis just in time and watched as the giant ball of glowing orange rose out of the Chesapeake Bay. I never get bored with watching the sun rise or set for that matter. The coolness of the air and the calmness of the world around us at that very moment was perfect. Everything was as it should be. No sooner did that moment happen and Ruben yells out “Bacon!” “Let’s go get breakfast at Grumps…I need Bacon…the ‘bacon’ in the UK was awful” So, we headed over to Grumps and chowed down on a good American breakfast.

The next day I was met with the same enthusiastic early riser. At 6am I hear “let’s go for a bike ride down to Sandy Point State Park” Ok, I thought, here we go again. We rode down to the Western Shore of the Bay and just missed sunrise, but we did see a lot of beautiful deer running around and grazing in the woods and fields throughout the park. We sat on a park bench and breathed in the fresh morning air, laughed at some pretty awful poetry that we found on one of the picnic tables and then rode back home to make the most amazing breakfast (Ruben is the best breakfast maker in my book) of potatoes, poached eggs with leftover crabmeat from the night before and of course bacon.

Today, we planned to get up once again by sunrise. This time we planned on taking the canoe down to Cape St. Claire to do an early morning paddle. This morning was a bit tougher than the rest as I could not wake up…and then managed to drop the canoe on my foot as we hoisted it onto the roof of my car. Regardless, we made it and this time I actually brought my camera and was delighted when I got to snap off a bunch of frames of a Blue Heron as we followed him around the Little Magothy River in the early morning light. I decided the last two mornings were just for he and I to enjoy and I didn’t need to be distracted by my camera for once. Some moments just need to stay in your mind so that you can share the story with others. At the end of our little journey today, I stopped into Graul’s market to pick up a few essentials for the week. What did Ruben decide was essential for the week….you guessed it, a giant rack of ribs. I guess he truly is a bluesmen through and through.

Here are some shots from this morning on the Little Magothy River as well as some shots I took tonight of Swampcandy (aka: Ruben Dobbs and Joey Mitchell) on their return from the UK.

I love my little town | Annapolis, Maryland Photographer

July 3-12th:

This past week has been pretty awesome, had some nice time off and got to spend some good quality time with my friends and loved ones. I’ve gone biking, boating, ate some amazing food, listened to fabulous music, and finally got out to start shooting some personal projects of my own. l don’t have alot more to say about this week, so I’m going to talk about four businesses that I support and am currently involved with. I think everyone needs to know about them.

1: Crystalooney’s Creative Arts: A few years ago when worked for The Capital Newspaper in Annapolis and was out looking for some nice “wild art” I stepped into B.B. Bistro in West Annapolis and saw this energetic Aussie entertaining kids during one of her afternoon programs where she read stories and painted faces for the kids. I took a few photos and moved on my way, but Christalene also was in my memory…what a fun person I thought. Fast forward a year and I officially met Christalene at a birthday party that I was hired to photograph…we talked about our businesses and then went our separate ways once again. Then some time later, we met again at another event and the little cogs in our brains started turning…we were at the same events doing our thing time and time again…why not begin to collaborate and do some of these gigs as a team. About 6 months ago we did our first birthday party together for a mutual friend’s kiddo. It was a blast, I documented the party and she painted all the kids faces, had a story time and gave the birthday girl a little princess makeover. The album I made for the family was awesome and something they will have for years and years to remember when their little one was just 4 years old.

I’ve continued to work with her photographing a couple body painting demonstrations, which I was blown away by, she can transform someone into the most amazing body of art! A few weeks ago I photographed a belly henna that she did for an expecting mother. Photographing the human body form is always a beautiful experience for me, but seeing a gorgeous pregnant belly with an intricate henna design on it made it even more wonderful.

When I photograph her artwork, I become more inspired and I am pushed to new limits. I encourage you all to check out her work and consider hiring her for your child’s next birthday party, friend’s bridal shower, or give a gift of a belly henna at your next baby shower. Henna and face painting is not just for kids…it’s a fun way to express yourself, even if it’s just for one day. www.crystalooneys.com

2: Already Artists: I’ve been working at this awesome little art studio on Maryland Avenue for just about three years. Again, it’s thanks to my time at The Capital newspaper that I even found this place. I was sent on an assignment over 5 years ago to photograph at the studio and as soon as I walked and saw all these little artists learning and doing such advanced artwork, I was hooked. When the time was right, I talked to Stacey (the owner) about working with her and I soon started. I just love this place, from teaching the kids everything from the most successful artists in history such as Monet and Van Gogh, to learning about our contemporary street/outsider artists that do graffiti in the streets of their towns, the kids really do get a well rounded art experience. We work with all kinds of fun materials too. We’ve been know to even use trash as a medium…and wow the people who walk by our little window on Maryland Ave. each week. So, if you have kids under the age of 13, check it out…we’d love to have you join our fall classes! www.alreadyartists.com

3: 49 West Coffeehouse and Winebar: I’ve been hanging out and frequenting this place for quite some time now, so it was inevitable that when I realized it would be nice to make a little extra money to buy some more equipment (because a photographer always is looking to buy some new equipment), I chose 49 West as my place for secondary employment. It’s an awesome place, I can’t say enough good about it. The food rocks (I recommend the salmon bagel for breakfast & the chicken salad or one of their ever changing specials for lunch), the people are great, and they are great supporters of the local businesses (they serve Cafe Pronto coffee…a local favorite)…Being a regular there is like being part of a little family, I guess you could say it’s my <a href="“>Cheers…where everyone knows my name. The best part is the back room where some very talented musicians play on a nightly schedule. This is my favorite place in Annapolis for live music. Nowhere else in this city can you get such an intimate show without spending a ton (unlike the place I won’t mention just a few doors down). The wine and dessert selection is always a nice treat at the end of long day and they have my favorite beer (Guinness) so I can’t complain one bit. If you’ve never checked out this place, mosey on down and see a show and have some lunch or dinner…it’s the place to be!

4: The Annapolis Sound: I recently started working with/contributing to the area’s newest media group, The Annapolis Sound. I am so excited about this opportunity because I really respect what it is that they are doing as a media group in today’s crazy fast paced world with news exploding all around you. They are taking Annapolis and really showing the different angles that this city has…not just sailing and crab cakes, they are digging a bit deeper and telling good stories about our area. Unlike the local paper, which is good for it’s own reasons, The Sound has the time to really sit with a story (without the demanding deadlines that the daily paper has). They focus on interesting topics and cover them in an interesting way, such as multimedia, staff roundtable discussions (podcasts), and photo essays. It’s nice to read about your town and peel away the layers to see what’s really going on around you. My favorite segment that they do is called “Six Degrees of Sound”
where they interview a local person asking them six questions about their life, with on of the questions being, “who or what do you want to know more about?” It’s very interesting to see what the average person in this area is interested in, and a lot of time, it’s something I want to know about to. Enough about The Sound….go read it for yourself and check out some of my photos while you are there!

Let the music move you | Annapolis, MD music photographer

June 15-24th:

I was trying to keep up and do a blog post at the beginning of each week…BUT we had some house guests for a week and I got a bit distracted…in a good way. So to lead off this post of my top five for the “week”…

1. American Visionary Arts Museum in Baltimore: How on earth have I lived in Annapolis for nine years and NEVER have visited the AVAM?? This is exactly my kind of museum. People kept telling me that I had to visit and when I was looking at a day last week with no jobs and a little bit of free time and a boyfriend’s mother in town with no plans for the day…I thought “carpe diem!”

I was immediately amazed as we walked up and saw the giant whirling sculpture swinging above the mirror covered main building. It’s awesome to think of the person that created the piece…so whimsical and unique. We were starving, so we went to the rooftop cafe called Mr. Rain’s Funhouse. I’ve been here once before for a friend’s body painting demo so I already knew how cool this place was and how yummy their food was…we were not disappointed. I had an amazing Kobe beef hot dog with chili and a side of their oh so good french fries…needless to say, I wasn’t watching what I ate that day 🙂

We then headed down the stairs to the second floor where we checked out the main exhibit space…so much cool stuff to talk about, but one artist that I loved was a man who took old pieces of weathered wood and wrote bible verses, quotes, thoughts and warnings on them. These signs that he created were displayed on his property (which I believe was in the midwest in the 30’s…I can’t find any info on him online and am going from memory after reading his bio over a week ago). The locals did not like his opinionated artwork displayed in his yard, yet he continued to speak his mind and exercise his freedom…something that I can respect. Plus, I a nut about fonts and lettering, and his printing/lettering is just awesome!

I also enjoyed the handful of postcards from the Post Secret project this one below was one of my favorites. If you’ve never heard of Post Secret….GO CHECK IT OUT!

I could go on and on and on about the AVAM, but I have other things to talk about for the week 🙂

2. I adore music. I adore really good old traditional american roots music. I adore my boyfriend. I adore 49 West in Annapolis as a great venue for an intimate music showcase. Now that you understand that…you can imagine that I had a wonderful time last Friday night when all of those things came together.

My main squeeze, Ruben Dobbs (Swampcandy) and Caleb Stine came together at 49 West for an amazing showcase of music complete with killer guests, Gary & Leah and Alfonso (from NYC).

The night started out with Swampcandy bringing us the down and dirty delta blues. He makes you feel like you are transported to another time…stompin’ your foot clapping to the raw sounds. Then Caleb gave us a taste of his story telling, soul baring songs that pull you in take you on yet another journey. During their set break, Alfonso, who was traveling through town from NYC, played a few of his originals that the audience quickly became entranced by.
Swampcandy & Caleb Stine then did another solo set each and guests Gary (piano, banjo) and Leah (fiddle and guitar) sat in for a few to round out the set. I am not a music writer/critic by any means…so all I can say is check these guys out!

I was completely blown away by the talent that came together that night and am still smiling. The best part of the whole night was after most of the audience went home and the speakers and moniters packed away, the instrument and musicians remained and an impromptu jam session began. Round and round went the acoustic jam with each musician beginning a new song one after the other. From Townes Van Zandt to traditional Americana the songs kept coming until the close of the cafe.

view more images from the show at 49 West here.

3. New baby #1: I had the pleasure of photographing a very cute newborn last week. Newborn shoots are some of my favorite work I’ve been doing lately. Every one is different and warms my heart. I love seeing the new Mom’s (and Dad’s) bond with their newest addition. This little ones name was Campbell, a five week old cutie. She was so cooperative and precious the entire session and her parents were awesome as they watched over my shoulder as I captured her little feet and silly faces. Campbell’s grandmother was there visiting from NY and got to hop in the session for a few sweet shots of her holding her first grandbaby. Congrats! Enjoy your sweet little girl!

4. New baby #2: Then I drove up to Pennsylvania to visit my family. My sister and I made our way over to my cousin’s house in Lancaster to visit she and her husband and their newest addition, Wyatt. I have been waiting a few weeks to get my eyes on this little guy. His mom Carrie is my “little” cousin and the first to have a child in our family, so it’s a big deal. Growing up, Carrie, her brother Josh and I were the only people in the whole family to have red hair…some would call us lucky, others cursed. I couldn’t wait to see if Wyatt would be another redhead for our little clan…and he was! He has the most gorgeous auburn hair and big blue eyes. He looks just like his parents. It was a pure joy to spend some time with him and get to take his first “official” photographs. Carrie looked beautiful as she held him and Pat, her husband looked like a natural as he held him when he came home from work. They are going to be great parents and I can’t wait to watch little Wyatt grow up…but not too fast.

5. Belly painting by Crystalooney’s Creative Arts:
I’ve recently started working with Chrystalene, a body & face painter & henna artist on a few really cool gigs where she paints her client and then I do a photo session with them to seal the moment in time and preserve the beautiful artwork that she has created. We’ve done, a children’s birthday party, a few body paintings, and a henna piece on a clients back…this time was awesome though…she painting a belly of a woman 7 months pregnant and it was absolutely beautiful. I will let the photos speak for that…
It is always a pure pleasure to work with Chrystalene and she definitely pushes me to new creative heights! Thanks lady!
Looking forward to our next adventure!

New blog format… | Annapolis, MD photographer

So, I’ve been getting a bit lazy with my recent blog posts. I love all the families and kids that I photograph, but find that after a long shoot, and a long edit…I run out of steam. I’m going to try a new format…a weekly blog post that sums up my high points of the week, personal, professional and miscellaneous information that I find interesting that week as well as the photos that I like from the week. I’d love to hear your feedback good and bad in the next few weeks so that I can tweak my posts to make them interesting and fun to read on a weekly basis. So…here it goes!

Week of June 8-15th:
Top 5:

1. Swampcandy Rams Head gig: My main squeeze, Ruben Dobbs (aka: Swampcandy), is a musician who plays 1920’s/30’s style Delta Blues and singer-songwriter style songs that can’t quite be summed up by any one genre. He and his upright bass player, Joey Mitchell have had a regular gig playing the Rams Head Tavern rathskeller bar every Tuesday night from 10-1.
This duo makes you stomp, clap and move and you feel the dirty blues jump up right to your soul. I hear them ALOT and I am still not tired of this true roots music. You must check them out! Click here for a swampcandy schedule.

2. Family shoot in Kent Island: Liz wanted a family photo session with her two girls before she and her boyfriend moved to Australia (where she is from). It was a beautiful day on the Eastern Shore….except for the seaweed on the beach, the massive amounts of mosquitoes, the bright bright sun, the ants, and a bit of heat. All that aside, the shoot turned out great and I think I captured some nice photos for her to take with her to the land down under. Thanks guys for putting up with all the obstacles! I forgot how Maryland summers are along the water 🙂
We did find a nice little spot in Stevensville to go to for a different scene before they went off to have dinner at Rustico. Have a great move Liz and Ian!

3. Documentary project: I am obsessed with documentary photography & films and have missed doing documentary photography since I left The Capital Newspaper back in 2007 where I was a photojournalist for 3 years. While I try to shoot in this style as much as I can, I still want more. I’ve been throwing around a few ideas in the past months about what subject matter I wanted to tackle and document for a week, month, year, whatever it took and see where it led me. I’ve finally made the right connection with a local media goup called Annapolis Sound that will allow me to move forward on one of my ideas…very exciting! Stay tuned to the blog for updates on this project (which I will talk about more once we get the thing going).

4. Great motivation: I am constantly looking for inspiration all around me. We creative types can never be satisfied with what we are doing…we are always looking for the next thing…
I’m currently inspired by a great humanitarian photographer, David duChemin. I have big dreams of becoming a humanitarian photographer and the more I read, the closer I feel to getting there. Then, I read his recent blog post called ‘Begin’ and I realized that I need to stop reading and dreaming and get out there and kick some butt. So it is.

5. Housewarming: A bit late for a housewarming (we moved on New Year’s Eve) but with Ruben being a musician and me a crazy self employed photographer, we couldn’t get our schedules together to host a party. This past weekend, it happened…and it was good. Over 50 good friends and family members showed up, we had some awesome Maryland crabs from Wild County Seafood in Eastport, many friends joined in on a live music, session, & tons of food and drink were brought by our awesome friends. As the sun set, the tiki torches and fire pit were lit and the party continued. The live music moved from electric to acoustic and more food was thrown on the grill. I finally hit the pillow at 3am…what a day/night. It’s so nice to have such great friends and a great house to host a party at!