Life Through the Lens

I spent a little bit of time this morning thinking about what I wanted to center my day around and how I wanted to begin my 60-day yoga + artistic journey.

I’ve been very quick to get frustrated or irritated the last few days, which is just stressful on the mind and body and totally unnecessary, and NOT who I want to be. Patience is something I’m really great with at times, and really bad with on other occasions. This 60-day journey is going to require a LOT of patience. My quest for better health requires me to trust the process. As does trying to successfully conceive and give birth to a (second) child. Paying off student loans requires a ton of patience. And trying to learn how to run and grow a (successful) photography business sometimes requires more patience than I can stand. I can occasionally get impatient when it takes me more than 15 minutes to get Max down for a nap or bedtime or when bug bites keep showing up on Max and I can’t find the source fast enough.

But why?

I find myself in a hurry more and more these days, and I just want to slow down and remember to enjoy every second of life. My good friend Bridgett just got back from going to Nepal with her family not too long ago, and she took a picture of a sign during her trip with this quote on it:

“It doesn’t matter where you go; it doesn’t matter what you do. The focus needs to be on this existence. The focus needs to be on the gift you have been given. Then, and only Then, peace will come in your life. Before that, you will only have quiet moments. Not peace.”

Perfect. Beautiful. And worth exploring and applying, in part, to my quest for patience today (and always).

As I started the day, I thought, “this is a piece of cake!” I’ll take the back way to yoga class instead of the toll road. Easy. I’ll set my cruise control at or under the speed limit, because I’m not in a hurry. Easy. I’ll take a deep breath when someone cuts me off in their car. Done. Arrived at Yoga Yoga, and took our time getting out of the car. I usually rush because I don’t want Max to get cranky just sitting there. Today, nice and slow and easy. Once class began, it was another story.

It’s Wednesday, so I also thought that patience would be a good start because on Wednesday’s I usually take Max to Sarah’s crawlers & toddlers yoga class… and boy does that require patience when I have a toddler who has no very little patience these days.

I dearly miss Bridgett bringing her sweet daughter Satya to these classes (they’ve embarked on their own journeys, but are thankfully still nearby here in Texas!). They have such a calming and patient presence about them. I felt like that just by being in their company, Max and I were already in better spirits and able to patiently handle any challenges that presented themselves during class (i.e., learning the art of sharing, the strong desire for another toddler’s snacks, etc.). I find myself constantly inspired by Bridgett and her family, and hope to use that inspiration as part of my 60-day journey.

A photo I took of Satya and Bridgett in March 2011

Sharing was an issue for Max today in class, and I felt that I did all I could to help teach him… But today I so had that kid. For example, the kid who threw tantrums when he couldn’t have a toy that someone else was playing with. You know that kid. I felt so bad for him because I just wasn’t able to ease his mind and show him that it’s a good thing to share and take turns.  And of course, this wore my own patience thin. Deeeeep breath. The second class ended, I bolted like the building was on fire. My patience was next to nothing, and I just plain felt embarrassed by Max’s behavior. Of course he screamed as I put him in his car seat, and then of course was perfectly happy on the way home.

I got a total of maybe 5 or 10 minutes of actual yoga practice in today. A bit of a rough start to my journey. And when my patience wears thin, I get exhausted. When I’m exhausted, my creativity is squashed.

But I intend to turn this day around. Learn from my impatience. Appreciate the fact that I got to do any yoga at all and was able to stay centered and focused for that short period of time. Max and I had a quiet and enjoyable lunch at home together. And now he’s happily napping. I’m sitting and breathing and writing. And drinking iced tea because it’s sooo hot outside. I can’t wait for cooler weather! WAIT. Patience. Rather, I will ENJOY summer while it’s here and all it has to offer, and be grateful for each day I am given. Why be impatient and let life pass you by?

What does patience mean to you? What does it look like? What makes you impatient? Why? How do you deal with it and learn from it?

I just took the photo below as yet another symbol of (im)patience in my life. I’m currently not a very good gardener, so keeping flowers and plants alive around our house is a test of my patience. I’m trying to patiently learn how to do this better! We’re getting there… At least there are more live blooms than dead ones…

I haven’t felt like “myself” the last few days. Whatever that means. So much happens on a day-to-day basis, that I feel like I am a constantly evolving being, trying to find my path, my purpose, in the world.

My husband picked up Oneness With All Life by Eckhart Tolle a few days ago, inspired to do so by one of his favorite artists Stephen Silver, and then read me this quote: “The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but you’re thoughts about it.” Those words really resonated with me and have me really trying to figure out how it applies to my life.

So I’ve decided to start my own personal 60-day yoga and artistic journey. What does that mean? Well, I sort of have no idea. That’s what it’s all about!

First, I’ve been an artist my whole life in one form or another, but mostly expressing myself through photography. So I want my creative side to be a part of this journey because it really is who I am. I want to share what inspires me and hopefully also share what I create during this time.

However, the main focus of this journey will be my yoga practice. It all started in 2007 when I set out to reclaim my health (from grad school… another story), at which time I found yoga. Then in 2009 I dove deeper into my practice when I became pregnant with my son, Maximilian. Sarah E. at Yoga Yoga changed my life. She took me on a very different type of yoga journey throughout my pregnancy, and then in postnatal yoga classes when Max was just an infant, and now through ‘crawlers and toddlers’ yoga classes. I am forever grateful for what Sarah did for my body as well as my spiritual side. Then, earlier this year I found Mary’s Vinyasa class on Saturday mornings (also at Yoga Yoga). Another huge life-changer! So much so that I have gained an interest in training to become a yoga teacher myself! More on that another day. Yoga seems to have slipped it’s way into my life, making me a better person along the way.

So, why am I embarking on this journey? I’ve tried Yoga Yoga’s 40-Day Challenge twice now, only making it about half way through each time. Then, something unexpected happens in my life that throws my focus in another direction, derailing the challenge for me. Which is part of why I decided to call this a “journey” instead of a “challenge.” Journey feels more appropriate.

In the next 60-days, I hope to focus on one thing each day that is important to me or has changed my life in a profound way… one thing that contributes to who I am as a person. Part of the difficulty each day will be narrowing it down to just one thing to center my day around. One thing to dedicate my yoga practice to (…and aiming to have a daily yoga practice is a journey in itself!). One thing to inspire my creativity. And hopefully one thing that I can write about and share with you all.

I do feel that my intention with this journey will evolve over the next 60-days, so I want to keep it as organic and loose as possible. And I welcome any and all participants who want to join me! Or even if you just want to send along your encouragement, or responses and reactions.

My husband and I have done a lot these days to try to “live greener.” For example, recycle more, waste less, take reusable bags to the store, don’t put our produce in those plastic bags at the grocery store (on a side note, check out this new, first of it’s kind, zero waste grocery store opening soon here in Austin… inspiring!), install energy efficient light bulbs, hubby takes the light rail downtown to work and back, etc.  The list could go on. But how exactly can one become a greener photographer?

First and probably most obvious, I now shoot digital instead of film.  Luckily, I was still fairly young when our industry began to transition from film to digital (which is awesome, because those of you who used dark rooms probably remember all of the chemicals involved in processing film!), so I didn’t already have a 20+ year career of shooting film before I made the switch! Now I just use the same couple of memory cards over and over, and then back up my sessions to my hard drive when I’m finished. But what happens to your digital equipment when you’re ready to upgrade or it just decides to move on to greener pastures? You can donate your equipment to a variety of great causes or take it somewhere that recycles electronics (and sometimes gives you a gift card in return, depending on the store!).

Next, something I decided to try recently, and have had great success with, is sending my clients their high-resolution digital photos in a compressed .zip file instead of mailing them a DVD.  I signed up for YouSendIt for $49/year, which allows me to send up to 2GB worth of files every month.  I’m totally stoked about this because not only will it probably save me money in the long run, but now I don’t have to waste an envelope, postage, and a DVD, not to mention allll of the resources and energy used to actually ship that to my client (and the gas used to take it to the post office to begin with!). And as an added bonus, my clients now receive their photos much faster!

In addition, I upload my clients’ photos to Pictage once their session is complete, which allows them to quickly view their photos, make folders with their favorites, and share the link with their friends and family… all digitally!  Friends and family can even order digital copies of their favorite photos if that’s what they’re into!  I do, however, love Pictage because of the high quality paper and ink they use to make prints, something only professional printers have access to, so it’s awesome that my clients have direct access to this invaluable resource without me even having to hand them their photos on a disc (and they also reduce their own carbon footprint by not taking their digital photos to their local superstore or pharmacy for prints… which they’d later have to go pick up and use even more resources!).

Something else I take great pride in, is getting outside and really taking advantage of Mother Nature (and the awesome city of Austin, TX!) to do my photo shoots.  As of now, I don’t have my own studio, because I prefer to shoot on-location and using natural light (which also helps cut down on the sometimes massive amounts of studio props, backdrops, and lighting equipment needed to run a studio portrait business).  However, when we build a house from the ground up in the next several years, I’m going to draw into those plans a studio where I can meet with clients and even take some photos on days when the weather isn’t working to our advantage (we do have really hot Austin summers, and despite popular belief, it gets pretty darn cold in the winter, too!), or maybe when I want to do a newborn photo session but without having to expose the wee one to the elements just yet. When this studio is built, I’m going to make an effort to build it as sustainably as possible, using green materials (think bamboo floors, energy efficient windows, and no-VOC paint!) and lots of windows to still be able to take advantage of natural light with my photography! And since my studio will be on-site to my home, I won’t have to waste resources commuting to it, and I’ll have greater control of just how “green” it is!

A few other things I’m doing in an effort toward becoming a greener photographer includes things such as: using my iPhone for directions to shoot locations (instead of printing them out at home as I used to); encouraging my clients to return their completed contracts to me digitally (instead of printing and mailing them or bringing it to their session); using rechargeable batteries for both my camera body and flash unit (then recycle them once they’ve lived their life); and bringing along my pink Klean Kanteen to stay hydrated during my shoots (rather than wasting tons of plastic water bottles).

Do you have any additional ideas on ways to become an even greener photographer?

If you’re still not convinced that green is the way to go, look at this precious little angel (that I had the pleasure to photograph yesterday) and know that we all need to do our part to create a better world for the future of our children.

Paxton Keahey: 06.26.11

Paxton Keahey: 06.26.11

Words cannot describe how much my love for Max grows every second of every day.  He’s simply amazing in the most complex way possible.

Seriously, who knew a grocery store could be SO much fun!?  Since we live a few minutes north of Austin, TX, a couple of weeks ago my boys and I FINALLY headed downtown for our first visit to the flagship Whole Foods.  It’s  a . m . a . z . i . n . g.  The first thing I said to Jose when we walked in (after I managed to close my dropped jaw) was, “Do you think people would think I’m nuts if I busted out my camera?”  I’ve asked that question of myself one too many times, but whenever I do and I go ahead and start snapping away anyway, that’s when I get the coolest pictures.  So, I got out my Nikon and new 50mm lens, and started documenting our journey through this awesome tourist attraction.

How could you not want to eat healthier when produce like this is available?

Even Max was intrigued (and nearly brought down the whole display of red bell peppers while I tried to snag a good shot)…

One of my favorite parts about Whole Foods is that they have free healthy snacks for kids!  Of course, Max went straight for the bananas!

And ohhh the fresh seafood!  First question from the guy behind the counter for this picture was, “Did he smile for you?”

We picked up some fresh salmon for dinner!

And Max was still thoroughly enjoying his banana!

The store was fully stocked for New Year’s!

And boyyy are we suckers for bread!  Their bakery is heaven!

And ALL of the employees just adored Max… I can’t imagine why…   He was just all smiles for them.

Our other weak spot?  SWEETS!

Jose’s chosen cupcake:

My chosen cupcake:

And how could one choose between all of that amazing cheese???

You could definitely spend all day (or perhaps all week?) eating your way through the store…

Overall, it was quite a successful trip that we plan on making many more times in the future (and already did yesterday for hubby’s birthday… hehe)!

I literally spent the last 2 years or so trying to come up with a unique photography business name.  It felt almost as significant as trying to name your own child! Haha.. I’ve always just used the generic name, Ciceraro Photography… which is fine, but, it wasn’t really me.  And everyone does that… just uses their name as their business name.  Again, that’s fine for most people, but it wasn’t right for me.  It didn’t let anyone see who I am.

While I’ve been taking photos for the last 15 years or so, I really started diving into the business world of photography in 2009 when I was pregnant with my son, Max, and then even more so during his first year of life.  He has brought more motivation and inspiration to my life than anything I could ever imagine, so it was hard not to focus at least some of that energy on following my passion.

Around Max’s first birthday (Oct. 31, 2010!), my hubby and I really started working on my new website and trying to come up with a name that represented my work and myself.  He was concepting up some logos for me, and just put in this name without even consulting me first… and it was perfect.  Heavenly Peach Photography.  And the logo he created is so perfect and gorgeous.  The instant I saw it, I knew it was the one I wanted, and it embodied everything that I am and strive to be.  And, let me just tell you about my new website too, that hubby also created.  It’s STUNNING.  I am sooo in love with it!  (And on a side note, I have a new Facebook page as well that I’d love for you to check out and “Like”).

Where did the inspiration come from, you ask?  From Kung Fu Panda. Yup, that’s right… an animated flick.  Why?  Because that has been one of Max’s favorite movies from the start. Here is the proof (Jose and Max on his first birthday/2nd Halloween… in costume as Po himself; followed by proof of Max’s love for the movie):

And, check out this clip from the movie to see where we came up with the name:

I put a lot of heart and soul into my photography.  For me, taking photographs is the easy part… well, sort of.   I still get nervous when I’m about to do a shoot because I just always really hope the client will like the results.   The hard part of all of this is the business side of it.  It’s really hard to get a successful business up and running!  In a recent PPA article written by Kimberly Wylie, she notes, “Just because someone loves photography doesn’t mean he or she is ready to run a photography business.”  So true.  It took me a LONG time to get the point of feeling ready.  And it’s still an ever-changing challenge and huge learning curve every single day.  Thank you to all of the clients and friends who have thus far hired me and trusted me to be their photographer.  You have been a huge part of my personal and professional growth.  I couldn’t do it without you.

2011 brings new and exciting possibilities, as well as lots of uncertainty.  Not only for my business, but for my life.  It feels like one of the first years where I didn’t know what life would be like in 365 days.  Every other year, it’s either been me trying to get through another year of school, or graduating from high school or undergrad or grad school, or having a baby or raising that baby through his first year.  But this year, I just have no idea.  I’m going to dive head first into my business and start working on things like my business cards and packaging to deliver clients’ photos, etc.  I also want to shoot more weddings, engagement, and maternity sessions.  Aside from my business, I’m going to support my hubby in his career growth and endeavors and continue to enjoy watching him grow as an artist.  And, while Max keeps us plenty busy, we’d love to see our family grow.  Let’s see where we are on December 31, 2011.  I’m excited for the uncertainty and promise that this year holds!

I know, I know, it’s been almost 2 months since my last photography lesson post!  But life with an almost-one-year-old just gets so darn busy!   And even this post is taking me forever because I’m chasing after my little crawling maniac in between sentences!

Maximilian will turn 1 on Halloween, and we are just SO excited to celebrate with him!  We’ve decided to forgo a huge birthday bash this year for several reasons: (1) he’s only 1, so having any best buddies over (like the fabulous Everett who he adores so much), would be more like a play date than a birthday party, (2) babies this age don’t even really “play together” anyway, they just play alongside each other (for just a little while longer anyway), (3) he’ll be a bit young to remember all of the hoopla, so we want to make sure it’s special and memorable for all of those who have been most involved in year one (me and hubby, and my mom and dad… a.k.a. grandma and grandpa!), and (4) Max is a fairly laid back and chill baby, who (for now) tends to do better in more relaxing and less stressful environments, so I think a big party would just make him crazy!   Anyway, he has just been SO fun over the last year to watch grow and learn and move and play and babble… “*ahh* you name it, it’s been magical.

So, down to business.  A couple of the most important aspects of photography, are also among the most basic, so they need to be learned early in your photo endeavors… aperture and shutter speed.  They both can be lengthy to describe, so I’ll discuss aperture in today’s post and shutter speed next time!  These are also two things that you only have control over if you move out of your comfort zone and back into the wonderful world of the manual settings on your camera, as I may have mentioned once or twice before…

Photography lesson #4: know what aperture is, and how having full control over this setting will take your photography to the next level.

Let’s see if I can keep this as simple as possible.  Aperture and shutter speed work hand in hand.  Most digital SLR cameras will also have settings for “Aperture Priority” and “Shutter Speed Priority.”  In those cases, if you KNOW what you want your aperture or shutter speed to be, then you select either of those settings, set it, and the camera will compensate for the other.  Now, this doesn’t still mean that your picture will come out perfectly exposed, so you just have to practice with it and know what combination of settings (this also applies to using your camera in a fully manual mode) will produce what kind of picture in different lighting conditions (don’t forget to adjust your ISO!).

So what is aperture?  Aperture is where, I believe, a lot of the magic happens in photography!  You may also hear the term ‘f-stop’ used.  Aperture is measured in f-stops.  And put most simply, aperture is the ‘size of the opening that lets light through your lens and into your camera’ when you take a photo.  The larger the opening, the more light that comes in.  The smaller the opening, the less light that comes in.

Now, what sounds a little counter-intuitive is that the larger apertures get a smaller f-stop number (e.g., f/4), and the smaller the aperture the larger the f-stop number (e.g., f/22).  Also, the larger your aperture, the more shallow depth of field (the amount of your photo in focus) you will have.  So if you want to focus on a single rose or petal on that rose (see below), or focus only on your baby in a portrait, and you want the rest of the photo to look “fuzzy,” then you need to use a small f-stop number.  If you’re taking a photo of a landscape for example, and you want the entire scene in focus, then you will want to use the largest f-stop (number) possible (probably around an f/22, but slightly less than that will still work, too… see below).

The best way to get a full understanding of aperture and how it affects your depth of field, is to get your camera out and start experimenting.  Try two things: first find a single object (either inside or outside), and then take a series of photos using different aperture settings.  Remember: you’ll need to adjust your shutter speed to correctly compensate to achieve your desired exposure.  Second, go outside and find a more “wide angle” shot (i.e., a landscape, a city street, a row of houses, etc.), maybe with a single person or object slightly closer to you in the foreground.  Standing far away from your whatever your subject is, take another series of shots experimenting with your aperture.  Once you take these test shots inside and open them up in your photo editor or viewer of choice, you will clearly be able to see the difference it makes to use different aperture settings for different situations (e.g., large aperture (small number) for portraits so you have a shallower depth of field, and a small aperture (large number) for full landscape-type shots).  Ready? Set? Go!

You will soon see how having a full understanding of aperture and shutter speed will begin to make your photos stand out from the rest of the crowd who simply put the camera on automatic and shoot!  Stay tuned for photography lesson #5: shutter speed!

Large aperture for a shallow depth of field:

Portland Rose Garden. ISO: 200. Focal length: 35mm. Shutter speed: 1/500. F-stop: f/5.

Clovis, NM. ISO: 200. Focal length: 135mm. Shutter speed: 1/1000. F-stop: f/5.6.

Tedeschi Vineyards, Maui. ISO: 100. Focal length: 35mm. Shutter speed: 1/60. F-stop: f/4.

Smaller aperture to have more in focus:

Yosemite National Park. ISO: 200. Focal length: 17mm. Shutter speed: 1/200. F-stop: f/20.

Big Sur Coast, CA. ISO: 200. Focal length: 70mm. Shutter speed: 1/160. F-stop: f/14.

Location: Clovis, NM. ISO: 200. Focal length: 18mm. Shutter speed: 1/250. F-stop: f/11.

It’s been a busy couple of weeks!  I started teaching Communication classes part-time at ACC again last week, Max’s hilarious personality and activity level has increased 10 fold in the last couple of weeks, I’ve been working on updating my photography website (www.CiceraroPhotography.com) and offering new Fall specials, and my next door neighbor and good friend Cassandra gave birth to her second baby boy on Monday (definitely can’t wait to take some pictures of him/them!)!

And so we meet again… It’s been almost 2 weeks since my last photo lesson, but as promised, here is the next one:

Photography lesson #3: know what White Balance is and how it affects your photographs… and how shooting in a RAW file format might be one of the coolest things EVER.

First, for white balance. Trying to put it simply, it’s basically getting the tone or “warmth” of your photograph to look as close as possible to how you actually saw it when you shot it… Ok, that may not have been the best explanation… Let me try again: it’s the process of  getting rid of certain “unrealistic” color casts on your photo (maybe your photo turned out a bit green or blue or orange?), so that white objects actually appear white, and not with a “bluish” or “warm brownish” tint… Did that help a little more?  Also, see photo marketer Jasmine DeFoore’s recent blog post about the iPhone 4′s white balance issues (yup, your photos are even impacted by the white balance settings on your camera phone!).

Proper camera white balance must take into consideration the color “temperature” of a light source.  So, for example, if you’re out shooting at sunset on a beach, the whole scene around you tends to look “warmer,” right?  Or maybe you’re out shooting right before the sun comes up and it’s slightly cloudy, so everything looks kind of “cool” in tone.  Again, you can easily set your camera to “Auto White Balance,” but sometimes your “smart” camera isn’t so smart and isn’t doing your picture justice, because what it thinks may be the proper white balance, might not be right for the occasion or mood you’re trying to set for your photograph.  Or maybe you just like your photos to have a “warmer” feel all around (like I do a lot of the time)?  In that case, you need to know which white balance setting to choose for your photograph to give it that feel (there are other “manual” ways to adjust your white balance using a set of cards you can carry with you and use in test shots, but that’s a whole completely different lesson!).

See the photos below for a comparison on what the different white balance settings can look like when taking the exact same photograph!  Some differences are more obvious than others, but still different nonetheless.  P.S. Check out the AWESOME diaper cake I made (all by myself! who knew!?) for Cassandra’s baby shower!

Now, maybe you had your camera set to “Auto White Balance” or maybe you forgot to change it on your own… Now what?  Is the entire mood of your photo forever doomed?  Nope!  Well, not if you shot your photo in a RAW file format!  I feel like this may be the best white balance solution, because you can set your white balance AFTER the photo is taken!  This is one of my favorite parts about shooting in RAW.

To shoot in RAW, you have to adjust the quality settings on your digital SLR (consult your manual, as all cameras are different!).  Instead of it shooting as a JPEG, and that being your file extension when you load your pictures on the computer, your file extension may be something like .NEF.  You then open your photos in a RAW editor (you’ll see this in the later versions of Photoshop), and you have a whole bunch of nifty devices at your disposal to tweak your photos, and maybe even save them if you accidentally messed up a setting while you were shooting pictures, or just didn’t have ideal shooting conditions!  Shooting in RAW is basically like giving you the full control over “developing” your photos that you would have had back in the day in a darkroom!  You can adjust the white balance, the exposure, the contrast, the brightness, and SO MUCH MORE.  It took Jose probably a good year to fully convince me to shoot in RAW… and now I won’t shoot any other way.

HOWEVER, having the availability of a RAW editor at your fingertips is no excuse to get lazy when shooting your photos, thinking to yourself, “Oh I’ll just fix it in Photoshop later.”  See the book Preventive Photoshop, by Douglas Ford Rae!

Well, I think that’s enough for today without going too in depth on both the topics of white balance and shooting in a RAW file format.  There’s SO much to learn and know about ALL of these topics, so I encourage you to continue to explore on your own.  And one final tip that I always share: sit down with your camera in your lap and your camera instruction manual in your hands, and go through it page by page, exploring every function of your camera along the way.  Then go out and start shooting photos practicing using each of the special features you have at your disposal… and bring your instruction manual with you!  This is the only way you will truly get to know your camera and all that it is capable of.

I think for our next lesson, I’m going to continue with some more basics, and teach you about aperture and shutter speed, and how knowing how to tweak those settings with every photo can make all the difference in the world!  And, as always, if you ever have comments or questions or requests for specific lessons in the future, please leave a comment on my blog!

I just wanted to do a quick post to get back in the swing of things, before I blog on my next photography lesson (which I’m working on!).  I was a stay-at-home-mom (SAHM) all summer long, and it was a dream come true.  Maximilian is flourishing and is already nearly 10 months old!  Watching him grow, both physically and mentally, is amazing.  Babies are a true miracle of life!  I can’t believe how quickly time has passed.  I love spending every second I can with him, and he truly is the “other love of my life,” next to his daddy of course.   I started teaching again last night, and it was so painful to be away from him for just those 3 hours!  I love motherhood so very much, and plan on continuing to be as much of a SAHM as possible, working minimally outside of the home.

Aside from teaching part-time, and being a wife and mama full-time, I’m currently accepting portrait photography session appointments for the Fall!  Book early to reserve your spot, especially if you plan on having photos taken for the holidays (i.e., Christmas cards, prints or photos on canvas to give as gifts, etc.).  AND, if you book and prepay for your session by September 15th (payment plans available), you will receive a FREE 8×10 3/4 inch thick gallery wrapped canvas with your photo of choice from your session ($100 value!)!  Here are my remaining available appointments: September 12, 18, 19, 25, and 26; October 9, 10, 16, 17, 23, and 24; and November 6, 7, and 14 (NOTE: no sessions for Holiday photos will be booked after this point, to ensure an ample amount of turnaround time for editing photos, and placing orders for photos, gifts, Christmas cards, etc.).  As always, prices are on my website: www.CiceraroPhotography.com

I’d like to close with a few photos of my adorable lil’ man…   I’d like to call these, “Can’t a kid get a little privacy???”

It’s been a BUSY, exhausting weekend… And even though I spent a majority of the weekend planning and hosting a baby shower for my good friend and next door neighbor that we held at our house this afternoon, and even though it’s nearly midnight, I just could not resist sorting through at least some of the photos from my session this morning with the Tufts family! And then, of course, I couldn’t resist posting a few teaser pics… This whole family was completely sweet and adorable, and were such troopers holding smiles and having a good time despite the heat and humidity! We had fun, and it’s always such a pleasure to shoot photos for such a loving family. Enjoy…