Joyce Smith Photography Blog

3 under 2

This morning I had a wonderful time photographing a family whose number almost doubled just last month. Meet not-quite-two little R. and his new brother and sister, N. and V. I know Mom has her hands full, but what a blessing . . . .  Here's a little sneak peek for the R. family!

This one blows me away--eye contact and a "smile" from a newborn. : ) This is Miss V.

Here's big brother trying to decide just what he thinks of these newest additions.

A tiny yawn:

And hold onto your hats for this sweet image.  Awwww!

It was lovely meeting you this morning, R. family!

you know those little things on your to do list?

You know, the little ones that aren't terribly pressing and just stay on the list FOREVER, until they are carried over to the next to do list?  I had two long-term things left on my list this week.  One is to call the oral surgeon and schedule wisdom teeth extraction.  Ick.  This has been on my to do list since my dentist referred me 4 months ago.  Gulp.  I'm very glad that Dr. B. doesn't read my blog. ; ) 

The other non-disgusting TMI item on my to do list has been to take photos of my sample coffee table art book.  Again, not terribly pressing as clients see these in person the day of the session, but still a "to do" that I could never seem to make time for.  However, when the choice is get your wisdom teeth out or take pictures of a gorgeous custom book, the latter seems infinitely more appealing than it once did.  So without further ado . . . some shots of this beautiful book, which includes all photos from your JSP session. This is a client favorite and it's easy to see why once you see it in person. Now remember, I am a portrait photographer, not a product photographer.  To illustrate my point:

Here's the book with dust jacket on.

and off.

a sample layout--love the clean, modern lines of these layouts courtesy of my design guru Ashley .

Finally, a shot of the elegant slipcover case.

Now back to that to-do list, sadly . . . the next item is now unavoidable.

one more teaser . . .

From last week's session . . . look at this 4-month-old cutie standing up. ; )  Mom and Dad, your gallery is almost ready!! You'll be hearing from me very soon.

today I went to the races . . .

. . . and met a ballerina while I was there!  I had such a fun time with the M. family this afternoon; they were just the nicest people.  Here are a few sneak peeks for Mom.  Don't worry K., we got some of you and J. as well. : ) Click to see these larger.

Here's Miss F., who instantly approved of me.  And I quote, "You have curly hair just like me!"

Big brother D. had a great time hanging out with Dad.  I love that you can almost hear the laughter here:

And how could I forget the heated races between three cars--there they are flying in the middle photo.  Didn't you know that ballerinas love attending races? And in such sensible shoes, too. :)

a first . . .

Or rather, a few firsts.

The first day of school for my sweet girl.
The first time M. has stayed anywhere without Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, Nana, or Pop-Pop nearby.
The first time Mommy has shopped alone in eons.
The first time Mommy has weathered the car line.  Eeep.
The first time Mommy and Daddy have been commanded by M. to reenact "circle time."
and the first, but surely not the last, tears shed over precious, relentlessly fleeting time.

a gorgeous day

When I woke up this morning, I was disheartened to see how gloomy it was.  But by the time I arrived at my session, it was absolutely wonderful out . . . and just look at the adorable little girl who was waiting for me.  Meet 4-month-old Miss O. who, in addition to having the most beautiful brown eyes you've ever seen, has the nicest parents as well.  Here are a few sneak peeks for J. and D.--just the first few photos that caught my eye. Many more to come in your gallery next week.  It was lovely to meet you today!

daddy's girl

. . . and mommy's girl

and taking flight. :)

great design

I love great design.  I'm the type of person that becomes giddy at things like perfect packaging. You know, things like a Nars lipstick, Tiffany box, or even the box my iPhone came in--which was extraordinarily sturdy and made a satisfying little "whoosh" sound as I put the top of the box back on. My exclamations of "ooohhh, look at that packaging!" are the source of endless ribbing in my house, but I won't stop oohing and aahing anytime soon.  And I emitted a decided "ooohhhh!" when I first saw this next collection of fresh holiday cards.  I know they will be perfect for many of my clients' holiday or new year greetings.  Aren't these colors gorgeous?  Just two from the ten designs I acquired last week.  I know, I know.  I need to stop.  I am stopping.  Remember, clients can only benefit from my sickness. : )  As always, click to see the photos larger!  These have the added fabulousness of fully-designed inside spreads and backs.  Aaaahhh!

6 months old, to the day

. . . with the best little arm rolls I ever saw!  I had the pleasure of photographing little J. this morning and meeting his loving family.  Here's a little sneak peek for them. 

I looooove this one so much!

and look at how pleased he was with himself after rolling over--priceless.

J. and his family *just* moved from California, and doesn't he look like a cute little California guy here with his flipped up collar?  Welcome to Philadelphia, Y. family! It was lovely to meet you.

I had a little more excitement today as well.  I met the love of my life, in fact . . . sigh.  LOL.  Hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend!

Just a few more sneak peeks

. . . for the M. family.  Have a great time at the shore this weekend!

This one cracks me up (click to see it larger):

And here's a really interesting one for my fellow photographer blog readers . . . check out the strange lighting here.  It's all from the sun hitting Miss A.'s tiara--it made a ring of bright light, as you can see, and little pink catchlights in her eyes.  Mostly I just love this "knowing ballerina" look.  Classic!

I'm it!

There's a little game that's been making the photography blog rounds, whereupon the "tag-ee" posts 8 random facts about herself and then tags 8 more photographers.  I woke up this morning to find that I was tagged by one of my favorite photographers, Audrey Woulard.  Then as the day went on I was tagged by two other fabulous photographers, Sarah Ulrich and Ashley Skjaveland . So, I figured I better get cracking . . .

1. I am pretty verbose.  The next 7 answers will likely confirm this fact.  In grad school, I once had a 58-word sentence replete with parenthetical asides as my opening line.  The professor, a crotchety but fabulous former editor for The Village Voice wrote in the comments, "Your opening labyrinthine sentence sits like a lion at the gate of your paper.  If one were not required to read further, i.e. if one were not me, one likely would not."  Or something like that.  I cannot recreate the gloriousness that was that particular insult.  ha ha!

2. Hmm.  Weird parlor trick.  I am right-handed but can write with my right and left hands simultaneously, only the left hand writes a mirror image of what my right is doing.  It looks like this . . . I think it's fairly uncommon?  Would that I could be paid for this skill.

3. The aforementioned graduate studies were in English, specifically British lit and, even more specifically, Victorian literature.  My master's thesis at this school was on John Ruskin, which according to my mother was akin to studying not the cat (which might actually have some bearing on "real life"), but the fur on the left ear of the cat. I later moved on to this school for PhD coursework (and to meet my darling husband) and later taught for three years at this fabulous school. Then I decided, to heck with words--let's try images. :)

4. I'm a native Floridian, seventh generation.  In other words, my ancestors were surely fine, upstanding citizens.  Right . . .

5. During a 1997 U2 concert Bono stopped right in front of me (I was in the front row, clinging for dear life to the barricades), read the sign I had brought, and grinned at me, saying, "That's alright!  That's alright!"  Not only do I still have the sign and a few other Bono items in my handy-dandy reliquary, but I have many more Bono stories up my sleeve. Fanaticism.  It's a good thing.

6. I love grits. Not what you were expecting after #5, huh? I also love non sequiturs.

7. I am not nearly as pretentious as this blog post makes me sound.  See #6.  Who could love grits and have an ounce of superciliousness? Despite the fact that she uses ridiculous words like supercilious.

8. In direct contradiction to #7, I present this silly bit of impulse-buying puffery procured yesterday.  It was so cute.  My only baby is starting preschool this month and she has never been away from me, never ever.  There was a sale.  As you can see, forces conspired against me and who am I to thwart fate? Like one of the photographers who tagged me, I have a bad designer handbag habit, although it has been largely replaced by children's clothes and, now, children's backpacks.  ha ha!

Okay, now for the photographer's I'm tagging . . . get to it, people! : D

Daveen Lindley
Brenda Acuncius
Rebecca Mudrick
 Ginny Adkins
Marianne Drenthe
Molly Hilton
Allison Rupp
Tara McGlinchey