Archive for the ‘Portfolio’ Category

{The Higdon’s} Photo Shoot

March 29th, 2012

I recently had the pleasure of photographing one of the sweetest families I’ve ever photographed!  I took soooo many photos and it was really difficult to not post most of them on this blog but alas, I’ve narrowed it down.  Our photo shoot concept


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I recently had the pleasure of photographing one of the sweetest families I’ve ever photographed!  I took soooo many photos and it was really difficult to not post most of them on this blog but alas, I’ve narrowed it down.  Our photo shoot concept was Easter.  Meet Liberty…

Thankfully the woods were nearby and so was Collier…which is Tamatha (Liberty’s mom) best friends son.  SOOOOOoooooo adorable!

Add them together and  you got?  So much cuteness you don’t know what to do.

Told ya’.

Oh, and Liberty’s parents weren’t that bad either. ;)

We had a bunny!

Alright what else do I have here…oh yes!  This!

Tamatha knew how to hold the frame.

It was a different story for Liberty though.  Although, she did manage to stay in her spot long enough for me to snap this photo!

and one of the sweet family before we go…

Thanks for viewing!  Happy Easter everyone!

~ Carmen

P.S – (Liberty vs the bow)

 

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{Garrett} Photo Session

January 17th, 2012

Meet Mr. Garrett McLain.  He’s pretty excited… ..about getting. into Oxford!  Yes, that’s Oxford in the UK. He wants to be a Unity minister and he’s currently studying Philosophy & Religious Studies at Florida State College .  He


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Meet Mr. Garrett McLain.  He’s pretty excited…

..about getting. into Oxford!  Yes, that’s Oxford in the UK.

He wants to be a Unity minister and he’s currently studying Philosophy & Religious Studies at Florida State College .  He was just sitting around one day thinking of what school he would go to if he could go anywhere and he decided on Oxford.  As far as he knows no other Unity minister has graduated from Oxford.

*sidenote* below is a location where I accidentally (obviously) left one of my lenses.  After we changed locations I realized it so we drove back and guess what?

It was still there.  (#thankyougoodkarma)  Garrett is an excellent speaker and speaks at youth events and churches across the nation, not just Jacksonville!  Last weekend he was in Virginia and this weekend he will be in Tennessee!  He’s created a website titled Oxford Dreams to promote himself and he will use that income to help fund his Oxford education.  It’s a wonderful site.  Please visit and read more about him in the “Meet Garrett” section.

He isn’t  a bad subject to photograph either.

I kept wanting to take pics of his shoes for some reason.

And last but not least Garrett made this sign and stood on the corner before we finished up the shoot.

Good luck, Mr. McLain.  I know your dreams of attending Oxford will come true.  Can’t wait to see pics!

~ Carmen

P.S  - Guys pay attention. Ties, vests and Chuck’s.  I’m just sayin’

P.P.S – (update) check out Garrett’s video on the Florida State College Website!

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{Rilind Reborn}…his story

January 2nd, 2012

This precious dog has a story to tell.  A story that encompasses the human spectrum of love and evil.  In the end, love prevailed.  ”Until one has loved an animal,  a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” ~ Anatole France Meet Rilind
 

This precious dog has a story to tell.  A story that encompasses the human spectrum of love and evil.  In the end, love prevailed.  ”Until one has loved an animal,  a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” ~ Anatole France

Meet Rilind Reborn.  Rilind’s ((pronouced Ri (long “i”) lend)) name means rebirth and because of what I believe to be Divine intervention he has been given the chance to have a new life, a better life.  The kind of life every dog should have.

If you are only looking at Rilind’s face you may think he’s just thin but he’s not just thin…he’s emaciated.

Rilind was discovered one week ago as he was literally tossed over the fence at a shelter in Clay County.  Shelter staff & volunteers had never seen such an extreme case of neglect.  Rilind was covered in urine, feces and fleas.  His temperature was so low that it wouldn’t even register, his gums completely white and pale and his red blood cell count was dangerously low.  He underwent an immediate blood transfusion.  Thankfully, a donor was available at the Pit Sisters rescue group that, in the end, would be the ones to foster Rilind.  The blood transfusion appeared to be successful although Rilind’s red blood count is still half of what it should be.

The veterinarian Riliand sees daily believes his hair loss may be attributed to malnutrition.  It was also discovered that Rilind has a pretty severe case of heartworms.  One thing I noticed about this guy is even though his body is fragile, he has a very strong spirit.  He is a fighter.  No doubt the love and attention he has received from strangers has helped.  Of course we had to bring along some cute costumes for him to try on.  I personally think he liked the frog suit the best.  You will noticed his eyes are closed in the photo below.  There were several times throughout the couple hours we spent together that he just sat and faced the sun, closed his eyes and took in the sunlight.

Brian, owner of Caring Palms Massage & Reiki, was there during the photo shoot to provide reiki for Rilind.  He seemed very calm and content during his reiki session.

In this shot Rilind had walked up the steps to the slide at the park.  He wanted to go to the very top…but we wouldn’t let him.  This shot was a view from the stairs I was sitting on to block him from walking any higher!

This is Rilind getting some love from one of his foster parents.

At one point Rilind attacked a gingerbread treat that he received from Sybil from Pit Sisters, an organization dedicated to bully breeds.  You can view their Facebook page where you can read more about their mission.

Rilind is believed to be a Mastiff.  Perhaps even a Cane Corso (Italian Mastiff) when he finally gets to the size he should be.

Riland is such a sweet, wonderful dog.  Please join his Facebook page herewhere he has more fans than the Jags.  (Okay, that was a joke guys.  I heart the Jags)  Also, if you feel so led please visit the Pit Sisters page where you can donate to the organization to help the lovely sisters take care of not only Rilind but other loving, discarded dogs.  If you are able to donate directly to Rilind’s health care, you can do so directly to Lakewood San Jose Animal Hospital (904) 737-2011.

“We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.” ~ Immanual Kant

~ Carmen

P.S – Even though Rilind is being taken care of by a team of loving people, he is still very ill and needs your love and prayers daily.  Thanks for reading!

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{The Perkins Family} Photo Shoot

November 22nd, 2011

This is a lovely family I had the pleasure of taking some photos of this past weekend!  Everyone was so photogenic but little Ms. Madison couldn’t sit still for the life of her! Well, she sat still once. We did the photo shoot on the Naval Base


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This is a lovely family I had the pleasure of taking some photos of this past weekend!  Everyone was so photogenic but little Ms. Madison couldn’t sit still for the life of her!

Well, she sat still once.

We did the photo shoot on the Naval Base since Jordan is in the military.  That was pretty neat because as many times as I’ve driven past it, I’ve never been on the base.

Jordan bought, painted and glittered the letters “J” “O” and “Y” for our shoot since they were going to create some Christmas cards with the photos.  Of course I had to do something fun with the letters.  ”YO”.  What’s up?  ;)

I really liked taking the chair as a prop.  AND it fit in my little tiny car (with a little force).  #win

What I love about the above photo is it looks like Madison is smiling but actually that was taken right before this:

So what I’m saying is…the very cool thing about Ms. Madison is that she looks pretty even right before she cries.  Now one of Alex & Jordan.

Madison loves nature.  Trees…

…and moss.

Did I mention that Jordan is 4 1/2 months pregnant?

and here’s one of the whole bunch.  Check out the placement of the “O” in this next one…

And here are two of the Christmas card ideas created with the photos we took.  I really like this one!

and using the same photos with a different layout here:

and that’s all, folks!

~ Carmen

P.S – I tried a new layout on this blog.  Tell me what you think!

P.P.S – Happy Thanksgiving week!

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{Lemon} Photo shoot Part II

November 9th, 2011

My inspiration for this photo shoot was a magazine my roommate got from a company called Free People which I absolutely loved.  Only, I needed to make the clothes happen on a budget and that’s what we did.  Stephanie called this my “grandma


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My inspiration for this photo shoot was a magazine my roommate got from a company called Free People which I absolutely loved.  Only, I needed to make the clothes happen on a budget and that’s what we did.  Stephanie called this my “grandma outfit”.

We created this bouquet with flowers (and weeds) from my yard and the side of the road.  Someone told me that picking wildflowers is illegal…

and here’s another pic of the bouquet we made along with some sunlight streaming through the trees that I couldn’t get enough of.

So now I want to own a flower shop.  We could even make hair pieces…

she was balancing on the deck for this next one…

and some more sunlight…

…and that’s about it.  Well, not really but I can’t sit here all day and edit photos, it distracts me from other things like Facebook and petting my dog.

I hope everyone is having a happy week!

~ Carmen

P.S -my new edit style is making my photos seem too soft.  I’m going to have to figure that out.

P.P.S – this picture is just fun

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{Stephanie} Part I

October 24th, 2011

My beautiful, awesome & funny friend just climbed down off a mountain.  A literal mountain almost…she just got back from hiking the Appalachian Trail.  Yep, that’s 2181 miles.  She walked from Tennessee to Maine. Recently she did some


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My beautiful, awesome & funny friend just climbed down off a mountain.  A literal mountain almost…she just got back from hiking the Appalachian Trail.  Yep, that’s 2181 miles.  She walked from Tennessee to Maine.

Recently she did some more climbing when we climbed down a rocky, sandy bank to get these shots at Little Talbot Island.  It’s a lovely place, p.s.

 

We didn’t carve that heart but I like that someone did.  I turned the following picture upside down to give this effect.  She was looking up at me after I climbed back up the high bank.  As I took the photo my camera strap fell in front of my lens and made that red tint on the top of the photo.  I liked it so much that I did a few more using the strap and this is my favorite.

I love this one.  I’m a sucker for the close-up.

I know there are a lot of photos but they are all so good I just had to share them.  The next is my favorite image. I love how the tree looks at the bottom of the photo and leads up into Stephanie.

She says she was cold in this one.  I think she was just being wimpy.  ;)

May your path be filled with wonder…and lots of pretty views.

Have a wonderful week!

~ Carmen

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{Rob & Casey} Engagement Session

September 7th, 2011

Who doesn’t like love?  This post is all about it…Rob & Casey’s road to “I do”. Yep.  They do.  Something else they do?  Pose well. Rob & Casey have been dating since 2008.  Their first date was Chili’s…until the


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Who doesn’t like love?  This post is all about it…Rob & Casey’s road to “I do”.

Yep.  They do.  Something else they do?  Pose well.

Rob & Casey have been dating since 2008.  Their first date was Chili’s…until the “Pumpkin Hour”.  (I think thats Casey’s term for really really late)  Speaking of Casey, she’s beautiful and really smart!  She teaches 6th, 7th & 8th grade Gifted Science, 7th grade Gifted Language Arts and 8th grade Science.  Awesome?  Thought so!

Rob works as an admissions counselor at a local college.  In his spare time he’s a ninja.

They are getting married in October of 2012 at a beautiful place called Club Continental on the St. John’s River.  As you can see, it’s very beautiful!

They’re pretty.

The theme for their wedding is Sunset Sonata and the reception theme is Celestial Serenade.  Rob named them.  How sweet is that?

Casey loved sitting on the ground (not).  This pic was taken right after she was attacked by ants.

(Casey getting attacked by ants)

I brought my Sharpie for one reason and one reason only.

We kinda had a lot of fun with the mustache finger thing.

I asked each of them to write what they love about each other.

Here’s what she said…“I love Rob’s sense of humor!  He is creative with his wit and words and in all the ways he shows me he loves me.  Most of all, I love how we are better people, together.”

Here’s what he said…“I love her ability to challenge me daily and keep up with me intellectually.  The fact that she’s beautiful doesn’t hurt.  I love her!”

Rob’s last name is Leone which means “lion” in Italian.

 “I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.” ~ Mother Teresa 

I had so much fun on this shoot.  Thanks Rob & Casey for asking me to be a part of documenting your big day!  I <3 you guys!
~ Carmen
P.S – At the end of the session I decided I wanted to eat a snowball (the “I do” cupcake thingies).  So, I did.  When we were leaving I asked if I had eaten the “we” or the “do”…I had eaten the “do”.  *laughs*

P.P.S – I don’t like when people say “E-session” when they do engagement shoots.  It sounds like something extraterrestrial.  Not that I don’t like extraterrestrial things, it just sounds strange.  Kinda like when a photographer says “let me shoot you”.  *shudders*

P.P.P.S – There were so many more amazing photos I could’ve put here but this blog would’ve gone on forever.  Seriously.

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{It’s Personal}

August 5th, 2011

Many of you know my father passed away in April.  It’ been tough but I feel like I am finally coming out of my fog.  I’ve wanted to move since the beginning of the year and I have been blessed to find a wonderful place with a wonderful friend.
 

Many of you know my father passed away in April.  It’ been tough but I feel like I am finally coming out of my fog.  I’ve wanted to move since the beginning of the year and I have been blessed to find a wonderful place with a wonderful friend.  As you will see by the pictures she is  a fantastic decorator and has a wonderful, earthy style.  (Well, she IS a Capricorn)  Soooo….as soon as September gets here, this is where I will live.

 The entrance is lovely and as soon as I saw this Buddha I knew this was the right place for me!  Not to mention her LOVE of plants.  My place now kinda looks like Jumanji.

and now let’s open the door…

I love it!  It reminds me of Hemmingway’s house in Key West.  You should probably meet the residents.  Here we have Mojo.  Mojo likes long walks on the beach, treats and to have his belly rubbed.  :0

Did I mention all the lighting in the house is natural?  A.K.A -fanfreakingtastic!

Walking in toward the sun room we meet Sam.  Such a cutie.  VERY camera shy.  I’ll have to work on that. My Chewy will have friends to play with!!

This is what it looks out of the kitchen window.

Next we walk out le french doors and here we have the beautiful…

Can’t wait to spend some time out there.  Maybe I’ll finally get a tan…doubt it.  Lastly here is another place I’ll be spending a lot of time…

Who’s the most grateful, blessed & hopeful person ever?  Me.  I am.

~ Carmen

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{Bear} Photo Shoot

July 30th, 2011

Bear is a 5-year old male Yorkie.  Meet Bear… Bear didn’t sit still for very long but when he did he made a pretty picture. He wasn’t excited about the heat and he stuck his tongue out in every photo. How cute is this little guy?


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Bear is a 5-year old male Yorkie.  Meet Bear…

Bear didn’t sit still for very long but when he did he made a pretty picture.

He wasn’t excited about the heat and he stuck his tongue out in every photo.

How cute is this little guy?  Another thing you should know about Bear is he doesn’t like walking on grass.  He was very upset about having to stay in that (above) position.

Thanks for viewing!

~ Carmen

P.S. – Bear’s family calls him ‘daBear”

P.P.S – Bear doesn’t like to be woken up.  He will growl and bark if you mess with his nap time.

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{Matt Borer} Photo Shoot

July 24th, 2011

One of my good friends, Matt Borer, contacted me this past week to take a few photos of him for his website (which he is in the process of updating).  You may remember his brother, Zack Borer (the artist & musician) from a photo shoot I did
 

One of my good friends, Matt Borer, contacted me this past week to take a few photos of him for his website (which he is in the process of updating).  You may remember his brother, Zack Borer (the artist & musician) from a photo shoot I did when Zack was down last Thanksgiving.  I decided it would be fun to do something a little different with this blog.  Instead of posting a bunch of photos I gave Matt a series of questions to answer.  Aside from being an awesome therapist and university professor, Matt has written and published a book titled It’s Not Me, It’s You!  Guess who helped create the book design and took the photos?  (points to self)  Moi!  Matt has also been the featured therapist several times on News 4 Jax and First Coast News.

So, let’s get a bit more personal.  First, here’s Matt.

And here are the questions I asked him:

Where were you born?

Edmonton Alberta, Canada  (Eh?)

What school did you graduate from?

I received my Ph.D from the University of Louisiana at Monroe

How long have you been practicing therapy?

Since 2004

Why did you decide to become a therapist?

I became a therapist because I wanted a job where I could help people, and make a living at the same time. I also really wanted to be my own boss and potentially teach at the University level.

What’s your favorite thing about being a therapist?

The flexibility that it allows me to work in private practice, an agency setting, a University, as well as many other potential places of employment, all while making a good living and helping people live healthier, more satisfying lives.

What’s your favorite thing to do when you aren’t therapizing?

One of my favorite things to do when not therapizing, is to eat out. We love good food and can think of nothing more fun then sharing a meal out with friends and family

Do you have a favorite Jax hot spot?

My favorite hot spot in Jax, is Everbank field on Sunday afternoons for a Jags game with my wife

What are your favorite sports teams?

Gators, Jaguars, and Lakers

What is your sun sign? (I had to ask)

Leo

Do you have any favorite TV shows?

My favorite TV shows of all time are Six Feet Under and Seinfeld. I also really like It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and my guilty pleasure is Big Brother

~ Carmen

P.S – I looooove Six Feet Under!!

 

 

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