An excerpt from a recent private boudoir session in Philadelphia, PA. The session had a hint of an earlier time period which included vintage accessories and jewelry from a collection of pieces I’ve acquired over the years.. The entire session will be published in a fine art book as surprise gift her husband on their wedding night. He is one lucky guy!
Michael Rizzo is an actor and model who lives in NY City. I wasn’t able to get up to him in the time frame we needed to shoot this so, he took the train down and we shot this right in 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. Here’s a selection of images that I grabbed prior to him hopping back on the train to make it back to New York. I still haven’t finished going through all the images, but its going to be tough to cull it down me thinks.
I’d like to personally thank whoever decided to make the phones yellow in the otherwise vacant phone booths.
Many thanks to Wendy Weinstein for her hair styling and assistance. You rock!
I have no doubt in my mind that Michael is going to be wildly successful in both the American and European markets. He has a wonderfully versatile look that we just love capturing here. Best wishes and good luck, Mike (although we don’t think you’ll need it!)
Caroline contacted me about doing a special session for her soon-to-be husband while he’s deployed overseas and I was more than happy to oblige her. Hold onto your hat, Soldier, we’re about to show a whole new side to Sweet Caroline.
Here’s a quick peek at one…
Mike Disney is one of those wonderfully charming and funny guys that you love to have around. He’s exploring the possibilities of taking on a career in modeling and I was very happy to oblige him. He participated in a workshop we had in Philadelphia about 6 weeks ago and everyone loved him on the set. He has spectacular eyes!
In coming blog posts I’ll share more of other folks who joined us, but for now… Meet Mike.
Young Men model Mike Disney
Nothing makes me swoon quite like watching a newborn baby as they begin to recognize their world, their family and begin communicating with us in pure and simple ways we always seem to understand. Elijah is Baby #5 to this family and I don’t know how they do it. Not only do they do it, but they do it with grace and good humor. They actually make it look easy.
I have an entire blog post to share with you all from this session, but since I’ve been very behind here with blogging sessions, I’m just sharing this image as a sneak peek.
Don’t ya just love the way babies smell? (swoon….) I just love his cute little fingers and toes (with fuzzy attached).
Somewhere out there, is a monkey who needs to find his way home. If you happen to live or work in the South Jersey area and came upon this little guy, please contact me right away. He belongs to a very special little boy. These photos were taken at his father’s military homecoming (seen here.)
And we all know good friends are hard to find.
One of my favorite jobs to do is covering a soldier’s homecoming.
I’ve known this family for about a year now through the Operation Love Reunited organization; A volunteer organization of professional photographers giving their time to families of deployed soldiers. When I got the call that he was coming home, I knew that an end to a very long year for this family was finally coming to an end. The days turn to weeks and then into months and the oldest of the two boys seemed to be carrying the weight of that time away. Like his mom, he worried and as the day wore on, the happy facade began to wane to anxiety. He paced, needing his space and watching carefully in the direction he heard the soldiers might be coming. The time seemed endless to everyone, but to him, each time he heard “it’ll be soon” or “Daddy’s on his way” was becoming more and more worrying. The hours stretched out as the crowds were trying to be patient. The youngest felt the tension too.
As I looked about the crowd I realized that many of these very young children will be meeting their father for the first time. I saw mothers and fathers and brothers, uncles, sisters, and cousins. Every single one of those people have sacrificed a little bit of themselves when their soldier left. They stayed behind. They held up the fort. They carried on with the life these soldiers could come home to. In those hours they were all brought together for one reason; To set their eyes on their soldier. To know she was home safe.
This homecoming was the end of many soldier’s commitment to the Military. Some will go back. No one thought about that that day. No one complained about waiting in the heat. None of that mattered, as long as they could hold their soldier in their arms once again.
The wait was hard but we were reminded that war is harder and that some did not come home that day. “We find a way to be grateful that it was not one of our own,” I heard one woman say to another.
To all the families and soldiers who served with dignity, I salute you. To this beautiful family, thank you for letting me be a part of your story this past year. I am deeply touched by you all and feel blessed for knowing you.
Welcome home, Soldier!
Shari DeAngelo Photography | Philadelphia Wedding Photographer & Lifestyles Photography | Fine Art, Fashion, Lifestyles and Wedding Photographer located in Haddonfield, NJ and Philadelphia PA. Local and Destination services available.
I’ve known Kate since she was a little girl. She and my son have been friends for all these years. I wasn’t sure about taking her on as a client because in many ways she’s still Little Katie to me. At one point during the session I looked at the back of my camera, showed her the picture, and with a little more than an exclamation said, “Oh my God, Kate, you’re not a little girl anymore!”
In fact she’s not. She’s stunningly open and beautiful. At 22 she’s grown into an amazing human being. She’s currently in Peru, doing a work study program and her burning desire to see more of the world, and not just be a passer-by, makes me proud to know her. I feel blessed to have had the time to get to know her a little better and am happy to know my son keeps such amazing friends. The world is better for people like her in it.
She chose the Mercer Museum to take her portrait and since I’d never been, I was more than game. It was a lot of fun in a unique environment that bounces crazy light around everywhere. It was pretty hot that day so we were relieved to have found a fan…
Katie, wherever this finds you today, I hope you are loving every minute of your journey. No matter where the path takes you, I hope you always find your way home safely.
