Nick and Naomi are a super cute couple and their daughter Ema is SO adorable! The were really easy to photograph because they were so enthusiastic about the photos. And they’re both so nice and so adorable. It was just a perfect day, with the perfect couple, and the perfect weather. We shot Nick and Naomi’s engagement session at Meadow brook Hall.
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Today I had the pleasure of taking photo’s of my cousins daughter Caitlin and her friends. They all loaded up in a pickup truck and made the drive to my place. The t-shirts were hand painted by the girls and represent their joy for life.
Live Laugh Love Dance Sing
These beautiful young ladies are all so full of life. I had a good time watching them play together.
We went into Fenton all dressed up to get some pictures at the park. The weather was cold and threatening to rain but it held off long enough for us to get some fun pictures.
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It’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything new. Alot has happened in my life in the past month but I will focus on my latest vacation. My husband and I took a seven day cruise to the Western Caribbean.
We arrived in Miami, Florida and sailed on the Carnival Valor.
Our first port was Grand Cayman,Cayman Islands. We went snorkeling in the morning.
The wind made for a tough swim and I never made it to the reef as the water was just too rough for me. I did however enjoy the boat ride and the sites on the way.
We spent the afternoon at Margaritaville. Free shots, good food and even better entertainment thanks to all the fun people traveling.
The Next day we escaped to an 11½ – acre private island with white sand beaches and crystal clear waters. We began with a scenic boat ride to Maya Key where our day was relaxing and adventurous. Lounging under the swaying coconut palms of Maya Key’s beach, and we enjoy the opportunity to snorkel in calm Roatan’s sparkling waters and explored the barrier reef. We also got a chance to see native Honduran wildlife, such as a Jaguar, Ocelot, Margay, monkeys and reptiles at the Animal Sanctuary and Rescue Center. I made friends with a monkey named George who was very affectionate. He gave me many hugs and kisses.
Our next port was Belize. We went cave tubing and I did not have a good day. It started off good with a nice hike through the rain forest but once we got to the cave and started tubing I got sick. I kept blaming it on food poisoning but it turns out I was claustrophobic. As soon as we got out of the cave I was fine. Unfortunately Belize is very poor and very run down and dirty. We should have spent our time snorkeling since they have some of the best waters on the barrier reef. Maybe next time.
Our next day we stopped off in Cozumel, Mexico we boarded another boat and went to Cancun for a long bus ride to the Mayan Ruins of Tulum.
Tulum is the site of a Pre-Columbian Maya walled city serving as a major port for Cobá. The ruins are located on 39 ft cliffs, along the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula on the Caribbean Sea
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Sunday morning after a long night of shooting pictures of Boy Scouts and looking back on my busy life. Wedding earlier in the month, the scouts, family shoot and school at night… I realized that I am tired. I just needed a day to take some photos for my own enjoyment. So husband, dog and self were off to Port Huron to see if we could find some ice flows at the mouth of the river.
The sky was gloomy and at times almost mystic. I was hoping for some good sunshine but the gloomy skies made for much more interesting photos.
I found that Port Huron has some very old buildings that are begging me to return for sunset poses.
Although we have been to Port Huron many times I always discover something new on each trip.
The Boy Scouts of America Pack 130 out of Waterford, Michigan invited me to cover their 100th Anniversary.
Cub master – Amber Stetson conducted the opening ceremony and from then on I was more entertained then I ever thought possible. These fine young boys were so proud to receive their badges for all of the hard work that they have done. And then it was on to the Entertainment.
My favorite was the funny Laugh In skit. And of course Baffling Bill the Magician had all the kids entertained.
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In celebration of the twins birthday, the M&M’s were opened and the tease was on.
Really Bobby & Robbie came over for head shots so they could submit them to their agent in order to get more acting jobs.
Bobby
Robbie
Can you tell them apart?
Yeah sometimes I had to take a second look too.
And a third when no one was aware.
You can see more of Bobbie in his upcoming movie that will be released May 2010. “Vigilante – The Hayward Brown Story” watch for it in a theater near you.
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Meet my family. My wonderful children all agreed to a family photo shoot . We had fun with the photos and then finished the night off with pizza. Thanks to all.
The shot above was achieved by me refucusing while the shutter was engaged. Pretty cool.
Filed under Black and Whites, Children, Maternity and Newborns, Portraits, Uncategorized
With a new year comes new ice skates. Not just for the kids but us older kids got new skates too. We spent about five hours out on the ice playing on it. Shawn got to use his new hockey stick and snow board.
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I had the pleasure of meeting Autumn last week. This beautiful little girl was not camera shy although she certainly is shy in general. Autumn just celebrated her 4th birthday.
Thank you Autumn for posing in all of my silly scarfs. I hope we can do another photo session in the spring.
And a special thanks to KinderCare for allowing me to share the day with all of their children
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KinderCare Daycare of Waterford asked me to come in and take photos of all the children as the daycares gift to the parents. This was an exciting task. My daughter Leanne has worked at KinderCare for ten years, so I have been a regular visitor to the center in the past. However it’s been a while since I’ve been there so I was anxious to meet some of the new students.
Santa also paid a special visit.
I would like to thank all of the parents who have allowed me to share a fun filled day with their precious children.
And a special thank you to my beautiful daughter Leanne for just being herself and loving each and everyone of these children and many many others who have passed through the doors of KinderCare in the last ten years. We are all blessed to have her.
Filed under Children, Portraits, Uncategorized
I was fortunate enough to be invited to take some photos while the cast and crew filmed the new movie
The new publicity trailer has been released and you will find a link below to the trailer.
In the early 1970′s, Hayward Leslie Brown‘s name was synonymous with gun battles, the most extensive manhunt in modern Detroit police history, political controversy and seemingly endless court cases.
He was accused of being a “mad dog” cop killer and was hailed as a would-be Robin Hood by some community activists.
After the first round of charges against him worked their way through the courts, he returned to the public eye in several criminal cases charged with drug possession, weapons possession and armed robbery. In all, Brown was charged with more than a dozen crimes — from murder and arson to gun and drug violations.
In 1981, a Recorder’s Court jury found him guilty of possession of heroin. He was sentenced to 2 1/2 to 4 years.
Meanwhile, though he was no longer regarded as important figure in Detroit’s radical political circles, he continued to appear at political meetings and rallies to give symbolic support for causes such as opposition to the U.S. invasion of Grenada.
On Wednesday, June 13 1984 Brown was murdered in an inner-city apartment.
Brown came to the attention of the public Dec. 4, 1972, in a shoot-out with Detroit police officers from the now-disbanded undercover STRESS – Stop the Robberies, Enjoy Safe Streets – unit. Four officers were wounded.
On Dec. 27 street shoot-out between police and the alleged assailant in the Dec. 4 shooting –Brown, Mark Bethune and John Boyd — left another policeman dead and his partner critically wounded.
Bethune and Boyd later died after confrontations with Atlanta police. Boyd was killed in a shootout Feb. 23, 1973, in which his half-brother, Owen Winfield, also was shot and killed. Bethune, who was wounded, killed himself four days later as Atlanta police closed in.
On Jan 12, 1974 , Brown, then 18, was arrested after the firebombing of a federally financed birth control clinic near Wayne State University.
Before being charged with the firebombing, he was tried and acquitted five times in Recorder’s Court on charges stemming from the police shootings.
He was convicted in U.S. District Court in 1975 on firebombing charges and sentenced to eight years in prison. He was released in 1977 from Sandstone federal prison in Minnesota when an appeals court overturned the conviction. Charges were then dismissed.
Later that year, two trials on concealed weapons charges ended in hung juries.
After an arrest following a 1980 robbery, Brown reportedly tried to commit suicide by hanging himself in the Detroit police’s 13th Precinct jail. By one account, he told police he was “just tired of being arrested.” Brown later claimed that police had tried to kill him, a charge police investigators said could not be substantiated.
At the high point of Brown’s notoriety and through his first round of trials, he was a political folk hero to some.
Gene Cunningham, a former editor of Wayne State University’s then-radical student paper, “The South End,” recalled that Brown’s face appeared on T-shirts along with a slogan advocating vigilante actions in the black community to drive out dope dealers if the police wouldn’t.
Cunningham said Brown often appeared at rallies against STRESS, which was disbanded by Coleman Young after he became mayor.
The manhunt was also a flash point for community opposition to the STRESS units. Those units used plainclothes squad members as decoys to lure muggers. the mostly white unit was seen by many in the black community as more dangerous than the muggers they were supposed to be fighting. Most of the alleged muggers killed by the units were black.
The Original shoot-out took place when, according to four STRESS officers, they tried to pull over a Volkswagen on Livernois near the University of Detroit and the three men came out shooting.
The manhunt intensified after two other STRESS officers stalked out a suspected hideout near W. Chicago and Schaefer. The tree escaped, leaving one of those officers dead and another seriously wounded.
Hundreds of police officers participated in the initial manhunt and scoured sections of west Detroit in house -to-house searches, combing alleys and looking in garages on the ground while helicopter searchlights glared from the sky.
Relatives and acquaintances and some who didn’t even know the suspects said their homes were illegally broken into. They said they were searched, dragged out of their homes, harassed and in some cases arrested for no cause.
Four years later, in 1976, city attorneys admitted there had been illegal behaviour on the part of the police and authorized the city to pay $85,000 to 15 persons who sued the city after their houses were searched.
Later, Wayne County Prosecutor William Cahalan said Brown was acquitted in his original case not because of the evidence but because of the way jurors viewed his treatment by police. “They came out afterward and said they thought he was hunted down like a dog.” Cahalan said.
Story from the Sunday, June 17, 1984 Detroit Free Press
Author: W. Kim Heron Free Press Staff Writer.
For more photos go to Site Navigation
See story from the “Detroit News”
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I had the pleasure of photographing the Barnosky family yesterday. I hope you enjoy these photos as much as I did taking them.
I want to thank you for choosing me to photograph your family.
Marie
The Art of Capturing Life
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Busy week. Photo shoot at a day care. Twenty Nine kids. Took 5 hours and a lot of squatting and belly crawling to get all those little people in frame. Then on to a maternity shoot. Oh so beautiful mommy to be.
Filed under Children, Maternity and Newborns, Portraits
My daughter and I just returned from a four night Carnival Bahama Cruise.
This Photo was taken by crew member and our new friend Laszlo from Slovakia
On our first day we met Laszlo who is a photographer on the ship.
As you can see Laszlo was able to capture the sexy fun side of the two of us.
Leanne and Laszlo
After we set sail from Freeport we attended the formal captains dinner. After dinner we went to a show then on to the clubs to finish off the night with dancing. I may be in need of hip replacement surgery if I keep that up. (something to work on in yoga). We ended the night at the Kaleidoscope club where I watched some very talented people on the dance floor.
Our next port of call was Nassau where we hired a horse drawn carriage to show us around town before we walked the streets. The Bahamians drive on the “Wrong” side of the street. The sidewalks abruptly ended without warning and left us many times walking with the flow of traffic. Besides being on high alert for traffic coming from all directions we were very uncomfortable being two woman walking the streets alone. This I would not recommend. We seen some of the city and the people and the police who seemed to be everywhere patrolling the streets.
We then returned to the ship for lunch and then after lunch went to Atlantis for a tour of the aquarium and casino.
Atlantis
Conch was important to multiple native cultures throughout the early history of the Americas. Its meat, considered aphrodisiac to most of its early enthusiasts was enjoyed for its sweet, clean flavor. In addition to lean protein, conch meat is a good source of iron and calcium and was likely successful as an aphrodisiac in its early history for the boost of energy it provided to hunters and gatherers. A conch (pronounced ”konk”) is one of a number of different species of medium-sized to large saltwater snails or their shells.
Second in popularity only to the escargot for edible snails, the “meat” of the conch is used as food, either eaten raw, as in salads, or cooked, as in fritters, chowders, gumbos, and burgers. All parts of the conch meat are edible. However, some people find only the white meat appetizing.
In East Asian cuisines, this seafood is often cut into thin slices and then steamed or stir-fried.
In the Bahamas and the West Indies in general, local people eat conch in soups (commonly Callaloo) and salads. Restaurants all over the islands serve this particular meat.
Are fantastic wait staff took care of our every want and need at dinner. Our server Intanuk from the Philippines will spend eight months on the ship before he can go back home to his wife and two small children for two months. He shared his story with us one night and told us of when he first arrived how he did not know anyone and cried for a week. This because he can not make enough money in his own country to support his family.
The crew members of this ship work seemingly endless hours to keep the ship running. Those crew members that cleaned our room and served us at our dining table were like family to us and I wish I could have taken them all home for Christmas. The crew members all of them were the highlight of my trip not the islands, not the entertainment, not the food and certainly not the ship.
Our waiter from the Philippines
Each day we were greeted by a new towel animal.
Our last day at sea we spent relaxing in the sun and spent a good portion of the day people watching. We cheered on the contestants of the “Harry Man” contest. Watched other peoples children enjoy the water slides. Then we finished off the evening with cocktails, an awesome Las Vegas type show and an “R” rated comedy act that had me busting a gut.
Filed under Landscape and Sea Scape, Pets and Wildlife, Travel, Uncategorized
For thousands of Michigan families, it wouldn’t be Christmas if they didn’t attend the Dickens Olde Fashioned Christmas Festival. In the quaint Village of Holly, Michigan, amidst the great Victorian period architecture, Charles Dickens characters come to life in the streets at the annual Dickens Festival. Music and merriment is what it’s all about.
Central to the celebration are characters from Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” – Ebenezer Scrooge, Jacob Marley, The Ghost of Christmas Past and many others – brought to life by members of The Festival Singers, who will also present music of the season in 5-part acapella harmony. Special weekends, such as Victorian Charm Weekend, will feature the Renewal of Vows ceremony where Mr. Scrooge officiates so anything could happen!
“I will honor Christmas in my heart,
and try to keep it all the year”
- Ebenezer Scrooge
A Christmas Carol
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Last Sunday I took my twelve year old granddaughter to Medow Brook Hall in hopes of getting the most out of the end of Autumn. Although it was an overcast day and the skies were realitivly grey we managed to get some nice photos and we also squeezed in a tour of the mansion.
There was a lot of activity going on as they were preparing for the 38th annual Holiday Walk at this 110-room Tudor style mansion.
Meadow Brook Hall is the fourth largest historic house museum in the United States and is renowned for its superb craftsmanship, architectural detailing and grand scale. Built between 1926 and 1929 as the residence of Matilda Dodge Wilson (widow of auto pioneer John Dodge) and her second husband, lumber broker Alfred G. Wilson, the 110-room, 88,000-square-foot, Tudor-revival style mansion is complete with vast collections of original art and furnishings.
Meadow Brook Hall has a clay shingle tile
roof and 39 uniquely designed brick
chimneys, serving 24 fireplaces.
Architecture and Interior
Meadow Brook Hall is especially renowned for its fine craftsmanship, exquisite architectural detailing and grand scale. The architecture is the embodiment of enduring quality in both its design and use of fine construction materials.
The exterior combines various textures and patterns using American materials of brick, sandstone, wood timbers and a roof of clay shingle tile. The house also features 39 uniquely designed brick chimneys that distinguish the picturesque roofline.
Interiors of the house are elaborately detailed with carved wood and stone, handmade hardware and ceramic art tile, ornately molded and carved plaster ceilings, stained glass window insets, crystal and art glass lighting fixtures, and gold-plated bathroom fittings. And while the interiors reflect various historic styles, the house is equipped with every modern amenity available in the late 1920s. It was fully electric with a central heating system, two elevators, four kitchens and a full size home theatre.
The exterior and most of the interior rooms at Meadow Brook Hall were designed in the Tudor-revival style. However, a few rooms were decorated in other period-revival styles: the dining room and Matilda’s study are 18th-century Neo-classical, Matilda’s room and the French bedroom are 18th-century French Rococo, and Frances’ bedroom is American Colonial.
Excluding a period of time during the Depression, and then in Alfred’s later years, Matilda lived in the hall from the time it was built in 1929 until her death in 1967. She did close the hall for a few years during the Depression, partly for appearances and partly for financial reasons because maintaining a home of this size during that time was difficult.
Throughout the 38 years the Wilsons lived at Meadow Brook Hall, they hosted many family and social gatherings and took great pride in sharing this architectural masterpiece, its grounds, art and furnishings with guests.
Parties to remember include Frances Dodge’s wedding in 1938, her 25th birthday party in 1939 where the entertainment included the Tommy Dorsey band and singer Frank Sinatra, Barbara Wilson’s coming out party in 1950, and the largest gathering of Oakland University students, faculty and alumni in 1963 for Matilda’s 80th birthday.
One of life’s greatest pleasures is seeing your family together. Chances are your family will be gathering sometime soon. There’s no better time to create a family portrait that will capture the spirit of family for you to enjoy all year round. Take this opportunity to capture this time in your family’s history and give your family a gift that will turn those special moments into memories they can hold on to forever.
Contact me today for additional information or to discuss how easy it is to schedule a portrait session for your family.
Filed under Architecture, Children, Portraits, Travel
The spider species Argiope aurantia is commonly known as the Black and Yellow Garden Spider, Writing Spider, Banana Spider or Corn Spider. It is common to the lower 48 of the United States, Hawaii, southern Canada, Mexico, and Central America. They have distinctive yellow and black markings on their abdomens and a mostly white cephalothorax. Males range from 5 to 9 mm; females from 19 to 28 mm. Like other members of Argiope they are considered harmless to humans. Continue reading
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Today I handed over the camera to my granddaughter. It was her turn to do the shooting and I had to do the posing. She did a pretty good job once she figured out how to look through the eye piece. The camera was a bit heavy for her too but she managed. We did this photo shoot at Meadowbrook Hall in Rochester.
Canon EOS Rebel T1i: 1/200; 13.0; ISO 400
Holly’s roots go back 150+ years, to the arrival of its first settlers in 1831. Many followed, and by 1843, one of these, Ira C. Alger, had dammed the Shiawassee River and constructed a sawmill to provide lumber for homes and schools. A year later he built a gristmill to process the grain from the surrounding agricultural land. With these assets, Holly was able to attract the railroads, and in 1855, the first train rolled into town, marking the beginning of Holly’s growth era, and the development of downtown Holly as its hub.
Canon EOS Rebel T1i - 1/60; 4.0; ISO 400
Filed under Architecture, Travel
History
Fenton was first named Dibbleville after the first settler in the area, Clark Dibble, who moved there from New York in 1834. According to local legend, it was renamed Fenton as a result of an 1837 card game involving two men, William M. Fenton and Robert LeRoy. The stakes were high; the winner won the right to name the village. A full house won Fenton the right to name the city, today known as “Fenton”. Robert Leroy and Benjamin Rockwell were the other players. The three men continued to play to name the main streets in the village. The main business street was named “Leroy”, the principal residential street “Rockwell”. The city’s original name survives as the name of one of Fenton’s neighborhoods.
Fenton was incorporated as a village in 1863 and as a city in 1964. It was during the end of the 60′s decade, that Mayor Paul Bottecelli, owner and pharmacist of Fenton Drug, and the City Council decided to use Federal Urban Renewal funds to tear down three of the four original downtown business blocks. Urban Renewal, after many heated debates, came to a vote of the citizens of Fenton. Urban Renewal passed by a narrow margin. Three of the four original downtown blocks of businesses were leveled, changing the original downtown landscape forever. After Urban Renewal, the number and variety of businesses decreased in the downtown section. Many businesses closed and a few moved out of the downtown area to other areas of town. Since the time of Urban Renewal, the importance of a downtown as a central core, has resurrected. There are events throughout the year in the downtown. In the summer, there is a Fourth of July Festival, a weekly Farmer’s Market, Taste of Fenton, and Art in the Park. During the December holiday season, the festivities include Jingle Fest and a New Year’s Eve celebration.
Today, Fenton has the fastest growing population of any city with 25,000 inhabitants or less. An entirely new neighborhood, Silver Lake Village has been built around a contemporary open-air shopping area. On the south side of Fenton lies the old Fenton Seminary. The wife of famed pragmatist John Dewey had attended the seminary. The seminary is to be knocked down soon, though.
Tornado
On August 24, 2007, an F2 tornado hit downtown Fenton. It left miles of debris, destroyed several homes and almost completely destroyed the newly opened Tractor Supply Company and nearby train depot. This caused many people to go without power, leaving the city in a state of emergency. Fortunately, there were no fatalities or serious injuries.
Filed under Architecture, Travel
Today my dad celebrated his 72nd birthday. Amazing that on a Monday every one of his children gathered at his home by pure coincidence. It was not even in my plans to make the 100+ mile trip.
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Today I had the pleasure of shooting pictures of Lyla. She wanted to show off her new Christmas dress. Lyla is a breath of fresh air. Although she likes getting dressed up she also is a little tom boy. Her sparkling personality made the photo shoot effortless.
1/15; 2.8; ISO 400 1/60; 4.0; ISO 1000
This weekend I got to meet up with two fun families at Bayport Park on Andersonville Rd. in Waterford, Michigan for our photo shoot. This was a great location with beautiful grounds and lots of running space. There the kiddies played on the swings, climbed trees, hiked through the woods, played on the beach and ran the hills.
These boys were completely uninterested in having their photo’s taken.
With tree’s to climb, swings to swing, there was no stopping them. I had all I could do to keep up with them.
In search of spiders and snakes. Boys of course will be boys.
I asked for funny faces and this is what I get. Little cuties.
It’s easy to see that these three guys are the best of friends.
