blogs of photogs

Came across this great Pay-It-Forward project today: Roadside Families and knew I had to share it with all my readers on Blogs of Photogs! I’ll excerpt the “rules” below from their website, but the basic premise is this; photographers taking photos of other photographers family and then paying it forward, all with no money exchanged~ a beautiful idea!

Rules for Paying-It-Forward (note from Mary, this is from their website)

1. Once you and your family has been photographed, you have 30 days to photograph another photographer’s family. Don’t be that person that holds up the line because you procrastinated!
2. A photographer and their family (defined) can be any family group that consists of a photographer and his/her family. This could be a regular nuclear family, distant cousins, twin siblings, or conjoined twins. Whatever.
3. Be creative. Let loose! Free your mind!

Rules for Submissions

• Nudity or vulgarity will not be acceptable. Keep it family-friendly.
• Images can be no more than 900 pixels wide (including your watermark).
• Yes, you may watermark your image.
• To keep the chain going, you need to link to your own family post here on roadsidefamilies.com. This is called a permalink, and the url is shown on each post. For example, if JMC shot Joe’s Family and Joe shoots Kelly’s family, then when Joe posts Kelly’s photo on RoadsideFamilies.com, he needs to link to the one JMC shot of him.
  Example (at the top of the post):  Photography by Joseph,     Click here for Joseph’s family photograph
• IMPORTANT! Follow the step by step instructions below for submissions.

So, check it out and find a photographer to photograph your family and then you get to go shoot another photographers family. Love to hear about those that have already done this! Great idea!

best,

Mary

I’m not sure how I stumbled across Gina Maxine, it may have been on Flickr, or someone emailed me about her, I don’t recall, but however I found her, I am *so* glad I did. I get the feeling she is relatively new to the photography business world(I could be wrong, but her archives don’t go back very far…) which makes me think this is someone to watch for sure, especially if my hunch is correct. The current 2nd photo on her blog (little miss E) is just breathtaking- talk about waiting for the perfect moment and capturing it exquisitely. Gina works out of Central CA, primarily with babies and smaller children, with a few seniors mixed in and a lot of great commercial work. There is something ethereal and delicate about some of her shots that just give them such a lovely fine art flair. Enjoy!

~Mary

ps, not much change on my cousin with serious complications from H1N1, thanks for the kind words, thoughts and prayers, I will update on my personal twitter when there is much of anything to report.

Darling Art Photography by Rebecca Mudrick and Dena Robles is located in Chapel Hill, NC and they are also  available for travel. Darling Art photographs primarily children (aka, little darlings! cute, huh?) which I love, as I’ve seen so many photographers try to cover every age group when it is not their passion, and it shows. But~Darling Art sticks to children, and their work is masterful. The black and whites on the blog {here} have that lovely luminescent quality that I love, their color work is rich and luscious, and the expressions on their little subjects just epitomize joy. Enjoy the blog, and please accept my apologies for my long delay in posting. My cousin has been critically ill in the ICU with H1N1 complications for 13 days, and I’ve had trouble with staying focused on my photography, let alone finding time for blogs of photogs.  Please keep him in your prayers, it is a very scary time for our family.  Be well~

Mary

Jodie Otte works out of the Black Horse Studio located in Northern Baltimore County, Maryland. Her blog can be found here, where you will see a beautiful sampling of her work with clients ranging in age from days old to families. Jodie is equally comfortable and skilled at using both studio lighting and natural light, and her blog also features lots of slices of life from the nature surrounding her home in the cornfields. Aside from being an accomplished and talented photographer, Jodie is also excellent at self-promotion and marketing and has a thriving workshop business and book offerings for photographers as well. I first met Jodie on a parenting forum nearly 10 years ago now, and though I don’t often get over to her blog, it was such fun to see how her kids have grown, and to find that she also keeps chickens (!) as we entered into keeping chickens ourselves this year! You’ll find lots of photographic inspiration here!

~Enjoy!

Mary

Grant & Deb Perry of Virginia (Hampton Roads and surrounding area) specialize primarily in gorgeous lush wedding coverage, but their senior work, families and traditional portrait work is also superb. I really enjoyed their blog and site, which are both beautifully designed and also very informative for clients without being too wordy. Enjoy!

Laureen Carruthers works out of a small town in central British Columbia, Canada. She serves the areas of Williams Lake, 150 Mile House, 100 Mile House, Bridge Lake, & Quesnel. Laureen’s work has a clarity and richness of color that I really admire… her blog showcases a wide variety of subjects, from slices of her own life with her three boys to some weddings, senior photos (called grad photos in BC I guess!) family work on down to babies and toddlers. On her main site, (here) there is also some amazing birth photography in the births gallery. Gritty, emotional and beautiful ~ reminds me again to wonder aloud why more people don’t hire a pro photographer to capture this truly once in a lifetime event… (?)

As always, hope my readers enjoy the inspiration of another fabulous photographer! And, I love to get your emails or comments on past features or photographers you think I should shine the light on next. Keep in touch!

best,

Mary

As most high school senior photographers already know, it is prime time for getting the class of 2010 done! Many seniors just start to think about senior photos as “back to school” rolls around, but many others planned ahead and already have booked or completed their session. I’ve been looking for some awesome photographers to feature that specialize in senior photos, and one of my absolute favorites is David Quisenberry. He does a stunning job in studio with studio lighting, amazing with natural lighting and on location outside the studio, and what is most laudable is David’s ability to have truly unique images of each senior! The sneak peeks on his blog showcase such a wide range of styles, personalities, poses and backgrounds- great for his clients and also amazing inspiration for my Blogs of Photogs readers! David is also extremely talented in working with other ages, but I wanted to especially feature his senior/grad work! He works out of the McKinney, TX and the greater Dallas Metroplex area. Enjoy!

~Mary

Travis Ruse photographed his daily train and subway rides until 2007, posting a photo a day from his commute on his site, here. I never stumbled upon it while it was active, but looking back through the archives makes for a fascinating and intimate glimpse into NYC subway life. Enjoy!

Mary

Bob Smith of No Traces has one of the largest online portfolio’s of amazing work that I’ve reviewed on Blogs of Photogs. Where to start… well you can go to his photoblog to view a singular image with a quote or lyrics or small writing, or read his blog to catch up on his thoughts, or view his flickr stream (my faves are in his “one’s I like” stream here…)

Bob’s passion for photography & life and his artistry and documentary style were just a wonderful place for me to get lost in. So, get a big cup of coffee and sit down and be entralled.

Enjoy!

Mary

Jerry Yoon Phototography consists of Jerry & Ingrid who photograph amazing weddings out of the San Francisco Bay area as well as many destination weddings, and Aubrey & Blake their newish associate photographers. The artistry in their work is amazing and their polished and inspiring take on new shots/angles/compositions is really terrific. I found myself looking way back in their blog, all the way to September of ‘08  (here) where I just loved this engagement session sneak peek. Such a great slice of life and so FUN! Definitely one of the more inspiring wedding blogs out there for me.

Enjoy!

Mary