RouseGallery...The Blog

Grace!

What a special girl. What amazing expressions! I was quite proud on this sunny summer evening to become her personal paparazzi.

Which of course meant hanging out in the playhouse, cramming my size 32 waist down the kids' slide, getting splashed head to toe with my near proximity to the pool, rolling around in the sandbox...and re-learning the etiquette of doing the tea-cup thing(er...it's been a while. plus, it seems like it was matchbox cars and tonka trucks with me anyway).

In other words, Grace has this playing and hanging-out thing down to an art form!

Subsequently, I give you the results of one total, adrenaline-rush, no-holding back, to-the-limit evening with the star of our shoot, Grace!

R

 

   

Samuel and Elizabeth

What a whirlwind evening of awesome image-making!

Samuel introduced me to his most-cordial-of-cats, epic record-shattering backflips in the pool, hyper-extreme peekaboo around the corner of the house and the great secret art of chalk-drawing pokemon characters and rainbows! (er...sorry, Dad, guess I'll be helping to clean the driveway surface!) All told, nine-year old models...and world-class pokemon champions for that matter, don't come any finer!

Elizabeth embodied every desirable adjective in the thesaurus for her late-evening shoot: lovely, fair, sweet, graceful and beautious!(ah...that last one would be my insertion) Speaking of the wonders of the English language, which I have been known to unexpectedly diss on infrequent occasions, Elizabeth is a blossoming talent in the literary arts(Eureka! A fellow English major!), hence our inclusion of her journal. I am excited to see where this love of writing and all things creative takes her...the sky is the limit, I'm sure!

Thanx to these two amazing people for making my day. Now they can make yours....

R

And now for Part Two...

   

   

A Summer Moment

This is the kind of image that just stops you in your tracks.

It embodies the carefree innocence of these two young children, sharing the joy and the wonder and the endless dream that is summer. I'm very proud of this photograph.

I had so much fun with this portrait commission. These two personified the boundless energy and wide-eyed wonder of childhood...and they boasted beaming smiles that would light up any landscape, as true and luminous as the summer sun.

It's the kind of thing that makes my job so worthwhile...

R

Maya and Maria

That sounds like a poem..or a great song title! Something dreamy and continental and...

Well, anyhoo, I spent an afternoon following these two lovely young ladies. Maya has lovely, flowing long hair and is quite a wonderful little ballerina; she also has developed quite a fondness for wanting you to push her very HIGH on the swings!! Her little sister Maria will absolutely melt your heart when she breaks into that smile of hers and starts singing her merry little songs; and, apparently, I need to start learning the words to the latest children's songs so I can sing along with her(I mean, I know the "ABC's" song and the Barney song and supercalifragilistic...does that count?).

They definitely know the secret to the magic of life. Skipping and prancing through a summer afternoon, courting the magic of laughter, splashing through the puddles of rain water, drinking in the scent of wildflowers, relishing the warmth of the day...

Ahhh...to be a kid again.

R

 

Riley!!!

This little girl gives new meaning to that phrase "cute as a button"!!!

She was so cooperative, consistent and animated...she could teach some adult models a thing or two! And thanx to Riley's Grandma, we had a beautiful, classic location in the historic part of town, where archaic stone walls and hanging vines awaited us. I could get so used to working with all the iron scroll work patio furniture and lush gardens. The ideal location to compliment a dreamy summer afternoon.

But, hey...it was our star ten month old model that made it happen. And I know you'll enjoy viewing her portfolio with me,

R

   

Courtney!

Out along the farm roads we went...out ahead of the storm front, pulling in at the farm owned by Courtney's Grandparents.

There, I saw this eight year old miracle of motion and laughter whirl and prance in front of my lens...riding horses, playing with the puppies, climbing up on fences and into barn lofts, twirling in the swing, scurrying up trees, picking strawberries...and generally doing all the cool things grown-ups have forgotten how to do!

Couldn't ask for better light...or a better portrait subject! And to cap off the perfect evening, Courtney's Grandma made us strawberry-banana smoothies...yummmm...

Can't wait to go back for the Fourth of July farm celebration(you can expect  MASSIVE blog posting in regard to that, coming soon).

R

   

Brady, Jacob and Seth!!

Portrait Commissions don't come any better than this.

Roaming about the farmyard...chasing and keeping up with three energetic little guys! Spending the hours dumping piles of boys out of hammocks, climbing trees and jungle gyms...and playing basketball with a soccer ball!(hey...time to improvise!)

What an awesome trio of boys! Theirs is a world of four-wheelers, bicycles and go-carts, baseball cards. And best of all, they get to grow up on the farm(as a city kid, I'm definitely envious).

And what good kids, very considerate. I'd love to come back and do it all again, especially now that I'm experienced with the whole sports card thing(yes, Brady has everything from an Ellway to a Hank Aaron!).

To top it all off, Mom rewarded us with chocolate shakes at the end of the session(I think if we're really good next time, we'll get not one but TWO oreos per shake!).

R

      

Carli...and the Grand Tour of Greatstone Township

Carli is just about to turn fifteen...but I think she sort of received her senior portfolio shoot early!

This was an awesome portrait commission. Carli's Mom sent her and I out to drive around the countryside and take some cool photos. There is no better scenario: just cruising around, stopping when we saw something interesting and creating images on the spot.

So, despite the fear of starting fires in overgrown prairie trails with the hot car...the near proximity of live bee hives in two different photo locations...swarming colonies of mosquitoes...scurrying farm rodents underfoot in the fields...and nearly collapsing into hidden holes in abandoned farm yards...we prevailed!

Carli was the perfect host, tour guide and farm girl model! Plus, I think we were able to get her out of raking hay for the day by doing the session!

Enjoy the pics with us.

R

   

Then, there's the photo to follow. When I saw this for the first time upon editing files, my jaw hit the floor. Totally intense, mind-blowing image. It's a credit to Carli that she mustered this intensity and this expression, especially without ever having done a shoot like this before.

I am so going to seek publication for this image; this is the kind of image that has to be shared:

Maecey!

What a lovely little girl!

All of eleven months and full of life and beauty. She is the perfect compliment to a summer's day! I discovered in our short time together that she loves teddy bears, elmo, the sound of monkeys at the zoo...and she can do the cutest little dance, sort of a funky little wiggle!

Maybe she can help me with my dance steps!

Meantime, I'm hoping she appears before my camera again soon...as long as we promise to bring a refreshing bottle full of juice for her enjoyment and, of course, elmo!

R

Spending a summer afternoon with L

What a perfect model!

L gave me one solid expression after another...and I didn't have to even ask him! Of course, there was the occasional bribe in the form of cheerios, cookies, milk and assorted balls, brooms and other joy-inducing gadgets preferred by a one-year old boy! Also, I quite enjoyed reciprocating monkey sounds with L and, thanx to the distant rush of traffic on the nearby expressway, the sound of trucks and cars(produced by pursing the lips together, blowing heartily and...well, I would demonstrate but it's a little embarrassing out of context!!).

Thanx to L and his Mom and Dad for an enriching romp thru the woods in the warmth of the summer sun and time spent with a totally-inspiring, on-the-go little guy with a real zeal for the wonder of life.

R