For a long time I’ve wanted classic black and white pictures of my children to display in my living room. It is very interesting that although I take many pictures I didn’t seem to “make” the time to take carefully planned portraits of my babies. I finally got off my rusty dusty and started to create portraits that will be cherished for generations to come.

I’m not knocking color portraits but there is something timeless about having a black and white image. They seem to stand the test of time and can take on the characteristic of being “Fine Art” in the home.

First I will start with my first born – Brent. He is one of the coolest kids that a person could ask to have. He’s soft spoken and very well mannered. He does a great job of helping me to look over his younger siblings. He loves playing the piano and doing magic tricks. Rumor has it that he has his own website on youtube and goes by the name of pianomagician.

My 2nd child is Courtney. The Lord allowed us to spend 7 precious weeks with her. She was a bundle of joy and just as sweet as can be. The Lord called her home to be with Him at the tender age of seven weeks old.

My 3rd child is Mr. Christian. He is a fun loving and mischievious kid. He is super smart and loves to solve puzzles. I call him “The Thinker” in the family because he can figure out things that seem to stump his older brother. All I can say is that with Christian in the house there is always a certain level of excitement. He’s head strong and has the brains to back it up. If the truth be told, he is just the way I was when I was younger. People used to call me “ca-nivan” which is a spin on the word conniving.

My 4th child is Aleah. You’ve all heard that God is in the restoring business and that is because HE is. The Lord saw fit to bless me with another baby girl when He created Aleah. When she was a baby she had the fattest cheeks and I used to call her “Baby Biscuits”. She is also my shadow… kind of reminds me of those animals on TV that physically cling to their parents.

I treasure each day that I have with my babies and I know that tomorrow is never promised. If you have children then love them up as much as you can and enjoy each day with them.

With the exception of Courtney’s picture all of these were taken in the comfort of my living room usually at odd times of the day

It is not an average day occurrence for me to have the ability to photograph two elegant women.

Pictured here from left to right are Ms. Ann and Ms. Alida. Ms. Alida is the proud grandmother of my children and she helps me to keep them in line. We love her dearly and I could never ask for a better Mother In Law. If you ever look up the definition of two peas in a pod you will see their picture. Ms. Ann and Ms. Alida are always out doing something.

One of the things I enjoyed about capturing them is that they were fun, easy going and had a lot to bring to the table. They are humble, smart, have a zest for life and are very photogenic. Their husbands are blessed to have them as spouses by their sides.

One of the goals of this session was to create a portrait for Ms. Alida’s husband. The photo below is stunning and will be treasured for generations to come.

When it was time for Ms. Ann to take her turn in front of the camera I knew that it would also be another successful session. She just seemed to have a soothing calm that radiated from her and the photograph below proves that she is a sophisticated lady.

Once the semi-formal photographs were out of the way then we decided to take a few light hearted photos. This was another easy shoot… we just grabbed a chair and Ms. Alida came up with the poses herself which ended up making my job that much easier.

They exhibit the true meaning of friendship and they support each other through good and bad times. I’m looking forward to the next time that I can capture these two buddies again.

I’ve been Melvin’s neighbor for about 9 years and over the time we’ve watched each other’s children grow up. Today I had the chance to help Melvin Dailey preserve some precious memories. It just so happened that his children were in the mood to take some photographs and so we took advantage of the moment and captured the portraits below. Featured from left to right are Melkwon, Melvin and Marissa.

There is one thing that can be said…. Marissa will always be Melvin’s baby girl.

Ahhhhhh, you’ve got to love it.. a little bit of sibling rivalry. Sure some people like stiff, classically posed pictures and there is a place for that. However, the most fun photographs are the ones that show the true love and joy that family members have for each other.

And of course you know that dad had to jump in and get a piece of the action as well.

Today Marissa was not only one of my subjects to photograph but she worked as my assistant as well. She helped me get the lights metered and setup. This was actually a test shot that was intended to check the exposure on the camera.

One of the strongest forces on the earth is the bond that a mother has for her baby. God created this special bond and it is a beautiful sight to behold when you can see the love being shared back and forth. Today I had the chance to meet and photograph Baby Girl Mariyah. She is a precious little angel even though she can get cranky at times. Here are a few priceless memories from our shoot today.

Too precious…….

In the picture below, she is gazing into her mom’s eyes.

Security……

Babies deserve and demand love, nurturing and attention.. if you look close enough you can see baby Mariyah smiling as her mom gives her a gentle kiss.

In this shot Mariyah was starting to get cranky however, the picture is still adorable.

Right now she is holding onto mom as she vents her frustration.

Now she feels a lot better after getting her frustration out.

Not a care in the world. Time for a little nap….

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