Wonder Child

Jacob is getting chubbier as the days go by.  He's still so tiny but he has puffy little cheeks... and dimples!  The girls adore him.


This photo was taken at one of my favorite moments from Georgia's labor.  Alyssa is such a bizarre child - she's this clumsy little tank but she's always got this out-of-this-world look on her face like she's thinking about things we can't even comprehend.  When Georgia was having a contraction, Alyssa walked right up to the side of the pool and put her hand on Georgia's head to comfort her.  Afterwards, she walked to Matt and patted him on the arm with this amazing little encouraging smile on her face.  Then she turned around and walked, naked as the day she was born, out the door and down the hallway.  Incredible.

"Are you smoking yet?"

The theme for this week's assignment was smoking.  Among several black and white portraits, I also had to create two ads - one pro and one anti smoking.  Granted, graphic design is not my strong point and I don't have an incredible eye for advertising.  All the same, I kind of like how they turned out and I thought I would share.


The first one was actually surprisingly easy to shoot - I created an 8" studio in my apartment!  All I did was place an apple on a sheet of white paper with a light shining through from the other side for diffusion.  I had one lightbulb from a lamp shining down from about five feet above.  And that was it!  So easy!


The second one took a bit more work and obviously some post work.  The other photos for this assignment were not photoshop-intensive, just curves adjustments, really.  But the ads were allowed to be edited, so I thought I'd have some fun.  We had to make up a brand name, and since I don't smoke, I wasn't really sure what to use, so I made something that hopefully works with the image.  What do y'all think?

Jacob Ransom Franchetti

I
have
a
nephew!

Last night at 9:20 my sister gave birth to the most incredibly beautiful baby boy I have ever seen in my life.  He is so amazing.  He's not even 24 hours old yet and he's already got chubby little cheeks!  He likes Daddy a lot - Matt held him for a long time afterwards while Mommy got cleaned up.  I think they will get along famously.

Jacob is so incredible.  I have over five hundred pictures to edit from last night - none of these three have been touched up at all yet, but I couldn't wait to show the world how beautiful my nephew is!

The most amazing thing happened while I was there.  The entire time I was with my sister, I did, of course, think to take pictures, but I was far more concerned about her safety and well-being.  I'm guessing that's pretty normal, she's my sister.  But as soon as I could see Jacob's head, something just clicked inside of me - just this absolute feeling that this is exactly what I want to do.  I don't think this could ever get old for me.  It's the most incredible experience I can imagine and it's new every time.  I am so happy that I'm pursuing this as a career!

Jacob Ransom Franchetti, I LOVE YOU!

Predicting the Unpredictable

Good morning, world!  Yesterday I could have used a pair of rain boots.  My fiancé has rubber toe-shoes that he wore yesterday on a walk to the mail box in the downpour.  On the way back, he stepped on a gigantic worm!  Eeeew!  I screamed - what a dork.


Anyway, this is a pretty recent photo I took of my niece.  Unplanned, not staged, just capturing cuteness.  Actually, it's very funny - her older sister was explaining to Mommy that "you have to stand very still in front of the camera or else you can't take the picture."  Alyssa hasn't quite gotten the idea yet.  She kept asking me to take her picture and then running around behind the camera.  Candid moments with children are HARD!

My sister is past due and I am so antsy I can hardly stand it.  I want to meet this baby!  I had the opportunity to speak with one of my professors at Temple, Shenid Bhayroo, about how to shoot in this kind of situation.  For example, I have no idea what time of day my sister will go into labor.  There's a decent chance there will be very poor light.  Some easy ways to get around this are not options - I'm clearly not going to be setting up studio lights in her room and I wouldn't dream of setting off a flash.  It will be challenging, but I know it will be ok.  It's an excellent learning opportunity.  Can't wait!!!

Ethereal Mommy

My sister's due date isn't entirely certain.  They're guessing it's this Sunday.  That means any day now we'll be meeting a beautiful new boy or girl and welcoming them into the family!  I'm so excited, I can hardly wait.


We got together on Monday to take some pregnant mommy shots.  She really wanted to do a henna tattoo on her belly but couldn't find a kit so she drew one on with brown marker (and it looks very convincing!  My sister is so amazing).  We had so much fun and the shots turned out really well.


We had the advantage of a nice, cloudy day, so this first photo was shot out on the deck.  I'm choosing not to share some of the belly shots since although she looked phenomenal, there wasn't much in the way of clothing going on.  The diffused light from the clouds was great, though.  It really brought out all the vibrant colors going on and diminished harsh shadow.

The second photo was taken by a window across from a line of row-homes, but since I was exposing for her, they're completely washed out and there's just a really nice, soft, white light.  (Photog-experts, this is common sense, but I like explaining a bit of how things come together for my friends and family)

I can't wait to meet (and photograph) the new baby!  How exciting!!!

I'M ENGAGED!

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the picture of a completely unsuspecting Alexis Shea, under an hour before becoming engaged to the most incredible man on this planet.  I am on Cloud 9.  My life has been one crazy event after the other and after it all, I am engaged to my Sunday School crush.

On the way home from a beautiful night together, we were hit by a drunk driver on I-95, who pushed us into another lane where we were rear ended by another vehicle.  We're both ok - we have some whiplash and are in a little pain, but it's nothing that won't go away.  And through all the chaos, I couldn't really bring myself to be that upset - we had a 'protective glow'.  We're so happy!

In the collage that I intend to make from this momentous occasion, I will be including the playbill from our show, the tickets, and two hospital wristbands from the emergency room.  HA!

I'M IN LOVE!  I WIN!

Billy Penn

Hey all!  Sorry it's been a while since I last wrote - apparently the phone jack in my apartment was ancient and a few days ago it ceased to work.  I finally just got Verizon out to fix everything up and am super excited to have my beloved internet back!


Anyway, I had a pretty cool experience a few days ago and I wanted to share.  This photo was taken from the top of the Pine Building - the oldest branch of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and, I believe, the oldest hospital in the country.  I asked the woman at the front desk in the main hospital if I could go up to take photos and she gave me a pass and sent me on my way, no questions asked, no accompanying guard, nothing.


I was alone in the building for two flights - absolutely no one else was there.  One tiny spiral staircase led all the way to the roof, but it was locked, so I took this from just below out of an ancient, dilapidated window - creeping along floorboards that looked like at any minute they'd collapse.  This, ladies and gentlemen, is the William Penn no one remembers.  I am fairly certain everyone else in my class tried (and some of them got very close) to get above the statue at City Hall, but my guess is no one thought to walk a few blocks to 8th and Spruce for a completely different picture.


You have to admit.  It's pretty cool.

"I have a competition in me"

Free minutes!  Huzzah!


I don't know how I've gotten through the past few weeks.  Every day it feels like there's more to do than I can possibly fit into 24 hours, but every day I've managed to get it all done.  I've had a lot of help from my Love - thank you, dear!


So, the woman in this photo is awesome.  She's a natural home birth advocate (and three-time-success story!) and she's getting ready for #4!


It's really exciting for me to speak to women who understand my enthusiasm for natural home birth.  I've been meeting more and more of them as this idea is molded into a functioning business.  Things are coming along fantastically!


I can barely contain my excitement for Georgia's baby to come.  This will be my first of many things - the first birth I've seen (other than my own, I guess, and the beginning of my brother's some 18 1/2 years ago!), the first water birth I've seen, the first birth I'm photographing...  I'm relieved to be starting with someone I know well and am comfortable with.  Things could get a bit more challenging from here on out!


On another note, I have a confession to make.  And if you've seen There Will Be Blood, you know the reference.  I have a competition in me.  I want no one else to succeed.  It's not entirely true - I like seeing people work hard and do well.  But I will be good at what I do.  I will excel at what I do.  And I welcome a little competition to become the best.  It makes winning more fun.  =)