B Cool

Have you seen this? It's poet Sarah Kay performing her poem "B" and then talking about spoken poetry. It's sweet and hopeful and maybe you should watch it. And happy belated Mother's Day. :)

Also, props to the TED conference for making it so easy to share their videos while maintaining their look. Yay web design nerdiness!

Why, Hello 2012

:)

Yes, I know. You've been around a few months. I've been a bit busy. You know that though. Oh and 2012? Don't forget, 2011 was quite a year.

In it I photographed some beautiful weddings,

attended my first Indian wedding,

documented partnerships new and time-tested,

was honored to work with some charities,

witnessed children growing up,

and the beginnings of a hobby that could turn into a great business,

explored new places,

further worked on my cooking skills,

watched the sun rise,

and went to my first pow wow. 

And I'm ready for all the wonderful experiences you, 2012, have in store. 

©2012 Kristin Serna This post and these photos should not be republished without my permission. Merci beaucoup.

Soy Candles | Etsy Product Photography

I don't think a lot of people realize this, but there are actually candles out there that aren't very good for your health. Many candles contain toxins - be it in the wax itself, the chemical-based fragrance, and/or lead wicks.

Soy candles are clean-burning though and made of a renewable material - soy beans. They also last longer than paraffin candles. So I was excited to photograph these earth-friendly, health-friendly candles for a new Etsy shop called Illuminated Earth. Made with lead-free wicks, these candles are hand-made and come in neat up-cycled containers. And any of the scented ones are scented with essential oils.

If you're still looking for a holiday gift, the shop is currently offering expedited shipping and a sale. But they can make a nice gift (even to yourself) at any time of the year.

Here's a couple of the photos. You can see more by checking out Illuminated Earth soy candles on Etsy too.

©2011 Kristin Serna This post and these photos should not be republished without my permission. Merci beaucoup.

Couple Portrait | Emily and James

Emily and James are effortlessly adorable. Their style is straight out of a magazine/J-Crew/Anthropology catalogue. Their kindness is so genuine. And their silliness makes them just that more fun to be around.

Emily and I lived in the same building in London – with her in what we referred to as the Pemberley to my Rosings. After London, Emily moved to Chicago to take part in a program and there she lived in the same building as and met James. Obviously from this we can deduce that Emily forms friendships with the coolest people when she lives in the same building as them. :)

Emily and James got married last year and decided they wanted to have a portrait of them around their first anniversary... and every anniversary after that. So exactly a year to the date of their wedding we started what will be a really cool tradition for them – a visual history of the official team of Emily and James. Their session included places they walk around and hang out in - including their new home and the steps of the place they met.

I'm such a fan of their style. You may notice we had a shoe wardrobe change at one point and from the moment Emily put them on, I felt compelled to feature them.

Thanks for a great (and stylish) session you two. And Happy Anniversary (again)!

©2011 Kristin Serna This post and these photos should not be republished without my permission. Merci beaucoup.

Podcasts That Bring Me Joy (Thank You, Nathan Fillion)

Back in January of 2011 Nathan Fillion recommended this new podcast to me. Despite never having met the man, I am sure this recommendation was in fact for me as he wrote it, I read it and I hear we like similar things. Plus he was once (and forever shall be) Captain Malcolm Reynolds. So really no further explanation is needed (unless, in fact, it is – and in that case http://lmgtfy.com/?q=malcolm+reynolds).

So the podcast – it's called The Thrilling Adventure Hour and it's done in the style of old time radio serials (including the part where it is performed in front of a live audience). Basically it embodies the past and the present all in the framework of what I lovingly refer to as modern retroism with a dollop of tongue-in-cheek comedy. They have a rotating set of shows with new episodes available every Monday via iTunes and over on Nerdist.

My favorites are Sparks Nevada: Marshall on Mars (for its wit and vague reminiscence of Futurama), Beyond Belief (for its serious silliness and dead-on tribute to William Powell and Myrna Loy à la Nick and Nora Charles from The Thin Man series) and Jefferson Reid: Ace American (for its WWII-propaganda hyperbole and, oh yes, Nathan-Fillion-as-Jefferson-Reid-ness).

And now I present to you my homage to the radio I would have listened to these on if Steve Jobs hadn't invented iPods.

©2011 Kristin Serna This post and these photos should not be republished without my permission. Merci beaucoup

Children Portraits | The Cusicks

I can't decide if I like photographing children's portraits more in their homes or outside. There's a certain comfort level and sense of domain to the home, but there's such a freedom to outside. Whichever place we are though, it only takes a little bit for them to warm up to the camera and just let go. Kids are neat like that. They play, they laugh, they make silly faces. In a matter of minutes, they'll show you who they are.

And it sure doesn't hurt when their parents dress them in adorable, coordinating outfits. The Cusick family always does a terrific job of that and their girls always know how to have a good time. For the second year they chose to have their photos outside and we were so fortunate to have a day that turned out to be much more beautiful than forecast. Weather has a lovely way of being awesome like that sometimes.

As an added bonus there was a new face to photograph this year with the arrival of much-loved Miss Baby E!

These were just a few of my favorites. I've become pretty skilled in the past couple of years when it comes to culling photos, but this set was particularly difficult to narrow down. The running, the sitting, the standing, the laying down, the hugs, the leaf throwing, the laughter, the fake laughter - I hope you all had as much fun with it as I did. Thank you, Cusick family.

©2011 Kristin Serna This post and these photos should not be republished without my permission. Merci beaucoup.