Barbara Stitzer Photography...Celebrating Life!

Baby Brooke

noreply@blogger.com (Barb Stitzer) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 21:31:00 +0000

Baby Brooke was one of those babies that you would pray for if you were doing a demonstration on how to shoot a baby and keep her happy. Nothing bothered her! She had outfit changes, hair bow changes, mommy put her down and she didn't even cry...shoooo-eee! There was a moment when she was laying on her tummy, and she just started belly laughing so hard! A little 5 month old belly laugher...charming! What a little beauty, too! I love babies!

American Spa Magazine Shoot

noreply@blogger.com (Barb Stitzer) — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 11:01:00 +0000

This week I was priveleged to shoot an ad for Dream Innovation's Matt Murdock, an Anthem massage therapist, who has innovated several new massages and teaches his techniques to massage therapists all over the world. Matt is my massage person, and his butterfly massage, shown above, is truly amazing, so I was very excited to shoot it, but terrified, that so many people are going to want his services after seeing his ad that he won't be available for me when I need him! Our beautiful and exotic model, Spencer, is local superstar business SWEAT's own Josh and Laura Roger's babysitter. Laura, after three kids, could be a model herself, she's just too sweet and self effacing to do it. :) Spencer, will be going to ASU in the fall, to become a physician's assistant. She's so going to dominate that school, thanks to her incredible, sparkling personality, and drop-dead gorgeous looks, both of which seem to come directly from her equally beautiful and sweet mom, Rulla, the director of catering at the Biltmore, which you would never guess because she's so tiny, whom I immediately clicked with because we had all of these funny, obscure things in common, like that we both got married at the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Nigel! We did several shots for both Matt's butterfly and rain massages. I really like a deep massage, as intense as you can get it, and the butterfly is beyond intense, so I tried to reflect it in the look and feel of the pose, lighting and expressions, which was pretty easy, because Spencer has that kind of dark intensity, and Matt knows exactly what to do. You would think that laying on a massage table and getting a massage for four hours would be a breeze of a modeling assignment, but think again...think about how when you lay down, your face smushes and kind of turns into the sheet, so the fabulous Spencer had to almost hover her face above the table so that it was just glancing the sheet and turn her face way up and away from it so that you could see her eyes. Good thing Matt was there to get the kinks out! I never let models see pictures direct from my camera, just in case there are blinks or awkward positioning, but Rulla had to leave and Matt was giving Spencer a ride home, so they both stayed and saw everything...I shouldn't have worried, because in the shots where Spencer was blinking, she just giggled about it, totally non self conscious, gotta LOVE that!! How refreshing. Just like I was the one to get the massage. Hmmm, I think I'm going to book my next massage with Matt right now!

Emerson

noreply@blogger.com (Barb Stitzer) — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 15:47:00 +0000

When Emerson's totally chic and beautiful mom told me that she was usually pretty stoic for pictures, I just smiled... kids love my rose petals and little kid sized chairs and stuff that I have around, and in 17 years of shooting, I have never left a smile behind, so I do have my little tips and tricks, but I had my secret weapons...my daughters, Zoe and Tenley! Little kids LOVE older kids, so it wasn't long before Emerson was going for it...and go for it she did! She slid through the rose petals like a pro baseball player, and jumped and twirled all around, throwing rose petals with the girls. Daddy, a hockey league commissioner, got big points, too...although he eyed our super chexx hockey game machine with longing, he was right in there to give love, throw rose petals, and shake his groove thang, all to catch Emerson's interest. I just love seeing daddys with little girls!

Annabelle and June

noreply@blogger.com (Barb Stitzer) — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 06:30:00 +0000

I adore little girls. I have two of my own, of course, but all of a sudden, they are gigantic, huge behemoth girls, losing teeth and getting dental appliances all over the place, so when Annabelle and June came in for a photo shoot, I found myself getting nostalgic. Annabelle, the little strawberry blonde, crawls everywhere on her elbows and forearms, commando style, like she's a little army girl, going through basic training in Da Nang. She's the smiley-est little sprite ever, and I was treated to watching her joy when she stood just holding her mom's finger for the first time...these moments are SO fleeting...by the time I delivered the proof for their hand painted gallery wrap, two weeks later, she was walking already! June is a delicate, tiny fairy dancer, with giant soulful eyes and perfect little kewpie doll lipe, who really had a ball busting a move all around the town and avoiding the camera...until the tiny stool came out. I don't know why, but the tiny stool has gotten me out of all kinds of woes...everyone just wants to sit on it. Even I want to sit on it. It's just so cute and ...tiny! I don't know what I'll do if it breaks...I can see myself running into the night, screams of "I should have stocked up on tiny stoolssssssss....." echoing in the night. Annabelle and June's mom and grandma and I had a great time picking photos...how could you not with these gorgeous little girlies? Grab your children and hug them, guys...the time really does go wayyy too fast.

Austin's Senior Rep Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Barb Stitzer) — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 10:47:00 +0000

As you know, most of the time, men don't like having their pictures taken, but women do, and I don't necessarily like to wrestle guys that I don't know who hate me on sight, so I've always just taken the easy way and avoided shooting guys as much as possible. Until Austin, who basically took any preconceived notion that I had about shooting guys and dumped them out the window. And now I'll shoot the dudes once again.

This guy was such a natural, he moved so well, everything he did was right. Take, for example, the blue and white shot directly above...I'm here to tell you, no one looks good with their head way to the side like that. Except Austin, who looks to me like James Dean in that shot, then moves on to Chase Crawford in the shot in the blue glass, then the boy next door on the steps. That is one heck of a versatile face. And a heck of a nice guy as well, which I almost didn't have the opportunity to find out.

Let me tell you the story: Ok, first of all, if you know me, you know that I'm obsessive about time. I'm ALWAYS early. I'm the one turning on the lights for the people who work there kind of early. And I live and die by my Blackberry. My "a" and "s" key had fallen off of my Blackberry Pearl, making it really hard to type just about everything, and I wrote Austin down for "tuedy" and I assumed my s and a were missing and the "r" had turned to an "e" and I meant Saturday, since I shoot mainly on weekends, so I went down and waited for him on Saturday, and called and left messages, but they didn't get the message, as their house phone was having problems, so then they waited for me on Tuesday, which was when our appointment was, but of course, I wasn't there, which is my total fear, and why I am always early, especially to photo shoots, when everything has to be as perfect and stress free as possible, because having your picture taken is kind of stressful. Anyway, they called and left a message, and when I got the message, I freaked out, since I have NEVER missed a shoot, EVER. After we got it all straightened out, they were kind enough to give me another shot, and I was wise enough to get another phone so that little trick wouldn't happen again, but I was kind of worried, like, you know, they hate me already, what's going to happen? But when Austin, and his mom, Lisa, who looks like a prettier Teri Hatcher, walked in, and their smiles lit up the room, I knew that everything would be all right.

We started the shoot in some smooth rocks, typical guy shoot...kind of safe and nice, but nothing out of the ordinary. But when we moved on to a rock in the water, something just clicked on in both of us, and we just had a very fun wild ride to Austin's Model side. Somehow, everything that Austin did just looked way current, like on American Idol when they update a song and make it their own...Austin updated poses and made them his own. He just blew it out of the water. He became 40 different people. Every time he looked at the camera, it was to catch another new angle of his face. It was just fascinating to see how many looks he has. It was a totally fun day; it made my job feel new again, which, after 17 years, is a definite bonus.

Engagement Pictures of Tara and Barry

noreply@blogger.com (Barb Stitzer) — Wed, 26 May 2010 14:43:00 +0000

My next entry in the "I love my job category" comes in the form of engaged couple Tara and Barry, the nicest people you could ever hope to meet, who both could be supermodels if they ever wanted to leave their fabulously successful lives to hang with the paparazzi. I have shot Tara's beautiful parents and beautiful daughter, so I already have a lot of love for their family, and I had a sneaking suspicion that the amazing bone structure of the family would be present in Tara, but Holy Apple Pie, look at this girl! Drop dead gorgeous and she even bought me lunch!

We shot this past Sunday, also known as day of the raging windstorm, and I was so afraid that we would have to cancel the shoot, since I'd sent in my lights for their annual tune up, but thank goodness for photog friends...Dana Kiely brought me her set and we were ready to roll. Tara and Barry were on the way to a wedding reception, so they looked fabulous already, but we had a little bit of a time restraint, and Tara had mentioned that Barry, like every man on the planet, might not be super into pictures, ( not to mention any names, but ahem, Buzz!), but Barry came in calm and cool and ready to take on the engagement picture world!

What's kind of interesting is that I kept seeing them in these kind of dramatic poses in black and white, and when I feel something I just have to shoot it that way, so that I can move forward, so I shot some straight, but then went with my gut and shot more dramatically, and...YAY!! They loved the dramatic ones! Woo Hoo!

Now, as you know, most men, after seeing photos once through, usually get very antsy and go out in the living room with my sweet little hubby and watch sports with him, but I am here to say that Barry got my vote for Greatest Guy when he not only stayed and was interested the whole time, but when they were ready to pick their engagement pictures, which traditionally are, um, more on the traditional side, Barry picked a very non-traditional one, (which happened to be my favorite!) I love it when I click this way with my couples because it means that we're right for each other...when I feel something from them, and they love it, and when I pick out one in my head and they pick it too, it just means that they picked the right photographer for them to capture memories that they will treasure for the rest of their lives. By the way, the next time you're fortunate enough to be kicking back in the dentist's chair watching Friends reruns on the television in the ceiling while getting your root canal instead of having to be mentally present for that fun event, thank Barry. He invented the technology for the ceiling tv!,

Oh, which one did they pick for their official engagement picture, you ask? Well, you won't hear it from me...they're keeping their plans under lock and key...you'll just have to hope that you get invited to what is sure to be an event filled with a lot of love, laughter and joy. Just like Barry and Tara.

The Triplets!

noreply@blogger.com (Barb Stitzer) — Mon, 24 May 2010 14:41:00 +0000

Ok, so what's not to love about shooting babies, right? Their sweet little rolly polly selves far outway the drool, the spitup, the incessant crying, and, of course the poop in rainbow colors that gets on all of our nice white backgrounds. I shot two sets of quadruplets for years, and they were wild children, cute, but wild, like tear my studio apart in 5 minutes kind of wild, so to say I was feeling a little trepidacious about shooting little six month triplets in the nether world of Gilbert was an understatement, but there I went. My sweet little hubby even packed me snacks for the trip, so long and far away is Gilbert.

But when I got there, I just fell head over heels in love with Makayla, Hanna, and especially little Shayne, pictured above with veterinarian dad Jamie. Aside from being an absolutely lovely person, Mom Staci is probably the most calm mom I've ever seen. Those kids felt so loved and cared for and cooed over, there wasn't even a possibility of a tantrum! While I was setting up, the babies were hanging out on this big overstuffed chair by the window, just smiling away at mom and dad. They just hung out and were soooo adorable and sweet and cuddly and cute. My youngest, T.T. is graduating from kindergarten this week, and being at the Schmidt's house made me want to have more babies!! Well, maybe not. Well, maybe...hmmm. I'll keep you posted on that one. I'd only be 107 by the time they reached high school.

Phoenix Wedding-Heather and Brian

noreply@blogger.com (Barb Stitzer) — Fri, 07 May 2010 16:41:00 +0000

Heather and Brian's April 24th wedding was everything a wedding should be; fun, crazy, chaotic, and filled with so much raw, unbridled love and emotion from everyone involved that you can just tell that these guys are going to be still laughing and holding hands when they're 80, with all of their friends and family around to witness the love and laughter. The wedding and reception were held outdoors at the eclectic Carefree Station Restaurant, on the tree filled patio, surrounded by thousands of wildly blossoming plants . The light bounced all around after the ceremony, heightening every moment into . It was one of those weddings that I felt grateful to be a part of...I just fell in love with my couple. The little moments that make each wedding totally special and different abounded. They wrote each other notes the morning of their wedding, and when I delivered Brian's note to Heather at the Carefree Salon, where she was getting her hair and makeup done, she cried. Their children, Spencer, Cody, Bree and Macy stood up for them, and that morning, Macy told her mom how thrilled she was that Brian was finally going to be her real dad. When they had their sisters sign their marriage certificate, they told them that they had decided on them as the witnesses, then walked out and got the mail and theirs were the first two RSVPS. The day was just perfect, just like Heather and Brian.

My Shot on the Cover of Deva Lifewear Catalogue

noreply@blogger.com (Barb Stitzer) — Tue, 04 May 2010 14:55:00 +0000

My shot of local models and my friends, Alex and Mary Spence for the "Bolinas Chic" hemp clothing catalogue Deva Lifewear is going to be on the Cover! See it big here: http://www.devalifewear.com. We were out in the desert shooting with absolutely nothing around us, when these kind souls from Anthem Pets came by walking all of these dogs...it was serendipity!! They had to be in the shot!! They provided a very fun vibe for the whole rest of the shoot, but I knew in my heart that this was going to be the one!

Erica

noreply@blogger.com (Barb Stitzer) — Tue, 04 May 2010 14:37:00 +0000

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Erica and I had a real adventure while I was shooting her pictures! We started out at the Monte Lucia resort, where a wedding was going on ...giant wedding, small property, lots of security= yeah, you guessed it, we got tossed! Plus, my assistant for a day, Gina, who had broken her leg at the roller skating rink had to do a lot of walking on her walking cast...owie!! Well, luckily for us, Toni, Erica's mom, knew the area...we were back up and running at the Camelback Marriott within minutes...I love the Marriott. I really do. They're so cool there, the grounds are so beautiful, and they make a great steak. Anyway, Erica was so cool and totally laughed about the whole thing, so there was no recover period...she just went for it!! we relaxed over there and had a great time and took some great shots of a Very beautiful girl.

Kayla

noreply@blogger.com (Barb Stitzer) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 04:38:00 +0000

One thing that I adore about...ummm, me, is that I am always right about how people will photograph, and I pegged Kayla, who was our first babysitter when we moved to Anthem, as a 1940's film star type when she was only 15 years old. Well, of course, my Zoe is 11 now, and shudders at the thought of anyone watching over her baby sister except her majesty herself, so we haven't seen Kayla for a while, and when we did, last fall, and she told me that she wanted me to take her senior pictures, I was so excited! Have I mentioned that Senior Pictures are my first love? I just love teenagers, and their perspective on absolutely everything. There's no "I can't's". They just do it, and when they go for it with as much aplomb as Kayla has, it's magical. We didn't get to shoot until this past week, so I had plenty of time to think about what I wanted to do with her, which was to bring out her natural pinup tendancies. I just LOVE Kayla's look. She's so fabulous!! I love her mom and dad, too. When they saw the pictures, her mom, Michelle, cried, and her dad kept telling her over and over how beautiful she is. Which makes me just love my job even more, of course.

Lisa and Travis

noreply@blogger.com (Barb Stitzer) — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 14:49:00 +0000

One thing I love about donating to auctions is that I get to meet people that I wouldn't necessarily meet otherwise. Lisa won me through an auction at the Florence Crittenton Foundation Gala, a great charitiy which helps single mothers and their children with care and medical services.

Travis told me right away that he doesn't smile...but my secret weapon was Lisa...every single time I had him look at Lisa, he got the sweetest, most tender look on his face, and yes, sometimes a smile...it made me cry, because that's the way my sweet little hubby looks at me, and that's what makes me know that they're going to be so happy together and made me want to shoot their wedding, ( I simply won't shoot a wedding if I don't feel the love between the couple...and I have a 100% record over the past 17 years...NONE of my couples have separated or divorced...is that crazy?!) but I tried to laugh and joke through it so that they wouldn't think I was a complete lunatic. I mean, what photographer cries at every wedding they shoot, because she's so honored to be in such a unique position to witness that kind of unbridled, no holds barred love pouring out of the couple? Oh, right, me.

They will be married at the Millenium Hotel in September, and I'm very excited to say that I'll be there, taking pictures...and crying.

Bridget and Nick

noreply@blogger.com (Barb Stitzer) — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 16:13:00 +0000

You know, I'm kind of funny about shooting pictures of engaged couples...If I don't feel like they're truly in this thing together, if I don't see true love in the man's eyes, I don't want to shoot it...maybe it's because I dated a boy for ten years, then called off the wedding three days before, because I looked in his eyes and didn't see the true, undying love, and the difference, now with my sweet little hubby, seeing the love through my bleary, allergy puffed slits of eyes, even though I cry at coca cola commercials, even though I simply refuse to clean my own house, even though I once pinked an entire load of his clothes when trying to wash them for him, makes me want everyone to be as gloriously happy as I am. I guess that's it.

But I digress. Because Bridget and Nick are one of those couples that Everyone envies. They are so different as people, but so "one" as a couple. Nick is one of those guys that you could see hanging out, drinking beer and laughing and joking while watching the game with the guys, then going home and writing a love poem and hiding it for Bridget to find. Bridget is so beautiful and glamourous, you would think she's a model, not a pharmacist! Amazing. They are totally in love, and blissful, and very fun to be around. They'll be married in their home state of Iowa this summer, with 350 guests witnessing their union under that blue, blue sky. I know that this beautiful couple is going to make it, and I look forward to shooting all of their gloriously beautiful babies.

The Venugopal Family

noreply@blogger.com (Barb Stitzer) — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 15:43:00 +0000

The Venugopal family is one of the nicest, most genuine and down to earth families I've ever met. Anu is so soothing and kind, taking her children all over to different schools that are the best fit for them, and offering them a trip to a restaurant that serves their favorite foods when the girls feel hungry during our photo shoot. Venu is a ridiculously successful businessman, having offices all over the world, yet he was totally willing to roll around on the grass at the JW Marriott and have a great time with his family, which was really cool. Both the girls are just so beautiful! I have known them since Pooja was 5 and Aarti was 11, and now at 11 and 16, the Venugopal girls have just blossomed and were so much fun and amazing...you might recognize Aarti from my website, wearing traditional Indian dress...I know that the shot was taken a long time ago, but I can't help it...I have to keep it!
This shoot, we had a goal in mind: a project to go with the Feng Shui influence that Anu is decorating in. She told me that they could only have pictures of the two of them in their room, so we got to take a LOT of pictures of just the two of them, which is so rare these days. They are so obviously in love...the tender way Venu looked at Anu made me want to go have my pictures taken with my hubby to see if he looks that way at me! Not to mention Anu's mile long legs! So beautiful, all of them! It was a great day!

Dylan

noreply@blogger.com (Barb Stitzer) — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 02:51:00 +0000

Meet Dylan. She is the quintessential Junior Ambassador . I shoot high school Juniors every year to help me out with modeling and promotions throughout the next year's Senior season, and this year Dylan totally ruled her shoot! I loved this girl, she's totally beautiful inside and out, and her mom, Deanna, who is exactly my age and grew up in LA and was in the business, just like me was totally great! (And no, I will not tell you how old we are!) We started at City North, and Dylan Rocked the Plaza with her mile long legs and amazing attitude. Look at her jawline!!! Are you kidding me?! It's so defined you could use it as a tightrope and walk on that sucker! Well, after about three clicks, it became totally apparent that Dylan was going to be a super star...she had so many great shots, it was almost embarrassing. Every single thing she did was right. Fascinating. What a great day. By the way, if you know Dylan and would like to have pictures taken similar to these, ask her for a discount card!

Skyla

noreply@blogger.com (Barb Stitzer) — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:56:00 +0000

Ooh, I LOVE little babies! Darling Skyla was only 4 months old...her mom and she had little matching robes that they wanted to wear for the session, and Skyla was growing out of hers! So cute!! It makes me want to have another baby...well, maybe I'm not quite going to go THAT extreme! It definitely made me want to photograph more babies, so I'm going to have a Baby Crazy sale!

Bring your baby in for a FREE sitting from March 15 until April 15 ($225 value!) and receive a FREE 8x10. What can be better than FREE!!

Heather and Brian

noreply@blogger.com (Barb Stitzer) — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 04:55:00 +0000

Weddings are so important and personal to me that I simply won't take a wedding unless I fall in love with my bride and groom. I mean, what you shoot will be with them for the rest of your life, right, so I make sure that I'm entirely present for the wedding and that I take each and every wedding and make them VERY personal. The very minute that Heather and Brian walked in, I just knew that they were each other's soul mates and they'll be together for ever and that we're going to be friends forever...Oh, I can just wax poetic over these guys for hours! They giggled together, they stopped their entire shoot to watch the "Pink" Grammy performance simply because I mentioned that I was mesmerized by it. They are just so comfortable together that it is a joy to see. Their wedding will be at a very intimate establishment in Carefree in April, with a wild and crazy rockin' crowd. I'm really excited to be a part of it! By the way, if you know these guys and want to see more pictures, I'd be willing to bet that they'd show you some...they all came out great, of course!

Speaking Engagement on Photographing Children

noreply@blogger.com (Barb Stitzer) — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 18:02:00 +0000

Friends and fans, if you ever wanted to know how to take better photographs of your kids, I'll give you the answers on Monday, March first at the Boulder Creek Library, 7 o'clock at the meeting of the Daisy Mountain Camera Club. There will be an audio/visual presentation, followed by a demonstration by live models, also known as my super photogenic angels, Zoe and TT. You never know, you might win something, too! So come on over and see me, Y'all!

It's that time...High School Juniors, come model for me!

noreply@blogger.com (Barb Stitzer) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 17:50:00 +0000

Junior Model's/ambassadors are integral to my business. I LOVE working with teenagers, and doing their senior pictures. It's my favorite thing! If you're chosen as a Junior Model/Ambassador, we'll do your first photo shoot in your junior year. You and your mom will get a big heavy book of pictures of your shoot, plus give away cards with your pictures on them and a special offer that your friends get only if they bring in the card. You'll receive a $50 picture credit or $25 for each person that you bring to me...send 3 and your books are free, as well. You will also star in my marketing campaigns for the year AND you get to play fairy godmother and choose your legacy Model Ambassador for the next year, AND you get a second shoot late in your senior year, because you've changed so much since your first photo shoot. I try out all of the newest poses and techniques, so your pictures are going to be amazing.

I am taking applications for Junior Model/Ambassadors Right NOW for class of 2011. Deadline is February 20. You must be fun and outgoing, and love to show your pictures to EVERYONE to tell them about me and what I do.
Send an email to photobarb@aol.com with your name, email, phone number, high school that you attend, activities that you're in, why you want to be a Barbara Stitzer Photography model/ambassador and the emails of at least 5 friends who might be interested in having their pictures done with Barbara Stitzer Photography...that way, we'll help you out by marketing to them for you! We look forward to having you on our team!

Helping Haiti

noreply@blogger.com (Barb Stitzer) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 19:52:00 +0000

Helping Haiti--I am a little tiny company, a speck, really, compared to corporate America, but every little bit can help. For the Month of February, EVERY PENNY of sitting fees collected goes straight to the Red Cross. Get incredible, one-of-a-kind photographs and help Haiti as you do. Giving never felt so good.

An extraordinary moment

noreply@blogger.com (Barb Stitzer) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 22:37:00 +0000

I am so honored that Arlend Hougland chose our photo session together as an extraordinary moment in her life! Check out eomoments.blogspot.com or her facebook fan page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Extraordinary-Moments/258101654214?ref=search&sid=714982748.3897873393..1&v=wall#/notes/extraordinary-moments/are-you...-ready-for-your-close-up/280467to read all about...ummm, me. And how cool I am. I'm totally embarrassed right now!!

Glorious Gloria

noreply@blogger.com (Barb Stitzer) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 20:05:00 +0000

I absolutely adore photographing pregnant women. They are so glorious and elegant in their roundness, perfect Madonna's. Gloria, 7 months pregnant, didn't disappoint, except for the fact that, even though she was carrying only in her belly, we had to keep prodding a pushing and turning the little tiny thing so that the belly would show! She was a super good sport about it, though, and hubby Sean, daughters, Kiley and Taylor and neice Amethyst just rounded out the fun. We shot on the grounds of the JW Marriott, which I think is my favorite place to shoot in the Phoenix area, and it was pretty gosh darn cold out, but Glamorous Gloria was incredible! There should be no way that a pregnant woman could look this good! She looked all glowy and dewey, with very "now" hair and absolutely perfect makeup. Her arms and legs are more toned than mine, and I'm here to tell you, I'm not pregnant. For those of you who are photographers trying to get insight into why I do what I do...I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I don't really have a rhyme or reason on how I shoot...of course there are some poses that everyone adores, so I always shoot them, but all of a sudden I recalled a shot that the great Sports Illustrated photographer Walter Ioss had shot, with a swimsuit model on a gourd. I couldn't get it out of my head, but of course, gourds aren't just always hanging around in the desert. The sun had sunk behind the horizon. We were walking out the parking lot, and there were a triumvirate of giant gourd-like vases just hanging out there. I have walked past them a thousand times, without even noticing them, but I knew that Gloria would not only pull it off...she would make it her own. And she did, of course! Another moment for the books. Ahhhh, photography. I just love it. To see that particular image, you're just going to have to mosey over to my facebook page: (but not until later this evening...ooh, the anticipation of it all! ) http://www.facebook.com/#/pages/Anthem-AZ/Barbara-Stitzer-Photography/45325794506?ref=ts, and while you're there, why don't you become a fan! You'll have access to the latest and greatest as it happens, and it's a lot of fun!

The Raskin Family

noreply@blogger.com (Barb Stitzer) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 02:38:00 +0000

Every once in a while, I meet a family who is so chic, so interesting, so totally COOL that I'm kind of intimidated. I mean, don't get me wrong, I adore 99.9% of my families that I shoot, and usually work with them for years and years, but you know the ones I mean...the people who have so very much going for them that they really don't need to be nice to you, and you wouldn't hate them for it, but how, somehow, they are just the ones who are incredibly kind, welcoming, open, (which is key, really, on both party's parts in making meaningful pictures) and inexplicably, you realize that you've totally clicked. This is how I feel about the Raskin family. The moment I met Joan, and her daughter Maddie, her husband Randy, and sons Remi and Jonathan, I felt like I came home, they were so welcoming, and I really wanted to do right by them.

Of course, I got nervous and kind of tanked. A light stand fell on poor Randy's foot, I had just taken a new lens out of the box and didn't realize that I was on manual focus while shooting in autofocus mode, something that I had never done in 16 years of shooting... so I tried hard not to show my total mortification, closed my eyes, took a deep breath and forced away the nerves... through it all, they were totally gracious about it, laughing and funny and carrying my bags out to the car, something that NO ONE ever offers to do, I might add. Then, at the viewing, after really complimenting the heck out of me, which is always a nice thing, Joan and I got into a very much needed conversation on my part...I just felt so honored that she would share like that with me. The more I see of that woman, the more I admire her. She's totally my role model. Am I allowed to have a role model so much younger, prettier and skinnier than me? Well, either way, I'm taking it! And, we got some shots that are different and funny and totally them, ones I'm really very proud of. They made it to the front slide show of my website, http://www.barbstitzer.com/, if you would like to see my favorites!

noreply@blogger.com (Barb Stitzer) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:18:00 +0000

We shot baby Jake and his mom and dad at sunset, at my favorite place and time to shoot...this kid was so much fun to shoot! He's at this glorious age where he never stops...we went up and down the stairs at least a hundred times, then he ran up and down the grass hills, giggling and smiling the whole time. It was such a fun day!

Jonnika and Kelly

noreply@blogger.com (Barb Stitzer) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 01:48:00 +0000

I've known Jonnika since Zoe was her flyer at American Elite cheer, five years ago, and have had the great fortune to shoot both of her sister's pregnancies, which were both totally different and beautiful, so when Jonnika called and told me that she was eight months along and wanting to do something edgy, I totally jumped at the chance! We started at City North, a very cool location in North Phoenix that has a "live, work, eat" philosophy and a generally urban chic vibe. Well, let me tell you that no one was shopping, eating, or doing anything else but gawking at this whippet thin, muscle bound, wearing her regular pants, 5'10" supermodel who totally took over that three block area. Construction workers, businessmen, and moms with strollers literally stopped and stared at her utter presence. The lust factor was so high, I would have feared a riot if it weren't for the amazing Kelly, a doting, totally sweet gentle giant of a gentleman taking care of Jonnika, catering to her every whim, telling her how amazingly beautiful she is, (she is!) and generally projecting the fact that he thinks she's the greatest thing since fried twinkies and it would be best if everyone would just stay back or he'd bite off their heads and chew them while we were shooting. These guys are truly a great couple, one who I totally expect to be shooting their 50th wedding anniversary, and I never say that about anyone. We then moved to the JW Marriott, a favorite spot of mine; every angle is fabulous there, and did some more! Mom, Janis joined us and took some shots, which was great, I mean, who could resist?!