Here is another in-home family portrait session we did over the holidays. The Fischers had an absolutely beautiful home and we were able to capture some great memories in just a couple of rooms.  During the set-up process, the boys were very curious about all the lighting and photo equipment.  We enjoyed their enthusiasm and enjoyed explaining how it all worked.  We also met their baby sister who loved getting her picture taken.

Here are a few of our favorites from the session.

Over the holidays we had some in-home family portrait sessions. We really like to make it as convenient and stress-free as possible on the parents. We found that the kids liked being in familiar surroundings and taking pictures was a fun activity. The boys even showed us the cool train set around the Christmas tree.

Here are a few pictures from the Cox family shoot. Thank you for inviting us into your beautiful home.

Last weekend Stan and I got the chance to enter Prince’s personal recording complex, Paisley Park Studios in Chanhassen. Yes, THE Prince! Both the exterior and interior were simply amazing with its funky and modern design. Generally, the studios are not open to the public–you can drive by and check it out, but there are no tours.

So, why were we there? Zumba, baby!  Some of my fellow MN Zumba instuctors (Mary Pirela, Cindy Sorini Reistad, Lora Johnson & Darcy Fox) worked their magic and were able to snag this awesome location as their venue.  The event featured the very talented Colombian actor and Zumba  instructor, Wally Diaz. He heated up the stage. His dance moves were simply mind-blowing.

Unfortunately, any type of photography is banned so we were not able to shoot at Paisley Park itself.  But after the event, we headed on over to a nearby Classic Athletics for  a lively after party.  All who attended had lots of fun. There was a Zumba wear sale, food and beverages, and a photo booth get photos taken with Wally. And, let’s not overlook, a sexy dance performance by some of the Zumba men from Minnesota.

We also wanted to give a big shout out to our friend, Tonya Wilson, who assisted us in shooting the after party.

Here are some highlights!

I love Fall. It’s the time of the year where it’s not too hot or too cold. You look around and see people walking their dogs, jogging, biking and just enjoying the natural beauty around them. With the colors bursting off of the tress, you couldn’t help but take a moment to enjoy it’s splendor. On a mid-November morning we had a wonderful time shooting family portraits for the Jones family. Nathan and Martina waited several seasons for this perfect Fall day to arrive. It was a family portrait shoot that was long overdue with their beautiful daughters. And who could forget their lovable pup, Lady, who wanted to get in a few pics herself.

Here are some of our favorites that we captured that day.

The leaves on the trees were  almost all gone. You should feel the bitter cold as the wind whipped around on this late Fall afternoon. Winter was just around the corner but not quite yet. We were excited to shoot one more outdoor shoot with the Hess family. Even though at times the weather became a wee bit chilly, we really didn’t notice too much. We all were too busy cracking jokes, and telling funny stories. It was a wonderful time and before we knew it, the shoot was over.

Here are a few of our favorites from the day. It was very hard to decide which ones to select for the blog. The Hess family definitely knew how to work it in front of the camera.

She waited months for this day to arrive. She worked hard at getting fit so that she can look and feel confident in her pictures. She carefully debated which outfits to wear and what accessories would work well with them. On the day of her session, she even treated herself to a new style to make her portrait session special.

Naseema was ready for her close-up, confident, energetic and beautiful. We did a few looks with her. Since she was looking for a new and exciting job, we did some standard business head shots. Naseema is also a part time Zumba instructor and wanted some pictures of herself in her Zumba wear. And lastly, she wanted something glamorous – a special surprise for her husband.

Here are some of our faves from her session.

Last Fall, we volunteered to photograph the 2010 Party in Pink Zumbathon. Stan and I thought that volunteering to take pictures of the event would be an great way to give back to the community and support the fight to end breast cancer. And a fun new thing to push our creativity on.

So, Stan and I dove into the world of Zumba photography. We had no idea of where it would lead but we knew it would be fun. Since last year, we’ve had a terrific journey. We got the opportunity to shoot various Zumba Master Classes with some very talented instructors from all over the U.S.  We also participated in a wide array of Zumba charity events from a relief benefit for the earthquake in Japan to an East Side St. Paul benefit to help a family who lost their young son.

Along they way, we met some of the most amazing and good-hearted people you would ever meet. The Zumba community in Minnesota welcomed us with open arms. We want to extend our gratitude to all of you for letting us come into your lives and being apart of the Zumba family.

We had a wonderful time at the 2011 Party in Pink. Here’s a highlight video of the day.

Check out our online gallery of images too!

As we scouted Lion’s Park in Taylor’s Falls we just knew it would be a great session.  It was summer-like weather, but with autumn beauty.  A combination rarely seen, but definitely appreciated.  We had made our rounds picking out spots and scenic backdrops that we thought would be fun and interesting and we began to set up our portable lights and cameras.  Just as we had wrapped up our preparations the air was filled with the distinctive low rumble of Harley Davidson.  Our couple, Karie and Erick had arrived, donned in matching Harley jackets.  Oh yeah, it was going to be a great session.

I’m sure you remember the adorable pictures we took of Maggie earlier this year. Well, it was now time for Maggie’s Baby Bunch. Maggie was so excited for her shoot that she could not stop smiling, giggling and striking her pose.  She was anxiously waiting for this day to arrive, especially after seeing her friend, Violet’s Baby Bunch. The highlight of the day was getting to wear all the pretty, fun hair accessories that her mom handmade for her shoot. Thanks mom

We had a fun family shoot at Minnehaha Falls a few weekends ago, which is a popular spot for photography here in the Twin Cities. Deservedly so with all of the beautiful scenery.

Our clients had come all the way from Japan to visit family in Minnesota. With that much of a geographic gap, they don’t get to have the entire family together very often.  So they figured this would be a great time to get some family portraits.  Lorita and I were proud and honored that they chose us to capture these precious moments for them.

It was a great time on beautiful day.  Check out some of our favorites!

I have known Eric’s mom for a number of years from when we worked together at a bank. We kept in touch throughout the years and it was a pleasure to do her son’s senior photos. As you can imagine, not every senior looks forward to taking their senior photos. Eric was a bit shy and nervous at first but that didn’t last long once we started talking about his many interests. Playing the saxophone is his passion; he’s been playing it for six years and is quite good.  He also plays the guitar too. You can tell Eric loves music because when we would take breaks for set-up, he’d pop in his ear buds on his Ipod….even if it was for a few minutes.

In his spare time, he is a gamer. One of his favorite games was World of Warcraft which Stan and I knew about all too well. We’ve played it for several years when it first came out.  So, it was fun to chat about the things we have in common even though we are years apart.

We had a wonderful time heading out to the Maple Grove for this shoot.  We want to wish Eric a fun senior year! Here are some our of faves from the day.

On Aug. 21st, 160 people gathered at the Northwest Youth and Family Services Building in Shoreview, MN for the Zumbathon®: Raise the Roof for Refugees fundraiser. They were ready to dance for food security and agriculture in South Sudan that was hosted by Shelter for Life International.  The day was particularly special because international sensation, Mo Diakite was in the house.

Mo is a refugee from French Guinea where he learned tribal and African dance as a little boy. Mo has also been the official presenter of the African specialty session at the Zumba® Fitness instructor convention for the past three years with his classes having around 2,000 instructors following his lead.

Minnesota is proud to have been one of the stops in Mo’s Midwest Tour. Initially, he was just scheduled for a Master Class on Aug. 20th in St. Paul but once he heard about the fundraiser he immediately volunteered his time to help raise money and awareness for South Sudan.

We had a wonderful time at Mo’s Master Class and the Zumbathon®: Raise the Roof for Refugees. It’s always nice to see people coming together to do something good and to make a positive difference in this world. To show our support as well, we are donating a portion of the proceeds from all DVD sales from the Zumbathon® gallery. If you are interested in purchasing a DVD of all of the images from the fundraiser, go to our Zumbathon® gallery and just click any image from the event and then go to Gallery Combos to purchase your DVD. It’s not too late to show your support!

Check out some of the highlights from that weekend!

We had triple-checked all of our gear and materials that we would need for the day. We got into our groove and prepared for the day ahead of us. After all, it was not every day you do photography for Zumba celebrity, Samuel Salazar, let alone two back to back events. We were ready to rock!

Samuel is a Zumba Jammer and has traveled all over the country and the world teaching his choreography to numerous Zumba instructors. He was even featured on the Today Show just a few days ago. Just the day before, he led a Zumba Jam Session (a 3-hour zumba class offered to only licensed Zumba instructors) that I attended. It was my first Jam Session and I had a spectacular time.  Besides being a phenomenal dancer, Sam was truly engaged with his audience and you could tell that he loved teaching and helping those around him to succeed. He was devoted to doing what he loved.

It was a pretty jam-packed (no pun intended – honest) weekend for Sam. In his three-day visit to Minnesota, he led seven (yes, seven!) Zumba events in the Twin Cities and Rochester areas. We had the privilege of shooting of his Master Classes on Sunday. The first was at Highland Park Life Time Fitness and the second was at Lakeville Life Time Fitness. Both events were a rockin’ good time and after the long day, Sam got a much needed massage.

Check out the fun at Highland Park and Lakeville!

Several weeks back, we ventured to the Northwest YMCA in New Hope, MN  for a Dance-a-thon to help support those affected by the tornadoes that slammed North Minneapolis. The event was held to provide programs for North Minneapolis youth and to help rebuild the homes and lives of the community after such devastating event.  Their focus was to help Recover, Rebuild and Rebound.

Unlike other Zumbathon fundraisers we’ve done in the past, this one was a bit different. It was a two hour event that blended two genres of music. The first hour the participants partied to Zumba rhythms with various instructors and the second hour they grooved to some hip-hop beats led by Carlos Collins.  By the end of the event, everyone was drenched in sweat! Check out the fun!

Last weekend we decided to surprise a good friend of ours with some priceless moments of her dogs.  She was out of town for a few days and with the help of her sister, we  were able to be sneaky and get some great shots of her two adorable dogs, Lucy-Lu and Witko.  When she returned from her trip, she was surprised, shocked, and was in tears.  Her dogs are her babies and I think it really meant a lot to her that there was someone who understood that.  To me, dogs are and will always be part of the family.  Each day that I see my dogs’ faces, is a cherished day and always puts a smile on my face.

Lucy-Lu

Witko

Lucy-Lu

Witko

On June 12th, I headed to the finish line of the MS 150 to welcome Stan home for his awesome accomplishment – 150 miles of cycling from Duluth to White Bear Lake over the course of two days.

While waiting, I camped out with the official event photographers and took some shots of the incoming riders. I only shot for a little over an hour but I had a blast. The atmosphere was filled with so much enthusiasm, emotion and action that I am seriously considering volunteering to be a photographer for the 2012 MS 150 and contributing to this amazing cause.

Here are some shots from the finish line!

A few weeks ago, we headed to Minneapolis to celebrate and photograph Marilyn’s 8th birthday! We had a wonderful time.  But, who wouldn’t when you have silly clowns, cool games, Zumbatomic dancing, and lots of friends to help ring in another birthday! We also learned something new that day…. it’s a Hispanic tradition to smash the birthday kid’s face into the cake.  We never saw it coming, but boy was it a hoot!

Here are a few of our faves of the day.

For those of you who’ve been following our blog lately, you know that we recently shot my sister’s beach wedding in Sanibel Island, Florida. Well, we also had the wonderful opportunity of shooting our very first Trash the Dress session.

So, what is Trash the Dress exactly?

Now, that the wedding is officially over, you have the option of putting on that gorgeous wedding dress again and lettin’ loose. Trash the Dress sessions are usually done the day after the wedding. It’s just a fun and stress-free photography session when you have more time for photos as compared to the official wedding day. You would also be sitting and lying in areas that you would not have dared to do the day before. Some popular environments include: pools, ponds, lakes, fields, woods, mountains, even grungy urban areas.

In our case, the beach was a huge element in our shots. We also took advantage of a nearby wooded area as we made our way to the beach. We even incorporated Marcus, even though, he didn’t officially “trash” his wedding attire. We loved the idea of getting the newly married couple in the natural backdrops and doing something a bit different.

If you are interested finding out more about our Trash the Dress sessions, contact us.  Even if we aren’t your wedding day photographers, we welcome you with open arms. This is the perfect chance to celebrate your style and add to your wedding photography collection.

Enjoy our first trash the dress session!

The day had finally arrived – May 20th, 2011.  After months of planning each and every detail, today my baby sister was going to be Mrs. Amanda Gendon Bolton.

It was a gorgeous day on beautiful Bowman’s Beach on Sanibel Island, Florida. The rays of sunlight bathed the white sandy beach. The soon-to-be newly weds greeted everyone with excitement as they prepared for the sunset ceremony.  Family and close friends came from afar to celebrate with Mandy and Marcus on this momentous day.

I invite you to view the wedding gallery of Mandy & Marcus.  Also, please check out some of our favorite shots along with the video slideshow to highlight the day. Enjoy!

Yes,  it’s true – I am now officially licensed to dance.

So, how did it happen….

Well, after some persistence from a wonderful Zumba friend (she knows who she is),  I decided to take the Zumba Basics 1 workshop. I was not sure where it would lead me to but I knew that it was going to be an awesome experience.

Ever since I started taking Zumba  classes myself at my local gym, I fell in love with it. Zumba brought me back to all the great memories in Guyana of the family get-togethers when we would dance the night away to soca, reggae, calypso etc. Dancing to me always took me to a place where I feel truly happy and feel like I can achieve anything that I put my mind to. Also, I already had the amazing support from the Zumba community since Sajous Photography became the “official” Zumba photographers for Minnesota.

So, on April 29th, 2011, I became a licensed Zumba Fitness instructor.

The workshop was held at the Life Time Fitness in Fridley. It was lead by Joy Smith, Zumba Education Specialist, who traveled all the way from California to teach us. The workshop was a mix of a whole lot of dancing, lectures and small breakout sessions and let us not forget all the cool Zumbawear for sale.

After the long and exhausting day, I was glad that I did it! It was so rewarding and it’s something that I will cherish forever. As it turns out, after the workshop, Joy held a Master Class opened to the pubic.  So, of course, I couldn’t pass that up….what’s another hour of dancing after an 8 hour workshop

Special thanks to Olga, Hugo, Cindy, Patricia and Stan for supporting me that day and to so many of the other instructors. Here are some highlights of me groovin’ after the long day.

In addition to photography, cycling is something I’ve always loved to do.  And there’s nothing better than taking something you love and using it to help make the world a better place.  This year I will be participating in the MS 150 bike ride.  The MS 150 is a two day 150 mile ride that takes place June 11 and 12, 2011 from Duluth to White Bear Lake MN to raise money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.  I’ve never done a ride anywhere near this long before and I’m really excited for the new challenge.   Please visit my MS 150 donation page and show your support.  Every little bit helps and is truly appreciated.

Also if anyone wants to get together and ride just drop me a line.  See you on the trails!

On a rainy and chilly Sunday morning we packed up the vehicle and headed to the Mall of America for another Zumba event.  We knew that even though the weather was gloomy outside, that the atmosphere in the Best Buy rotunda was going to heat up real quick. After all, Kristi Gess was in the house and she was gonna bring it.

Kristi’s Zumba in the Rotunda, which was hosted by lululemon athletica, was a huge hit. The event brought Zumba fans from young to old and even attracted some passer-bys to take a break from their shopping and watch the fun.

Kristi is the owner of With Muscles and has worked in the fitness industry for 15 years. With Muscles offers training and custom classes/workshops to help adults and children be active and reach their fitness goals. But more importantly, With Muscles is a philosophy where people enjoy and have pride in being strong and healthy individuals.

The morning was filled with lots of fun moments. Here are a few of our favorite shots along with a vid.  As you can see from the banner on top, one of our favorite moments was getting some swag

When Darcy Fox first approached us back in December 2010 to take photos of her annual Zumbathon – Sexual Assault Awareness event, we knew that it was very special to her.  Months before April 9th, 2011 even happened, she knew she wanted us there for her 3rd annual Zumba event in Andover, Minnesota.  Her Zumbathon was organized to help raise funds for the Anoka Sexual Assault Action Team and to promote awareness in preventing sexual violence and improving access to services for victims.

Several weeks prior to the fundraiser, Darcy and I talked about the plans for her event and how we can make it memorable for all of the participants. It was then I found out why this cause was so important to her.  She opened up and shared her heart-wrenching story with me. It was truly inspiring to see what she went through and how she turned a bad point in her life to something positive and uplifting. With the help of her family and friends, she was able to conquer it all.  In my book, she’s one heck of a hero and we need more human beings like her.

The event was a huge success and raised over $2000 for the task force.  Stan and I felt honored to be there and support this amazing cause.  Check out the vid at the bottom of the page!

What do you get when you mix, sexy sequin dresses, great latin beats, and a crowd of eager to sweat? You have the Zumba Divas!

On March 20th, we had the amazing opportunity to work with Bernice Arias, Vanessa Dembo and Mary Pirela – also known as the Zumba Divas. When the ladies inquired about hiring us for their event, I was ecstatic. I simply loved the premise of bringing glamor and glitz to a fitness event. I knew that I wanted do something a bit different though – but what? I wanted something with pizazz, and allure! That’s when I got the idea to do a diva-esque style photo booth! We had some fun props like pinks boas, glitter head wear, shiny beads, martini glasses etc.

This was not the first time I did the photo booth because our very first Zumba event, the Party in Pink had it. In that booth – all the Zumba fanatics sported their pink gear in support of the Susan G. Komen Foundation – Race for the Cure. As it turns out, the Zumba with the Divas party was also raising funds for the SGK Foundation – this time for the 3-Day for the Cure. Cancer is something that hits very close to home for me so it was an honor to help any way I can.

Also, due to the sudden and tragic earthquakes in Japan, the Zumba Divas generously donated another percentage of their proceeds to the Japan Earthquake & Pacific Tsunami Disaster Relief.

The Zumba Diva party had an amazing turnout from the general public.  There were numerous sponsors and partners: Parejasyamigos.com, Urban Halo, Mojo Massage, Get In Shape for Women, Tony Diaz (drummer), DJ Victor 1200, and many more.  Univision Local even came to do a news story of the event.

We want to wish the Zumba Divas lots of success in future endeavors and we hope to work with them again. They truly make people want to join the party!  Check out the vid at the bottom of the page.

On March 26th, we had the joy of shooting the Party Hearty Zumbathon™ in Burnsville, MN. The event was held at the VIP Olmeca Club and was organized to raise funds for the American Heart Association.

The event was sponsored by Latin Flavor LLC who rocked the house and gave the participants a Zumbathon™ like nothing before.  The sea of red cheered and danced to all of the instructors who fed off the energy from the crowd. There were also spectacular performances by the ZumbAtomic Team (kids performing Zumba), Principes Negros and live drums by Lidia Berman aka The Conga Queen. And, let’s not forget the awesome skills of Deejay Nuyo.

The venue posed some challenging conditions; light placement was more difficult, the flashing club lights interfered with our cameras focusing and the place was packed and it was hard to move around. But we love a good challenge and we amped up our game and made some awesome images!

Check out the video!

On March 12th, we had the pleasure of heading out to our alma mater, the University of MN-Twin Cities campus for a Zumbathon™.  The event was held at the Rec. Center and was free to the public. The event was organized by Elaine Francis, Olgalucia Duran and Renee Miller who worked tirelessly to promote awareness for prevention of cardiovascular diseases and reconditioning therapy post cardiac disease programs. The event also introduced a lot of people to the health benefits of Zumba.

Zumba Fitness and the America Heart Association have also teamed up to help raise funds in its Party Hearty campaign. This year the Party Hearty event will be held at the Olmeca Club in Burnsville, MN on Saturday, March 26th between 1 pm – 4 m. For more information, visit the Party Hearty Facebook page.

We’ve also put together a video slide show to highlight the event.  Enjoy!

On Sunday, March 6th, we had the pleasure of heading to Life Time Fitness in Eagan for a  Zumbathon of epic proportions. The event was titled “The Party Continues” and featured Zumba instructors, Chris Wold and Eriko Grill with special guest appearance by Hugo Garrido.

The event definitely brought the party aspect as seen in the huge projection screen, dimmed ambient lights, spot lights on the stage and the hundreds to participants.  It was very high energy and offered a great workout to all!

Here is a video slideshow of the event. Enjoy!

On Saturday, January 29th, we had the honor to shoot the Zumbathon™ Benefit for Diandre Hodges Jr. event at the YMCA in East St. Paul. Diandre died unexpectedly at the age of nine back in December 2010. The benefit was organized by An’Nisa Parker (Zumba instuctor), a friend of the family.

There were numerous participants who came to raise money for the Diandre’s family and to help with funeral expenses.  Even though it was a somber day, everyone did what they could to show their support for this amazing cause. Our condolences go out to the family and everyone who loved Diandre.

We’ve also put together a video slide show of the event.  Check it out.

We had the pleasure of meeting Baby Maggie for a portrait session last week . Maggie’s parents (Brett and Kate) are good friends of ours.

Maggie was born in November 2010 and this was her first official portrait session. She was so excited that she didn’t want to take her nap, otherwise she’d miss all of the action!  But eventually, the land of sweet dreams proved too difficult to resist.

Here are some of our favorites!

On Saturday, January 15th, we met up with our Zumba amigo, Hugo for his first solo Zumba Master Class at the River Valley Athletic Club in Stillwater, MN.

The Master Class brought music flavors from Cuba, Columbia, Miami and all over the Caribbean and offered a higher intensity workout than the normal classes. With the disco ball spinning, and the music rocking, everyone was having a good time.  If you haven’t gotten the memo yet  – check out Hugo’s Zumba classes! They’re a blast!

Here’s a video of the Master Class. Enjoy!

Over the holidays, my sister, Mandy came to visit from St. Louis. She wanted some portraits of herself and her two best friends since it was not often the three saw each other. The shoot was a blast – the girls definitely knew how to work it in front of the camera.

Here are a few of my favorites from the day. Enjoy!

We met Tristine and her beautiful daughter, Sophia for a family portrait session. We had originally planned on doing an outdoor shoot in the Fall leaves but due to the chilly weather and rain, we had to go with Plan B. Plan B entailed playing dress-up in the studio and having a good ole time. Sure, it might have been gloomy outside but that didn’t stop the fun!

With the music blasting, we set out to get a wide variety of shots. It ranged from the traditional portrait-like shots to letting it loose and doing something fun and different. Check out the fun!

]]> http://sajousphoto.com/blog/2011/01/girls-just-wanna-have-fun/feed/ 0 http://sajousphoto.com/blog/2011/01/girls-just-wanna-have-fun/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SajousPhotography/~3/pnFFx3TO_us/ http://sajousphoto.com/blog/2010/12/more-than-just-a-pretty-picture/#comments Mon, 27 Dec 2010 17:02:23 +0000 stan http://sajousphoto.com/blog/?p=702

Upon initial inspection, this just looks like a basic photograph.  A simple, everyday moment of a father tying his daughter’s shoe.  Sure, you could analyze the technical aspects as we photographers love to do.  Depth of field, composition, the effect of the harsh sunlight.  But then you might be missing the most important part of all.  The story.

This photo has a far larger story than it’s humble stature would imply.  It was a beautiful fall day in 2009 when we were taking some family photos for Lorita’s best friend Nicole, her husband Mark and their beautiful young daughter Kaitlynn.  At one point during the shoot when Kaitlynn’s shoes came undone, and Mark took her aside to tie them up for her.  On a whim, I spotted the moment and took the shot.  One of hundreds snapped that day while Kaitlynn was at play.  Of course at that moment I had no idea about the photo’s significance.

Several months later, in early 2010, Mark had a sudden heart attack in their home, and was pronounced dead at the scene.  He was only 28 years old, and the attack came without warning.

Kaitlynn was only about two-and-a-half years old at the time, barely old enough to retain many memories…  We found that Nicole had framed that simple picture, and Kaitlynn had been using it to kiss her “daddy” goodnight every night after he was gone.  That one simple moment, of Kaitlynn’s dad just being a dad, will be a defining pillar of her memories of her father.  I just think that  if I would have spent that one split second looking any other direction, doing anything else besides clicking the shutter, that moment would no longer exist.

This sad story spells out in vivid detail why we became photographers.  It’s not just about making pretty pictures.  But it gives us the chance to really touch people’s lives in ways that nothing else can.  It’s our way to try and make the world a better place, one photo at a time.

Remember, no moment is trivial.  Cherish your loved ones and appreciate every moment you can share.

We miss you Mark.  Rest in peace…

Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery is one of my favorite novels of all time. If you’ve read the novel, you should be quite familiar with the term, ‘kindred spirit’. A kindred spirit is a great friend you’ve know for a long time. They are always there for you and even though you might be far apart, the friendship is still strong.  In my life, I’ve been fortunate enough to have two of these. They are my best friends, Nicole and Rochelle. We’ve known each other for about 20 years.

Through the years, we experienced so much…death of loved ones, relationships, hard times etc. But, we’ve always been there for each other. Whether it was a shoulder to cry on, drinks at a bar, or just talking about what’s going on in our lives – we knew that there were two people in this world that was close to blood that we can count on.

Since Rochelle moved out of the state a few years ago, the three of us really value the moments when we are all together. Last weekend was one of those moments. We never really had a good photo of the three of us together in our adult years, so I decided that needed to change. Thank you Stan

“Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart” – Eleanor Roosevelt

The music industry has been making a lot of noise about the rampant illegal use of music on video sharing sites such as youtube. The artists and publishers want to be compensated when their work is used by others, which is perfectly reasonable. But there’s a big problem with how they’ve been handling things.

Let’s say that you want to create a video to share with the world. If you want the video to be accessible by as many people as possible, putting it on youtube just makes sense. It’s pretty much the de facto standard in online video, with all modern mobile devices having native support for it right out of the box. Now let’s say you’ve decided on the perfect song to go with your video, which happens to be copyrighted of course. Being the upstanding citizen that I’m sure you are, you decide that the artist should be properly compensated for your use of their hard work. So you try to find out who and how much you need to pay for the use of the song. Here’s where things get ugly.

The problem is that the major music licensing agencies in the business (ASCAP and BMI) don’t have any system in place to actually properly bill and collect money for music used on video sharing sites like youtube.  You can’t buy the rights if you wanted to!  The licensing options they have are geared towards larger business use such as night clubs or television commercials.  If you just want a small one-off use they don’t have options for you.  You could fill out an application and pay their performance license fee, but since there’s no connection between your application and what goes up on youtube, that would do nothing to prevent them from issuing a take-down notice on your video regardless of how much money you put in their pockets.

So now people who want to be legit and pay the artist, can’t. And the artists that want to get paid, can’t.  Brilliant business model…

What I would love to see done to simplify the process (or even create the process) for all involved is a deal be created between large video sharing sites like youtube and the record labels and licensing agencies.  The deal would allow the video sharing sites to sell “premium” accounts to their members.  The premium accounts would allow users to upload content with copyrighted music as long as they pay a reasonable fee for that privilege.   The fee could be based on traffic, with options to either cap views at certain budget levels or buy more when popularity soared.    The money made from the premium accounts can be used to pay the licensing agencies their piece of the pie.

A system such as that would allow small businesses and individuals an easy legitimate way to use music in their content at a reasonable price.  Having the music being essentially bought in bulk with the costs spread to all of the “premium” customers would allow users to only have to pay a fee equivalent to the amount they use.  Making it a lot more reasonably priced for the end user.  It would also mitigate the need for the music providers to deal with potentially millions of small requests and they could work with high dollar-value contracts with the video sites directly.  The video sites can even make a little money off the top for being the middle man.

The people get options to use music legally and in an affordable way.  The artists and publishers get their fair share, the video sites make some extra cash, and hopefully avoid a lot of litigation.  It’s a benefit to everyone (well except for the people who don’t want to pay, but you can’t form a business model around them anyway).

If you have any comments, suggestions, or better ideas we’d love to hear them in the comments.

Sajous Photography is excited once again to shoot another Zumba dance event. On Sunday, December 5th,  Kristi Gess will lead a free Zumba class to shake off all that holiday stress. The event will be held at the lululemon atletica store at the Mall of America (North Garden) at 9:00 a.m. To RSVP, go to Kristi’s Facebook event page.

Kristi has worked in the fitness industry for 15 years and is currently teaching several group fitness classes at Life Time Fitness. She strives to help people have fun while working hard to reach their goals. Her focus is to inspire people to appreciate what their bodies are capable of and to be proud of their strength and fitness accomplishments.

Come join the party with Kristi this weekend!  Stay tuned for photos of the event.

On Friday, November 19th, we met up with our Zumba buds Hugo and Sara for their first Zumba Master Class at the Maplewood Community Center. The Master Class focused on the two unique dance flavors from each instructor and offered a more challenging workout than the normal classes.  We had an amazing time but that was a given with this crew! Great people, fantastic music and lots of energy!

Hugo

Sara

Ever since I started taking Zumba  classes myself at my local gym, I fell in love with it. Zumba brought me back to all the great memories in Guyana of the family get-togethers when we would dance the night away to soca, reggae, calypso etc. In Guyana, a party wasn’t a party if there wasn’t music and dancing. There’s just something invigorating about hearing that high energy music and you just can’t help yourself…you just have to get up, shake your hips and groove to the beats.

Little Lorita dancing the night away

Here’s a video of the Zumba Master Class. Enjoy!

I have personally known Acara for many years as she is one of my sister’s closest and dearest friends. Acara is a gorgeous girl and loves the fashion scene.

So, we thought it was be a great idea start learning a bit about model photography with Acara being the perfect subject. Our goals for the shoot were to: experiment with various lighting techniques that you often see in magazines, make it look high fashion with selected clothes, makeup and posing and lastly, do the full photoshop treatment on the images.

The session went great! We played around with various poses that we’ve been researching and also did some poses that Acara wanted to try out.  She brought a few different outfits and I did her makeup to coordinate with each one. Add a fan and an iPod and we had a fashion shoot!

Here are some of our favorite images along with a short video of the shoot.  Enjoy!

We had the pleasure of shooting another Baby Bunch collage with beautiful Violet.  We have previously done a portrait session with the entire family during the summer. But today, it was ALL about Violet.  It was her turn to show off in front of the camera like her two big sisters.

She did fantastic!  She thought it was hilarious when mom and dad would act silly and make goofy noises in order to get her to smile.  She especially love when dad played the drums on his belly. But I think we were all entertained by that

Here are some of our favorites!

We had a family portrait shoot at the Lake Harriet Peace Garden a few weeks ago. We scouted the location a week before the shoot.  The Peace Garden is a beautiful place and has several great locations for photography.  We were excited to plan potential shots with the cool scenery.

We arrived at the Peace Garden early on Saturday morning and we were thankful that we opted for the early start and did some preparation ahead of time.  We weren’t the only ones who thought the garden was a great photographic location.  There were several other photographers on the grounds doing family portraits, senior sessions, kids portraits, you name it.  So there was a little bit of contention for the prime photographic real estate.

The family shoot was crazy but fun! The kids were… energetic.  And I think they found all the cool rocks and trees to climb far more interesting than us.  We chased them around grabbing candids, sneaking in an occasional pose when we could.  We definitely got some exercise, and a bit of a scare when a gust of wind knocked one of our lights down into a pile of rocks (it survived thankfully).

It was an enjoyable day, that resulted in some fun, unique photos.  Enjoy!

As photographers, reliable backups are a critical part of our business.  Keeping your memories safe is top priority. That’s why our workflow involves making sure that images are replicated to four different hard drives before we even wipe the memory cards (sometimes a little paranoia can be healthy).  That protects us pretty well against hard drive failure or two and computer crashes.  But what about those really catastrophic events?  Things like power surges, fire or theft that could take out all of our office equipment still pose a risk.

That’s where CrashPlan really shines.  CrashPlan is a combination of  software and a service that allows our data to be backed up online to remote servers.  That means if catastrophe strikes, we still have our data.

There are several companies that provide online backup and I did some shopping around before deciding on CrashPlan.  A few factors that led to my decision:

• Reasonably priced to support multiple computers:  We have a couple of desktop computers and Lorita and I each have a laptop.  CrashPlan has excellent pricing options for multiple machines.  Currently it’s $100 for one year of backup service for an unlimited number of machines.
• Ability to backup to multiple destinations: Not only can you back up to their online servers, but the software allows you to backup to external drives, network locations or even friends computers.  A nice option to have.
• The ability to seed the initial backup.  This was what made it for me.  For a fee the folks at CrashPlan will send you an external hard drive that you can make your initial backup to.  You mail the drive back to them and they use that as the starting point for your online backup.  Why would I want that you ask?  Well when we first signed up for the service we had hundreds of gigabytes of data we needed to backup.  Doing that all online would have taken over a month!  With the backup seed we were able to put the initial backups for all of our computers on the hard drive and have it available within a couple of days.  Also saving a ton of bandwidth.
• Cross platform: we run PCs and macs, CrashPlan works equally well on both
• They are based in Minneapolis, so I’m more than happy to support another local business.

I just wanted to add that we don’t get any kickbacks from CrashPlan for this.  It’s just a product that we like and I hope that it can also help ease other people’s paranoia.

CrashPlan’s website

Tracey and Aaron are very good friends of ours. After months and months of trying to convince them to do a portrait shoot, they finally caved in. We decided to head to a nearby park and take advantage of the beautiful October scenery. It was a wonderful afternoon. Spectacular weather, great conversation and gorgeous fall colors all around.

Yesterday we had the pleasure to shoot the Zumbathon™ Party in Pink event at the Maplewood Community Center.  There were over 100 participants who came to raise money for the Susan G. Komen Foundation and get a fun workout in while they were at it.  The event was a great success and tons of fun for all who attended.

Special thanks to Sara (Ross) Thompson and Hugo Garrido Biagetti for organizing the event.  Without them, none of this would have been possible.

We also met Miguel Campbell of Hidden Padre Productions who was doing video work for the event.  Great guy and a pleasure to work along side.

Zumba’s approach to fitness is “ditch the workout, join the party” so we wanted to make sure that we captured that feeling in our photography.  Being at the event, with dance music blaring and everyone shaking it, it definitely feels like a party.  But things like music and people’s excitement don’t necessarily translate to a photograph to convey that message.  At least not without a little help.  We gelled our strobes to color the lights and give the images a night club/party feel.  We also played around with some unusual camera angles to spice things up.  Overall we’re pretty happy with how things worked out, and we’re proud to volunteer for such a worthy cause.

Please check out our Party in Pink gallery to see the photos from yesterday.  Also, profits from sales in that gallery will be donated to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer foundation.  Oh, and if you attended the Zumbathon™ or just want to chime in, we’d love it if you leave a comment.

We’ve also put together a video slide show to highlight yesterday’s event.  Enjoy!

We are excited to roll out a new product that is geared towards children between 5 and 9 months of age. It is called The Baby Bunch and it is a compilation of nine beautiful head and shoulders portraits of your child.  The images are displayed in a three-by-three image collage showing off all those great expressions that you see everyday. What a perfect way to capture those moments and keep them as your little one grows up.

The collage would be a great addition to any wall in your home, even the baby’s nursery. They also make great holiday cards. You can even give them away as gifts to the grandparents!

It is a wonderful opportunity to commemorate your child’s first year. If you are interested in finding out more about The Baby Bunch or want to schedule a photo session, contact us today!

FACT: Breast cancer is the leading cancer among American women and second only to lung cancer in cancer deaths.

FACT: More than two million women currently living in the U.S. have been diagnosed and treated for breast cancer.

On Saturday, October 16th, we will be donating our photography services to the Zumbathon Party in Pink fundraiser which is sponsored by the Susan G. Komen foundation. Many Zumba instructors from across Minnesota will be coming together to dance in order to raise funds for a much needed cure for breast cancer. Cancer is something that hits close to home for the both us and it’s a honor to participate in the event and help any way we can.

The event will be held at the Maplewood Community Center and is open to the public. With a minimum donation of $10, anyone can party in pink!

If you are interested in attending the event, please visit the Zumbathon Party in Pink Page.

Losing someone close to you is hard.

Losing someone at a young age when they still had a full life ahead of them is painful.

Losing someone that you considered a big brother, and having to say goodbye to him after battling one of the most painful cancers, is life changing.

Two and a half years ago, I had to say goodbye to my cousin, Rajen who died at the age of 37 of gastric cancer.  It was around Thanksgiving 2007 when we got the bad news from the doctors. They said that the cancer had returned and had taken over his body and there was no way to treat it. They estimated that he had about a month to live at best. They said that his body would just start to deteriorate and all the systems would start to shut down, including his memories.

It was Rajen’s last wish to die in San Diego where his sister resided. He had fallen in love with San Diego after his numerous visits and was planning on moving there someday. So, his parents put both houses on the market and packed everything up to move to San Diego. They moved to the West Coast around Christmas.

He loved computers and was very tech savvy. When he had left Minnesota, he made sure that his laptop was right beside him in his bed. As weak as he was, he wanted to stay connected. We would chat for hours and hours via messenger everyday. Some days the conversations were shorter depending on his strength. I’m not sure why I did, but I started gathering photos and sending them to him in various albums online.  I would send him old family photos, dog photos and even took photos of random things like the snow outside. Even though he was a thousand miles away, taking photos gave me a deep connection to him and was a coping mechanism for myself since I couldn’t be there with him all the time. There were things that he would never see or experience again but I wanted him to somehow still experience that emotion by seeing it.  I remember the very last email I received from him. There was no title but in the body of the email, it said “Keep taking pictures…”. I later found out that he was looking at my pictures along with his own in a constant slides show each and everyday. I think deep down he was forcing his memories from fading away. By looking at the photos daily, it was always fresh in his memory.  This was my motivation of why I decided to take my hobby of photography and develop it into something more. It was a life changing experience for me.

In early January 2008, I got a call from Sandra, Rajen’s sister. She said that Rajen was not going to make it through the week and to come to California if I wanted to see him alive. So, I got on a flight and went.  I vividly recall the last days I spent with him. He was frail, weak, thin and in so much pain. But he fought each day to live, and struggled through the pain in order to give his loved ones more memories. That last week that I spent with him was amazing. Although I was devastated by the inevitable outcome, I was happy that I was able to be there to say goodbye and show him how much I loved him. I remember one of the nights I layed beside him; I told him that I never considered him just a cousin, that I considered him my brother. It was the first time I saw him cry. He said he feels the same way too and he has always considered my sister, Mandy and I, his sisters as well. A few days later, I said goodbye to him and headed back to Minnesota. It was the single hardest and painful thing that I’ve endured. I gave him a gentle embrace, and told him that I will always remember him. I knew that was the last time I would see him alive.

Two and a half years later, I still think about him every day. Some days are harder than others. Some are filled with joyful and silly memories like him hanging me upsidw down and tickling me until I cried, or him teaching me how to slow dance but I always kept leading or the nuisances of stamp collecting. Others are filled with sadness like seeing the excruciating pain he endured during his last days or remembering the look in his eyes as we said goodbye forever. But I forge on to make the most of each and every day.

Today I want to wish Rajen a wonderful 40th birthday. Below is a video I’ve created of photos (not all are mine) taken of Rajen throughout the years.

I will love you forever my cousin, my brother, my hero.

A few weeks ago we met our good friends Lisa and Justin along with their three beautiful daughters for a family portrait shoot. We met at Battle Creek Park in St. Paul. This was their first official portrait shoot as a family of five so it was quite special. Their youngest girl, Violet was born just a few months ago.

Even though the day was quite humid, we all had a blast. We started out by taking some standard family shots and then moved into more carefree and playful shots with the girls. The girls did very well and were naturals in front of the camera.

Here’s a video that we created. Enjoy!

Several weeks back, we met Caulin.  Prior to the photo session, Caulin’s mom, Kelly had mentioned that Caulin was a bit shy when meeting new people and this could be a challenge in front of the camera. At first we weren’t sure what to expect. But the ice was quickly broken when we got in the old freight elevator at our studio. You could see the amazement in Caulin’s eyes as we rode up to the 6th floor like it was a theme park ride.

Throughout the entire session, Caulin was the perfect model. We rarely had to direct him to look at the camera and smile – he just did it. He was such a happy and inquisitive kid that it’s hard to believe that he’s had to deal with so much at a young age. Caulin was born with Vesicoureteral Reflux (VUR, or kidney reflux) and Hydronephrosis (water on the kidney). On October 9th, Kelly will be walking in support of the National Kidney Association. It’s been a rough road along the way but Kelly is hopeful that someday a cure for kidney disease can be found. If you would like to support Kelly, please visit her Donation Page.

I’ve been making it a habit recently of seeking out and subscribing to the blogs of other photographers who’s work I find inspirational.  Today I stumbled upon the blog of Robert Benson, on which I found a pretty funny graph illustrating the life of a photographer.   It gave me a chuckle so I thought I’d share.

Last weekend we had the opportunity to shoot our first official dog portrait shoot. It was nice to change things up and take photos of other dogs because frankly, I’ve taken thousands (yes, thousands) of our three dogs. It’s to the point right now where they associate me wielding a camera in the backyard means that they go sit/lay down under a shady area of the yard. And they quickly become bored with me…

So, Hildy was a refreshing change! We met Hildy & her human family at Battle Creek Park in St. Paul. It was a beautiful day out and Hildy could not have been happier.  She wagged her tail continuously and smiled every time the camera was near. She was pampered with hugs, kisses, compliments and even delicious treats that were new to her.  She was a star!

We would like to wish Hildy a pawsitively wonderful 9th birthday coming up!

Over the Memorial Day weekend, I went to Saint Louis to visit my sister, Mandy. She’s getting married in May 2011! Mandy had been wanting to get some outdoor engagement pictures, so I kindly offered my services.

Here is a sneak peek:

Over Memorial Day weekend Lorita was out of town visiting her sister in St. Louis.  So left home alone to my own devices, I was searching for fun things to do to pass the time.  Heather, a friend of mine from my days back in schutzhund, told me about a USDAA agility trial that she was competing in over the weekend.  Dogs, nice sunny weather, sold!

So I headed down to the agility trial and of course I brought a bag of some my favorite gear.  I’ve never been to an agility trial before, so I thought it would be a fun new challenge to shoot (I was right).  I decided to wield my new 5D Mark II with a 70-200 f/2.8L lens attached.  Now for those of you who have seen this lens, you will know that at about 8″ long and over 3lbs it’s not the most inconspicuous piece of glass in the world…  But it makes great photos plus it’s an excellent workout carrying it around all day!  Quite a few people noticed my setup and asked if I was going to be posting the photos online for people to buy.

I camped out at the edge of the field, watched some amazing dogs race their way through the agility course, happily shooting away.  Experimenting to find the best settings catch the dogs in action. Working on timing to get the shot as they would jump through hoops, speed through tubes, jump over hurdles and weave through obstacles.  Being unfamiliar with agility made things more challenging, as I didn’t know what to expect and couldn’t predict what was going to happen next. But having experience shooting dog sports definitely helped.  I did manage to come away with quite a few great shots for the day.

To everyone wondering if I was going to post the photos.  The answer is yes! They are available in our online proofing gallery.  It’s a public gallery so even if you weren’t at the trial go ahead and check them out.  These dogs did some pretty cool things and I had a blast watching them.  I definitely hope to watch/shoot a lot more trials in the future.

Last weekend, we met our friend TJ at the Normandale Japanese Garden for a “badass” portrait session.We know TJ from the days of old when we all were students of Toyama Ryu Batto Jutsu.

TJ had mentioned that he and the camera just did not get along and he did not like how he looked in pictures. We were going to change that!  We threw some ideas around and thought it would be fun to do a shoot of him in his training gear at the Normandale Japanese Garden, doing what he loved.  He’s spent many years training and honing his skill in the art. We wanted to convey that in our shoot and give him some pictures he could be proud of.

It was a beautiful day at the garden. We couldn’t have asked for a better day. TJ was fun to work with and did an amazing job at holding some rather difficult poses.

Here is a video sample of some of the photos. Enjoy!

The 2010 Animal Humane Society Walk for Animals was a huge success. There were over 10,000 participants and together they stepped up and raised over 1 million dollars!

The day started with check-in and getting prizes for various milestones in the amount of money raised. With everyone decked out in their red caps, t-shirts, sweatshirts and even doggie bananas, it was time to explore the grounds and mingle before the walk officially started. From goats to ferrets, from dogs to cats, all of the animals looked like they were having a blast socializing, sampling treats and taking it all in.

It was wonderful to see such a large turnout in the five mile walk along Theodore Wirth Park. A big shout out to all the volunteers and neighbors along the path for providing waste bags, water and treats for our furry friends.

After the walk, it was time for some food, entertainment and relaxation. It was adorable to see all of the animal participants in the various pet contests before calling it a day. A huge thank you to all who donated to this amazing cause. Our pets are truly a blessing in our lives. We look forward to next year’s walk!

We’ve put together our first promo video! It’s called “Celebrate” and we think it really highlights who we are. Let us know what you think!

We’ve finally jumped on the blog bandwagon, and we’re really excited about it. We’re kicking things into high gear at Sajous Photography as we go into the summer months. We’re planning all sorts of fun things for the year, and this will be the place to stay posted on what’s going on.

Stay tuned folks!

We are stepping up for the animals. On May 1st, Lorita will be participating in the Walk for Animals fundraiser hosted by the Animal Humane Society. With any pledge to Lorita of $25 or more, mention promo code ‘STEPUP’ in the Donation Notes section and you will receive a voucher for a complimentary on-location portrait session ($100 value).

This is a great opportunity to get some wonderful keepsakes for yourself and your family while helping out a good cause. There is no obligation to buy. If you want to purchase prints afterwards, great! If not, that’s no problem too. Either way Sajous Photography and the animals thank you!

Place your pledges on Lorita’s Donation Page. Please make sure to enter your email address so we can send your voucher and get your session scheduled.

Thank you for your support!