Jea, Pat & the baby bump

i'm excited for my cousin's arrival of her first mini-her. here are a few of my favorite images from the baby bump portrait shoot i did with the expecting parents.

quasi hiatus but not really

sooooo.... my main photography website needs a revamp and I've simply just been busy doing things like....

this past february, the adventures began for my 200 hour teacher training certification at atma bodha yoga studio. needless to say, i've been dedicating much of my time to personal practice and the certification. surprisingly, despite my even busier schedule and less time with dslr camera in hand, yoga has improved my photography by strenthening my body to hold for steadier shots, improving my flexibility to bend in certain ways to get shots when space and time is limited and making sure i'm breathing in a relaxed manner.
these days, if i'm not shooting a wedding or community event, i keep up with my photography using my handy dandy smartphone and documenting the amazing experiences i come across and upload them on instragram. follow me if you'd like: helenbackwards

Taking In the Day

I'm thankful for days like this where friends reunite and new friends are made, fellowship in nature, witnessing amazing and having an awesome camera on my phone to document it all.

757Clever Collaboration

essere magazine contacted me to publish a photo i took for an interview with my buddy Mike Dawson of 757Clever. the photo was of a local DJ who wanted Mike to do a commissioned piece of it because it's a favorite photo of his showing what he loves doing. i was doing what i love doing (photography)while the DJ was doing what he loves doing and Mike got to to do what he loves doing connecting the three of us. click on the image above to read the article.

Hampton Roads Tattoo Show

had it not been for my friend, Ramel, needing some help to exhibit his art work at this year's hampton roads tattoo show, i would've never known about it and i would've never gotten to touch this yummy creature standing with me in the photo above. ami james is nom noms.

me: can i touch your head?

ami: no!

i smirk. he smiles.

ami: why?

me: because every time i see you on tv i want to touch it. it looks soooo smooth.

he bends down towards me giving me permission. my index finger approaches his shiny baldness. unexpectedly, he tries to bite my finger and i jump back. WHOA! he laughs and finally lets me touch the top of his head. i touch it nervously and the skin is soft and very smooth. my heart pounds excitedly and i'm flushed. the excitement is too much for me to handle so i bid him farewell walking away while fanning myself with my hand.

i swoon.

ladies competed in the pin-up model contest. i love the pin-up look.

how does one decide which tattoo booth to go to at these types of shows? easy... you check out their business cards and if the design is pleasing to you then you know their tattoo artistry has to be worth taking a look at. that's how i stumbled upon jesse smith. he designed two different fronts of his cards so that no matter which way they lay vertically they connect into one image. so genius of him! and his art is badass. check out his website by clicking on his name above.

ramel's artwork always has people stopping by in wonderment. click HERE to check out his facebook page of art. it's good stuff.

one day i'll get a whole back piece too. that'll be me laying on a table for next year's show.

Green Kilts on St. Patrick's Day

a gentleman sporting a scottish military uniform on st. patty's day, requests a song from mink and cheef's irish drinking band. maybe that was the greenest outfit he had. i asked him what was up with the outfit and as soon as he started to explain the scent of drunken beer happiness invaded my nostrils. stumbling for his thoughts, he tells me a buddy of his who was part of some black ops group and was a P.O.W. gave it to him.

A WWII Veteran swaps military stories with a Vietnam War Veteran.

Cheers to beer! Gotta love folks who get into the spirit of drinking holidays.

New Earth Farm

ammie posted about a tree planting event on a farm in pungo that anyone could come and volunteer. she and i drove up to New Earth Farm together on an early saturday afternoon.

mulch was hauled and shoveled to nourish and protect the newly planted trees.

we dug holes.

... lots of holes.





thank you farmer john for the opportunity to serve.

Allegiance

Just outside the Planned Parenthood building in Virginia Beach, I looked up through the driver's side window and paused for a moment to reflect on a sign of the times.

Marvin

our paths met about 4 years ago while i was working at a kiosk in MacArthur Center mall. he was part of the service staff that emptied out the trash cans there. he saw that i had a ladybug tattoo and has called me "ladybug" ever since. all these years he has never asked what my actual name is. a reason for that is because he can't read or write. he can remember sounds of words and he gives people nicknames from what visually inspires him at that moment.

he showed me a composition book he was filling up with rendered drawings he did of charlie brown cartoons. the book is for his young son as a gift. marvin will look at the small comic frames printed in the newspaper and then draw them larger. he's very proud of his ability to be a human "copy machine."

a few months ago he asked me to get him a "campus". i didn't understand at first what he was referring to until he described wanting to put a picture on it as a gift. so then i was thought, "OH! A CANVAS!"

He surprised me with a drawing of Garfield as a holiday gift and he had me fill in the talk bubble for him.

i saw he wrote "STAR WARS" on the above picture he rendered and i asked him how'd he know to put that on there since he can't read or write. his response was, "someone just shows me what to put and i copy it."

i asked him why he hasn't learned how to read or write and he said "some people know how to drive really well. some people know how to get jobs." I offered to teach him and he said, "thank you but everything is fine just the way it is. let's just be friends." and gives me a small bow and big smile.

his spirit is strong and i'm grateful for the lessons i'm learning from our friendship.

Fall Festival

Freshly pressed apple juice.



Pirate story telling and artifacts.

Pumpkin painting

Local honey tasting.




I volunteered to be the photographer at the annual Fall Festival for First Landing State Park. It is the biggest event they organize. For the park staff, it signifies preparations for the closing during the winter season.

Photography/ Creative Writing Workshop

Thanks to my wonderful friend, Dr. Crystal Leigh Endsley, I will be hosting a photography and creative writing workshop at Hamilton College in Clinton, NY near the end of this month. A big "Thank you!" also goes out to the students for making the above flyer!

my motion picture adventures begin...

many many many moons ago a good friend of mine told me i should try my hand at film since it's just a camera capturing motion and i'd be good at it. a month ago i upgraded my dslr to one that also shoots HD video. this change was meant to be.



i've made it my mission to document and share the spirit of community, culture, music, art, spoken word and dance wherever i may encounter it. why? because it's love in it's most creative form and i hope to inspire others to continuously explore and expand their creative self.

i am a citizen of the world. i am here to share the goodness that comes from it.

Art Portfolio: Bonn Duong

Fine artist,Bonn Duong, from Annandale, VA, poses with her pastel creation. I met up with her at the Union 206 Studio recently to help archive her art work digitally.

We had some technical difficulty figuring out how to hang her largest piece. Just to give you an idea of how large it was, Bonn stands at about 5'3.





Bonn's self-sculpture. I think she tried to ride the HOV with it that day... I kid :)

musical musings

this summer 13 year old abby, has been playing covers of today's popular song hits at local cafes such as cafe moka in chesapeake.

mike and michelle watch their daughter, abby, play an acoustic set at borjo's in norfolk, va.



i am a proud auntie.

vocabulary of a gadget girl

Pia, who just turned three years old today, says, "Dada, download a new game."

The Draft Lottery 3

reasons why i enjoy photographing b-boys and b-girls.

animal spirits: praying mantis

one morning I decided to finally pull all the crab grass that took over the lavendar plant and to give the lavendar a trim so the walkway to the house was clear. I came upon a praying mantis in the lavendar. with fascination, i watched it be still during all the commotion of pulling the grab grass. The following morning I saw another praying mantis on my car and thought "this is a message!" and looked up its symbolism.

http://www.whats-your-sign.com/animal-symbolism-mantis.html


Praying Mantis Meanings in the Realms of Animal Symbolism

The mantis comes to us when we need peace, quiet and calm in our lives. Usually the mantis makes an appearance when we've flooded our lives with so much business, activity, or chaos that we can no longer hear the still small voice within us because of the external din we've created.

After observing this creature for any length of time you can see why the symbolism of the praying mantis deals with stillness and patience. The mantis takes her time, and lives her life at her own silent pace.

* Stillness
* Awareness
* Creativity
* Patience
* Mindful
* Calm
* Balance
* Intuition

These traits have lead the mantis to be a symbol of meditation and contemplation. In fact, in China, the mantis has long been honored for her mindful movements.

The mantis never makes a move unless she is 100% positive it is the right thing for her to do. This is a message to us to contemplate and be sure our minds and souls all agree together about the choices we are making in our lives.

Overwhelmingly in most cultures the mantis is a symbol of stillness. As such, she is an ambassador from the animal kingdom giving testimony to the benefits of meditation, and calming our minds.

An appearance from the mantis is a message to be still, go within, meditate, get quite and reach a place of calm. It may also a sign for you to be more mindful of the choices you are making and confirm that these choices are congruent.

Union 206 Studio: April 2011

"the world is black." - charles butler, owner of Union 206 Studio
charles explaining the science behind light falloff. i like to refer to him as "light macguyver".




the beauty dish.

photo courtesy of lori esque


behind the scenes set-up.

photo courtesy of lori esque

in front of me.

the ring flash.