jessicabarnak.com/blogsite

killing time… loving nature.

admin — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:55:15 +0000

I had some time to kill before my session at Gibraltar yesterday and thought I’d play with my macro lens. The gardens aren’t nearly as manicured as they used to be, but it’s almost a blessing to see nature in it’s wild state. I love the simplicity of these photographs – each one carries it’s own little personality in such a simplistic, old world fashion.

Today’s Quote:

“If you’ve never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom.”

~Terri Guillemets

Molly. {Pennsylvania Maternity Portraits}

admin — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 19:18:58 +0000

*Sigh*… if only we could all be this beautiful while we were expecting.

I’ve been photographing Molly and her beautiful family for a while now (here are a few from their last session – the first two boys in this post), and I’m so excited that they are adding another little one to the bunch! We were supposed to capture a new family portrait, but with two sick boys and the chaos of life, I’m so glad it turned into a maternity session!! I truly believe every woman should document this time in her life. There is nothing more beautiful! (except, perhaps, the end result).

Quote for today:

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.”

~Siddharta Guatama

Generous. {delaware senior portraits}

admin — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 13:28:53 +0000

I shared a few of my favorites from Wynne’s beautiful senior session recently, but I thought I’d share her video!!

Wynne and her mom are leaving on a relief mission to Haiti soon – a wonderful and generous journey! If you’d like to help, donations are greatly appreciated – and desperately needed!!!

A little about HFI:

WHO THEY ARE:

HFI is the Haitian Family Initiative, itself an offshoot of the Haitian Delaware Alliance – the alliance is committed to long-term (think decades) aid to help Haitians improve their lives. HFI was formed to provide psychosocial support to the women and children in Jacmel, Haiti. While the immediate disaster needs were met in the months after the Jan 12th earthquake, there are severe and on-going issues with basic life necessities. This situation is compounded by the stress and anxiety of meeting their daily needs and the terrible psychological damage from “the tremble”, as the Haitians call the earthquake.

WHAT THEY WILL DO:

To meet some of these needs, dozens of Delaware volunteers including teachers, doctors, nurses, mental health workers and others are providing a seven week program in Jacmel comprising three parts – summer camp for children/ medical clinic for the tent city/ psychosocial wellness programs for women and teens. The first week of camp just finished today- during this
past week more than 100 children participated in the camp each day/ more than 300 people showed up for the first day of medical clinic and the camp is providing hundreds of bowls of protein rice and water to women and children daily as the food supplies in the Jacmel tent city are almost non-existent. The hurricane season starts in two weeks.

Open your hearts… As Mother Teresa said ”We do not need to do great things, just small things wtih great Love”

Checks payable to:

BTL Foundation for International Services

(In the memo line donors MUST write: For Haiti Family Initiative)

Checks can be mailed to:

Haiti Family Initiative

2102 Wind Lane

Wilmington, DE 19810

Quote for this day:

Being good is commendable, but only when it is combined with doing good is it useful.
~Author Unknown

memories. {delaware maternity photography}

admin — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 16:01:56 +0000

I had the pleasure of meeting this mom and bun in the oven before during a session in which I photographed four generations of women in her family: her daughter, her, her mom, and her grandmother. What a memorable photo session that will be for her family as the years pass! They were such a pleasure to work with that I was fortunate to get the call to capture her maternity photos as well. This family is so loving and the little bean will be lucky to have a big sister already! I wish them all the best with their newest addition

Quote for the day:

“Youth would be an ideal state if it came a little later in life.”

~Herbert Asquith

Wynne. {delaware senior portraits}

admin — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 20:38:44 +0000

You may know (or not know) that recently I put a call out for high school students to model for me. I just wanted to dip my toe in the water and see if this was something I was A. good at, and B. enjoyed. So, I took 4 girls – all beautiful in that make you sick kind of way – and we wandered around Main Street Newark and Ridley Creek.

This one day of shooting was more work than ever for me, but this one day of shooting was the most fun I’ve had in my job in so long. These girls are AMAZING, smart, talented and so gorgeous!

Wynne was the first one up – she’s stunning, she’s Canadian, she’s quirky and has this funny little dry humor about her. I couldn’t have asked for a better model – both in imagery and role model for other kids. We had a blast together shooting!! OH, and she taught me a new trick revolving around turning your favorite skirt into a DRESS. How did I not know this?!? Needless to say, I’ve tried to convert all 8 of my long skirts into dresses – 2 worked beautifully and the rest are just, well…. long skirts. lol…

Thank you Wynne, for a great day, gorgeous images and a beautiful spirit!

Quote for today:

“I think of life itself now as a wonderful play that I’ve written for myself, and so my purpose is to have the utmost fun playing my part.”

~Shirley MacLaine

bashful. {delaware children’s photography}

admin — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 16:44:54 +0000

These two were a little camera shy at first. I can understand where kids, especially young ones, are coming from– the camera can be a little intimidating. I don’t mind kids that are shy though because I still am able to capture their true spirit. It is much better for me to get a few shots of them exploring their surroundings and getting comfortable than pushing kids to be outgoing and it ends up cheesy and forced. There is beauty in every expression, whether it’s a subtle smile or a big laugh. These are some of my favorites from this bashful pair…

Quote for the day:

“Be who you are and be that well.”

~Saint Francis de Sales

happy go lucky. {delaware family portraits}

admin — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 15:24:31 +0000

Summer is one of our busiest times but you never know if the session you schedule in advance is going to be a nice sunny day or blazing hot and humid. This makes it tricky because if it is really hot, kids and parents can get impatient and unhappy really quickly. The heat gets to me too! Thankfully, this session was a breeze because it was easy to get natural shots out of these smiley kids and their laid-back parents. I love all smiles, especially because it makes photographs like the last one here really stand out– she looks contemplative and peaceful. Do you notice that I LOVE the vintage color effect? It just fits in with my style!

Quote for the day:

“A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.”

~Phyllis Diller

a sister thing. {delaware children’s photography}

admin — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 02:42:10 +0000

It must be great to have an older sister– you can steal her clothes, makeup and learn a ton from her! You know all the secrets before your sister-less friends do and, no matter how much you may annoy one another at times, you will always want to be a little like her. These two girls look like they already have a strong bond and their love for one another shines through in these photographs. To top it off, their golden hair and striking blue eyes make them natural models!

Quote for the day:

“If you don’t understand how a woman could both love her sister dearly and want to wring her neck at the same time, then you were probably an only child.”

~Linda Sunshine

artsy. {delaware newborn photography}

admin — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 02:19:57 +0000

This is a session that I just had to share! Mom and Dad came into my studio and I knew we were going to have a good time. The baby was so sweet (don’t you love the little smile in the second photo?) and the creativity from these parents made the session extra special. Dad actually designed his tattoo that he shows off in the first photo ( love me some tats!) The time flew by and I enjoyed every minute of this session

Quote for the day:

“Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will.”

~George Bernard Shaw

luscious locks. {delaware newborn portraits}

admin — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 14:38:34 +0000

No need for hats here- this baby has a head full of hair that is so adorable! Older sister also has some beautiful golden locks to be lusted over Why does it seem that only little kids can pull off the messy, windblown hair look? They’re so lucky that they can wash and wear! The rest of us are left slaving away with our hairdryers and straighteners or curling irons to try to look half as cute as these two munchkins. This was another great newborn session that followed up a maternity session that I adored! I hope this new bean brings this family so much joy and great hair days!

Quote for the day:

“Hair is vitally personal to children. They weep vigorously when it is cut for the first time; no matter how it grows, bushy, straight or curly, they feel they are being shorn of a part of their personality.“

~Charles Chaplin