Lending a hand for Heart Health

One of my dear friends asked if I'd join her team for a Heart Walk to support the American Heart Association. I thought it would be great to get involved and have my son join me in a little volunteerism before the walk. So, we showed up early to help set up and distribute literature as walkers arrived.

Whenever I can, I have my camera around my neck to capture candid moments all around me. When it was time to start the race, it was my job to hold one end of the "Start" ribbon. To my surprise, I was approached to take pictures of the ribbon cutting ceremony instead. As it turned out, their event photographer was "MIA" so they needed me to take the pictures.

I was happy and honored to step in and take the pictures. As an added bonus, I was also asked to submit images from the day to the SJ Magazine.

What a great experience!

Why not have some wine?

Once again, I had the privilege of working with Y.E.S.! Philadelphia Dress For Success on their most recent fundraising event. They sponsored "Wine and Cheese and $20 Please" at the Pinot Boutique in Old City (Philadelphia). The event was really lively and it looked as though everyone enjoyed the hors d'oeuvres and wine samples. I love working with these ladies because they are supporting such a worthy cause. I look forward to working with them again!

Now that's how you have a Birthday!

What better way to celebrate your birthday than a midnight cruise on the Spirit of Philadelphia!! What do you do to take it a step farther? Make it an all white affair!!

Happy Birthday Lady!! You looked beautiful and the party was fantastic!

I don't do weddings.... well, maybe....

I've been known to say "I don't do weddings" because I enjoy shooting very relaxed and spontaneous shots. Well, I met a lovely couple a while back who were about to be married and were still in need of a photographer. I explained that "I don't do weddings" but to look at my work anyway and if they felt I could assist them I would.

Well, maybe now I'll have to stop saying "I don't do weddings".

The wedding was a small beach wedding in Ocean City, NJ on a beautiful, bright and sunny day. I shot the bride just before the ceremony, the ceremony and formal pictures afterwards. Overall, it was a great experience and I look forward to working with this couple to finalize their pictures and provide them memories that will last forever.

Best Wishes to the bride and groom!!

Headshots Needed!

I had the opportunity to work with a wonderful young lady who is an Image Consultant and motivational speaker. We met at a recent event that I covered and we worked together to create headshots she would be able to use to market her business via several avenues (web and print). We had a great time talking and learning about each other's business and one of the most memorable parts of our photo session was when she recited several motivational monologues while I shot her pictures. It was one of my greatest photo shoot experiences and I'll never forget how cool it was to make those memories.

Y.E.S.! Philadelphia Launch Event

I have a very dear friend who's a volunteer for the non-profit organization Dress For Success in Philadelphia, PA. Her organization is continuing to grow and on May 6, 2010 launched Y.E.S.! which stands for Young Executives for Success. The goal of these volunteers is to "promote the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and career development tools to help them thrive in work and in life." I volunteered to photograph their event and was very moved by the experience. I'm now looking forward to getting involved with this organization and will tell everyone I know to visit www.dressforsuccess.org and support this wonderful organization in any way they can. My initial support came in the way of purchasing both a custom scarf and tie designed by Tommy Hilfiger specifically for Dress for Success. I look forward to working with these wonderful ladies again in the near future.

Baby Jayden's shower

Yesterday I photographed a baby shower for a beautiful new mother-to-be. This was a very special event, especially on the eve of Mother's Day. I cherish the thought that one day this new Mommy will sit with her baby boy and show him the pictures of her shower and tell him how excited she was to be preparing for his Birthday.

My First Client Ever Returns!

When I made the decision to turn my passion for photography into a business, I, like so many other photographers, called upon family and friends to be my test subjects for composure and lighting purposes. I'm so thankful to everyone who gave me the chance to photograph them back then because they helped to shape the photographer I am today.

My first client ever recently returned to have portraits taken. I let her know that even though we shot her orginal portraits under very entry level conditions, her portrait is still one that gets complimented when people view my portfolio or website today.

We were both very excited to shoot and took advantage of some great natural lighting. During our session, we discovered that we share some of the same ideas for more artistic images and plan to shoot again soon. I'm so excited to see where our next session takes us.

Thank you Ms. K for being my first "client".

Unsatisfied With School Portraits

I recently had the opportunity to do a portrait session with a young man because he didn't like his school portraits. It was a very relaxed session and his mom and I had a great time attempting to get him to smile. It's something about those teenage years! When it was all over, they had a great experience and loved the portraits. They promised to return and may never buy school portraits again!

Collages now available!

AHarperPhotography is proud to introduce that we will now be selling collage prints!! This is a wonderful way to showcase multiple poses at once. Poses can be mixed and matched and we can display from 2 to 10 poses on one 8 x 10 sheet.

Shooting with models

I've been working to expand my network so I've been involved with several websites dedicated to models, photographers, make-up artists, etc. I recently had a shoot with a wonderful young model. She was a pleasure to work with and I look forward to more and more of these assignments. Here's one of the pictures from our session.

Alter Ego's

I had an opportunity to shoot some alter ego style photos over the weekend. Here's a look at a few of them.

Preparing for Valentines Day

With Valentines Day approaching, I decided to have a Glamour photo event. A few ladies got together with props, food and drinks and had a great time taking pictures. They were very excited to see their final images.... so excited, some are already scheduling their next photo session. I had a great time with these ladies and loved seeing them react to their photos. All women love feeling beautiful.... especially on Valentines Day.

The Start Of Something New

Well, since this is my first blog post, I thought it would be nice to start things off with pictures of me. Since I'm the photographer, I'm rarely in front of the camera. Actually, I tend to stay as far away from having my picture taken as possible. I don't know why that is. I've always been that way. I have no regrets about it though because that's actually part of why I became a photographer. If I'm behind the camera I can't be in the picture. Smart thinking, right?

I have a very dear friend, Peter, who ventures out with me on long photo adventures. He's the one who took these pictures of me. Since you will probably not see any more pictures of me, I at least wanted to share a few with you.

I'm looking forward to seeing where the world of blogging takes me. I'm excited to begin this journey and would love to hear from you along the way.