Patrick Trovato |Food | Covington Imagery

MMMM, When Patrick Trovato asks me to come over with a camera, I know that I am in for a treat.  He is one of the best cooks that I know (in company with Samson Trinh, Jeremy Simmons, John Conley & my mom’s friend Sandy Wahl).  This was a special night as he had just finished making a batch of his granola.  Best granola that I’ve ever had.  I want him to package it under the name G-Crack, cuz you can’t stop.  He gave me a huge bag of it and I don’t think it lasted more than an hour.

Dinner was pasta with broccoli

I love backyards in Brooklyn. Playing with my tilt shift.

Diane and Jen| Covington Imagery | Senior Photography

Diane & Jen have been friends forever and they braved the one of the hottest days of the entire summer to rock out a photo shoot in Philadelphia.   They were troopers as they braved modeling for a gaggle of us photographers each taking turns trying out new ways of seeing using off camera flash as taught by Brett Jarnagin of Flashfire Workshops.   The hottest day of the year was one of the best days of the year as I had several ‘lightbulb’ moments where i realized the why’s behind the adjustments on my off camera flash.  Off camera flash can be tricky.  I love it.  I’ve been experimenting with it for some time and wanted to learn to better control it.   I loved using it for my predawn shoot with Empire Circus back in January.  Thanks again to Stevie Cliff for being the best VAL ever…
I’ve taken a few OCF workshops before but just didn’t feel like I really knew what I was doing with it, the why’s behind what it was doing.  It worked for me but always took a lot of fussing.  Enter Brett Jarnagin who cleared the cobwebs from my head and very simply and effortlessly broke down the fundamentals of OCF.  & he was darn cool and loves aviator sunglasses.  He & his wife Casey drove over 11 hours to make the workshop happen in Philly and I’m so grateful that others had pointed me in their direction.   One of the things that really drew me to his workshop was the light painting that he has incorporated into his work.  I’m addicted to light painting.  My friend jordan and I used to stay up all hours of the night playing with light up toys and I’d never seen them incorporated so well into wedding and senior photography.  Brett opened my eyes to incorporating OCF into my light painting.  Why this had never occurred to me, I have no idea.   But I am ever so grateful to have it in my brain now.   Continual education is so important and I love when I have the opportunity to learn from another photographer in person.   I can’t wait to play with the new techniques.
I’m also very grateful to Diane & Jen for being such troopers in the blazing heat and staying so enthusiastic throughout the awesomely long day.

Bushwick Living | Life | Covington Imagery

I love the home and family that I have found in Brooklyn, NY. I am very lucky to have come across such an incredible space and place to dwell in while working in this city and it has the bonus of the most awesome neighbors. Seriously, I won the lottery on this one.
I love where I live because you never know when a random night on the roof could evolve.

I love the cooking abilities of my neighbors. Dang, there are some good cooks in this building. Sauman & Gordon throw the best foodie parties.  & Jeff’s sardines.  nom nom.

Neighbor Anne.

and the doglets and their human caregivers. We all have our roles to play in the happiness of the buildings many dogs.

Jennifer Lilya | Fashion Illustrator Portraits | Covington Imagery

I know that I say this all the time, but these things are good for repeating. I am so grateful for what I get to do. I get behind the curtain access to the most incredible people. Most recently, I was invited into the home of Jennifer Lilya, a star fashion illustrator.  She needed some portraits and after discussing how she worked, we decided that the best way to create images would be for me to just go to her studio while she was working.  Images that captured who she was and how created was the goal for her environmental portraits. Being a girl who could never draw with pen or marker (the camera has always been my only artistic outlet) I am fascinated by people who can turn a blank piece of paper into something, especially something beautiful. If left to my own devices, I’d end up with a blob of color. Jennifer made it look easy. She works in stages on a series of images. First she does a light outline of the basic shape in a light flesh colored tone, that sheet is set aside and she draws the next light figure and so on. Once the first one is dry, she adds a bit more color on another layer. The round robin drawing continues until she completes the figure costumed in an amazing creation.

To say I was blown away watching this happen would be an understatement. Thank you Jenn for having me into your home and sharing your art.

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