Black Girls Rock!
BET (Black Entertainment TV) invited our family to their live awards show, “Black Girls Rock”. I (dad Justin is writing this) decided to stay home, because I’m not a girl, otherwise I would have attended and dressed up as well. I wanted this day to be special for the beautiful ladies in my life! I got to do something better than attend which was to create an awesome video and take photos of Ami, Ava, Alexis (McClure Twins), and their Nana all dressed up for the show
Recently we did a video interview at our house with BET, so they are familiar with our family and brand. They also appear to be a fan of what we do – we were delighted and thankful for the invite to “Black Girls Rock”. Ami and the girls were thrilled and wanted to dress in ankara fabrics designed by Lavie.
Finish the blog, but come back and watch the video!
Designer Lavie brought her team to our house where they finished sewing and fitting the dresses. From my perspective the beauty was tantamount to an awesome photo shoot. As I watched them get their make up, fitted, hair done, and fine tuned their outfits, I decided to produce a shoot before they departed.
Some of you are familiar with my photography, but it’s something I’ve been doing for a long time. Actually our start into the social media world was viral photos of the girls before any videos were produced. My subjects, Ava, Alexis, and Ami, are beautiful so it’s easy to get amazing shots. I like to take high quality photos with lots of range in color and tone, usually on a 400mm Canon 2.8 lens (I know that’s technical).
Some people say, “photography is easy”, but not good photography. Good photography is about light, manipulation of color, framing and composition. It’s way more than pressing a shutter on an expensive camera. My photography is based on using dynamic range to bring the subject out and frame the subject so it complements the overall image. It’s a lot of fun, sometimes challenging, but the creativity is what I thrive on.
The biggest challenge in doing a photo shoot of my family is holding baby Jersey! At the time of this writing he’s 9 months old, and we feel most comfortable holding him in our arms (as opposed to letting him crawl around). But when I’m photographing Ami and the girls, someone has to hold Jersey! Who else, but the photographer? lol.
Much of these photos were taken holding baby Jersey. I lined up the technical specs before so it wasn’t much of a challenge, and Jersey is rather curious about most things, so it was stimulating for him. I think he enjoyed seeing his Mom and sisters under the lights.
I hope you like these photos. I’m so delighted my ladies got to attend this event — it’s special being a part of their culture. Now the biggest challenge is deciding what pictures to frame and place on the wall! Your suggestions?
Make sure to watch our Black Girls Rock video!
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