Forever Day Photos

Tope & Biyi – Downtown Houston Day After Session

muyiwa — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 15:03:25 +0000

Tope called me up last week and reminded me that we never did shoot her bridal session – they’re an out of town client and we could never get it scheduled. We had quite a time trying to schedule me + them + hair + makeup + weather all at the same time, but we finally managed it. It was initially meant to be a bridal session, but the night before Tope asked if her husband could come along and be in a few images. I was delighted, and he was in almost all of them! We had a really great time, despite the heavy rain right before, and a little rain during, and a lot of rain after the session.

One super cool thing that happened was as we were shooting on a sidewalk in downtown Houston, a gentleman was walking by and he photobombed us and then asked where else we were shooting. He insisted that we shot in his building, and he let us in to an amazing 100 year old building where we had the run of the place, including the private terraces where we made some of my new favorite images. We had a blast. I think I’m going to be suggesting these sessions a LOT more often. It was great not to have to worry about the dress too, since we were shooting after the wedding. Everyone was much more relaxed.

House On The Word Shabach Concert 2010

muyiwa — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 22:06:21 +0000

I got to shoot this concert at the Stafford Center last year as well, and it was great for me to see the growth in my style and technique. Also it was really cool to work with this wonderful group again. I was welcomed more warmly than almost any other shoot I’ve worked this year. It was as usual, an awesome celebration and the choir, like me, was even better this year. The concert was very well attended and so organized and on time. I hope I get to shoot this every year. It has become the high point of my year. You should come too.

A Lacy Baby

muyiwa — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 00:11:40 +0000

It’s definitely baby season! A couple of days after I shot Yinka & Sola’s baby in Dallas, TJ called me on Monday morning to tell me Adanne was in labor. I had offered to take pictures earlier and he said I should come on! I got there and Anissa Lacy was about 15 minutes old – aside from my daughter, she is by far the youngest baby I’ve ever photographed. She was posing already, as you can see.

I turned around right before I left and I saw this scene: Mom trying to nap, having just finished making a person, and dad marveling at his new lady, and grandma texting all her friends the news proudly. Cute.

Houston Wedding Photography – Obi & DJ

muyiwa — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 16:25:28 +0000

Having shot DJ’s sister Amoni’s wedding to Toju about 3 years ago, when Obi and DJ walked in, it was pretty much a done deal. They basically just wanted to confirm I was available on their date and to sign their contract. I love shooting client’s family members because they’ve already met me, seen my work and as an added bonus, there’ll be a previous client at the wedding – always fun! And fun it was – I got invited to an excellent party the night before, and the entire reception was a blast – the inimitable Julius Agwu was the MC and he was hilarious! At one point, he made almost everyone on the high table kiss, which was veeery interesting. Oh, and see if you can spot my next clients in the crowd

Just a quick note – the groom asked me to point out that just when he saw his lovely bride for the first time, a bug flew into his eye, right at that moment. Also the church roof was leaking right where he was standing, hence the water that looks like a tear rolling down his cheek. It’s true. I was there. He really wasn’t crying.

5avorites

muyiwa — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 03:05:23 +0000

I’ve just had a prospective client ask to see 5 of my favorite images. I generally post some of my favorite work on the front page slideshow or on this blog, so if I were to pick out 5, they would be images he’s already seen – so I decided to go with 5 of my favorite images from my last wedding. I think I’l narrate them a bit, and also I might do this on a regular basis. It’s a pretty interesting idea.

It’s always an interesting challenge to creatively shoot the bride’s dress and shoes – there are so many parameters and so much going on during the getting ready – there’s makeup flying around, bridesmaids and maids of honor getting things done and of course the bride. It’s always fun to find a nice quiet moment to shoot the details. This was shot outside the bride’s hotel room, while I was waiting for her to get halfway into the dress. On the right, sometimes a great image (in my opinion) is not defined by how much is lighting the scene, but sometimes areas of dark as well. This was shot by lovely, soft window light and a little kiss of light from inside the room.

I love images that hold emotion. It’s important to stay attuned to the events of the day as they unfold – in this image, the coordinator tries to help the bridesmaid (the groom’s sister) as she reads a poem written for the bride by the groom. It was beautiful. In the background, the makeup artist holds the emotional bride’s hand as she applies finishing touches.

It’s important that images tell a story. Each image is a building block of the story of the day. In this frame, the groom’s other sister waits for the right moment to present the bride with a little gift from Tiffany’s from the groom. It’s all about the anticipation. On the right, the couple is bathed with light from a single spotlight in the reception hall. It’s always lovely to see the connection between the couple. There’s nobody in the world but the two of them at that moment.

Welcome Baby O!

muyiwa — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 16:06:35 +0000

I shot Yinka and Sola’s wedding back in 2007 – I didn’t get to shoot the birth of their first child, but this time Yinka’s timing was perfect! They live out in Dallas and on Thursday morning I got a text saying that she had delivered her second baby. The following morning, I surprised her with a phone call to let her know I was on my way to Dallas to shoot a wedding and I would be happy to stop by and take her new daughter’s first portraits. She was quite pleased, and that make me all happy too. So on Saturday morning, bright and early, I went out to meet the newest member of her family. She’s beautiful.

Downtown Houston Engagement Photography – DJ & Obi

muyiwa — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 17:41:13 +0000

This couple’s schedule was unbelievably tight. Even though they booked me almost a year before the wedding, we had such a hard time getting our schedules together. We finally ended up a couple of weeks before the wedding, trying to get the shoot done – it rained and since we couldn’t find another day before the wedding to shoot, we went anyway – and I’m so glad we did! I’m almost hoping for another rainy session…

San Antonio Engagement Photography – Tope & Biyi

muyiwa — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 20:15:34 +0000

Tope and Biyi talked me into coming to San Antonio to shoot their session – it wasn’t too hard because (a) I love to shoot in new and different places and (b) Seaworld! So we all rode up there and I checked out a couple of potential locations. We settled on this picturesque location below and it was pretty cool. Tope had warned me up front that Biyi was *so* not into having his photograph taken, but by the end of the shoot he was coming up with shot ideas and not wanting the session to be over. Very cool!

Dallas Engagement Session – Chuks & Kelechi

muyiwa — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 20:21:40 +0000

I had a really long week in Dallas – I shot my first 3 day wedding, and then the next day, just before i was to leave for Houston, I shot Chuks and Kelechi’s session. I thought I’d be tired, but as soon as I got there, I was all psyched and we had a bunch of fun! They were both really cool and did great despite all the walking. Like many grooms, Chuks needed a little warming up but when he got into it, we got some amazing stuff. The picture of them kissing in front of the kissing statue is definitely one of my favorite images of the year. We’ve already shot their wedding in Houston so I’ll be posting some of that soon as well. Enjoy!

Engagement Session Bloopers

muyiwa — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 20:02:52 +0000

One of the hilarious hazards of on-location photo shoots, even though they’re much more fun, is the phenomenon commonly known as “Photobombing.” This happens much more often than you’d think. Strangers, upon observing a shoot, sometimes jump into photos – sometimes on purpose, but often quite by accident. The results are pretty funny. I think I’ll try to post a blooper section every now and again, if I remember to save them. Thanks to Chuks & Kelechi, Arthur & Chereece and Lee & Rolake for this set of bloopers.