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.

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.

Whoo! What a game! We had a little superbowl party here, and it was so much fun. Admittedly, I’m not as into the game as the average guy so I spent some of the time playing around and shooting some of the guests. My favorite subject was a supercute 8 month old called Christian. She was such a delight, and smiled and cooed most of the evening as she sat in all our laps at some point or another. Here are a couple portraits I made of her at the party.

A little while ago, I got to shoot my friend’s family photos – their daughter is by far the most active child I have ever had the pleasure of shooting – it was so much fun, and surprisingly exhausting. We got to the point where we stopped trying to set up posed shots because she was so super-wiggly. We just watched her closely and if she paused we would all jump into position and try to make some images! Here’s what we got.

When Ke’er asked me to shoot him and his lurvely lady Marquita, I went from flattered and honored to terrified and nervous. You see, Ke’er is an excellent photographer in his own right – some of you may have met him assisting me at sessions and / or weddings. So on the one hand, I thought it was fantastic that he thought enough of my work to have me shoot his own portraits but then I was really worried that I wouldn’t be able to impress him. He picked the urban, gritty location, the wardrobe and then wanted to start bossing me around – I wasn’t having any of it. I bossed him around and here’s what we came back with!

My dear, dear friends B & G got hitched recently, and it was amazing! Coordinated by the incredible Vivian from The Event House, who also happened to be the brides sister! It was a really beautiful event, and since I’m so close to the bride and groom – hey their initials are B & G just like bride and groom! I just noticed that! – I got a little emotional. It was such a beautiful event.

The day started off early, lots of great images at the groom’s house (had LOTS of fun with them), then the bride’s house and pretty soon we were at the church. The bride’s dress was incredible, and she had on stunning pink shoes.

I bumped into 4 brides whose weddings I had shot, 2 sets of parents from previous weddings and a couple of bridesmaids – it was so much fun!

The reception was great fun, and the couple danced as a friend sang “At Last” by Etta James – that’s a really special song to me as well. I was all excited because since Vivian is a very accomplished wedding coordinator, she picked me to shoot her sister’s wedding. Thanks V!

My old clients Amoni & Toju, now good friends, I’ve shot their wedding, engagement session, pregnancy pictures, pictures of their first baby Tosan, his first birthday, and most recently pictures of their second baby, Tomi. I had been calling Amoni every couple of days since she told me she was due in a couple of weeks, just to mess with her and lo and behold, the last time I called her, she said she had just had the baby an hour before! So a couple of days later, I made it to the hospital for Baby Tomi’s first photo shoot!

Ja’Nee and Sebastian’s wedding was a blast – the groomsmen, in particular were completely off the hook. I was assisted by the magnificent @deji_01, and together we came back with some pretty awesome images. The wedding was coordinated by Willie Childs, who was also the florist. It went off without a hitch. Check out the image of the bride at the altar with her jaw completely dropped – Sneaky Sebastian switched rings on her, and she got a much bigger rock than she thought she was getting. It was a pretty cool surprise

I love all my clients,  but every now and again, you run across someone who does something so kind and generous, it makes you speechless. I had to be in Dallas for a shoot, and I mentioned it to my clients B & G, who live in Dallas and they met me at the airport and presented me with these monogrammed cufflinks:

I am so humbled, honored and grateful that they would think of doing something like that for me. I joked with them that I wanted to pierce my ears so I could wear them every day.