Okay, so, I’m guilty of not updating my blog as often as I’d like, but I hope this makes up for it. Every once in a while you come across someone that makes your job SO easy you just have to blog about it!

Meet H!

This young lady from Norfolk has it all going on. She’s smart, down-to-earth, talented and beautiful beyond belief… inside and out! She was also so modest about setting multiple state track records that I had to pull it out of her. Her Italian is impeccable. This girl is the total package!

H is such a trooper that she even let me and another photographer practice some experimental lighting techniques…which is not for the faint hearted as she was contantly asked to perform tasks that would give most of us whiplash! ;-) What a joy to photograph/play with her.

Can I just adopt her? Would that be bad?

[Rats, I'll bet her proud parents would complain!]

Tah, tah for now.

Leslie

Okay. So far, it has been a summer full of smoke from the Great Dismal Swamp fire.

Every day in Virginia Beach and Norfolk we wonder if the smoke is going to have blown off enough to go outside. Can today’s photo session happen or not? Is the smoke too bad to breathe at the location? [Which changes from hour to hour] It is getting kind of depressing not only for myself, but for other photographers across the Hampton Roads area as well. A real rescheduling nightmare! Can you say “studio,” anyone?

But, finally there is something burning that I’m anxiously awaiting! July 10th is the date of the Burn Notice premiere.

Honestly, I never watched an entire episode of Magnum PI back in the day. In fact, I never really got into the action genre on TV or even in movies before, but the superb, smart writing and acting on this show has really reeled me in. Heck, my whole family can’t wait for the first episode this season. July 10th can’t come soon enough for us!

Generally, summer tv is boring. Treat yourself to something good: Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar and Bruce Campbell as Michael Westen, Fiona and Sam.

Rent the entire first season or download it onto your Tivo from Amazon. You have time to catch up and watch the incredible finale before July 10th. You won’t regret it.

Forgive me if you’ve heard me say this before, but custom photography is not for everyone.

For some people, leaning up against a carpet covered stand at a bargain photo chain and saying “Cheese” is great. The price is right. Everyone is managing to show their best forced grimace smile. Done.

For other people, average just isn’t good enough. They want more. They want something special. Something that spotlights the individuality of their family. They know that hiring the best photographer to capture the images of their family is tantamount to getting timeless, one-of-a-kind portraits that will be passed down and treasured from generation to generation. These are the people that choose to go with a custom portrait photographer.

A custom photographer that will take the time to help show different sides of your family’s personalities in your favorite surroundings. A custom photographer isn’t rushed. That means they are 100% invested in giving the clients what they really want to remember. They want to capture memories that show who their clients are.

As for the parents, they want to show Sally’s first tooth and how shy she was when she was that age. Or how adorable Baby Lucas’ tiny foot was when he was just 5 days old. Or they want their teenaged daughter to see the beautiful woman that she has become. Or they want to see how in love Mom and Dad looked during their vacation in Virginia Beach. There are as many possibilites and/or reasons for doing custom photography sessions as there are people that want them.

A while back a friend of mine passed along an article that was published in Real Simple magazine about professional custom photography. [Click on that green text to visit the link.] This article asks you to think of what is really important to you. I think most of my clients will agree with several (if not all) of the points made in it as they have already made capturing their families and their personalities a priority in their lives. They are my only session for the day. They get my full attention. They can take as many breaks as they need to rest, change clothes or diapers, snack, nurse, etc. Your child can hold their treasured “lovey” or you can sit on your quilt that Grandma lovingly made for you. Whatever you want. That is why they call it custom. …And it will be unlike any photo session that you’ve had before!

Hiring a custom portrait photographer means never having to hear:

“Sit here.”
“Chin up.”
“Say cheese.”
[Flash, flash]
“Okay, we’re all done here. …Next!”

Never!

Leslie

So, if you’re a long time reader of my blog you know that along with being a photographer, I’m a big live music fan. Usually when I’m in the studio proofing a session, music is playing in the background. Well, I was surfing some of my fav. music sites the other day and was happy to find that my boy Tony Lucca finally got his stuff out into the universe a little more! You can now find him on Youtube and Itunes.

[Click on the link below and then listen as you read on. Warning...prepare for a sentimental ramble. This is my blog, so I'm allowed!]

Often when I’m listening to music, I picture myself hanging out in what used to be one of my most favorite places when I was back home in Alabama called Judge Roy Bean’s in the city of Daphne. (AKA Judge’s to the regular Mobile and Baldwin County patrons)

Here is a painting of our’s of Judge Roy Bean’s by Fairhope artist Jean McKee.

Judge’s burned to the ground a few years back. Even though the Navy has taken me far away from our beloved Eastern Shore, my husband and I will always remember that place and the good times we had there. (Yes, my dh is also from L.A. …and by L.A. I mean lower Alabama.)

It was more than just a Gulf Coast bar. Judge’s was a southern institution! It was where most of my friends met their future spouses. Judge’s was where we could drop in on any given Sunday and listen to some of the best live music the SE had ever seen. If you were lucky, Jimmy Buffet (a local boy in town visiting his family) would just wander in with his guitar and you’d know you were in for a treat.

The iconic building itself was essentially a rickety old squatter’s shed type of a ransackled barn complete with mismatched wood, hand painted signs and a tin roof. You could tell it had been haphazardly added on to here and there over the years. You’d turn around at the $.25 Oyster bar to find a cat sitting on your bar stool. While you were outside watching a volleyball game played by intoxicated prepsters from nearby Springhill College or the University of South Alabama, a goat would be nibbling on the pocket of your bermuda shorts. (See the goat in the picture above.)

You’d see Mobile’s debutantes dressed in linen and pearls playing pool with toothless and tatooed garden variety rednecks from Silverhill. You’d hear Little Feat or James Taylor’s music playing on the speakers in between the band’s sets. During the hot Alabama summers, you could always count on being served one of the best strawberry daquiris in the county. Judge’s was where you could hobknob with judges, lawyers, retired Heisman Trophy winners, college students and smugglers alike.

Man, I miss that place! I’ve got that print of the old watering hole hanging by my favorite chair in my living room in Virginia.

…And the long winded point to this blog is that whenever I listen to Tony Lucca’s live stuff I’m reminded of that little bar made out of leftover barn material on the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay. He would have fit right in there! Give him a listen.

[See? I told you that this post was sentimental! I really need to travel home this summer!]

Take care, listen to Tony and enjoy this wonderful weather we’ve been having.

Leslie

I have news about the St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Youth Raffle last weekend in Norfolk, VA. Amberly Semones was the lucky winner of a free session and a 16 x 20 inch portrait from her session! Thanks to all of you that supported the SPY 2008 Mission Trip by purchasing a ticket!

I also have great news about my father Byron Yoder this week. He successfully underwent brain surgery at M.D. Anderson in Texas and is recovering quite nicely! It looks like he’ll still need to undergo radiation after he heals, but both of these should insure that he is around to harass and chase the fish along the Gulf Coast/Mobile Bay for years to come. ;-)

I’m busy catching up on correspondence that I missed last week. Yes, I am booking the always popular beach sessions now, but the available dates are limited. Call soon to ensure I can fit you in.

In the mean time, enjoy this incredible spring weather we’re having.

Leslie

Never be caught empty handed at the playground again!

Have you ever met someone that you really got along with at your local park or playgroup and you start to fumble around in your diaper bag to find something to give them contact info with? You might find wipes, dirty tissues and Cheerio crumbs, but nothing else.

[Sound familiar?]

With Leslie’s new Mommy and Me Cards, having no pen and no paper is no problem!

These stylish 2 x 3.5 inch cards will help you secure the best play dates for your little tike. With 8 card styles and 20 fonts to chose from, your Mommy and Me cards can either be as traditional or funky as you are! Ask how you can use your custom photos from your Leslie du Mont Photography session to be the hippest Mom around the sandbox!

Way cool, right? Well, I told you that this year was going to be incredible! ;-)

Tah tah for now,

Leslie

I’ll be out of the office April 25th, 2008. I will return on Monday, April 28th.

Leslie du Mont Photography office hours are 9 am - 4 pm Monday through Friday. On-Location photography shoots are usually scheduled on Tuesdays and Fridays in the late afternoon. Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays are typically spent in the studio.

I am currently booking sessions in late May and early June. Session fees are due in advance to reserve session dates. To inquire about possible session dates, please use my contact page found at www.lesliedumontphotography.com.

Thanks for visiting my blog!

Leslie

I’m all about supporting local artists! Especially when they are some of the Tidewater’s finest young musicians as well. Check out WAVA! [Pronounced wave-ah] On any given weekend you can find these guys playing around town or even selling out the Norva in downtown Norfolk. Yes, in fact, I’ll probably line up for tickets next time, too, despite my way un-cool advanced age!

My daughter has them playing in heavy rotation on her Ipod and will even be lucky enough to have them playing at her school’s Formal this year. [School choice has its privileges as the some of the talented Wava hipsters go there, too.] Go, dawgs!

Hmmm…maybe I should offer to shoot the band’s next promotional photos. Boys, call me!