:issue: good hair

As I am doing some zipping of files for a client I came across this picture I took of my niece a year ago. Her hair is so gorgeous to me. I love fluffy, curly, wild hair! She hates to wear it like this and I don't know why. When she's older she will appreciate her hair...

Mommy... Who is God?

OH BOY! My son is something else! We're driving home from my mothers house and we start playing a game counting how many cousins he has, how many parents, how many aunts, how many grandparents... So while we're counting his grandparents he counts "Pop Pop" who is my husbands grandfather (who is no longer with us). The wild thing is that my son ALWAYS talks about him and he passed when he was just 1. Anyhoo, he says "well, pop pop is in heaven" and I say "yup" he says "Mommy, who takes care of people in heaven" I say " God takes care of people in heaven sweetie" he says "well, who is God anyway mommy?" SHEESH, he's 4! Wasn't expecting this! I say "well, God created everything around us, me, you, everything." he says "oh"... a long pause and then says "so, God is going to take care of me when I get to heaven?" I say "Yes sweetie" he BURSTS out crying and says "I want youuuuuuuuuuu to take care of me mommy!" Now I'm feeling stuck! So I say "Boopity, mommy is going to heaven before you anyway sweetie so I'll be waiting for you when you turn 100 years old" he says "noooooo mommy! I want you to stay here with meeeeeeee" YIYIYI!!!! Anything I said got this type of reaction... I then try to fix it and say " Baby, you're going to be 100 by the time you get to heaven, you'll have had a family, your own house..." he interrupts BALLING again "I don't want my own house, I want to live with youuuuuu!" At this point, I'm speechless... I just tell him that I'm going to always take care of him forever and ever.

I certainly wasn't expecting this! I try to explain things to my children (even though she's 1) the best way that I can without corrupting their little minds or treating them as if they aren't intelligent. There's such a fine line because I felt like I didn't want to take the conversation any deeper than I did. But I also didn't want to tell him fairies are going to swoop down, etc... I don't know, this boy amazes me every second... he later asked me why his cousins had different fathers and him & Little Bittle have the same father...

Sasha & Malia are tooooo cute!

They are so adorable! Figuring out in my mind how I'm going to photograph them this year + the puppy! {personally} no paparazzi shots! Think it'll happen? I'm already working on ideas now!

10 Reasons to Call JaTawny ...

Since I was about 11 I can remember tearing pictures out of magazines and saving the photos in folders. I mean, I would literally be at someone else's home and see a picture I liked in a magazine and tear it out! Dr's offices, Beauty salons, you name it! If you ever walked in one of these establishments in Germany, DC, MD, VA or NYC and saw a page missing, it is likely that "JATAWNY WAS HERE". I can remember GLUING all my B&W tear sheets onto my walls to cover them completely and purchasing a black light so they'd look cool in the dark :)

Anyhoo, a lot of photographers do this now when they are inspired by an image. I probably have 1000's of tear sheets. Recently while I was creating my goals board for 2009, I decided to make a piece of motivational art to hang on my office wall in front of my computer. I decided to come up with 10 reasons a client/company should call/hire me to shoot for them. I thought it would be cool to cut words from magazines instead of printing them or writing them. I purchased a small canvas and went to work.

As you can see, I clearly came up with about 100+ reasons you should call. I am thinking of using this as the front of one of my promos...

My recent work with adults

So, we recently formed a dream team. Myself, Cima Talent Management, Jill Turnball (stylist/hair) & Mia Collins (stylist) & plan on making a lot of serious moves in 2009. Our first shoot was with 2 fashion models from Cima Talent. My book is mainly kids (WHICH I LOVE & wouldn't change for the world) but we thought it would be great to add some fashion/adults into the mix! Below are some samples:

These girls were SO GREAT. Oh don't worry, I'll still mainly be focusing on photographing kids!

Also, JaTawny Vision now has a studio manager :) Her name is Mrs. Earlene. I feel that 2009 is going to be SPECTACULAR!

He thinks I'm his personal paparazzi ...

Every morning during breakfast, my son makes some sort of concoction with his toys and food. He then yells "MOMMY TAKE A PICTURE" lol as if {he knows} I'm his personal paparazzi!

She simply sits back and watches with crumbs on her face :)

Death of our Christmas tree!

As I was re-organizing my computer, I came across this image of our Christmas tree:





This disaster happened about 3 days before Christmas. We were all upstairs (thank goodness!) and all of a sudden hear a big CRASH! I jumped up and said "what was that!" My husband says "it was the ice maker making ice." I thought to myself "sheeeesh, that was loud, but ok...." The next morning I go downstairs and see the tree on the floor with the bulbs crushed! :-( It was so beautifully decorated. (I'll post those pics when I come across them). Next year, we're going to need a new tree!

FrEaKiN FaBuLoUs!

OMG, ok, so I just got married to the love of my life in Vegas this New Year. We got married at the Little White Wedding Chapel. It was such a cute Vegas experience. I practically giggled through the whole ceremony. 14 (known him for 14, together for 10) yrs later and I'm still in love :-D


So anyway, I just refused to have anything but the best photography to document this experience. We didn't have a big ceremony, but I wanted WHOEVER we hired to capture our VEGAS experience "Vegas style". Colorful, Grimy, PACKED like sardines, SINful, etc. I searched high and low and came across some images of a couple at the Vegas neon sign museum (boneyard) and fell in love. I immediately contacted the photographer and we set up our shoot! Now, the Little White Wedding Chapel doesn't allow you to photograph inside the chapel because they want you to pay for one of their photography packages (which I could not bring myself to do!) So, we purchased a dvd from them & did our photographs before and after the wedding.


Since the wedding, I have been sort of stalking Jenna's (the photographer) blog.... and today I saw these:

(j-lo has nothing on me! lol)

I wanted so bad to wait until we sent out our reception invitations to release any of these pictures, but how could I resist?! shhhh.. don't tell HIM I posted them, I know he wanted to wait too, but maybe he won't read/see this post :)

Now, I can't WAIT to see the rest :)

Thanks Jenna!

in 2008 ...

2008 had it's ups and certainly had it's downs...

In 2008

• I started planning my wedding
• I lost a friend in a tragic accident
• my sister had a precious baby boy
• I lost my grandfather
• I turned 29
• Britney Spears continued to breakdown
• Britney Spears picked herself back up
• I received an honorable mention in the International Photography Awards
• We lost Bernie Mac
• My son turned 4
• My daughter turned 1
• my Husband turned 31
• We elected OBAMA for president
• JaTawny Vision teamed up with a very talented Stylist, Make Up Artist & Agency
• They discontinued Polaroids :-/

2009 is a new year + = new opportunities and connections. I will work hard through this economic crisis to get to where I want to be and hope you do as well! CHEERS :)

wesite re-design

Website is being re-designed. Be back shortly!

I'm back!

Back from Vegas, came home with a husband!

Now all the following up begins! We have a new studio manager {Ms. Earlene}. So we're going to be getting in touch with the clients/people we sent holiday greetings to this year. I'll be posting again soon.

Merry Christmas {early}

So much going on over here that I'm not sure I'll log on for Christmas. Just wanted to post a couple Holiday Greetings!







So, this year we were walking in Pentagon City and Boopity says "ooooh mommy, there's Santa, can we go see him?" My mom and dad take him over and bring him back. Seems that this year the prices for taking photos with Santa have gone up... But guess who wants to take a picture with the expensive Santa stand when his mommy is a photographer?? None other than Boopity himself. SO, an idea shot through my mind and I took my dad to the side and asked how he felt about dressing up as Santa for the kids (mine, my nieces and nephews and other invited children) and he says "SURE!"







I tell Boopity that Santa has made a special date to come and see him and take a photo with him, Little Bittle & his cousins and friends. The day comes and they're all excited! Santa walks in, I was scared that Boopity would recognize him. I KNEW my nephew would recognize him for sure, but I was wrong! They were so excited and happy! Here are a couple funny pics of my 2. Not sure what Boopity was thinking in this photo. Maybe "hmmmm, this guy looks kinda familiar." No need to guess what Little Bittle was thinking, clearly she wants him to put her down.

Annie Leibovitz (inspiring)

Great article about her here: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/annie-leibovitz/life-through-a-lens/16/

:issue: junior

Sitting here working on reorganizing my office & computer files and came across a LOAD of stuff I've never shared.

Below is Helen, a teen model I photographed for Cima Talent Management. An agency that I have also teamed up with. In fact, we just finished our first push marketing to ad agencies, etc. Can't wait to see some results from that!


Helen was a sweet girl with an amazing personality. Her mother is also GORGEOUS~ Anyhoo, here are some pics!

Dreams of Flying

I love this guys work: http://www.janvonholleben.com

:issue: discombobulated

I just want to SCREAM today!

I am finding the past 2 months to be a quite difficult...





- sons birthday party in November.


- sisters birthday & baby shower in November.


- bf's birthday in November.


- nieces birthday party in November.


- DEADLINES, DEADLINES, DEADLINES.


- Working on the push for new clients for the new year.


- my bridal shower in November.


- Daughters birthday party in December.


- HIS birthday party in December. (they have the same bday)


- Christmas.


- Wedding.


- Making sure my marketing material is PERFECT before we send it out...


- Making sure my family gets the attention they need from me while I am SWAMPED.


- Desk is a wreck!


- House is out of whack!





& I know I am forgetting some things. I am certainly not complaining, just feeling a little bit POOped...

:issue: neglected

Thank goodness my blog can not talk. She/He would say that I'm neglectful to him/her! I'll start updating again tomorrow. Have lot's to tell!

:issue: Traveling Billboard

How exciting! My work is displayed all over the YMCA/Care First Blue Shield traveling playground RV! If you see this RV downtown, wave and say "Hey! that's JaTawny's work!".


Info about the RV: MEDIA ADVISORY

YMCA AND CAREFIRST UNVEIL KIDS MOBILE, A TRAVELING PLAYGROUND TO COMBAT CHILDHOOD OBESITY

Redskins Great, Charles Mann, Area Kids and Local Officials to Help Kick off Initiative


WHO: Local children, Redskins all-time great Charles Mann, local officials, YMCA of Metropolitan Washington and CareFirst


WHAT: YMCA of Metropolitan Washington and CareFirst will announce a major partnership to combat childhood obesity with the unveiling of the YMCA’s Kids Health Mobile — An RV style vehicle fully loaded with an interactive gym, health assessment equipment and a nutrition corner. CareFirst and the YMCA have formed a partnership to expand the Y’s youth wellness program, PHD (Physical, Healthy and Driven). PHD is receiving national recognition for its role in combating childhood obesity. .

WHY: Childhood obesity affects more than 20,000 children living in Washington, D.C.
The PHD program combines fun physical activity with fitness assessments, nutrition education and family involvement. CareFirst’s support will allow the YMCA to expand PHD to schools and YMCA facilities throughout Washington, D.C., northern Virginia and suburban Maryland. Additionally, the PHD on the Go Mobile will allow the Y to take this life-changing program to locals schools that don’t have a physical education curriculum or safe play areas.

:issue: on sunday...

On Sunday, I lost my grandfather to a heart attack after he was given a "clean bill of health" by his physician a couple of weeks ago. It is moments like this that I regret not snapping a photo of him every time I saw him. I am sure that may be how most people feel. When I found out on Sunday, I immediately picked up my old D100 and got inspired by nature (a subject that I never shoot). Wanted to share the images below:

When I was around 14 years old, I lost my grandmother in a tragic accident. I decided while I was in Virginia for my grandfathers funeral that I would take the time to travel to the properties of hers where I had the most memories and photograph items that struck a memory.

I know my blog has for the most part been fun, but I just wanted to take the time to tell anyone who's reading to cherish your family & TAKE LOTS OF PICTURES . . .

:issue: Freckles

I love freckles!