What a treat to photograph 8-week old Inori Rose this past weekend.  She is blessed with not just one but two awesome moms! It was such a pleasure for me to celebrate the new motherhood of Karen and Joanna and the joy of this new family. I love photographing in natural light and we were lucky enough to have scheduled the session in the afternoon on Sunday just after the sun broke through and the temperature warmed  enough so Inori could enjoy the outdoor air on her beautiful bare skin. Between breaks for feeding and sharing mothering stories we captured the growing bond between mothers and daughter.  Congratulations Karen and Joanna and thank you for this honor of creating your first family portrait! Click on the photo below to see some of my favorite photos from the shoot.

Mother Tongue

In the trailer park where diapers snap on clotheslines like flags in semaphore the child cradled in my arms lies swaddled in the rhythms of her world.

She hears a thrush song from the thicket and searches with her eyes. Bird I tell her and wish her wings.

And then she shivers in the breeze that shakes pine needles from their boughs I whisper wind and wish her grace.

She looks to me while sprinkles dance staccato on our metal roof. Rain I say and wish her gentleness.

She gathers all these sounds of life like nosegays edged in baby’s breath and stores them in her throat.

Then, in her voice as soft as summer showers meadow music and whiffs of wind she names me mama.

                             Regina Murray Brault

Click to view slideshow.

A couple of weeks ago Stage Left  in Santa Barbara performed their productions of Grease directed by Shana Lynch-Arthurs and Steven Lovelace. Wow did it ever take me back to my high school days when this movie came out and beyond! The kids in this performance auditioned the first week and then had three weeks to pull all the choreography, singing and performance together. There were two separate casts and 4 performances. It was absolutely amazing to see the talent of these young kids (ages 6-15) and their directors showcased in a fabulous evening of song, dance and acting. I had the opportunity to do headshots of about 123 people involved in the two casts and to do character and production shots. What great subjects these young actors were! Check out some photos in the slideshow below…

My first trip to Italy was fabulous!! We started out in Rome and hit some of the hot spots: Vatican, Pantheon, Colosseum, Piazza Novona. It was so easy to get around and every time we turned a corner I was floored by the architecture, art, history, and of course the shoes!! After Rome we spent a week in Tuscany, mostly in Cortona  with side trips to Assisi, Perugia, Foiano, and of course Florence. Have you seen the movie or read the book Under the Tuscan Sun? Cortona was the setting for this wonderful story. We stayed in a beautiful stone villa right above this beautiful walled city and spent a lot of time photographing and hanging out in the town center on the church steps people watching with cappuccino, gelato or panini in hand. The beautiful village was a little different than Francis Mayes describes in her book and as we talked to locals we learned sadly how the movie changed this town from a small locals based community to a Tuscan attraction. Home values rose, many Cortonians sold their homes andtook with them the small community based businesses. Now most of the businesses cater to Italian and foreign tourists (which made for great leather shopping) but to go to a market for staples or a pharmacy we (and Cortonians) now need to drive about 15 minutes to the next town. Like many Italian towns the population is really aging in Cortona as the young people who can’t find work  have moved elsewhere. Still it was charming and wonderful but we felt sad to see how this wonderful book and the movie that followed impacted the local community. Next we spent five days in Venice. I loved St. Marks Square, Doges Palace, Rialto Bridge area, the glass blowing island of Murano and lace making, fishing village of Burano. We stayed in a beautiful apartment on the Venitian island of Giudecca  where we got a wonderful more locals experience of the area away from the crowds. My favorite times in Venice were definitely early morning photography outings to catch the gorgeous  light after sun rise and the golden hour  of light before sunset on the water and over the ancient architecture, I loved walking the neighborhoods, being in St. Marks Square without all the crowds, riding the vaporetto and photographing in the most beautiful magical light of Venice! Check out some of my favorite shots in my slideshow below.

Juli has been a Registered Dietitian, specializing in eating disorders and body image related issues for almost 25 years. During this time she has helped many women accept, nourish and honor the body they were born with. She has worked in inpatient and private practice settings, with individuals and groups, and on college and high school campuses. She has a passion for helping her clients free themselves from the prison and pain of disordered eating.

For many years, Juli has also been a photographic artist, specializing in her “Celebrate the Skin You’re In” photography. She brings her experience and passion for celebrating women’s bodies in all shapes and sizes to this work. Her photo sessions are often a healing experience for women who have been brought up in a culture that tells us there is only one type of body that is worthy of celebrating.

“Juli’s photos gently illuminate the true beauty and grace of the feminine spirit as it is reflected through the bodies of all women. The authenticity of these images are an antidote to the false, one-dimensional images we see in the media today. They invite us to celebrate the exquisite beauty of the embodied feminine soul.” -Anita Johnston, Ph.D. author, Eating in the Light of the Moon.

For more information please go to www.iaedpsocal.com
]]> http://julhaynad.wordpress.com/2010/02/16/celebrate-the-skin-youre-in/feed/ 0 julhaynad http://julhaynad.wordpress.com/2009/09/04/rock-on-foldback-time/ http://julhaynad.wordpress.com/2009/09/04/rock-on-foldback-time/#comments Fri, 04 Sep 2009 00:42:23 +0000 Juli Hayes-Nadler http://julhaynad.wordpress.com/?p=125 Continue reading →]]>

A while back I blogged about the fabulous Santa Barbara kid band Achilles Heal Project. In the last couple of years there have been many changes with this very talented group of kids. Achilles Heal Project became Fahrenheit 101, and recorded their first original, “I Can’t Wait” written by 15 year old keyboardist, writer and vocalist,  Nik Pearson. Soon after, as the band members each grew individually as musicians, they decided to split and form different bands. Original guitarist, base player and drummer stayed together as Foldback Time, a clasic rock jam band. Vocalist and drummer joined with another group of kids and formed the Fickles.  Keyboardist and song writer is creatively palying solo but joins in with Foldback Time on occasion and has been working with them on writing new songs. They all still work together in varying groupings and support each other as musicains yet the two bands have very distinct and unique sounds. Keep an eye and ear out in Santa Barbara for these talented kids!