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Category Archives: families
Perhaps it’s all of the colors and lights that go up this time of year or that my retinas are still recovering from the visual overload of the midnight-to-dawn shopping marathon with my high school besties on Black Friday, but I’m finding myself wanting to monochrome every image I edit, especially when it is a part of a set like in the Christmas cards below.
Why It Works
Compliment, don’t compete – Even though the colors of the outfits below were beautifully coordinated with each other, turning the images black and white supports the design of the cards and helps punctuate the text. The red-and-white stamp and the green bow would have gotten lost among the bright hues of the original photos. Generally, if a photo’s “frame” (in this case, the card design) doesn’t compliment the colors in the image, try converting the photo to black and white. The same goes for the reverse: if choosing colors for design is more of a pain than a pleasure, you can never go wrong with a simple white mat and a black or neutral frame for displaying a colorful photo on your wall.
Lighten up – Holiday cards can be dense: greetings, photos, updates, design, and so much cheer. One way to let them breathe is by taking off the stuffy holiday sweaters, especially the ones with the reindeer and the candy canes and the snowflakes and the mistletoe. It’s Christmas, we get it. Now we want to look at your face, but your sweater won’t let us. Returning to the point above, your clothes should compliment you, not compete with you for attention. And they don’t necessarily have to be winter clothes. Even Kyle and Shay Payne’s family portraits taken in the middle of the hottest summer Oklahoma has ever seen work just fine in a Christmas card. And it doesn’t hurt that their kids are just.so.adorable.
  
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Two people after my own heart: accomplished and admired artists, Laura and Reza. Calligraphy, photography, painting, choreography, graphic design, music — you name it, they do it. And they do it well. Their finest capolavoro: little Kalila, who I first photographed as a baby in Haifa. Now settled in Toronto, Kalila and her parents wait for the arrival of the new addition to their family, Baby Mostmand 2. Congratulations, Reza and Laura. You’re now living inside your own masterpiece.
      
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Four years ago today when Laurel and Sisay donned the traditional Ethiopian wedding crowns and capes and started their life together, I couldn’t imagine them looking any more radiant than they did on that October day in Haifa … until I saw them recently in the lush serenity of Green Acre in Maine with their two adorable daughters. As anyone who knows them can attest, their magnetic quality with children has won over scores of tiny hearts that have crossed their paths. How lucky are these two little ones to be set in that path for good? Happy 4th anniversary Laurel and Sisay. If it’s true that the love you give to others comes back to you ten-fold, then get ready to be crushed by a million pint-sized waves.
  
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As much as I love fields of flowers and nifty urban nooks, my favorite location for family portraits remains the home. Looking back at my childhood, I would love to have photos of the green door I would rush through after school to kick off my shoes only to run through it again to meet my neighbor Shay for an afternoon of chatting on the brick wall across the street, or the tall cypress trees behind our backyard fence that I never saw anywhere else in Oklahoma but later became fixtures in the landscape around my homes in Tuscany and Haifa, or even the design of the wrought-iron arch framing the entrance to our formal living room that I remember finally being able to reach, and eventually swing from (much to my mom’s dismay). The things we touch daily and gaze upon over our morning bowls of cereal (or hot tea, feta cheese and lavash bread as it often was) as kids remain as much a part of our childhood as our first-grade teacher and favorite blanket. For Nadia, Omeed, Iman, Jamilah and Jaydan, there are Nadia’s bright orange lilies that burst open for only two weeks of the year, the short stone wall that Omeed built himself for the backyard that Jaydan intuitively knows not to step off from (though we all freeze and hear our hearts pound in our ears when he gets close to the edge), the kitchen table two-seater bench which Jamilah and Iman can share with a third friend and still have plenty of wiggle room, and the front door where you often find them inviting in neighbors, family, friends, and friends of friends, to a space they feel welcomed and cherished. These characteristics make this home as beautiful, strong, vibrant and loving as the amazing family that lives in it.
   
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Our children (Leili, Milan & Zane) remember you guys very well, especially Sisay’s hugs and love, consistently no matter where they were. You always made them feel so special! Its a true gift! Everyone knew that you guys will make amazing parents and we are thrilled that you now get to daily shower that innate love for children at home. Your children indeed are very blessed to have the two of you as parents. You always have a home in China. Please come visit us!
by negeen
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