In March, I had the pleasure of photographing 10 debutantes in Maryland, as part of an upcoming Tea Rose Cotillion event. The debutantes are being sponsored by the Xi Zeta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority (AKA) Inc.'s Ivy Foundation.  The Saturday morning session included a variety of individual and group portraits of the ladies. Special thanks to Jean-Ann for hosting us all for the portrait session. I counted at least 30 pair of shoes lined up at the door… whew! I'd also like to thank the cotillion co-chairs and Ivy Foundation of Washington for continuing to host the cotillion event for these young women.

For the photographers, here's the lighting setup I used…
Four Alien Bee strobes, 4×6' reflector and seamless background paper.

Earlier this summer, I had the pleasure of photographing Ramona & Burton for their engagement session.  We took a stroll around the National Harbor in Maryland, then captured some of DC's monuments from across the water in Virginia.  Thanks to Ramona and Burton for their great energy during that hot and humid summer day.  They managed to stay nice and cool for the camera.  The couple's October wedding will take place in Washington DC area.

The day after the 2009 pageant, a portrait session was held for the newly crowned Miss Hampton University, Nikole Churchill.  Promotional images were created using a variety of outfits and poses.  Thanks to Bobby and Myrtle for assisting with the equipment setup and styling for the session.  Here's one of my favorite images from the session. Good luck to Nikole, as she competes for Miss Virginia in the Spring 2010 pageant.

In case you missed it, Ebony Magazine has published their "2009 Campus Queens" feature online.  The printed version is usually published in April.  However, they decided to take it online this year.  This gave the magazine the opportunity to showcase the Queens more equally, while also (I imagine) saving on printing costs.  Checkout Miss Hampton University 2008-2009, Shannon Cooper, and other campus queens at EbonyJet.com.  One image from her portrait session was posted along with a brief bio.

This summer, had the pleasure of photographing the Ewing family in Dumfries, VA. The session took place at a nearby neighborhood's clubhouse, providing a nice park-like atmosphere for portraits. For this group of combined families, we created a series of portraits to show their unique relationships with one another. Some of their vibrant personalities were also captured in the process. Here are some of the family's images created that Friday morning.

I was recently commissioned to photograph 8 young ladies who will be participating in the Tea Rose Cotillion this month, in the DC area.  The session was held at the THEARC Campus of the Washington Middle School for Girls in DC.  Several portraits were created of each debutante, showing their formal dresses and some personality.  The images will be used as a part of the printed program for the upcoming cotillion event.  Thanks to the Xi Zeta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority (AKA) Inc.'s Ivy Foundation for sponsoring this occasion.  I'm sure the debutantes will remember this experience for years to come.