@fleurdeleigh » Family

Ho Ho Ho…Whoa!!!

leigh caraccioli — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 20:46:12 +0000

Where DID the holiday’s go?

Before I could finish the lyrics to silent night, the season passed me by. Had a marvelous time photographing the darling families this season. Eventually, I’ll get around to revising the website to include my most favorites of all the season. Eventually. Feels like I just got the tree up…

If you are a family photographer during the holidays you may have felt the blur I did and you’re probably vowing to do it differently next year. And you’re probably, right now, reaquainting yourself with your own family

upending fear

leigh caraccioli — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 20:35:35 +0000

When I received the call from my childhood best friend, my emotional levee broke. She called for reassurance knowing that I’d undergone a needle biopsy of my own. “Think positively. They are probably just ruling out Cancer.” With cracky voice, she agreed and assured me she would call back tomorrow with the results. No call. I knew.

This is the part where I wish I could claim valor, strength, courage. I wish I could tell the story of a friend who zoomed down to Cinci right after finding out my best friend had breast cancer. Tell you all that I was there at her double masectomy and after with support. Instead, I failed her and me.

Breast cancer looms large in my psyche stalking like the grim reaper patiently waiting. Unlike Heather, I got good news a clean bill of health from my doctor after biopsy analysis. So I am safe for now. Having a maternal grandmother (my namesake) fight and lose to cancer before I got to meet her will leave a mark. This is me trying to justify why I cowered when Heather got her news.

Now she is doing very well and I am coming to terms with my not being a good friend then in the face of my own fears. In her honor and my grandmother’s, I have started Project Pink Photos. Just me right now. Hopefully others in 2010. What I can do for people, like Heather, is take family photographs at no charge. This year I have selected a handful of individuals affected with breast cancer and offered them my photography service. This way I am doing something for them and doing something to overcome my own inner fear.

More from Heather’s family gallery here.

Later this year, I will compile a gallery of these special images and share with you all inviting you to do the same in your neck of the woods if you choose. You will hear more from me about Project Pink Photo in the spring of 2010. Till then, I hope you all stay healthy and wrestle your own fears back to size.

Leigh

Family photography has gone street…Urbanesque.

leigh caraccioli — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:52:17 +0000

Family sessions have come a loooong way from the Olin Mills days with fake splitrail fences. Last year quite a few clients wanted to have natural setting park-like backdrops. This year most of my clients have gone to the streets….the urbanesques setting. This one was funny in that I almost got ran over by oncoming traffic, got my car towed and had to navigate through dilapidated feilds and buildings like four ladies from Mad Max. Fun stuff though and they all were marvelous models…

For more images from this gallery, click here.