Survivor Saturday w/ Crystal Jones - Maryland Portrait Photographer

Crystal Jones is out feature for this Survivor Saturday!  She is a ball of energy and we are not FAMILY!!! She has an amazing personality and we hit it off immediately!  She came to slay for her session and we laughed the entire time she was at the session!  Her strength and joy is infectious and I can't wait for you all to read about Crystal....

1. What type of cancer were you diagnosed with and when

I am diagnosed with non Hodgkin lymphoma

2. How old were you when you were diagnosed?

I was 47 years old

3. What/Who helped you get through your treatment?

My family and friends. My partner of 6 years decided to cheat with someone I thought was a friend, so not only was I dealing with that, the cancer attacked my kidneys which they had to treat before the cancer with dialysis.

4. When were you deemed Cancer Free?

That hasn't happened for me yet

5. What did you do to celebrate that special day and your anniversary day?

I celebrate every day I'm alive!  I've traveled to places where I wish I could visit and thought I'd never see... like Paris.

6. Do you have any special charities that you are involved in or host as a survivor?

Yes, light the night walk. Also sharing my story of survival not only cancer, kidneys and betrayal

7. What would you say to someone that is just being diagnosed?

I wouldn't say too much. I'd let them speak. Too many times we offer platitudes but we really don't know if Everything is going to be alright. I went through a challenge of feeling guilty that I survived when so many others didn't. Why??? I'm ok with surviving at this juncture and I know that me being here is enough . I don't have to win a noble peace prize.

Survivor Saturday w/ Erica Campbell - Maryland Photographer

Hi everyone!  I had the pleasure of connecting with Ms. Erica Campbell for an amazing survivor photo shoot last weekend.  We had an amazing time and she came ready to get her photos taken!  I am so glad we were able to link up and I could provide this service to her!  Please read Erica's story and help her raise awareness of blood cancers.

Erica was diagnosed with potentially fatal Stage 4 Hodgkin Lymphoma on March 28, 2013. Her journey to survive her battle with cancer was very trying but after overcoming her obstacles, Erica is very passionate about inspiring people to have the d’zire to survive any challenges that they may face in their lives. Erica’s fight to survive lymphoma had its highs and its lows, however she didn’t give up even when at times her battle seemed like it wasn’t getting any easier. Through her unwavering faith and trust in God as well as exuding a positive attitude, she knew she could get through it all. Erica is working to build her nonprofit foundation “Dzire2Survive” with a mission to improve the quality of life of patients and their families touched by the lymphoma disease, by providing education and up to date information. Erica wants to inspire patients with peer to peer comfort to help them continue to fight and overcome their battle with blood cancers. Erica is an ambassador with “The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society” and “The Lymphoma Research Foundation” where her story is featured this month on their Adolescent and Young Adult stories of hope page (https://www.lymphoma.org) with a host of other features such as the Houston Style Magazine, Cancer Today Magazine, CURE Magazine and LRF lymphoma awareness campaign videos (Erase Lymphoma, Impacting Lives-Youtube) sharing her amazing life changing survival story. She has raised over $5K in funds and cancer awareness over the last three years with her team “Dzire2Survive” and impacted so many lives at the Light the Night Walk with LLS and the Lymphoma 5k Walk with LRF.

In September 2015, Erica launched her “Dzire2Survive Inspirational Journal” line. She created these journals to give individuals like herself an outlet to write about life changing events. Her journals will help inspire one to not only write about their journey, but to also show their artistic side by drawing or using photos as one of their many memories. As a survivor of cancer, Erica has a very inspirational journey that she enjoys sharing with others and in her personal Dzire2Survive journal, so she wanted to create something special for others as well. In Erica’s spare time she loves to sing, shop, workout, travel and most of all spend time with her family and close friends. She loves the Lord and through Him, she enjoys helping others affected by cancer by sharing her empowering story. Erica’s motto that she lives by and share with other survivors is, “Never give up on your fight and continue to survive with your beautiful smile…Dzire2Survive”.

If you know a survivor in the DC, Maryland or Northern Virginia area please have them contact me to help them share their story and get the photo session of their life!

Survivor Saturday w/ Jennifer - Maryland Photographer

Hello everyone!  Survivor Saturday is something I have had on my heart to do as a photographer for awhile.  I have wanted to highlight women that have survived by having a glam day for the individuals.  It is a little girls day out type session where hair and makeup is provided and I shoot them in a contemporary glamour session! it is time to celebrate the women that have survived all cancers and tell their stories so that it might help others.  Please meet the first survivor of the series....Jennifer!

Jennifer was diagnosed in early 2015 with adenoid cystic carcinoma. It's a rare salivary gland cancer (primarily) but can be found in several different glands in the body.  She didn't have any symptoms other than she discovered the lump in her neck by accident. She was initially misdiagnosed but after surgery to remove my gland, they did another test and that's when it was discovered that it was malignant. For Jennifer, it was a trying time to manage and find her own care. It took her 9 months to find doctors to assist her and finally determine radiation treatment was needed. Jennifer spent 6 weeks (33 sessions) receiving radiation to my head and neck. Jennifer is in the Air Force and was medical TDY about four hrs from where she lived to a German hospital. She was able to receive a type of radiation that is only available in Germany and Japan. The treatment itself was not painful, but the side effects from radiation to her neck area were rather painful.

Jennifer states that she is blessed that not to have any significant lingering side effects so far.  Jennifer says. "This journey has not been easy. It has had great impact on my personal life and relationships. I joke sometimes that I didn't receive my "Congratulations! You have cancer..." handbook because no one can prepare you for how to deal with it. In the military, we learn to push a lot of stuff down and move forward because we have a mission to do. I tried to handle cancer in the same manner and it did not work. It's something that I still struggle with at times. I am ok most of the time. As soon as it is time for a scan (every three months) or a cancer-related appointment, the reality of "oh wow...I have cancer..." is back to the forefront. Since it is still relatively new to me, I am still learning to "live with cancer". I'm still trying to figure out what is my purpose in this. For now, I feel as though I can do things like this to share my story and hopefully provide someone else hope as they fight their battle with cancer."

If you know a deserving woman that would love to have a session please send contact information to info@catherineraephotography.com.

Corporate Photography - Maryland Photographer

A fun makeup and creative session with this DC Psychologist made the day super entertaining.  She was not in her comfort zone at the beginning, but by the end we were all laughs and smiles.  She incorporates yoga into her practice and needed portraits for her website to showcase that.  I loved the fact that she incorporated color into her photos and made them stand out even more.

WOE Magazine Launch - Maryland Photographer

An amazing time was had by all that attended the WOE Magazine Launch that happened at the Nordstrom's in Annapolis.  Let me begin by saying that it was a first class event and Candice Nicole PR came through on all the details of the event. Ayo and her team was amazing and it was a very uplifting event.  The panel gave words of wisdom on daily life as well as starting your business and building your dreams.  There was a mini fashion show to showcase the WOE women which has many facets to her life and also makeup staff was on hand to glam up the participants. 

If you would like to subscribe to WOE Magazine you can do so at www.woemagazine.com.

Prom Promenade 2016

I was linked up with Syreeta C Fashion in April and she was gracious enough to ask me to become a part of her prom giveaway.  I thought it would be a great experience to give back to a local teen in the DC, Maryland, Northern Virginia area and document the journey through photographs.  Prom Promenade is open to all high school seniors in the DMV area and they must fill out an application with a short essay on why they deserve to win.  We also take into account the GPA and any future goals that the individual may have.

Once we received the applications this year our winner was clear and it was Miss Kailah.  Kailah had an amazing story along with the GPA and future goals and had already accepted the college she would attend to study Nursing.  Once we selected Kailah we met with her and her mother and had the initial concept meeting for the dress.  This included the sketch, color selection and fabric choice.  It was awesome to be apart of this initial meeting and help push her out of her comfort zone.  Heck...it is not ever day you get a custom gown, hair and makeup package, stylist and photography!  The next meeting was the first fitting with a rough example of the gown to get the fit as close as possible.  From there, Syreeta began to construct the gown and then we had the fitting with the actual gown.  We had one more fitting that happened at the hair salon with Tei from The Tei Touch.  The stylist Kasha Reavis, sent some amazing shoes, jewelry and a killer handbags for Kailah's big prom night!

Finally, it was prom night and we all came together with Kailah's family to help her get ready.  Her mother cooked for us and we had music and fun!  They were so welcoming to us!  We got her hair and makeup finished, got her dressed and sent her on her way with he two closest friends.

Prom Promenade was such as awesome experience and I can't wait until we get going for Prom 2017!

Philly Small Business Fashion Week #psbfw

Bohemian Rapsody

Having the opportunity to work with models and a styled shoot is something that I love to do, so I naturally jumped on the opportunity to do so.  The day was cloudy and rained off and on but we still were able to capture a few great images and have an overall great day. 

California Bohemian Session - Maryland Photographer

I met Ms. Ivy online and we sent text back and forth for a couple of days and then met up for this session.  We clicked right away and we had an amazing time on our shoot.  Ivy was such a sweet person to work with and we vibed on everything from yoga to tattoos.  She recently just started her own yoga studio and you can find her on IG and YouTube to see her words of inspiration and daily poses. I will definitely look her up when I head back to Cali!

Fashion Blog Session - Maryland Photographer

Fashion, fashion, fashion!!!  This lady has the look as well as the wardrobe to match.  We met on IG and from there I knew we would work well together.  Love Joy Styles writes a blog and puts her own twist on fashion by breaking the rules and creating her own looks with a mix of vintage and new.  It is so much fun working with someone that is so creative and allows you to be creative as well.  Check out her blog here: http://bit.ly/1S0Irv6

Carefree session w/Liz - Maryland Photographer

Light is light and I like practicing my technique on my friends/models.  Ms Liz came out again for a recent session where we had a local makeup artist on deck as the glam squad.  Liz has such a carefree spirit and is just super sweet.  We had a great couple of hours capturing a ton of images and here are a few for you to enjoy!  Please as always, Like and SHARE!  Thanks for your support!  Follow me on IG @catherineraephotography

Twins Malia & Joseph - Maryland Photographer

Babies are amazing and when you get to photograph two of them it is a wonderful thing!  I met these two little ones at 11 days old and they were just gorgeous.  Malia with her calm demeanor and Joseph, who is the feisty one already, brought such a joy.  Once both were asleep, because one would be awake and the other would snuggle, we were able to snap a couple of portraits.

I have learned so much through newborn photography and the number one thing is PATIENCE!!  I had a totally different vision for this session but you have to always be flexible when it comes to little ones.  I can't wait to see them grow and develop their personalities to see if they stay calm and feisty! :-)