Author Archives: Maria

7.6.11

Intimate|Connecticut & Long Island Engagement Photography|Lexi-Bella Photography

Intimacy.

Those secret, silent moments between couples in which the world stops spinning and all is silent for an indefinite amount of time and its just them and that is all that matters……

I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, where I want my career to go, what direction I want my art to turn to. What do I want people to think when they view my work? It’s been a long journey, a beautiful one, but honestly at times its been filled with tears of frustration. Most people know, I’m self taught, I’ve never taken a class and have never been mentored. My journey has been self made, and at times I’ve had to remind myself this is MY Journey, no one elses and I must do for me what makes my heart sing. My career before photography was an emotional one, a roller coaster really. As a paramedic I faced death every single day, not just the elderly but children and people who left this world to soon. I remember going home from 18 hour shifts and crying, for those who have passed, their families and myself, I didn’t know how I would face the next day, but I did it for 3 years.

One of the biggest losses I faced when I stopped working as a paramedic was the intimate emotional connection I had with people during some of the most emotional days of their lives. I always found comfort being surrounded by the friends and families of patients critically ill or lost. I loved seeing how loved they were and the important roles they played in each others lives, my heart actually needed it.

Then came Photography.

My new source of emotion, connection and intimacy.

It finally came to me one day, the universe had brought me a new source of connecting with people on an emotional level that no longer emptied my heart with saddness but now filled it with love.

So this is me, my heart, my emotion and a bit of my soul in my work. Making the world standstill for my clients for as long as they need to live in moment, to feel the love, the laughter, the intimacy that we so often take for granted and capture it for them to always treasure

this is, “Love, Illuminated”, Lexi-Bella Photography’s new division just for engagements and weddings debuting soon……

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6.28.11

fishin in the bowl| Connecticut & Long Island Family Photographer| Lexi-Bella Photography

It’s a vulnerable thing, you know, to be in front of the camera. To be confident in yourself and not care that you still haven’t lost the rest of the baby weight, you still aren’t comfortable in your own skin, the baby was up last night and you got 4 hours of sleep, the dog puked just as you were leaving and you had to stop and clean it and the baby drooled on your shirt and now you have to change and he cried the whole way to the session because he wouldn’t nap and you got lost because you forgot the directions and now your late and forgot Maria’s number to tell her and your husband is even more annoyed because he’s missing the game and you pull up and you really just want to turn around and leave. Sums it up right? I know, because every year I make my family go through the same thing not just because I too want pictures of my family but a reminder to myself of what my clients go through to get to the session.

As a woman and mother its even harder, I’m definitely not comfortable in my body and the last thing I want is to be in a picture, but at the same time, my baby is getting so big and I’m so DESPERATE to capture her now. Sure, being a mother, at least for me, 60%, hmmm… maybe 70% of the time is not very rewarding, seriously, we are in the terrible twos right now and OMG, it’s TERRIBLE! But there are moments during my day in the middle of cleaning up water from the dog bowl that has flooded my kitchen by little splashing hands, or sweeping up an entire box of rice crispie treats sprinkled around my home like fairy dust, there are moments when she can come over and say, “Wuv you mommy” and yeah…. I melt. THAT is what I want to capture, the imperfectly perfect moments of my life, if that makes sense.

So that is what I do, in the midst of the crazy chaos that is life and raising a child(ren) I strive to capture your imperfectly perfect lives, because really, 20 years down the line you will probably forget about how terrible the twos really were, and how she would prefer to eat dog kibble over the organic strawberries on her plate, or how he like to “fish” in the toilet bowl.

 

You’ll remember how only you could make him laugh so hard he couldn’t breathe and it made your heart swell with love and how the baby weight didn’t matter to him.

 

 

You will remember how he was the center of BOTH your universe

 

 

 

 

 

 

You’ll remember those big brown eyes that would study you and the world around him with such a curiosity

 

 

You’ll remember how at one he was already fighting for independence but his little hand would still linger for security

You’d remember his favorite bedtime story and how you would all snuggle to read it and how you wished those moments would last forever

 

 

You’d remember how small his little feet were but they looked just like his fathers and how you loved to kiss those feet that some day would support him as he carried his own child…

 

And you would remember how the first year of parenthood was the hardest and most challenging thing you have ever done, and how you shed both tears of laughter and joy but also of frustration. And you will look back at that first year and realize that you were now a family, and you had made it and what a celebration!

 

 

 

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Congratulations to the G, family, One year! I’m glad I was a part of it and I hope you cherish these images even on the most imperfect days!

XOXO

Maria

 

 

6.23.11

Love| Connecticut & Long Island child photographer|Lexi-Bella Photography

I love one year family sessions. It so amazing to see how a creature so small can be the center of the universe for two people and how their entire world can revolve around each laughter, giggle and tear. I love witnessing and capturing their powerful bonds and connections, I’m lucky I get to witness some amazing moments that are so intimate and beautiful they take my breath away. Meet L, one years old and the sparkle and laughter in her parents eyes!

Happy birthday baby girl, may that sparkle grow bigger with each passing year!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whats a birthday without a little cake!