Books for Kids Africa

My Aunt and dear friend, Mary Jo Amani has recently begun a non-profit organization calledBooks for Kids Africa, the organization functions in Mozambique. I'm honored to be a board member of the organization and involved in the creation and publication of the children's books that will be published and distributed to children in rural villages throughout Mozambique. The project seeks to fill the need for culturally relevant books to children in Mozambique, as well as train teachers to engage children in the reading process and therefore get kids "hooked on books". We believes that by getting children to fall in love with books you can kindle their dreams and make them a reality. To learn more about the organization visit their website:www.booksforkidsafrica.org

This upcoming week, from Dec. 6-10th Books for Kids will be holding a fundraiser that will go towards the publication of the series of culturally relevant books for children in Mozambique. "Gifting" your donation makes for a wonderful Christmas present.

Happy Holidays!

Warm wishes,

Jamie

above is a photo of Mary Jo Amani reading to children from one of the villages where she has established a community lending library to begin the process of getting the children in love with reading, see more on the Books for Kids Blog

Jamie's Wedding

As you can see, I've recently fallen behind on my blog entries, it seems the Fall swallowed me up! Between shooting weddings and preparing for my own, it was a joyous and crazy time! I've finally put together some of my favorite shots that I think tell the story of our wedding day pretty well. It was Oct. 17th, a sunny and very chilly, breezy day! The girls and I got ready at the Riverdale Inn Bed and Breakfast and the ceremony and reception took place at a family member's house on the river in Ortega. The chilling breeze along the river was formidable, but the spirit of the day overcame the cold with laughter and dancing, it was truly the best day of my life! Thank you to Ingrid Damiani and Mario Peralta who beautifully captured our day for us and Shea Hopely who did our flowers and Catering by Liz who made our delicious food! Enjoy!

Shane and Lindsay

The day of Lindsay and Shane's wedding looked like it be a rainy one, but by no small miracle the clouds parted and Lindsay and Shane got their beautiful beach wedding! It was a gorgeous wedding and I was glad to have been part of it! Here are some of my favorite shots!

Cooper Turns 1!

It's hard to believe it was a year ago that I photographed Cooper for his birth announcements!  Cooper definitely takes after his parents because he just loved the horses!  Since Coopers mom was expecting Cooper's brother we decided to do a combo photo session capturing Cooper at 1  and his mom with #2!

Lloyd and Garland, Saint John, USVI Part I

Photographing Garland and Lloyd's wedding was an unforgettable experience full of family, friends, fun, music, laughter, tears, dancing, flowers, delicious food and unbelievable views everywhere you look!

The wedding festivities began Thursday evening with a sunset cruise on a catamaran departing from Caneel Bay. The views were breathtaking complete with hours d vours and plenty of rum punch!
Friday the rehearsal dinner was held at the Island grill in Cruz Bay. The evening was full of music and lots dancing thanks to the fabulous latin band headed by Gilberto de Paz!
The wedding ceremony was held on Saturday at Caneel Bay on a overlook with a view of Turtle Bay and a reception following at the Turtle Bay Estate House. The day was spectacular complete with a perfect sunset for photos!
I can't thank Garland and Lloyds family enough for trusting me to capture their unforgettable wedding in Saint John!
Here are some of my favorite shots from the wedding festivities!

St. Mary's, Georgia Wedding

Nick and Tara's wedding held in historic St. Mary's, Georgia was full of character and style!  Their ceremony was held at the stunning Orange Hall in downtown St. Mary's.  After the ceremony we took the Rolls around downtown for photos and ended up visiting one of the countries oldest graveyards, which made for a gorgeous background!  Congratulations Nick and Tara!

   

Inspiration: Peacock Feather!

I couldn't wait to post photos from this past weekends wedding.  Jessica Carantaza and Nick Stevenson were married on February 21st, 2009 at St. John's Greek Orthodox followed by a reception at the Jaguar Stadium.  As you can see Jessica found her inspiration for the wedding from a simple peacock feather which was reflected in every detail from the jewelery which Jessica made herself to the hair pieces, floral design and reception decor.  Bravo!!!

Jessica's stunning makeup was by Kimtasha and floral designs were created by Shea Hopely.

 If you love Jessica's jewelry as much as I do you can see more of her designs on her website "dear georgette".  A link to the site is listed to the right under "preferred vendors".  Finally, I must give credit to the wonderful Christina Kopecki who kept everything running smoothly the entire day.  Christina is also one of my "preferred vendors"and you can link to her website from my vendor list.