Some of you may know that in my previous career I was an environmental health community organizer at the Center for Health, Environment and Justice. Until 2008, I worked with individuals living in contaminated communities, to empower them with the tools and confidence they needed to take on City Hall. Those working in the streets, fighting for healthy and just communities, dedicate of their lives so that we all benefit. I am truly honored when some of these good people ask me to shoot for them.

Yesterday morning I was working with the great organization, the Children's Environmental Health Network in the capacity of photographer, as opposed to coalition member, which was how i first met their amazing Executive Director. Here is a shot of Laura, their newest staff member. She's from Chicago, so I call this her "hey mom! I'm here in D.C.!" headshot.


And a few weeks ago, I was so excited to work with the Greenlining Coalition, the nation's oldest and most influential multi-ethnic coalition of African American, Asian American, Latino, and low-income organizations. They came from all over California to meet with Federal Chairman Ben Bernnake at the Federal Reserve. The influence and access that this coalition has built is so empowering. They are not a coalition built on money or ties to huge corporations, they represent the interests of some of the poorest communities in the state. And I've got to tell you. I have been in their shoes, meeting with people in positions of power. It's scary. These folks, not scared. Totally empowered. Because they know that what they are saying is right and just, and they seem to embody their one operating principle: "Our communities are mutually dependent - if we stand together, learn together, and educate each other, we will prosper together."

In this time of economic crisis they were meeting with Bernanke to discuss how the government can protect the poorest communities. I won't say anything else here, because I'll probably mis-quote Fed. Chairman Bernanke and the Dow will tank.

more to come...
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Thank Goodness Our Cherry Blossom Mini Session is Back!

Price: $35
Date: Saturday, April 4th

Just for parents interested in getting a great springtime DC portrait of their child, we are thrilled to announce our Cherry Blossom Mini Session!

Join us at the Tidal Basin on Saturday, April 4th between 7:00am and 10am for this fun event!

We'll have animal crackers, juice, water and a few blankets for you to relax as you wait for your session, or just to hang out with other parents and children. You are welcome to bring your own picnic and toys.

Stacey will capture a portrait of child that you can only get in Washington, DC, and only through Stacey Vaeth Photography.

Included in your $35 session fee: all images made available on-line for ordering and sharing, and a 10% coupon for Stacey Vaeth Photography photojournalism family sessions. Additional family members are $15 each.

Deposit of full session fee required by April 1st.
Rain Date: Saturday, April 11th.

RSVP to: info@staceyvaeth.com

We thank you for forwarding this e-mail to your friends and family, and look forward to seeing you there!

All these months I have been waiting for a winter scene in which to bring out some clients and shoot them having fun. I heard recently about a friend of a friend who had an Iowa wedding...in December. Guests sat on bales of hay, monogrammed blankets were the party favors, the bride had a white fur stole. A photographers dream. At least this crazy photographer. See, I grew up in Rochester, New York, and then voluntarily moved further into the deep freeze, to Buffalo, New York. Until the age of 24 I lived in a world of 4 seasons: snow, snow, snow and construction. I have love affair with the way the sun falls over a hillside of freshly fallen snow, how light glints off of a dripping icicle. And here in DC, well, we have none of that. Although school is canceled when the temperature drops below 32 degrees (4 feet of snow in 24 hours in Buffalo and outdoor track practice is still on), I have not yet felt a true winter here. So, when four inches of real, god-honest snow fell yesterday, I grabbed the first clients I could and got them out there. Actually, they are potential clients. They called me to talk to me about their wedding, and I practically pushed them into the street before answering their questions. Sorry guys! Anyway, here are a few grab shots of Jonathan and Jackie:

And this one is not F.R.A.G.I.L.E!

Stacey Vaeth Photograpy has won the 2009 Bride’s Choice Awards!

In its inaugural year, the Bride’s Choice Awards recognizes and honors vendors that demonstrate excellent quality of service, responsiveness, professionalism, value of cost and flexibility. Stacey Vaeth Photography has been recognized for these qualities, and ranked in the top three percent of the over 100,000 wedding vendors in the Wedding Wire community.

Unlike other awards in which the company selects winners, exclusively recent newlyweds determine the Bride’s Choice Awards.

“We are excited to launch this annual award program to honor high-performing vendors based solely on the experiences of our WeddingWire community,” according to Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “This year’s recipients have set the bar high, exhibiting excellent service and expertise in the wedding industry.”

Thank you so much to all of you who spoke on our behalf and helped us win the 2009 Bride’s Choice Award!

Okay, I am well behind on this blog....this week has been just full of shoots and opportunities that I think are incredibly cool and I really want to share them all. But, see, shoots and opportunities don't leave a whole lot of time in front of the computer...especially when one included 9 hours of driving in a 24 hour period with an opportunity sandwiched right in the middle. More on that in a minute.

The morning after the inauguration, when Sarah and I became popsicles for the cause...interviewing vendors, out of towners, elders and youngin's down at the inauguration...



And sarah getting the tables turned on her by this interesting documentarian...

I had the joy of photographing the 2009 Inaugural Peace Ball at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum. An impressive space spectacularly appointed and filled to the brim with drinks and vittles by Star Catering...the ball was the most fun formal event i have been to in DC.
The attendees here waiting for the entertainment to begin....1500 strong....very well behaved until Micheal Franti got them to their feet...


Great performers such as the legendary Joan Baez:


Joan was almost disarmingly gentle and sweet...she's an icon that we would all fawn over, yet after getting off stage, she smiled sweetly for my wildly nervous lens and gave me a hug...
And then one of my favorite event pictures ever, the daughter of civil rights activist Dick Gregory, singing a prelude to his performance...

And Dick Gregory:


And of course, Alice Walker, the writer who made all the reporters in the room melt with respect, envy and a healthy dose of intimidation....


So those are the cliff notes on the inauguration and the ball...not to be outdone by the next day's honor of photographing Lilly Ledbetter. 70 years old and from Alabama, Lilly's boldness and conviction in the right of women to earn equal pay for an equal day's work is silently and profoundly benefitting us all.


Two days after I took these photographs, January 24th, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was passed by the Senate and will be signed into law.

I bit off more than I can chew with this blog, so come on back for the '9 hours of driving in a 24 hour period with an opportunity sandwiched right in the middle' post....

Yesterday, over 2 million people descended upon our city to celebrate a moment that needs little extrapolation from me. I went with a good friend and incredibly sensitive and talented audio documentarian, Sarah Reynolds, to interview attendees of the inauguration about their thoughts and hopes on this momentous occasion. We're putting together a sideshow with their images and interviews, to be posted on this blog this week.

In the meantime, here are a few favorite pictures from yesterday morning. In the evening, I shot the 2009 Inaugural Peace Ball hosted by Busboys and Poets owner Andy Shallal, and met Joan Baez, Alice Walker, Eve Ensler, Dick Gregory, Harry Belafonte. Fabulous food provided by Star Catering and Buzz Bakery.

(note...Blogger is going wacky...so the rest to be posted in a few hours once the kinks are worked out)

In November I was approached by a blogger who said "i've discovered in my writing that a photo is an amazing tool to inspire creativity". the author of Every Photo Tells A Story asked to use one of my photographs to inspire writers.

I thought I would share the subsequent poem, spurred by this image of mine:


...i think it's great:

CRASH---Free Write---
Lights flash orange, the wind whips
like a mothers wrathful tongue,
coming here I thought I could reconcile
but here I cry out in pain as memories
eat me from the inside.
I pedal faster, littering tears along
a frozen sidewalk, I wonder what
the impact of flesh and steel would feel like,
pondering thoughts I continue...lights.
Why do they follow me? I have done nothing wrong,
is it wrong to want to live, to laugh
and understand?
Music fills my ears,
I am slipping away once more,
it is a steady beat with an upbeat vocal,
she soothes my fiery temper, my temperature drops.
"Take it slow, take it easy"
I hum its simple tune.
Returning to delirium I am sane
as I watch the passing people
from my rotting bench, the dedication plaque
has been unreadable for years.
Lights overhead and below,
forever searching, leaning into a tight corner
I grasp tightly the rubber of my handlebars,
narrowing my eyes I visualize brilliance and cunning.
The sound barrier shatters
as someone laughs inside my head
and rain falls from the parched ground,
I straighten body and bike,
pedaling faster...orange lights flash
as I come to realize the feeling
of flesh and metal meeting.

By: Sarah Copeland

A wise yoga teacher said yesterday "we are in the exhale". We crave the heating power of inhalation, the excitement that comes from each new breath, giving the body and mind more energy, one more moment of life. Inhaling can be compared to external living. The heat and fire of summer and fall, socially engaged, busy all the time, staying out late, grinding away at work in an accelerated rhythm.

The late fall then gives way to winter, cooling things off, bringing us inside both house and heart. We crave warm blankets to curl under, cups of soup to cradle in our hands, movies and popcorn late at night. Work slows to a crawl as everyone takes time off; mentally, emotionally and physically.

We are in the exhale.

Photography has an inhalation and an exhalation to it, a rhythm to it. A wise shooter once said to me - shoot "the" frame (if you find it) twice. The second shot is always sharper. It's because of the inhale, and the exhale. The inhale, the rush of adrenaline when you find an angle, a subject, a sliver of light that has not been interpreted in that way before, forces you to jam the shutter release in a panic. You hold your inhale, stunned that you got the shot (it never ceases to take us by surprise). Then, you shoot it again. You exhale, realize that your subject has not yet been snatched away, and you shoot calmly, quietly, patiently, in sync with what you are capturing.

It's a beautiful thing, this inhale and exhale.

I didn't have a chance to post these great pics of Arlo before leaving last week...here is one of my favorite photos in quite some time. I couldn't stop giggling behind the lens, those shoes are just so cute. Arlo, on the other hand, was clearly not having nearly as much fun as his parents and I were. It was a blast shooting at the Arboretum on this family shoot: