Today's Photo Session

Today's forecast contained scattered thunderstorms which had me very nervous about my 5 o'clock session today with the Powers Family. These newlyweds make the cutest couple and seemed very comfortable in front of the camera, which made my job super easy. Even little Juelz had a good time and he was being such a big boy. We were lucky because the rain stayed away until the session was over. Overall it was a smooth session and I was very happy I got to work with them. Enjoy the sneak peek...

Weekend Photo Sessions

Busy, but fun weekend. Saturday I had Part 2 of a previous session due to poor weather during the first appointment and Sunday was a session for an upcoming album. Here are some pictures from the weekend. Enjoy.

To schedule your beach portraits go to www.murphysmoments.com and click on "contact." August dates are filling up quick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

More affordable and better quality than department stores!

RAINY AFTERNOON + NEW RAIN BOOTS=

BEACH PORTRAITS-SNEAK PEAK

To the Girls: I hope you like them :)

ESSENCE FESTIVAL

Wow...it's July already! I can't believe I left my blog hanging for this long. I've been so drained physically and emotionally, but I am back, geared up, and ready to go! Sooooo last weekend I went to New Orleans with my mom to the Essence Festival. At the last minute I decided to take my camera. I wasn't going to take it, because I just wanted to take in everything without worry about catching the "shot". If I see a celebrity all I have to do is look instead of trying to get at a good angle to get their picture- but that's what ended up happening anyway.

When we got into New Orleans the first place we went was the Convention Center. The first thing that popped in my head was the image of the lady in her wheelchair that died in there after Hurricane Katrina. I've been to New Orleans since Katrina, but not in the Convention Center. We walked around and the first thing we came upon was a talent show hosted by Michael Bivins of New Edition. I was all the way in the back, so this is the best pic that I got:

We continued on through the Convention Center full of booths varying from art to job searches. We made are way towards the back to see if any seminars had started when we saw people taking pictures of this guy:

I'm not sure what this actor's name is but ya'll remember him from Soul Food right? The guy that was giving Bird money...? He was either sick or on drugs or something... Speaking of crackheads(lol) next to him was this chick talking to one of the radio stations and I was like I know her from somewhere. My mom thought she looked like Lorriane from Mtv's Making The Band, but this lady looked a bit "cracky". We stood there listening to her and when she got finished she spoked to me and said, "Hi." Both me and my mom were in shock, IT WAS Lorriane from Making the Band! She looked like absolute crap!! She is sooooooo skinny, it's almost scary! I was so scared of her that I didn't even take a picture!! (Actually later on that night while I was waiting to use the bathroom I overheard some chicks talking about how Lorriane looked like a crackhead-see, it wasn't just me....)We decided to get something to eat before the seminar with Bill Cosby started. Here a few pictures:

After lunch we did some walking. I heard some commotion and looked up and QUEEN LATIFAH was literally walking right by me. I grabbed my camera to snap a photo, but my lens cover was on! Ugh! I had followed the crowd and got squished, but I manage to get these shots while being pushed around. It was very hard to stay in focus.



She looks awesome in person! So on to the seminar we went...boring! I was excited to see Roland Martin and Bill Cosby, but I was bored after the first 15 minutes-


little did I know what was right around the corner....



JOHN LEGEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He was with the biggest geek in the world doing an interview for a radio station. John Legend seemed nervous, but not as nervous as the next person that came out:

Yes, the window bustin-lions and tigers and bears singing Jazmine Sullivan!!! "The touch, the feel of cotton. The fabric of our lives," never sounded so good!

She seemed a bit akward on stage. She was like, "all these people are looking at me, what to do?"

But she was rocking these 5 inch stiletto heels!



UP NEXT

Raphael Saadiq!!!

I was shaking his hand and trying to take his pic with my left hand.

I'm not a huge fan of his but I only stayed because she was next-

SOLANGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She was not stand-offish like Jazmine Sullivan. She stopped right infront of me and shook my hand with both of her hands as I told her how much I enjoyed her music. She thank me and began apologizing for cursing at her show last night. OPPSIES! I wasn't there! She also answered some of our questions ranging from her son to the type of shoes she was wearing. She was very friendly. Hopefully I will get a chance to see her perform live.

After the Convention Center we got ready to go to the Superdome for the concerts. Live on stage was Jazmine Sullivan, Robin Thicke, Charlie Wilson, Anita Baker, and Maxwell. I only wanted to see Jazmine and Robin Thicke-eventhough I just saw him live in Biloxi with Jennifer Hudson back in May, but he is awesome and I could definately see his show twice! Jazmine Sullivan was amazing! She could have sung "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and it would've knockd my socks off. I got chills, maybe because I was freezing, but her voice is unbelievable. I will certainly have to catch her on tour. Robin did his same routine all the way down to rapping Lil Wayne's "A Milli" as he walked off the stage-its super cute:) Luckily the two people I wanted to see performed first so I headed to the Super Lounges to watch Ryan Leslie and Janelle Monae. I got to Ryan's show a little late so I was in the back, but for Janelle's show I was right up front. She could've of spit on me. Her performance was so intense. She was so theatrical. She was dancing all over the place and even in the middle of one song she started painting. She also jumped into the crowd to do "crowd surfing." She is so different and such a tiny little thing, but she can sing!!! She sung "Smile," the same song that Michael Jackson's brother sang at his memorial service, but her version was so powerful-she actually sang it standing on a bar stool. I am going to leave you with a video of one of her performance of "Smile". Enjoy. Feel free to leave a comment.
Thanks!