Ani and Evi

I was honored once again to photograph the two Ng girls a few weeks ago. The girls normally love all over each other, but of course on the day the photographer shows up, not so much. Mom and Dad, -Sophia and Benny- as well as myself and my little assistant (Maddie), all worked hard to get a few poses with the two girls together.

Tangerines from the back yard tree seemed to be an unexpected gathering place where they both enjoyed counting and checking out all the lovely ripened fruit. Sophia said, "well it is a California Christmas", and that is the truth. Pretty girls in Christmas dresses with all their oranges says California for sure.

Ani was born with a rare condition called Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC, see http://www.tsalliance.org), that causes many complex, difficult physical symptoms. From day one of her diagnosis as a baby, Sophia and Benny have been exploring every possible option to help diminish the impact of this condition for Ani, particularly medication resistant seizures caused by tumors (or tubers) in her brain. Despite Ani’s positive strides in development, over the past two years, her daily seizure frequency and duration have increased significantly, leaving Sophia and Benny to consider surgery to remove brain tissue from which the strongest seizures are generated. In October, Ani underwent  surgical brain procedures and treatment at Boston Children's Hospital by some of the world's experts. These invasive procedures were not meant to cure her condition, but were to help diminish her seizures. In that sense the surgeries were a success. Although Ani is still having daily seizures, they are less than what they were prior to surgery.

As a mom of a child who has undergone brain surgery for his seizure disorder, I know all too well the difficulties associated with having to see your child go through such a severe and complex surgery. One of my main goals as a photographer who specializes in photographing children and families with special needs is to bring awareness to the many disorders and conditions that our children are affected with. 

To read more about TSC and how you can make a difference in the life of a child with TSC, go to
http://www.tsalliance.org.

Before you do though, check out these two beautiful dolls I had the privilege of photographing.

 

The Holcombe Family

The Holcombe family sure does know how to rock a mini session! They managed to make more than a few clothing changes during our time together. I have to admit, I might have been a bit skeptical at first that we could pull it off,  but they are a fam with a plan and we did it! I just adore this family and was honored to be the one to update their four year old family photos. Here are a few captures from the session.

The McCabe Family

The Fall Mini Sessions were a success. The weather turned out to be beautiful which just made my day. It actually felt a little like Fall and around here and lately, that says a lot!

Sarah was a co-worker of mine a few years ago. She actually lives in my neighborhood, so we are literally close to each other. Her family is just darling. You can see the love between her and her husband Ryan and the way they adore their two beautiful girls. It is simply wonderful to witness and I was honored to photograph them. Here are a few shots from our session.

Fall Mini Sessions have arrived!!!!

The time has come to announce my Fall mini sessions! I have had many requests so I am happy to finally be able to make this announcement.

The date will be Saturday, October 18th from 4:00-6:30. There are only 6 slots available so please act quickly if interested. Sessions will last 25 minutes each and will be $130 +tax. A deposit of $50 will be required to hold your spot. The quickest way to hold your spot is to submit payment via PayPal to corinnemichele@sbcglobal.net. The remaining balance is due on the day of the session. I am unable to hold your session time without the deposit.

Your session includes a CD with 8 images chosen by me, from our session time. Additional images will be available for viewing and purchase in a private gallery on www.corinnemichele.com. Sessions will be held at Oak Park in Orangevale. I will email you the location information. Time slots are 4:00, 4:30, 4:40, 5:00, 5:30, and 6:00. Please message me your preferred slot!

Caitlin - Beautiful, bubbles and rain boots!

I had such a great time photographing Caitlin a few weeks ago. She is one of my clients who does not have special needs and she sure is a natural beauty. We had fun with bubbles and her rain boots also, two things she is very fond of. She has the most amazing freckles and I just couldn't get enough of them. In fact, I had to take a step back and get some shots with distance because I kept finding myself doing so many close ups. We had fun, and I am thrilled that she bid and won on the photo session on the BRIGHT auction. Here are a few sneaks from our time together.

 

 

 

Tesoros De Dios

Hello from Managua!

Things are going wonderfully here in Nicaragua. The team is working amazingly well together. It is like we have worked together for years! We are all very OCD and so things get done and get done well! All my friends know that I have a bit of that in me so I am very happy to be a part of this team.

Last night was interesting here at the compound. We had a down pouring of rain and therefore it knocked down the flying termites nests. Yes, that's right. I said that. So thinking it wasn't that bad, I climbed up to the top of the building that has the open patio where we can connect to wi fi. I first saw a ton of dead termites on the ground of the deck but tried to ignore them as I really wanted to connect with my family and blog. I sat and hunkered down to do so. Just as I did, I noticed the termites swarming in the air around us... like insanely swarming! Seriously! I tried for about 25 minutes or so to deal with it but then I pretty much lost it. They don't bite. but they land on you and on my laptop and on my legs. Ok, you get the point, it was miserable. I just couldn't do it. AND thus the reason for no blog or contact with mi familia. We went back to our room to find that they had taken over in there also, but most were dead. So after dinner we cleaned up with all of our OCD'ness.... and things were much better after that. A little PTSD from the bugs continued to haunt us last night but today is much better.

On a more serious note. We went back to the orphanage yesterday and spent the entire day there. I have hundreds of photos so far and we still have 3 more days. I am trying to hold back a bit but it is very difficult. The landscape is beautiful and the people are beautiful and the schools and the orphanage are just bittersweet.

Today we went to Tesoros De Dios a school for children with special needs.  The ages of the children attending range from 0-12 mo to 18 years or so. There were two buildings, one for PT, OT and early intervention. The other for Speech and Music Therapy. I was going back and forth and visiting each of the disciplines and photographing all the incredible things that the therapists were doing. It truly is an experience of a lifetime capturing these moments for BRIGHT. I am witnessing some unbelievable things here.

I will share one story from today. A mother who had the most adorable boy in the early intervention was talking about her concerns. He is, I am guessing 3 years old, and has CP and it affects him only physically so he isn't walking yet.  His mother said that she was concerned that he will never walk. That was all it took for the early intervention team. Someone went and told our PT and when she had a moment, she came in the room to see if she could help. We had shipped 3 walkers with us and lo and behold we had a little one.

Pam (PT), got him adjusted in it and he walked for the first time! I got called from across the walkway just seconds into his walking and it was so thrilling to see the team so happy and grinning from ear to ear. Most importantly, this little boy had a serious glow on his face. He kept looking up at his mom and giving her the best smile. She was giving him that motherly-love look and cheering him on. It was a moment I won't forget. I'd say it was a pretty awesome day.

Now to attend to this heat rash that I have acquired... joy. Again, for any of you that know me and know me well, I don't do rashes well but I have no choice and I will survive. Especially after seeing some of what I have seen here. My rash is not importante'!

Yay, I'm posting!

I am going to have to make this quick so If I spell something wrong or my grammar is off, or that the flow of this post is completely NOT flowing at all, I am apologizing in advance. The wi fi here in Nicaragua at our host home is very minimal! I have tried and tried to get on line but each time, just as I get started, it keels over on me. :-)

It has been a whirlwind since we have arrived. Prior to our arrival though the delay of our outbound flight by 2 1/2 hours was interesting. We were scheduled to leave at 12:15 am and we didn't leave Sac. until 2:45am. Therefore, our 3 hour layover in Houston turned into a 30 minute run through Houston International from one terminal to one at the opposite end of the airport we landed on. I forgot to mention that the heat when walking off the plane was just enough to take my breathe away!

Although I have been lucky enough to travel worldwide, I have never seen such poverty as I do here and it breaks my heart. My children have NO idea how lucky they are to live where they do and have all daily essentials of life at their fingertips. Biggest thing I am taking home with me for sure.

We went zip lining and touring to the market yesterday. I actually have an amazing video of me zip lining doing the "Super Chica"! Yes, it is hard to imagine I did this but I did have dramamine on board and the fear of heights was gone in all the beauty of the jungle and monkeys hanging around in the trees ther 

I have been photographing as much as I can but haven't been able really to pull my pics up on the computer because of the slow wi fi and the large file format of my photos. I have been taking photos of some of the amazing people here in Nicaragua and the sites.

This morning we went to church and the air conditioning had gone out. 500 people in a room, with no air conditioning makes for one seriously sweaty service. I had to admit there was a point that I thought I might pass out even though I have been drinking my water like crazy.

The Buzbee compound that we are staying at is amazing. Just gorgeous and we have been in the pool once and plan on many more times in the evenings after our work days in the week ahead. I am enjoying the food made by Maria the cook. So wonderful to have traditional food and no preservatives etc. Very authentic and yummy. The fruit is to die for, in fact Amy one of the Bright co founders just came up here on the roof top patio where I am blogging and offered us some fresh picked star fruit. YUM!!

Ok, that's all for now. Lunch in a few and then we are off to an orphanage to just play and be with the babies and kids there. Tomorrow we go back and the team starts treating them.

The team at the Sac airport.

Unpacking all the donated items and sorting them for the various schools etc.

We have so many donated items!! Yay!

The police chatting with us about our visit.

Nicaragua Bound

I can't believe tomorrow I will be traveling to Managua Nicaragua for an opportunity of a lifetime! I will be with Bessie Barth and Amy O'Dell from the non-profit Bright Children International, along with an outstanding team of women who will be providing therapeutic interventions to children with special needs. Lucky me, I get to tag along and photograph the journey!

I think it is the dream of many photographers to travel abroad, specifically for the sake of their craft. For me, I certainly never imagined that I would be doing it this early on in my career, if ever at all.

A little back story.....

This opportunity came to me via a friend from the past who was Nicholas' music therapist, Bessie Barth. Bessie owns Music to Grow on. She and her therapists treat individuals and groups of children and adults both with and without disabilities. They also provide adaptive lessons and Mommy and Me groups.  Bessie and I become Facebook friends last year and she saw that I had now become a photographer specializing in photographing children and families with special needs. I think she took note right then and around the Christmas holidays, she contacted me and mentioned a project she wanted to discuss with me concerning her non profit Bright Children International. She also asked me to do some work for Music to Grow on by photographing some of her clients for their new website they were launching.  I of course accepted the offer to work with Music to Grow on.  I knew it would be a great experience and opportunity and it was! You can check out some of my photos here on her site Music To Grow On

Bessie also told me about her non-profit organization, Bright Children International and asked if I might be interested in photographing their upcoming trip to Nicaragua. BRIGHT Children International is a non profit organization that has a passion for children with special needs. Throughout the planet , there are stigmas associated with children with special needs. In many countries, children with special needs are abandoned or sent to orphanages. Birth families who choose to raise their children with special needs do not have governmental supports in many areas of the globe.  

Bright Children International strives to:

* Educate and train care providers of children with special needs on the potential of their children.

* Provide therapeutic interventions to children with special needs.

* Donate equipment and education materials to assist care providers and children.

* Assist children with special needs in reaching their potential.

I have to say, it didn't take long to decide that I would love to photograph her and her team on this amazing trip. After Bessie had a discussion with Amy the co-founder of Bright, I provided my credentials, my bio, and letter of intent, and I was in!

For me, it is not only a photographers dream but it is a personal one as well. My husband and I understand very well the demands of raising a child who has multiple challenges and varying abilities. After all, Nicholas, our son, is the main reason I began Corinne Michele Photography. We understand that parenthood isn't always going to be what you expected it to be. We also know now that when you give birth to a child with special needs, it doesn't mean that life as you knew it was in a sense, over.  If anything, we have always said we are all richer in so many ways because of Nicholas.

If I can share any of my real life experiences of raising a child with special needs with a parent or caregiver in Nicaragua, that will make this trip even more special.

I would be crazy if I didn't take a moment to thank everyone for their support in all the fundraising efforts we have been doing over the last 6 months. If it weren't for you we wouldn't be going! I also need to seriously thank my husband who will be holding down the fort on his own at the Asbell home. I know it is a lot to ask of him and my family and I greatly appreciate their sacrifice for me to travel on this journey. Lastly, to my friends who will be helping with play dates for Maddie while I'm away, you ladies ROCK! Maddie is thrilled to have a schedule of play dates posted on the fridge.

Ok, so I have cleaned the house, washed all the laundry, scheduled the play dates, shopped for groceries, managed the administrative duties that I could before I leave, and am almost done packing. What my house looks like when I get back might be another story, but as long as everyone is still in one piece, it is all good. 

My next post will be from Nicaragua, so until then, Adios! 

The Barth Ladies

I recently had the wonderful opportunity to photograph Bessie Barth and her absolutely adorable girls Ellieza and Corryn for a surprise Valentines gift for Bessie's hubby. Bessie and I joked about how her daughter Corryn's middle name is Michelle, so she is a Corryn Michelle also. Extremely rare so of course I have a warm place in my heart for Corryn. :-)

Bessie said her family hasn't had photographs for, let's just say, a LONG time. This is the case with so many families and the main reason I try to make my pricing so reasonable. Bessie's girls were totally up for the Valentines photo session and brought along some very cute props. We went to the lovely William Land Park rock garden and took some beautiful photos there. Thanks to the Barth ladies for giving me this opportunity for such a special surprise.

Music to Grow On

Yes, it's me, I know, it's been a while! I have been very busy lately with a new project that has been keeping me very active in the world I love, photography.


Bessie Barth, the owner of Music To Grow On music therapy in Sacramento, has asked me to help her update her website with new photos of the many types of services her business offers. You can check out their offerings at www.musictogrowon.net


In the last month I met some amazing music therapists and many, many beautiful children, teens and adults. As much as I know about the world of special needs because of Nicholas, I was amazed at the work these therapists do. My face hurt from smiling so much at the end of each session I attended.

Bessie serves not only the special needs community in Sacramento and the surrounding areas in a variety of forms, but also does private lessons in piano and guitar and Mommy and Me groups as well.

Here are some of the photos from a week and a half or so of work.