This is a guest post from Cagney Jarvis, a professional photographer living in Southern California with husband and two young daughters. Cagney is a special part of Ciao Bambino. She was one of my first clients and subsequently came on board to do trip planning for families traveling to Italy.
Cagney’s photography is amazing and many of her photos are featured on Ciao Bambino (in fact, she took that glorious shot of her daughter we use on our new venture, Best Family Travel Advice).
For this edition of Photo Friday, I asked Cagney to choose a set of her favorite travel photos and one of her studio shots. My favorite is Venice Mirrors followed by Umbria, what’s yours?
The summer that I was sixteen, my dad gave me a used 35mm Canon camera. The camera was in good shape and, after a quick lesson from someone at the town’s camera store about how to load film and use the internal light meter, I was ready to start shooting.
I spent that summer my parents’ bed and breakfast on the coast of Maine. My photos from that period consist of images of the rocky seacoast and the beautiful New England cemeteries with their granite tombstones and macabre but humorous messages from colonial times. Small American flags at each tombstone placed by the Daughters of the Revolution add the small punch of red that I still love in a color photograph.
A few years ago, after many years of enjoying a hobby of travel and landscape photography, I decided that in order to become a more well-rounded photographer I needed to study studio photography and lighting. Sure that I would not enjoy it, I proceeded with a sense of obligation to fill a void in my education more than anything else. I was surprised to find that there was a great amount of creativity involved in setting up and achieving a beautiful studio portrait and the light that I intuitively understood so well outdoors was an exciting challenge in the studio. I started to feel for the first time that I wanted to pursue photography professionally. Eight months ago, another photographer offered me the opportunity to take over her studio space and now I find myself with my own tiny portrait studio, in a cool little neighborhood-in-transition in the heart of Los Angeles. Now, nearly 30 years after receiving that first camera, I am challenged and creatively fulfilled everyday by what I am doing.
In a few weeks I am embarking on a three-week trip to Europe with my daughters and I look forward to getting back outside in the natural light and seeing how my time in the studio has influenced my eye in the natural world.
Title: Umbria
Early morning fog sits on the hills of Umbria, Italy. You never know where or when inspiration will strike. This was taken from our bathroom window.
Title: Amalfi
Daybreak in Amalfi, Italy. I love the lone fishing boat and how the sun’s reflection resembles a whale’s tail.
Title: Venice Gondolas
A classic view from a bridge in Venice
Title: Empty gondolas
That spot of red that I mentioned early is what attracted me to these two gondolas bobbing on the canal
Title: Gondolier
Waiting in line to board a vaporetto, a sensed that someone was looking at us so I snapped this picture of a bored gondolier
Title: Ponte Vecchio
The Ponte Vecchio in Florence is easily identified from a distance when you see it’s arches but I was interested in it’s windows and shutters
Title: Mary in Venice
An unexpected surprise in a tiny passageway in Venice
Title: Venice Mirrors
I always joke that the surest way to win a photography prize is to capture a cool reflection
Title: Kaanapali Sunset
Sunsets in Hawaii can be cliché but to the person who takes the photograph there are always wonderful memories associated with them. This was shot on an evening walk with my family
Title: Studio Portrait
At The Chickpea Studio, I specialize in portraits: pregnancy, newborns, children and families.
For more Photo Friday pictures, head over to Delicious Baby.
Relevant Links:
Ciao Bambino’s family travel destinations
Photo Friday: Italy with kids, Tuscany
Photo Friday: Amalfi Coast sightseeing
Photo Friday: Exploring Lucca
Topics: Destinations, Italy, Photo Friday