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Holiday Family Portrait Session With The Moon At Sunset

December 11, 2017/0 Comments/in Families and Children, Portraits /by Deirdre Ryan

My friend Rose Mary called saying that she would love to get some updated family portraits and lucky for us, the weather was still really nice outside. On this particular December afternoon, we scheduled the session around the time when the sun was setting and the moon was just about full. They have great neighbors who let us walk through their backyard and I photographed them all, including Phil, their dog, in a field with a red barn in the background. It was chilly, but it was still stunning out there. I brought my Westcott Rapid boxes to have my Canon 600RT EX fire off wirelessly because we were loosing light pretty quickly.

I wanted the kids to have fun and do whatever they wanted within reason. So we did the standard poses, but then I asked what they wanted to do.

Okay, I told them to give each other bunny ears LOL Then it was on to poses the kids wanted to try out.

This is one of the poses their youngest brother wanted 🙂

I asked if they wanted to jump over each other…

Mom gets in for a photo 🙂

Then it’s time to get them all separately…

His karate moves….

Last shot, it’s dark, and I wanted to have something super fun, like a leaf fight or everyone throw leaves up in the air, we got in in the last shot. By then, it got colder, we all had other places to go, Rose Mary got yummy hot chocolate for us all at Wawa(I’m addicted to that now, thanks Rose!), but we all had a lot of fun, and that was what I wanted. Everyone looking great, showing off their personalities, and having a great time.

Thank you all so very much guys! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Do you want a session? Start a chat by clicking on the red button that says Get Started to contact me 🙂

The Women’s March in Washington, D.C. Part 4

January 27, 2017/0 Comments/in Editorial, personal, Photojournalism, Volunteering /by Deirdre Ryan

I continued to walk when I heard music and saw these three protesting something. Naturally curious, I asked what was going on. Bikers For Trump were behind them. Okay and then on cue someone walked by saying something totally awful to these three because of who they were protesting, etc. Unbelievable.

So I went to check it all out.
They were playing music from an iPod(I think) and Kid Rock’s Cowboy played twice. I thought it was funny, because I kind of like that song, but wondered what that had to do with anything.
The two people here in the middle were pretty cool to chat with, we spoke about music and I was digging her boots 🙂
All in all, it was very peaceful, some heated discussions, but that was to be expected.
I showed them my Press Pass and was polite, taking photos. I’ve found that being friendly with everyone is the best thing, no matter what. We all have a voice and a right to be heard.

A young man(he appeared to be of Latino background) from Georgia and this woman were having a discussion about slavery.
He then had to back off and Google Jim Crow….
Here she is with her three fabulous and beautiful friends, just like her 😀 You had just educated someone that day, remember that.
Don’s Johns were locked up in this area. You may have heard or read about someone covering up the logo for the Inauguration?
People were leaving their signs in places to be noticed, in remembrance…
Mother and daughter….
This woman’s granddaughter made her sign for that day, it’s one of my favorites too.
The sun was setting, the clouds were grey, the light was fading fast. But my lens was fast as well to continue to capture this family in front of Abe Lincoln’s statue at the top of the stairs of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.
These two best little girlfriends at the end of a long day with their signs.
The line at the Metro station in front of the Archives Building was long!
The King of The Metro!
Can you see the people waay in the back? Yeah that’s part of the line.
I don’t know where to begin either….
But as a business, I do have to pay my taxes every quarter and every year….

No arrests were made.

Half a million people were in Washington D.C. that day.

Millions more worldwide marched.

The Women’s March was an historic event that I will never forget.My sister-in law was there with her daughter, my niece. My aunt and uncle were also there. I only wish that my daughter, husband and other family members could’ve been with me.

My group from NJ had left on their bus, there was no way that I was going to be able to make it. Luckily, I have an aunt and uncle that live in Arlington right off the orange line of the Metro. I didn’t plan to stay overnight, much less 2 nights. As it turned out, I wasn’t able to get a train out of town until Monday morning.

I met so many interesting people, and those that I handed my cards to, I hope that you are reading my blog posts. Please comment and contact me! The group of women that I was photographing for, we met up to eat dinner. I couldn’t find a cab, so I got a rickshaw near the Post Office Pavilion. That is my favorite landmark in the city of D.C. and it’s now A. Hotel….I’ve been told by a women whom I met right before getting on my rickshaw, that it does look great inside, she works for the historic preservation of the building(thanks again for the cheese and grapes!). The guy getting me to dinner was great, he was in the Army, and from Pittsburgh, PA. He once had Drew Cary as a customer, and said that he was really nice. I’ve heard that too.

Yes, I’m loading images using my Wacom tablet, backing them up onto a portable hard drive. Dinner was fun, delish, and full of satisfying conversation. Thank you Karen for the photo!

Sunday I went to Mass at Holy Trinity in Georgetown, this is where we go, my aunt and uncle do many things with the parish. Holy Trinity is my church away from home. After Mass, Mark Shriver was having a talk about his new book with a Q&A and then a book signing afterwards. I really enjoyed listening to him speak, every sentence was a story. I asked him a question regarding his own challenges, writing, and moving forward with this subject even further. I meant to say branching off, but I didn’t get the words out quite the way I wanted to.

Book Signing with Mark Shriver after talking about his new book titled, “Pilgrimage, My Search For The Real Pope Francis” at Holy Trinity Church in Georgetown, Washington, D.C.

Mark Shriver signing his book for my father, and then one for myself.

My uncle took this photo for me with my cell phone.

The rest of that Sunday was quiet, dark and stormy. I worked on my images, drank chai tea and noshed. Spoke to my family in NJ and relaxed as well as I could. The next morning I caught my train at Union Station. These I shot with my iPhone SE.

On the train, it was really crowded, sold out! But everyone was nice, helping each other out. I got some work done, and started to read Mark’s book.

The train was bouncing around a bit…I was punch drunk tired…but not able to sleep, so reading was the perfect anecdote. Getting off at the Trenton, NJ Amtrak/NJTRANSIT station was brisk and windy. No I’m not having a baby, my jacket is puffed out LOL! But I wanted to show you the size of my 25lb bag on me. This is how I was during the entire march. I walked, climbed on top of things, and at one point, jogged/ran. Being a mother, I still had things to do, errands to run and a daughter to pick up from school who was incredibly happy to see her mommy <3 I didn’t sleep until later that night.
A HUGE thank you to Becky who organized the bus and everything to get us all down there, the women of UniteWomen.org,(I miss you ladies already!), everyone whom I met and had conversations with, especially the women who lives in/near Union Station, my fingers are crossed for you. Another big hug and thank you to my aunt and uncle who I was able to stay with. Thank you both for EVERYTHING, I love you so very much!

And of course, THANK YOU to my husband, my daughter and my parents. Without you, I wouldn’t have been able to have gone down. I love you all <3

All photographs appearing on this site are the property of Deirdre Ryan Photography. They are protected by U.S. Copyright Laws, and are not to be downloaded or reproduced in any way without the written permission of Deirdre Ryan Photography. Copyright ©2017 Deirdre Ryan All Rights Reserved.

The Women’s March in Washington D.C. Part 3

January 26, 2017/0 Comments/in Editorial, personal, Photojournalism, Volunteering /by Deirdre Ryan

This is what Democracy looks like! This is what Democracy looks like! This is what Democracy Sounds like! This is what Democracy Sounds like!

Over and over the chanting through the crowds like a battlecry to make the voices heard and to let others know that once the day was over, it was going to continue. You may ask, well where were these people during the elections and for voting? They were there all along.
What was the Women’s March about?
Read the signs, look at the people, I saw Christians, Muslims, Pagans, Asians, American Indians, Blacks, Spanish, not just Caucasian. People from all walks of life too. You can’t tell a book by it’s cover, instead talk to them and listen to their stories.
As I type this up now, the news is not good regarding healthcare, immigrants, the Dakota pipeline, our children’s education and so much more. Even NJ’s Pinelands are being threatened by a pipeline, and another just 3-4 miles away from where I live.

The Onondowa’ga’ American Indians with the Onondaga Nation’s (“People of the Hills”) flag.
We are Onondowa’ga’

The Onondowa’ga’:

Have a Matrilineal Society

Respect Women and Elders

Honor Mother Earth

Give Thanks Daily

The Onondowa’ga’ are smart.

Be like the Onondowa’ga’.

I managed to get inside the rally with my backpack, it weighed 25 lbs, on me it was huge, as I’m just 5’0 and around 100lbs. I was super polite and determined to get through the crowd. And then I came to a fence. No one would let me in because even though I had a press pass, I wasn’t able to get the Media Credentials. Security said that I should’ve gotten there sooner. Well I tried, but the crowds were crazy, my bus was parked in MD, and it took longer than expected to get there. I was upset, exhausted, sore and more than anything, disappointed. Disappointed because I wanted to do the very best job that I was asked to do, and I was sooo close to getting to the stage.
So I’m just standing there, catching my breath, figuring out my next move while taking some photos. I then hear a woman say to me, you’re making me feel uncomfortable. Thinking that I had hit her with my bag, I immediately said I’m sorry, that I was with an organization and was trying to do my job of documenting the event. I showed her my pass, and yet she kept talking….I’m very uncomfortable with you and your backpack…I’m still not getting it. I had not been able to eat lunch yet, so I said, I’m sorry what? She said, Boston? Backpack? You weren’t checked in by security, so I’m very uncomfortable with you being here. Once again, patiently I said, politely explained who I was with, etc., and she kept going on and on. Finally I was like, where can I go? You’re making me uncomfortable by saying these things to me, you know what’s uncomfortable? Carrying around my gear, all day, gladly, and not being able to go to a certain point to do my job! Then the other women around me started telling her to be quiet, and that I was just fine, and that we are all here to support one another. She finally stopped, but really there’s always one person….

As you can see, I was really close, and don’t think I wasn’t tempted to make a jump for it. But after much thought, I decided I needed to get out of there as the march was going to start really soon at this point.
So once again, I wiggled out of there, excuse me please, excuse me please, thank you, excuse me please, excuse me please, thank you, until I got out. My name that day was The Excuse Me Please Girl with the Big Camera Backpack….

Back on C St., everyone was filing out, and somewhere the march had started….
I loved this guy <3

Someone was listening to me…Planned Parenthood’s Cecile Richard was walking right by me and a large awesome group of women gathered around her for a group shot. Thank you!!!

I found another pile of steel to stand up on, so I climbed up and had fun!

This mother and her daughters were chanting, this is what Democracy looks like! This is what Democracy sounds like!

Entire families were there. My aunt, uncle, sister-in law and my niece were somewhere there too! I tried to find them, but phones, and connections didn’t work very well that day.

I loved how people would stop in front of me so that I could take their picture.
Many people were there from Standing Rock. By now I was hearing drums….

Love her sunglasses, Pink Batgirl!

Pure joy….

I actually ran into friends on this busy corner! The woman on the left wearing the green jacket is one of my daughter’s Girls On The Run coaches from NJ! By then I HAD to eat. I stood in line, ordered and ate for about an hour from one of the food trucks. I got swayed by the delicious smells of chicken and french fries.
After eating, I made my way around, taking more photos….the march has pretty much ended it seemed in this area.

Abe Lincoln still commands…
People on the stage were still speaking…
I just followed everyone and found great people and their signs…

These two 16 year olds were being interviewed….

I said something funny and wrong to get their reactions…

I took their photos with their cell phones, and then I took one with mine, an even trade…

My hair had reached the point of no return at that point, but I got my picture.

So why did everyone march? To be heard, to be seen, to show everyone in the senate, the congress, in the White House, that women, children and men won’t sit down and do nothing. Read the signs they are carrying, they have real concerns, look at those who are in wheelchairs, or look to yourself if you have a pre-existing health condition.

More people showed up for this than the Inauguration, that’s a proven FACT. This march wasn’t just held in Washington, D.C., but in cities, towns, and countries all over the world. Even in the Antarctic there was a protest. If all of this is going on, with MILLIONS protesting, then you must be really “not liked very much”…..something’s got to give.

Stay tuned for a continuation of this story in another post. I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below! Thank you!

All photographs appearing on this site are the property of Deirdre Ryan Photography. They are protected by U.S. Copyright Laws, and are not to be downloaded or reproduced in any way without the written permission of Deirdre Ryan Photography. Copyright ©2017 Deirdre Ryan All Rights Reserved.

The Women’s March in Washington, D.C. Part 2

January 25, 2017/2 Comments/in Editorial, personal, Photojournalism, Volunteering /by Deirdre Ryan

It took a REALLY long time to make it to Washington, D.C. I mean every single Metro stop was jam packed with people trying to get on the trains. It was very warm, I felt like I over dressed, and I’m thinking that I’m so glad that I packed a travel sized deodorant!

We got off at one station and wow! There was no way that I could get through. Then I spotted someone with a Press Pass and asked him where C St. was and he said he had to go to that area as well. So we both went back to the trains, and got back on and got off at Federal Station SW Station. Getting out of there took a long time too. But once we broke free into the cooler air, it felt not only better, but the excitement, the sense of knowing that you were meant to be here was so strong! Immediately I started to take photos and so did he.

I found a great place to get a better view of the masses of men, women, and children, all carrying these fabulous and creative signs. I mean, they were really awesome, some were truly works of art. People came by in using crutches, wheelchairs, canes, families had their babies and children in strollers, slings, carrying them on their shoulders. Teens, tweens and elementary school kids came by all with their signs, chanting, singing, I mean it was amazing. The masses kept coming and coming and coming. And this was just to get into the rally to hear people speak.
Of course there was a group of extreme Christians, blaring Bible quotes into a speakerphone across the street. They kept turning up the volume. Everyone gets to have a voice 🙂

This ambulance had to get by, and once everyone got back together behind it I yelled out something about ambulance chasers. People thought that was really funny 😉

The man on the far right is Kyle Edward Cranston, of WUSB 90.1 FM of Stony Brook, Long Island, NY. Kyle helped me find my way around the Metro after realizing the first stop was so bad, we both couldn’t get through. He’s a Reporter, Commentary and Producer for A Woman’s Perspective on Politics with Zabby!! Thanks for your help and great conversation Kyle!

I loved this sign that simply said…Ugh!

This young woman next to me was with her mom who was live Tweeting I think, was shouting out anti-Trump and positive women chants for the crowds. It was really great!

As you can see, my hair completed frizzed out so much, it lost it’s curl and became very fluffy LOL! Photo by Kyle Edward Cranston.

I personally love the Catholics For Choice group….

This was great! A pink pussy cat shaped like a traditional Chinese Dragon used to celebrate New Year’s.

I got my picture taken a few times too!

This woman stopped right in front of me so that I could take her picture, I didn’t have to ask her to do anything.

A group of women were from NY holding up beautiful handpainted Statue of Liberty torches.

This was Part 2, Part 3 is coming up with new images, stay tuned! Did you see Part 1 yet?

The Women’s March Washington D.C. Part 1

January 23, 2017/0 Comments/in Editorial, personal, Photojournalism, Volunteering /by Deirdre Ryan

After reaching out to my other friends in the press and media, I contacted Unite Women to see if I could freelance for this in order to get a Press Pass and enable me to bring my camera gear on the march without the need of a clear plastic backpack. I was granted one if I could shoot the event for them. Of course I said yes!

Myself and several other women, men and 2 small children, drove down from Hamilton, NJ by bus starting at 5:15 AM, but I carpooled with friends to the bus at 4:15AM, so I was up by 3AM.

We ended up having to park in Maryland, and take a Metro subway into the Washington, D.C. from there. It took over an hour. The line was incredibly long, but I used my Press Pass, politely cut in line, and got on the very next train.

I had my Think Tank photo backpack with my Olympus mirrorless camera, three lenses, a flash, a Camelback water bottle, various other essential stuff like reusable batteries, etc., but the main heavy item was my 15″ MacBook Pro. All in all it weighed about 25 lbs which I ended up carrying on my back and shoulders all day long. Yes, it hurt…no I didn’t complain really. But I’ll get to that later.

I met the most incredible people, we helped each other out, shared stories, laughed, and spoke out about an uncertain and scary future with Donald Trump in the White House.

There are more images coming up in a second and third blog post….

Part of our NJ group waiting in the ENORMOUS line in Maryland at the Metro station….

The woman above is a Marine mom and works in marketing 🙂

This woman is gay and is married to another woman, and is a New Yorker film maker with her friend who was also on the subway. Check out their channel Quesodigital.com! I cannot wait to see what they’ll post from the march!
Listening to the live broadcast of Gloria Stein at the March on her cellphone during the few times we had service on the crowded Metro line.

This was a beautiful service dog all ready for the march!

Stay tuned for more images and my experience from my beautiful weekend!

The First Day Of Snow

January 18, 2017/0 Comments/in personal /by Deirdre Ryan

This winter has been so far very mild and hardly any snow at all. So when it does come down, we get a “little” excited around here. I took my new Olympus E-M5 MarkII out in the wind and falling snow with the Zuikio 14-150mm f4 lens, the combination makes this perfect, as it’s weather sealed and freezer proof. But it’s a slow lens…and once you’re used to faster f2.8 lenses then having a slower lens is hard to work with at times. But, I’m saving up for better glass and renting when I need them for this camera. In the meantime, it’s not like I don’t have excellent camera equipment already, I do have pro Canon full frame DSLRs and fast L glass. It’s just nice not to have all that weight every once in awhile.

The day was pretty overcast and grey, and I wanted to test the focusing with the snow. So I went across the street from my house, and down to the creek. It was bitter cold out!

It was 25 degrees and very windy outside! But that never keeps kids and adults from sledding down the hill! I ran into some friends of ours and took some shots of them.
Bros in the Snow!
The next day, the sun was out, but it was colder, the temp was 20 degrees but felt like 15 or less! Still, it was gorgeous, and the conditions were perfect!

Overall, the camera did really well, I was surprised! Some shots were missed, and a little soft, possibly my fault and getting used to the system. But I’m really pleased so far.

A Playground In Need

November 10, 2015/0 Comments/in personal, Photojournalism, Volunteering /by Deirdre Ryan Commercial Photography

Like many playgrounds, ours is in need of a major makeover. This is the Clara Barton Elementary School playground. It has not changed since I went there and for many other generations of kids and adults. Years ago, it went up to grade 8, and when I went there, it went up to grade 6.

The pavement is hot in the sun, there is no shade. The only place to really play is in the kindergarten play area, but that is closed off to the bigger kids during recess, because it is a safety issue with the smaller children. I understand this.

The reason for the fence in the middle of the playground was to keep the much older kids from the kindergarten areas. But now, there’s really no need for it. There’s some sort of outdated play things here and there that the kids bang on for noise, but the the most part, they are ignored. The basketball court is used, and so is the climbing wall. The school brings out jumping ropes, balls, and other items for the kids to play with during recess. But recess these days even for a school that is for grades Pre-K to 3 is limited because of curriculum. That’s hard because everyone, including the teachers and staff want the kids to play.

The kids play on this after school because they can actually have fun on this structure. Even when they come over from the intermediate school across the street that is grade 4-5. They come over to play on this playground and the rest because I’m told and many of the other parents are told that recess is terrible over there. I’m not there during recess, so I’m only hearing this from several of my daughter’s friends including her.

Honestly, does this look like fun? And really, we all want the best, but playgrounds are really $$$$. A single swing set is around $20,000! The pavement needs to come up and re-done, I mean we’re talking a complete overhaul.

This is where the Friends of The Ecological Schoolyard at Clara Barton comes in, my committee. We are a committee of parents, faculty and community residents dedicated to the responsible and ecological redevelopment of the Clara Barton schoolyard.

We started this while our children were in Clara Barton, some of my friends who are in the committee have children still there. But we are committed to getting this done. The playground here has been an issue for a long time. Money has been raised, but now we need more. What we have in our account isn’t enough and that is the sad and awful truth. Did I mention how much the swing set is?

What we want is something that will be lasting and beautiful for generations to come. Something that has been going on for years across the nation and around the world. A playground that is not only safe for our children, but a place for them to learn, an environment of sensory and visual wonders. Not your usual playground of swings and slides.

We teamed up with Lolly Tai who wrote the the book Designing Outdoor Environments For Children: Landscaping School Yards, Gardens and Playgrounds decided that Clara Barton was going to be the school for her students graduate study at Temple. Their research, plans, and drawings for our school was put into a textbook. Some of the above photos of mine were published into her book. It was amazing working with them! To view the textbook click here. I encourage you to please share!

Quoted from the publisher:

“Asphalt to Green Space: Clara Barton Eco-Schoolyard: Clara Barton Elementary School Project was conducted by a Temple University Senior Landscape Architecture Studio during fall 2014. The project involved a comprehensive study of the school to transform the site from an asphalted schoolyard to an eco-friendly school by integrating principles of green infrastructure and best management practices. The goal was to create designs for an educational and active environment for children, teachers, and the community.”

So this past spring, we purchased two Chinese Elm trees, our little city dug up the black top for us in the spots we wanted. They had to go through many layers before hitting dirt 😉 The day arrived and we had to find a way to get water for the trees, here are my friends, Karen and Harry with a boy who lives across the street getting it set up.

This is Mikki, she is also a member of our Tree Planting Committee here in town, and among other many talents(an artists, and skilled gardner), knows a lot about planting these.

Another friend, Debbie, told the many children volunteers what needed to be done, and they started to dig. That’s my husband, David with my other camera, shooting video.

Clara Barton Ecological PlayYard – Tree Planting from David W. Ryan on Vimeo.

Photo by Caroline Conroy. This is me and my daughter at this year’s past Green Fair. As you can see, we have the plans for the playground, we’re all very excited! And best of all we’re now 501C3!

This past summer, local artists, past and current students, friends, including myself, worked with artist, Stephanie Neuhaus, on her mural that is being painted on the back wall of Clara Barton’s school. It was hot, but we had a lot of fun being together, working on this beautiful project for the school and the community.

That’s my husband, David with my other camera, shooting video.

Here is Stephanie showing local artist, Al Barker what to do.

Hi Vikki!

My husband got some shots of me painting. I actually used to paint a lot back in the day, mostly in oils.

Stephanie’s husband, Mike, a local fine art photographer, taking some photos of us.

At the end of the day, we got together for a group photo, thanks Mike for the image!

Here is the next time we all got together, this time we used my camera for the group shot. Gotta love a self timer!

Each of us were assigned a colour that was a number on the wall to paint.

I love her heart shaped sunglasses!

The mural is not finished yet. What we all did was just blocked out the main colours with what Stephanie told us to do. Then she went back, and cleaned up the lines, and is still working on it. Adding in shading, more details, and other extras that as an artist only she knows what is needed.

What we now is MONEY and LOTS of it. Our committee is 501C3, so we are in the process of applying for grants, BUT we still need help. Contact me via this site or via our FB Page.

Thanks everyone, and subscribe to my blog to keep updated 🙂

Posts

Holiday Family Portrait Session With The Moon At Sunset

The Women’s March in Washington, D.C. Part 4

No arrests were made.

Half a million people were in Washington D.C. that day.

Millions more worldwide marched.

All photographs appearing on this site are the property of Deirdre Ryan Photography. They are protected by U.S. Copyright Laws, and are not to be downloaded or reproduced in any way without the written permission of Deirdre Ryan Photography. Copyright ©2017 Deirdre Ryan All Rights Reserved.

The Women’s March in Washington D.C. Part 3

This is what Democracy looks like! This is what Democracy looks like! This is what Democracy Sounds like! This is what Democracy Sounds like!

All photographs appearing on this site are the property of Deirdre Ryan Photography. They are protected by U.S. Copyright Laws, and are not to be downloaded or reproduced in any way without the written permission of Deirdre Ryan Photography. Copyright ©2017 Deirdre Ryan All Rights Reserved.

The Women’s March in Washington, D.C. Part 2

The Women’s March Washington D.C. Part 1

The First Day Of Snow

A Playground In Need

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