Jennifer Mendoza Photography

VC is ONE!

July 11, 2009 · Leave a Comment

0001_20090710-_MG_4989

Party in the park in the morning. No doubt more pics to come.

→ Leave a CommentCategories: Birthdays · family photos

Summer Slowdown

July 1, 2009 · 1 Comment

20090610-_MG_3387

Having young kids at home this summer means that when it comes to my blog, it’s a late night choice between posting and sleep. As you can see by the paucity of posts lately, sleep has been winning. That is, until the last week when a summer cold struck each of us, one by one. I used to live by the mantra that I would sleep when I am old or dead (whichever comes first)…but now that I’m a parent and no longer have the luxury of catching up on sleep on the weekends, I’m starting to see the wisdom in relying on actual rest, rather than caffeine, to get me through the week. I’m turning over a new leaf. I am officially a fan of sleep. I should add it to my facebook page. Which leads me to another tangent: have you noticed the random and extremely vague things people claim to be fans of?

Not that I’m giving up on my blog, just that I’m slowing it down until the fall when I can actually work on it during daylight hours. In the meantime, here are some pictures from our summer so far.

Untitled-1

0012_20090619-_MG_3886

0013_20090619-_MG_3891

0017_20090629-_MG_4370

These last few are by T (aka Mr. Future Second Shooter?), as I was giving CM a haircut.

0003_20090614-_MG_3676

0004_20090614-_MG_3718

0001_20090614-_MG_3764

→ 1 CommentCategories: Babies · Kids · family photos
Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Simple Pleasures

June 14, 2009 · Leave a Comment

VC enjoying fresh cherries for the first time…

20090612-_MG_3428

Untitled-2

20090612-_MG_3460

She is turning one next month. I can hardly stand it.

→ Leave a CommentCategories: Babies · Photography · family photos
Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

P turns Four! :: Captain Character Birthday Party

June 11, 2009 · Leave a Comment

P’s mom told me it was just going to be a simple little get together with family, but there was a little more to it than that. I had fun being a part of the party and getting to document the fun.

20090523-_MG_2066

 Captain Character was on hand to provide the entertainment. Despite the rain, he gave the kids a fun dinosaur lesson…

20090523-_MG_2061

Untitled-4

made balloon hats and swords…

20090523-_MG_2156sm

painted faces…

20090523-_MG_2261

facilitated an archeological dig…

20090523-_MG_2247

erupted a volcano…

20090523-_MG_2204

and shot off a rocket! Not sure how this related to dinosaurs, but P loved it.

20090523-_MG_2288

The beautiful and delicious cake was from Sheila’s Cakes.

20090523-_MG_2323

20090523-_MG_2324

20090523-_MG_2337

Happy Birthday, P! I hope to get to celebrate many more with you.

→ Leave a CommentCategories: Birthdays · Kids · Photography
Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Baby B : Jacksonville Beach Newborn Session

June 10, 2009 · 2 Comments

Baby B

Sweet, sweet baby boy…

20090607-_MG_3263

Three weeks old, beautiful blues eyes, sweet disposition…what’s not to like?

20090607-_MG_3152

Only 20 days in, and mom is looking amazing.

20090607-_MG_2972

20090607-_MG_3003

20090607-_MG_3193

Dad and his little guy.

20090607-_MG_3289

20090607-_MG_3224

Changing was a family affair.

20090607-_MG_3177

All eyes on B. You guys make a beautiful family. Congratulations!

20090607-_MG_3320

→ 2 CommentsCategories: Babies · Photography
Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Patrons of the Hearts

June 4, 2009 · 1 Comment

Untitled-3

This week, I had the pleasure of photographing some young heart patients who are benefiting from the incredible work of Patrons of the Hearts. POTH helps children from around the world. These kids in particular are from Liberia, Morocco, and Grenada. Despite the challenges these families have already endured and still have ahead of them, smiles were plentiful on this morning. These pictures were taken at the Ronald McDonald House, another great organization that partners with POTH to care for the families while they are away from home.

20090602-_MG_2680jm

This young guy came off as an average teenager. Kind of shy, sweet, and trying hard to be cool. But then I spoke with his mom and realized that his life does not conform to our idea of average at all. After coming to Jacksonville from Monrovia, Liberia for successful heart surgery, they’ve been told that they need to return annually for check ups because there is no adequate care in his home. His mother wonders how that will be possible with the lack of funds, support and reliable communication (phones, internet). But for now, she’s grateful for his health. 

20090602-_MG_2884jm

This family, from Morocco, has been here since the beginning of the year and is still not close to going home.

20090602-_MG_2856jm

20090602-_MG_2826jm

20090602-_MG_2714jm

This sweety from Grenada barely spoke a word to me, but she clearly LOVED getting her picture taken!

20090602-_MG_2815jm

20090602-_MG_2872jm

This pretty girl may have had the biggest smile of the group. She and her mom were headed home to Grenada the next day. So smart and well spoken, she was looking forward to the homecoming party that she knew was waiting for her!

Untitled-2

→ 1 CommentCategories: Community · Jacksonville · Kids · Photography · Portraits
Tagged: , ,

Search for a Good Cause

June 1, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Here’s a really easy way to “go green” set your default search engine to EcoSearch.org. It’s Google, with a cause. Every time you search, funds are generated for environmental organizations. Check it out.

eco

Back to photos tomorrow!

→ Leave a CommentCategories: Green

We are One

May 29, 2009 · 6 Comments

I’m off to celebrate our wedding anniversary at an undisclosed (to me) location! This will be my longest separation from VC, but thankfully my big sis is here to watch the girls so I’m not worried. That, and I’m pretty sure we’re going somewhere within a short drive.

Photographing weddings and celebrating this milestone has me thinking about my own wedding day. My favorite part was definitely the ceremony. Our priest gave such a personal and loving homily and while I don’t remember the exact words he used, I do recall how honored we felt to hear them spoken to us and our families. Ironically, we have only a few pictures taken from way back in the church because I insisted on NO PICTURES during the ceremony! I wanted that moment to be sacred and I didn’t want cameras in my face and especially no flashes popping…

I try to remember this when I’m lurking around during other people’s magic moment, to get the picture but not get in the way. 

I’m so looking forward to some alone time with my husband! Our wedding rings are inscribed with the words, “We Are One” because we promised each other that whatever distractions came our way – children included – our bond comes first. So far, so good! And a little alone time sure helps.

This doesn’t mean we don’t adore our girls, but we say, “Happy Marriage = Happy Kids.” And that seems like a good equation to me.

→ 6 CommentsCategories: Personal · Weddings
Tagged: ,

bibi + yoyo = party!

May 28, 2009 · 1 Comment

The last of the bibi + yoyo trilogy. This is a long one, but I could show you dozens more!

After the dinner was over, I leaned over to Abbey, who was photographing B&J’s Magnolia Hall wedding with me and said, “Oh, I should have told you, these people are going party!” Between the great band, the fun collection of guests and the wonderful occasion, I knew this was sure to be a lively night.

First, some of the beautiful details from the day. The couple had assistance on the day of the wedding from planner Courtney Surber Paz.

20090502-_MG_9247

20090502-_MG_9251

20090502-_MG_9277

20090502-_MG_9469

20090502-_MG_0012

20090502-_MG_9941

20090502-_MG_0018

20090502-_MG_9942

The bride’s uncle played the bagpipes for the procession and recession, as well as to invite the guests back into the hall for dinner.

20090502-_MG_0058-2

And a few of the “informals”. These are the portraits that I love to get, where they aren’t thinking about the camera, the shoulders relax and you get to see an authentic expression of emotion…in this case, joy!

20090502-_MG_9502

20090502-_MG_9418

The very happy mother of the bride. 

20090502-_MG_9605

The groom and his baby sister.

20090502-_MG_9511

20090502-_MG_0042

20090502-_MG_9564

Finally, the party! Starting with cocktail/kisses/hugs/congratulations hour…

20090502-_MG_9957

20090502-_MG_9979

20090502-_MG_0049

20090502-_MG_9974

Dinner and toasts…

20090502-_MG_0092

20090502-_MG_0136

Dancing, dancing, dancing…amazing music provided by the Bradley Cole Smith Band

20090502-_MG_0160

20090502-_MG_0442

20090502-_MG_0252

20090502-_MG_0224

20090502-_MG_0569

20090502-_MG_0506

Seriously, I could keep going and going. When the house lights came up, I caught this moment with the bride and some of her best girlfriends who came from near and far.

20090502-_MG_0653

The newlyweds! Thanks, B&J, for letting me a be a part of your day in this way. I’m looking forward to lots of little “photo ops” in the future!!

20090502-_MG_0700

More pictures from this event can be found here and here, or with other weddings in the Weddings category.

Check out Abbey’s pics here.

→ 1 CommentCategories: Photography · Weddings
Tagged: , , , ,

The Silver Lining

May 25, 2009 · Leave a Comment

It has been raining here for days and days. The other day, it had paused for a bit. I was out with the girls on the porch complaining about the rain and CM said, “You know what the good thing about rain is?” I thought she’d say flowers or rainbows. Nope. “Puddles!”

Untitled-3

Yesterday when there actually was some blue visible above, we made a break for the beach. I thought that at best we’d make sand castles and go for a walk so we didn’t even have swim suits…not that a little thing like that would stop CM…

20090524-_MG_2435

20090524-_MG_2426

20090524-_MG_2444

And today, the sun is OUT! Unfortunately, though, our “basement” is under water!

→ Leave a CommentCategories: Jacksonville · Kids · family photos
Tagged: , , , ,