• studio3z photography {the blog}

    If you have landed here...bless your soul.  Welcome to our little tiny corner of the cyber world, based out of Cincinnati, Ohio. Below you will see favorites from our sessions we do professionally, and also loads of personal nonsense that we hope at least will entertain you.  If nothing less, you can keep up on our adorable children.  Really, they are worth the trip back here time and time again in and of itself.

    My name is Jess.  My hubby is Brett.  We are crazy about each other, our 4 babies, and our art.  Welcome to our world.

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Monthly Archives: March 2009

being fourth. {gabriel}

pros:

more big people to love, kiss and tell you how adorable you are….

cons:

more hand-me-down clothes (and peek a boo toes).

gabetoes

March 30, 2009 - 4:23 pm

sara - those fat little toes look kissable…

March 30, 2009 - 4:40 pm

esther - Love it! So sweet, those fourth ones do get lots of love don’t they?

March 30, 2009 - 6:13 pm

Briony - love this! so sweet :)

March 31, 2009 - 1:37 pm

Abra Morris - This made my day. LOVE it.

March 31, 2009 - 4:02 pm

lucy - i love those precious baby toes.

March 31, 2009 - 4:08 pm

kylee - precious :)

March 31, 2009 - 4:21 pm

Ashie - Bein 4th is da bomb.

March 31, 2009 - 7:30 pm

mel - lolololol i was number 3. dang, i didnt get new clothes til i could buy em myself!!! but thats so dang adorable!!!

April 1, 2009 - 4:05 pm

nichole - been following your blog for a bit now…love your work. this post is absolutely precious…..unforgettable!

April 2, 2009 - 1:27 pm

Gail - I gotta tell you, being the fourth kid in a family of four myself, I love where I fell in the line-up of my family. What’ll be cute is when your daughter gets into high school and Gabe develops these fourth grade crushes on them — oh, it seems so far off, but it isn’t really, isn’t it? :)

Thank you again for being so awesome and open. I really had a great time at OSP with our group – and your sweets just sweetened the deal.

Looking forward to the gang of us doing this again sometime (and to following your blog now!)

Gail

April 2, 2009 - 3:54 pm

holly - i adore this with all my heart. little gabey is the sweetest. oooh, and i am lovin’ your new border.

seeing the sights. {personals from LA part II}

Before we even made it out there to the West coast, Jason (Brett’s brother) had some great plans/ideas lined up for all of us.  You will have to excuse this very long post, but I just had to get the next part of our trip in….as much as I would like too, I can’t extend our LA trip on here forever!

On Saturday we all went to the Santa Monica Pier.  Our new friends Myriam, and her son Ethan joined us too.

Of course the kids started riding the rides immediately….this was Gabe’s first time on a ride, and he LOVED it.

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Priya waited in line for 30 mins. to do this….

her legs looked so much longer than all the other kids.

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My pal Renee (who came to LA with us to help with the kiddos) waited with me for Priya.  Isn’t she purdy??

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Meanwhile, Jason, Myriam, Adin, and Ethan were off trying some other rides.  I think Brett was playing paparazzi.

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Riah waited with me oh so patiently…

Adin and Ethan rode the roller coaster.  There they are- 3 rows from the back. :)

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Finally, Riah’s patience payed off.

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Looking out over the pier….it was a little chilly.

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Renee was so patient. :)

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As I told you before we had some new friends join us.  We were so excited to meet and hang with them.  Ethan is 12 yrs. old, and a mini musical genius. He goes to the real “school of rock.” He has a band called, “Front Line Failure.” Did I mention he is 12??  I wasn’t sure what he would think of our kids…would he think they were lame?  Would he be annoyed because of how young they are?  He was amazing.  He couldn’t have been more kind, patient, and polite with the kids.  And they absolutely adored him!!

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And here is the lovely Myriam.  It was such an honor to hang with her…just wish I could have more.  She is an AMAZINGLY talented photographer, and if you have a moment you should check out her work HERE.  But brace yourself-you might be blown away.

She snapped some shots of the boys eating their corn-dogs. :)

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I just love Gabe’s little face here….

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**so them. **

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Brett’s view of me shooting the kiddos…..

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And the picture I shared here on the blog a couple weeks ago.

(If you look closely to the lower left you will see Brett shooting.)

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Fun in the California sun.

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If you made it this far and have actually READ what I wrote- BRAVO!!  You have earned a free hug from me. :)

So, on to the next day.  Actually on Sunday we did the family beach shoot you may have seen a couple posts down (If you haven’t seen it, go look!).  This was Monday when we went to the California Science Center with Dom, Elijah and Pam.  What a fun place!!  Jason had coordinated everything with the nice people there, and nothing was left out.

When we first arrived the kids tried rock climbing for the first time.  Priya struggled to make it on that overhang…Adin came the closest to the top.

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Here are the boys giving it a try…

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Meanwhile Dom and Gabe compared the bottoms of their shoes and had a little conversation about it. :)

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Moving on we had a mini-lesson in “air pressure.”  The kids were so intrigued with her experiments.

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Then we explored the world of sound and how it travels…..

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We watched chicks as they hatched, and also learned about levers and how they work.

SCORE big for home school today!!

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When we took a break for lunch, we found this sign welcoming us.   The food was yummy.

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What better to do after lunch than go play with some big cockroaches!  Riah was taking photos of Elijah holding his new friend.

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Brett decided to make a new friend too.  I refrained.

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Then we had the best puppet show EVER, presented by Mr. Turtle and Miss Panda (a.k.a. Elijah + Pam).  Gabe even joined in.

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Next we went to the 3rd floor so everyone could try out the bike on a wire.

First up was Renee, and then we have Pam, Jason, Brett, Elijah, and Priya.  That is as far as Priya got though.  She was a little nervous.  Poor Adin cried and cried because he wanted to do it so bad, but his feet couldn’t touch the pedals.  Next time.

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The hurricane simulator!! Pam and the kiddos stood there as the winds went up to 75 mph. and then back down.

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And then just like that, we were done.  Time flew by much too quickly.

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ONE more LA post coming soon….thanks for tagging along as we reminisce. :)

March 26, 2009 - 12:23 pm

Briony - what an amazing time! i love the pic of riah on the ride…and pretty much all of the other ones too :) ahah

March 26, 2009 - 12:40 pm

shannon selim - first of all… i can’t believe there’s a real school of rock… secondly, i am so jealous of gabey, getting to probably view one of the most entertaining puppet shows that ever was. you know i feel like one of the family when i start calling him “gabey”… haha, and i still haven’t even met you. :( sorry to disappoint with this last trip… one of these days, I promise-brett owes me a dinner! you’re kids will have some awesome memories! thanks for sharing!

March 26, 2009 - 12:49 pm

Barb - I kept thinking…this is my favorite. No THIS is my favorite…wait….

March 26, 2009 - 12:50 pm

sara - thank you, I am now dying to go to the LA science center…that place looks crazy cool!!! BTW, thanks for sharing your trip with us, it really seems as though it was the perfect vacation (with a little work mixed in)! :)

March 26, 2009 - 1:28 pm

holly - looks like a BLAST!! you know how i always tell you you’re cool, and you always deny it?! well, look at you miss “i-go-to-museums-with-super-cool-actors-and-am-super-chill-about-it.” see? you are. so. cool. and an awesome mama. LOVE ALL OF YOU CRAZY-COOL Z’S.

March 26, 2009 - 1:53 pm

meredith - now this is fabulous! i love it :-)

March 26, 2009 - 2:24 pm

betsy - AWESOME!!!! : )

March 26, 2009 - 3:39 pm

Maya Laurent - I know want to go to LA just for this place! I don’t even think you need to have kids to think that place is fun!!!

March 26, 2009 - 8:15 pm

julie - These are so cool. Looks like alotta fun out there!

March 27, 2009 - 11:42 am

lucy - i love it! this looks like my kind of day….tons of fun with the kiddos! love the pics…esp. gabey’s little face! man, i really miss those babies.

March 27, 2009 - 11:10 pm

Sharon - So enjoying all of these pictures! You do such great storytelling with all of your pictures. You could post every day and I would look at them all. I LOVE photography! And am really loving yours.

March 28, 2009 - 12:17 am

jessica - So…we have really cool museums, food and cockroaches in NYC. Come and visit…please?
Our 750 square foot apartment can withhold the Z family!

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food, friends, and family {personals from LA}

I am continuing our L.A. trip on the blog this week because frankly, who was I kidding that I could finish it in one week.  We took A LOT of photos.

So, the main reason we made the trip out to Los Angeles was for the amazing west coast light and to see Brett’s brother Jason of course.  He was so excited that we were making this trip…or should I say, he was so excited that OUR KIDS were making the trip out. :)  (He is kinda crazy about his niece and nephews, and it makes our hearts mushy that he’s this way.)  We arrived on a Wednesday evening and the following day was Jason’s birthday.  Normally he comes home for his birthday every year and the kids really look forward to it, so it was extra special for them to be in L.A. this time.

Our first day we had an amazing breakfast at the Griddle, which is the BEST breakfast, but I didn’t bring my camera.  Bummer. Then Jason and Brett made a small journey to a Sri Lankan restaurant called Wadiya to pick up food for a party we were hosting at our rental house.  (It made me laugh that we had a party in our house the first day in L.A.)  J invited some good friends, most of who we were meeting for the first time, and it was such a great evening with really AMAZING food.    Day #1 we scored on some food goodness!!!

Loading the car with the Sri Lankan food….

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A small taste of what we had…mmmmmm.

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Uncle J could almost always be found with one of the kids in his lap. :)

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With the help of some of J’s friends, we secretly got him a cake from the wonderful Sweet Lady Jane’s Bakery.  I wish I had taken a better photo of how pretty it was, but it even tasted about 200x better than it looked.  Seriously, it is so good I don’t live in this town.

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The next day Uncle J had to go to work at the The Recording Academy, but we came to his office to meet him for lunch.  He warned the kids that they would feel like celebrities because of how many people knew them from the blog/internet.  I just laughed.  But wow, it was really true. :)  People were coming out of the woodwork to meet “Jason’s family.”  It was so stinkin cute.

Adin is making sure Gabe’s head is pointing the right way. Priya’s doing her “normal” face.

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Goofing around at the Grammy’s.

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Here are two of Jason’s friends we met that were just awesome with the kiddos.  Christina on the left, and Suzy on the right.  HI GIRLS!! :)

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Kids. Sometimes they are so cute, you just can’t help yourself.

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We scored on some new hair care stuff. :)  Riah rocked it out.

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That night we went to dinner with more friends at a fantastic Lebanese restaurant.  Some of you may know that Brett used to live in the Middle East, and he speaks Arabic, but you may not know that Brett and Jason are part Lebanese.  We had such a HUGE dinner that night, but it was so good.

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We were all laughing because they wouldn’t quit bringing food out to us!

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By chance right before we went to LA, Brett found a long lost college buddy from the University of New Mexico, Amery aka “cabron.”  They quickly figured out that Amery had been living about a mile from Jason for years and never knew, also less than 1/2 a mile from where we were staying.  Brett was so happy to reconnect with his old pal, and I loved meeting and getting to know him and his beautiful wife Felicia.

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We also met a great little family.  In this family is an adorable sibling trio rock band called Lynhurst consisting of Jake, Matt and Mari.  Two brothers, with a baby sister who works the drums- Meg White style.  These three were so ADORABLE!  Go have a listen to them…

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Mari, 18 yrs old, singer and drummer.  I can’t wait to see where these 3 go. :)

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Thanks for looking…Stay tuned for the next couple days coming soon….

March 24, 2009 - 12:16 am

Kylee - I’m super jealous of your trip! And I love that your kids have such a great uncle, very cool! :)

March 24, 2009 - 12:25 am

Abra Morris - Looks like you had a blast. Love the pictures. Thank you for sharing.

March 24, 2009 - 3:37 am

wrecklessgirl - WHAT.IN.THE.HECK.IN.THE.WORLD.IS.YOUR.BABY.DRINKING?!?!?! :)

{ love ya } and yah, your brother in law loves your kids, but have you ever thought that maybe i love them more…? and i’ve only talked to them for a half an hour. so there! :)

miss you guys!

March 24, 2009 - 3:37 am

wrecklessgirl - ps. eating the boy’s face: priceless.

March 24, 2009 - 11:14 am

Maya Laurent - Those food photos might have just changed what I want for lunch. Yum!!! It looks like your kids are so lucky to have a loving uncle!

March 24, 2009 - 11:24 am

Barb - Fantastic photos, as always. I also think that your wavy haired boy looks just like his Uncle J. Thanks for sharing your trip with us!

March 24, 2009 - 2:40 pm

Suzy Ann - Love the photos! You guy’s are so talented. It was a pleasure spending time with the kiddies and getting to know Brett & Jessica. I hope to see you soon! Besos, Suzy Ann

March 24, 2009 - 11:06 pm

gina@kiwistreet - jess, these are too fun. kind of an international visit!
love the one of priya ‘having fun at the grammy’s’ and who
could resist a little ‘love bite’!!!!

March 25, 2009 - 12:30 am

Leyla - Uncle J, don’t eat Ai-dy, eat salad!

March 25, 2009 - 8:25 pm

sara - Jess, these are awesome…looks like you guys had an incredible time and I can honestly feel the love in these photos.

March 27, 2009 - 11:03 am

Mama - The kids will NEVER forget this trip….Wish I could have been there with you all, but I needed to go see about my Dad in TN. There will be another time….BTW my Dad is the Lebanese-part of the family tree for my three sons!!

June 24, 2010 - 8:14 am

Wanda - Jess, is that the Elijah Woods and Dom from Flash Forward TV show???

November 13, 2009 - 7:02 pm

studio3z order deadlines + some randomness. | Cincinnati Wedding Photographers - [...] meeting up with some of our friends who are out there.  We mentioned in one of our posts from our trip out to LA last spring that Brett randomly found one of his good college buddies from New Mexico living less that a mile [...]

claudine + steve + matthew. {family of three}

While visiting Los Angeles, we were so happy to do a shoot for Claudine and her family.  We shot all around their home in Redondo Beach, and let me just tell you, we left just a wee bit jealous of the gorgeousness that surrounds them everyday! Steve actually grew up in Redondo beach too!  How cool that he gets to live there now with his own family.

Starting off the shoot was like any other…getting to know each other and feeling comfortable.  Matthew took about .003 seconds to feel right at home. :)  I think this was literally one of the first 2 shots I took, and the only pic where he looks slightly shy.

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Right off the bat we saw that Matthew was the little lover…always wanting to cuddle.

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Could you guys look any more perfect?

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We found this old church in the area a couple minutes before the shoot, and knew we had to go there.

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This shot was completely Matthew’s idea…he said, “Let’s all look like we are sleeping.”

PERFECT + ADORABLE

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Look at those big blue eyes.

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and then DONE!

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Just before sunset we went back and they got on their beach cruisers.  Claudine had the idea to incorporate them, and we thought that was SO great!!

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One of my favorite family shots {ever}.

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A Brett and Jess view…

first me (Jess)

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and Brett’s view.

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At this moment I was probably such a happy girl shooting in luscious California light…. and what was I shooting???

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This sweet photo.  Matthew and Dad are pretty good pals.

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He couldn’t decide…

“to get wet, or not.”

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Sweet :)  Claudine, you look beautiful!

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Towards the end of our shoot Brett’s brother brought us all coffees + a hot chocolate for Matthew.  It was the PERFECT treat at the end of our 2 hrs of running around.  After we all took a few sips Matthew busted out with a “HOLLLLAA!”   Needless to say we were all laughing our butts off.

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Boy, did he get a second wind!  He must have gotten word that the last 5 minutes of the shoot were for his solo modeling career. :)  He rocked it out.

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Little cutie.

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Claudine, Steve, and Matthew: Thank you guys so much for letting us come out there and invade your turf!!  We had so much fun meeting and hanging with your sweet family. :)  Matthew, you are such a cool kid!!  One of the coolest 5 yr. olds I have ever met.  Hopefully we will see you again down the road….

*LOVE*

jess + brett

March 19, 2009 - 12:33 pm

Amanda - Dang, I want Brett and Jess to come shoot my family. ;) AWESOME!

March 19, 2009 - 12:49 pm

Briony - i love all of the beach pics…such a fun shoot

March 19, 2009 - 1:02 pm

Kelly (Daphne Photo Studio) - Jess + Brett = freakin’ AmAzInG!!!

March 19, 2009 - 1:49 pm

wrecklessgirl - i love the bike on the sidewalk with the little boy in the lead. so darng (dang+darn) cute!!!!

March 19, 2009 - 2:18 pm

Maggie - So after looking over all the LA pictures plus Amy and Caleb’s wedding…I’m crying. No seriously! Your pictures are breathtaking and I can’t wait for you guys to capture my memories for me! You two have a gift…

March 19, 2009 - 5:53 pm

mel - where have you been all our lives? lol. annd family of chucks. SO cool. yer going to have some sweet opportunities at barbs wedding with those babies!!

March 19, 2009 - 9:06 pm

alisha - I LOVE the bike ones! definitely show family personality!

March 20, 2009 - 1:26 pm

rebecky - My favorite family shoot to date. The family is beautiful and the little boy should be a model–he works that camera. Can’t pick just one cause I love them all. The beach, bikes, and coffee makes it all a family fun trip instead of a “photo session” –loved it all. Great job.

March 22, 2009 - 10:28 pm

Maya Laurent - I love the sleeping one! He came up with some great poses!!! Jealous that you got to shoot in the sand…and awesome CA sun!

March 23, 2009 - 1:00 pm

Mary Marantz - these are awesome! LOVE that last one!

March 23, 2009 - 7:47 pm

Susan Solo - What a cute cute family! Love all of the beach cruiser-bike photos. I hope those are printed HUGE and displayed somewhere!

March 24, 2009 - 11:00 am

Lana Cease - Love ALL of the pics, very beautiful.

March 29, 2009 - 9:13 pm

Allison Davis - That is one incredible family session! And that’s how it should be done ladies and gentlemen… Great, great stuff! Love the portraits, love the bikes and the play time – it’s just great!!

April 8, 2009 - 10:15 am

lucy - i totally missed this shoot while i was in india, but i’m glad i backtracked….awesome shoot! such a great family session! love it!