• 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 2010

whenever I have a rough day….

I have these little eyes to look into.

Oh how I love my Riah’s eyes.

They melt me, 1000 times over.

He smiles big, hugs me, and tells me he will always love on me…even when he’s a big boy.

What more could I ask for?

March 29, 2010 - 8:36 pm

shannon - and i can totally see why!

March 29, 2010 - 8:37 pm

Gail - All right, time for a collective AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

PS – I find it interesting with your kids what you can pick up in their personalities in the photos you document of them. I haven’t met Riah, but I feel like I can get a sense of his personality SO well from your work. Just amazing ….

April 1, 2010 - 10:00 am

melanie - isnt that the same as just lookin in bretts eyes? i mean seriously, he’s a mini brett. lol.

a little about our girl. {and other ramblings…}

I remember the day she came. Our first moment as a parent….staring down at this active, very alert baby girl.  I just KNEW for 9 months I was having a boy. {wrong!}

She was not like the newborn I had pictured in my head, but she was amazingly beautiful.  She seemed huge, even at only 8 lbs. 2 oz.  I remember the nurse trying the swaddle her and she would kick as hard as she could until they gave up.  She NEVER was swaddled by anyone.  Her body was an X with arms and legs out and flailing.

She ate like she was GOING TO DIE OF STARVATION-constantly.

She blew my mind from day one.

10 years later she is that same girl. I couldn’t be more proud.

Strong-willed children can be the toughest, but can also be the most rewarding with guidance and nurturing.

I love seeing my girl grow.  And I have enjoyed growing right along with her.

Most of all, I love seeing what she loves, and that pure excitement in her eyes.

Her current obsession: cooking.  She is HUGELY obsessed with Jamie Oliver and his Food Revolution. She said she may write him about cooking with him someday. ;)

Priya cooks all the time, often waking up extra early to begin boiling potatoes, thawing out bacon, prepping for a great omelet.

Here she is serving up a “Bacado”- Bacon, Avocado, Potato and cheese omelet.

Yes, she is 10, and no, you can’t have her.

I was so excited for her to have a date night last weekend with Brett.  He took her out with the Astronomy club, and she got her first up close glimpse of the night sky. Brett said that she gasped when she looked through the telescope!  She had no idea all that she would see and learn.  She came home so amazed.

She saw the moon like this…

And then through the telescope like this!

She loved the Orion Nebula….

slow shutter speed allowed much to be seen that could not have been with the naked eye.

She concluded afterwords that she liked it so much, she would like to go up into space someday- when she’s older.

I say, go get it girl. ;)

March 26, 2010 - 1:46 pm

Maggie - Dad and daughter date…are you kidding me?!? Precious! I can’t wait to see you tomorrow Priya!

March 26, 2010 - 1:58 pm

betsy - She is amazing!!!! Wow!!

I used to go to Astronomy stuff with my dad too! We got up really early to look for meteor showers and Haley’s comet when I was around her age. So great!!!

So where’s her cooking blog? Tell her I would love some recipes to do more with avocados. Love them!

March 26, 2010 - 2:12 pm

Gail - Ahhhh…I LOVE this post about Priya!! Tell her her mom’s friend, Gail, is JUST as obsessed with Jamie and intends to eat in Jamie’s restaurant when she’s in London this summer (a goal that, if accomplished, I’ll share with the Z clan by photo ;)

LOVE that Brett had her out under the stars. Random story: I got to go out to Hyde Park Observatory in Cincy when I worked at the paper for a story/graphic I did that summer on Mars. SUCH a cool place!

March 26, 2010 - 2:21 pm

wrecklessgirl - soooo .. when do i get to come home to be your nanny again?

March 26, 2010 - 2:36 pm

bobbi - I adore you, Priya. :) Can’t wait to see where life takes you. :D

March 26, 2010 - 3:09 pm

Kel Lee - I still cherish every father daughter date I had with my dad. We still do it with lunch and other ways (working on the farm, just chatting). It melts my heart every time. She is such a joy to read about.

March 26, 2010 - 4:05 pm

Lainey - You’re daughter (and family, for that matter) is so precious. The fact that she gasped when she looked through the moon speaks volumes of her. You can tell that she doesn’t take things like that for granted. I so love when you talk about your cute family. You make me want to start one of my own right now!

March 27, 2010 - 9:43 am

holly - she is the best.

March 28, 2010 - 11:08 pm

lucy - it’s because of all of these things and MORE, that she is my favorite deputy. she is my best little girlie. i heart you pri.

March 29, 2010 - 1:29 am

Kelly Beane - Wow! She seems like a joy to raise. My daughter is 5 and I only hope & pray she’s into cooking at age 10. I will take full advantage of it. :) What a sweet post and thanks for sharing!

April 7, 2010 - 6:44 pm

Maya Laurent - Wow!!!! What a talented girl you have there! You are such a good mom to foster all of her loves and interests.

kara {a studio3z senior}

Math, swimming and art are some of Kara’s favorite things.  She’s planning to go to school and major in Engineering at Ohio State University.

She’s sweet, bright, and a complete joy to be around!

Kara, thanks for putting up with us for 2 hours!  We really enjoyed welcoming in spring by doing a session with you!  It really was so much fun. ;)

jess+brett

March 23, 2010 - 10:54 am

AmyPunky Photography - Beautiful!! I love the series of portraits!! So fun!

March 23, 2010 - 11:06 am

mel - that sunflare shot is dope. cute girl:)

March 23, 2010 - 11:08 am

holly - these turned out fantastic! love the colors!

March 23, 2010 - 11:22 am

amanda fales - i absolutely love these. the last shot is my fave. :)

March 23, 2010 - 11:36 am

Vickey Weiss - sunflare shot is to die for!!!!

March 23, 2010 - 12:36 pm

Gail - WOW! She’s so naturally pretty! Kara, can I come raid your wardrobe? I’d LOVE to know where you got that pretty navy-tan dress (or is it a skirt) and I’m in LOVE with that rust colored blouse!

Nice work finding some awesome spots for her session! Loving the WOMEN shot ;)

March 23, 2010 - 12:41 pm

Cesar Palima - Amazing images. Very sharp and clean.

March 23, 2010 - 1:37 pm

Shawna - I like your new logo/watermark/whatever you call it! And the pics too, of course!

March 31, 2010 - 5:43 pm

Lew D’Souza - Beautiful images! I love your composition and post processing.

columbia, tennessee {a look back}

{september 2009}

I didn’t have a chance last fall to do a blog post about our family trip to Tennessee to visit Brett’s grandfather and family.  We love going down there.  He lives in this great old log home, and we run around outside soaking up the gorgeous outdoors.  It seems like our last 2 or 3 visits it has been raining, which makes things a little more difficult with 4 kids who want to run around outside.

But we still did. Rain, mud, and all.

Here is Brett’s grandfather (who turned 92 last week!), along with Brett’s Mama, and Gabe.

Our first morning Gabe just decided to relax and catch up on some local news.

We played outside during the few minutes the rain would cease…which meant plenty of mud.  I was never a weirdo about mud, until I had this many little feet to account for.

My happy model.

Gabe was not as excited about the farm dogs as his brother.

But he had fun playing in their nasty dog water bowl….

So many fun places to explore.

There were fresh ripe pears covering the trees.  Gabe was chowing!!

I told Priya to keep an eye out for snakes.  This was her reaction.  It’s a good thing she had two parents w/cameras to catch it.

Adin had just done a school presentation on his Great-Grandpa and how he hoped to be a veterinarian like him someday.  Him reading to grandpa was beyond precious.

The horses loved the ripe pears!

We decided to go explore the small downtown area.

Brett got some cute shots of his grandpa when he wasn’t paying attention.

We were playing with some lighting with Priya and cousin Lily.

March 19, 2010 - 1:03 pm

JodyM - The photo of your kiddo reading to his Great-Grandpa made my eyes well up with tears. So precious.

March 19, 2010 - 1:18 pm

Marissa - Yep, looks like a Columbia TN photo shoot to me! :) I lived in that area for 7 years and miss it daily, especially when I see beautifully done photos like yours.

March 19, 2010 - 6:06 pm

Rachel B. - These are all so wonderful and emotionally evocative. What precious memories to preserve for your family! My favorites are the one of the boys peeking through the fence, Adin reading the report (his feet and the whole scene is so Norman Rockwell, love it) and Brett with his grandfather. So poinant. They are ALL great! Of course, Priya is hilarious about the snakes and Gabe, too funny reading the paper like an old man would, in his skivies, no less. Y’all have the capture down. True art!

March 19, 2010 - 8:15 pm

meredith - Aaaaww! I recognize so many of these from your slideshow and was wondering what the backstory was! Do you think that guy could be my grandpa too? What an amazing place..

March 19, 2010 - 9:32 pm

Kel Lee - You guys will have to come to my parents farm this summer. The kids would have a blast seeing all the animals! I am sure you will have plenty of photo ops with the kids and all my parents animals!

March 21, 2010 - 7:32 am

astrid - ohhhi LOVE this house with all the horses- i hope to have that someday! :)

my favorite is gabe with his newpaper haha

March 22, 2010 - 9:44 am

Gail - This post is BEYONDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD precious. Like, makes me excited to start a family in a few years so I can take photos of my hubby and kids visiting family like this precious ;)

GAH! SOOOO many cool photo opps out of one trip. And Brett’s grandpappy is ADORABLE! That shot of him and Aidan and the report? SOOO sweet!