I have known Eric’s mom for a number of years from when we worked together at a bank. We kept in touch throughout the years and it was a pleasure to do her son’s senior photos. As you can imagine, not every senior looks forward to taking their senior photos. Eric was a bit shy and nervous at first but that didn’t last long once we started talking about his many interests. Playing the saxophone is his passion; he’s been playing it for six years and is quite good. He also plays the guitar too. You can tell Eric loves music because when we would take breaks for set-up, he’d pop in his ear buds on his Ipod….even if it was for a few minutes.
In his spare time, he is a gamer. One of his favorite games was World of Warcraft which Stan and I knew about all too well. We’ve played it for several years when it first came out. So, it was fun to chat about the things we have in common even though we are years apart.
We had a wonderful time heading out to the Maple Grove for this shoot. We want to wish Eric a fun senior year! Here are some our of faves from the day.
On Aug. 21st, 160 people gathered at the Northwest Youth and Family Services Building in Shoreview, MN for the Zumbathon®: Raise the Roof for Refugees fundraiser. They were ready to dance for food security and agriculture in South Sudan that was hosted by Shelter for Life International. The day was particularly special because international sensation, Mo Diakite was in the house.
Mo is a refugee from French Guinea where he learned tribal and African dance as a little boy. Mo has also been the official presenter of the African specialty session at the Zumba® Fitness instructor convention for the past three years with his classes having around 2,000 instructors following his lead.
Minnesota is proud to have been one of the stops in Mo’s Midwest Tour. Initially, he was just scheduled for a Master Class on Aug. 20th in St. Paul but once he heard about the fundraiser he immediately volunteered his time to help raise money and awareness for South Sudan.
We had a wonderful time at Mo’s Master Class and the Zumbathon®: Raise the Roof for Refugees. It’s always nice to see people coming together to do something good and to make a positive difference in this world. To show our support as well, we are donating a portion of the proceeds from all DVD sales from the Zumbathon® gallery. If you are interested in purchasing a DVD of all of the images from the fundraiser, go to our Zumbathon® gallery and just click any image from the event and then go to Gallery Combos to purchase your DVD. It’s not too late to show your support!
Check out some of the highlights from that weekend!
We had triple-checked all of our gear and materials that we would need for the day. We got into our groove and prepared for the day ahead of us. After all, it was not every day you do photography for Zumba celebrity, Samuel Salazar, let alone two back to back events. We were ready to rock!
Samuel is a Zumba Jammer and has traveled all over the country and the world teaching his choreography to numerous Zumba instructors. He was even featured on the Today Show just a few days ago. Just the day before, he led a Zumba Jam Session (a 3-hour zumba class offered to only licensed Zumba instructors) that I attended. It was my first Jam Session and I had a spectacular time. Besides being a phenomenal dancer, Sam was truly engaged with his audience and you could tell that he loved teaching and helping those around him to succeed. He was devoted to doing what he loved.
It was a pretty jam-packed (no pun intended – honest) weekend for Sam. In his three-day visit to Minnesota, he led seven (yes, seven!) Zumba events in the Twin Cities and Rochester areas. We had the privilege of shooting of his Master Classes on Sunday. The first was at Highland Park Life Time Fitness and the second was at Lakeville Life Time Fitness. Both events were a rockin’ good time and after the long day, Sam got a much needed massage.
Several weeks back, we ventured to the Northwest YMCA in New Hope, MN for a Dance-a-thon to help support those affected by the tornadoes that slammed North Minneapolis. The event was held to provide programs for North Minneapolis youth and to help rebuild the homes and lives of the community after such devastating event. Their focus was to help Recover, Rebuild and Rebound.
Unlike other Zumbathon fundraisers we’ve done in the past, this one was a bit different. It was a two hour event that blended two genres of music. The first hour the participants partied to Zumba rhythms with various instructors and the second hour they grooved to some hip-hop beats led by Carlos Collins. By the end of the event, everyone was drenched in sweat! Check out the fun!
Last weekend we decided to surprise a good friend of ours with some priceless moments of her dogs. She was out of town for a few days and with the help of her sister, we were able to be sneaky and get some great shots of her two adorable dogs, Lucy-Lu and Witko. When she returned from her trip, she was surprised, shocked, and was in tears. Her dogs are her babies and I think it really meant a lot to her that there was someone who understood that. To me, dogs are and will always be part of the family. Each day that I see my dogs’ faces, is a cherished day and always puts a smile on my face.
On June 12th, I headed to the finish line of the MS 150 to welcome Stan home for his awesome accomplishment – 150 miles of cycling from Duluth to White Bear Lake over the course of two days.
While waiting, I camped out with the official event photographers and took some shots of the incoming riders. I only shot for a little over an hour but I had a blast. The atmosphere was filled with so much enthusiasm, emotion and action that I am seriously considering volunteering to be a photographer for the 2012 MS 150 and contributing to this amazing cause.
A few weeks ago, we headed to Minneapolis to celebrate and photograph Marilyn’s 8th birthday! We had a wonderful time. But, who wouldn’t when you have silly clowns, cool games, Zumbatomic dancing, and lots of friends to help ring in another birthday! We also learned something new that day…. it’s a Hispanic tradition to smash the birthday kid’s face into the cake. We never saw it coming, but boy was it a hoot!
For those of you who’ve been following our blog lately, you know that we recently shot my sister’s beach wedding in Sanibel Island, Florida. Well, we also had the wonderful opportunity of shooting our very first Trash the Dress session.
So, what is Trash the Dress exactly?
Now, that the wedding is officially over, you have the option of putting on that gorgeous wedding dress again and lettin’ loose. Trash the Dress sessions are usually done the day after the wedding. It’s just a fun and stress-free photography session when you have more time for photos as compared to the official wedding day. You would also be sitting and lying in areas that you would not have dared to do the day before. Some popular environments include: pools, ponds, lakes, fields, woods, mountains, even grungy urban areas.
In our case, the beach was a huge element in our shots. We also took advantage of a nearby wooded area as we made our way to the beach. We even incorporated Marcus, even though, he didn’t officially “trash” his wedding attire. We loved the idea of getting the newly married couple in the natural backdrops and doing something a bit different.
If you are interested finding out more about our Trash the Dress sessions, contact us. Even if we aren’t your wedding day photographers, we welcome you with open arms. This is the perfect chance to celebrate your style and add to your wedding photography collection.
The day had finally arrived – May 20th, 2011. After months of planning each and every detail, today my baby sister was going to be Mrs. Amanda Gendon Bolton.
It was a gorgeous day on beautiful Bowman’s Beach on Sanibel Island, Florida. The rays of sunlight bathed the white sandy beach. The soon-to-be newly weds greeted everyone with excitement as they prepared for the sunset ceremony. Family and close friends came from afar to celebrate with Mandy and Marcus on this momentous day.
I invite you to view the wedding gallery of Mandy & Marcus. Also, please check out some of our favorite shots along with the video slideshow to highlight the day. Enjoy!
Yes, it’s true – I am now officially licensed to dance.
So, how did it happen….
Well, after some persistence from a wonderful Zumba friend (she knows who she is), I decided to take the Zumba Basics 1 workshop. I was not sure where it would lead me to but I knew that it was going to be an awesome experience.
Ever since I started taking Zumba classes myself at my local gym, I fell in love with it. Zumba brought me back to all the great memories in Guyana of the family get-togethers when we would dance the night away to soca, reggae, calypso etc. Dancing to me always took me to a place where I feel truly happy and feel like I can achieve anything that I put my mind to. Also, I already had the amazing support from the Zumba community since Sajous Photography became the “official” Zumba photographers for Minnesota.
So, on April 29th, 2011, I became a licensed Zumba Fitness instructor.
The workshop was held at the Life Time Fitness in Fridley. It was lead by Joy Smith, Zumba Education Specialist, who traveled all the way from California to teach us. The workshop was a mix of a whole lot of dancing, lectures and small breakout sessions and let us not forget all the cool Zumbawear for sale.
After the long and exhausting day, I was glad that I did it! It was so rewarding and it’s something that I will cherish forever. As it turns out, after the workshop, Joy held a Master Class opened to the pubic. So, of course, I couldn’t pass that up….what’s another hour of dancing after an 8 hour workshop
Special thanks to Olga, Hugo, Cindy, Patricia and Stan for supporting me that day and to so many of the other instructors. Here are some highlights of me groovin’ after the long day.
