Double the Fun!

These two little cuties are twins! They are four year old Victoria and Victor. They were so much fun and such a pleasure to photograph. These were taken at the Family Worship Center in West Philadelphia where my father-in-law is the pastor.

A Very McKinney Christmas

Allison is a customer of mine from South Carolina. She came to Pennsylvania for the holidays and I once again was able to photograph her little girl and her family. These portraits were taken in her mother's home in Plymouth Meeting. The Christmas decorations were beautiful and made the perfect backdrop. Happy Holidays!

First Christmas

This incredibly sweet couple has been married for less than a year. I had the opportunity to photograph their first Christmas together. They met me in beautiful Rittenhouse Square in downtown Philly. We had a great time. Here's to you, Jessica and Justin. May you have many memorable holidays together.

Ooh, la la.

I photographed three lovely ladies the week before Christmas. They did a budoir style shoot. We kept it fun and classy. We had a blast! Thanks to Keith, owner of Angel Studios for renting his studio to me for the evening. If anyone needs a studio in Philadelphia, he's your man.

Her Future's So Bright, She's Gotta Wear Shades

This weekend I had the opportunity to photograph a very sweet young lady from Chester named Shaleah. These were her Senior Portraits. We had a great time down at Penn's Landing in Philly chatting and taking photographs. She was such a great model. I expect great success for her future. Congratulations Shaleah and all of the class of 2010!

World's Cutest Model

I can just say that because she's my kid. :) This is my three year old daughter, Abigail. I had a great time doing her Christmas portraits today. I know that they don't all look "Christmas-y", but that's because our location limited us. I hope you enjoy view them as much as we had taking them.

Philly's Favorite Mobile DJ!

It's been a few times now that I've had the pleasure of photographing DJ Jonny Roxx at various events and for personal portrait sessions. He has always been a pleasure to work with and I look forward to photographing him and his family every time they call. Thus far I have photographed him at two events; both were wedding receptions. The first was a Halloween wedding and the second was a more formal style wedding. He did an amazing job at both. At the Halloween wedding he was in full on clown make-up which gave the wedding guests quite a treat. It was fun to see him in costume. It went to show how far he would go to please his clients. At both weddings he was professional and a great DJ. He played a variety of music and even some games to keep the wedding guests entertained. He made sure the receptions went as smoothly as he could. He interacted with the guests, even teaching them new dance moves. He is by far the best DJ I've seen. If you ever have any needs for a DJ then DJ Jonny is your man. He is available for anything from birthday parties, to office parties, to weddings, to black tie affairs. You can view his website at www.djjonnyroxx.com . When you do call him for your event, make sure you let him know that Sonja sent you.

Testimonials

"My experience with Sonja was wonderful! I am so pleased with our family christmas portraits! She came to our home and had some great ideas for poses. My youngest daughter who is 2 is not into taking pictures at all, but Sonja was very patient with her and got some great shots. By the time our session was over my daughter asked if she could go home with Sonja. :) Everyone has commented on how great our pictures are and I'm already making plans for the next ones. The price is amazing especially since you get all the photos on a disk and can make copies to suit your life. I have used other studios in the past and paid up to $300 for enough pictures and poses for my large family. The photo disk is much more economical and you get alot more poses! If you have an occasion that you want photographed i recommend Sonja 100%. We took our pictures on a Sunday afternoon and I had my disk on Tuesday morning. Even though we did our pictures a week before Christmas, I had my disk in plenty of time to give our family portrait as Christmas gifts. We can't wait for spring so we can do our Easter pictures. Thank You Sonja for capturing our family's memories! "-Kacie Tucker

"The pictures that Sonja with For Keeps Photography made of me with my son and parents are some of the best we've ever had taken! Not only is Sonja a very friendly, warm person, but she is a professional throughout the process. I was amazed at how she captured very precious moments of my very active two-year-old's life, and I have pictures that I will treasure forever. I would recommend Sonja Jameson to anyone, and I plan on scheduling many more photo shoots with her!" -Amanda Gibbons

"I had Sonja take Easter pictures of my daughter. I could not have been more pleased, and the fact that she came to my house to take them makes the portraits more memorable" -Teresa Morris

"As a professional entertainer with a decade of experience, I've dealt with a lot of event staff - videographers, photographers, caterers and the like. In my time as an entertainer, I've never come across another professional photographer with such a perfect combination of artistic skill, professional reliability, and service value as I have experienced with your service. You truly provide everything that a client could want in a single affordable package and I would recommend you service to anyone!
Thanks again for the wonderful photo memories!" -DJ Jonny Roxx

You can view many more at www.blogs.myspace.com/photographybyforkeeps .

I'm Your Biggest Fan. I'll Follow You Until You Love Me. Paparazzi.

Last night I was given the opportunity to photograph a very fun group of people who were celebrating their friend's, Brian Sweeney, birthday. They had the party at a very crowded bar named Plough and the Stars downtown in Old City. There were sooooooooo many people there! I kept walking through the crowd with my camera in the air, praying that someone wouldn't pour their drink on it. I have to admit that I'm a bit boring, so I've never been to a place like this before. The very few times I have been in a bar they've been little honky tonk, hole in the wall bars back in South Carolina. More than once I about knocked over one of their cocktail waitresses. I was wondering when the bouncer was going to throw me out for being too clumsy. The birthday boy wanted paparazzi style photographs. This was another first for me. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get the style he was looking for, but I think I captured it. It was so funny because other people in the bar who weren't even with his party wanted me to take their pictures. I also had people asking me where they could go to buy the pictures I was taking. I had to keep explaining to everyone that I was there for a private party, which was hard to do because it was so loud and it was almost impossible to hear anyone. Nonetheless, I had a great time. Here's to you, Brian Sweeney. Happy Birthday.

My Wish List

These next few months I will be saving money to purchase items off my wish list. These are all equipment upgrades. Right now I am shooting with a Nikon D40. It's was a nice camera for a while, but now it's time for something more advanced. I bought this camera because I had never owned a DSLR before and D40s are very user friendly. They are the perfect beginner DSLR. I'd like to share with you some items on my wishlist.

The first item is a Nikon D90. It has twice the mega pixels as my D40, so I imagine the the photographs I take will be much more crisp, clear, and vibrant. The D90 has awesome reviews. In continuous shoot mode you can take up to 4.5 frames per second. I want to stick with the Nikon D-series. This camera series was ranked highest in customer service two years in a row my J.D. Power and Associates. Nikon is a great company.

The next items on my list are several different lenses and lens adapters. I'm really sad that I broke my most often used lens. It was a Nikkor 55-200mm. Not a fancy lens, but I loved it. It took a wide range of photographs. I loved being able to use this one lens during a photography session without having to switch. So obviously, I'm wanting to replace it. Some other lenses I'm hoping for are the Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6, Nikon 50mm f/1.8, and an Opteka fish eye lens adapter that would attach onto one of the lenses I already have. I like the idea of having a lens that goes up to 300mm. I love doing extreme close-ups, so this would be awesome for that. I heard from a couple of people that the 50mm prime lens was the perfect lens for portraits. I hear that you can't beat the clarity and vibrance you get with a prime. The fisheye lens adapter would just be for fun. I like the funky effect of a fisheye lens. I can't wait to get one and head downtown to take some awesome shots.

The rest of the stuff on my list are little odds and ends that would help in making me a more efficient photographer. It includes a tripod for night photography, a reflector to help with the use of natural light, various lens caps because I'm always losing mine, and a really pretty Jill-e camera bag just because they are super cute.

I love photography and I'm striving to get better every day. It can be frustrating sometimes, especially when I'm trying something new and can't quite figure it out. Nonetheless, it will always be a passion of mine. I put a lot of thought, time, and energy in researching my different options for equipment upgrades. I believe that the equipment I've listed here will assist me along the way of my journey to become the best photographer that I can be.

Try Me For Free!!!

I know some of your may be reluctant to try a new photographer, especially since money is tight with almost all of us right now. However, I strongly believe that family portraits are an investment. It is extremely important for us to document our lives so that we can have proof of those memories and have worthwhile statements of who we are to pass on to the future generations. Therefore, I am inviting everyone in the Philadelphia area to try me for free! We can do your session anywhere in Philadelphia or Delaware County. I will do a half hour session with you. I will then email you a sample of the portraits within 24 hours. These samples will be low-resolution and watermarked. If you like what you see then you can purchase a CD of the images for $30. If you're not impressed, then I will not pressure you to purchase anything from me. Please send me an email to sonjajameson@gmail.com if you'd like to schedule an appointment for this.

We Love the City of Brotherly Love

Yesterday was such a beautiful day weather wise and the SEPTA strike had just ended, my husband and I took our little girl downtown for the day. We went to the Comcast Building, Reading Terminal Market, and Elfreth Row. It was so much fun. These are my favorite shots from the day.

Hi!

Hi, everyone! It's me, Sonja. :) I started this blog so that I could share my experiences and stories as a photographer, so that I could post my favorite photographs and portraits, and also so I could keep my clients updated about my current offers. For those who do not know me, I am a freelance photographer in the Philadelphia area. This month is my one year anniversary doing freelance photography (yay)! I managed a portrait studio for two years before leaving there to pursue this dream. I have loved photography a good bit of my life. I became interested in the artistic and technical part of photography when I was living in New York City. There were so many beautiful sites to photograph and I just wanted to get it right. My interest further peaked when my little girl was born. She is three years old now and has turned into such a good model for her Mama. I do mostly portrait style photography (i.e. familes, children, weddings, etc.). However, I try not to limit myself to that and am open to anything photography wise. Since moving to Philadelphia about six months ago I have had the opportunity to photograph promo pics for a bar, a model, and a DJ at a Halloween wedding. It has been very interesting and has pushed my abilities, which I love. I learn something new at every session I have the opportunity to photograph. I am constantly trying new things. I love to be creative, but I also like to keep my portraits classic and timeless. I would love to do photography for any of you reading this blog right now! I hope everyone enjoys this blog and finds it useful. If anyone has any questions you can reach me through email at sonjajameson@gmail.com .