My friend and neighbor Julianna is an amazing woman, mother, artist and now a tattoo apprentice at Ceremony Tattoo Society in Philadelphia, PA. She already has a name for herself in the art world for her amazing paintings and drawings. She was also a featured artist with Grumbacher, a famous maker of art supplies such as paint brushes, oil and acrylic paints and more. And now she is about to take on the tattooing world as well.
As Julianna was preparing her needles, ink and machine, we caught up on what’s been going on. Our children go to the same school, I’m friends with one of her daughters and her husband Joe, also a well known artist. These two were taken with the iPhone SE as she works on a client 😉
Photo by Julianna Menna
The above image is the freshly completed black and white tattoo with a hint of white ink in places. I believe that this was her fourth tattoo that she’s ever done(?). This is why I know that she is going to become very well known very soon, and she is in the right place for it.
After Julianna completed the gorgeous tattoo, she proceeded to clean up the work area. Everyone in the shop left for the day, so it was just us, chatting while I was taking pictures. And then she let her beautiful red hair down….However this wasn’t working for me. I wanted to see more of her neck tattoo that she had done by Raph Cemo, so I had her put her hair back up again. She moves like a dancer…. We moved to the work station, and I preferred this better.
A HUGE thank you to my good friend! You are going to go so far in this natural transition of your art and medium as you continue to grow in your creativity. I can’t wait to get together soon.
During Spring Break, my husband wasn’t able to take any time off. So instead I spent time with our daughter who is 9 at home doing things locally. On a Saturday, we went to Philadelphia to see Independence Mall. We live in a pre-Revolutionary town here in NJ and we’ve already taken her to Washington’s Crossing and plan on going to the Princeton Battlefield and Trenton Barracks. But the day was nice, albeit a bit cool, so we took the Riverline and PATCO right to Center City.
David and I met in Philly and lived there while dating, so we know the city pretty well. I worked for a time at Quaker Photo on 2nd and Arch St. He went to UARTS for Film on 15th and Broad, that’s where we met, I was on a Mobility Program for Graphic Design and Photography from my Montserrat College of Art in MA. It was fun showing The Kid around this section of “Our City”.
First we took her to lunch at Reading Terminal Market, we forgot that it was crowded with tourists for the weekend. I used to come there all the time. But still, we managed to get a place to eat. I just wanted my chicken kabob plate and Bassetts ice cream 🙂 The two of them had crepes from a French vendor. I packed just my Canon 6D, (this camera body is lighter than my Mark 5D III) and two lenses, the Canon 20mm f2.8 and the Canon 50mm f1.8 in a Think Tank Retrospective bag and other essentials. For Reading Terminal Market I used the 20mm to shoot from the hip for a few and then switched to the 50mm for the remainder of the day pretty much. I rarely use these two pieces of glass, so I thought that day was perfect for them.
We went inside the Visitor’s Center, saw the Liberty Bell and Franklin’s Court. We got off to a bit of a later start than we wanted to that day, but we still had fun. Independence Hall ran out of tickets for the tour. All free except for Franklin’s Court which was just $5. It was great to see everything because the last time we saw it all, it was still decorated from the Bicentennial of 1976 and David used to work for the City of Philadelphia as a Town Crier. He dressed in 18th Century costume and handed out “newspapers” to the tourists in Independence Mall.
We used the Phlash bus which does the tourist stops around the city, $5 I think, for an all day pass. We ate dinner at a nice Italian place near City Hall. Showed her a painted brick wall that was an advertisement for the movie Around The World In 80 Days, and then stopped by our old building to show her where we used to live. Took the PATCO directly from our old building on 15th and Locust to start our journey home.
We actually got our photo taken and it’s somewhat in focused!
Our child is a writer and carries a notebook and pencil everywhere she goes. Our old apartment, The Vida, 11th floor the bay window closest to The Academy Apartment building on the left, 2nd one down from the top floor.
https://www.deirdreryanphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/IMG_2666.jpg602900Deirdre Ryanhttp://deirdreryanphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Logo.pngDeirdre Ryan2016-04-28 17:45:202019-10-17 18:06:21Philly Spring Break With Food, History, and Good Memories
My dear friend Roseanne has just opened her Pilates Fusion and Barre Fitness Studio here in Bordentown, NJ and I couldn’t be more proud of her! This tiny powerhouse, former ballerina, mother of three beautiful girls, juggles a full time job, teaches Pilates both as a group class and in private homes, and is a weightlifter who holds the record for bench press at 105 lbs! She won the First Place trophy for the World Natural Powerlifting Federation(WNPF). But something tells me that she can do much more than that 😉
The above and below images are used with the permission of Rosanne Joy.
So I asked if she could help me test out some lighting that I wanted to try out and she said sure! Her youngest came along, and it was perfect because my 9 year old and she could play upstairs together. We had such a good time, just the two of us, and the images of her turned out beautiful! But of course that’s mainly because she’s in them 🙂
Thank you so much to my beautiful friend! These were what I was looking for and more! I can’t wait for our next project together! Congratulations on your studio!
And thanks to my loving husband, David, who took this image after we shooed him away. As you can see, space is tight in our basement. It’s our family room, my office, and our daughter’s play area. I used one Dynalite strobe with a 46″ Photek Softlighter II Umbrella on it with a double sided 5’x7′ Savage popup black/white background. I also had a Savage 5 in 1 Reflector out to help modify the light a bit, that’s what the extra empty stand with the reflector clamps is there for. I tethered my Canon Mark 5D III to my Macbook Pro and used the Canon EF 85mm f1.8 lens.
https://www.deirdreryanphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_9750.jpg900602Deirdre Ryanhttp://deirdreryanphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Logo.pngDeirdre Ryan2016-03-07 23:31:402019-10-17 18:07:30Studio Portraits Of My Friend Roseanne
In 1966 Dr. Maulana Karenga created a uniquely African American and Pan-African holiday called Kwanzaa, which is celebrated from December through January first. Kwanzaa is related to many African celebrations of the first harvest. The name Kwanzaa comes from a Swahili phrase “matunda ya kwanza,” which translates as first fruits.
In African-American culture Kwanzaa is a time for five fundamental activities:
To reestablish interpersonal bonds
To express reverence to the creator
To commemorate and honor ancestors
To commit to following cultural ideals
To celebrate life, family, community and culture
Kwanzaa recognizes and celebrates these 7 principles of African culture:
Umoja (unity): To work towards unity with others whether family members or members of a larger community.
Kujichagulia (self-determination): To define oneself and find one’s unique voice in the world.
Ujima (collective work and responsibility): To cooperate in community building and problem solving.
Ujamaa (cooperation): To build and sustain business from which the community as a whole profits.
Nia (purpose): To collectively strive towards cultural unity based on tradition.
Kuumba (creativity): To use our creativity to improve our community.
Imani (faith): To believe in each other, our leaders, and the righteousness of our struggle.
During Kwanzaa, children receive gifts of books and heritage symbols. The book represents the value of learning recognized since ancient Egypt and the symbol is to remind the child of his or her commitment to African traditions.
Kwanzaa colors are red, green, and black. A mat (called a mkeka) is laid on a table and decorated with 7 candles representing the 7 principles and one is lit on each day of Kwanzaa. Ears of corn are placed on the mkeka, along with a unity cup (called a kikombe cha umoja) for pouring libations in honor of the ancestors. The mkeka is also decorated with beautiful art objects and books that represent the best that African culture has to offer.
The final day of Kwanzaa is set aside for reflection. Celebrants spend this day in quiet contemplation and maintain a peaceful, humble attitude towards others. It is a time for individuals to answer three questions:
Who am I?
Am I really who I say I am?
Am I all I ought to be?
Answering these questions honestly can bring about a renewed commitment to being the best we can be and to honoring the time honored African cultural traditions. Kwanzaa does not reflect any religion but rather plays tribute to ancient cultural values and traditions.
As you can see it is a beautiful holiday and I was very happy to be referred to the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) to photograph their Kwanzaa celebration back in December. It had all that you read above, including speakers from the President and CEO John Schreiber, Vice President of Community Engagement, Donna Walker of NJPAC, and three of the Elders. These Elders were honored by dancers and young people.
I had the pleasure to photograph another fun event for the Burlington Coat Factory back in December for their end of the year Leaders Luncheon. It was held inside the Diamond Club at Citizens Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team and their mascot, the Phillies Phanatic. This was a lot of fun, because the Phanatic was up to his usual mischief(I even got a photo with him!), and then afterwards, they split up the large group into 2 groups to tour the field and where the Phillies warm up, their locker room, and the media room.
The Diamond Club offers sweeping views right above home plate in the ballpark, and lucky for us, the month was mild, so we were able to go outside and not have to worry too much about jackets. It was “brisk” with the breeze, but a gorgeous day!
Thank you once again to everyone at Burlington Coat Factory and of course, the Phillie Phanatic 😀 You were awesome!
https://www.deirdreryanphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/BurlCoatFact98.jpg900602Deirdre Ryanhttp://deirdreryanphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Logo.pngDeirdre Ryan2016-03-03 11:34:052018-01-11 15:52:33Leaders Luncheon With Burlington Coat Factory and The Phillie Phanatic
Back in L.A. I worked for a lingerie shop that is famous for it’s fabulous custom pieces of lingerie and costumes that were made of gorgeous fabrics and sewn right there in the same building as the shop itself. Celebrities came all the time to get certain items of clothing because they knew the name and how well they were made, and the designs were so good.
It was a fun job because not only did I do retouching,(on models who required hardly any at all),but I was photographing test models and the regular models as well. Talk about long days, but I loved photographing these women and girls. Some had a lot of tattoos, were cover models on Penthouse and Playboy, I made long lasting friendships, and realized that I loved this type of genre.
My friend Jacqueline owns and operates a cool shoppe here in Bordentown called Phoenix Rising. She brings in a lot of famous pinup and rockabilly clothes, and designer leather boots and shoes. The store smells wonderful with scents by ToyoMilk, Femme Fatale and Fate and Fortune perfumes. Plus, she supports local artists who create jewelry, soaps and hand knitted items.
She approached me with this great concept. The idea was for Valentine’s Day so it was a Pinup Teaser Ladies Night Out. First I did a test run with Jacqui herself and she did an amazing job! And so, I set up everything in her shop…I brought my 9′ seamless paper, background stand, Dynalite strobes, and everything else.
I had a director’s chair, Jacqueline found these suitcases and she also had a a chaise lounge. My friend Randy of Randy Now’s Man Cave let me borrow his rotary phone and a small record player to use as props. He has a bunch a great items in his shop, from vinyl, cds, books, collector items, and cool record players!
Most of clothes are all from Phoenix Rising, some of the shoes and jewelry as well. Hair and makeup were done on site by Jacqueline. My husband was there to help out, I know, right? He’s actually very good with clothing and other things besides photography and gear, (he’s also my business partner). He did keep out of the way during the shooting part. We had food, wine, and the ladies had fun playing dress up and then feeling pretty with me directing them in from of my camera and lights.
And that’s not easy to do, I had them twist and turn to accentuate their best assets and features. My goal was to make everyone feel comfortable. We were laughing, chit chatting, and I can’t tell you everything that was discussed..shhh! Some of the ladies had ideas like applying makeup with a mirror, which was a great concept, so we went with it!
All in all, it was a big success! Thank you everyone who made it happen!
All images copyright Deirdre Ryan Photography. Do not screenshot any of these images. Not only is it illegal, it brings bad karma.
All images copyright Deirdre Ryan Photography. Do not screenshot any of these images. Not only is it illegal, it brings bad karma.
https://www.deirdreryanphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/PINUP_DeirdreRyanPhotography_0001.jpg715900Deirdre Ryanhttp://deirdreryanphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Logo.pngDeirdre Ryan2016-02-12 17:07:452019-10-17 18:07:59Did Someone Say Pin Up Photography?
Like many playgrounds, ours is in need of a major makeover. This is the Clara Barton Elementary School playground. It has not changed since I went there and for many other generations of kids and adults. Years ago, it went up to grade 8, and when I went there, it went up to grade 6.
The pavement is hot in the sun, there is no shade. The only place to really play is in the kindergarten play area, but that is closed off to the bigger kids during recess, because it is a safety issue with the smaller children. I understand this.
The reason for the fence in the middle of the playground was to keep the much older kids from the kindergarten areas. But now, there’s really no need for it. There’s some sort of outdated play things here and there that the kids bang on for noise, but the the most part, they are ignored. The basketball court is used, and so is the climbing wall. The school brings out jumping ropes, balls, and other items for the kids to play with during recess. But recess these days even for a school that is for grades Pre-K to 3 is limited because of curriculum. That’s hard because everyone, including the teachers and staff want the kids to play.
The kids play on this after school because they can actually have fun on this structure. Even when they come over from the intermediate school across the street that is grade 4-5. They come over to play on this playground and the rest because I’m told and many of the other parents are told that recess is terrible over there. I’m not there during recess, so I’m only hearing this from several of my daughter’s friends including her.
Honestly, does this look like fun? And really, we all want the best, but playgrounds are really $$$$. A single swing set is around $20,000! The pavement needs to come up and re-done, I mean we’re talking a complete overhaul.
This is where the Friends of The Ecological Schoolyard at Clara Barton comes in, my committee. We are a committee of parents, faculty and community residents dedicated to the responsible and ecological redevelopment of the Clara Barton schoolyard.
We started this while our children were in Clara Barton, some of my friends who are in the committee have children still there. But we are committed to getting this done. The playground here has been an issue for a long time. Money has been raised, but now we need more. What we have in our account isn’t enough and that is the sad and awful truth. Did I mention how much the swing set is?
What we want is something that will be lasting and beautiful for generations to come. Something that has been going on for years across the nation and around the world. A playground that is not only safe for our children, but a place for them to learn, an environment of sensory and visual wonders. Not your usual playground of swings and slides.
“Asphalt to Green Space: Clara Barton Eco-Schoolyard:Clara Barton Elementary School Project was conducted by a Temple University Senior Landscape Architecture Studio during fall 2014. The project involved a comprehensive study of the school to transform the site from an asphalted schoolyard to an eco-friendly school by integrating principles of green infrastructure and best management practices. The goal was to create designs for an educational and active environment for children, teachers, and the community.”
So this past spring, we purchased two Chinese Elm trees, our little city dug up the black top for us in the spots we wanted. They had to go through many layers before hitting dirt 😉 The day arrived and we had to find a way to get water for the trees, here are my friends, Karen and Harry with a boy who lives across the street getting it set up.
This is Mikki, she is also a member of our Tree Planting Committee here in town, and among other many talents(an artists, and skilled gardner), knows a lot about planting these.
Another friend, Debbie, told the many children volunteers what needed to be done, and they started to dig. That’s my husband, David with my other camera, shooting video.
Photo by Caroline Conroy. This is me and my daughter at this year’s past Green Fair. As you can see, we have the plans for the playground, we’re all very excited! And best of all we’re now 501C3!
This past summer, local artists, past and current students, friends, including myself, worked with artist, Stephanie Neuhaus, on her mural that is being painted on the back wall of Clara Barton’s school. It was hot, but we had a lot of fun being together, working on this beautiful project for the school and the community.
That’s my husband, David with my other camera, shooting video.
Here is Stephanie showing local artist, Al Barker what to do.
Hi Vikki!
My husband got some shots of me painting. I actually used to paint a lot back in the day, mostly in oils.
Stephanie’s husband, Mike, a local fine art photographer, taking some photos of us.
At the end of the day, we got together for a group photo, thanks Mike for the image!
Here is the next time we all got together, this time we used my camera for the group shot. Gotta love a self timer!
Each of us were assigned a colour that was a number on the wall to paint.
I love her heart shaped sunglasses!
The mural is not finished yet. What we all did was just blocked out the main colours with what Stephanie told us to do. Then she went back, and cleaned up the lines, and is still working on it. Adding in shading, more details, and other extras that as an artist only she knows what is needed.
What we now is MONEY and LOTS of it. Our committee is 501C3, so we are in the process of applying for grants, BUT we still need help. Contact me via this site or via our FB Page.
Thanks everyone, and subscribe to my blog to keep updated 🙂
https://www.deirdreryanphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/IMG_5615.jpg601900Deirdre Ryan Commercial Photographyhttp://deirdreryanphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Logo.pngDeirdre Ryan Commercial Photography2015-11-10 15:14:062019-10-17 18:11:59A Playground In Need
On December 13th, 2014 the Bordentown Historical Society sponsored the Annual Holiday House Tour. Local residents in Bordentown City opened their private homes fully decorated for the holidays so that visitors could walk through them. About 250 tickets were sold for the self guided and guided tour. The homes were open from 3:30 to 8:30PM. These were photographed for The Register News.
The home of Chris and Karen Hofrichter’s home was built in 1841 and had a gorgeous real 12 foot tree in their front parlor.
The home of Chuck and Judy Pesce decorated just about every room in their home that was built in 1901.
https://www.deirdreryanphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/p681227365-5.jpg850567Deirdre Ryan Commercial Photographyhttp://deirdreryanphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Logo.pngDeirdre Ryan Commercial Photography2014-12-24 05:12:002019-10-17 18:22:47Homeowners open doors for house tour In Bordentown City during the Holiday Season
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As Julianna was preparing her needles, ink and machine, we caught up on what’s been going on. Our children go to the same school, I’m friends with one of her daughters and her husband Joe, also a well known artist.
These two were taken with the iPhone SE as she works on a client 😉 
After Julianna completed the gorgeous tattoo, she proceeded to clean up the work area. Everyone in the shop left for the day, so it was just us, chatting while I was taking pictures.
And then she let her beautiful red hair down….However this wasn’t working for me.
I wanted to see more of her neck tattoo that she had done by Raph Cemo, so I had her put her hair back up again.
She moves like a dancer….
We moved to the work station, and I preferred this better.
We actually got our photo taken and it’s somewhat in focused!
Our old apartment, The Vida, 11th floor the bay window closest to The Academy Apartment building on the left, 2nd one down from the top floor.
At the end of the day, we got together for a group photo, thanks Mike for the image!
