Oh the irony in this one.... At a “Black Dress Event”, my portrait photography services was one of the major prizes for a fundraising event a special little lady, Marisa Hernandez, was the winner. She so happens to also be a photographer herself. Hah, go figure...I knew this was going to be fun and interesting. So, we exchanged information, set up a time and date that suits her for her prizes session at my studio and eventually she then goes into being a photographer herself. You know, I’m all about growing through learning and dishing it back out into the world just the same so this was in a way, a prize for me too.
Now Marisa is a one of those people who you feel like you’ve known for years and ask if you’ve met before. She’s inviting and isn’t afraid to speak her mind. This Boricua is carefree and will let you know, although she’s different than the islanders, she’s 100% Boricua. She’ll tell you that Puerto Ricans come in many shades of flavors. “We come in all flavors, my grandmother had kids in all shades” as she says it.
She has two daughters and works as a Surgeon Resident Coordinator at Montefiore hospital training up to 60 people a day for long hours just to find the nearest phone booth by night for her life’s mission; to be a Photographer. She does it for the love of it like all us passionate artists do. She states on her website at www.fotosbymarisa.com “I chose photography because I care about your memories as much as you do. My goal is to capture a piece of time that you can cherish forever.”
It all started for her when she was a little girl and her father would carry a camera in his pocket anywhere he went. She had vouched since then to one day become a photographer herself. She lives this passion by learning it so young, by seeing it in her father first. When you love something, it flows through you with ease, there’s no fighting that feeling. When you do find it, it sticks to you like a stain on your soul. What I admired about her other than her bubbly personality full of energy bouncing up and down to the music, is that she never let go. People will make up reasons not to but she found reasons to make it happen and that to me is admirable.
The prize for her shoot included getting her hair and makeup done. She fussed on how no one could ever get her hair right and gave a heads up to our stylist “Louis LaWiar”, the one I did a “Backstage Pass” about a few posts back. He laughed and joked it off but by the time he was done Marisa had tears in her eyes of joy. Her makeup was done by my makeup artist Natalia Perez, her added touch with Louis’ do, gave her goosebumps as she’s asking while looking in the mirror “Is that really me? I want to cry but I don’t want to mess up my makeup”. Although she was a photographer, she still had her nervous, jittery poses and moments she wasn’t sure of. Guys, everyone, even us professionals, have insecurities. In my sessions, I aim for my clients to leave feeling amazing and confident in their own skin and Marisa was glowing with pride by the time she walked out my door. You can check her out at her website and email her at [email protected] and don’t forget...
Be Ambitious, Be Gorgeous, Be YOU!
_rich