U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame Induction 2012. Desmond Armstrong, Tony Meola, Tony DiCicco, Claudio Reyna

The U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame Induction ceremony was held at FedEx Field Stadium in Landover, MD on May 30 and The Documentist was there. Former players, Desmond Armstrong, Tony Meola, Claudio Reyna and Coach Tony DiCicco were inducted into the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame.

Besides the obvious accomplishments of each individual to achieve such an honor, what was impressive about the evening was how much family was a theme to almost everyones speeches. For a photographer who documents families it was refreshing to hear.

I am not going to tell you about who their individual stats and their careers, wikipedia or some other source can handle that. I’m not going to tell you about how the individuals get selected because the Hall of Fame rules can tell you that. What I would like to tell you about is the emotions of the evening and some things that were said.

Concentration on Family:

Tony DiCicco was presented by his son. What son wouldn’t be proud of his father who has accomplished as much as DiCicco. Coach DiCicco was the coach of the women’s teams that won an Olympic gold medal and a World Cup.

When DiCicco was giving his speech he mentioned how two of his kids were not at the ceremony because while they were driving cross country to be at the ceremony their car broke down somewhere in Kansas. Luckily his wife and other kids were there to support him. Here’s a photo of the some of the happy family.

DiCicco

Desmond Armstrong’s presenter was John Kerr, Jr. John Kerr, Jr. was a fellow teammate from the US Men’s National team and the days when the two of them won a youth national championship. John Kerr, Sr., who played professionally in the North American Soccer League (NASL), was the coach of that youth team. John Kerr, Sr. passed away last year. Desmond explained that John Kerr, Sr. had a major impact on his playing career.

Desmond Armstrong was the first to bring tears to himself and the audience. He was visibly emotional by the honor. His speech dealt with legacy. His kids, along with others, will know that he accomplished something. He jokingly remarked how he had enough kids for a soccer team. He then reiterated the statement to say an indoor soccer team. All seven of his kids were present, along with his wife, mother, father and brother. He also jokingly mentioned how he was from Washington DC and it was good that he only had a certain number of tickets or else almost all the seats would be filled with his relatives. Here’s a photo of the happy family.

Armstrong

Tony Meola became tearful when speaking of Lamar Hunt, the former owner of the Kansas City Wizards of  Major League Soccer who passed away in 2006. Apparently Mr. hunt treated Meola well and Meola felt close to him. When Meola’s playing  career finished, there seemed to be a brief time of soul searching and he wasn’t sure what the next step in life would be. He found strength by coaching his son’s 11 year old soccer team. After Meola’s speech Master of Ceremonies, Dave Johnson, half jokingly remarked with somewhat watery eyes about how he was emotionally together until the story about the 11 year old boys team. I think that was the case for many people in the room. You are tough enough to play in the World Cup and win championships in the MLS but sometimes it’s the love for your child that gives you the most strength. Here’s a photo of the happy family.

Meola

Claudio Reyna was not present at the ceremony. It was said that he was unable to attended because of family matters.

Now all of these inductees are part of the Hall of Fame family. I congratulate them. I also congratulate some other Hall of Famers with families that I spoke with while at the ceremony. Mia Hamm, the former U.S. Women’s Soccer National Team standout was there with her newest addition.

Hamm

Eddie Pope former U.S. Men’s national team player mentioned he had a 7 month old.

Enjoy some more photos of proud of the inductees, family and fans. Click photos to enlarge and see as a gallery.

Studio 90 (ussoccer.com) did interviews with the Inductees. You can watch the video below

Crying Babies Are Still Beautiful

Here’s a fact that you probably already know…babies cry sometimes. If you are a parent you are probably laughing hysterically right now at that statement. Your lack of sleep during a certain period of life certainly confirms that statement. The reasons that babies cry can be rather lengthy too. So what happens if you have a baby session scheduled and your little one is crying. The Documentist photographs it happily.*

You might be surprised at the great expression your little one gives when they are less than happy. You’ve seen that little face with tears in their eyes so many times but remember, it won’t always be like that. You will want to remember the times of fussing just as much as the times of joy. They will always be your baby but they won’t always be a baby.

For this session, the little one was a trooper. She was teething and fighting a nap.

*The little ones do usually eventually come around to smiling after a nap, feeding, a game of patty cake or if worse comes to worse a rescheduling.

Click below to see the gallery with some moments from the photo session with The Documentist Photography.

Koodeta Brunch at Neyla: Where the 1 A.M. Party Happens At 1 P.M.

The E-BarTab owners invited The Documentist to document a Koodeta Brunch at Neyla. Ok, let me translate that. Neyla is a Mediterranean restaurant in Washington DC in the Georgetown neighborhood. Koodeta Brunch is an event thrown every Saturday from 1pm-5pm at the restaurant.

So what is so special about this brunch you may ask… Fashionably dressed girls, fun boys, DJ, live Bongo player, colorful emcee, bottle service, big bottles of Champagne and people who come ready to party like it’s one o’clock in the morning. Do I have your attention, yet?

Alain Kalantar an owner of Josephine Nightclub and Lounge in Washington DC has set up an outlet for those who want to eat, drink and be merry during the day with Koodeta Brunch. After reading some reviews on Bitches Who Brunch and Guest of a Guest which discussed other party brunches, I think what I experienced at Koodeta Brunch may be at the top of the list for the place to be. There were people dancing on tables, crawling on the floor, sipping straight from the bottle, group hugs, laughter, even the chef couldn’t help himself from dancing.

Click below to see the gallery with some moments from the brunch.

For additional photos, you can see them posted on E-BarTab’s FaceBook Page under the photo album titled Not Your Ordinary Brunch.

Baby Fashionista. When Style And Cuteness Combine.

The Documentist had a baby session not too long ago with a little fashionista in training. I asked if the baby had any special outfits she could be dressed in. The answer was like shopping at your favorite department store. There were plenty to choose from and many of the outfits still had the tags on them. “Which color would you like her to wear?” was a frequent question. What is this seasons color was my answer? Just kidding. Kind of… Well I’m not sure pink or purple ever go out of style for baby girls. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

It’s wonderful to have so many options, but the funny thing is babies tend to be extremely cute when they are wearing very little. Who doesn’t love baby skin? And our cute baby this day was a cute drooler, so that was requiring a number of outfit changes. Good thing we were prepared right? And also you don’t wear clothes while taking a bath so no outfit needed there.

I also added a bit of haute couture by creating a special headpiece/hat for the little one. It was developed in two styles. One style was loosely inspired by Queen  Elizabeth and the other style I feel is more of an Erykah Badu type piece.

Click on a photo to browse the gallery of images.

From Casual Wear To SuperHero Wear

It doesn’t take long before kids get into superhero mode. How young was your little one when you first put them in a costume and what were they? Costumes and dress up aren’t limited to Halloween and parties. Your little one may find the need to show their super powers on a regular basis. They may not remember these days of trying to fly, but we will. Why is that? Because The Documentist was there. I enjoyed being his sidekick for the day.

Click on a photo to browse the gallery of images.

causal wear

superhero training gear

transformed into the superhero outfit

Let’s FACE it: Boyish Good Looks

“Are you a photographer/What made you decide to be a photographer/How did you get into photography?” is probably tied with “What do you shoot?” as the most frequently asked questions posed to The Documentist. The answer to the first set of questions is simple, yet complicated. When can talk about that another time. As far as the second question, I describe myself as a Family Photographer. If that still raises eyebrows I say I photography kids.

Why kids? Well kids under the age of 10 years old generally enjoy being in front of the camera which makes my job a bit easier and enjoyable. One of the biggest frustrations with adults is them not wanting to have their pictures taken because of a number of insecurities. You adults know who you are. You mention how you you don’t look good in front of the camera. You don’t like pictures of yourself.

The under 10 crowd does not care if they look good or not. They know they look good. Now you have to work hard to get them to stop making funny/silly faces in order to capture that “nice picture” that the parents want, but it eventually happens. And really the parents enjoy the funny faces. “That’s so ‘insert the name of your kid here’…”

But I understand if you don’t want to have an 24×36 canvas of your child making a crazy face hanging in the living room. But parents do put a bunch of them in the albums and smile each time they see them.

So what happens after we have a good time with the kids, well the parents loosen up and want at least one picture with their child(ren). And after we have the family photo, then it’s time for an adult individual photo or a couples photo. After being in front of the camera with their kids parents realize it’s not so bad and decide “hey, maybe I should have a quality photo of myself”. Yes indeed maybe you should And remember you don’t have to wait for the kids to have their photo taken first.

Have your photo taken. The memories are worth it.

Click on a photo to browse the gallery of images.

UnJerseyBride.com Launch Party

Not to long ago, The Documentist was invited to and attended the “Un-Jersey Bride“ launch party in South River, NJ. Feuza Reis is the creator of the new wedding blog www.unjerserybride.com that is aimed at assisting brides, grooms and wedding vendors with wedding information that is not necessarily typical of a New Jersey wedding. That is the short version and simple version of Feuza and the wedding blog; however Feuza is anything besides short and simple.

The longer version: Feuza (owner of Feuza Inc) is a hardworking, talented, resourceful, caring, fun, wedding photographer, wedding cinematographer, blogger, businesswoman, mother, wife and more. I asked her how she came up with the concept of www.unjerserybride.com and she told me that there was a need. This makes her a leader. She has created a place where brides can seek unique venues in New Jersey and also find ideas from local vendors that may offer different products, etc… I think it’s a great idea. Now brides in Jersey don’t necessarily have to rely on blogs that are based in California to find inspiration. They can look locally and find things that are more directly related to them.

The party was like Feuza. It was fun, social, and entertaining. I enjoyed meeting new people in the community and catching up with some friends and colleagues that I hadn’t seen in awhile. Some of New Jersey’s photography heavy hitters were in attendance like Vanessa Joy, Niño Gallego, Ahmet Ze and Michael Ramos. Event planner Christine Hyder of Christine Hyder Events LLC was also in attendance so you know this was the place to be. No Limit Events LLC, the event planners of the Un-Jersey Bride launch party,  had everything running soothly at the 2 Chicks with Chocolate store. There was chocolate of course, wine was poured, and cupcakes served by Blue Sheep Bake Shop. Hard to go wrong with that combination.

Love Me {I} Do Photography seemed to be the officially photographers covering the event. I mean you never can be 100% certain when you are in a room full of photographers with cameras, right? I had my camera with me and managed to take some photos between bites of chocolate and cupcakes.

Be sure to check out unjerseybride.com for cool wedding things happening in New Jersey.

Feuza