My mom ordered a carrot cake from a local bakery since carrot cake was my dad’s favorite.  She asked the baker to please write “Pop Pop Harry” on the cake since that is what the kids called my dad.  Instead, the baker had written “Pop Up Harry” which makes no sense at all but definitely had us all laughing! 

It was a beautiful Spring day and though my dad wasn’t there in person to celebrate with us, I know he was with us in spirit and maybe even enjoyed those balloons that we sent up to Heaven for him.

I told Gavin that if he hugged the balloon he could send hugs to Pop Pop too.  He got really happy and squeezed the balloon really hard.  I thought he might pop it!

Family photo just before releasing the balloons…..

And… a short video clip of the send off….

And for those of you wandering what I am looking like during the third trimester, well, here you go….

This morning my family and friends did The Fight for Air Climb at 3 Logan Square in Philadelphia.  They climbed 50 stories to the top of the building to raise money and awareness for lung disease.  I am so extremely proud of all of them!!   Because of my “condition” (aka pregnancy!), I was unable to do the climb…. though I very much wanted to.  Next year I plan to do it… perhaps with a baby on my back! 

My mom was asked to give a speech today prior to the climb.  It was emotional, powerful and had a great message about the need for lung disease awareness and research/ treatment advancement.  She did an amazing job and I am so proud of her.  My dad would have been extremely honored.

Thank you to everyone that climbed today and also to all of you that donated to this very important cause!  Team “Truckin’ for Harry” raised an amazing $4,065.00!!  My family and I are beyond amazed by this.  I am so grateful to have so many wonderful and giving people in my life.  THANK YOU!!

Below is a video of my mom’s speech.  I, very unfortunately, missed capturing the very beginning which was emotional.  I included her full speech in text below the video as well.  Standing next to her is Ray Koob from radio station 102.9 MGK.  He did a great job announcing for the climb as well as comforting my mom during the speech.

“My name is Paulette Hassey. When my friend told me she was going to do a 50-story stair climb I told her she was crazy, out of her mind and would probably kill herself. Then she told me that the climb would take place on March 24 and it was to benefit the American Lung Association. My heart sank because I knew this was an omen and so I formed the team “Truckin’ for Harry,” in honor of my husband, Harry, a retired truck driver, who died from lung cancer exactly one year ago today on March 24th at the age of 59.

Harry and I were high school sweethearts. We were married just shy of 38 years. We had 4 children and 3 grandchildren. We now have another grandchild on the way who will never get to know the world’s best Pop-Pop. We have been through everything together – good and bad. Harry was hot-headed and opinionated, he loved to argue about anything, especially politics and he let you know how he felt about everything whether you wanted to know or not. But, he was also a big, kind-hearted, strong, lovable and unforgettable character, who would do anything to help you and he always knew the right thing to do or say. To watch him deteriorate before my eyes in 6 short months was devastating. I miss him terribly every minute of every day. He was the love of my life.

Harry was initially diagnosed with bladder cancer 5 months before his lung cancer and had surgery to remove 2 tumors. Harry had been a smoker most of his life and his father died from lung cancer in 1980 at the age of 50. And even though I told the urologist that I thought Harry’s breathing was not normal, he never did any further tests, not even a simple chest x-ray. Then suddenly less than 2 months after the urologist assured us that Harry was “cancer free,” he started to spit up blood and was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer which had already spread to his adrenal glands and his brain. After seeing what his father went through, Harry always said that if he ever got lung cancer he would never do treatments for it. But, I was able to convince him to go to Fox Chase and at least talk to someone because after all, it was 31 years later and things must have changed. The treatments have got to be better than they were back then. Well, we soon learned that things have not changed in 31 years – the treatments are not better and the outcome was still the same. Harry and his father had the exact same diagnosis—his Dad lived 7 months and Harry lived only 6 months.

Although Harry and I knew he was eventually going to die from his disease, his death came very unexpectedly and we were so not prepared for it. Unlike today, it was a cold, snowy morning last March 24th when we went to Fox Chase for Harry’s routine office visit prior to his chemo treatment scheduled for the following day. While sitting in the doctor’s waiting room, Harry started to choke and cough up blood. He had a look of terror on his face that I will never forget and as the blood poured out of his body, he was unable to breathe. He ultimately bled to death on the floor of the doctor’s exam room at 9:45 a.m.

I am doing the climb today so that Harry will not be forgotten. I hope that by hearing his story, someone may try to stop smoking, or someone may insist that their doctor do more tests if they are not feeling well, and that someday soon there will be routine screening tests done to detect lung disease. Harry always told us not to make a big deal out of his illness, because everyone gets a turn to die and this was his turn. But, I know in my heart that he would be so honored and grateful for the outpouring of love and support here today.

So get ready to climb and if you feel like you just can’t go any further, be assured that you will get a boost of energy, because I know that Harry is here today and anyone here who knew him will tell you that he will kick your butt up the stairs if he has to.”

]]> http://melissahassey.com/2012/03/1-year-anniversary-the-fight-for-air-stair-climb/feed/ 0 http://melissahassey.com/2012/03/our-little-announcement/ http://melissahassey.com/2012/03/our-little-announcement/#comments Fri, 09 Mar 2012 19:00:58 +0000 melissa http://melissahassey.com/?p=6554 My husband, Carl, and I are excited to announce to the world that we are expecting our first baby this summer!  I am due in mid July and am finally starting to look the part with my growing belly.  And, here it is…… 

Since so many people ask….. we do not intend to find out the sex.  It will be an extra surprise for us come “birth day”.  I am so excited to meet this little boy or girl swimming around inside of me.  I have never felt so…. important before.  Suddenly everything that I do seems so much more meaningful.  I am truly amazed.

I have to thank you, all of my many family, friends and clients (see friends) that have inspired me over the years.  With you, I have experienced love, engagements, marriages, pregnancies, newborn babies, large families, small families, joy and even tragedies.  I have learned and continue to learn so much from all of you.  I plan to take those experiences with me through my journey into motherhood and thank you sincerely for all of your inspiration and guidance.

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WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU & MELISSA HASSEY PHOTOGRAPHY

Please know that I do plan to continue to work and photograph well into my third trimester… until this baby doesn’t let me anymore!  I also do intend to take some time off from portrait photography after the baby is born.  The exact timeline of that is to be determined.  At this point, I do not plan to be photographing Holiday or Fall Portrait Sessions.  I am certainly bummed about this and sorry to miss out on seeing so many of you!!  Please know that you could instead schedule a Spring portrait session and use those portraits as your holiday cards and gifts!  People love to see warm weather photographs during the chilly holiday season! 

So…. yes, NOW is a great time to book a portrait session!  I feel wonderful and there is plenty of time before July to get all of your orders in, etc…  I will be in touch with upcoming Mini Session dates as well!  If you have any location ideas for those, feel free to send me a message or leave feedback below.

Also, don’t forget to follow me on Facebook for more updates and information.  I’d love to connect with you there!

http://www.facebook.com/MelissaHasseyPhotography

Thanks all for your patience!!

Happy Holidays and early New Year!!

What’s a blog post without a visual?  Here is a rendering that I had created of our cat, Santucci.  And, yes, Carl now wears a t-shirt with this image. 

This past weekend Carl & I attended a neighborhood Halloween party.  I was so relieved that everyone actually got dressed up because my costume was, well, a bit elaborate.  I prefer to be something scary or gory for Halloween and had seen some headless costume ideas online.  I thought… “I could pull that off”.

I ended up being a headless hippie rather than a headless bride as I didn’t have an old wedding dress.  I did, however, have an old 70′s dress.  So, I coupled it with some funky sunglasses and a couple of braids with a flower in my hair.  I created a story that I took too much LSD and decided that I had to chop off my head!  Although I forgot to add the knife to the costume…. Oh well!

To create my costume, I (generally) followed the instructions I found posted on Instructables.com (I love that website!!).  The user, ModMischief, explained everything really well!  Here are the instructions in case you are wondering how I did it:  http://www.instructables.com/id/Headless-Corpse-Bride-from-Duct-Tape/

Carl went as the “Fishtown.us” forum, which was actually quite clever though much less time consuming than mine.  I needed his time to help build my duct tape torso! 

And, here we are….

my gal friends…  I love how everyone is all pretty and smiles and I have my eyes rolled into my head!

We rented a car and drove through much of New England.  Our main stops were: Newport, RI; Hampton Falls, NH; Portsmouth, NH; North Conway, NH & Albany,NY.  It was a mixture of driving, relaxing, camping, hiking, laughing, eating, drinking, photographing and exploring.  It was fantastic and came at a much needed time in our lives!  I am grateful….

Though I posted this composite of hipstamatic iphone photographs on facebook when we first returned, I figured that I would post it again.  If you didn’t see it on facebook, you should follow me here:  http://www.facebook.com/MelissaHasseyPhotography  Shameless, I know….

I wish that I had time to go through those photographs and post more but I am guessing that won’t happen until after the New Year.  Anyway, I wanted to post something just because!

Check out Carl’s blogs about our trip:

This one is a sort of creepy video that looks like he is stalking me.  It features his awesome music and editing skills:  http://www.philadesigns.com/myblog/page/2/

And this is his full blog on our trip.  He is waaay better at the details and trip information/ documentation than I am!  http://www.philadesigns.com/myblog/page/3/

What type of photography do you do? and how would you classify it?

Primarily, I am a portrait and wedding photographer. I am particularly interested in capturing people, relationships and telling a story.

In your opinion, what is the most important thing to keep in mind about portraits?

When photographing portraits, it is important to be honest and open minded as well as to develop a relationship with the client. In my opinion, capturing the best light and most interesting composition is secondary to creating an enjoyable experience for the subjects.

Each portrait session offers me a chance to grow and learn more about photography, myself, the people that I am with and life in general. Developing a relationship with the subjects and making them feel comfortable is very important to me. I am always open minded to other people’s situations, personalities, cultures, interests and so on. It is heartwarming to me when a person opens up and lets me into the private moments of their lives. It makes me feel that what I do is important.

What are some challenges that you face and how do you overcome that?

Some of the challenges that I face as a photographer are often in regards to lighting, weather and location. Uncontrollable elements constantly keep me on my toes and challenge my creativity.

Staying fresh, inspired and creative can be difficult. I try to approach each portrait session as a unique challenge. I have to constantly push myself to see things in a new, different and unique way. I chase light and reflections and am always looking for a new way to capture a location/ situation/ person(s).

How do you come up with the ideas and settings for your photo shoots?

I am drawn to locations with texture and personality. Particularly, I am drawn to urban settings. I love a location where there is proof that people have been there or that time has passed.

In addition, locations that are significant to the subject is always very important. Finding places that they feel comfortable in or represents them well is always a priority. I strive to have my photographs tell a story or capture a time in someone’s life.

Often times choosing a location is a collaboration with the subject(s). Again, with getting to know them a little bit and understanding what they want to capture through the portrait session, I can often suggest places based on that information.

Some days, I will just walk around areas that I may like and take photographs. Then I store ideas away for a client that I think would fit that particular location. There are lots of venues and locations that I look forward to working at in the future!

What type of lighting do you use and how is that achieved?

Choosing how to light a subject is dependent upon many factors such as what the effect I am trying to achieve is as well as how the location lends itself to creating that effect.

I often prefer to use natural light. Photographing just before sunset often gives a dreamier, more saturated and gentler light that is often ideal for portraits. I also love to find unique and dramatic light through windows, streetlights at night, car lights, etc.

In certain situations I use my on and off camera speedlites (Canon 580 EX) for fill flash or backlighting to achieve a particular effect. Speedlites are ideal for me since I tend to work fast and move around quite a bit. This system allows me to move the lights around without wires or bulky/ heavy equipment. To trigger the speedlites, I use a wireless transmitter system that syncs the lights to flash at the precise moment that I press the shutter.

I also, at times, use softboxes, umbrellas, reflectors and gobos (which block the light).

How do you attempt to create eye catching photos?

Creating an eye catching photograph has a lot to do with trial, error, effort planning and good luck! I always am looking for ways to see things in a unique way or taking the ordinary and making it extraordinary. An eye catching photograph is usually a combination/ perfect storm of composition, subject, lighting and exposure. This can be something that is well thought out in advance or something that happens organically. Often times it is about being in the right place at the right time…. with a camera!

I do feel that the more practice and time that one spends photographing and pursuing the craft, the more likely they are to create eye catching photographs.

How do you incorporate your subject’s personality and style into your photos?

Again, getting to know my client and asking them questions about themselves is very important to me. Finding out what they are passionate about, what their personalities are like, what is important to them, etc… I have a list of questions that I like to ask before the portrait session to help to better understand the subjects.

As the client reveals aspects of their life, I often reveal aspects of mine as well. This is often how we become friends. It is a two way relationship. Though it is their life and relationships that I am photographing it is my eye and personality that is capturing it.

Ansel Adams once said, “There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer.”

In the case of portrait photography there are at least 3 people: the photographer, the viewer and the subject.

Please describe your style in a few sentences.

Through photography, I aim to capture natural moments that tell a story in a unique and interesting way. My style is unrehearsed, patient, quirky, passionate and fun.

“If I could say it in words, I wouldn’t need to photograph.”

- Lewis Hine

Looking under the leaves I found these two caterpillars?/ cabbage loopers?  Does anyone know exactly what these are?  Like any good photographer, I took them into my home “studio”, photographed them with my macro lens and then tossed them gently into the empty lot behind our house.  If you know me well, I can’t even crush an ant or swat a fly.  I tend to capture bugs and take them outside.  Catholic guilt, I guess…   One exception… I don’t like bugs that hide when the lights come on!

Anyway, do you know what these little guys are?  They are cute but seem to be doing so much damage!  My plan right now is to continue to check the plant and pick these guys out, spray the bush with a strong hose on full blast under the leaves to release any eggs and maybe try some garlic spray.  Any other natural recommendations welcome!

They didn’t move much, but one did do this…..  and, yes, it’s what you think:

Kylie laid her head on the table like this through the entire “Happy Birthday” song.  So cute.

and… we learned that she really LOVES cake!

as does her brother, Gavin… (patiently waiting for his slice)

and her brother Ethan (but Ethan does not like chocolate!)

goofs!

my buddy, Ethan….  being Ethan.    I just love this one though…

**  UPDATE:  MY MOM INFORMED ME THAT MY DAD DID NOT LIVE “UNDER THE EL”.  INSTEAD, HE LIVED IN THE PARKING LOT OF THE PANTRY PRIDE **

Shew! glad I cleared that up! 

footnote: my mom’s name is Paulette

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