Let me (re)introduce myself

For those of you whose formative years were in the 1980s, read the title of this blog in the voice of Humpty Hump. For everyone else, my title comes from a line in a Digital Underground song called the Humpty Dance and the main rapper’s alter ego was Humpty Hump. If you’re really interested in hearing or seeing what I am talking about, click here.  Moving on… it has been about 3 weeks since my last blog on my old site. I had that site for several years and I felt that it was time for a change. I felt that I was growing but my site couldn’t grow into what I wanted/needed it to be. It was really killing me to not post a blog because I’ve been posting every Wednesday morning for about five years or so. With that said, I apologize to anyone who was looking for new content on those days. Since this will be my very first blog on my new site, I figured that I should start it off by introducing myself to the new readers and reintroducing myself to my faithful followers.

Hi, my name is Ayesha. It’s pronounced Ah-sha. Yes, I know it looks like eye-ee-sha but I promise it’s like Tasha without the T.  There are two stories to the origin of my name. The one my mother told me is that one of her sisters had a friend named Asha. A-s-h-a is how they spell it in India. Evidently, it is rather common in India where it means, hope. I’ve also been told that it’s Swahili as well, and means life. Either one works for me, but I digress. So, my aunt had a friend named Asha and she wanted someone to have that name. My mother who was pregnant with me at that time figured that could be my name. When I think about it now I feel pretty lucky because my parents were naming the children alphabetically. My sister’s name is Allison, then I have a brother named Blake and another brother named Drake. No, they are not twins. There was a stillbirth between my brothers, hence no C name. I would have ended up with a name beginning with E. I just don’t think I look like an Evelyn, Eve, Elizabeth, Elaine, Esther, Ernestine or Evangeline. The other story came from my sister who said that my name was supposed to be pronounced eye-ee-sha but I couldn’t say it so they called me ah-sha instead. Which do you believe?

Fast-forwarding to current day, I am married to a wonderful man from Boston who sometimes gets on my last nerve but I wouldn’t want to do life without him. In August, we’ll have been married for 20 years. I’m still in awe over that one! Don’t worry, I’ll share information about our anniversary in August, as I do every year. During these last 20 years, we have been raising our son. He will be 14 next month and I am so not ready. Next thing you know he’ll be driving and then leaving for college. I honestly do not know where all of the time went. One minute I’m changing his diaper and the next I’m telling him to go take a shower and wash his hair. Just four more years with him. He says it’s a long time from now but he doesn’t understand how short four years really is. I also can’t believe that he’ll be in high school next school year. I am so not ready! Anybody else feel like that? Oh, I almost forgot. I have been a professional photographer for 16 years. My first camera was given to me as a Christmas give by my late Aunt Margaret. I was probably 10 or 11 at the time. Never in my wildest dreams had I thought I’d be a photographer. Back then, that just wasn’t an option for a career. I, like many children back then, was told to go to school, graduate, go to college, get a degree and then get a job. And that’s what I did. Fortunately, I didn’t know about the possibility of photography because I would have missed out on my husband and son.

So, you’re probably wondering what the heck is this blog about? I believe that there is art in living and lessons in life. This blog is not specific to photography. Sure, I can show you beautiful pictures each week and tell you how awesome my clients are but why? Everyone does that. My blog does at times share images of my sessions, as well as the stories that go along with them. Ask any of my clients about their blog story. They’ll tell you that I spilled all the tea! Well, at least most of it. I never want to embarrass my clients or expose sensitive issues. For instance, one of my most recent blogs was about a pregnant mama who went into labor during the session. Yeah, that happened. Another session was with a mom of a “Rainbow Baby”. If you don’t know what a Rainbow Baby is, it is a child that was born after the death of a previous child, usually due to miscarriage or stillbirth, but I guess it can include a child who died of SIDS. In this session, she wanted me to spread the word as to what caused her miscarriage. She was more than happy for me to share her story in the hopes that it would help someone else.

In addition to seeing and reading about sessions, you will get to know more about me and my take on various life situations. And before you ask, I do NOT talk about politics or religion. All you need to know about that is that I do what I feel is right for me and my family, periodt! Oh, I also give photography tips too. So, if you’re into that, you can stop by to see what I’ve got going on. I’m also open to suggestions. Every once in a while I am at a loss regarding what to talk about. I hate when that happens because I end up writing about something rather lackluster, and I really don’t want to do that to you all. If you have an idea or something you want my opinion on, I am all eyes. Well, I guess I’d be all ears if you were to call me about it. Anyway, thanks so much for coming on this ride of edutainment and hopefully you’ll choose to continue this journey with me.