band freak

Unfortunate circumstances led me back to my home state of New Jersey last weekend. But with good friends, laughs, and some Freak: the long, hard weekend turned into a reason to re-remember how good it feels to love and enjoy.



With retro Starland Ballroom of Sayreville, NJ setting the backdrop for the rock covers performed by the witty, silly, and lively band Freak, there wasn't much to not enjoy. Having never seen a show there (even though I grew up nearby) and having never heard of this NJ-based band, I didn't know what to expect before I stepped into the place. My friend even warned: "You're not going to like this band, but maybe you can take photographs". So, I just went with it. And song by song, minute by minute, picture by picture, I was hooked.














Fit with a great sense of humor and a charming newly-wed smile (flashed during breaks), the lead singer brought the heavy rock tunes to life with the solidity of pure entertainment. I dug the music, dug the presence: I pretty much dug it all. And no matter how many props he could bring on stage, no matter how many times he might feel inclined to flip the audience off, I felt his (and the band's) playfulness on stage to be quite fun to experience.



Want to try a new musical group on for size? Give Freak a try by heading on over to the band's website or the Freak myspace page.

julie & jt & the baby on the way

The new year of 2010 started off just right with a beautiful wedding between a beautiful pair. Full of happiness, love, friendship, and anticipation for the baby on the way, these two were a pleasure to work with. With a homey and tight-knit feel to the ceremony and cocktail hour that followed, this wedding was full of genuine romance.

hearts of LA: part three

On the road, in a plane, or walking past, LA was full of delight and wonder. As my final entry on my trip to LA, these pictures are a mixture of a night spent on the Santa Monica Pier, some life and colors of the West Hollywood neighborhood, the LACMA during the exhibit "A Tale of Two Persian Carpets", including a candid of speaker and rug scholar, Dr. Thompson, and a few others that were taken out of wonder.














Coming up on the beIMAGED Agenda:
1. Photographs from first wedding of the new year: The beautiful Julie and JT.
2. Left on Red we meet again: playing at Caffe Vivaldi in Manhattan.
3. Hopeful photographic coverage of Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings in Pittsburgh, PA.

sunday solo 3: family smiles

Taken on a giggly car-ride with family from West Virginia to Eastern Kentucky, with a wide grin on my little cousin's face, I couldn't help but feel completely fulfilled by my holiday break. (This was probably the moment where she made fun of the Prius that we were in - boy, did she have a lot of jokes about our car.)

Happy birthday to one of the most intelligent and self-aware 10 going on 11-year olds I have ever met.

historic ithaca

One of my favorite non-profit organizations in Ithaca, NY standing for all of the right things: reservation and restoration, the joint collaborations of Historic Ithaca and store, Significant Elements, sit on the corner of Center and Plain St. in a quirky warehouse that was "originally built by Pritchard & Sons for use as a carriage and wagon repository" and "later used as a corset factory, airplane parts factory, a warehouse for Rothschild’s Department Store, Harbeck’s Paper Company, and the ICC Furniture warehouse".

I had the opportunity to photograph their open house, and with colors and characters popping out at me with the backdrop of toilet seats and restored doors, I re-realized what makes Ithaca such a neat little town.

Want to support a strong force in keeping Ithaca's history alive? Donate to Historic Ithaca: every dollar counts.

all photography by Melissa Lynn of beIMAGED Photography.

sunday solo 3: the girl in the window

I am continually surprised by natural moments when people walk into such photographic moments while their minds drift off into what once was or as they laugh at what is today. Surrounded by restored and reused household elements, the space of Ithaca NY's very cool Significant Elements, provided this "window moment": making me a girl on the inside looking in.