You should be LUCKY to IMPRESS ME

I wanted to take a quick moment to shout out two women I met via Myspace about 6 or 7 years ago. They are very talented in doing hair, creating fashion statements/pieces, web design, graphic design, tutoring, and being all-around fun people. Janice started a clothing line called Luck-N-Luxury that is spiraling into a frenzy now. Josiah has Impress Me Web Design and Crush.N.Glam which carries an array of accessories any woman may need/want in their collection. Both women have web sites that are up and running. Feel free to stop by and support these two young women. I had the pleasure of taking the photos for Luck-N-Luxury's Look Book while Josiah worked her magic on the actual site. I even make a cameo appearance wearing one of my favorite T-Shirts to date on that site! The links to all the sites are below....

Luck-N-Luxury
Impress Me
Crush.N.Glam

Irene, Shirley & Starry

A Hurricane, A Model & A Graduate... Enjoy!!!

Chayse (7 Months)

When thinking of children, we often times forget to look at the childs' personality. Chayse has an amazing personality! He is the most playful child I've had the chance to photograph yet. When he laughs, he laughs BIG! If he could talk, I'm sure I would have heard some funny jokes. His parents had been wanting him to be photographed for quite some time. I am forever grateful for them allowing me the chance to capture those big green/brown eyes and that awesome smile on camera. Please, enjoy a few of the pics below...

Damn this balcony

I read something this morning that said: " I told God to protect me from my enemies and I started losing family and friends". I couldn't help but think how close that hit home. So I sit here on my balcony, feet up, all black Stan Smith's on, smoking a Vanilla Tatiana while offing an iced cold bottle of Bartenura Moscato and started to think...

I thought about all the good times I had with those friends I no longer have. I thought about all the family members I am no longer close to. I think about why I no longer have these people around me. Asking myself that all too familiar question - Was it my fault? I lean this comfortable chair back a bit as I recline on my thoughts. They aren't around for a reason! I got rid of most of my trouble. My past has been confronted, so I can now rest comfortably. Damn, this Wine got me on a trip. Should've brought luggage...

When I was young, my mother always said I had a way with words. It wasn't until I got older that I realized what she meant. I use to talk my way out of the most disconcerting situations. To me, talking wasn't enough... I was (and to some, still are) a show off. If I spoke it, I lived it. And fortunately for me, I have pics to prove it.

Synonymously, photos are worth the thousands of words I couldn't say or didn't think of at the time. As this Vanilla Cigar comes to an end (much like those bad friendships), I think about the photos with the fake smiles and fake hugs. I transport myself back in time when at that moment, everything seemed so real and genuine. FLASH! I see the dude in the background looking at me from the corner of his eye. FLASH! I see the girl I had the biggest crush on affectionately hugging this dude I can't stand. FLASH! I see a cousin who I once admired disappear from my life. FLASH! GONE! POOF!

So as i sit here toasting to the good times and exhaling the smoke from the lurid aftermath, I ponder on why Photography is so important to me. An entire night of events can be captured in just one photo. That photo should tell a story that even YOU can't describe. Maybe if we pay attention to photographs a lot more, we can protect ourselves from what may happen, what has happened already, and what has the potential of happening. Buh-Bye Tatiana... See you on the next trip!

Luck & Luxury Clothing

What NYC is lacking right now is a sense of originality. It would help out tremendously if someone came in with a brand to set their clothing apart from all the others. This is where Luck & Luxury comes in. A brand founded by Janice Bligen who started off young as one of myspace's premier sneaker collectors who graduated to customizing her own. The T-Shirts she creates are sure to not only bring you attention, but match what you are wearing and will transform you to the centerpiece of any occassion. Trust me... I wore one of her shirts out in just a few hours, I received several compliments. Vests, Jackets, Hats, Scarfs and Shoes can also be customized by Luck & Luxury clothing. The website is coming soon, but for now, you can find her on myspace at

The shoot was very fun! I would like to say thank you to She Tigress and Couture Embellisments for help with the men and women's accessories, Diana the MUA for her special craftsmanship and to all the models who traveled out to the location to help Janice build her brand. Good luck Janice!

2011 New York Auto Show

Every year, I attend the NY Auto Show with my brother who couldn't make it this year. Fortunately for me, my Babe decided to meet me at our favorite food spot on 34th St and troop it with me to the car show. Although I am an avid fan of Japanese vehicles, Germany came correct, but America had it on SMASH. I was most impressed with the 2012 Chrysler 200 and 300C, the 2012 Dodge Charger and the2012 Chevy Camaro. My top 3 vehicles of the evening were the 2012 Charger SRT/8, the 2012 Mercedes CL550 and the 2012 Lexus LS460L. Babe fell in love with the 2012 Accord Coupe, the 2012 Range Rover and the 2012 G37x. Check out a few pics...

Princeton III a.k.a. Torch

While hanging out with my niece and her other half, I thought it would be a cool idea to do an impromptu shoot. Her other half, who is one half of the Hip Hop group Square One, was up for the challenge. There was a wedding where we originally wanted to start shooting, but we quickly found another spot, used the iPad to play a few tunes, and started clicking away. Luckily my camera was in the trunk of the car when we had the idea (something I should start doing more often). Square One's 4th mixtape "Can I Talk My Sh!t?" is now available on ww.currenthiphop.com. It's pretty dope, if I say so myself. Check out the mixtape and a few pics from the shoot.

Happy New Year!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR PEOPLE!!!!!

By now, I'm sure you've heard about the big blizzard that hit NY on December 26th. Some of you have even looked at different news reports to see how bad it is. Well, I took a few photos of the aftermath. I did so not just to capture how bad the storm was, but to show what life was like in the actual snow. Cars were stuck and couldn't move, but that didn't stop people from trying. It also did not stop those trying to get a bit of shopping done.

I was at work two days after the storm and on my break, I decided to walk around the neighborhood with my Canon and snap a few pics of the 5th largest snow storm to hit New York City. Enjoy!

The site is finally up!

www.troysumpter.com is finally up and running. I built the site myself in all HTML since some web browsers on mobile devices don't support Flash. Eventually, I will update the site to either partial or all flash content. But for now, I needed something up besides this blog. It is a sample of the photographs I've taken since I decided to get in to photography. I will be purchasing a new camera in the very near future.

Anyway, the site is up now. Feel free to let me know what you think of the actual site and the photographs displayed on the site...