Erick Joel Scott Jr.

I had the pleasure of being the chosen photographer for Erick Joel Scott Jr a.k.a. EJ, Candace & Erick's son (1 month old). Taking EJ's pictures was definitely a task. With newborns, you need to have patience and time. You can not expect to rush through the shoot. He needed to be comfortable. Erick had the chance to be a father to his son in front of the camera and the shots came out amazing. His momma, Candace, sat back and watched the love of her life be the father she always dreamed of for the son she's always wanted. Thank you Erick & Candace for allowing me the opportunity to photograph your beautiful baby boy. Enjoy the photos!

Editing by Mood

Feeling kinda dark today, I decided to go through some pics I took a while back and see if I could edit them according to my mood. See, now... The beauty of the picture still remains, but I wanted it to look as if there was a black cloud in the room. Sorta like a rose in the garden alone with a storm closing in on it. This particular photo had been edited when I did the original shoot, but I loved it so much, I did a re-edit since my retouching has improved. Keep in mind the mood i'm in...

The smile represents what any person must do when life throws you a curve ball. The eyes say that you need to be observant to things going on around you - that even though you're looking right at something, they aren't always as it appears. The hands being open means that you must learn to let the things that bother you, go. Never forget that things happen, but don't let them ruin your happiness.

Cumulatively, to me, this photo (edited) means that no matter how dark things seem, you have to remain positive. You have to keep a smile on your face whether it's in life or in love. Did I capture the mood? Let me know what you think.

Party Over HERE!!!!!!

Over the past few months, I had been selected as the photographer for a plethora of parties. The 3 that stood out the most were Amir's 13th Birthday Party, Anthony's 1st Birthday Bashment (smh @ Antoinette), and Ashley's Sweet 16. I must say - these kids know how to party and they party HARD!!! These 3 parties stood out to me because the kids had so much character, style, personality and energy. It'd be a bit hard to say I didn't enjoy myself.

For Amir, he had 2 sick cakes made in to the shape of a Fitted baseball Cap and a Nike Dunk. He could hardly stop for a picture because he was having so much fun.


Lil Anthony a.k.a. Tre celebrated his first Birthday in style. He arrived in his own Cadillac Escalade, had a really good clown that also did face painting, as well as one of the characters from The Backyardigans. Tre had 3 cakes and one was a Cupcake-Cake made by Candies Cakes (tastes good too!). A lot of people showed up to show Tre some love for his 1st.


Ashley's Sweet 16 was a success! These kids are something else! She had a Mardi Gras themed party with masks and beads. She arrived in one dress and changed into another. Ashley, who prefers to be called " Preddy Piee", must have had the time of her life at this party!

A Walk in The Park...

When hanging out with friends, you take a break from all the stress. You get up, make a plan for the day and stick to it. The plan for this particular day was to grab breakfast with babe, my homie and his wife. After that, we were down to do whatever with the rest of the day. Suggesting we do something relaxing, we gathered our camera's and just went walking around Prospect Park in Brooklyn, NY (which, by the way, has some of the most interesting things to capture a few flicks of). I must say thanks to my friends and Babe, I really enjoyed my day. I enjoyed it so much, I'd like to share some of the images with you guys. Not many, but what I feel captured the good times I share with those that mater most...

Brooklyn, NY under attack!!!

Last month, a Tornado ripped through Brooklyn tearing trees out the ground and sending them flying through homes and vehicles. I was at work during this Tornado and didn't get to see what was going on in the neighborhoods that were affected. On October 11th, 2010, a hail storm along with vicious lightning and rain hit New york City last night and really scared the sh*t out of me. I was on my way to get something to eat after work when it started lightning.

Now, I've gotten use to lightning, but what I saw last night scared the crap outta me. After the lightning, the rain came. Not just any rain... It looked as if buckets of water were being poured all over my car. It made driving impossible. Every car near me came to a stop and turned on their hazards. After the rain let up slightly, I started to drive again - slowly! Then the hail came. Hail the size of quarters pelted the hell out of my car and I was sure the world was on its way to an end. i called my lady and told her what was going on since she was in another state and i could barely hear her due to all the noise being made by the chunks of ice that idiot Mother Nature threw at New york.

I was able to grab a few photos with my mobile phone (Samsung Vibrant - Galaxy S Series). It was very crazy outside and I thank my car for having all-wheel drive to help me get through all the slush and floods with no problems. LOL. The fllods took place on Eastern Parkway, Fulton Street and on Pennsylvania ave. Take a look...

Fall is back and in full effect! The leaves are starting to fall, but not fast enough. I know that I will be out with my Canon once the trees start shedding heavier. The photo above is from last year around this same time. I used a Zoom lens to focus on a man walking down the street and it just looks so lonely out there. I had to capture this! I had been outside for almost 3 hours just taking flick after flick and this, by far, is my favorite.

Now, this photo was edited when it was shot last year. But, now that I am using Adobe Lightroom 3, I was able to take that same photo and really give it the detail I wanted it to have. Man, I cannot wait until I get back out there this fall...

Yes, I'm talking to you...

My lady was playing around taking pics of me and when I posed for this one, I knew what I was doing when I pointed towards the lens. I was pointing to all of you out there that either don't take photos or to those that run from the camera. I am talking to all of you who do not capture special moments in time.

I had a conversation with a good friend of mine the other day that just purchased his first camera. At first, I thought he purchased the camera to really get into doing photography. But, he explained to me that while being on Facebook, he finds himself looking at others displaying pics of their good times with friends and family and capturing stories that no amount of words can explain. He realized that he hardly had any photos of himself and said that he didn't want to die without anyone having any recollection of who he was or what he's done in his life. He also didn't want a Junior High School photo on his program for his funeral.

So, my friend now has a really good camera that he seriously plans on using to capture all those special moments in life with his friends and family as well as all his newlywed adventures with his cool wife. So again, I am talking to everyone that claims they don't need pictures of themselves or feel they don't come out great in photos. Candid photos will always show a side of you that you don't often see or probably will never see. Reason: you can't look directly at yourself when you're laughing, crying, partying, jumping around, dancing or just plain and simple - enjoying life! You WILL miss those moments and to me, its not worth it. When I'm old and gray, I would like to look back on my life and see the friends I've gained and lost, the love and hate I've felt and hopefully strengthen my memory in the process.

My question to you is: Why wouldn't you want to do the same?

Vacation 2010

August 2010 - I went on a vacation to Miami, and from there, a cruise onboard the Carnival Destiny which made stops in Grand turk, Half Moon Cay and Nassau. I must say I had a hell of a time. I was like a kid in a candy store. Everything I looked at, I was so amazed due to the fact that this was my first time off of US soil.

During my travels, i was strapped with 3 cameras: a Nikon CoolPix S4000 to capture regular pics, a Kodak Play Sport (underwater/waterproof) to capture video in 1080p HD as well as some in-the-moment pics, and my Canon XSi to get some vivid and memorable shots. All 3 cameras were used during the entire trip.

What I would do differently is take more advantage of the photo opportunities. There were so many great things going on and beautiful sights around me that I got caught up in the viewing instead of the capturing. But, I did snap a plethora of photos that I am extremely pleased with. Below are just a select few of the hundreds of photos I actually took. Enjoy!

Soooo... I was the photographer for the marriage of Nicole and Ricardo Fareau. Let me start by saying the ceremony was very nice and the day after, they held their reception at Nicole's sisters' house. The only down side about both days was the hot ass weather! It was about 94 degrees both days! And running around with a big camera and equipment is not easy in all that heat.

The newlyweds are very happy with the photos that were taken. In total, over 700 shots were taken. But 240 were selected during the review session. The cake in the photos was created by Kellz Cakez (www.kellzcakez.com). Congratulations to you Nicole and Ricky. Hopefully, these photos will give you a lifetime of memories. Enjoy!

Joan Wu - Meat Packing District 7/11/10

Woke up at 6:30 on a Sunday morning for a 8:30am shoot with Joan Wu. I had been so busy with doing nothing that I never got around to doing Joan's shoot. the photos came out amazing. The picture posted is just one of the many pics that I had taken. Once I get my hands on Adobe Lightroom for a Mac, I will be editing the hell out of Joan's photos! She was a bit shy at first. Joan eventually warmed up and started coming up with suggestions of her own for photos. It was a very fun shoot that started on 14th st & 9th Ave and ended in High Line Park (which, by the way, is an amazing park).


She was very pleased at how the photos came out and couldn't believe she was actually viewing pictures of herself. Whatcha think?

Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival - 7/10/10

The Hip Hop festival was live! Some of the performing artists include: Dilated Peoples, Fashawn, Black Moon, Smif-N-Wessun, Curren$y, Skyzoo, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, J Period, and a few others. This year, the festival was held in DUMBO, Brooklyn. I was out there on business, but I'd be a bit retarded not to bring my Canon out there and grab a few flicks. Of course, i captured the Bk Bridge, which is right where the festivities were being held. I met a few people and made a lot of contacts. All in all, I had a great time and this pic of the bridge captures the essence of he festival - Peaceful, well put together, and one of a kind.

I own a Mac... Finally!

It's about time!!! On May 29th, 2010, I became the proud owner of a MacBook Pro with the i5 processor! I'd been telling myself for years that I'd buy a MB, but I never got around to it. When the MB's came out in Black, I was extremely close to getting one, but things fell through and... you know... I can honestly say, the wait was well worth it. The MB comes with a hefty price tag, but you get what you pay for. This machine was well worth it! I have yet to find something I dislike about it.

With the speed, quality, ease of use, efficiency, and awesome battery life, I am sure that I'll eventually fall in love with it. I've loaded it with Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac, Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended and will be getting Adobe Lightroom in the near future. It's safe to say that I promote this product for anyone looking for something that's easy to use and is not prone to the many viruses that Windows products carry. This will definitely make my journey towards professional photography a lot less strenuous. Don't worry, the editing of photos will be much better. Stay tuned...

Highly DIsappointed

On April 14th, 2010, I decided to get on the subway and go to Union Square to get a few shots of the people that skateboard out there. Little did I know that the Police had everything on smash and the City of New York posted signs up that said "No Skateboarding"!!! How pissed was I??? I guess it's been so long since I've hung out in that area that I had no idea what was going on there now. So here I am, stuck on 14th St watching people eat outside on their lunch breaks and the society which is overindulged in their electronics (i.e. cell phones, laptops, mp3 players, etc...).


What I found amazingly funny is that even though there were tons of people out there taking photos (journalists, tourists, professionals, amateurs), I'm the one that get's looked at like I shouldn't have a big ass camera around my neck? Maybe because I wasn't dressed like I was on my way to a rock concert or probably because I didn't have on a "I Love New York" T-Shirt. I don't know what it is about being myself that people don't understand, but it's time to stop judging a book by it's cover!

Fresh kicks, mean denim and a fly ass jacket does not mean that I'm scared to get in the grass or dirt and take a picture. A hobby or profession doesn't manifest from what kind of clothing a person has on. But it should derive from the mindset of the individual; the place in his/her mind that yearns for something to do that makes them happy. It comes from years of searching and paying attention to what intrigues you and finally getting off of your ass to say "I'm gonna do that".

I was highly disappointed that I didn't get to take any pictures of skateboarders. However, I did find out that there is talent all over the city and tried to use that as my muse for the afternoon. I had fun... I guess...

Business Cards / Website

My business cards were designed by me! I went IN on those things! I am thinking about redesigning them and creating a whole new card and getting them printed on plastic instead of regular 14pt card stock. But the ones I have now will definitely hold me over until I come up with another design that I like as well that would look sick on a clear or frosted business card!

I am in the process of taking down my existing site (www.troysumpter.com) and replacing it with much more relevant content reflecting the person I am today and the business I've conducted throughout the years. I'll give myself to the end of the month to atleast have a splash page. if not that, then I may have to reach out to some folk and get er done!

Anthony Alfonso Green (Tre)

Lil Tre fell in love with grass and it was hard to get him to turn away from it. LOL. He was a good sport and took some great pictures thanks to his mom and his cousin acting a fool! This was the day I also fell in love with my 28-135mm lens. The FOD (Field Of Depth) on that thing is sick!

Tre's dedication was on 4/12/10 and thanks to his mom, Babe and Aunt Jo, I was able to connect with some other parents that wanted photos of their children. Can't wait to see my next subject...

Diva Boot Camp

Soooo...

"Babe" said she was finally ready to be shot by me. With much hesitation and much reservation, she put on her game face, got dressed and quoted "I'm ready for my close-up". And that's what babe got! It took just about 2 hours, but the shoot was very fun, very interactive, and it has helped me travel on my path to take your next favorite picture.


Babe titled the shoot "Diva Boot Camp". She took direction very well and was an excellent team player. She dedicates the shoot to her dad who fought for his country in the Vietnam war. Her dad is very much alive!

Overall, it was fun. i wish I had a damn site to post the pics on. But, that will be taken care of shortly... *wink*