The new face of Cover Girl cosmetic is none other than the very talented Zendaya. I enjoyed watching her first commercial last night during the Grammy's and look forward to seeing more very soon.
Zendaya
Presidents' Day Special Bonus_Zendaya Edition
Wow, I can't believe it's been a year since the Future American President book was first released with a foreword by Zendaya. To celebrate, we are releasing the eBook with two amazing bonuses. The first bonus is "5 secrets for taking great pictures of children" and the 2nd bonus, and this one is REALLY special, is a complete behind-the-scenes pdf of the making of Future American President. To make it ever better, it features behind the scenes images of the shoot with Zendaya as well.
The eBook with the bonuses is only available until midnight at the introductory price of $15! After midnight the price will increase to $20, so get your copy today!
Order online at FUTURE AMERICAN PRESIDENT
Oh, and by the way, tonight during the Grammy's Cover Girl will announce their new face who is none other than our amazing ZENDAYA!
Happy Presidents' Day!
Always dream big
Thank You For Watching
A big THANK YOU to everyone who watched the broadcast of the Boris and Nicole Show with Zendaya yesterday. Also, a big thank you to everyone who watched with me on Periscope. It was fun to share the LIVE moment with people from all over the world in that manner. If you'd like to see the Periscope broadcast you can see it on my Facebook page.
After the show, I did a presentation with 300 photographers from around the country. I thought the presentation would take an hour, but by the time the Q & A session ended it was closer to three hours. I thoroughly enjoyed every second and being able to share so much with so many.
The brand new podcast is now days away from launching and last night's presentation made me more confident that an audience is hungry for the information I have to share. A few months ago, when I decided to launch the podcast, I set a date of August 3rd, the first Monday in August to launch. I hope I can hit my goal, but stay tuned to find out.
Always dream big!
Zendaya's Top 5 Social Media Tips
Today you can watch Zendaya on the Boris & Nicole Show as she gives her top 5 social media tips of the day. Zendaya also talks about writing the foreword for Future American President, and her new Disney show, KC Undercover. This is the first major press for Future American President leading up to the big launch on September 12th. with a celebrity book party hosted by Angela Bassett.
The show invited me down as a VIP guest along with 20 kids who were surprised as Zendaya dropped in backstage to hug each of them and pose for photo's. It was great to see the kids expressions and hear their comments after getting to see her in person and watch the show.
Afterwards, I hung out backstage with Boris, Nicole and comedian Chris Spencer. We talked about the launch event, Japan, relationships and more. Before leaving Chris expressed how he wanted Future American President for his kids and I told him I'd keep him informed on the launch date for the special edition version of the book.
I watched the taping of two other celebrity segments of the show and was surprised to see Loretta Devine and Holly Robinson Peete. Both women are included in my first book, Sepia Dreams and I enjoyed seeing them again.
As I left Hollywood and tried to navigate my drive in bumper-to-bumper traffic, I thought about the show and wished I could have brought my Nikon 810 camera out with me. TV shows hate camera's, cell phones and other recording devices so they are banned from the set.
Have a great Tuesday and always dream big!
TALK SHOW - What Your Kids Will Learn
In a moment, FUTURE AMERICAN PRESIDENT will receive its first major press. We are moments away from doing our first talk show speaking about the book. Three celebrities associated with the book are the feature of today's show, and I, am a VIP guest in the audience.
There are several educational elements in Future American President, and I hope we get to speak about them today. As a visual person, I wanted to make sure the book was able to teach children about America, past presidents, and iconic people from each state.
To do this, instead of a traditional table of contents, we sequenced the book in the order that each state became part of the Union. Children can look at the timeline and learn the year each state became part of the United States.
There is also a FUTURE AMERICAN PRESIDENT map. By viewing the books map, children will be able to learn the birth state of the current president and each past president. They will also be able to quickly see which states have never given birth to a president. As a bonus, each president's name is accompanied by the years they served in office, making the book a great reference tool for kids.
Throughout the book, children will be able to learn as they turn the pages and read about their peers in every state, but as they look at each state they will also learn about great American's born in each state. For example, in Missouri, children can learn about Misty Copeland, Walker Evens and Al Hirschfeld, who were all born in Missouri.
The only thing that could make this book better is if you were able to include YOUR child in the book. Well, on September 15th you will have that chance. Starting at 9:00 a.m. on September 15th, and running for only 30 days, you will be able to order a special edition version of the book featuring your child on the front and back cover.
To have your email added to the list for updates regarding the special edition book and to receive a FREE video tutorial on photographic lighting click the link below.
Always dream big
Imagine How Your Child Would Feel...
Imagine how your child would feel to have their picture on the cover of a hardcover, book with 99 of their peers? Image if that book could educate and inspire them to dream of endless possibilities?
In less than 60 days you will have the opportunity to join Angela Bassett, Zendaya and others in having a special edition Future American President book.
Details coming all this week!
To receive an email to alert you when the special Edition book launch, and to receive our FREE pdf on how to take better children's pictures click the FREE PDF button below.
Always dream big!
Two Months From Today!
Two months from today, with the help of Angela Bassett and Zendaya, we will be launching something cool and exciting for every family in America! Stay tuned this week to learn how your family can be a part of this movement.
Always dream big!
A Military Family In The District of Columbia
What are two things Duke Ellington, Al Gore and Bill Nye have in common? All were born in the District of Columbia, and all are featured on page 56 in Future American President.
During the process of driving from state to state to make Future American President, I had a lot of time to think about ways to make this project stronger. One idea that came to mind was to include iconic people from each state, so children can learn about other great American's from their state. In the coming days we will release the digital version of Future American President, and each spread includes likes to all of the iconic figures throughout the book, along with links with information on each of our 44 presidents. Children will be able to learn about great people from their state and all the presidents by simply clicking on the link. Everyone from Zendaya and Misty Copeland to John Sheehan, Selena Gomez, Mary Lou Retton, Florence Sabin and many more.
The family featured in the District of Columbia spread, are like many military families in America with one exception; Both mother and father have served in the military and the father is still in active military service. I loved photographing this family and being able to highlight them in the book. I learned a lot from the mother, who taught me a lot about social media and hosted my first Twitter chat ever.
Stay tuned for the release of the digital version, coming in a few days!
Always Dream Big
On Cloud Nine
This has really been an incredible week thanks to these two woman. Very soon I'll be able to share what these two woman have in common.
Always Dream Big
MORE POWERFUL THAN A LEBRON SELFIE
Imagine a child growing up seeing their picture on the cover of an inspirational book. Imagine that book being filled with stories from your child's peers with an introduction by Disney's KC Undercover star, Zendaya.
Read MoreMy Big Secret
Many people missed my "big announcement" a week ago on Facebook and Twitter. I will share it a few times this week to ensure the secret gets out. If you missed it, here it is and feel free to share it.
I have held a big secret for two years now. Secrets are hard to hold on to at times, but this one made me smile deep inside my soul. I have told almost everyone I know that I spent two years photographing children from 100 families across America for a project I call Future American President. Well, I did travel to every state in America and it was wonderful to meet strangers in this manner. Yes, Zendaya, the Disney star from Shake It Up, is in the book, and she wrote the books forward. Yes, President Jimmy Carter wrote a special opening note exclusively for the book, and yes, as some of you have guessed, my secret is about a child. The secret I have kept all this time is..................
I have only photographed 99 families for Future American President, not 100 as the book says on the cover.
My "Big Secret" is I have saved the last space, the 100th spot, for you and YOUR child. I have saved space for you to have your child on the COVER of my new book, Future AmericanPresident.
I have made a Youtube video to explain how you can have a custom book that feature your child as the face of Future American President. Please share this link with every parent or grandparent you know - http://bit.ly/SquvzM
Future American President will make a powerful gift for your child this Christmas season for parents and grandparents. Not only will it help to empower your child but it will also help inform as the book is filled with educational elements to keep your child going back to it for years to come. For example, instead of having a traditional table of contents at the start of the book, I have sequenced the book in order of how each state came into the Union, showing children how America was formed.
They will also learn about past American Presidents and where each was born. In the Presidential map of America, they will be able to quickly learn where each American President was born along with the years each served in office. Future American President is meant to inspire and educate. There are other elements in the new book, which comes out fall of 2014, but you can only pre-order the book with your child on the cover until June 30th, 2014.
Order your personalized copy of Future American President here: http://igg.me/at/YourChildsCover/x/8035330
Always Dream Big!