The month of October is a good time for updating your family portraits! Besides creating good gifts for the family, the Christmas Cards will be amazing! This year I have a new set of templates for Christmas Cards that will show off all of the personalities in your family! Consider taking a group image and then small groups and individual portraits. It is time to give your loved ones some really great images of the family! These portraits will be there in the years to come, reminding you of how beautiful your family is!
Call me soon at 323/683-3770 to schedule your family's portrait session.
Just back last night from my uncle Bob's 80th birthday in Sacramento - a real treat, seeing my parent's friends and cousins that I could still recognize 40 years later! Uncle Bob was in good form, and a very nice fellow, as always (he's my mom's youngest brother).
A short photo session for Ireland today, who is just between getting over a fever and welcoming two teeth, so she didn't have a lot of tolerance for bright lights and pretty dresses today. With mom & dad's help, however, we did manage to have a few moments when she relaxed a bit. Enjoy this little video of the images we captured today.
February is here already! Every year, just as soon as we get past the holiday season, Photographers of America hold their national convention - this year in Nashville Tennessee. I've been able to go for the past several years and have enjoyed the benefits of seeing the art of the most talented photographers in America and Australia along with how they work and run their businesses! As my eyes are trained to see what can be done, my work has improved! I have entered a print into the Western States Print Competition this year (held during the California Pro Photo Expo - California's convention), and have gotten my first Merit Print! Achieving this at the WSPC, means that the National group will verify the merit and this gives me my first National Merit. This is no small thing, as the prints in the competition are amazing, and have come from all around this side of the coast!
A few details about this image (the one at the top is my merit image)... Last year we went to the Renaissance Faire near San Dimas. I took my Canon 5D with me, as people are traditionally well-dressed and interesting to watch! This handsome fellow just seemed surreal with the stark contrasts of his white beard and the dark environment he was in. Just shows that you have to be ready - you never know when something amazing will come into your line of sight! You can capture it now or it will be just a fading memory. Most of us have some sort of a camera with us at all times. I've even gotten some amazing images from my iphone. The one below is of my daughter on a trip to Lake Tahoe.
Something that we all need to be aware of... If you have a hard drive crash will you lose the only photographic record of your last few years? Print your pictures! Even a shoe box full of pictures is always fun to go through, Computers don't make great storage devices for your life's memories!
Life at this time of year scurries along like a squirrel running for his life! I mention squirrels because I've seen a couple of them lately that were going so fast, I couldn't see their legs move! With their tiny legs and so much ground to cover, how do they do it? Can I learn to do that too? Maybe it is the motivation that moves them, or maybe they're just in a hurry, but if I can learn to fly like them, it could create a veritable time machine . . . (I'll be looking into that)!
I thought I'd show you a video that I created this week from a photo shoot last month. A very cute little boy who is only a couple of months old. He was a little tired, which makes for very peaceful portraits when a baby can relax into a little sleep! Mom & Dad and Grandpa also joined in the fun.
It is the second week of December, & having been busy with photo shoots, I haven't begun to decorate the house yet! This weekend we'll get some lights, start a fire in the fireplace (can't believe how cold it can be in Los Angeles - I know, you folks in Alaska get real weather, but this feels cold for us fair-weather friends!) Time to crank up the holiday spirit!
Holidays are all about families, love and respect. May this be a great Holiday Season for All! I'm looking into starting a few new family traditions as this will only be the second Christmas where we stay home! We'll miss the larger Sacramento family just for the season, but look forward to catching up soon! Joy to All for the Holidays and a Prosperous New Year!
I must confess that summer has been all consuming! What would be so bad about year around school? Well I suppose it is nice to have free time and no responsibilities to speak of when you're a kid. Now as September has come, Lily has gone back to school weeks ago. We're very proud of her! She's moving on towards getting her Child Development certificate and doing better and better. This semester she'll be working in a pre-school one day a week - getting some real experience.
Gage started his first week at Citrus College last Monday and likes it so far, though the culture shock of losing endless days of freedom are a little wearing for him. Getting into homework mode is also a little tuff, but he's adapting as he needs to. Lauren starts next Tuesday, then the photography business will be back in full swing as the weather cools a bit!
Cooper! This last week I captured some images of a very handsome little boy in the studio. He was anxious to get a haircut, but I thought it better to get some portraits of him first, as he has the most amazing soft curls I've ever seen. I think you'll agree.
We're still working at getting the internet solid and trying to get email steadily and securely coming in. It hasn't happened yet. I just returned from a weekend visiting my lovely Lily in Santa Rosa. She was a bit under the weather, but looking gorgeous with her new darker hair and pale skin (should we be considering anemia?). We had a photo session with Juliette and her family that you might enjoy!
On the studio front, this week I'll begin moving the studio to a larger room. The move will also involve a lot of sorting and tossing, which will take a little time, but will be worth it in less stuff to deal with. It will all be good.
At 2 a.m. on December 27th, my son quietly gives up on his game and goes to bed. The internet was down. Over the next several weeks, through phone calls to our DSL provider and many visits from different levels of tech support, the mystery goes on. Finally, it was decided to go up to the next level of service, FIOS. That created a whole new group of delays and procedures. The exact number of computers that we use isn't clearly defined, but we all use at least one, and some of us use 3 or 4 computers to accomplish different tasks. Life was different around here. Besides the small signs of depression among the 5 members of the family, being a photographer in 2009 was very difficult. Photographs need to be sent to the lab (which is no longer in the same city). The labs I use are conveniently located in Minnesota, Santa Cruz where I have developed a relationship with labs that always deliver the quality I need. That was accomplished through late night visits to Starbucks (at times, in the parking lot). If you were trying to email me, it was bounced back. The website was down, as we host our own email and web server. Sorry for the inconvenience!
During January I went to the Professional Photographers of America convention, Imaging USA. Anne Getty was the Keynote speaker - Amazing. The deals at the convention were amazing, but only available for the month of January (online). Not too easy to figure it all out, but the business has moved a bit forward with packaging and business software purchased. Ideas for future images were noted, and this will be a great year!
This month I had a session with a sweet baby girl named Gabriela. Beautiful baby girl only 5 months old, but she's ready to take her place in the world! Sorry to be so slow at getting technology going again! But I'm back!
I'm a professional photographer located in Eagle Rock, CA. As a portrait artist, I create portraits that are easily incorporated into home decor! People are beautiful which makes it fun to create portraits that show them as they are in a relaxed simple environment. I also enjoy photographing events -- capturing moments that will be remembered for a long time.
