Every year Deena Jeffs has an Easter Egg hunt at her home and this year was no exception. Well over 20 ‘big’ kids waited while the little kids got a head start on the hunt. Minutes later all the eggs were found. Lots of happy kids enjoyed their finds while the moms and dads feasted on fruit, bagels and other snacks. 
Six Pack to go is a Long Beach based band with rockabilly roots. They recently had a gig at the Blue Cafe in Long Beach and asked me to come along and take a few photos. They played some great original songs as well as some killer covers. To find out more about Six Pack To Go and hear a little bit of their music - be sure to check out their MySpace page.
The holiday rush was amazing thanks to all of my fantastic clients. The big annual photographers convention in Tampa Florida was a whirlwind and I’m still in the throes of the Valentine’s rush - again thanks to you all. Blogging unfortunately has taken a second seat to life in general… for the moment. One more big thing in my life at the moment … Michael and I are getting married tomorrow. Yup… tomorrow!
As a wedding photographer myself I thought it would be hard to pick a photographer to document my own engagement session and wedding and it was. Not because I was super picky but because I have so many great friends that are amazing photographers. It made it really hard to pick just one. So ultimately I ended up picking two. John Michael Cooper of alt-f photography did our engagement session in Vegas. He has an amazing talent and off beat vision that I love and his wife Dalisa is one of the sweetest people that I’ve ever met.
For the wedding Amy & JP Prutch from AJS Studio out of Vancouver Washington are flying down to photograph our wedding as well as take some pre-ceremony photos. Amy and JP are not only amazing photographers but they are like the best family you can imagine having only you didn’t get to meet them until you were grown up. To make it even more fun JP will be officiating our ceremony. I’ll be sure to post some photos of the wedding soon.
Since we’re doing a camping honeymoon in a couple of months, I’ll be back at work Monday afternoon and promise to catch up on my blog posts right after St. Valentine’s Day.
A few photos from our e-session with John Michael Cooper.
ESU in Santa Fe Springs California takes very special care of their employees with an annual trip to Vegas. This was our 2nd trip with them and in true ESU fashion, they really made this a trip to remember. After a fun filled bus ride (yes… I said fun filled and bus ride in the same sentence ), we ended up at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Hotel. After checking in, a few of us headed down to the wave pool to check things out. Kelly and Amanda decided to go in… fully clothed. It was so much fun, they couldn’t help but get soaking wet. The hotel’s security people were nice enough to bring the girls some towels to dry off. After breakfast on our own Saturday morning, we met the ESU crew up in one of the cabanas for a private party. Food, drink, friendship and fun… It was truly a great time. Sunday morning we got back on the bus for the long ride home. Thanks to ESU, the DeFazio and Fackiner families for a truly memorable and fun trip.
Sweet little Lucas turned one this month and had a birthday gathering for family and friends at Wardlow Park in Long Beach. The kids ate pizza, fruit kabobs and cupcakes and then played games with a kid sized parachute, t-ball, puppets and ran through the sprinklers. Of course Lucas got to smear a cupcake all over his face and open his presents too.
Bright and early Mother’s Day morning we met up at the Bethany Church in Long Beach for Courtney’s dedication. Her mom and dad had her all dressed up for the occasion and she was such a good girl during the service. She’s only 9 months old but was ’singing’ along with the hymns. Congrats to Courtney and some extra love to Mom Lauren on celebrating her very first Mother’s Day as a Mother.
The family got together on Saturday to celebrate Uncle Bob’s 75th birthday. Uncle Bob blew out the candles on his birthday cake and then in true ‘Bob’ fashion; cut the first piece with his pocket knife. As usual, there was a jam session in Bob Jr’s studio and then the girls snuggled up for a movie.
Jodi from my ‘Hold Your Horses’ portrait back in December called me for more photos only this time that Crazy Cowgirl was taking a tandem hang gliding lesson. On April Fool’s Day, I met her at the famous Sylmar Flight Park to cheer her on and take some photos. After a long ride up a mountain, Jodi looked excited but a little nervous while waiting for her tandem flight. The instructor gave her a lesson on how the glider works and as soon as the winds picked up enough, they suited up and then literally ran off of the side of a mountain; the wind carrying them higher and higher. Go Jodi!
Many professions require continuing education in order to maintain professional licenses. Unfortunately the photography profession isn’t one of them. Our associations sometimes give us credits for taking courses but it’s not a requirement of the job. It’s sad because I think as a group we have so much to gain by attending periodic workshops to help us to grow as artists and business people. Yeah - being a photographer can be fun (ok - it IS fun!) but it’s a lot of hard work too. Technology and the tools we use to capture your family’s images change constantly and I think it’s important for us to keep up with those changes. Another benefit of taking workshops is that you’d be amazed at how much a group of photographers can inspire each other. We benefit as artists but I believe that it is our clients that benefit the most.
I was lucky enough to spend all of last week in Scott’s Valley California attending Tina Wilson’s class on Children’s Photography put on by the California Photographic Workshops. It was an incredible experience and I learned so much from her, the other instructors and my colleagues. Here are some images from my week.
“THE” Tina Wilson and my fellow photographers…
Some of the awesome children that came to play with us…
There were two parties over two days for cousins Kate and Madison who both turned 4 this month. Parents, Grandparents, Uncles, Aunts, cousins and friends all came over to celebrate with the girls. Madison’s brother Thomas practiced his guitar moves while the kids all made crowns, played and had cake. Oh - and don’t forget the presents. Lots and lots of presents.
