Rain or Shine

If you're a Northern Californian, you know we've had some unusually wet weather for this time of the year...which was the case this last weekend. And as it would happen, I had a few very special family sessions such as the one below which was in celebration of grandma's 80th birthday. However, not to be outdone by weather, this family cheerfully showed up at 8:30am on Saturday morning with umbrellas in hand. Seriously, how cool is that?! I loved their spunk and utter defiance of the weather...which also made for a very fun and memorable session.
Side note - as I mentioned, this was in celebration of grandma's 80th birthday. Now, if you're like me, you may be wondering "where's grandma?" because that was the question I asked when everyone pulled up and got out. Grandma is the very beautiful, especially young looking lady in the middle holding the cute dark-haired little man on her lap. Isn't she beautiful? For that matter, isn't the whole family?! And a bunch of youngies - talk about good genes (I want some of those!). :)

B Boy Cuties...one more

Back in the day when I first fell head over heels in love with photography and was shooting film, I also fell in love with the darkroom. In highschool, Mr. Cooper - my first photography teacher who has forever left a mark in my memory as the wonderful, grumpy, secretly heart-of-gold photography teacher, would open the darkroom after hours and on weekends for a few of us photo geeks. We'd lose ourselves in the quiet serenity of the darkroom, exposing our negatives and then watching our images magically emerge in the tubs of chemcials lined up production-style down the middle of the lab. I used to thirst for those hours - there was nothing quite as rewarding as eagerly walking those images out into the light and seeing the final result of all your hard work (or quite as frustrating when, after all that work, you'd discover a speck of dust or lint you'd missed on your negative which was now showing up as a lovely spot on your photo - I don't miss that!).
For this reason, I once swore I'd never make the switch to digital. And when I did, it was a painful, slow transition. Now, if asked, I'd tell you just as fiercely that I'll never go back to film (unless, of course, it's my only option :)). I'm completely, 100% in love with digital photography. To me, taking the pictures is just the first step. Processing is the second and it's as much a part of the artistic process as taking the photos themselves. I know some photographers don't care for the post-processing aspect of digital photography, but I love it. I look forward to it as much as I do the session. There are some standard processes I run on all images but after that, it's all about the individual session - the light, the colors, the subjects, the style...deciding what processes to apply at this stage is like artistic candy to me.
In any case, here's one more of these cute boys and a little fun processing I added. Hope everyone is having a wonderful Memorial Day!

B Boys Quick Sneak Peek

Just had to share this one of these cute twins. I photographed them with their older brother last week - we captured a lot of fun shots but this one just makes me smile. Look at those chub chub legs. I love those sweet little rolls! :) More to come shortly!

Goober, Gubber!

This is making my laugh and seriously, I'm so busy editing I shouldn't even be blogging but it's cracking me up. So, NOW my friend Denise, another hot photog friend who also apparently moonlights in the Grammar Queen field :) informs me I spelled 'gubber' wrong in my last post. Ahhhh....did I mention how much I love these girls? They always have my back! :) Okay, so my understanding is 'gubber' is urban slang and 'goober' is propper English. Yes? That was my intention anyway. But maybe I should just clear the air and set the playing field - for this blog, just expect spelling issues and grammar missteps. Let's just say it's part of my 'gubber' charm. :)

Euber or Uber, who's the gubber (me)

Just popping in with a quick post. My friend Candy, my cool roomie from NY and a hot photographer who moonlights as a Grammar Queen :), informed me yesterday that alas, I didn't actually invent the word 'euber' but rather just spelled it wrong (who me? spelled something wrong? Never, just couldn't happen.). There is actually a German word 'Uber' which means pretty much the same thing as the word I 'invented' :(. Sigh. Uber cool factor gone. Status as gubber reinstated. I officially recall my earlier posts regarding my invention of the word 'euber' (although, if anyone is asking, I think my spelling is wayyyy cooler). :)

Monarchs Media Day: CC - an Euber Creative Force

I know I've said it before, and I'm sure to say it again, but one of the best aspects of my job is all the awesome people I get to work with - whether it be little people (bebies and children), families, seniors or as on this commerical shoot, Creative Director Casey C. from the Monarchs/Kings team. I've told him that I'm always thrilled when I get a call from them because it's a guaranteed blast working with these guys. Everyone I've worked with on their team is incredibly easy going and fun (which is always a perk!) but more than that, they are a seriously creative and talented group and a huge inspiration to work with.
Here's a picture of Casey from our Monarchs Media Day shoot, a test shot taken during setup - I love this one so much I think I'm going to make these a pre-requisite for each shoot! Dhon your next....Heather you're on my list too.... :)

ps - if you're new to the blog, "euber" means extremely cool, talented, amazing...too cool for words. :)

Athletes that Rock

There really is no other way to describe these athletes except to say - they seriously rock! I joined them on Media Day last week to capture some images for this season. Besides being incredible athletes and beautiful, strong women, they are also a very fun group to hang out it. For more, check out the main homepage. Go Monarchs!!! :)

What's Up

So, this has been a blazing week! Literally! We're having our first heat wave spell and wouldn't you know - wouldn't you know - our AC decided to take a one-way trip to never-never land! Since Friday we've been battling 90+ degree weather upstairs in our house as well as some very sick bebies. It's almost comical - I think our house has a mind of it's own. Since we've moved in, just over 2 years now, every summer we've been hit by an AC issue and sickness at the very same time. But we counted our lucky stars yesterday that it's only May so if there's an upside to this story it's that we're only battling 90+ degree weather in our house and not sitting in the middle of July when temperatures get up to 110 outside. Also, I have to mention Astro Heating and Air who came to our rescue yesterday and their outstanding, unbelievably sweet Super Hero Matt who spent at least a few hours with us on a Saturday fixing our AC so our sadly sick babies could at least sleep in a cool room last night. And they did. Thank you Matt.
Also have to mention a very cool photo session last Monday with the Sacramento Monarchs during their Media Day! What an awesome group of athletes - fun, beautiful, strong - they were a blast to work with - will be releasing some of the photos from our session later this week. Which is also my sign off because I'm back to editing those very photos! In my very air conditioned house! WOHO!

William and Emma

These two were too much fun and so easy! I had to ask mom if their behavior was normal because, in all honesty, I had mild mannered baby envy! I love my kids to death but mild mannered they are not. In any case, mom said they are indeed just mild sweet babies. And we both agreed if you're going to have twins, that's the way to go! :) To see more of these two cuties, check out the homepage.

This was a new idea I had that we beta tested (the jean jacket) :) I think it has possibilities.

Race for the Cure

Saturday morning my mom and I met up with my cousin Jennifer, her boyfriend and his daughter to participate in Race for the Cure. I confess, my cousin has asked me to join them for years and for one reason or another, I just never have. So, this year I finally commited to joining them - and was so glad I did.
I had no idea what to expect but what I discovered was an overwhelming feeling of community and caring in the massive crowd of people who turned out at 7:45am on Saturday morning for a cause that I'm not sure I truly understood the magnitude of until that morning. We hear about it a lot but that didn't transfer for me until I was walking behind person after person who was either a survivor or who had a badge pinned to the back of their shirt in honor of who they were walking for (they have badges - for lack of a better word -that say "In Memory of" or "In Celebration of" and people then write down the name or names below it and pin it to the back of their shirt). It was a bit of an emotional journey seeing all those names...and realizing how many lives this disease has - and continues to - claim. On a more positive note, it was inspiring to see how many people are fighting back - both survivors and those who turned out in support. I couldn't believe how many people were there - it was overwhelming...and extremely beautiful.
And I have to say, I was proud of my cousin for the years she's done this and for pushing me to get involved. That's truly passing on goodness.

the am crew

how do you like them puffy eyes? :) (me, not my mum)

Green Goodness

Just a few pictures from our recent excursion a few weekends ago. I would have more to share but, wouldn't you know, I got sick! I was down for 1 1/2 days of our getaway. :( So, there are only a few...the first one, to be honest, I'm not sure why I'm so drawn to it, but I just loved this tree and the serenity of the river. And below, this is COOL! We ate at this little mom and pop hamburger joint that uses these cups. Not sure you'll be able to see but the cup says "made from corn, environmentally sustainable and 100% compostable." Groovy, eh? :)

Carrot Thank Yous

I've been dying to have my own organic garden for eons now. Well, this year - we did it. We are now the offical, proud cultivators of two large 4x8 raised garden beds. And this is the first of the crop - a spinach seedling that has made it throught to show off it's beautiful green leaves. Other items in our crop include tomato, carrots, corn, leeks, cucumber...lotsa' good stuff! I have a feeling we're in for an over-abundance so at the end of a session, you may just find me handing out carrots as thank yous! :)

Little Miracles

I'm so excited to share pictures of these two cuties. Born at 27 weeks, the cute little girl looking up (that's TJ) weighed 1.2 pounds and Noah, 2.3 pounds. You'd never know today that they were once so tiny - they are active, talkative and healthy two year olds with a great curiousity for the outdoors. They are also extremely sweet, mellow children who were just plain fun to be around (mom and dad too :)). Jill, Kevin, Noah, TJ - I had a wonderful time hanging out with you guys and getting to know your family! Thanks for coming and spending the morning with me. :)

Isn't It Lovely

This is why, when it comes to kids, you should never blindly answer a question. Yesterday we took all three kids to get hair cuts. Gabby was the last to go and the twins were getting a bit rowdy. I was trying to keep an eye on Hannah who had developed a fascination with the magazine rack, or more specifically, with watching the magazines tumble off the rack by the magic of her hand and Isaiah, who had developed a morbid fascination with the bathroom and looked, at any minute, ready to sprint past the threshold into - I'm sure - germ land (this was, afterall, a childrens haircut place and even though it's an awesome place, somewhat clean I'm sure, I do have a bit of germphobia which I won't be totally devastated if I pass on to my kids). In any case, it's fair to say I was distracted when the stylist told me Gabby wanted her hair up and oh yeah, could she put some spray-on color in it? I answered before thinking and this is what came home with us. In all honesty, I think it's pretty cool (giggle) but I'm not sure if I should be telling her that. In any case, I had to grab a photo.

And THIS is why you should never actually ask a child to "smile!" because, undoubtedly, you will get the toddler bear grin. I know this and yet I still fall prey to asking for that one little wicked word "smile!"

And one last pink-haired bear grin for the camera.

Blog Hog!

I'm a blog hog today...hey, if you haven't seen this movie you HAVE to rent it: Dan in Real Life. This is probably going to be one of my favorites from 2008. So cute, so sweet. Rent it!

Tea Lady

Angels Tea by Linde Lane

A few years ago I met this amazing lady named Kristina. She is a dentist by trade, a genius by nature, and truly one of the most gifted, multi-faceted woman I've ever met in my life. I am blessed that our paths crossed, I now call her a good friend and she is truly the reason I am here today. She, in all of her spare time between an adorable boyfriend, two great kids, and running her 6+(?) staffed dentist office, decided to open a tea shop. Now, I may be off on all the exact reasons but one that sticks in my head and I think is just too freaking cool is - she was inspired to create great tasting tea for kids after seeing so many kids come in with cavities from all the soda they were drinking. So, she created this line for kids which, by the way, totally rocks! But she didn't stop there - she has now created a whole line of teas, tea accessories, etc. Everytime I see one of her new products, I'm blown away. How she finds the time and creative energy to do this is beyond me but I'm in constant awe.
I just finished photographing some of her new products - here are a few favs and here is her website where you can find great tasting tea for yourself, your kids and a host of other fun stuff!

Best Cookie Recipe in the West

That's right, I said it, the BEST! I'm no Martha Stewart but these cookies are to die for! If you like your cookies slightly crunchy on the outside and soft and gooey on the inside, then you'll be in hog heaven with these! We stumbled upon this one night when we ran out of one key ingredient (eggs) and were way too lazy to go to the store on a Friday night, which, granted is only like 5 minutes away. But Friday nights are meant for lazy and lazy doesn't go to the store on a whim (especially when lazy is in the middle of a good movie!). :) So, I did a search on the internet for egg subs and found that 2 tablespoons of cornstarch equals one egg. Okay, got that? Here we go...

Best Cookie Recipe in the West:
Go to your local grocery store (preferably before Friday night)
Buy a bag of Nestle Semi-Sweet Morsels
Turn over and look for Original Recipe
Make according to instructions EXCEPT:
-use 2 tablespoons of cornstarch in lieu of eggs (the recipe calls for 2 eggs, so that'd be 4 tablespoons of cornstarch)
-add vegetable oil and water

The dough will be a bit dry and chunky, so once you've mixed all ingredients except chocolate chips, add 1-2 (or more) tablespoons of vegetable oil and 1-2 tablespoons of water. This part is where your artistic choices and taste palette come into play...you want the dough moist enough to pack into cookie balls but not too moist with the vegetable oil that is TASTES like vegetable oil when you're done. Your goal is to just moisten the dough enough that you can then spoon out a chunk of cookie, use both hands to shape into a ball and plop it on a cookie sheet. And people, do NOT skimp on the chocolate chips! Do your taste palette a favor and heap those puppies in! You don't need a measuring cup for this - just good eye sight and a tendency for generousity.

Cooking times will vary but we cook around 12 minutes at 375. We like 'em a bit gooey though. Enjoy!

ummmmmmmmm.....

What do your flip flops say about you?

My friend Denise put this on her blog and it's so fun, I had to share. I think it's totally her too! So, what do you think those of you who know me - is my flip flop test accurate? Okay, now go take yours! It's fun, it's Friday, why not?! :)

What Your Flip Flops Say About You

You live to have fun, and your sense of humor is downright goofy. You are a big kid on the inside, and you have a very open heart. You try to make every day feel like a vacation, even if you have other responsibilities. Each day, you make a little bit of time to play and let loose. Your ideal warm weather place: Disney World

The Flip Flop Test