Au Revoir!

Friday I'm off in the wee morning hours and tomorrow looks to be a very busy day so I'm signing off now. I'm off for the weekend to visit my friend Cindy who I was supposed to hook up with in June along with a few other friends...and then my kiddos got really sick and I had to cancel. SO, we are finally getting together! I'm so hyped! I'm sure I'll come back loaded with tons of fun pics so until then - av revoir and have a wonderful rest of the week!!

Speaking of the personal touch...

I've talked a lot about a group of women who have had a substantial impact upon my life. We found each other through our common passion of photography but what began as simple shop talk grew into deep-rooted, bonded life friendships. I never speak lightly when talking about what a talented group of women I know them to be - nor when talking about the power of our friendship and support to each other.

One such lady is my friend Teresa Lee. We've known each other through many ups and downs both professionally and personally and although our hectic lives often find us out of touch for stretches of time, we are the type of friends who once we connect again, it's like there were never days in between. How she manages to keep everything together with three children and a thriving business I'll never know but somewhere in the midst of all of that, she even remembers my birthday. And not only that, but sends me the most exquisite, sumptuous gifts such as this decadently yummy candle above - which came wrapped like a work of art. I remember taking it out of the box thinking - I should photograph this so I know how to do it next time! :)

In any case, she has the personal touch down which is only one of the many reasons she is this months featured artist under Friends and Inspiration.

What's Rocking Your World Right Now...

The Parachute Band! I'm sitting here right now with headphones plugged in listening to my absolute favorite song Mercy as I edit. Check them out here. The coolest part - they are currently on tour and I saw them last week! Let me tell you, they brought down the house! Talk about an amazing live performance!

Rainbow Light

It kills me how blogger totally flattens color...in any case, I will share some highlights of this session on my homepage when I'm finished editing but wanted to post this one - I was working for a little sun flare here from behind mom (Dana) and Coley (his name is Cole but she nicknamed him "Coley" which I thought was adorable)...anyway, the light was this beautiful rich orange/red color which, when I processed it and saturated everything, picked up a lot of the surrounding colors as well...so, taking it a step further, I took total liberty and saturated the heck out of the beam of light which turned mom's hair into this rainbow cascade (she has this insanely long beautiful hair anyway as you can see).
I'm not sure what it is about an image sometimes - maybe that it fits all the rules so nicely or it hits on a purely emotional level or sometimes even because it's the complete opposite of everything you expect to see in an image...whatever it is, this picture hits me...or maybe it's the personal experience and remembering the sound of Coley's adorable laughter as we took this image.

The Personal Touch

I love notecards. I don't know about you - maybe it's because we live in a world where so much communication is handled remotely - email, texting, voicemail - but when I get a cute notecard or greeting card in the mail with a handwritten note it makes my day. I have been known to display fun cards on our mantle for weeks, tuck them in keepsake boxes or even cut off the front page and frame it. And those are just store bought, ordinary cards!
So, how cool is it to send out your own personalized note card? Well, I'm officially addicted. I usually have several on hand and always include them with orders as well as notes to friends and family and anyone else that I can say hi to and show off (usually) my cute kids. :) Hey, I said I love bragging about the people I love so there you go. And speaking of....recognize this cutie? Just had these made up with the saying (which you can't read in this image) "Put a little sunshine in your life."

I

Sacramento Monarchs Shoot - University of Phoenix

As mentioned in an earlier post, last week we photographed the Sacramento Monarchs at The University of Phoenix in Sacto. They'd had a full day of practice and another photo shoot so I wasn't sure what to expect when they showed up but it shouldn't be surprising that they were super laid back, ready to pose, laugh, smile - whatever was needed. And looked to have a lot of fun together in the process. From all appearances, this seems like a team built on good humor, friendship and, of course, serious dedication and talent. It has been a blast to watch them in action and be a part of this season.
At this particular shoot we were after a few key shots - as this was classroom-themed, we needed one of all looking at the camera, one of them while coach taught the classroom, and one of them laughing and goofing off supposedly behind the 'teacher's back.' This last shot proved to be a little too much fun at the expense of everyone in the room at some point being pummeled by paper balls and squishy hand basketballs. I think the laughter in the room reached throughout the building and provided a good show for the fans who showed up. I know I had a blast and I was stuck behind the camera! :) In any case, here are a few from last week's shoot...

Mayhem breaks loose.

This one just makes me laugh - being the fun group they are, I asked the creative team to jump in for a last shot and this was our very last one of the day after a sequence of them being pummeled by the players. From left to right - the man in the middle throwing the basketball - Dhon S., on the floor Casey C., and standing above Heather V.

Peace Out

Yah! Don't you love the weekends? I know I do. Ever since I was a kid, Friday signaled something special - when I was little, we skipped the formal dinner routine and would eat in front of the TV and watch movies. And our prime time treat was frozen yogurt with syrup drizzled on top. Maybe because of those times, I've alway associated weekends with at least one night of watching movies and having a special dinner (or non-bake, easy dinner, aka: takeout). Usually, it's Fridays for us but tonight was a work night for moi (edit, edit, edit) so the weekend party will start tomorrow instead.

In any case, it's 11:30pm, my kids will be up in less than 7 hours energeticlly calling me from their room and requesting breakfast be served upon the spot :) so it's time for me to high-tail it to bed!

Peace out all my beautiful people! Have a great weekend!

Meeting with the President

I love bragging about the people I love :) but I think you'll agree that today I have TOTAL, absolute bragging rights. My nephew (pictured here in previous post) is meeting the President today...as in, the President of the United States.
As mentioned in a previous post this month, he is one of the firefighters who has been working insanely long, dedicated hours fighting all these fires in California. Last week his crew of six were picked to meet the President on a visit. I'm so proud!!! I mean, I don't care what your political affiliations are, that's just cool. :) And I so wish I could be there...hum! (that's me stomping my foot). Have fun today Nick!

Like a Kid at...

Christmas...yes, it seems to be my theme this month. Maybe because this heat has me wishing for some of that cool December weather....
In any case, if you're a Sacramento Monarchs fan (and why wouldn't you be? :)) then you may have known about a little event taking place at The University of Phoenix yesterday, but if not, I'll be posting more later this week. Needless to say, we had the best time photographing the players who showed up after a long day of practice and straight from another photo shoot with smiles and good humor.
I also had the pleasure of working with a couple of my favorite people - Heather V., Casey C., and Dhon S., from the Kings/Monarchs team. As if that wasn't awesome enough, they showed up with these posters (photo below)! These are from a photo shoot awhile back and I have to say, I have been, like a kid at Christmas, anxiously awaiting their release (just ask Heather who I hounded more than a few times :)).
For posterity's sake, a picture of my goofy happiness. I realize I'm probably supposed to act more blase' about these things, but that'd make me a total poser and I'd rather be a goofball than a poser, know what I mean? :)

photo courtesy my SIL (thank you Robin!)

They'll probably kill me for this...a behind-the-scenes shot I couldn't help taking.

and a few others that weren't used but were fun...

Package Peek

So, it may not be Christmas in July (click here for previous post) but we sure want it to feel like it is when you open your order! We do love pretty packages. Here are a few details shots from a couple of packages that were on their way out the door today.

A girl shouldn't post when she's tired...

I just re-read a post I made earlier today and good Lordie! Was I typing with one eye shut? I'm thinking maybe. OR, maybe it was because I was at Starbucks slurping on the straw of an Americano and listening to my fav new tunes on my iPod. Nah, that couldn't possibly be the reason.

How to Help

When I was growing up in Nevada City, we had a horrible fire that became known as the "49er fire" that ravaged huge chunks of the county, took countless homes, livestock, etc. At the time, we lived in the country and were one of the many homes threatened by the fire. I remember that time like it was yesterday. For weeks we lived in a state of limbo, teetering on what felt like the end of the world - anxiously watching the fire, watering our lawn and yard around the clock, hanging by the radio and spending the moments inbetween walking listlessly about the house, trying to find something - anything - to take our minds from events at hand.

When our road was evacuated, we went to the house of a friend, but the worry and not knowing brought us to a family agreement that we would return home and continue our vigil there even though - technically - we weren't supposed to be there. When I think back on it, I'm a little amazed we returned. I don't think we would have unless we felt safe in knowing we had an escape, should it be needed (I hope).

So, we stayed. I remember sitting on our lawn and seeing flames lick the landscape right across the field from our house. I have pictures and if I had a scanner, I would share but I don't. Seems like I should, huh? :)

Anyway, so here we are again - we're not in the path of the fire where we live, but I truly feel for all the people who are and this constant gray pall in the air has me reliving those days so many years ago - that state of limbo - of feeling like the world was about to end

Which brings me to my tomatoes and how amazing life is. I go out everyday to check my garden and half expect it to be gone - the plants wilted, the leaves falling. It seems impossible that anything could go on living and thriving in this air but there they are -beautiful, ripe tomatoes.

So, I know this - when this has passed and the smoke has cleared, California will thrive again. But it will take time and people helping. We just made our first donation to American Red Cross and hope you will too. You can help by donating here. And we will continue to help by donating 5% of every order from now through August to the American Red Cross.

*I believe, at last count, 100,000 residences had been lost and 239,000 acres.

California Today

If you live in California, you already know what kind of a world we're living in right now. But if not, this was taken from my front porch and is pretty much the view we've had for the last two weeks. I wake up every morning hoping to see bright sunlight slashing through my windows but it's just been this persistant gray, ashen light. It makes me so unbelievably sad how badly California is suffering right now. And I know if I'm feeling bad, it's nothing compared to what the people who's homes are threatened or have been lost are feeling. Or the firefighters working endless hours. My nephew Nick is one of those firefighters who was fortunate to be home on the 4th of July but only because he had worked 21 straight days (I believe) in a row - which just by chance happened to fall before the holiday - and legally, could NOT work anymore. That's how endless and tiring their jobs are right now. So, this is a HUGE BIG THANK YOU to all the firefighters who are working so hard to protect our land and homes. We appreciate you more than you know!

Christmas In July

Not really, but I can't help it, I get so excited about product. Yes, product. I have a thing for it. I love getting print orders, frame orders, jewelry orders, handbag orders - I love getting orders - as in, a UPS/Fedex man at my door handing me a box (or two, or three, or four) of product - period. More often than not, I'm at the door with it wide open by the time they even get out of their truck. I'm sure they have a good laugh over me after they leave but no matter where I am in the house, I can hear their trucks when they rumble up and like a little kid who hears the ice cream song from a block away - I KNOW that sound!
In any case! I'm SO excited about these - this was part of a large custom framing order that came in this week. The frames are from a new line I started offering a few months ago and as you can see, they present nicely!

I know I promised great escape 4th of July photos but I wasn't able to get to them today. I think most photographers can relate when I say my photos are the last to be edited! It's all good though - I will share soon. :)

We're Simplifying and Expanding!

I hope everyone had an awesome 4th of July! I'll be posting some fun pics from our great escape later today. In the meantime, we've been bustin' a move since we got back. We just released our new and completely revised pricing structure which has been in the works for awhile and can now be found under Investment on our Main page. We seriously simplified our pricing giving you a lot more control over what goes into your collections. And we expanded - the biggest new advantage you'll find is that we now offer digital collections. So groovy.
Also, in leu of our New Years goal to keep it green, we have replaced sending out thick session packets - aka: paper waste - with online information. A ton of great info is now available under Session Notes and Important Info.
I'll be back later with some fun pics!

Happy 4th of July

Happy (early) 4th of July!! We are heading out and I won't be taking my computer (gasp! It'll be like walking around without an arm, I swear! :)). I wanted to share this and remind everyone to have a safe and wonderful holiday!

I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival.It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward for evermore.

— John Adams, letter to Abigail Adams, July 3, 1776 (referring to the day before, when the resolution for independence was passed)

4th of July Closure Notice

Family Fun

When I first started my photography business, large groups freaked me out - mostly because, as anyone who knows me knows, I abhore being the center of attention; alas, why public speaking is one of my absolute all-time worst fears. So, here's the thing - with large groups you HAVE to be the center - you ARE the director. This is a challenge for me anyway since, again, anyone who knows me knows I have a voice like a 5 year old. It's funny - I imagine even when I'm 80 I'll be answering the phone and it'll be a telemarketer and they'll still be asking me if my "parents are home" to take the call! LOL Seriously though. Just call it the 'weenie voice' - I do. Anyway! So, it's always a bit of a challenge since I'm voice-impaired.
In any case, as time has gone on and I've had the opportunity to work with many large groups I've grown to love these sessions. I've grown comfortable weaving myself into family groups, enjoying watching them interact together while still being able to direct our session. I've learned the importance of having a plan, of asking for what I need to bring my vision to life even when I know - know - that sometimes people will laugh and feel downright silly doing it. I've learned to be okay with that because more often than not, it's those photos that bring out the smiles, the laughter and some of the most memorable images. And most importantly, I've learned (and am working at this in my own life) that plans are just that - plans. They are a loose guideline but in no way an absolute. Ultimatley, it's the people, the moment and the energy that determine the flow of the session. Following that, really letting people be themselves, is what makes for the very best sessions. And this family (below) was definitely one of those! I had a blast with this family. Their humor, energy and easy sense of style made this session an absolute joy. To see more of this family, as always, check out the Main homepage. :)