pascale wowak photoblog

Maggie and Conor

The last time I had the pleasure of photographing this family, Conor was still in mama's belly.   He ended up with the same remarkable piercing blue eyes and crazy long lashes that his sister also has.  Just amazing.   Poor little Conor was not his usual effervescent happy-go-lucky self but we did manage a few big toothy grins here and there.  My favorites are actual the very first set of images we took because I crack up every time I see the somber expression on his face compared to his sister's exuberance.   I love how you can see mom and dad smiling in the background even though the focus is on the little ones.  I'd been wanting to do a shot like this at this particular spot for a while.  I'm glad it turned out exactly as I had envisioned it.  Spectacular weather, gorgeous light and a beautiful family = great pictures!   Sweet.

Maya & Family

Maya is so full of life she is practically bubbling over with positive energy!  Just a really happy, loving, sweet little girl.  There was no "warm up" period required as she was holding my hand within seconds, but I suspect that had much less to do with me and everything to do with her effervescent and social butterly personality.  The one thing she was not interested in was sitting still - and who could blame her when there is so much to explore out there in the world!  We did the shoot at Quail Hollow (where her parents had gotten married!) and I just worked with her 'on the go' exuberance... and in turn got some really fantastic images!  I am so happy with the results, I think they really capture Maya's personality perfectly.

It was a pleasure meeting you all, enjoy your images!

courtney courtney

I took some photos for this mommy run company called courtney courtney.  The mama makes little outfits out of recycled clothes which I just LOVE and totally support of course!  check out this way cute little number on Ellie.  Sadly my little boo was not herself during this shoot and although you can't really tell in the pictures because she is such a trooper and was so excited about her new dress, she actually spent the rest of the evening with a massive stomach bug.  :(

I should also mention that in her haste to put on said dress she actually put it on backwards and that it was not until halfway through teh shoot that I even realized it was on backwards! Ooops!  It really looks just as cute either way, but if you were wondering, because perhaps you notice those sort of things, yes, the first few shots have a backwards dress on!  But she's still just as cute as ever my little 3 year old "model"....

Go check out Courtney's site!

 

To Mac or not to Mac?

That is the question!  I've used PC's for as long as I can remember.  I'm at a point now where I feel very comfortable with my PC and can manage most things on my own.  It's taken a while  for me to get to this point but I'm pretty much (generally speaking!) at ease with my operating system. 

And then every year I learn more and more about Mac's and I think: "WOW.  That is really neat.  It sounds so user friendly and so intuitive"  And no viruses!  But then I also hear horror stories of Mac's totally crashing and losing EVERYTHING and freezing up constantly and OY! I don't need THAT headache...

Naturally the system I would need is heavy duty and ergo the cost is totally prohibitive right now and well outside our budget so the big question is: Do I start saving now so that I can switch everything over in 2009?  Or just stick with what I've got and hope my old 'puter doesn't bite the dust...  The thought of having to totally switch everything over - reload all my many, many, many programs and applications and UGH, it makes my head spin just thinking about it.  That said, I do plan on taking 3 weeks off in late December into January so that would be the perfect time to do it if I do decide to go ahead and we are able to save up enough in the next several months.  Besides, there's no way, with my current workload, that I could attempt a switch right now anyways...

So, I want to hear the truth!  If you are a Mac user and had issues, please let me know!  If you are a Mac user and NEVER had a single solitary problem, I want to know that too!  Any particular system configuration you recommend for a professional photographer who needs several external harddrives for back up?  And how long is the transition learning curve of going from PC to Mac, is it something I could potentially figure out in about 3 weeks?

My current system has three external 500GB hard drives, two of which are completely full already.  The third one is 1/4 full.  This covers all my work since I started my business 3 years but I started shooting RAW in addition to JPG about a year ago and that takes up much more space.  I need lots of memory and RAM and space and speed.  Am I crazy for even thinking about switching over? Thanks in advance for any advice/guidance!!! 

Hakone Gardens

About a month ago I took the kids to Hakone Gardens to go see the cherry blossoms in full boom.  I'd never been there before so I ambitiously brought along my camera in the hopes of being able to take some really nice pictures of these beautiful trees (my favorite) and the surrounding grounds... Well,  the kids were too busy running ahead of me on the marked paths and I had to take each shot literally on the fly so there was no sitting down and soaking it all in and slowly deciding up one's composition... nope, just click and chase, click and chase.  Ellie (who dressed herself I might add if you were wondering about the sparly shoes, blue socks, hippy dress and nice white sweater combo...) was for some reason really gloomy and not a single smile came accross her that morning.  I'm not sure why, although it was the day before I was scheduled to leave for San Diego for my workshop and I *suspect* she was giving me the cold shoulder...  Regardless, I did grab a few images that I didn't delete :)

I am not sure if the Cherry Blossoms are still in such a gorgeous blooming state but if you have the time, go take the family on a visit to Hakone Gardens in Saratoga.  The kids could have sat and watched the koi fish for an hour.  Ellie found a little spot and just sat there watching them twirl around by her feet as well as keeping a watchful eye on the little turtles all piled up on the rock suntanning.  It's a really lovely, quiet, peaceful place.  Too bad I wasn't able to get into my zen groove with my rugrats in tow...maybe next time I'll go alone!

Brady and Sean

This shoot was set to happen at the UCSC campus but as I pull up they have cops doing security checks and only letting students in due to a big protest that was going on.  My first (momentary) reaction was to have my heart sink because the mom really wanted to do the shoot there... Luckily, I am really good at sweet talking and got permission from the police officer for me and my clients to enter the grounds for the purpose of completing the shoot! Phew!

Brady was such a sweet older brother.  He was so great about giving hugs and kisses!  Sean was so funny because he had this very "deep in thought" look on his face most of the time like he was just taking in the whole situation and wondering what in the world was going on! Like why am I getting so much love and not getting tackled to the ground!? :)

I have a series of three images from the boys in the doorway of the barn where Brady is leaning in to give his baby brother a kiss, it is the sweetest triptych EVER and I will be adding it to my home page triptychs on my business website in the next couple days.  You can see the motion of the kiss as it slowly unfolds and there is so much tenderness in that series of three images that it just melts my heart.  I just posted the final kiss image here to save space but the set of three will be on my home page soon!

Enjoy!

Vanessa & Nico and family

There was ALOT of energy in this shoot!  I think mom spent about 50% of the time chasing after little Nico.  No wonder she's so skinny!  At one point mom and the kids were dancing up a storm and it was such a kick to see little Nico totally bust out some serious moves.  Vanessa has the most luscious, thick, curly hair - to die for.  And they both had lashes that went on forever.  Sigh - what I wouldn't do for lashes like that.  Anyways, tons of great photos. My antics seemed to work fairly well as I got alot of laughter! We got lucky and there was a slight cloud generated diffusion in the sky which made for gorgeous light.  Usually the beach is just too bright and harsh at this time of day, but the thin cloud layer made all the difference. Great stuff! In that last set of family photos, after convincing dad to take off his shades - but no luck with his jacket, the kids weren't paying any attention to me at all so I had to bust out my "how dare you not look at me" face which always generates quite a bit of giggles, especially from the parents! See for yourself... :)

 

vintage cards

I just purchased this set of STUNNING vintage cards with a birdie theme.  When I saw them I had to have them.  FOR ME.  I just swooned as soon as I saw them!  And although I will share them with clients, they were mostly purchased for my personal purposes! :) 

You can do anything with these cards, they could be birth announcements, birthday invitations, thank you cards, get well cards, party invites, ANYTHING.  They can suit any need and they rock my world.  I love them. 

Here are the samples for the five different versions, I left the wording exactly as it was designed by the graphic designer/artist but I am free to change it to read anything you wish within the space allotted or in the "empty" spaces as well.

The cards totally have that classic vintage textured feel to them with soft pastel colors and are just beyond adorable.  LOVE LOVE LOVE 'em!

I used only B&W images that I recently took of my daughter but I'm sure color would look just as nice.  I'm just partial to B&W with this format/style.

enjoy!

   

When left to their own devices...

So, as tends to happen in our house, I try to get in a few hours of editing every afternoon after lunch and let the kids play around the house.   I am really fortunate that *most* of the time they play really well together.  This doesn't preclude them from interrupting me every 2.2 seconds for a request or question but generally speaking they don't argue or bicker during afternoon playtime.  Of course, there are days when they will try to kill each other over a "pretend" bowl of jelly beans but that's a different story.... And don't even get me started on long car drives....... ARGH.

Anyways, the other day as I was trying to make some progress on my work that was piling up I could hear them giggling and giggling and giggling.   To be honest, there are few sounds I enjoy more on this planet than the sounds of my two kids playing nicely together and making each other laugh.   It warms my heart.  that said, it also strikes fear into my heart because that much laughter can only mean one thing = TROUBLE.   

So that's when I start  having this internal debate...  Do I get up and go see what's going on or just leave them be?  If they are playing nicely and not doing anything they shouldn't be doing then me interrupting their little game will undoubtedly remind them of my presence and most likely generate a thousand requests (i'm hungry, i'm thirsty, can you fix this, etc...) or, worst yet, break the magical 'playing nicely' spell and cause them to start fighting with each other.   On the other hand, if they are doing something like, say, drawing on the walls, the sooner I intervene the less scrubbing all three of us will be doing.... Sigh.  So as the laughter gets louder and louder I am getting more and more anxious (when I should just be enjoying the lovely beautiful sound of my happy kids right!?)...  What in the world could be causing such exclamations of unbridled joy??!!

Finally I can't take it anymore and holler out: "What's going on in there?? What's so funny?"

Which of course only makes them laugh louder.  Now I'm wondering if I am perhaps the butt of some joke.  Has my five year old drawn a picture of me and they are "decorating" it by doing god-knows-what to it....?

So, my curiosity gets the best of me (as it always does) and I walk into Ellie's room and see them playing a fun little board game and they were really just laughing about the board game, but Ellie....  My little girl, for some reason, has a pair of her underwear on her head.   This, apparently, was all her idea, but Gavin did nothing to dissuade her. So the laughter was due to the board game but with the added benefit of how ridiculous Ellie looks with her Hello Kitty undies on her head.  I, of course, cannot even bother stifling my laughter and ask her what's on her head (just to hear what she says).  She says:  Silly mommy, it's my HAT!"

Silly me indeed....

So here is what I saw and what happens when my children are left to their own devices...  I felt like I was taking mug shots of her while taking these pictures, face to your left, face me, face to your right... :)

In case you were wondering, she kept her hat on all day and I  must say, I think she really rocked the undie-hat thang pretty well.  That girl has her own sense of style.... :)

Sophia & Madeline

What sweet sisters!  These two could not have been more different in terms of reaction to the camera.  Sophia was definitely more on the shy side but would light up anytime she was around her baby sister.  And then you had Little Miss Madeline... I have never, EVER seen a 16 month old work the camera like this little one.  It absolutely blew me away.  Honestly, it was that amazing.  She would strike a pose and then, not quite happy with it, would shift her body position ever so slightly and adjust her smile to get everything how she wanted it to be.  I mean, really, it was that funny!  She had no problems with my camera being 2 inches from her face and would just keep assuming different poses and smiling her heart out as I snapped away.  It wasn't a matter of me engaging with her, SHE was engaging with me! Unbelievable.  I think it is safe to say she is a natural in front of the camera...  Another delightful family with whom I had alot of fun!  It was a pleasure meeting you all and I hope you enjoy your images.  I have quite a few in this batch that just rock my world! :)

Thomas & Madeline

These two little ones are only 21 months apart and they were such a hoot!  They reminded me so much of my two in so many ways.  The best thing was the fact that they were laughing the entire shoot, just laughing and laughing and laughing!  I ended up with a pretty bad case of the giggles myself from all their contagious laughter.  I even tried to get some "serious" shots but they were far too busy having fun, which I imagine there are worst things than having to photograph children who are so darn happy! :)

We had such a blast and the shoot was as easy as they come.  It was such a pleasure meeting you guys, thanks for the fun! :)

Joshua

My good friend Deborah just had her third baby in just over 3 years.  Yeah, I know.  She's amazing... and slightly nuts!  The first two were girls (her eldest is just two weeks younger than my Ellie) and now she has a little boy, the 'cute as a button' Joshua.   He was only 6 days old when I came to take his photos!  And he must have been hitting a massive growth spurt because he nursed and nursed and nursed!   I could not believe how much he could pack into that teeny tiny body!  It reminded me how long it's been (almost 3.5 years!) since I've had my own newborn to care for and man, I was exhausted just watching her!  And yet, still, I just could not get enough of the little guy.  There is a special energy and aura about newborns.  They truly epitomize the best life has to offer.  Newborns generate in me a sense of optimism and hope for the future.  They represent humanity in its purest form.    They are LOVE.  And they are all perfect in every way.    I've had alot of newborns lately and it's been really delightful for me to be around their awesome little spirits.  They each have their own unique personalities and it's fascinating to see how each baby really does come hard wired with their own distinct temperament.  I love that stuff! 

Little Joshua was unbelievably alert for a not yet week old newborn.  Usually it's a struggle to get any "open eyes" images but he was awake for a really, really, really long time! :)  (Deborah will get a chuckle out of that).  Patience paid off big time and we got some fun stuff at the end but we were too afraid to unwrap him (that had not gone too well for us during the shoot!) so we left him bundled up and worked with it!  I even caught a large mirrow out of the corner of my eye and decided to move it and try incorporating it in a few images.  The thing about mirrors is, well, it's REALLY hard to get a shot without you in it!!!  So it took a bit of creativity to find angles that did not include me.  Still, I'm pleasantly surprised with the results of those shots.  Definitely gives me the impetus to play around with that idea more.

Deborah, enjoy your images and GET SOME REST!  Love ya! :)

We got a quick shot with grandma!

And of course the very proud dad!

J. Cooper

Little Cooper was just under 2 weeks old and still so tiny!  I walked in to the most delicious smell of Chinese herbs and was greeted by a very adorable and very alert little boy.  So alert and aware in fact that he refused to fall asleep for over 2 hrs!  Finally I had to just whip out my baby whisperer techniques and get the little guy to slumber, even if it was only for a few minutes, at least we got our images!  I've said this a thousand times but newborns are absolutely my favorite age.  I know it's the hardest time on moms what with the nonstop nursing and lack of sleep but for me, it's great! I get to cuddle, play, hold, smell, and stare at them for two hours and totally get my much needed baby fix and then I get to go back to my children who are now *finally* sleeping through the night.  It's really the idea situation! :)

Cooper was not remotely sleepy during the entire shoot and even though I would (luckily) catch the split second that he would occasionally momentarily close his eyes, the rest of the time his eyes were wide open, taking in everything we were doing and saying.

Congratulations Fei!! Enjoy your images :) 

   

ROCKABYE

My friend Rebecca Woolf just published a super book that you are definitely going to want to get your hands on.  Full of humor and LIFE and of course written with her amazing gift for prose she recounts her journey into motherhood.  Rebecca is a truly gifted writer but beyond that she's just a really amazing woman, mother and friend.  She is also really cool.  I totally dig her.  :)

So click on the link below and pick up a copy via Amazon.com or better yet, come to any of her two book tour signing dates here in the Bay Area in about 2 weeks to get an autographed copy.  I am going to do everything possible to make it to her San Francisco event.

You can BUY IT HERE directly through Amazon.

Check out her fabulously addicting blog here

LOCAL TOUR DATES:

1. Oakland Tuesday April 22nd

   A great good place for books at 6:30 pm

   6120 La Salle Ave, oakland, Ca 94611

2. San Francisco Wednesday April 23rd

   Books, Inc.  7:30 pm

   2251 Chestnut Street, SF, CA 94123

Congrats girl, you ROCK. :)

My not-so-camera-shy girl

About two weeks ago before my back to back workshops I was in my home office working on some client images when Ellie came in all "ninja" like and deftly found her way onto my lap.  She's gotten really quite good at that and it's nearly impossible to ignore her once she is squarely on my lap, in my way and blocking my view of the monitor... Before I had a chance to do anything, she gave me a sweet & eager "puppy dog" look and asked: "mama, can you take some pictures of me and my blankie?"  I still had many hours of processing to go and normally prefer to not be interrupted every 5 minutes by her incessant requests but my hardened "mommy's trying to work" heart promptly melted and I grabbed my camera and plopped her down on my office floor by my sliding glass door.  A little background about the blankie, it was a gift from some dear friends (Hi Bill & Julie!) when she was just a little newborn and it has consistently been her favorite comfort item (besides me!).  She sleeps with it every night and anytime we go anywhere overnight, it HAS to come with us.  When she asked me to take photos of her and blankie I realized that I didn't have any pictures of this part of her life that so represents her baby years.  We may not have many more years of "blankie coveting" so I really wanted to capture her blankie-love.  The whole thing took all of ten minutes but we were laughing so hard we both fell over.  It was alot of fun and even though the resulting images are certainly not "award" worthy, they will mean more to me down the road than any of the "perfect" images I've taken of her.  I cannot help but want to laugh and cry when I look at them.  My baby has grown up so fast and she is in that in between baby and kid stage that is just the sweetest thing ever.  Push-pull.  Independent one second and needing some serious cuddling the next.   I do wish I could stop time because it's such a fun age with her right now.  She has her moments, of course, but most of teh time she just cracks me up.  She's really REALLY funny.  And since I can't stop time, this is the next best thing.

"Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still."  Dorothea Lange

Hey Mom! Here's my Foot!

And my hand!!!

oh, and my elbow, you like my elbow? I like my elbow!

I'm so stinkin' cute!

no, i mean, like REALLY cute :)

I like to scream for no reason...

this is my blankie

look! i'm little red riding hood.  wait, make that little pink riding hood....

And now, for fun, I'm going to shake my head side to side and mess up my hair.  I think this is the funniest thing ever.

Then I'm gonna wipe my hair out of my eyes (while I'm cracking up cuz i'm just so funny) and then do it again (and again...)

Ok, mama, I need to be see-wee-us (aka serious) for a shot, here goes:

Ok that's quite enough seriousness for one day...

Mommy is just crazy about this next one...

So mom, the next time I spill my milk all over your latest "Brain, Child" Magazine please look at this picture ok?

And now I'm just laughing so hard I can just barely function at this point, bear with me while I fall over backwards ok?  (and mom was laughing so hard she couldn't take sharp images anymore so that was the end of this little session)

   

California Photographic Workshop

Interestingly enough, I have been to two workshops in two weeks.  This is especially unusual considering that I rarely attend workshops, but it just so happenned that the only two I wanted/could take this year were back to back.  And to say I missed being around my kids as much as I am accustomed to is an understatement.   I missed them BIG TIME!  But mommy got alot out of this so it was worth the temporary separation!

This workshop was organized by California Photographic Workshops, with my selected topic all about Wedding Photography, taught by the legendary Joe Buissink.  Unlike last week's one day workshop where the objective was to just listen and absorb, this was a very intensive course where we shot for many, many hours including a couple very long days (8:30 am to 8:30 pm).  This was definitely a "learn by doing" type of class and exactly what I needed to hone my skills and apply all the valuable information I had learned. 

What better opportunity than to to play around with new techniques with cooperative beautiful models, in a no stress environment, and with an instructor nearby to help you deal with any questions you may have?!  We ran a bunch of different scenarios and focused on achieving different results for differents shoot sessions.  One day we focused on capturing movement and energy in images, another day we focused on capturing natural moments, another time we focused on beach shots and then another on dramatic/fashion type poses. We also did a good deal of flash photography work for inside churches.  During all of this much of it was focused on the one thing that I do best: making people feel comfortable and at ease in front of your camera. 

The tricky part was that we were set loose witha  model in a gown and bouquet and that was it.  It was up to us to figure out a theme or idea or pose, use whatever was available on teh grounds as backdrops, settings (trees!), fences, doorways etc... We were not given suggestions or ideas, it was up to us to orchestrate the entire thing.  Plus, with 4 to 5 people per model before switching groups you each had about 8 minutes in which to come up with your ideas (as many of them as possible) and execute them before it was the next person's turn.   That was all about teahing you to think fast on your feet and use the natural light and situation at hand as best and as quickly as possible.  Fortunately, i think my work with kids and families has trained me well in working and thinking quickly on my feet and coming up with good ideas and conpositional vision using whatever is available to me.  My ability to read natural light (called "seeing the light") is one of my skills and it came in really handy.  That said, when it came time to doing flash work I was about as pathetic as they come and totally OUT of my comfort zone.  I learned a great deal during that session.

We were blessed with many different models to work with and I had the good fortune of working repeatedly with three of them whom I particularly adored.  Total professionals in every way.  Knew how to work the camera, work their bodies and help me make some really amazing images.  I'm very proud of the work I submitted every morning from the day before and pleased with the results I achieved in a medium very different from what I am used to shooting.

I met alot of other wonderful photographers, some local whom I really hope to stay in touch with. 

I also gained some very valuable personal insight into my work and I will perhaps delve deeper into that in another post.  For now, I will post 50 of my favorite images frm several hundred taken over the course of the past 4 days.  Please feel free to comment about them.  If anyone is interested in more info about teh details of the workshop you can email me directly.  I HIGHLY recommend this class with Joe.  Besieds being an incredibly gifted photographer, he is a truly amazing PERSON.  His HEART is what makes him able to take the kind of images he takes.  It's like his head (technical skill) is working in conjunction with his heart and soul when he is at a wedding and the result is pure magic. 

Here is a sampling of my work from this week:

This is Joe showing the model one of the pictures he'd just taken of her.