pascale wowak photoblog

My second sewing project!

OK, so I debated about even posting this since the more I look at the outfit the more I see mistakes/problems/changes I'd like to make but I figure it's good to show the PROCESS, warts and all.  

I spent yet another ridiculous amount of time creating this.  I won't admit HOW long but let's just say I didn't turn off my sewing machine until nearly 3 am.  Yeah.  Julie keeps reassuring me that I will get better/faster with time.... Hmph. 

This was an under 5 minute shoot with Ellie just before bedtime and I hardly had any light to work with and the light I had was flat and ugly and blah and basically these images totally suck but whatever, it's just to show the outfit, nothing more, nothing less. 

By the way, Julie has a bunch of new items in her store as well as sale items from the big Fashion Show she did this past weekend.  You have GOT to check it out.  Also, she will be temporarily shutting down her Etsy store for a couple weeks very soon and not accepting any orders during that time so if you want something from her store, get it now because after that when it re-opens it will all be the new Fall Line on display....which, might I add, even has a collection named after my little Eliana.  Only kinda sorta TOTALLY tickled pink about that!! :)  Click on her name to go directly to her ETSY store!

Here are a few shots.  Like I said, if I were to do it over, I would change the way I did the ruffle bottom, maybe make the skirt a bit shorter and the T shirt applique would be MUCH smaller.  I guess you can only learn your mistakes by doing so I am definitely learning!

This is a close up of the fabric.  It is just so stinkin' cute.  I love owls so I fell in love with it.  So whimsical and cute.

You can't really see the "E" here and I used the bottom of the skirt (ruffle part) fabric to do the E and match it up but it's not as visible as I'd like.  As I said, I see clearly what I will be doing differently next time.

Another summer playdate shoot!

This playdate was scheduled as a morning session which was quite a fortuitous thing since it was expected to hit 103 degrees that afternoon and even though we got started at 9 am it was already SWELTERING.  Because of the heat, I decided against venturing around to different locations on the property and instead just stayed in one spot.  There was very little shade and I was not about to put all of us out in the hot sun.  The spot I picked was in shade facing a brightly lit parking lot area and provided beautiful light and the kids liked it so it worked out quite nicely.

The first set was little Delphine and her big brother Gabriel.  I had already gotten solo shots of Gabriel when I did the big shoot for the IAD Dance Center that he (and my daughter) attends so we just did solo shots of Delphine and then sibling shots.  The dynamic between Gabe and his little sister reminded me SO much of my two.  Gabe is the sweet, tender, loving older brother (just like my Gavin) and Delphine is the feisty little sister (just like my Ellie).  Watching them interact was just like watching my two.  Super cute.  I'm just totally smitten with sweet, gentle older brothers!

I love how kids are slightly apprehensive at first and then warm up fairly quickly.  These shoots are super quick, just under 10 mn per child, so I have to get them comfortable in a very fast time frame.  Fortunately it always works out.  That said, I am able to accomplish so much more on my regular (and much longer) sessions because I have so much more time to just play and interact with the kids without any of us feeling rushed.  I am lucky that the little ones I have photographed at all these mini sessions have all been so adorable!  Here are just a couple favorites from each set.

those eyes!!

Gabe is such a little sweetheart, love him!

I know you can't see her smile under there but there's something about this shot that totally works for me :)

Then I got to take pictures of little miss Re'mi.  She looks so much like her big sister whom I've photographed before but with a very different personality. I love how siblings can be soooooo different despite having the same DNA source and environment they are raised in.  Speaks volumes in favor of the nature argument in "nature vs. nurture"!  I love how you can see her two little bottom teeth in this next shot.  OMG SO CUTE!

look at how blue her eyes are! wow!

Then we had Chloe, the little sister of the Cameron-Chloe duo!  This age is just THE BEST age to photograph.  Just sitting up on their own, not yet crawling away and generally very happy.  I absolutely adore photographing babies this age.  And look at this little bundle of joy, how could you not?!

the chunky thighs.... the chubby cheeks....sigh

this next one rocks my world!

Then we had big bro Cameron who was not *quite* as interested in the experience as his baby sister but had us all in stitches when he announced exactly HOW he'd like to pose thankyouverymuch.  I was laughing so hard, mr. future gap model.

Cameron's "fake smile" here was CLASSIC.  Don't worry Jen, this one doesn't count!  But I had to include it because it made me laugh out loud.

And, last but not least, my man Mateo!  This little guy has a firecracker personality and although he needed some time to warm up to the process, once he was warmed up he was ON FUEGO! :)  Such a character that one.... reminds me a tad bit of his mother methinks... 

I honestly could gobble up this child whole.  LOVE.

ENJOY YOUR IMAGES!  Thanks for the fun! :)

Mini Vacay

Well, since weeklong vacations in Hawaii are out of the question right now, I decided that we still needed to do something to celebrate the official arrival of summer vacation.  The husband was once again gone all week at yet another training school so I took advantage of the fact that I had set aside my birthday week to do something fun together.  Last month I had made reservations for a one night stay at a resort in Marina called The Sanctuary Beach Resort.  The plan was to spend two days and one night down in the Monterey area hanging out and having a bit of an adventure with my kiddos.  My photographic challenge to myself was to only bring two FIXED lenses, my "el cheapo" 50mm f1.8 and my new 135mm f2.0.  I don't care what anyone says about that particular 50mm being a super cheap lens, I'm always shocked at how fast and sharp it is.  For under $100 you just cannot beat that lens.  In fact, I used that lens for nearly all of the following images.

We spent the first day slowly making our way down to the resort and "killing time" at Target in Seaside while waiting for our room to be ready.  Once the room was ready we jumped into our swimsuits and hit the pool!  It was actually a fairly sunny day and we hung out at the pool a solid two hours.  I  left the camera in the room so I don't have any pictures of that (other than those taken on my Iphone!) but a good time was had by all :) 

The resort is surprisingly kid friendly despite being considered a "luxury" hotel.  It had a little kiddie toddler pool and a much larger pool with thte majority of it only about 4 feet deep and then a huge hot tub that literally overlooked the two pools so you could safely watch and monitor your kids from the comfort of the hot tub.  Some woman was the genius behind that design, I'm quite certain of this.

Another perk to the resort was that cars are not allowed on the grounds so they assign you your own golf cart during the duration of your stay and you just zip around in that golf cart to get to the pool, the beach etc...  I cannot even begin to tell you how many times the kids and I just went out to drive around on the golf carts during the 24 hrs we were there!!  OMG, hilarious.  We could have just done that the entire time we were there and the kids would have been on Cloud 9.

In order for us to be able to stay at the Sanctuary Beach Resort, I had to pack all of our meals for the 2 day trip which was really no different than packing for a camping trip, except without access to a stove.  I think I managed really well and we saved a bunch of $ by avoiding having to eat out.  The only outside food we got were a couple Starbucks runs which I would have done whether we were home or on a mini vacation!  

After the pool, I fed the kids dinner in our room and had them all set up in their jammies when they asked to go check out the nearby beach.  It was getting close to sunset and the fog was rolling in but I just threw their jackets over their P.J's and we all hopped in the golf cart for a little ride!

The path to the beach was GORGEOUS and the view once there was stunning.  I sometimes forget just how lucky we are to live where we live.    

Look at all the cute little bungalow type rooms at the resort!

My little OCD - sensory issues kids cannot handle sand in their sandals.... Sigh.  Look at Gavin's face, you'd think he'd just stepped in poop or something.

Don't trip on that lower lip!

My challenge here was to meter for my shadow so that my shadow would be dark and the kids would be the secondary element.  I wanted to showcase how annoying it is to have crazy curly hair on a windy day.

What good is staying at a hotel if you can't jump on the bed?  We were practically out of light at this point so I was shooting at ISO 1600 and wide open at f1.8 with a SS of 1/500 to effectively stop the motion.  Ellie just LOVES jumping on beds.  

Gavin is much more tepid and cautious in his approach :)

Still 1600 ISO, all direct window light.

Then we read books and crawled into bed and I let them stay up with me and watch "So You Think You Can Dance" on TV.  They are now officially hooked so I have to TIVO the rest of the season for them! HA!

The next morning it was cartoons in bed while I prepared breakfast.

Then they played a bit while I did dishes and cleaned up.  It appears Gavin's lego obsession is slowly being replaced by a fascination with Bakugans.  He even has Ellie schooled in all the "points" system and activation rules and powers and blah blah blah, oy vey!

And since I firmly believe that any good vacation should entail as much time as possible being spent in your pygamas we then headed down to the beach to play, while still in our jammies, until the pool was open for business.  It was pretty cold and overcast but they didn't seem to mind. :)

I seriously cannot believe how tall that boy is sometimes.  He towers over everyone his age.

Then we played in the pool until it was time to get ready for check out.  We waved a very sad goodbye to our beloved resort on our last golf cart ride but then remembered that we were heading to the Monterey Bay Aquarium!! WooHoo! It was, as expected, totally PACKED even for a midweek visit being that it's summer an all.  I only took a few pictures because it is hard enough to keep track of two highly mobile kids at that place let alone concentrate on trying to get good shots.  Also, the distortion from the glass was annoying and hard to work with.

I wanted to get the whole circle in the frame but it was too crowded to allow me space to do that and I had a nanosecond before people were all up in my shot.  But I got the spotted shark going by!

My absolute favorite sea life species are the Jellyfish and the Seahorses. 

The goal with this next one was to get one shot with Ellie's face clear of fish and one shot with Gavin's face clear of fish and seeing as the darn fish were swimming in a tight group ridiculously fast it proved much harder to accomplish than I had anticipated!!  But I got it! Yeah, baby!

After three hours they were fried.

So we got a Starbucks pick-me-up (coffee for me and honey yogurt with granola for them) and headed south down to Point Lobos for some tide pool exploring.  We had never been there before and I was taken aback at just how absolutely beautiful that area is.  Just WOW.  We started out with some tide pool exploration but Gavin got totally freaked out by the pinchers on the crabs and insisted we vacate the area immediately.  Can't say that I blame him entirely but Ellie kept wanting to get CLOSER to them.  That kid....

  So, we switched gears and proceeded to a hike to China Beach instead while still in the park.

Then we capped off the evening at Point Lobos State Park having a picnic dinner overlooking the view.  

It wasn't a week in Hawaii but it was definitely the next best thing packed into two days of PURE JOY.

---------------------------

* side note*  I was finally able to post that video of Gavin riding his bike for the very first time and my mom running after him and filming it on her phone at the same time.  SO FUNNY!  I'm so glad she got it on film since I wasn't there to witness it myself and it was such an important event in his life.  Go to the blog post two posts down and you'll find it if you are so inclined. :)

Quinn, Reilly & Tyler

This family was one of my very first "real" clients ever, as in not friends or family letting me experiment on them!  It has been incredibly rewarding to be able to continue to chronicle their family throughout the years including the addition of two little girls to the mix.  I'm so very fortunate to see them twice a year because I can really stay connected to them that way and watch the transformations (big and small) that the little ones go through such as going from crawling to walking or babbling to talking.  It's a JOY to witness!

I absolutely adore photographing this family and beyond being incredibly photogenic, they are just a really fun, easygoing, happy, down to earth family and that's what I always try to capture for them.

I ended up with an insane amount of great images and considered doing a two part blog post for their session but decided to force myself to narrow it down to a few (um, does 40 images count as a few?) favorites for blog posting purposes.

I wanted to get a lot of images of Tyler since the last time I took pictures of her she was just a few days old and they change SO much in just a few short months.  She is in full teething mode right now!

And yet still SO INCREDIBLY HAPPY!

Big brother Quinn.  His eyes are the most amazing shade of green.  

I'm surprised I even caught this shot as he was bolting out of there wicked fast!

And last but not least, little miss personality, the one I can never get enough of, Reilly.

This next shot is in my top 5 favorite sibling shots EVER!!!

I got a whole sequence of shots here that I just love. :)

This next shot makes me feel all kinds of wonderful when I look at it.  I just absolutely love *everything* about it.  

My long time clients have learned to expect me to ask them to do some completely ridiculous things and the reason why love them so very much is because they don't even bat an eye when I ask them to do stuff anymore.  They just let me "play" and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't but at least I always try to do something "new" and different at every shoot based on what dynamic is happening at that moment.

they say it's your birthday....

Um. Yeah.  So I'm officially in my LATE thirties as of today.  darn.  oh well, it is what it is!!! :)

I actually had as delightful a birthday as a mom can realistically have so I'm quite grateful.  The first (wonderful, amazing, incredibly, surprised) gift I got was an upgrade from the original 2g Iphone to the snazzy new 3Gs Iphone which came out just in time for my big day!  I decided NOT to bring my camera along this weekend and, surprisingly, I do not regret that decision.  It was actually nice to disconnect from "photographer mode" for a couple days.

We started out the weekend by driving up to my mom's on Saturday midmorning (after I went for a miserably painful 10k run with fresh stitches in my left thigh, ugh) and spending the day and night there together as a family.  On Sunday morning the hubby and I left the kids in my mom's care (THANK YOU MAMISHA!!!) and headed up nice and slow towards Sausalito.  We stopped at the H&M store in Emeryville, cause, well, I really like that store and I never get to go shopping for clothes and Jason said, as my second gift, that I could spend $100 in there.  I only went over by two bucks.  I'd say that was pretty good of me.  Granted, I didn't count the cute lacy bra towards that amount though because as far as I'm concerned that's more a gift for him than for me..... :)  By this point, I realized I was totally getting spoiled this year for my birthday (whereas in the past I would just usually get breakfast in bed and that's about it! ha!).

Then we got to Sausalito on what was an absolutely GORGEOUS day and strolled around enjoying the hot afternoon (and an ice cream, of course) and walked for a couple hours just taking in the views, the sites, the architecture and enjoying some fun people watching. Some of the mansions in that town just BLOW me away.  And you know that when every other car you see is either a Jaguar, a Mazerrati or a Porsche that you are getting a glimpse into a different world than the one you are accustomed to.  Entertaining to say the least.  We slept there at a tiny little bed and breakfast and I got a FULL NIGHT'S SLEEP - UNINTERRUPTED - yes, a full 9 hours.  Wow.  I guess that counts as my third gift huh?!

The next morning we drove down to S.F. and used my mom's family passes to get into the new California Academy of Sciences which I've been itching to go visit since they opened.  It was amazing.  They have the coolest aquarium and exhibits.  If there is one thing I really miss about where I live now, it's the total lack of huge, fabulous museums, art galleries/exhibits and cultural events.    We walked around the museum and took in a few shows there, including a great one in the planetarium on one of those fabulous state of the art wrap-around digital screens. Neat-o.

Then, my fourth and final gift: lunch at TiCouz, an AUTHENTIC french Creperie in the heart of the seediest area of the Mission District in SF.  There are many Creperies around the Bay Area but honestly, they all are just bad imitations of the real deal.  THIS place is the REAL DEAL.  This is how I like my crepes.  This is how they are supposed to taste.  I've been to the Brittany region of France and had the real thing and once you've had that pleasure, anything less is just *not* the same.  The last time I was able to come up to the city to enjoy TiCouz was about 8 years ago so this was something very special for me.  I know, I know, the way to my heart is through Nutella, what can I say?!  :)

After lunch we drove down back down to my mom's house, picked up the kids and did a fun little round of family bowling.  This was Ellie's first time and it was pretty entertaining.  Not because of how she bowled, which was exactly how all little kids bowl, but because of how much she LOVED the music they were blaring along with the flashy disco balls and multi colored lights.  She actually could have cared less about the actual bowling.  She just wanted to dance and part-ay.  I got some fun video clips on my little point and shoot.

But the bestest and most exciting gift of all that day was being greeted by my son and having him tell me in his most deliciously exuberant voice that grandma had taught him how to ride a bike without training wheels!!!  You have to understand that Gavin will be seven years old in just 3 weeks and that we have tried several times to teach him how to ride without training wheels and each time the lesson would last all of three seconds because he would decide he was just "too scared."  These "attempts" were defining moments for me as a parent as well because I'm a bit of a daredevil and it took all of me not to want to try to just "push" him into it.  It was getting a bit embarrassing having him (and remember, he is as tall as your average 8 or 9 year old) riding his bike (slowly) with training wheels while two year olds were whizzing by on their bikes without any training wheels or fear.  But I was determined not to expect him to be like me and instead to honor his cautious and careful nature.  So I just bit my tongue and gave him positive messages re-affirming that he would know when he was ready.  This weekend he decided he wanted grandma to be the one to teach him.  And grandma was the perfect person to teach him as she had successfully taught all three of her daughter's how to ride a bike!  And, it makes me slightly emotional to know that he learned how to ride a bike, not only on my birthday, and not only thanks to my own mommy, but at the very same little parking lot/park where I learned how to when I was a child.  That just makes it all the more special to me (and eventually to him too when he can appreciate what that means.)  

The best part is my mom even got a video of it for me on her P&S, which was remarkable considering the fact that she had just spent an hour chasing after him and holding onto him on his bike as they practiced over and over and over again.  Not to mention also watching Ellie and keeping her safe/entertained at the same time.  Grandma really did an awesome job this weekend!  (I love you, mom!)

Lest you think my birthday was all roses and rainbows and unicorns, both kids had TOTAL and COMPLETE freak out meltdowns (too much excitement for a single weekend, methinks) after bowling resulting in us having to go straight home back to Santa Cruz and cutting short the rest of our day's plans.  My birthday dinner consisted of a bowl of cereal and then doing/folding about 6 loads of laundry.  So, you know, it had its "moments."  But, overall, one of the very best birthdays I've ever had!

So, here is a video of Gavin's very first solo no training wheels bike ride courtesy Mamisha.   Password is: solo

FirstSoloBikeRide from pascale wowak on Vimeo.

And then a little video montage of Ellie's "moves" at the bowling alley. Side note: I HATE the sound of my laugh but can't do anything about it so turn off the volume if it bugs you as much as it does me.  My apologies in advance. I love how in the second clip my husband is getting all stressed out by Ellie's dancing and mentions locking her up in a closet (as a joke people, a JOKE!) and shaking his head in despair.  Also, Gavin was so focused on beating his sister that all he wanted to do was stare at the scoreboard and call out the score after his turn, EVERY single time.  And Ellie could have absolutely cared less that Gavin was winning, all she wanted to do was DANCE!  Hilarious!

password: dancingqueen

Dancing Bowling - the new rage from pascale wowak on Vimeo.

Becoming one with the machine...

Thursday night I decided to set aside all the business related work and the house related work and all the everything else related work and plop myself down in front of Fox's "So you think you can dance" with my sewing machine and test out some of the lessons Julie taught me during her visit.

I had very LOW expectations because when Julie was here, well, let's just say my sewing speed was pretty pathetic. The needle was doing something like this: (read as slowly as you can) UP.......DOWN........UP.......DOWN.......UP......  you get the idea....  I move SLOWLY on that machine.  Ridiculously slow.  And I really struggle with keeping my seams straight.  I felt a bit like a new driver.  You know how when you see a teenager they are constantly trying to rotate the wheel in an attempt to "go straight" but you keep telling them that if they just stop moving the wheel they WILL go straight but they feel like they need to be DOING something so they keep messing with it and therefore end up weaving side to side like a drunk on the road.  Well, that's me with the sewing machine.   I know I'm supposed to just let it do its thing and gently guide the fabric but I keep wanting to try to straighten it out and in the process it ends up looking all zig zaggy.  I practiced on several pieces of scraps for a while before finally getting the hang of it and tackling my "goal" for the evening.  

I started out with a really simple applique for Gavin on a plain T shirt I picked up at Target for him.  The bonding applique paper was easy to use and, with the exception of the curves in the letter "G", it was not too complicated a project to sew.  Still, that alone took me over an hour to do.  

Then, feeling bolstered by my newfound sewing skills (ha!), I decided to try a skirt for Ellie.  I had all the materials I needed on hand so I just went for it.  This was my third time using that machine so I expected a few setbacks.  And I did have to redo a few things and I nearly panicked when the lower bobbin ran out of thread and I had to get the instructions out to figure out how to fill that puppy back up with thread....  Nonetheless, TWO MORE HOURS later (my show by then was long over and I was watching the 11pm news.....whatever) I finally finished up Ellie's skirt!  WOOHOOO!!!

When the kids woke up this morning I had their new outfits waiting for them at the kitchen table.  They were so excited!  They wanted to wear them right away.  Gavin, after examining the less-than-stellar stitching around the letter G, sweetly commented: "Mommy, I can tell how hard that area must have been for you, I'm so glad you didn't give up and tried your best."  Heart, melting.

I then ran outside with them at about 7:30am and grabbed a few quick shots in the soft morning light before we had to run out for our appointments for the day.  

Here are just a few favorites.  As a side note, that "stage" in our backyard is not actually a stage (duh!), but rather a gazebo missing its roof.  It was moved from one area of our backyard to the new spot with the goal of putting our old (empty) hot tub (that came with the house) onto it.  In order to move it we had to remove all the old decrepit shingle roof that was on it.  We had intended to re-roof it ourselves as soon as we had the time and get that hot tub up there and functional....  And how long has it been waiting in its "new" spot might you ask?  TWO years.  Sigh.  One of these days.....

The kids were so excited to show off their mommy creations!  They must have sensed that a whole lot of blood, sweat and tears (and way too much time) went into its inception.  :)

Clearly, I am going to leave the complicated sewing jobs to the professionals but I am absolutely loving these more manageable projects and excited to create lots of little skirts for Ellie and applique shirts for Gavin.  You know, in my *spare* time....hahahahahaha!

On a side note, it is my birthday this weekend (eeeek! 36 years old!) and I am taking a few days off to spend time with my family and get away from work.   I have a big shoot today (Friday) but the blog will not be updated again until Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.  Thanks for being patient!  I am going to really enjoy some much needed time off!!!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! :)

If only you knew what that girl was doing..... Gavin sure thought it was funny despite it being totally inappropriate....sigh.  Dainty she is not.

I can't even tell you how delighted I am that Gavin is letting me photograph him again.  *happy happy joy joy *

Ellie's thing right now is to have Gavin pick her up.  Don't know why but they both get a kick out of it.

Gavin jumping in front of my frame as I'm photographing Ellie....

I asked for a nice smile and this is what I got.  But you know what?  I got even because I told him that I could now tell that he had clearly NOT brushed his teeth and sent him back inside to go do it.  So there. How much you wanna bet he doesn't show me his tonsils again next time I ask for a nice smile!? Tee hee heee!

Everywhere we went today the kids kept telling everyone that they were wearing clothes THEIR MOMMY HAD MADE THEM.  The joy they got out of that statement was ridiculously cute.  And, admittedly, I felt pretty proud too. :)

ZozoBugBaby Skirt Sale!

Julie of ZozoBugBaby is having a big $10 skirt sale this Saturday morning.  The shop opens at 8 am (Pacific Time) and last time everything was sold out within the first couple hours.

Each skirt is unique and there is only ONE available.  These are all custom designs, so first come first serve.  These skirts are adorable and $10 a skirt is AMAZING.  

The direct link to her ETSY store is HERE.

HAPPY SHOPPING!!!

Ellie's Dance Recital

Last weekend Ellie had her very first Dance Recital.  She had one little routine with the other little girls in her weekly dance class, one of which is her very best friend Riley.  They did a little Shirley Temple routine that was just sooooooooooo cute.  I could tell that Ellie had a little bit of nerves going because she forgot a bunch of steps even though it's a routine she had perfectly memorized.  The girls were bonking into each other onstage!  It was held at the Mello Center in Watsonville which was a really large, packed, amphitheater and I certainly would have been nervous so I can't imagine how a 4 year old manages such things!

Her wonderful and amazing teacher Annie told me that they first words out of her mouth when coming off the stage were a VERY exuberant: "When can I go back out there and do that again!?"  So, my question about whether or not she would like the limelight?  Answered.  Kinda not too surprised.

I volunteered to do backstage duty and balcony chaperone duty etc... so I was running all over the place.  My husband shot the video for me and I was able to grab a few shots from the balcony during her performance and a few pre-show backstage snapshots as well.  Nothing earth shattering by any means, just grab shots here and there.  It was a long, full, chaotic day to say the least.  Seeing the look on her face when I rejoined her backstage: PRICELESS.

Here are a few pictures first and then the video.  I can't wait to see the images the official photographer got up close!

There was a great deal of downtime in between "dry rehearsals" and "tech rehearsals with the lights" and "final bow rehearsals" etc...  My best friend Christy thought ahead and brought the DVD player.  Smarty pants!

Riley, Ellie and Chloe :)

Throughout the performance the other girls kept looking to Ellie for reminders and Ellie kept looking off stage to Teacher Annie in the wings.  HILARIOUS!

At the end they all kinda stood there for a second all "what do we do now?"  Then Ellie takes a bow and after another long pause, throws in a curtsy for good measure and then they finally figure out that they need to get OFF the stage!  OMG I was laughing so hard.  

And now, the video.  The very last few seconds when everyone is applauding and the looks on their faces just slays me.  Password is:  ShirleyTemple

Ellie's First Dance Recital from pascale wowak on Vimeo.

ZozoBugBaby's visit

The fabulous & divine Julie M. of ZozoBugBaby Designs came down and spent a little under two days with my brood (how she survived is beyond me) and boy did we pack in a TON during her visit.  I taught her all kinds of Photoshop magic and she taught me how to finally use that sewing machine that has been sitting there taunting me since its arrival on Mother's Day.  I, with MUCH help, made Ellie a skirt and matching applique shirt!!! (Photos to follow one of these days)  Can you say WOOOHOOOO?!  Granted, not sure I can spend two hours in the future (that's how long it will most likely take me without Julie's help) for such endeavors but I am seriously motivated to create little skirts for Ellie from this point forward.  Now, finding the time.... whole different story.  Alas, I digress.

Julie was also my assistant extraordinaire for my FaceBook Headshot Special shoot I had yesterday and that girl rocked the reflector.  I was worried people would have a hard time finding where we were but as Katie said to me upon locating us: "I just followed the sound of your laughter."  That pretty much summed up the two days with Julie.  We are totally long lost twins and besides looking so much alike (methinks she is just a dark haired version of me), and having the same child (her Zoe and my Ellie - same!) and having the same temperament (can you say high energy, independent, bossy, neurotic, straight forward, thrive on chaos workaholics?), we laugh at all the same things and like all the same things.  Two people could not possibly be more compatible.  It was kinda freaky.

Julie, like me, HATES having her picture taken.  But, she insisted on grabbing a few shots of me with the kids so I allowed her to do that and in return she allowed me to take a few pictures of her.  She has NEVER liked a picture of herself but I am really hoping she likes these.

After our big Facebook shoot we had dinner at Shadowbrook and walked around downtown Capitola a bit.  So nice!

I'm heading up to Portland in August to teach a workshop there so if you are in that area and want to attend my workshop give me a ring.  Julie and I will be there and I can assure you, it will be as entertaining as it will be informative! :)

Here's a couple shots Julie took with her camera of me and the kiddos in our backyard.  Gavin totally fell in love with Julie and could not stop climbing up into her lap and cuddling her.  And he's a TALL almost 7 year old so it was pretty hilarious.  He was like a puppy or something!  Such a snugglebug that one.   And Ellie was on her very best behavior showing off all her dance moves and posing in the new outfits Julie brought down for her.  I just about asked Julie to move in with me but, you know, she's got, like, her own family and stuff.  Whatever.

And now a few of the shots I took of Julie.  

Yeah, so Julie is under the impression that she does not photograph well.   All I can say is life must be rough looking like Angelina Jolie.  My heart bleeds for you, girl.  BLEEDS.  

And I'll top it off with a goofy shot I took of us in the patio area @ Shadowbrook after our CHOCOLATE ECTASY.  aka: dessert.

My hobby: Card designs.

I am sending these out later this week.  Cannot believe my boy will be 7 in less than three weeks.  The card is a 5X7 postcard with a front and back design.  The whole thing from beginning to end took me one hour from taking the pictures in my backyard (5 minutes), editing them (15 minutes) and designing the card in photoshop (40 minutes).  It's a super simple, clean design.  Nothing too fancy.  But that's the way I like to create my card designs.  Every year I look forward to creating the kids' birthday invitations.  I always have fun with them.  Ellie's bday card last year was totally cute so I've included here as well just to share.  Gotta love PHOTOSHOP!!

FRONT:

BACK:

Close up shot of my boy with the blank paper. That boy melts my heart in every possible way.  If I could just keep him at this particular stage I'd be in hog heaven.  He's absolutely DELIGHTFUL and CUTE and SWEET.  I just love him to bits. :)

And Ellie's invite from her last birthday:

FRONT

BACK:

Paperless Post

Ok, so I was totally tempted NOT to share this because I wanted to be the cool kid on the block with the new "toy" but then realized it's a whole lot more fun to share your toys with your friends than hog them all to yourself!

We all love EVITE.  It's great. Well,this is even better.  WAY better.  It's like EVITE with a cup of coffee and a bar of chocolate.  Yeah, people, that's what I'm talking about.

The program is currently free as it's in the BETA stages.  I just sent out a "save the date" card for Gavin's birthday as I'm having his actual invited printed out this week and wanted to test their system.  

Loved everything about it.  Clean, classy, simple, streamlined, GORGEOUS, all with that "actual paper" invitation feel (that I love) without the actual paper, ergo VERY eco friendly.  I'll admit to being a card freak.  I LOVE sending out cards.  Thank you cards, invitations, thinking of you's... I love paper products and there's just something so special about a handwritten note.  I'm always looking for excuses to send someone a card.  And when it comes to the kids' birthday party invitations I LOVE getting creative and having fun designing their cards in Photoshop.

Although this service won't break me of that tradition, it just may replace all my other card invitation needs.  Having said that, nothing will ever replace the well thought out and meaningful hand written THANK YOU card.  Just sayin'.  

To check out Paperless Post yourself, CLICK HERE.  Enjoy!!!

Another playdate fiesta!

Man, these are pretty chaotic!  Being super high energy and adoring kids sure comes in handy in my line of work! Phew!

I had another one of my "playdate parties" this week and we had six kiddos 3 and under.  Go ahead, you can laugh at me.  It's OK.  I know I'm crazy. :)

I picked a few standouts from each child's shoot.  It really made all the difference that I am very good friends with the mommies from this session because it made everything run as smoothly as could possibly be expected under the circumstances.

I'll start off with my little Luci.  She reminds me so much of Ellie.  A total character, full of life and drama and emotions and spunk.

The fact that Kathy encouraged me to document this next one makes me love her that much more. :)

Next up, Mr LoverBoy Logan.  Those EYES!  Those LASHES!  OMG.

swoon.

Next was sweet little Samara who just became a big sister recently.  She LOVES the camera and the camera loves her!

Oh the crinkly nose smile, my favorite!

Samara with baby Camille.  A collective "aaaaaawwwwwwwww".  Go ahead, I know you want to do it!

Camille has the most ginormous, edible, luscious rolls I have ever seen on a baby.  At four months old she weighs more than Ellie did at 3 years old!  We're talking rolls upon rolls.  I wanted to just squeeze her and munch on her round little self.   This age is notoriously hard to pose, as they can't sit up on their own and generally don't like being on their bellies and their neck muscles aren't strong enough to hold their heads up for extended periods of time.  I then realized we could put her in the little chair backwards but as we were putting her in we were concerned that her thighs would get stuck in between the slats!! ha!  It took a bit of wiggling but we made it happen. :)  

She *just* learned to grab her toes!  So glad we captured this!

Next was little Thomas who I photographed as a newborn.  He was such a skinny little dude as a newborn and has totally chunked out.  He has the most mesmerizing eyes!

I love everything about this next pose, the attitude, the look, total James Dean! :)

And, last but not least, my man Cole.  Oh how I love me some Cole. :)

Junneen and I affectionately refer to this as his "fly trap" look.  It makes us giggle every time!

and the very best part?  The hugs.

Thanks Junneen for hosting all the craziness! :)

Weekend Rules and Regulations

About a year ago I started training Gavin on proper weekend etiquette.  It's based on the rules my sisters and I were obliged to follow growing up so I figured I'd continue the tradition.  Our mom was a single working mom raising three kids entirely on her own with an ex-husband who fled the country to avoid making child support payments.  My mom worked her little tush off to raise us in what was to her a foreign country and with absolutely no family nearby.  At times she worked two jobs and subsisted on virtually no sleep in addition to driving us to and from San Francisco every day so we could attend the private French School she had miraculously won us scholarships so we could attend.  So, it goes without saying that the weekends were SACRED to her recouping.  If we wanted our mom to maintain whatever shred of sanity was left in her by Friday, we knew that Saturday and Sunday mornings were her time to recover.  Besides, we were also up at the crack of dawn every morning during the week due to the 1.5 hr commute to school and back each way so we were all pretty fried come Saturday.  My mom established clear cut rules for the weekend early on with us.  We were, in no way, shape or form, to wake her up on the weekend.  Unless the house was on fire, we were to leave.her.be.    My sisters and I would generally sleep in until about 10 am and then fix our own breakfasts and watch cartoons until my mom surfaced around noon.  She was making up for having gotten about 3-4 hrs sleep every single night during the week.   

I'm not getting quite so little sleep but I'm not too far behind.  On Friday nights I stay up EXTRA late knowing that I don't have to get up early the next day to get the kids to school.  So, about a year ago I trained Gavin to take care of himself when he woke up on the weekend mornings.  At 5.5 yrs old he was getting up and pouring his own bowl of cereal and knew how to use the Tivo like a pro.  Ellie would generally still be in bed with me and we'd sleep in til about 8:30 or sometimes 9 am.

The past 6 months I've worked hard on training Ellie to then get up and handle her own needs until I can rejoin the land of the living.

Gavin is in charge of helping her pour her milk but she pours her own bowl of cereal.  They put their bowls in the dishwasher when they are done and brusg their teeth.  Everything is easily accessible and they have worked out their own arrangement of figuring out whose TIVO'd (and mom approved) show they will watch first.  They are really good at taking turns.  Every week I've added a new rule for Ellie to remember.

It started out simple.  My only request was for her to sleep in as late as possible.  Then my next request was to get her brother to handle her breakfast for her and clear her own plate.  Then, to NOT WAKE ME UP unless it was an emergency.... etc...

She has done remarkably well with all this and Gavin has been a superstar at basically attending to his baby sisters' needs.   I can hear them rustling about and am aware of every little sound but the ability to be half-awake and curled up in bed until 9 or even sometimes 9:30 am after getting into bed at 2 or 3 am is LUXURIOUS.  I need it.  It's my recoup time.  It's how I stay moderately sane.

Yesterday, I took a video of the kids reciting the "weekend rules and regulations" (as I've taken to calling them) and it just cracks me up.  They've got it down.  It's so nice to finally be in a place age-wise and maturity-wise with them where this is even possible.  With the amount of late nights that I clock in, this is just hugely important for my mental and physical health.  

The very last rule I implemented is the "don't fight with your sibling" rule and you can see Gavin's reaction to that one.  Pretty funny.  I'm lucky my kids are so independent and can do this stuff.  I attribute most of that to the fact that I refuse to coddle them and instead, give them plenty of chores/responsibilities around the house and in their day to day lives.  Just as my own mother did with the three of us girls.  That's one family habit I don't mind passing down.

The password for the video is:   WEEKEND

Enjoy!

 

Weekend Rules from pascale wowak on Vimeo.

Oh, and I forgot to include another picture that Gavin had taken the other day so here it is:

Design Aglow & Headshot Special

I always get excited when Design Aglow announces the launching of their latest publication.  The company itself has a TON of awesome resources for photographers, from templates to album designs and actions and cards etc....  Just really handy stuff.  Plus they publish these great magazines that I really enjoy reading with all the latest and greatest info for photographers as well as amazing interviews with the *best* and *brightest* photographers around.

They put out a request for photog "secrets" a few months ago and I submitted a little tidbit of mine and then totally forgot about it.  I received the email yesterday announcing that my entry had been selected amongst a few other to be featured in Issue no. 8. Such an honor!

If you are a fellow photographer and this all sounds interesting to you, you can find the purchase link to issue #8 HERE.  I've never regretted buying an issue.  All very valuable reading.

ALSO, I am doing my big Headshot Special Shoot this coming Monday, June 15th and I have just a couple of slots left. If you are in need/want of a new gorgeous headshot and can't devote a ton of time or money towards that goal, this is the perfect solution!  Send me an email for all the details.  This is for age 18 and up only, please.  THANKS!!!

Have a great weekend everyone! :)

"When you give a 6 yr old a camera..."

"...he might want to take a picture with it."

Yes, stolen from "If you give a mouse a cookie."  What can I say?!

So, on Tuesday, I decided to take the kids for a little stroll after picking up Gavin from school.  Life has been just too crazy and hectic.  We needed some downtime.

I threw my camera in the car at the last minute with no real intentions of taking any photos but glad I did.  

First off, I snagged a few impromptu shots of Ellie wearing the new Rosalind Grace Designs headband we had just gotten in the mail.  This was not a planned shoot so Ellie was not wearing the right outfit for the headband but she looks SO DARN CUTE in it I couldn't resist grabbing a few shots.  This one is very similar to the last one I featured except the headband is much wider.  I like them both but this one I could totally wear too.  In fact, I wore it myself the next day and got so many compliments!  It fits both our heads perfectly.  Which means either Ellie has a ridiculously large head (not likely) or I have a really small brain (more likely). 

Regardless, LOVE this headband.

Then, Gavin asked me if he could take a picture.  Now, when I have my little point and shoot with me, I will let him grab a shot here and there.  He's never shown too much interest before and he has a little P&S of his own now but all he ever does is take pictures of his legos and Bakugons with it so you know, not, like, REAL photos! :)  

I hesitated for a moment (an admittedly loooong moment), after all, we are talking my BABY here.  It's a BIG, HEAVY (*cough*expensive*cough*) camera with a big , heavy (*cough*expensive*cough*) lens.  Did I mention it's expensive?  And my BABY!?  (insert audible sigh)  But he is so irresistible that lad....

I put the strap around his neck, mentioned that I would take away all his legos for the rest of his life if he dropped the camera (no pressure!) and set the camera's manual settings for the light we were in and sat down to watch what would draw his interest.  

Well, wouldn't ya know it, the kid only wanted to photograph ONE thing.  His mama.  Yup, that kid loves me.  I kept trying to re-direct him.  Oh, look! A tree!  A leaf! Your sister!  But no.  He kept wanting to shoot me.  So I played along.  I made silly faces and gave him my best fake smile.  But the little bugger was having none of it.

He held the camera down and looked me in the eye and said (I quote): "You know, that pose just isn't working for me.  And I don't really like the way you are sitting there.  I want you to sit there instead."  And, when the shock wore off, I moved to his designated location.  I tried a few different sitting styles until he found one he liked.  He then looked in the viewfinder, stepped forwards and backwards a few times until he was seeing what I can only assume was what he wanted to see in the viewfinder (fixed lens) and started snapping away.  And then he made me laugh.  And kept snapping away.  

I don't even know what to say.  It was a very cool experience we shared.  I am glad I trusted him with my camera.  I'm going to ask him to start taking more pictures with his camera and branching out from the realm of legos and Bakugon's.  I posted a few of his shots below.  I did absolutely NO cropping to his images at all.  They are exactly as he took them with the exception of some MINOR levels adjustments for exposure.  His focus was dead on and his composition was perfect.  I'm truly impressed, especially considering how his little hands could barely get around the grip of the camera to reach the shutter button.

First, a few shots I took.  It is a crime against nature that the boys get the ridiculous lashes.  SO NOT FAIR.  To whom do I address my complaint?

Ellie's new "quirk", her "half-smile"...

Somebody did not have enough chocolate today....

Ok so at first I'm giving him my very best attempt at the pouty professional model sexy pose except that I look like a demented pirate...whatever.  Based on the confused look on his face I could tell it wasn't working for him.

Then I go where and how he directed me to sit.

That boy just makes me all kinds of happy. :)

Ellie - Preschool Graduation

It's been a very emotional week for me.  Before having kids I was relatively un-emotional.  Part of that was the work that I did which required (for the sake of one's sanity) to compartmentalize what you saw in a day's work and shut off emotions and just "get it done"... and part of it was that I was just pretty well trained in not letting my emotions betray me.  So, even if I felt them, I could keep them under wraps (unless I'm around my family but that's a whole different story!).  I guess I would have been called stoic where it not for the fact that you spend much of your time on the force laughing...like, A LOT.  And laughing at that slightly disturbing gallows humor that I believe I may have now lost my taste for but that I used to adore.  What can I say, it was a huge part of my life back then.  Regardless, all that changed the minute Gavin was born.  The floodgates that had held back years of emotions and sadness over the things I had seen and experiences I had had (good and bad) and basically everything I'd ever felt in my life... BAM!  Like a humongous tidal wave.  I cried and cried and cried.  Mostly tears of joy though at the beauty and perfection of this little being I now held in my arms.  I could hardly believe it.  I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop.  I was so tense that first week.  I truly expected someone to come in and announce some terrible news.  Something this good could not happen to me without something equally bad coming along to ruin the party.  I'm not what you would call the luckiest person on the planet.  It's the main reason why I don't gamble or buy lotto tickets.   And, yes, we had some medical issues with Gavin those first few months but nothing big enough to undo the magic that was this precious little guy being given to us.  

At first I chalked up the flood of raw and overpowering emotions to childbirth hormones.  Then I blamed it on nursing hormones.  Then as soon as he was weaned I was pregnant again with Ellie so I blamed it on being pregnant and so on and so on.... Until one day I realized it wasn't hormones, it was just the "new" me.  The "mother" me.

That I now just couldn't watch a news report about a kidnapped child and I couldn't watch a movie that involved ANYTHING REMOTELY BAD HAPPENING TO A CHILD EVEN IF I KNEW IT WAS JUST A MOVIE... nope.  Those things never used to bug me one bit.  Not one tiny little bit.  I was completely immune to it. Disconnected.  And now, I feel physically ill upon hearing about anything bad happening to a child.  Or anyone really.  A trusting elderly person or a vulnerable handicapped person.  But mostly the children.  Goodness that gets me bad.  Reduced to tears in nanoseconds.  So, I've come to terms with the new me.  The "emotional" me who cries.  Frequently.  I'm OK with it.  Even though I distinctly remember making fun of a friend for crying when she sent her child off for his first day of Kindergarten.  Like, dude.  Really?  What's the big deal?  Oh, such a fool I was.....

So, here I am last week watching Ellie, my baby!, graduating from preschool.  And I'm holding it together remarkably well.  Until we get to the car.  And then I start bawling.   I can't wait to see how I handle her first day of Kindergarten.   I was a MESS on Gavin's first day.  AFTER I dropped him off of course.   I can always keep it together when I need to.  I guess what I know now is that rather than sweeping those feelings under the proverbial rug, I've learned to let the emotions do their thing, run their course, and just do it when it's not going to adversely affect my kids by watching their mommy crying like a big babyhead. :)

The night before Ellie's graduation I had convinced myself that I would NOT take any pictures.  NO SIREEEE.  I was going to videotape it since I have so little video footage of the kids and more than enough still imagery.  But then my husband was able to make it to the graduation (aha, a second set of hands!) and I assigned him video duty so I could bring my camera.  I'm soooooo glad I did.  I got the cutest shots of my little pumpkin on her big day.  The light was iffy but I worked with it. She was so cute and soooo proud of herself.  

My two kids are suddenly growing up WAY TOO FAST.  Not sure when this transformation occurred but it has really hit me like a ton of bricks this past month. Admittedly, I am *STRUGGLING* with it.  Big time.  I'm looking forward to doing my very best to set aside some serious quality time with them.  I've got some fun plans for June and a mini camping trip in August and plenty of ideas for outings in between if I can just squeeze them in.  Scratch that.  I WILL squeeze them in. These years are whizzing by and I'm realizing that I cannot go back in time, I can't make it up to them, I can't recapture these years.  It's now or never for this particular age.  I want to make it count.  I want them to know how much I value them and our time together.  I want it to be more than just words.  As I was leaving for a shoot the other day, Ellie told me "mommy you work too much!" and got really clingy.  Seems that ever elusive balance has been lost as of late.  So I'm re-evaluating and it's certainly not hard to make my kiddos the biggest priority.  I won't be adding any new classes or workshops or anything that wasn't already on my schedule for the summer months.   And this, right here, is one of the two reasons why:

Is there anything sweeter than a little girl twirling assisted by her daddy's hands?

You can see the slight apprehension in her eyes.  Not really sure what to expect from the ceremony...

But still posing for her mommy!

Chatting with her wonderful teacher Michal whom we've known now since Gavin was 1 yr old.

Ok NOW she is starting to feel the energy and get excited!

feet not even touching the ground on this one!

Accepting her "diploma" from teacher Vicki who was also Gavin's teacher and whom we absolutely adore.

I love how you can see her proud little smirk under the diploma!

The "official" portrait. :)

   

Zouzou et Patou

That's my grandma and grandpa's nicknames.  I don't think I even knew my grandma's REAL name until my late 20's.  :)

My grandmother passed away this weekend.  I haven't been able to really mourn it because it's hard to grieve when your husband is out of town and your kid is calling out for you from the bathroom to "come wipe my butt!"   Besides, I've been trying really hard not to be sad about it because I know she is happy again.  She was soooo ready to go. She kept talking about how she'd had this amazing life and how she wanted to end on a high note instead of a slow, drawn out ending. The last four years have been really hard on her and the last year in particular must have felt dreadfully long to someone like her with such a vivacious and fiercely independent spirit.  When she was first moved out of her apartment and into the "old people home", she actually tried to escape.  Just hearing that story made me laugh.  They had to equip her with a special bracelet to sound an alarm every time she tried to run away.  It's when she stopped trying to leave that I knew she was losing her fighting spirit and that's the first time I started feeling like it really would be better for her to pass on rather than remain in a body and mind that were betraying her spirit.

The very last time I spoke to her on the phone she didn't even recognize me or know who I was.  She would have the occasional lucid moment when my mom called her (which my mom did several times a week) and, increasingly, many more moments where she wouldn't even recognize her.  The kids and I would send her pictures and artwork to cheer her up.

My grandpa was an AMAZING and respected artist and my grandma was a fan of the arts.  They were deeply in love with each other and when he died, a piece of her died too.  They both loved photography, art, parties, family, music and LAUGHTER.  They both loved being surrounded by their family and especially loved those long, lingering European meals, particularly outdoors.

I had the magical experience of spending every summer of my childhood growing up in Corsica (small island south of France) with my grandparents.  The first few years of my life, my mom obviously came along with me.  Eventually, though, my mom sent me overseas alone for the first time when I was 4 yrs old.  I distinctly remember the white plasticky thing hanging around my neck safeguarding my passport and plane tickets!  I remember the nice flight attendants coming by with Crayons and coloring books.  I look back and marvel at how a nearly 5 yr old child was able to entertain herself pretty much alone for a 10+ hr flight.  When I came back from that wonderful first summer alone with my grandparents, I had a baby sister waiting for me at the airport.  I wasn't too thrilled about that...  But I got over it and continued to look forward to our solo trips out there every summer at my grandparent's gorgeous villa overlooking what I consider to be the most amazing view on the planet.  

I can still smell my grandma's homemade french fries that she would make just for me and my sisters because we were so crazy about them.  She'd pack us a "gouter" (snack) in the morning after breakfast and send us down to the beach where we'd spend our days baking under the sun, swimming in the ocean, jumping over waves, exploring and collecting seashells (all of which we had long ago assigned a specific value point system to). 

When the sun reached a certain point in the sky, we'd reluctantly tackle the long walk back up the hill to the villa and while we were showering off the sticky salt water my grandma would whip up an amazing meal for us.

We'd spend our evenings sitting on the deck playing games and listening to my grandpa play the accordion or pose for him as he sketched our portraits.  I cannot ever remember a time being more happy or feeling more loved and secure in my entire life.  My absolute fondest memories of my childhood all revolve around my time in Corsica with my grandparents and my sisters.  My mom would sometimes come for the whole trip and other times not be able to get that much time off work and just come for our last two weeks.  We were all so happy there.  It was just a little slice of heaven as far as we were concerned.

If I close my eyes and concentrate, I can transport back to that time and can smell the mouth watering aroma of my grandmother's ripe fruit trees wafting across the back deck along with the gentle Corsican breeze.  I can practically taste the buttery deliciousness of the best apricots in the whole wide world.  I would sometimes eat so many right off the trees that I would end up with an upset stomach for the rest of the day.   I can smell the "maquis" (what would best be described as the "forest" of Corsica which has a very distinct smell) and the alluring odor of my grandfather's artists' "den".  It was a pungent mixture of smells from a variety of oils, pastels, paints and sprays and probably a hundred other toxic substances!  I used to sit quietly on the front stoop in the always open doorway and watch him as he would paint and see the graceful movement of his arm strokes and how he could get totally lost in his art and yet never forget I was there, because every once in a while he'd throw a silent wink and smile my way.  My grandfather was friends with many famous artists in his day (Salvador Dali one of them) and his incredible talent and gift for both Architecture and Artistry sadly skipped by me but fortunately was handed down to my mother and sisters who are quite blessed to be able to carry on the genetic ability to sketch anything, anywhere, anytime.  I can't draw a stick figurine to save my life. :)

My grandma was a tough cookie too.  As brave and rugged as they come.  My grandparents came with us on an RV trip across the USA one summer.  We were somewhere in the midwest, in some God forsaken desert, and a HUGE hairy freakish looking tarantula came out of nowhere and crawled up on her foot.  I most probably nearly passed out at that point but my grandma just said: "Oh! La petite arraignee!" (oh, look at the little spider) Grabbed a big rock and smooshed it.  No hesitation. No fear.  No big deal.  Another time she literally ground up her fingers in a blender and DROVE HERSELF ALONE to the hospital so as to not bother or disturb anyone.  My grandma was tough as nails.  And most certainly not one to be intimidated by anyone. She never apologized for who she was and showed me that it is OK to be secure in who you are and not care what anyone thinks about you.  She showed me what it is to have the confidence to just be your authentic self and not make any excuses for that.  I had so much respect for her.  Nobody EVER messed with my grandma or told her what to do.  She ran the show wherever she was. 

The past year I have mourned not being able to go visit her.  The cost was just far too prohibitive to take a family of four and I would need at least 7 days off to do it right.  With the kids in school and so many shoots back to back and no one to watch the kiddos that long if I even were able to go alone, it just wasn't feasible. 

The last time I went there and saw her was 4 years ago.  Gavin was 20 months old and I was very pregnant with Ellie. I was a SAHM at that point as well with no real schedule to worry about and Gavin wasn't even in preschool yet.  This was before her decline and I marveled at the bundle of energy that she still was.  She still crossed traffic against the light (a habit of hers that used to drive me completely bonkers not to mention stress me out to no end and one that she persisted in doing even AFTER she had been hit by a car doing it).  She was the same feisty, spirited woman I had known my whole life.  In so many ways, Ellie reminds me of her.  I had such a strong connection with my grandma and I know it's because we were so similar in personality.  I "understood" her and where other people sometimes had conflicts with her, I never did.  We were always in sync.  Besides, there was no point in disagreeing with her as she'd just dismiss you with a wave of her hand and that was the end of that!   She used to knit me these amazing dresses when I was a  little girl and I know I took up knitting to feel more connected to her despite our distance.  She sent me home that year with all her old knitting needles and although I don't use them (I like circular needles), they are in my office close by and every once in a while I pull them out and touch them.  I can feel her presence in them.  My grandma was a high energy gal and pretty much always on the move. The only time I ever remember her actually sitting down was when she would go in her favorite rocking chair and unwind with some knitting.

I miss my grandma very much but in a weird way I can almost feel her presence more strongly now.  That convinces me that her spirit is free of the physical and mental limitations that were holding her back these last couple years.  She is truly free now.  Unencumbered by a frail body and an failing memory.  It would not surprise me to learn that, in all likelihood, she is probably running across a street somewhere AGAINST the "don't walk" sign and laughing about it.

In honor of my grandma (and my grandpa), I'm going to share a few pictures I dug up today.

These next two were taken in 1994, the last time my entire family was there.  My mom, her sister (my aunt), her husband (my uncle), their two daughters (my cousins), my two sisters and my grandma and grandpa all gathered together at the villa.  Good times.

In 2002 I took my soon to be husband on a trip through Europe.  My grandma and Jason totally hit it off even though neither one spoke the other's language.  They both spoke the language of WINE.  And they very happy to share that love.  My grandma took us to her little winery she would go to every week to fill her "jugs" straight out of the wine barrels.  Jason was as close to being in heaven as I think he could be.  They were so cute together.

My grandma taught me the art of talking with your hands.  We are both very animated and I love this shot because we are having some sort of lively discussion since BOTH our hands are up at the same time!

My grandparents had the best sense of humor.  When they were young they really liked to party and here is a photo of them dressed up for one such soiree.  My grandpa is wearing the dress though and my grandma is wearing the pants.  It was a joke on their relationship where my grandma definitely wore the pants in the family.  They had so much fun together!

Zouzou, je t'aime et je t'envoie de gros bisous!  Ta princesse, qui t'adore, Pascale.

Bay Photo Special

Sharing a little announcement for all my clients and photog friends from Bay Photo Labs (one of my two favorite printing labs, the other is MPIX).  They are having a special right now for all 4X6 prints for just 18 cents each!  That's a really good deal for high quality printing.  

ENTER CODE 18E46 at checkout!

And, to provide everyone with a good giggle today, go check out this new blog I recently discovered.  I am now completely addicted to it and check it out first thing every morning to start off my day with a good laugh:

THE LITTLE CRIMINAL

ENJOY!!  Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!

Declan

I had a shoot last year with this little guy that was SO INCREDIBLY EASY it was pretty ridiculous.  I kept pinching myself.  He literally smiled the ENTIRE time. Happy as a clam.  In fact, if you've been to my website you've probably seen my splash page with the little boy in the toy airplane...that's Declan!  

So, it goes without saying that I was thrilled to see him (and his wonderful parents) again this year.  I would be lying if I said things were quite as easy this time around *but* let us remember that a 17 month old toddler is a whole different ball game!

Mom sent me the sweetest email afterwards and I think she was genuinely concerned that I had not gotten a single decent shot.  My hope is that if you look at these images you would never know that we experienced what shall forevermore be referred to as a case of the "explorer cat obsession" with a touch of "I'm totally going to play you guys" and a dash of "I am way smarter than you think!"  :)

Even though we had to work a bit harder for them this time around it's still totally OK because it was soooooooo worth it.  We still got the "money" shot and we still laughed our butts off throughout the entire shoot chasing Declan around!  At one point I ran around the backside of a building to try to grab a shot of Declan making his escape around it and when he saw me run into his field of view I thought for a moment that he might have a heart attack.  I was afraid he was going to burst into tears (from having been so shocked/scared) and instead he just laughed at me (after he had fully recovered from the shock of course) and ran off the other way.   

Heather and David, I know you were a bit worried that I had not captured a single one of his amazing, infectious smiles but I hope that when you look at these you'll see that it was most certainly not all in vain!  Declan is a super duper bright, spirited, energetic, healthy, vibrant, funny little guy with the most charming smile on the planet.  And we captured all of that because, in the end, we outwitted, outlasted and outplayed him.  So there.  Now where's our million bucks?  :)

This is the point where we figured out he was totally "playing" us with his little "woe is me-drama" routine because less than a nanosecond after the pout started: "CAT!"  Soooooooooooo funny!

His eyes are the most amazing color!  A mix of hazel and green with yellow highlights.  STUNNING.

Mom was swinging him upside down which is a notoriously challenging shot to nail but I got really lucky!

Crazy about these!  I've got a whole series of them on the CD. :)

These next two are my favorites from the entire shoot.  LOVE them!

Courtney Courtney & ZozoBugBaby (another double header!)

So I took Ellie out the other day to model not one, not two but THREE different outfits.  She rocked it but it also wore her out so next time I'll stick to no more than two any given session.  I took Ellie to a new spot which kept her happy and excited.  We went to visit the horses at the public stables behind Covered Bridge Park in Felton.  I tend to avoid that area nowadays because there is such a strong homeless presence and I don't feel particularly keen having me and my kids and equipment hanging out there.   We've had some scary incidents there over the past several years and I have found that I just rarely go there any more.  Which is really a shame because it is such a gorgeous area.  When Gavin was a baby we'd go visit the horses and hang out at that park several times a week.

As a side note, while visiting the horses you are not allowed to pet/touch/feed them unless the owner is there and gives you permission.  We were lucky enough to run into several owners who VERY kindly let us pet their horses.  They were also very kind about letting me take pictures.

We started off with two ZOZOBUGBABY outfits.  The first is the Chicky dress and the second is the Summer In The City Skirt with Custom Alphabet Shirt (see end of blog for more Alphabet T shots).  SO adorable!! After that she switched into her new Stars Flutter Sleeve dress by COURTNEYCOURTNEY.   And she turned on the "star" mode to a T.  I pulled out a pair of sunglasses that matched the dress and the second she put those glasses on she turned into a Hollywood Star through and through.  She wouldn't smile, had this little "I'm avoiding you miss paparazzi" stealth mode attitude and just would walk by me like she was HOT STUFF or something and barely even look at me.  It's like some SUPERSTAR switch went off and she was IN CHARACTER.  And while it was HIGHLY entertaining, it was also very worrisome that she was able to so effortlessly channel that "starlet" behavior... Should I be concerned!?

I absolutely ADORE these next two!

It was that dreadful time of day (high noon) and I was weary to venture out in the sun but really liked this spot so I worked with it as best I could.

I was looking for a way to showcase how many different patterns the skirt had and how perfectly Julie assembles these skirts by hand and then I saw the bleachers! WOOHOOO!!

Then she switched to her Courtney Courtney flutter sleeve dress.

what's up with the ghetto pose!?

And here's when she fell into character.

Walking right by me, totally ignoring the paparazzi...

Hilarious!

Earlier this month I did a handful of shots for Julie showcasing her Alphabet Tee's so here are a couple from that session to top things off here!

He makes my heart melt.

Save our State Parks!!

I've been receiving so many emails about this.  And it just breaks my heart.  Besides the fact that I take pictures for my job at many of the various local State Parks several times a week, on a personal note, my family and I enjoy many of the local parks on a weekly basis as well.  We get a State Park parking permit every year and have done so for the past 7 years.  And we get A LOT of use out of it, I assure you!  I wish I'd been able to post this sooner to let everyone know about the rally yesterday but I got really bogged down with work and couldn't get to it.  I've signed the petition, joined the Facebook page, and forwarded the information to all my friends and family.  This is just sooooooo important.  Read the information below and do whatever you can to preserve funding (and access) to our beautiful State Parks!  THANK YOU!!!

SAVE OUR STATE PARKS & BEACHES!!

If approved by the Legislature, Governor Schwarzenegger's budget plan will close 220 of

279 State Park and Beaches, including each and every Park and Beach in Santa Cruz

County!

Proposed Santa Cruz County State Park and Beach Closures: Big Basin Redwoods State

Park, Castle Rock State Park, Castro Adobe State Historic Park, Coast Dairies State Park,

Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, Lighthouse Field State Beach, Manresa State Beach,

Manresa Uplands State Park, Natural Bridges State Beach, New Brighton State Beach, Palm

State Beach, Rio Del Mar State Beach, Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park, Seabright State

Beach, Seacliff State Beach, Sunset State Beach, The Forest of Nisene Marks, Twin Lakes

State Beach and Wilder Ranch State Park.

Beginning July 1st, the Governor will cut the parks core funding in half and then eliminate

all core funding in twelve months.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

1. COME TO THE RALLY‐ Monday, June 1, 5:30 PM, at Natural Bridges State Beach,

in the parking lot before the entrance station. Rally participants will be able to use a mobile

computing station, supported by a beach‐area Wi‐Fi hotspot, to send messages to Governor

Schwarzenegger and legislators. We hope for good media coverage, so please come and

bring your friends and family. Express your love for the Parks by bringing signs, wearing

your favorite park t‐shirt or docent‐wear.

2. SEND A MESSAGE TO THE GOVERNOR & LEGISLATURE ‐ Visit

www.ThatsMyPark.org, click on "Take Action" and follow the steps to automatically fax the

Governor and your Legislators.

3. COME WITH US TO SACRAMENTO ‐ Let your voice be heard at the ONLY PUBLIC

HEARING on this proposal before the Legislative Budget Conference Committee. Tuesday,

June 2, in the State Capitol. We have hired a bus, so please save your spot by calling 429‐

1840, ext 103, or Peg@ThatsMyPark.org, if you'd like to join us.

4. GET INVOLVED & INVITE YOUR FRIENDS ‐ Go to www.ThatsMyPark.org to stay

involved in the campaign, contribute and become a Fan of Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks

on Facebook. And please help get the word out to your own personal networks about this

campaign to Save Our State Parks & Beaches.

STATE PARK CLOSURE FACTS

For the financial well being of our state and future generations, we must oppose this

reckless plan.

Even if you are not planning to visit a park soon, the governor's shortsighted proposal will

impact you and every California resident. It is the very definition of "penny‐wise, pound

foolish". Consider the facts:

FACT: The Governor’s plan represents an “abandonment” of our State Parks and beaches,

a public trust resource that must be stewarded for future generations. It would lead to a

wholesale dismantling of an internationally recognized Park System that has taken 150

years to build.

FACT: The General Fund budget that State Parks receives accounts for less than 1/10 of

one percent of the entire state budget.

FACT: Last year alone, there were over 80 million visitors to State Parks – and all

indications are this year will be even higher. During these terrible economic times, more

and more residents are relying on the State Park System for low‐cost alternatives to

expensive vacations. Our parks provide affordable opportunities for recreation, relaxation

and learning with our friends and family.

FACT: Last year Santa Cruz County State Parks provided environmental and cultural

education programming to 611,174 school children, families and individuals.

FACT: For every dollar that funds the parks, $2.35 is returned to the state's General Fund

through purchases in the local communities surrounding the parks and in the parks

themselves. That means eliminating all funding for State Parks ($70 million this year)

could actually result in the state losing over $350 million dollars in revenue. Untold losses

would also be felt in local hotels, restaurants and shops.

FACT: Public investments in State Parks leverage volunteer hours and dollars. Statewide,

in 2008, docents and other park volunteers provided $21,329,811 worth of services to the

parks. Over the last 10 years, Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks, a non‐profit park

cooperating association, has provided nearly $9 million of support. All of these valuable

partnership contributions would be lost.

FACT: It isn’t logically possible to “close” a State beach or Park open space. But without

sufficient State Park staff to patrol, provide public safety and rescues, perform

maintenance, provide essential facilities such as restrooms, provide educational

programming and protect the plants, animals and cultural and historic resources, our parks

would deteriorate and become attractive nuisances for criminal activity. It would cost

more money in the long run to close our parks than would be saved!

FACT: This is the worst threat to Park System in its 150‐year history.

FACT: We need your help to defeat this draconian, shortsighted proposal!!

Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks

www.ThatsMyPark.org

Isaac

I had the opportunity to do a mini shoot with Isaac to celebrate his first birthday.  This little guy was ALL SMILES!  So incredibly happy and cute.  And those doe-eyes....swoon!  I just love da babies.  Because we got so many great shots in the same locations, I decided to do a few collages to showcase all his different, funny and adorable expressions.  He is a very animated little guy.  Mom had a strong preference for color images but I did throw in a few B&W's that I really loved!

Rachelle and Steven, it was a pleasure meeting you and little Isaac.  I hope you love your images, cherish every second with your little man. 

 

This next set of 4 images just rocks my world.