pascale wowak photoblog

My Sister Seraphine

My little sister (technically the middle sister of us three girls) came back to the USA to visit us (my mom, my other sister and myself) for four weeks.  She has been living in Spain for nearly a decade now and owns/operates an awesome cafe in the little town of Vigo with her longtime boyfriend Manuel (whom we all adore).  I only get to see my sister once every few years and the time we do get together face-to-face is beyond special to me.   Naturally, we stay in touch via phone and email but that physical closeness of being able to hug her and laugh with her is something I miss dearly.  The time we had, as always, whizzed by and our original plan for her come down to Santa Cruz to hang out with me and my family for a few days was initially thwarted by a nasty stomach bug she got (poor thing!) and had to be rescheduled for the tail end of her stay.  When she was finally able to come it was during one of Jason's "gone for three days straight" 72 hr shifts so my sister and I didn't get much "alone" time (ie: sans kids) but we did maximize a 2 hr block one morning when the kids had their mini clay camp to attend.  We decided to do an early morning photoshoot together with that block of "free time."   My sister is an avid & excellent photographer herself with a GREAT eye for composition.  She is actually WAY more artistically inclined and naturally gifted than I am and can draw anything on a scrap of paper and make it look amazing.   I am only artistic when it comes to photography.  And yes, I'm totally jealous. Whatever. :)

 So, basically, we had a 30 mn drive to our location each way and a full, solid hour of shooting together.  And boy did we pack in a lot during that hour of shooting!  Three outfit changes for her, various backgrounds and so much ridiculous laughter!  My sister, as you will see for yourself, is QUITE the character.  In fact, Ellie reminds me so very much of her (as much as my sister will deny it) and is very outgoing, funny and goofy.  She had me in stitches the entire time.  You'll also see, though, that beyond just being a bit of a nutcase (and I mean that in the nicest way possible of course) she is also positively stunning.  Funny thing is she has no clue how gorgeous she is....  Which is good because if she did she'd get a big ole head... :)

We arrived at the kids' clay camp early and my sister grabbed a couple shots of me and Ellie in that early morning light.  Gavin had zero interest in this as he was far too preoccupied climbing trees.  Then I grabbed a few shots of my sister alone and some of her playing with the kids.  She had this beautiful scarf that she turned into a "cape" and had the kids pretend to be toros running through it.  They could not get enough of it!   Then their class started and off we went!

I had so many favorites of the final 190 (yes, nearly 200!) edited shots from our one hour shoot that I decided to just put my top 50 in a slideshow to post here.  Anytime I am having Seraphine cravings I will just click on this link and get my dose. :)

I'll start out with a few shots that my sister took of me and Ellie, then the one and only shot I managed to get of her and the kiddos and then the link for the slideshow.  I should point out that the shots inside the barn were actually her idea and she saw a possibility in there that I had never noticed despite doing more than a few shoots at that location.  Such a great eye for composition!  Oh, and in case you are wondering, since we look absolutely NOTHING alike.... she looks exactly like my mom.  But, we both have that high strung, slightly OCD, goofy, bossy, speak your mind, workaholic personality that runs in our family. We blame our mother for that gene, it's *totally* all her fault... :)

I miss you and love you Pookie.

Yes, I said that in print.  On the world wide web.  For everyone to see.

{ CLICK HERE FOR SLIDESHOW! }

ZOZOBUGBABY skirt sale and fall line launch!!

Just a quick post to let everyone know about the big zozobugbaby skirt sale and fall line launch this Saturday morning (Agust 1st) starting at 8 am PST.  She is going to have all kinds of great skirts on sale, even the much coveted twirl skirt AND you get to see her whole new FALL LINE collections!! SO EXCITING!  Be sure to get up early if you are interested as the items sell out super fast and it's all first come, first serve on the sale items.   

On a personal note, my sister who lives in Spain was staying with us the past few days and we just had so much fun.  She has such a big personality (as much as she denies seeing any resemblance in character, Ellie reminds me so much of her) and we had a blast doing a photoshoot together Monday morning while the kids were doing their 2 hr "clay camp" class.  I will be posting images of that on the blog soon.  Right now I have some serious backlog I need to catch up on from doing just the bare minimum of my workload in order to maximize my limited time with her.  I only get to see her once every few years so it was just wonderful having her around.  The kids got some quality time with their auntie and it's a visit they will both remember whereas the last time they were both so young their recollection of her was limited at best.    

I got to introduce my sister to "So you think you can dance", Wii, Zumba, Redwood Pizzeria, Wilder Ranch, multiple starbucks runs, Zingo, Uno, a 4 year old's massive tantrum, the liquify tool in Photoshop which made us both laugh our derrieres off, the ridiculous pace of our nonstop days and a variety of other typical Pascale and family craziness.  I'm sure she's had her fill to last her the next few years....

I just got home from dropping her off and would have cried the whole way home had it not been for the kids preventing me from wallowing in my sadness by asking me a bizillion questions about whether they are more likely to get eaten by a bear or a mountain lion when we go camping in August..... :)

Stay tuned for more pictures and regular blog posts!

Playdate Shoot Extravaganza :)

I've only got one more playdate shoot scheduled for this year as I had them set up as a summertime only special.  These have been very intense and slightly chaotic to say the least but also highly entertaining!  

The location we had picked for this one was unfortunately also being used by a huge birthday party that day/time so we were limited to using one little area with a ton of foot traffic passing through but surprisingly it all worked out beautifully.  Which, considering we had SIX kids four and under is pretty remarkable!

Avery's dad, Kevin, was AMAZING with the reflector and even though the lighting was iffy he was able to provide me with consistent, gorgeous, perfectly directed light with EVERY child I shot during that two hour shoot.  He was wonderful and I'm extremely grateful for all his incredible help!  THANK YOU Kevin.

Due to space limitations, I can only post a few from each child.  But you can see how adorable they turned out! :)

We started out with Avery.  She has an "old soul" vibe about her.  Very bright and very observant.  We did manage to get her laugh though thanks to mom's goofy dance routine (Thanks Carly!).

LOVE this next shot.

wise beyond her years in this next one don't you think?

Then it was my sweet boy Declan who I could just gobble up.  A beautiful child inside and out.  So kissable too!

Do you see those dimples!?  Sigh.

Then I photographed Ava and Bella whom I've had the pleasure of knowing since the beginning of their lives and cannot get enough of.  Ava & Bella are both such little characters!  Both girls were wearing a CUSTOM made outfit by Julie at ZOZOBUGBABY.  One word: WOW.  Ava went first.

She looks like such a classic beauty in this next shot, love it. 

Then little sister Bella.  She has such a strong and independent little spirit it was nearly impossible to get her to sit still!  At one point she was rocking the chair and I told her to watch out or she would fall forward and she gave me this look and scouted her little bottom backwards, it was so funny!

I had three little chairs I had brought and I cannot even begin to describe the musical chair fiasco that ensued!  Next time, TWO chairs. MAX. :)

Beautiful!

Then sisters Mia and Chiara whom I'd never photographed before but Mia was like a PRO.  She did want to watch her sister go first though to see how it all went down.  Smart girl.  :)   

Baby sister Chiara was at that really challenging age to photograph where they can't sit up on their own and their head/neck muscles get tired super fast and don't really like being on their bellies and well, it's usually really hard but Chiara was a champ and we kept shooting until she just couldn't hold her head up anymore and called it a day with her, poor thing, still, we got what we needed!

Those chipmunk cheeks! TO DIE FOR.

Last but not least, sweet, cute as a button Mia in her adorable outfit.  What a doll she was.  Of course, as I was looking at this next photo after I had edited it and admiring how PERFECT it was..... I suddenly laughed so hard I nearly fell out of my chair.  Mia is unknowingly giving me the bird!!!  HAHAHAHA!  Oh dear, I was laughing so hard when I noticed that.  Don't worry Victoria, that one didn't count towards your tally but I included in anyways for posterity's sake :)

(a glimpse into the teen years)

ZozoBugBaby's new fall Eliana Collection!

Oh be still my beating heart!  Such a privilege to have Julie name her new fall collection after my Eliana!  She sent me three outfits to photograph as part of this collection and although life got crazy and I couldn't get to it right away, I put a lot of thought into the shoot beforehand dreaming of the right locations, lighting, backdrop and accessories.  It's not every day that a clothing line is named after your daughter so I really wanted to do a great job when I finally had the chance to get to it!  

I took Ellie out and she absolutely rocked a 1.5 hr shoot with four outfit changes (she wore one outfit twice with different accessories) at the tail end of a long day.  She never ceases to amaze me with her high energy levels and joy for modeling/acting.  I say acting because when she models it's almost like she is acting, she has so many different expressions and personas that she assumes and can switch gears and take on a totally different look within seconds of the last one.  She blows me away with her ability to model for these commercial shoots with so much energy and personality time and time again.

The first outfit was her absolute favorite of the three, which is probably due to the fact that this skirt has some SERIOUS twirl factor to it.   The colors looked amazing on her and the fabric pattern is just PERFECT for fall.  I love this entire line. I had the *hardest* time picking which ones to post on the blog with soooo many to choose from!

Her new thing, you'll see the arms in the air pose again later.

We both loved the way this skirt moves. So fun!

This adorable crocheted hat is by Jenel St. Germain at Simply J Crochet!

I love that I can make her laugh so hard she clutches her stomach :)

Then it was time for the reversible jacket, which is a first for ZozoBugBaby but OMG so cute!!!

working it....

Ellie likes to come up with her own poses and naturally, I oblige. :)

I case you were wondering, she's rocking out here.

As I mentioned, the jacket is reversible and this is what you get when you turn it inside out.  By then Ellie was boiling hot so we only grabbed a couple of this side before she melted away... :)

Then, for outfit #3, this adorable "bubble" type layered skirt and matching top, I pulled out the balloons and hit the backlighting hard.  Soooooo, in this spot I had to wait for the balloons to block the sunlight to be able to take the shot.  It was windy.  The balloons were all over the place.  There was a significant amount of lost shots here as I tried to get my timing fast enough to catch it during the nanosecond that a balloon was blocking the direct light from entering my lens and causing massive flare (not the good flare).... Dang, that was hard!  But oh so worth it. You can see that the balloons (four of them) are almost completely made invisible by the strength of the backlight! 

A gorgeous little pocket of light here.

So, in case you are wondering what's making her laugh so hard, the balloons, which I had tucked the weight into my bag by my feet, were whacking me in the head as I was trying to take this shot.  I obviously saw the value of continuing to take the abuse and got some fun shots as Ellie found humor in the balloons repeatedly bonking me in the head.  Nice that she's such a compassionate little thing, ain't it?!

You'll notice the color coordinated balloons, thankyouverymuch.

She wanted to put the first outfit back on so we grabbed a few last shots with that outfit again sans hat but plus shades.

I love how the blue-grey rocks really compliment the blue-grey tones in the skirt and obviously the top too.

As is almost always inexplicably the case, my very last shot as we are heading back to the car is my favorite one of the day.

The G. Family

I've been photographing this family since early in my photography business career and it's just so awesome to be able to continue to photograph my long time clients because the comfort level just gets to this amazing place after a few years where they truly are friends and I love it.   The whole time we were walking Dylan was holding my hand and it's just so sweet and tender, it could make your heart burst.  

Plus, Lori and I are both talkers so we were chatting a mile a minute in between shots, so funny! 

Dylan and Brody are the sweetest but also liveliest little boys.  They have such a zest for life and are so curious about everything.  It's very cool to witness the transformation as they grow and see how their sibling dynamic changes as they get older and can interact with each other differently.  It's such a privilege to witness these life changes with my clients over the years.  

We started out with mom (aka Lori) as she needed a few new head shots.  Lori is a scrapbooker extraordinaire and is involved with several awesome scrapbooking sites.  You can see here blog HERE.  I'm always blown away by the designs she comes up with.  

Then we hit the little trail that runs behind their home and ends up at a big playground.  The perfect place to live!

What I love most about Lori is that she doesn't necessarily want that "perfect" shot with everyone looking all tidy and, well, perfect.  She really wants me to capture her kids as they are.  To capture their essence, their little mannerisms and the little faces they make that she sees day in and day out.  And that's my favorite thing to do.  Capturing real life, the stuff memories are made of.  Years from now when she looks at these shots of her boys together she will remember this moment in time as if it were yesterday.  I LOVE these sibling shots!  I still got the perfect shot, see below, but I also got the REAL life shots which made me laugh out loud when I saw them.

A little brotherly love....

So, if there's one thing I'm really good at, it's making little boys laugh hard. :)

Showing me their ages on their fingers :)

Dylan's face is so funny in this next shot.  Classic.

So, I thought of doing something funny here and asked mom and dad to kiss and asked the boys to make an "OOOOOOH!" face.  Kinda brilliant methinks.  I knew Dylan could pull it off because he is so expressive and such a character, it was an added bonus when Brody totally played along with it too.  IN LOVE with this set.

Such a beautiful family!

The best part of knowing your clients so well due to having photographed them over the years is the comfort level everyone has with each other, obviously, but also how LOW stress the shoots are for the parents.  Wanna know what I saw Lori and Jeremy doing behind me while I was photographing the boys?   Having fun with the kids' toys!!! hahahahahahaha

I love everything about this next shot.  EVERYTHING.  I don't even know why, I just do.

That face is sooooo Dylan.

Brody's smile is THE BEST!

So the lighting here was terrible but I wanted this shot.

Pamela & Family

I met Pamela almost 15 years ago (OMG, has it really been that long!?) when she was dating a coworker of mine (Mark) and we totally hit it off.  Pamela is a fiercely independent, wicked smart, take charge woman.  Yup, my kind of gal.  She is the President of a very large company and totally runs the show there.  It seems every week she is somewhere new across the globe.  I'm totally jealous of all the world traveling she does but I'm sure she'd rather be home more often seeing as she is always off somewhere doing "President of the company" related duties.  I love that Pamela is such a driven and go-getter career woman.  That girl can move mountains.  I should also give a shout out to her hubby, my friend Mark, because it takes an equally strong and secure man to not be intimidated by us strong willed, "force of nature" type gals and I love that Mark was drawn to Pamela and her passionate drive in life.  They make a great team.  I miss being around them more frequently.  I do not, however, miss the 104 degrees summer heat up in WC though.  It was so HOT the day of our shoot....and I was wearing black slacks.  I'm just BRILLIANT.  We made it through unscathed though.  :)

The purpose of this shoot was actually pretty multi faceted.  We needed to get business head shots of Pamela, her dad and her brother Paul.  We also got a group family shot of Pamela and Mark with her parents and her two brothers.  Some shots of her parents alone together (their first in several decades!).  Some of the three adult siblings together.  Some of Pamela and Mark and their "babies" (two very sweet doggies).  Oh and a special request for shots of the huge CUSTOM HAND BUILT gazebo that her dad designed and built, piece by piece, all alone.  The pictures don't do justice to the scale and intricate design details in that gazebo and adjoining structure.  The entire property is astounding, including a guest house he also built entirely by himself, but the gazebo is definitely the central piece that stands out amongst the beauty of the grounds.   They asked that I use the gazebo as the main backdrop for all the images and I can't blame them for wanting it to "frame" all the shots.  It's truly spectacular.  Truth is, you just can't find that kind of craftsmanship anymore.  Pamela's dad had me in stitches, he is quite the character and we went tete a tete and had a good time with it.  I know these images are more formal than my usual fare but that's par for the course when you aren't chasing toddlers around and performing all kinds of antics to get their attention, although Koa and Miko (the dogs) certainly did give us a run for our money!  Also, these images were intended for corporate/company use (family business) so I had to keep that in mind during the shoot and not get all edgy/artsy with them either.

A few professional head shots first.  What I love most about photographing women is being able to show them just how stunning they are, especially women who feel they don't usually photograph well.  Nothing brings me more joy than taking a gorgeous portrait of them and having them go:  "WOW.  That's me!?" I hope Pamela feels that way about these :)

Plus some more casual headshots with a natural background:

hello, sexy.

Pam set everything up, from the coordinated outfits changes, to the backdrops she liked, you name it, she had everything pre-arranged for me.  She made it as easy on me as a person possibly could!

Pamela and Mark.  I had Mark do most of my reflector work (although here I had the OCF with a huge softbox and pocket wizards set up) and spent the whole shoot calling him my "slave boy" and cracking my imaginary whip at him.  Of course, I can get away with that kind of behavior based on our long history of working in the trenches together.... Having said that, I'm not sure how much he was still missing having me around all the time by the end of the shoot... tee heee heeee.  Love ya Markster. :)

Here he is with Pamela and their adorable dogs.  Above shot: no ear missing, just an adorable trait of having one ear up and one ear down. So cute!

Group shots w/ OCF:

Took advantage of the light diffusing a bit behind a cloud to grab some natural light shots:

throw in a little lovin' and the real smiles come out. :)

The siblings together.  I am TOTALLY going to want a shot of Gavin and Ellie together when they are adults.  It's a shame people stop taking pictures of siblings alone together when they "grow up."

Headshots of Rob. (I got 6 great ones for ya Rob)

Pamela thought we'd have an easier time "corralling" the dogs if they were sitting on this butterfly chair and holding on to them.  The first few shots had me in stitches because Pamela and Mark both looked like they were giving the dogs choke holds and I'm like, um, no. No looking like you are choking out your dogs.  Can we contain them differently?! hahahahahaha  This worked out much better (hand on the collar) noted for future reference. :)

The piece de resistance!

Pamela and her babies. :)

Then the light suddenly got SUH-WEEET and I grabbed a few more headshots of Pamela really quick.  VAVAVAVAVOOOOM.

Back on track!

PHEW!  What a huge sigh of relief, although yesterday was still crazy!  I call the Apple store Saturday morning to find out if my part was in yet and they leave me a message saying the part arrived and they will be fixing my computer that day.  I'm THRILLED with this news.  I go on my 6 mile run (in ridiculous heat, what was I thinking?!), get home, shower, eat, get all my gear ready for my big shoot in the East Bay (about two hours away) and call again to check on the status of things.  They tell me they replaced the video card and are running diagnostics.  Computer should be ready for pick up before closing time at 9pm.   I leave for my shoot at 3pm.  Arrive at 5pm.  Shoot til 7pm.  Haul my derriere back down and get to the Los Gatos store at about 8:30pm.  They bring out my computer and ask me to sign the release saying everything is fine.  Well, mama didn't raise no fool.  I tell them I can't sign that until I know that everything is OK.  I ask them to plug in the computer and lo and behold....  It still doesn't work.  ARGH!  I, now very suspicious, pop open the computer and take a peak inside only to discover my old DUSTY video card still in place.  Where's that new videocard they said they installed?!  Grrrrrrrrrrrr.  I get ahold of the manager who was doing everything to avoid me and lay into her about how exactly does a company say they changed a part when they in fact did not?  And how can they say they spent all day running tests and give my computer the "all clear" when the same problem is still in effect.  Man, I was pissed.

Essentially, I tell them I'm not leaving until they replace the videocard and get my computer going.  They know they have no other choice based on how badly they handled this mess so the huge Apple store closes at 9 pm and gets all locked up with me, the security guard and the last Tech left inside.  Everybody else goes home.  A couple hours later I've FINALLY got a computer that works again.  The manager explained that the wrong paperwork/work order had been attached to my computer.  Either way, I am just glad I took the initiative to make sure everything was functioning properly before just leaving or I would have gotten home with a still broken computer.  Just goes to show, one must be a vigilant customer/consumer.

By the time I got home it was close to midnight so I just plugged everything back in, ran a few diagnostics, made sure all my software and hardware were still working and then I CRASHED.  I didn't even get a chance to look at the images from my shoot until this morning.

I've been editing them all day and needed a break this afternoon and the kids needed some mommy time so I set up a craft activity I had gotten in the Spring for just such an occasion.  I had picked up a bunch of one dollar glass bottles at Cost Plus and colored sand at Oriental Trading Company and the kids had a blast filling the bottles up with various patterns and color schemes.  They really loved this project although you'd never know from the handful of snapshots I took, seeing as they look so SERIOUS in all of them!  Art is hard work! :)

These are basically SOOC since I had no time to edit them, just loading them up here real quick before getting back to my real work.  I highly recommend this project.  I also highly recommend doing it OUTSIDE instead of inside.  Enough said. :)

 Regardless, they loved it.  I got to play with them for a while.  All is well in the world once again.  Now to just get caught up with life/work!  My sister will be visiting from Spain for a couple days starting Tuesday and I'm eager to get as much done as possible before then to maximize my time with her.  I have a shoot Tuesday night but beyond that I don't plan on doing ANYTHING other than hanging out with her and the family for a few days.  I haven't seen her in nearly 3 years so I'm just delighted to have her around, even if just for a little bit.  She always makes me laugh and smile.  I totally miss her!

A couple snapshots of today's activity.

 

I love how when Ellie is nervous or concentrating she will twist her mouth and chew on the inside of her cheek (which is exactly what I used to do when I was little) and Gavin will kinda suck on his lower lip (see below).  I love all their little quirks!

His new smile.... he now thinks he has to smile like this (all HUGE) to make sure I can see that hole from his first tooth coming out.  I sure do hope his normal smile comes back soon!!

my house is such an old, decrepit mess I cannot believe I am posting these.  Oh well.

I should have another blog post tomorrow if all goes according to plan :)

Sierra

If only I had had a FRACTION of the maturity, poise, beauty and smarts that this young lady currently has at 14 years old....  I photographed Sierra about 3 years ago and was blown away even back then as to how comfortable she was in front of the camera.  Then, I get the opportunity to photograph her again last week and WOW, this girl is just amazing through and through.  Not only a true delight to be around, she is also a photographer's DREAM.  Stunning no matter what the angle, unbelievably confident and self assured, incredibly quick at grasping poses and "looks" and equally gorgeous in both color and B&W.  Basically, I could not stop shooting images of her.  As soon as I thought I was done, I saw something else I wanted to do.  She totally worked it and yet made it look so effortless.  I had the *hardest* time narrowing it down to which ones to post on the blog. 

I had been tossing around the idea of focusing more next year on teen/senior shoots and this particular shoot sealed the deal for me.  I plan on moving in that direction for 2010.   Watch out senior market, I'm ready to rock your world! :)

Sierra, you were AMAZING.  Thank you for a super fun shoot.  *muah muah*  Remember what we said about the academy awards, there's no backing out on a promise! :)

just WOW.

Then we played around with some pocket wizard triggered off camera flash for some drama/fashion style imagery.  So much fun!

Then back to my forte, natural light.

I love the vintage feel on this next one so much!

An example of how two shots taken from the exact same angle and vantage point can yield totally different "looks/feel" to them based on what the photographer does with the post processing, from something as simple as rotating the image or converting it to B&W.  The editing is where the creative side really comes out.  Of course, you have to have a solidly artistic, creative and technically sound image to begin with or you won't get anything worth writing home about :)

[side note: the editing was done on my temp laptop and the calibration was not my usual one and slightly off so I'm a bit concerned the colors may be odd but I won't be able to tell until I get my computer back.... On my photoshop they looked too red and on my blog post online they look too green...ARGH!]

Technical difficulties...

I'm blogging this from my iPhone so I hope it works! My beloved macpro desktop crashed yesterday morning resulting in me spending SIX hours at the Apple store in the hopes they could fix it. Sadly, they could not. It needs parts they had to order (hopefully just a new videocard) and was left behind while I anxiously await its return. Needless to say I was in total panic/crisis mode yesterday as my entire life and business are in that computer. I have four internal terabytes of doubly (yet internally) backed up files in there and basically my entire business had to come to a screeching halt. The "genius" guy behind the counter kept telling me that there was no way to access my files (computer wouldn't turn start up or work with any monitor) and essentially nothing else they could do for me, that I was basically SOOL until they can fix my desktop which could take a week or two. I was absolutely not going to accept that and left the store to walk around the block and start problem solving/thinking about the situation. I am usually pretty good at thinking outside the box. There is always something you can do! I came up with the idea/concept that if we removed the main internal hard drive in Bay 1 where all my business files reside that I use the most regularly/frequently as well as where I have the last two shoots I still need to edit, and put that hard drive in one of the store's display MacPro's we could then access the files and transfer them over to a laptop that I could take home and work on. I marched back into the store with my gameplan and asked to speak with the manager. Apple doesn't do loaners (which is unacceptable for business owners if you ask me) so I bought a laptop for the week and will bring it back before the deadline for a full refund minus the restocking fee. I hate having to do that but I had no other choice. Once I got in touch with the "business team" specialist at the store I started getting much better service.... I didn't tell them I was going to bring the laptop back but I certainly would have been honest about it if they had asked. Hey, I got a business to run here. So, three more hours and voila. Done. My most needed files are accessed and moved into a new laptop and I am finally on my way home. PHEW. I was so wiped out yesterday evening I didn't even get the laptop set up for editing. I just got everything hooked up to my big Cinema Display monitor and made sure everything was there and then crashed in bed before 10pm which is unheard of for me.

Skipped my kickboxing class this morning and slept in a bit, cuddled the kids (who were being total angels until about 10 am at which point it all went downhill FAST, I think they are spending entirely too much time together and ready for school), went to a couple appointments with kids in tow and then got cracking getting Photoshop and all my actions installed and prepping the laptop for business.

I finally was able to get some editing done this afternoon. If all goes according to plan I should have a blog post up tonight or early tomorrow morning. I have a big shoot tomorrow evening so I am relieved to be somewhat back on track although I am beyond eager to have my desktop back and have full access to all my info/records/files/programs/software again..... Man, what a big mess!!!

Sorry for the quietness of the blog, it's been less than quiet over here on my end, let me tell ya!

Oh, and one more thing, for those of you who have purchased my book on Blurb's site. They now accept comments/feedback for the books. If you have the time/inclination I would LOVE for you to take a moment to leave a comment on blurb's link to my book. That would be really swell. THANKS! :)

You can access the link on the upper right hand corner of my blog under the link for "MY BOOK".

It finally happened...

Two days after his 7th birthday, my boy *finally* lost his VERY FIRST tooth ever.  It had been wiggly forever and Gavin and I had discussed at length all the things we were going to do when it fell out and how we were going to celebrate it and where we were going to put it for the tooth fairy (etc....ad nauseum) and wouldn't you know it?  Yeah, he loses it while I am at a photo shoot last night.  He, of course, was totally fine about me missing the big event.  I, on the other hand, was totally devastated.  I had to have my husband recount (with as much attention to detail as a man can recall...) his state of disbelief, his delirious joy, his unbridled excitement.... SIGH.  I missed it.  I missed all of it. :(

When I got home and went to go retrieve the tooth from under my sleeping son's pillow I found it IN.A.ZIPLOC.BAG.  Cause, you know, dad's just do things their own way.  I, naturally, had set aside a LOVELY customized little tooth fairy pillow that my dear friend Junneen had so sweetly sewed and put together for Gavin just for this occasion.  Yeah.  You know, whatever.   Grrrrr.   Gavin was obviously ok with it though since he had also instructed his father to leave a message on the ziploc bag asking the tooth fairy to please leave his tooth behind because it was very special to him and he wanted to keep it. Adorable.

My husband luckily had a silver dollar and other fancy coins he was able to put in the bag for Gavin to discover in the morning.  I was awakened at 6 am by the sound of jingling coins in a bag right up to my ear and a little boy jumping up and down excitedly barely able to contain himself.  

We immediately secured the tooth into a more proper receptacle, a little twist top tooth fairy box I had purchased ages ago just for the occasion (I'm ridiculously crazy about such little details) and he proceeded to carry that little box with him all day showing his tooth off to anyone who was willing to look at it.  So funny! Of course, it would not be our house if there wasn't at least ONE disaster surrounding the occasion and Ellie was sure to provide that for us, as she tends to like to do.

Despite being told to NOT TOUCH the little container, (ha!) she waited until I was getting dressed and Gavin was brushing his teeth (now minus one) to unscrew the cap, play with the tooth, drop the tooth and proceed to come up and tell us that she lost the tooth and couldn't find it.   Gavin flipped out.  I'm frustrated because we were already running late to get out the door (we leave at 8 am sharp) and I had to spend the next 35 minutes on my hands and knees (both kids joined me and "helped") looking for a tiny little tooth knowing that I would not be able to vacuum my entire kitchen/dining room area until we found that darn tooth.  We did finally find it but I was late because of that little fiasco.  Sigh.  Never a dull moment in my house.  

So, I did manage to grab a super fast snapshot of Gavin and his new grin this morning at breakfast (bedhead and all) which I had him exaggerate so we could see the hole, which is actually hard to see on those bottom teeth slots.  I also got a quick shot of his "designer" ziploc tooth carrier and his resulting "loot."  He has been on Cloud 9 all day so I can only imagine how happy he was last night when he lost it.  I'm so happy for him, he was really getting annoyed that EVERYONE he knew, even kids younger than him by a couple years, had already lost a tooth.  PHEW!

Kennolyn Camp

I'm doing a series of shoots for Kennolyn Camp in Santa Cruz and I just cannot say enough about this camp.  They  offer both a day camp and overnight camp program and offer an amazing variety of activities for the kids from swimming, archery, horseback riding, fencing, rope climbing, zip lines, animal care, arts and crafts etc... the list goes on and on.  It's on several acres of GORGEOUS property up in the mountains overlooking the Santa Cruz Coastline, surrounded by majestic Redwood trees and always in a pocket of sunshine even when the coast, just a couple miles away, is smothered in fog.  

The staff there is an absolutely incredible, cohesive, friendly and professional group of young adults and from what I saw first hand I can tell you the kids are under fantastic supervision while having loads of fun.  My kids will be attending one week there later this summer and I cannot tell you how jazzed they are about this. In fact, I cannot tell you how jazzed *I* am about this!!  hahahahaha :)

I did my first session last week and had an absolute blast as it consisted of climbing up one of their rope courses 65' high, grabbing a ton of awesome shots and then zip lining back down to the ground.  Talk about exciting!  

I'm not sure the pictures provide enough scaling reference for you all to realize just exactly how high up in the trees that is but man-oh-man, it's HIGH!!!  Funniest part is I had to go up this obstacle rope course thing to get to the top platform which consisted of three different types of challenges as you continue to climb up.  I'll show pictures of that later.

Once you are at the main platform there is a series of swinging mini platforms that the kids travel across, which consists of them literally FLYING through the air after launching themselves off a SWINGING platform to grab another moving platform and so on and so on.  Completely insane.  I passed on doing that particular activity (hey, I'm not that CRAZY) having used up all my strength and energy just getting up to the top platform to begin with! :)

So, to start us off, here are a few shots of that swinging platform course from the main platform WAY UP HIGH where I was shooting from.  Do you see the itty bitty people way down there?

These individual platforms are spaced in such a way that you have to swing them towards each other to get close enough to jump from one to the other....  Yeah.  The kids doing this were all 6th grade and up and so totally fearless.  It was such a kick just watching them do this as though they were completely unaware that they were several stories high...

Then, once across that craziness they hook up to the zip line and throw themselves down it.  The first 20 feet or so are a total free-fall before the line really catches.  The two kids I photographed going off this ledge would literally get a running start and launch themselves into the air.  I can assure you that when I went off it I had to count myself down, out loud, talking to myself like some old crazy lady before stepping off the ledge.  I remember thinking for a split second after launching off something akin to "I am going to die" while desperately waiting for my line to catch and propel me forward rather than downward.   The heavier you are, apparently, the more the free fall.  I was cursing myself for that ice cream I had the night before!

I just love this next shot.  This girl was amazing.  She attacked the courses and zip line like a beast.  I was in awe watching her.

look at her jumping in between MOVING platforms!

Swinging to build up momentum.

There she goes off the zip line as fast as she possibly can.  Insane.

they call this next one the Leap Of Faith!

This is the rope course you have to climb to get to the main platform.  There are three parts to it.  The bottom section is a rope ladder that swings around as you try to climb it (argh!), the second part is a series of horizontal 2X2' boards that are between 3-6 feet apart which means you have to literally throw yourself up onto the next one to climb up them.   That was the hardest part for me as my upper body is not what it used to be.  In fact, I was dismayed that even with all my tae kwon do, kickboxing, running, cross fit, and ZUMBA classes I found it a challenge getting up this course.  I *thought* I was in good shape.  Guess it's time to kick up the workouts a notch eh? :)  In this next shot you see her throwing her leg up to get on the next board.  Also, there is nothing to hold onto between planks so you have to let go of the one you are on/holding and quickly grab the one above you by kinda leaping for it.  Very tricky.

The third portion is this bar/pole ladder that swivels as you climb it, totally disorienting!  I was telling it to stop swiveling but it didn't listen to me. :)  This girl in the pink, it was her first time up this course.  We were all so proud of her!

Then at the end of the swiveling thing, you get back to a few more of those 2x2 thingies and you can scootch down to the main platform or keep climbing.  The higher you go the further apart the 2X2 boards are to the point where I have NO CLUE how anyone gets to the next one.  

Above: One of the many beautiful views at Kennolyn

Below: Hey! There's a kid flying through the air!

This next spot is the second rope course area.  Here the kids swing from way up high (as seen above) into the air.  My assignment was to get some "from below" shots on this one.

Ready to launch!

On the next two shots, the image on the left is the full sized version and the image on the right is the zoomed in close up of his face as he is flying through the air!

 

The grounds at Kennolyn are just beyond gorgeous.

 

The second half of my shoot consisted of me taking candids of the kids as they participated in more group activities and the singing camp songs on the logs and so on.  The kids were having a blast and even though it's a big camp, it totally has that intimate and close knit feel to it.  

At the end of the day, while waiting for the buses to transport them home, this is what I caught.  Boy could I relate to this little guy! Too cute!

My boy.

My boy turned 7 today.  I am not usually overly sentimental about birthdays.  I find them to be joyous occasions and tend to revel in all the celebrating et al but this one is hitting me hard for some reason. I woke up all weepy and as he bounded in my room (AT SIX AM NO LESS TO REMIND ME THAT HE IS NOW 7 THANK YOU VERY MUCH) and snuggled up and kept saying: "I'm seven mom! Really!  I'm SEVEN! Can you believe it!?"  I had to concentrate hard on not letting my emotions take over and start bawling all over him.  

I can't explain the feeling other than just to say that it truly feels as though we are ending a specific chapter in his life and starting a new one.  He's obviously been through a variety of stages and every birthday has held great meaning in it but there's something deeply moving about this one that I just can't explain.  It is so bittersweet to watch your children grow up and gain increasing independence.  To watch them start to spread their wings, to guide them as they venture forth and become more and more THEM and less and less YOUR influence on them.  To witness that transformation first hand.  To feel your heart break into a million pieces as they need you less and less and less. And yet to have your heart swell with pride as they begin to accomplish so much on their own.  Is there nothing more painful as a mother than to push your baby bird out of the nest and HOPE AND PRAY that he/she will soar away, safely AWAY from you?  I know he's only 7 but the separation that I am sensing all of a sudden from what has traditionally been a ridiculously tight bond is killing me.  My whole family jokes about how I never cut the umbilical cord with Gavin.  How he and I are still tightly bound and attached by a metaphorical cord because we are so undeniably deeply connected to each other.  And yet, I feel like that is now ending in a sense and going into a new direction/avenue.  Where he used to never dare to do anything without me right by his side, he is now seeking new opportunities to try things WITHOUT my help, my presence, my encouragement.  

In all honesty, the whole thing is just totally bittersweet and I just don't know why this birthday feels so incredibly monumental, but it just does.

It could have something to do with his first wiggly tooth finally looking like it might come out any day (He was the only kid in both his Kindergarten and First grade classes NOT to lose a single tooth during both school years!!).  It could have something to do with how unbelievably tall he has gotten this year, well above most kids his age.  He suddenly seems so non-little-kiddish to me.

It could have something to do with the fact that he will be entering the SECOND grade this fall.

It could have something to do with how mature he seems and the solid, deep, meaningful questions he asks me.  It could be because his understanding of such intense and complicated concepts has reached a whole new level.  His reasonable, pragmatic, compassionate approach to life never ceases to amaze me.

I don't know what it is really.  I just know that this day, today, was a big deal and I'm still trying to pull myself together. He had a wonderful birthday surrounded by friends and family, doing all the fun things he loves to do.  Eating his favorite foods.  Opening the presents that he had hoped and dreamed about.  And having his mommy totally invested in him and his day.  Which means, yes, I left the camera at home.  I have absolutely ZERO photographic documentation of today.  NOTHING.  Not even a picture of him blowing out the candles.  He *may* look back on this year, this blatantly empty spot in his photo album, the only birthday that passed without a single image taken and wonder why, wonder what happened, OR perhaps, just maybe, he'll remember it as the birthday when mom came in the rented pool and actually played with him, cuddled him as he ate, hung out with him and ENJOYED the day along WITH him.  I'm hoping it's the latter. :)

The only two pictures I will post is first one I took of him earlier this week.   A grab shot I took to test my new replacement lens that Canon sent me to see if it was working properly.  My old 24-70mm f2.8 lens had been in the Canon repair shop SIX times in one year and they finally agreed to replace it for free.  I tested the new lens on Gavin real quick before heading out to a shoot to make sure it was was working properly and this is the shot I got.  He is giving me the "ok MOM, but make it quick" look.  Still, he's beautiful and I love him and his eyes blow me away and I just could stare at that kid all day long.  Yes, he's a mama's boy and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. He always has been and always will be.  I adore him with every fiber of my being.

The second picture is one I took last night after spending 2+ hours baking, icing and decorating 40 cupcakes for him.  He wanted almond poppy seed cupcakes with both vanilla and chocolate frosting and M&M's on top.  I made the M&M's spell out the number 7. :)

Happy 7th Birthday luvbug.  Thank you for still WANTING to hold my hand when we cross the street and for always enthusiastically cuddling me every night and never being embarrassed (yet!) by all my bear hugging and slobbery kisses when I drop you off at school and for always thanking me for everything I do for you and for being such an awesome, affectionate, sweet, thoughtful, considerate, compassionate, loving, generous, wonderful little soul.  I am so proud of you.  It's an honor being your mommy. :)

The S. Family

This lovely family is due with baby#2 very soon and we were able to capture this special time for them at Natural Bridges on an absolutely GORGEOUS day.   Big sister to be Julie was very timid at first but Daddy worked his comedian act and soon she was giggling and having a good time, albeit still in the tight confines of her mother's arms :)

Jen is just about as photogenic as they come and it was so easy getting great shots of her.  She was also very accommodating to my many requests for different poses and went along with everything I suggested which I really appreciated and resulted in some truly spectacular shots.   I love when my clients just trust me to do my thing.  It gives me the freedom to play around, experiment and try new things, resulting in a variety of poses and imagery for them.

We started out with Jen alone while dad worked his magic with Julie.  

I love this next shot!

This next one is a variation on the hand/heart on belly shot.  I had her hold out her hand in front of her rather than resting it on her belly.  I like this version better!

We took a series of more "risquee" shots but those are not being posted for privacy reasons.  I can only tell you that they are HOT! :0

Julie and mommy cuddling together. :)

I had to get my close ups of Julie while she was in the comfort and security of her mom's arms but I still managed some great shots!  How beautiful is that smile!? And those sparkling eyes!?

Stunning.  And I am insanely crazy about the next several shots.  Jen worked it!

I can't wait to meet the little baby brother in a few more weeks!!

Che

I've had the immense pleasure of photographing Che many, many times over the past few years and I can only tell you that I VERY much look forward to our time together.  He is MR. CHARMER through and through.  He was the smiliest newborn I'd ever photographed back then and to this day he is still such the happy, delightful little boy.

He now does this adorable little scrunchy nose thing (that I totally love!) so I *had* to get that documented.   Che is also super duper affectionate and gave me all kinds of cuddlin' and lovin'. That boy sure knows how to work the ladies.... :)

I love his many varied and hilarious expressions.  He is just about as cute as they come.  Here he is showing me his muscles. :)

yeah, so, he's pretty much beautiful.

here he is telling me to listen for the sheep and goats nearby. :)

look at that smirk!

his cool dude pose

So Che ride this little no-pedals bike and he's such a little daredevil on it.  Was totally cracking me up.

Here he is doing his "please one more time" request.  I have no idea how his mother EVER tells him no.  I couldn't do it.

The eternal internal debate...

***my internet and phone have been down for almost 24 hrs and are now only working intermittently, sorry for any delay in responding to emails!!!***

Our family time is pretty limited due to opposing work schedules, so when we do have a full family day where neither parent has to go to work, it's a pretty special occasion.  And with my husband's line of work, he pretty much always ends up working all the major holidays.  We've spent YEARS now explaining to the kids that yes, santa does sometimes come a day early for those whose daddies have to work on Christmas day.  We figure by the time they stop believing in Santa they'll be stoked to be able to celebrate it a day earlier than all their peers.  So far, we have not had too many hard questions.  It is especially rough though when dad is gone for Thanksgiving and Halloween and Christmas etc....  but it's all we've ever known as a family unit so we are pretty used to it by now.  On the rare occasion that my husband IS off on a major holiday we definitely want to celebrate that day to the fullest!  It just so happened that he was off this 4th of July so we planned for the Firecracker race (see previous post) followed by a fun afternoon at the local SV festivities and then capped off with a fireworks show to end the night with a "bang"! :)

As is the case with every precious family day outing, the same debate always happens: to bring or not to bring?  My husband HATES that I bring my camera along everywhere and so I try my best to leave it at home.  Having said that, I always tend to regret it later when I don't bring it.  So, as a compromise for this 4th of July, I brought the camera but left behind the tripod and cable switch thereby excluding any possibility of me taking pictures of the fireworks.  I've done plenty of fireworks shooting before with tripod and all the gear and set up etc... and so it's not like I wanted/needed to try some something new for the first time.  My fireworks shots that I have taken in the past used to sell quite well back when I was doing stock photography so I have some really nice shots that I've taken of that kind of stuff.  I figured I'd probably just end up getting shots that looked like my old shots so I decided to leave the heavy duty gear at home.

The biggest quandary behind all of this of course, and the one I battle with the most is: should I LIVE in the moment or should I DOCUMENT the moment?  Because even if I am physically there, if I am behind the camera, I am not truthfully not fully living it or engaged in it.  I am in "Photographer" mode and, as any photographer will tell you, when you are in that "place" you are interacting with the environment/world in a completely different way than if you didn't have a camera in your hands.  You are constantly evaluating the direction of the light, the quality of the light, watching the background, deconstructing the composition you want in your head while figuring out the exposure settings you wish to plug in.   It's just not the same thing as being fully invested EMOTIONALLY in the situation at hand.  Which is why I've made a HUGE effort the last few years NOT to bring my camera along to my kids' own birthday parties.  I'd rather be a part of the event over documenting it photographically.  I'll take a handful of P&S shots here and there or videotape portions but I take off the photog hat and make it a point to just be MOM that day.  It's not always easy, especially when I see a scene or moment that I wish I could have captured on film, but I know my kids appreciate it and that's all that matters.

So, back to the 4th.  I did bring the camera (much to my husband's dismay) but I decided to take a different approach with the documentation.  For starters I didn't take any pictures of them playing around at all the activities and booths and ice cream indulging and so on.  I only pulled it out when they went to the petting zoo and then once again at the very end when we were hanging out on our lawn chairs as the sun was setting, waiting for the fireworks to start.  So, let's start with the petting zoo.  Gavin and Ellie are both really into animals and as many of you know Gavin is a vegetarian who wants to be a Veterinarian later in life.  He ADORES animals and is such a sweet, gentle and tender boy when it comes to interacting with them.  I knew they'd really love the petting zoo portion and I was not remotely surprised when they decided they wanted to spend most of their allotment of tickets just on that one activity.  The light was disappearing fast and everything for this set was shot at ISO 1600.

 

I usually know right away if I prefer an image in color or B&W but occasionally I will have a hard time picking...like here... which one do you guys prefer?

After the petting zoo and a quick ice cream cone (a must!) we headed back to our spot on the lawn and hung out until showtime.  The light was almost completely gone and I was shooting everything at 3200 ISO, which is just amazing to me when you think about that considering a few years ago they didn't even make cameras that could shoot at that level, much less with any degree of quality that could be remotely useable.  As part of my little experiment, I literally plugged in my settings and then rested the camera on my lap and played around with the whole "shoot from the hip" approach to photography.  Basically what that means is you do not bring the camera up to your face to compose the shot or pick your focal point.  You aim and you press the shutter and you leave your camera at your hip (if you are standing) or in your lap (if you are sitting down, as I was).  Instead of having my face behind the camera I continued to interact/engage with my kids and just kept pressing the shutter when I thought it was an opportune time to do so.  

I had no idea what kind of shots I was getting and made a concerted effort to not cheat by looking at the LCD either other than an occasional quick check to make sure my exposure was in the right ballpark.  I wanted to be totally surprised (pleasantly or not) by what I captured when I downloaded the images later on at home.

Here are a few gems from that.  Remember, the camera was in my lap and I was just pointing it at what I wanted and clicking the shutter.  I *highly* recommend this just as a FUN activity.  Clearly, not something you would do on a REAL shoot of course!!!

 

That's the MOON in the background.  Gorgeous.

 

Ellie singing.  Loudly.  Thankfully being drowned out by the band.  Phew.

 

 

Now, of course when the fireworks show started and I saw the amazing backlighting from the moon and the smoke and the vibrant lights I felt massive pangs of regret for not bringing all my tripod gear etc... BUT as I felt my daughter's warm little body pressing into me and looked over at my son cuddled in his dad's lap and was able to spend the entire show focusing on not only the show but also their faces and reactions, well, I knew I'd made the right decision.  It was a joy to experience along with them their happiness and excitement.  

All in all, a wonderful 4th of July.  Of course, I would be remiss in not thanking all those who came before us and fought to guarantee our independence and all those who are currently out there safeguarding it for us.  I may not be a fan of the war we are in but I am and always will be a supporter of those brave men and women who are out there doing their job under such intense, dangerous and challenging conditions.  

Addendum#1 - The family sitting behind us left a MOUNTAIN of trash behind as they left after the show.

  That's a major pet peeve of mine.  Come on, folks, pick up after yourselves!!  Gavin, bless his little heart, grabbed as much as he could in his arms to throw away on our way out.  Love that kid.

Addendum #2 - Gavin has his very first super wiggly tooth and we are all placing bets on whether or not it will fall out before his 7th birthday this Saturday!

Addendum #3 - Just in case you thought my kids were always sweet little angels and willing to pose for the camera any time I asked them too and all I ever get are wonderful shots of my kids, let me share with you my attempt at imagery as we were heading out the door for the SV festivities.  I wanted to document their cute, festive little outfits and get a nice sibling shot.  FAILED.

Firecracker Race & Happy Fourth of July!!!

Three weeks ago my BFF Christy (who is an AMAZING long distance runner) convinced me, in a moment of sleep deprived weakness, to sign up for the 10k Firecracker Race in Pogonip Open Space in S.C. on July 4th.  I'm not a runner.  I don't even LIKE running.  I basically avoid it at all costs.  So, even though I work out regularly (tae kwon do, cross fit, kickboxing and now Zumba), I do not run. But, here I was signing up for it anyways and thinking about how I was going to go from not running at all to running a 10k in LESS than 3 weeks.  

Yeah, I'm not sure what I was thinking.  But I set up a running schedule that started out on the treadmill at the gym doing first a 2 mile run, then a 3 mile run, then a 4 mile run the first week with no regard as to the time it took to do it, but rather just making the distance.  The second week I hit the trails at Henry Cowell and ran around the .8 mile loop there starting to track my time/distance ratio.  The second week I worked up to 8 loops which was equivalent to 6.4 miles.  I was averaging about a 9-10 mn mile.  I was getting in 2-3 runs a week.  This last week I only got in 2 runs and felt really lackluster both times.

Last night I kinda panicked.  The part that concerned me the most was that I had trained on exclusively FLAT territory the entire time and they call this race/course "The Hill" for a reason.  Basically, the whole middle part is all uphill.  I got NO sleep last night tossing and turning stressing out about everything that could go wrong, wondering what to expect (I've never done a race before), imagining myself tripping on my laces, stumbling on a rock and twisting my ankle, passing out on the hill etc...  I'm a total worry wart.

But there was no turning back because I had also signed up the kids to do the 1k kid race and they were really excited about doing their first race too.  Sadly, my friend Christy seriously injured her leg and couldn't do the race which was a total bummer for both of us. 

I somehow managed to get the whole family up this morning at 6:30 am, which considering it was a day off for everyone was a feat in and of itself.  Had a cup of coffee (BAD idea, with it being a diuretic and all, now I know....) and an energy bar and off we went.

The kids race was first and so stinking cute.  Ellie, as expected, ran faster than her big brother but that girl outruns most kids twice her age.  She has AMAZING natural runner's form.  Such a thrill watching her sprint down to the finish line and see the pride on her face.  Gavin and his BFF Nate (Christy's son) were right behind.  They looked exhausted but equally proud to have made it.  We had so much fun cheering for them!  Here is a short video of the kids coming across the finish line!

Password:  1k

firecracker 1k kids from pascale wowak on Vimeo.

Then it was my turn to take off.  Feeling the energy of the crowd of runners was very cool albeit I had a hard time initially finding "my" pace amongst all the different paces out there especially since I had trained alone these last three weeks and wasn't used to running with a group or even another person.  Eventually I found a gal in blue shorts ahead of me that seemed to be at what I thought was my pace and just decided to keep "trained" on her and not worry about anything else.  I had a GREAT playlist on my IPOD and just got into a groove.  The hill did nearly kill me though and at one point was SO STEEP that I had to walk up it as fast as I could because there was no way I could run up that one particular spot.  Then I had to find my pace again because I had lost my "rabbit" so to speak.  I was soooooo happy to see the finish line approaching and dug deep to really hustle down those last 100 yards.  My final time was 53:30.  Which ended up being just slightly faster than my usual time!  

Best part of the race? Seeing my kids and husband cheering me on at the finish line.   Second best part?  The popsicle they gave everyone who ran.  :)

I used my little point and shoot to catch the video of the kids running but the camera was going on the fritz on me and not allowing me to get any pictures of the kids which was driving me crazy.  This little P&S is only a year old and should not be doing this so I'm hoping it was a one time problem and will not happen again.  Grrrr.  I had no idea if the video portion would even come out but it worked and my hubby even filmed me coming in at the finish line for me which was a nice surprise!  Here's my finish!  Wooohoooo!   I ended up coming in 5th in my division.  For a first time runner who only trained for 3 weeks I'd say that's not too shabby!  I just may have to do this again....  (by the way, I'm still not a natural runner and it was absolutely painful and challenging with every single step, this was NOT an easy run and I had to WORK for it...I envy all those gazelle like runners out there who weren't even breathing heavy whizzing by me as I was huffing and puffing and drenched in sweat!)

password:  10k

Firecracker 10k from pascale wowak on Vimeo.

So, a great way to start of the 4th of July and celebrate our country's independence.  We are going to go see the Fireworks show in SV tonight so if you are there and see us, swing by and say HI!!! :)

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY EVERYONE!!!

Miss Lily

Ah, little miss Lily!  When I last photographed her she was just a few months old, NOT yet mobile and as accommodating as they come.  Fast forward to yesterday....  What a difference a year makes!  That little girl is FAST and FEISTY and determined NOT to look at the camera.  Mom, dad and I were chasing her all over trying to redirect her in the general vicinity of my lens and she would intentionally run the other way.  If she saw me she would deliberately turn her back to me with a mischievous little smile on her face.  She only stopped moving on one occasion and that was so she could poop.  So funny!  We tried every trick in the book to grab her attention and get her to slow down for a second and she was on to us every time.  She just threw her head back and laughed at us silly adults and shook her head saying "no! no! no!" in her playful and taunting little way.  I swear it was like Ellie all over again.  At one point I accidentally called Lily by Ellie's name, that's how much I was transported back in time!  I was really struggling to get her to stay in the light I wanted her to be in too and was astounded at her "energizer bunny" nature where she just kept running away without once looking back to see if any of us were even remotely closeby.  A super independent and determined little soul in that girl!  In the end, we prevailed, but I think the adults involved all collapsed on a couch when they got home! :)

Ginger and Art, thank you so much for driving so far to come see me and chase Lily around!!  She is a very bright, charming and delightful little girl!

Here is the one second she stopped moving to attend to other business.

For these, I'd get exactly ONE shot and then she'd literally launch herself off the bench, dad would scoop her up, put her back, I'd get ONE shot, she'd launch herself off again... you get the idea.  I have never seen a toddler move that fast in all my years of doing this!

She is actually still moving in this next shot which I caught as she momentarily, and accidentally, glimpsed at me.  HA!  I had my SS set to 1/640 instead of my usual 1/250 or 1/320 that I use with toddlers.  

I love this classy, simple denim dress with bloomers by the way.  It photographs beautifully in both color and B&W and keeps all the focus on Miss Lily.  Beautiful choice by mom!

HAHA! GOTCHA!

I quickly figured out that the best thing to do with Lily was NOT suggest anything.  So rather than ASK her to sit in the chair, which she would have politely refused to do, I quietly moved the chair into a location I liked, silently stepped away from the chair and casually squatted down a few yards away.  Then we all looked AWAY from the chair like it was the LAST place we wanted her to go..... and wouldn't you know it.....

Do you see her eyeballing me on the last frame? Trouble with a capital T that one... That's about when I started calling her Ellie.

Look at that determined look on her face!

Then, at the very end, I got these last two shots back to back and when I got them I told Ginger: "That's it! I got what I needed"  And we both let out a big "wooohoo!!"

Next year I'm wearing my track shoes.

Back in the day...

Ok, OK.  I aim to please my readers....  And many of you have been asking for a picture of me 'back in the day' when I was doing the only career I honestly thought I was MEANT to do, the one that came so naturally, easily and that I loved with every fiber of my being...  The one I had worked towards as my goal since I was a pre-pubescent teenaged girl.  The only career I every thought I would have.  Funny how life can throw you curveballs huh?  Luckily, I was able to enjoy 10 marvelous years doing this so I'm not complaining.  And I've been beyond fortunate to have found another calling that makes me equally happy and engages a totally different side of my brain/personality.  It's been very enlightening on so many levels to be doing something now that is so different from what I used to do.  It's like I've gotten in touch with a completely different side of myself.   While looking for a picture of that monumentally important, personality shaping, decade of my life, I came up surprisingly empty handed.  Turns out I only have a very small handful of pictures of me in uniform.  The reason for that, of course, is that cops don't go around taking pictures of each other in uniform, and I hated having my picture taken as much back then as I do now.  Probably even more so.   This one shot I will be sharing below though has a lovely story behind it.

During a few years while working up in the East Bay, I was neighbors with a little old lady who lived alone in her home.  She didn't have any family in the area and was the sweetest thing ever so I would frequently stop by to quickly say hi and check in on her whenever I could on my days off.  Sometimes I would stop by in uniform when things would slow down enough to allow me to do that.  She always got a monumental kick out of seeing me in uniform.  Even though she was frail and tiny and soft spoken, there was always a spark of feistiness behind her demeanor and I could tell that "back in the day" she must have been quite the little trouble maker! :)

One day while I was stopping by on duty to quickly say hi she asked to take a picture of me.  I relented because I knew how much it meant to her and stood outside her front door as she held up her little disposable Kodak Film Camera and, with shaking little old hands, took the shot.  One shot.  I fully expected my head to be cut off or the image to be sooooo blurry (from the shaking) that I would be indiscernible from the door.  But I knew she probably wouldn't care so I didn't bother to ask her if she wanted to take a second shot "just in case."

A few days later there was a little note on my door, with a copy of the picture she had taken, and the words: "one day you'll look back fondly on this time in your life and cherish this image."   I laughed and, "knowing" that I would be doing this until I retired, ergo 30 years of it, figured I'd never know any time in my life when I WASN'T doing this seeing as I was sent to the police academy at the ripe old age of 20 and a half years old after having already been a police dispatcher for 2 years and a police cadet/aide for a year prior to that.  (Yes, I started out in Law Enforcement at 17 yrs old).  This was all I'd ever known.  How could I ever feel "disconnected" from it!?  It's all I was ever going to do!  I tucked the picture away in an overly stuffed, disorganized photo album and never thought twice about it, until this week as I was frantically looking for images of me in uniform.  

Of course, she was right.  I let out a little squeal when I saw the image and a flood of memories came rushing back into my head and my heart was overwhelmed with emotions.   Truth is, I *do* miss that career every single day of my life.  But I am in a different place now.  I'd venture to say I'm in a more challenging (and yet fulfilling) place, which mostly has to do with the fact that I am a mother now! That time in my life back then was so carefree.  Even though I'd work (with overtime) an average of 60-80 hrs a week on the GRAVEYARD shift no less, I was never as sleep deprived as I have been the last few years.   It almost seems as though the life I had then cannot even be real because it is so far removed from my life now.  It's amazing how things change. How I have changed.  And even though I miss that phase of my life (intensely at times), I'm truly thrilled to be where I am now, along with my much more "demure" life, void of any adrenaline rushes and that amazing work camaraderie.   Everything in life has its pros and cons and there are definitely things about my old job that I DO NOT miss.

So, I tried my best not to get too sentimental when I saw that picture and instead tried to recall and focus on the aspects of the job that were less appealing to me than the exciting and rewarding ones.  I believe everyone has a path to take in their life and that plans change.  Life happens.  And, ultimately, everything happens for a reason.  

  

So, that was a pretty long winded way to introduce one measly photograph don't ya think!?   I have immense gratitude to the sweet little old lady neighbor many many years ago for taking this shot and knowing then what I did not yet know.  Knowing how much it would mean to me to have it and mischievously convincing me to take it on the premise that SHE wanted it for herself when all along it was a gift for me. :)

I was just reminded of a funny story.  When I was first fitted for the bullet proof vest we wear under our uniforms the guy in the store "kindly" suggested that because I was so flat chested (um....thanks?!), I would probably not need the "women's" bullet proof vest (that comes with darts built in to accommodate the breasts) and would probably be more comfortable wearing a guy's vest.  Ugh.  Talk about embarrassing.  But, he was actually right, the men's vest fit me MUCH better and by not having the darted vest poking out I was able to put a whole ton of stuff (papers, pen, cards, resource materials, nystagmus chart etc..) in my front pockets which was sooo handy and my few fellow female officer compatriots could not do because their big breasts kept making their paperwork/pen fall out!  So, score one for the little boobies!  Also, because I am all legs and no torso I was able to get an old fashioned "drop" holster on my hip which made me the fastest draw in the department, loved it!!

A "numbered" Courtney Courtney Design

When Courtney sent this "little number" (pun intended!) to be photographed Ellie initially balked at it.  WHY?

"But mom!! I'm 4 and a half!! I'm NOT five, how can I wear a FIVE dress???!! Also, does that mean that when I turn five I can't wear my FOUR dress anymore??? I LOVE my four dress???" and she started bawling.  BIG tears.  I guess growing old is hard on us all! :)

I assured her that she could continue to wear her Courtney Courtney number "4" dress as long as she still fit into it even AFTER she turns five.  I also reassured her that she could wear this "5" dress even if she was only 4.5 years old because there were NO laws prohibiting this.  She was honestly concerned that we were breaking some rule somehow.  

Once she realized that we were not criminals and that she'd get some M&M's for all her "trouble" we were good to go.  Also, it helped that Courtney had sent along a new hat to compliment the outfit and Ellie LOVES hats.  So we were set.

If you have a little one with a birthday coming up you have GOT to check out Courtney's unique and original "number" dresses, they are superb!

The light was gorgeous and within seconds she was totally rocking it, full of life, joy and that unmatched Ellie energy that I wish I could bottle up for myself.

Having said that, before you all think my child is just sweet as cupcakes or a dream to photograph ALL of the time, let me show you what I get when I put her in a location that she is not quite "feeling."

OKEE DOKEE.  So, I let her pick where she wanted to go and wouldn't you know it? She picked a place with SUPERB light.  And she said: "This is good, we can have the light to my back, you know, how we like it."  How cool is that?

 

Working with Ellie can be a bit challenging insomuch that she will only stay in one spot for about 5-10 shots and then is off running to find a new location.  If you didn't get what you needed in those limited shots, fugetaboutit for that location, she won't come back to it.  So I've learned to move FAST and always be READY for her and act quickly before she darts off to a new location.

Imitating the bubbles on the dress.  Or, as she put it: "Look, I'm a bubble too!"

Off to the fence she goes.

No, she's not asking me to stop, she's showing the number 5. :)

Then in the parking lot, my favorite shot of the day.

Blowing kisses to Courtney. :)

And then a little Iphone video in the car right afterwards.  She is sooooo funny!

No password needed, it's 2 seconds long. :)

I rocked it! from pascale wowak on Vimeo.