pascale wowak photoblog

The M. & M. Families

A quick little "record check" revealed that this was my 12th shoot with this family.  TWELVE SHOOTS!?  Wow.  That's my record so far with any given family and I gotta say we're like a well oiled machine at this point.  You'd think doing a shoot with four adults and three kids under 4 would be total pandemonium but it was smooth sailing from start to finish.  We all work very well together and we all know each other by now well enough to see the hiccups coming and take alternate routes and adapt our gameplan when necessary.  It's just totally seamless at this point which is pretty remarkable with this large of a group.  I've had the distinct honor of being able document every milestone, every pregnancy, every newborn, and every stage for them.  I just love this family through and through.

Shannon, Adam, AJ & Easton, and Jennifer, Mike & Chase, it was an absolute pleasure, as always and I am no longer surprised by the ridiculous amount of amazing shots we get every time.  Grandma Cindy, thank you for making this possible every year for us all.  I know your daughters so appreciate this gift tremendously.

Here is a TINY fraction of all the incredible images we got that beautiful afternoon.

The three cousins.  AJ (in the middle) is a total ham.

 

Thanksgiving (the second half)

As you saw from my previous post we spent Thanksgiving morning with the puppies (whom I am missing terribly right now) and then headed over to my mom's house to finish celebrating this day of Thanks.

My mom was great because this was our first T-day as vegetarians and she made a delicious homemade veggie lasagna with sweet potatoes.  In addition, she also made a meat based meal for our one hold out (Jason) so he could still get his "fix".    That was very kind of her.  I brought a homemade pumpkin pie with walnut streusel topping that was, if I may say so, to die for.  So, we were all happy campers.

After chowing down we walked up to the park near my mom's house and let everyone get their blood pumping a bit to avoid a food coma. :)

I was a good girl and only took less than a dozen pictures the whole time at my mom's house.  That's some serious self control and restraint for me. (Having said that, I had already taken a bunch that morning with the puppies so maybe that doesn't count after all)  Regardless, I didn't spend the whole day with my face behind a lens.  My family appreciated it. :)

  

Puppies!!

First of all, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!  I hope it was a wonderful day for all of you, surrounded by your loved ones, enjoying great company, laughter, food and time to connect with the people who matter most.

We had a lovely Thanksgiving.  It started out with a visit to the puppies!  Janice & Jim were so sweet to let us come up today and visit again on our way to my mom's house.  The puppies are now exactly 5 weeks old and nearly twice the size/weight they were just 1.5 weeks ago!  Their personalities are starting to show even more.  It was an extra special treat for me as I was able to get "headshots" of each one for Janice's website.    The puppies have color coded collars in order to tell them apart so I will just post one image of each of the 9 pups and list them by collar number so you can check them all out.  

Here's a few shots from our amazing morning cuddling and playing with them.  They are all so amazing and we wish we could take them all home but we have narrowed down the field to three puppies so that is a good start....  The pups get their stress/personality tests done at 7 weeks so that will basically be the thing we will use to help us make that final decision.  Good thing too because there is NO WAY we could pick right now between our final three.  

I'll start off with Mr. Dark Blue Collar:

  

Mr. Light Blue Collar:

 

Mr. Green Collar:

 

Miss Red Collar:

 

Mr. Black Collar:

 

Mr. Lime Collar:

 

And the first of our top 3 picks, this is Jason's favorite, he really bonded with this girl.  She is the darkest red-wheaten toned one of the bunch and SUPER cute.  She makes your heart melt when you look at her.  She is considered a SHOW pup (Miss Pink Collar):

 

Our next favorite, she is the friendliest of the bunch.  Very people-oriented and wonderful disposition.  I think she has the prettiest face too.  VERY good with the kids.  Because she only has a partial ridge on her back she is considered a PET (vs. show potential).  She cuddled Gavin for the longest time and did all our "posing prop shots" at the end.  Very sweet girl.

 

And last but certainly not least of our top 3, miss "I know I'm a show dog, watch  me pose and I'll prove it to you, Miss White Collar."  OMG, she is sooooooo hilarious.  This pup KNOWS her destiny is to be a show dog.  Good thing she qualifies as a show dog because she has the personality of a show dog.  We sat her down on the chair and instead of looking all confused about what was going on, she immediately struck a pose.  Didn't need any prompting to sit up or look my way... just locked into "show dog" character.  LOVED the camera (so, yeah, I'm a little biased naturally for this one based on that alone) and just was totally posing for me.  Seriously.  I got so many pictures of her because she just sat there looking beautiful and staring right at the camera with so much confidence. :)  She is also SUPER cuddly and sweet natured.  So, I've got three of her I had to post.  Bear with me.  She is a light-wheaten toned dog with a dark muzzle.  Stunning.

 

Check out my profile, yeah, I'm that good looking.  I know.

 

Let me strike a pose for you.  I'm just that kinda show dog.  

I love these next ones with the kids playing with the pups.  Heart, melting.  Here Gavin is having a conversation with his favorite pup (yellow collar).

  

Which prompts a kiss from her.

 

And a smile from Gavin.

 

Ellie was in love with them all.  She kept saying "can we get this one" each time after she held one.

 

 

 

Then Jim took a few pictures which was really sweet so I even get to make an appearance.  I was getting some serious lovin'.

 

and giving lots and lots of kisses!

So cute when they eat out of their trough!

And a super quick T-day pose using miss yellow collar for Janice to post on her puppy blog!

  
 HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!
 

Elisa & Peter

 I absolutely adored meeting Elisa & Peter.  Their love and joy was so palpable.  I felt so incredibly inspired by it.  Everyone knows that my two favorite shoots are the maternity and newborn shoots.  For whatever reason, I am just very very drawn to capturing that time.  Don't get me wrong, I love doing all the styles of photography that I am blessed to be able to do within the realm of my duties as a portrait photographer, but the connection I have with maternity and newborns is very special to me.  I think it's because that time in my life was so hugely transformative that it left a lasting impression on my soul and I reconnect with it EVERY single time I do a maternity or newborn shoot.

Anyway, enough about that.  This was one of my all time favorite maternity sessions.  Elisa could not have been more photogenic or easy to photograph.  I think I must have told her a million times "WOW" while looking through my lens and composing my shot.  She just totally rocked the shoot.  And Peter was so tender, sweet, supportive and fun to be around.  He brings out the best in Elisa.  My favorite shots of her are when she is looking at him and her smile is literally sparkling.

I am quite sure Elisa and Peter think I am quite possibly the chattiest person on the planet... which I blame entirely on the fact that I was functioning on 3 hrs sleep and about 15 cups of coffee.  I hope they didn't notice..... ha!  Oh well, hopefully these images will make up for having to listen to me jibber jabber excitedly throughout the entire shoot! (What can I say, besides the caffeine I was also incredibly inspired at this shoot and when I'm feeling those creative juices coursing through me I can't help but get giddy and chatty).

Elisa and Peter, I hope you love this sneak peek.  I cannot wait to meet your little girl.  She will be blessed with so much love in her life!

  

Samara & Camille

Oh how I love these guys!  This is another one of my FAVORITE families that I have been photographing for the longest time.  Heather is the most stunning mama's on the planet (I could photograph her all day long) and her girls are ADORABLE and Danny is the best guy for all his "girls" (not that he has a choice, being that he is totally outnumbered...hahaha!).

Samara is almost 3 and Camille is 1.  Samara, well, she is QUITE the character.  That girl knows how she feels about things, let me tell you!  And she makes my drama queen Ellie look like an amateur!  She CRACKS me up.  Seriously, I was laughing out loud while editing these pictures from all the many "looks" I got from her.  I definitely see an academy award in her future, no doubt! 

Camille is the sweetest, happiest, CHUNKIEST baby EVER!  Can you believe she is over 25 lbs!!! Her thighs are beyond delicious and her cheeks are squishable to no end.  Just a happy little buddha baby.  

We laugh because both girls look so much like their daddy, but I can totally see Heather's personality come out of them both.  

We rescheduled the shoot to avoid the big rain storm that came in on Friday (this was my second shoot reschedule for the week!) and am so glad we did because it was YUCKY the next day.  PHEW!  

 So, this shot was one of the very first shots I took and the look Samara gave me was very telling, something along the lines of: "Oh yeah, lady, you better BRING IT cuz it's ON!"  That smirk!

  

BLURB

BLURB (the publisher of my book "Getting started in the Photography Business") is having a huge holiday discount that is only good through the next few days. You can get 20% off PLUS free shipping on my book! The perfect holiday gift for the photo aficionado in your family, or for YOU!  That's a really GREAT deal! Enter the word HOLIDAY (all caps) when prompted during checkout. You can find the direct link to my book by clicking on the "MY BOOK" section in the upper right hand corner of my blog, HAPPY SHOPPING!

Cassandra, Sabine & Zoe

Oh yeah, and their fantabulous parents too!  I get to photograph this family every year and it's always such a crazy, fun filled, LOUD experience.  These girls have energy to spare and are as spunky and strong willed as my Ellie (so obviously I am totally at home with them).  Someone walking by even commented that we sounded like a group of 20 people from far away.... Um, yeah, that would be us 6 people....  he he....  What can I say, I am loud and energetic too!! :)

Birds of a feather....  Any-whoooo, Peter and Jolene are some of my favoritest people on the planet.  I just really click with them and am totally at ease chatting with them.  They are straight forward, no nonsense kinda folks and that's my comfort zone for sure.  So, basically, we hang out, we engage, we deliberate, we negotiate, we trick, we cajole, we laugh, we act goofy, we act ridiculous, we laugh some more and we squeal...alot.  And it's a happy kind of exhausted when it's all said and done.   I'd say this was, so far, our BEST shoot yet.   The girls are such characters and I really feel like I got a chance to capture their very distinct and individual personalities.  Even though Sabine and Zoe are (almost 3 yr old) twins, they are VERY different.  And the dynamic between the three girls is constantly shifting.  

I would also be remiss in mentioning that Peter is quite possibly the BEST reflector holder I've EVER had and if he ever wants a side job working as my assistant, he's hired. :)

I really love this family.  And not just because they gave me wine at the end of the shoot.  Really, I swear.  And the wine?  Oh, did I fail to mention that Peter and Jolene are half of Demuth-Kemos Wines?  Their wine is THE.BEST.EVAH.  Hands down, some of the best wine I have EVER tasted, and I'll admit to being a total wine snob wannabe.  When it comes to wine and dark chocolate, I don't mess around.  

So, yeah, if you ever see the Demuth-Kemos label on the wine list at a nice restaurant, I can assure you that it's a sure thing for being *all kinds of awesome*.  

Ok, enough jibber jabber, Jolene & Peter, THANK YOU for being such great friends, clients, partners in crime.  Enjoy your images :)

  
 

* one little side note as you start watching the show, Zoe was determined NOT to smile and doing EVERYTHING in her power to hold back her smile no matter what we said/did, and as a result the funny faces coming from her really WANTING to smile but REFUSING to acquiesce are soooo funny to me.  Having said that, we did eventually break her down.  Ha! *

TO VIEW THE SLIDESHOW CLICK HERE

The W. Family

I've had the pleasure of photographing this family several times over the years and it's always so much fun.  When we have done the newborn sessions I have driven to them (they live way up in the north bay) and when we do the family sessions, they drive all the way down to me.    We always have loads of fun and this was no exception :)

Louie is 2 and his baby brother Owen is 1.  These boys are sooooo lucky to have Allison as their mom!  She is the quintessential "boys' mom."  She doesn't mind getting dirty or bugs or worrying about them getting hurt.  She just rolls with whatever is happening.  At one point we accidentally stirred up an ant's nest and there were like, seriously, a gazillion ants climbing ALL OVER Allison and she nonchalantly and calmly brushed them off as I am hopping all around trying to shake the (much fewer) ants off me.  HA!  

Gotta love her!  Allison, I know you've been checking your email about a thousand times a day since our shoot so I will keep you waiting no longer!   Here are just a FEW of my favorites from our session!

Allison brought these knit caps and I went bonkers, look at those big eyes and chubby cheeks: DYING.

 

First Puppy Visit - 3 weeks

Today we drove up to visit the litter from which we will be bringing home a puppy mid December.  My mom even met us there to partake!  We had already met the mama (Moka) back when she was pregnant with them and had been able to keep track of the puppies via Janice's puppy blog but this was our first time getting to actually SEE them and HOLD them and OMG, that much cuteness in one place should be illegal!  TOTAL cuteness overload.  I could have stayed there ALL DAY in that little pen just holding/cuddling/nuzzling those little ones and getting to know them better.  It's still too early to tell their personalities but some were definite snugglers and some were also very assertive about getting some nipple time with poor Moka.  She is the most amazing dog by the way.  Her temperament is astounding and she's just gorgeous to boot.  She deserves her Championship title!  We couldn't possibly ask for more what with Moka, her pups and, most importantly, Janice and Jim.    Everything just feels like the most perfect match.  

Now, before you wonder why I only have a couple point and shoot images here, I need to say that it took enormous amounts of self restraint not to go out to the car and bust out the big ole professional camera and do a full on photo shoot of these guys!  But, at this age, they really don't need that kind of stimulation and I didn't want to have them overly manipulated etc... So I left the big camera in the car and literally took under 10 images in less than 2 minutes.  That's it.  Just quick point and shoot off the cuff stuff.    I knew that was the best thing to do at this stage.  When we can go back and visit them again next time, Janice has given me permission to get "head shots" of each of the 9 pups so she can post them on her blog and have them to keep for her scrapbook so I am very excited about that.  They will be about 5 weeks old or so and probably have doubled in size since today! HA!  

Honestly, these are the most gorgeous puppies I have ever laid eyes on.  I am beyond smitten.  

SO, I know this is low quality imagery here but bear with me, better images are yet to come!  I'm missing them tremendously already and it's only been 6 hrs since we left them.  PUPPY WITHDRAWALS! :)

Gavin and Ellie were wonderful and so excited/happy.  Gavin had one puppy that sat on his lap the entire time and he wouldn't budge or move him off to see the others.  He decided that was HIS puppy.  Ellie wanted to play with them all.  I had one little girl pup who was firmly and deeply snuggling in my lap the entire time as the others came and went for extra cuddles.  They are just starting to really "play" with each other here and there.  I'm sure they will have developed so much more by the time we get to see them again. 

It is such a treat to be able to hang out with them at such a young age and be exposed to them before actually taking ours home with us in about 4 weeks.  THANK YOU JANICE AND JIM for letting us invade your home today.   MUCH appreciated!!

  

Estelle

This was my second time taking images of little Estelle.  The first time was to celebrate her first birthday and these were to celebrate her second birthday.   Estelle lives with her mom and dad on 20 stunning acres in the Los Gatos Mountains on a working farm they own and operate called Abounding Harvest Mountain Farm.   When I say this property is amazing, those words don't do it justice.  It is BREATHTAKING.  And a TON of work which Daniel and Nancy do all by themselves, which is just beyond remarkable when you stop to think about it.  Just about every conceivable vegetable, fruit and plant is being harvested there along with a flurry of animals including a batch of 28-week old ducklings that are now producing eggs to add to the mix.  The weather was gorgeous that day too which contributed to the beautiful light.  Estelle was being your normal 2 yr old and having a hard time with the shoot at first, and wanting to cling to mommy like a little velcro monkey, but then I sent mom away (like I always do in these situations) and Daniel and I played with Estelle and before you knew it, she was having a blast.  Estelle is a very mobile, highly verbal little girl and I was amazed at how she could run from plant to plant and identify them all (including the weeds!) and was eating everything right off the vine from basil to peppers to pomegranates.  I honestly cannot think of a better "playground" to grow up in.  She is one very lucky little girl.   And pretty darn cute too!   Daniel & Nancy, enjoy these images!  Happy Birthday Miss Estelle!

To go check out the awesomeness of this farm, go check out A Bounding Harvest.  I left the shoot with a basketful of of lavender, peppers, lemons, pomegranates etc.... My car still smells delicious! :) 

At the very start of the shoot, Estelle gave their "buddha" an offering of a bunch of leaves she collected.  Very sweet!

  

The K-L Family - Part 10

Yup, you read that right.  This was my TENTH shoot with this family!  They were one of my VERY first "real" clients ever.  I am just tickled pink that I have so many long time clients that have stayed with me throughout the past 4+ years.  And when you get to your 10th shoot with a family, well, you are practically FAMILY at that point, dontcha think!?

In fact, when I rang the doorbell, I heard massive squealing and little voices calling out "pascale-eeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!" from inside.  Then when I came in I was tackled with hugs and unbridled joyfulness. Now, if that isn't a great way to start the shoot, I just don't know what is. :)

This family initially hired me when their oldest Quinn was a newborn.  They then had two more little ones (girls), Reilly and Tyler.  Yes, three kids in four years.  I couldn't do it!  But this amazing couple handle it all with an incredible bond, wonderful teamwork and a wicked sense of humor.  They are my kind of peeps, let's just put it that way.  I love the whole family to pieces and our shoots are always filled with laughter and good times.  

This is really "lifestyle" photography at its best.  The shoot was done at their gorgeous home on the oceanside cliffs on a day with PERFECT light.  Just mellow, carefree, hanging out in the backyard, front driveway and their quiet street.  Dad had spray painted this entire roadway (with stop signs, parking spaces and the WORKS!) in their large driveway and I swear, it made me want to get on one of those trikes and go for a spin myself!! :)

Quinn and Reilly are like Fric and Frac, Bonnie and Clyde, Tom & Jerry... very very tight bond and practically inseparable.  Very affectionate with each other but also very rambunctious.  They are so funny.  And Baby Tyler is quite possibly the HAPPIEST baby I have ever met.  When I initially narrowed it down to my "keepers" I had over 200 images.   Yeah.  It was reeeeee-diculous.  I spent hours just figuring out which ones to edit! :)

So, needless to say, with that many shots, I had to do a slideshow and this is still a FRACTION of all the final shots.   I told Tara that the family really needs to work on not being so photogenic.  It's becoming quite problematic for me.  :)

Tara and Bryan, it was, as always, a total pleasure.  ENJOY!

 
 

TO VIEW SLIDESHOW CLICK HERE!!

Adam & Matthew & their fabulous parents

I met this family a few years ago when they were living here locally and got to photograph Adam (aka: Gap Baby) when he was still a little peanut.   A peanut with the BIGGEST BLUE EYES YOU HAVE EVER SEEN.  I was so sad when they moved over 2 hrs away because I assumed it meant I would no longer have the opportunity to photograph them.   But, they proved me wrong in my assumption.  Every year since then they have made the LONG trek (with two youngens no less) all the way down to Santa Cruz to have me photograph them.  If that just isn't the biggest honor, I just don't know what is.   We do the shoot, they have dinner down here and then they proceed to drive back home over 2 hrs away all in one day.  It really blows my mind that they do this just so I can take their annual pictures.  Touching, humbling and marvelous.

The thing is, I look forward to this shoot ALL YEAR LONG because it is hands down always one of my all time favorite shoots every year.  We laugh until our sides are sore.  Or at least, mine are sore, I guess I should do more crunches, huh?

Naturally, Adam STILL has the most stunning blue eyes and little brother Matthew was blessed with them as well.  These kids are gorgeous.  And funny.  And sweet.  And I just can't get enough of the whole family.  They just totally "get" me and what I am trying to achieve with my photography and when I tell them I'm going to lay down on the ground and I want them to walk over me with their kid in the air they don't look at me and think "she's completely lost  her mind!"  Instead, they don't bat an eye and go "sure!" and hello?! How cool is that?!  

Julianne and Marchus, you make my world go round (ha!) and I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your willingness to drive nearly 5 hrs total in one day just to come see little ole me.  {bowing humbly}

We had entirely too many incredible shots so I made a slideshow with just a sampling of some of my favorites.  And since we had the cowboy theme going I decided to use a country-ish song to accompany it!  Click the link below to view the slideshow, ENJOY!!!

[A couple quick notes before you watch the slideshow, I told mom that Wilder Ranch was very rustic and that if she, maybe, perhaps, had the inclination and desire, she could dress them appropriately... and did she ever.  The boys had matching cowboy boots and cowboy hat, TO DIE FOR CUTE.  Love.  Also, when the family was sitting on the stairs Adam suddenly lept out into the air, from four stairs up, OVER mom and out towards me.  If mom had not had those amazing LIGHTNING fast reflexes that she has, the fall would have resulted in a very bruised and battered face/head - at the very least.  Mom literally grabbed him mid air and held him tightly enough to reel him back in and stop him from falling flat on his face.  It was like watching a superhero in action. Amazing.  And yes, of course, I caught it all on film and the ensuing laughter from Adam thinking it was the funniest thing in the world.  Ah, to be the mother of two daredevil rambunctious boys!  Nerves of steal, I tell ya...... ] 

 
 

CLICK HERE TO VIEW SLIDESHOW

Kyvan

Oh how I just adore that name! It reminds me of my son's name (Gavin) but with a twist!   Kyvan was 9 days old which is on the tail end of when I will photograph newborns but he was born while I was away on our mini vacation so we squeezed him in as soon as I could!  Kylan is just the cutest little guy and still so itty bitty, just 7 lbs at 9 days old.  All tiny and wrinkly.  I just so love those newborns!

This little guy was absolutely determined not to be photographed though! HA!  He was just not remotely interested in the whole "undress me and pose me" thing.  We tried all the tricks at our disposal including a sweltering warm house, heating pad, full tummy, you name it, we tried it.  He wanted nothing to do with the process.  Ky wanted to be double swaddled, held and nursing, wide awake and anything short of that was just not going to happen.  Smart little bugger, because given the choice, wouldn't that be your preference as well, over being moved and posed and manipulated?  He held out for 4 hrs straight and refused to sleep until the very end.  I'm so fortunate that mom was one of the most relaxed and easy going first time moms I have ever met because it was a LONG shoot.  He eventually did fall into a light sleep but made it very clear that un-swaddling him or putting him down was still not on his agenda.  We worked around it as best we could.  I think Ky is a very bright little guy and suspect there are big things out there for him in the future.  He was onto every one of my tricks and made it perfectly clear that he was not going to fall for any of them!

I think we all left feeling a little bit discouraged but I was pleasantly surprised by a few gems I found while sifting through all the shots later that evening.  The good part of him being so very alert was that we did get quite a few bright eyed shots in between everything else.  He is such a cutie pie with those blue blue eyes.

 

Three Generations

 THREE generations of women, together, playing, creating memories, and me in the mix capturing these moments.   Tanya was one of my VERY first clients ever.  She hired me even though I really still had no clue what I was doing but she took a leap of faith by choosing me to capture her pregnancy for her.  One of my favorite pregnancy images is from that shoot (stunning woman leaning back with purple scarf and beautiful body curves). 

I can either choose to look back on that entire shoot now and cringe at how many technical errors I made throughout it, or, I can revel in how much I've grown and improved as a photographer and recognize that despite my inexperience, I still had the "eye" needed to get some lovely shots.   Then again, Tanya was SO easy to shoot, a former model with an amazing body and innate comfort in front of the camera.  I could not have asked for an easier subject!

Well, fast forward 4 yrs later and Tanya and I literally bump into each other at the Wharf to Wharf this year and re connect.  I was able to squeeze her in due to a cancellation and voila: a family shoot with her daughter Simone and her mother (who also happens to be her neighbor!).  These three are very tight knit.

Simone is hands down the most spunky, lively, feisty, energetic little ball of joy I have ever met.  She radiates a zest for life and had me laughing nonstop.  It was a super fun shoot and I think Tanya and I would both agree that keeping up with her during the shoot counted as a second workout for the day, right!?  Also, I'd like to add, that whom she gets her energetic, vibrant personality is fairly obvious......  :)

OK, enough jibber jabber, this was a most delightful shoot and I'm thrilled with the resulting images.  I feel they really capture the dynamic in this trio.  Lots of fun!  ENJOY!

  

Halloween

I hope everyone had a great Halloween! The weather was soooo gorgeous.  Ellie's party was that morning and I was already exhausted by 2 pm that day so really had to rally to work up the energy to go trick or treating that evening.  I ended up just going on a short walk with the kids around our neighborhood in lieu of the big trip downtown I had planned.  I just didn't have the energy for anything more than a short trip in the neighborhood and the kids didn't care one way or another.

Gavin had a ninja night event at a Tae Kwon Do center with his best friend a few weeks ago and I had judiciously explained to him that the ninja outfit he would get at the event would also serve as his Halloween costume this year.  Thankfully, he was thrilled with the idea.  PHEW.  He totally got into character too, it was the funniest thing ever.  All stealth like.

My sister Seraphine, who lives in Spain, sent Ellie this INCREDIBLE Flamenco Spanish Dancer costume (which Ellie called a Spanish Princess outfit, naturally) with matching accessories and OMG I was dying seeing her do her little castanets moves in it.  ADORABLE.  Oh, and I told her she was a Flamenco dancer and everytime someone asked her what she was she proudly declared she was a "Flamingo dancer"  bwahhahahahahaha.  DYING.

I just quickly grabbed a handful of shots on our front deck before the light totally disappeared.  Bear in mind these are quick grab shots, nothing remotely spectacular about the backdrop and MINIMAL post processing as I've been editing nearly 1,000 images in the past 3 days so I decided to be a bit lazy here with my personal stuff.  Don't worry clients, I save my best for you! :)

 

  

 

bustin' out some serious ninja moves with his sister cheering him on :)

 

 

 

 

 

Making up her own poses, I just click away....

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is the RARE occasion that I get them both with REAL smiles at the SAME time in the SAME shot. I can do it for everyone else, just not my own spawn. So that makes these extra special to me. :)

    

 

With the ninja mask on...

 
 

Then shot all the ones while trick or treating at about 1600 ISO wide open at f2.8 and 1/200.  Despite the disappearing light, I got some "keepers". 

  

 

Not sure what it is about these next three but I just love them.

  

 

 

At the tail end, my mom showed up as a big surprise for the kids.  They hadn't seen her for several weeks and were so excited to spend some time with her to celebrate Ellie's birthday and Halloween.  My mom always wears the most charming and ingenious hand made costumes.  This year she was a "fast trak" pass in reference to the 4+ hrs of commuting she does every single work day.  My mom cracks me up.

 
 
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*** One more thing, I am just about 7 people shy of hitting 200 fans on my Facebook business page, listed as Pascale Wowak Photography, so if you haven't yet joined feel free to do so and if you know anyone who would want to "join the fanlist", let them know. ***

*** OK, I lied, one more thing, a special thanks to everyone who has signed up to follow my blog on the networked blog setting on FB and joined my fan list for my business page on FB, that is just really cool.  MUCH appreciated!! ***

Ellie's 5th Birthday Tea Party

Ellie's birthday is always a bit stressful for me because it comes smack dab in the middle of my craziest season and being on Halloween weekend as well, it makes for a truly jam packed weekend.  This whole week has been a tad bit too "crazy for cocoa puffs" in all honesty.   Thankfully, and due mostly in part to the location where Ellie's party was held, her birthday celebration this year was EASY PEASY.  In fact, it was so incredibly seamless I kinda wish we could do this EVERY year!!  

Ellie was given a few choices for her party theme/location this year and she immediately fell in love with the idea of a REAL tea party.  My friends recommended the Bloomsbury Tea Room in Capitola and thankfully I was able to get our desired party date booked.

The owner, Jennifer, is an absolutely wonderful lady and when I say she took care of everything, I mean she took care of EVERYTHING.  My involvement was so minimal it almost felt weird.  Maybe that's because I tend to take on too much in general, but this was just positively delightful.  All I had to do was design the invitation (which I posted on a previous blog post) and the party favors.  As an FYI, to make things even easier, Jennifer has a LARGE selection of theme appropriate favors to choose from as an add-on if you so desire.  I picked out the faux pearl necklace from Jennifer but I also wanted to support a creative mommy-run business (as you all know how strongly I feel about that stuff) so I bought unique vintage rose hair pins for each girl from a business called SWEETER THAN ME DESIGNS.  The owner, Kristin, was awesome and got them to me so fast, especially since I was so behind in planning Ellie's party to begin with.  I really appreciated her promptness and eagerness to help me get everything ready.  She had each pin individually packaged for me too.  FABULOUS.  

A couple shots of Ellie in the parking lot before we went in.  I should mention I got this dress at the second hand store for FOUR dollars.  I think it's hideous but she loved it so who was I to say anything!?