I hope to show you what I have been up to during the past few months.
Let me start with an update on my youngest photo subject - Austin. I took the following photos the week he turned six months. He is a happy little fella.
Isn't he just a doll
Since January I have photographed three weddings, several graduating seniors, and some headshots. Take a look at some of my work.
Aubrey and Joey were married at a church in Riverside with a delightful reception that featured a taco grill for dinner and cookies instead of cake. Joey was not sure if he wanted many photos but they both came alive in front of the camera, wouldn't you say?
For Nick & Sarah's we were outdoors with a sunset wedding in front of a mansion.
Sarah is a beautiful woman and seemed to enjoy the time alone for photos during the moments before the wedding.
I had the wonderful opportunity to photograph Caitlin whose spirit is as bright as her smile. Despite many setbacks in her life, Caitlin's senior year has been full of excitement and she looks forward to going to college in the fall.
Then there were the three chums who grew up together at church and yet they had their own successes at their own high schools. Chris, Garrett, and Kevin were loads of fun to photograph. They were great on their own and so creative together. Originally, when I was asked by one of the parents to take her son's photos, I immediately thought about taking shots of all of them together. Then the other parents started asking me to take their images too.
Garrett decided that he wanted to do a Gap commercial jump and the others decided join him.
On one of the hottest days of the spring - I met Derrick and Kimberly at Huntington Beach Pier along with a million other people who were trying to cool off. We ended up cooling off by putting our feet in the water under the pier. Boy was that water cold. Getting to know Derrick and Kimberly was great as I will be photographing their wedding in August.
I had the opportunity to take photos of the staff of my church Magnolia Presbyterian Church in Riverside. The lead pastor, Brad, gave me lots of leeway with the images of the staff. I really wanted to go with a more relaxed look to the images verses more official portraits. The following are sample of the staff photos: Brad, Andrew, and Cindy. To see the website go to www.magnoliapres.org
Then there are some headshots I have done for some friends.
Cynthia Wright, my best friend who was laid-off from her job of almost 22 years, recently started a consulting business for non-profits in the fundraising and business writing area. I had the opportunity to take photos for her website, which was developed by our other best friend Stacy (www.thewrightimage.com). Stacy is a fabulous web designer. Cynthia has signed her first contract and I am sure that her headshots were what won them over.
Lalit, my co-worker at my day job, is applying to be on the board of directors for Sister Cities International so he asked me to take a quick shot of him to send off. I told I would be glad to do so but I would not take a quick one of him at the office without my good lights and backgrounds. He really doesn't like to have his picture taken so I set up my studio at home and got him laughing about some silly thing and we got a few good shots of him.
I have also spent some time working events - most of which I will not bore you with such as Valentine Balls or company parties. However, I was blessed enough to share with two friends as they celebrated their accomplishments in different arenas. Debby Chaddick had a book signing for A Spirituality of Hope My Journey Through Pain and Grief (www.chaddickshope.com) so I was there with my camera. Veronica Lucas had her first solo art show of her print making and sold a large print on the spot.
Also this spring, I was able to spend some time with my parents, Fred and Hattie. This was their first visit to my home in many years, so it was a pleasure to just relax and enjoy them. They live in Kentucky and most often I see them in the winter around holidays. I was glad to take several days off from my day job to run around with them and drive them on to San Jose to visit my brother, John, and his family. This is one of my favorite photos of my parent while on this visit.
I think the most rewarding yet difficult things I did this spring was spend an hour or so with the Castro family. You see this was one of the few family portraits they have ever had. However, it was one of the hardest photo shoots I have had the privilege to take. George had been struggling with a very painful fight with cancer - which he lost just a couple of months after we took the pictures. It is my hope that his wife and daughter will treasure these images as I know they will treasure the memory of him.
It is with a grateful heart that I share these images because I have shared unique moments in so many lives.
