So, today is the day I *relinquish my title* - the awards ceremony for our state convention is tonight and the lovely *Children’s Photographer of the Year* moniker will be bestowed on some other fine photographer! I am sure whoever (whomever?) it is will be worthy….but can’t help but daydream… it would be fanFREAKINtastic if the awards were kind of like the Miss America pageant (just go with me here…)

Just picture - there I am, dressed to the nines in some sparkly little number - I have my sash and my tiara and my fake tan and an armful of fragrant flowers - and before they call out the name of the new winner a song begins and I get to slowly walk around the stage with a big smile and teary eyes while my voiceover tells all about the things I’ve learned and the experiences I have had over the past year….the song slowly fades out….I take one last look at the crowd…blow a few more kisses…and just smile and wave….

Yeah, well….it was a nice little fantasy.

Instead, here I am in my jammies (pink flannel with Rudolph - MUCH cozier than the sparkly little fantasy dress- you DID want to know, didn’t you?) I am not even AT this years awards banquet (and how am I so sure I didn’t win?, you ask?)

“YOU WILL ALWAYS MISS 100% OF THE SHOTS YOU DON’T TAKE” ~~Wayne Gretzky

Yep - I am a slacker and couldn’t get it together to even enter this year! Instead, I have decided to relive past glory, one last time….smile and wave….

Here is the lovely Miss Alex. Last year *Best of Show* winner and the entry that earned me *Children’s Photographer of the Year* Be looking for her lovely face to be on my blog again SOON (can’t wait to see her!)

Now, normally I wouldn’t consider posting my other two merit prints, but since they are my own kids and I am a proud mommy, I will :)

See you next year!

Most photographers search forever for that one perfect *tagline* - you know, you’ve all heard them…*capturing your special moments for a lifetime* (blech!)…*let your family be your art* (yuk!)…*mystical magical moments* (okay- you get the idea!)

Well- a little creative genuis at my home came up with a great one for me this Easter…invented by my little monster Jake! (in all fairness - i told them they couldn’t dive into their CANDY until they had their photos taken!!) Soooooo…my helpful child thought he’d speed up the process (and get to dive into the chocolate!) by hollering “Come on over here and get ***tortured by photography***:! It became a huge rallying cry - soon ALL the kids were yelling it..

I can’t wait to get new business cards printed up - I think it will be a huge hit - don’t you???

These next two are for my Mom…

….all the neighbor kids - they look truly mistreated, don’t they???

wow. just wow. i was SO honored this past week to be a part of the state convention in pasadena - and SO SO SO excited to have received such amazing awards! I was very fortunate this year to have one of my photographs chosen for THREE different awards! I was awarded (insert drum roll here…)

*Best of Show* (ummmm- YAY!)

*Kodak Gallery Award* (given to only 5 prints in the entire state - AND I will be eligible to win a Kodak Gallery Elite award in Nashville at the national convention!!!)

and lastly

*Children’s Photographer of the Year*!!! (for the second time - I won in 2006 also!) It was fun to have my husband and children there - and even more amazing to have Alex’s (my award-winning subject!) family there. Her mom told me that while they were walking around the print exhibit, people kept recognizing Alex and coming up to her telling her how beautiful she is -she felt like a movie star!! Isn’t that the BEST? That makes my heart happy :) Awards and recognition are great, but hearing that story??? THAT is why I am a photographer….

…and of course, being a photographer, one would ASSUME I would have a CAMERA at the convention!?!? well…. you would be wrong :) i had to make do with the iPhone to take this first shot of my photo hanging!! many thanks to Art Suwansang of Wedding 64 in Santa Barbara for the photo of me with my kiddos! (Jake loved holding the crystal Kodak Gallery award because he said it looks like a “Star Wars trophy”!)

One last thing…

The convention festivities were made a little more challenging by the fact that I am still hobbling around on crutches! I am ALMOST ready to go back to work - I can’t wait to start shooting again! I have been putting my *down time* to good use, though…so STAY TUNED for some exciting WORKSHOP announcements in the near future!!

tagged: California Children’s Photographer, award-winning photographer, children’s photography workshop, children’s photography seminar, baby photography workshop, Kodak Gallery Award winning photographer, Best of Show, photographer of the year

sometimes….when you are a mom….you come across *magic moments*…and you say to yourself “this is a moment i will want to remember ALWAYS*…and sometimes….if you are lucky….there will be a camera nearby…

this is my baby. she drives me insane. she will pay me back for every rotten thing i ever did as a teenager. but…she makes my heart burst with love sometimes…just look at the light shining on her little curls…this is what its all about…

….but i digress…

here she is, *reading* in the window light (seriously - don’t you just love her little toes pressed up against the window?) yes - i **REALLY** wanted to fix her headband, but she was so blissfully unaware of me…completely absorbed…i didn’t want to ruin the *moment*….

the book she is *reading* (which, in Ali-land means making up her own story for each page) is called “who are you going to be today, olive?” it is ali’s very favorite story, about an adorable bird on a little journey of self-discovery. it is by my friend marisa haedike, the fabulous artist/blogger/genius at Creative Thursday.You can buy Olive’s story at Marisa’s Etsy store. Be warned - Marisa’s blog is addictive!

images tagged California Childrens Photographer, California kids photographer, child photographer in california

I won!!!!

So, what did I win, you ask? (do you think it is weird that i always fill in *your* part of the conversation?)

I won (insert drum roll here please……..)

Children’s Photographer of the Year 2009!!!

This is my second time in four years to win this title!! I can’t believe it - I was *thisclose* to not even entering - I got a ticket on the drive down, my kids were monsters and I *almost* blew it off….WHEW…I am so glad I didn’t! I watched the competition judging all day and was on pins and needles until the end - they have changed the rules this year and they bring out the 5 highest scoring prints in each category….so we had to wait until the bitter end to find out the winners….

In the end, it came down to my print and the print of my good friend the lovely Amy Fink. I would have been excited for her if she had won (but bummed for me!) and I know she felt the same way……but the judges deliberated and deliberated and then decided to award TWO titles this year! It couldn’t have turned out better! WE were so excited for each other :) The awards will be handed out at the state convention in Pasadena on March 22nd….and I just *might* have more exciting news to share then also…..

Meanwhile - please meet the stunningly beautiful Miss Alex….the *instant* I took this photo I turned to her mom and said “i think that might be the most gorgeous photo I have ever taken”…..so nice to have others agree with me! Her eyes are just so amazingly beautiful - if *eyes are the windows to the soul* then she surely has one fantastic soul! Alex has alopecia - a condition where you lose your hair - but doesn’t she have the cutest head ever??!!

Alex’s photo scored an 87! In PPA competitions, anything over an 80 is considered *worthy of a merit* - i had two other photos that also merited - both scored an 81, and both happen to be my own children, so that was kind of cool! (i am displaying these images digitally here - but *in real life* they were all matted with fine art mattes and looked lovely - the mattes really added to the presentation, so you’ll have to use your imagination a little bit!)

You’ve probably seen this one before, but if not, here is Jake….

…and this is my little bug-bug, otherwise known as Alabama Grace…

filed under: california children’s photographer, california kids photographer, california baby photographer, modern lifestyle photography, kids lifestyle photography,

I lived! Seriously, I had such an amazingly fantastic time teaching this workshop! I was both flattered AND nervous when I was invited to be an instructor there (the other instructors all had such rock-star resumes!) BUT, they asked me, so I figured they wanted me :) How (pleasantly!) surprised was I to find out that my class was SOLD OUT!!?? Um…pressure :) WOW. Just wow.

…and now on to my list of THANK YOUs… (this is going to be wordy, so please bear with me!)

…to my students - you all were SO awesome! Thanks for making my 2 1/2 days of talking, shooting, rolling around in the grass and clicking around in photoshop such a positive experience! Your energy and enthusiasm carried me through the days (which I needed since Lisa and I were up slaving all night!) I think I might have learned as much from y’all as you **hopefully** learned from me!

…speaking of Lisa :) I am So lucky, SO fortunate, SO happy to have such an amazing friend as my good buddy (and crazy-talented photographer!!) Lisa Maksoudian.{{{click on her site right now!! you’ll fall in love with her!}}} Lisa is the ultimate superhero - she knew I had some mini-anxieties about rambling on for days and she VOLUNTEERED to come help out! (leaving her own work and family behind!) If that isn’t the definition of a great friend, I don’t know what is! She stayed up with me each night working on the presentation, she provided moral support AND chips and salsa and best of all, she was such a great *gift with purchase* surprise for the students! They got to hear from *two* photographers instead of just me :) I know they loved her (as do I!) So - thank you, Lisa!! I owe you big time!!!

…GGS people! Thanks for making us feel welcome (and I’m bummed I missed the instructor’s dinner!) I met my new best buddy :) Kim Sayre as soon as I arrived on campus! You know those people you meet and you just know you’ll be friends forever??? That’s how I felt when we met!! (and that was BEFORE I knew that I had her to thank for the referral!) So - thanks KIM! (and she let me try out her killer lightroom presets and templates which are super-awesomeand can be found at Cottage Industry Designs. My *official GGS-designated* trustee was the talented Jonathan Mandel. Jonathan helped keep the class on track and ensured that everyting ran smoothly. I **loved** his gorgeous photos and was blown away when I looked at his portfolio, he has such a great eye for composition and his work was just gorgeous! Lastly, I was flattered to have the President of the PPGBA in my class!! Jeanne DePolo is already a super-successful portrait and wedding photographer, so I was so flattered to have her attend my class. I know I learned a lot from her (and hopefully she learned from me as well!) and look forward to hanging out again in the future! Her award-winning image of a bride and groom locked in passionate embrace was smokin’ hot - I loved viewing her work!

I regret that I did not get an opportunity to socialize/ hang out with the other GGS instructors and staff. Next year!! I will be more prepared and spend my evenings having fun instead of slaving away!

I had lots of help on the homefront leading up to this crazy week, and my hubby not only managed the kids for 4 days without me, I came home to a clean house with all the laundry done!! Petty cool, huh? My friends Jenn, Lori and kay;a are awesome! Jenn helped me learn a new software program and she and her cousin Renee helped with goodie bag stuffing! Her hubby Scott even got in on the fun and helped sort out some computer issues! So - thanks guys! I am lucky to have such generous friends…

One final comment! I had some VERY GENEROUS vendors step up and offer marketing materials, discounts and give-aways for my class. I know they appreciated it and so do I! So - a big shout out to the following peeps:

Jie at J Lee Albums, Patrick at Simply Canvas(he even came and brought goodies in PERSON!), the fabulous Jamie Schultz, my super-inspiring *hello* buddy Marie Cox of Phreckles Photography, the always impressive Lena Hyde at Design Aglow, my new friend (and up-and-coming rockstar photographer) Kate Parker, world-famous Jinky and Dawn at IttyBitty Actions, CB & Roxanne at Pixel2Canvas, the oh-so-stylish marketing gurus at Bellagraficaand the team at Big Folio

**gasp** (must breathe!)
Kevin Kubota for not only his support and gifties with his EVERY-PHOTOGRAPHER-MUST-HAVE action sets, but also with ASUKAbook discounts and giveaways. Plus, I learned so much at Kevin’s Digital Photography BootCamp in April, he totally changed my workflow and made me a *more-organized* photographer!

Jeff and Caitlin at ProDPI(my fabulous lab!) If you are a photographer and are reading this, you should check them out RIGHT NOW! They have such great quality AND outstanding customer service - you will be THANKING me if you make the switch!

Whew. I think I’m done with the *writing* part - now this post needs some images! Some of my students have emailed me photos, I will add them here ASAP.

Meanwhile….good night!

You know how you feel when you LOVE something SO much? That’s how my little Ali-bug feels about pink puppy - and I feel like the worst mommy in the world - because somehow, somewhere, pink puppy has been lost. it’s been nearly three weeks now, and not a day goes by that Ali doesn’t ask about her…”mommy? you find pink puppy?” as her eyes well up with tears…I KNOW this is trivial - I KNOW that there are much more important things out there to be dealt with - but I love my baby girl and want her to be happy - so I’m going to TRY to leverage the *power of the internet* to bring pink puppy home.

MISSING: one slightly tattered, well-loved stuffed puppy dog. fur white, nose pink, ears pink. Pink puppy was a Target Valentine’s puppy (why, oh why couldn’t Ali have fallen in love wiith some GUND who could be replaced year round at ToysRUs??) I KNOW someone out there has this puppy sitting on a bookshelf. (not OUR pink puppy, but an identical one) I’ve scoured through listings on eBay, I’ve retraced our steps a hundred times - now I’m asking for your help. There will be some sort of fabulous prize to the person who helps me find pink puppy!! PLease forward this blogpost on to any moms you know! Someone out there can help!

A random sampling of pink puppy photos so you can identify her..

.

Thank you SO SO SO much if you can help!

jen :)

So cute! I photographed the CUTEST party here in the Santa Clarita Valley today - put on by the fabulous Donna Collins of Party Wishes- OH MY GOSH!!! If you are planning a party for one of your munchkins you just MUST call her! It was SO cute! The theme was Mary Poppins, and Donna (aka party planner extraordinaire) thinks of everything- no detail is left unattended! The girls had a great time - they were such proper little ladies :) You can visit Donna’s website at www.partywishesscv.com - she does an amazing job - you won’t be sorry! I’ve seen a bunch of her themes and they are ALL fab! (think pirates, poodles, puppies, princesses, spa-girls…)

Okay - and now for some photos - the scene setter:

the decorations were great, the activites were so much fun, and the little hostess dressed up as Mary Poppins was just adorable!!

oh, and did i mention the food??? Catered by Lady Di’s Cookies and The Tea Garden - yum!!

…and just how easy was my job photographing THESE adorable little party-goers??? Could they be more beautiful??

group shot!!

Hey peeps - I saw a cool link online link that I thought I’d pass along - its to some great wall display layouts on Pottery Barn’s *style house* site - check it out:

Pottery Barn photo displays

My client Lori (and now my friend!) has a great wall with photos I shot of her girls at the beach - she loves her wall!