Family Photo's

Quite some time ago I met a local photographer (Al) through California Photo Forum, which were both members of. We attempted several times to get together for a cup, but life has a way of just keeping you busy so it never happened. During this I began to frequent Al's and his wife's (Kym) blog as they frequented mine. I must say that I quickly became a fan of both of them and their style of photography. They often work together during their photo session's, each with their own unique and special style.

Now to move forward a bit. During this last mother's day, Kym held a contest on her blog, which I entered my wife in. I know what your thinking and you would of course be right. She isn't my mom, but is the mother of two wonderful kids, whom she devotes so much of her life to. In my eyes she is well deserving for such a contest. Needless to say my wife was one of the mother's chosen to win a free photo session, which turned out to be a family shoot.

I have to say that I was quite nervous with meeting Al and Kym, whom I grew to admire and respect as photographers. Since this was going to be a family photo session I was also concerned that my kids would cooperate and be patient while the photo session occurred. Well I couldn't have asked for a better photo shoot. Al and Kym were outstanding and worked so well together. After a very short time you would have thought we were good friends by how we all interacted. They made both of my kids feel so relaxed and leaving with smiles on their faces. So I must say that if your looking for a photographer you really need to look them up. Here is their site and a few shots from our photo session.

My wife and son especially loved this shot of us.

I absolutely love these shots of my two kids.

What better picture to end this post with than a this.

James - Senior Portraits

This past weekend I took my nephew's senior portraits. Nothing unusual about that, except that he's about to start his second year of college. Well I guess it's better late than never. He is the first of my nieces and nephews to head off to college and simply a great kid, or I guess I should say young man.

I had a great time taking these shots and am very pleased with the results. I'm sorta getting into this senior portrait thing. I might have to re-think my photographic path, hmmmmmm.

A Time for Goodby - Havasu

Before I go on about this group of shots I need to back track a bit. Some of my followers will remember when I posted some portraits I took of my oldest sister, who was diagnosed with cancer, back in May. Well, as of today things have gotten worse for my sister, but before I tell you her current situation I want to talk about the time we spent together at Lake Havasu.

Every year around August my family, along with my two younger sister's families, go to Lake Havasu for some fun in the sun and some great family time. This year my oldest sister, who lives in Missouri was able to come down and spend the week with us in Havasu. What makes this so special is that four months ago my oldest sister was given three months to live. Back in early May my sister was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, which was throughout her body. From what I understand the only place the cancer wasn't present was in her Kidneys and Liver. Her out look on life couldn't have been better, which has helped her to continue to this day. She opted to live her remaining life as best she could and not have her treatment affect the quality of her life. Throughout these last few months she and her husband have been able to make their way out here to Southern California a couple of times for a quick visit. She and her husband own a trucking business and have been able to aquire loads to the So. Cal area. These visits were very quick, one being for two days and the other only for a couple of hours, so when we found out that she was going to make it out to Havasu with us, we were very excited.

My sister has a great positive additude, but the bottom line is her cancer is in it's final stage and she is refusing medical treatment (cemo), chosing to live her life, however short that might be.

We arrived at Havasu on Sunday, August 2nd, and she arrived the following Monday. She was able to stay with us until the following Saturday night. Her cheeks appeared slightly swollen due to steriods she was taking to reduce swelling of brain tumors. She had a great time and I couldn't have asked for better time spent together. I've always been one to joke around her to make her laugh and relax. I don't remember seeing her so happy.

With that all said and done, let me share some shots of my sister. She knows where she stands in life and death and has decided to live rather than just sit and wait. Look at these shots, you won't see someone waiting for the end to come, but rather someone looking forward for another day and what it brings.

This first shot was taken shortly after she arrived to our beach site. Simply a candid shot of her taking it all in.

My sister and I. Here I'm doing what I do, having fun and bringing a smile to her beautiful face.

All three of my sisters, eyebrows not included (sorry sis).

During one of the days we decided not to go to the lake and spend it at the pool. Here is just a water play I took of my sister. Just a fun relaxful day.

My sister with her three niece's. My daughter is to my sisters immediate right.

She has never been on a tube ride before and I was very surprised when she agreed to go out on the tube. It was like watching a kid on the tube for the first time. You could just see the excitement and enjoyment in her face. I simply loved taking these shots of her. Since this was her first time she rode with her two sisters.

This is a look I'm very familer with. I was doing some silly pet trick to get her attention for this shot.

Heading out for a nice boat ride.

Loved this shot of her and one of her sisters just relaxing on the tupe talking as it floated near the shore.

Her and her husband, who has stood by her side throughout this ordeal.

Yep, all three of my sisters.

And now one of all of us.

This was taken on the last night in Havasu. She just looked so happy and in love.

Just a shot of her and her husband walking back to my mom's room, but I think this shot really stands for so much more. I don't know where life will take us and I don't know when she will be called upon to leave us. On that night when I walked her and her husband back to their truck to say goodby, I came to a realization that this could be the last time I see her. I'm happy that we had this opportunity to spend such a wonderful time together and I was able to experience it with you.

Vickie, I may not be able to be there with you, but know that I love you!

Havasu Play

Just thought I'd share a few shots that I played with.

While pulling the wake board and tubes we would make a way around the lake. Depending on the time of day lighting could be pretty harsh with a strong back light. When shooting you deal with what you get. With some of the shots that had some harsh back light I decided to make it into a b&w silhouette, which made the shot very dramatic and added a lot of impact to it, well at least that was my take.

With this next group of shots I just increased the Vibrance / Exposure / and Black lighting to get this effect. Another group that I rather liked.