Friday, March 28, 2008

It all starts with one....

http://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup.php?id=5658419

I had my very first photo accepted into the iStock library (a subsidiary of Getty Images) of stock photos!!!! The “tearful tiki” is mine, that was the photo I took in Dominical at Rio Mar!!! I would love for someone to purchase it however to be perfectly honest I really don’t care! I am so excited that after grueling submission requirements (the photos have to be near perfect in every way from resolution to color to size to everything….) that so far one of my photos was worthy of being accepted. It’s easier to get a passport than it is to get a photo accepted for stock galleries!!!! I was also very selective in deciding who I wanted to submit images to and work with.

After 250 accepted images, you will be eligible to become exclusive and all your images will also be available to Getty Images, the largest stock photo library in the world. Just another thing for me to "dabble" in as I love landscape and scenery photography as well. I am focusing my "paid" work on kids, seniors (of the high school variety) and maternity.

Woo Hoo! :-)

Now back to work on building my empire!! Off to find senior girls for my funky, urban, eclectic “trash the prom dress” sessions…….

I LOVE my job!!!!!

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Happy Easter!

HAPPY EASTER!
"Save me!"
I couldn't resist taking this photo!
Some of the goodies - not too much candy :D!
Warheads! Yum!


"I don't want you near my stuff or in MY picture!!!"
"Mine, all mine!! I LOVE my PEZ!!!"

My new guitar magazine - I got a subscription this year!! Saaweeet!

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Generations

I had the honor and privilege today of photographing an 80th birthday party for my dear friend and neighbor's father. Tom, the honoree and Beth, his wife and classically trained pianist who has played with the Boston Pops were absolutely delightful and the shoot was so much fun!

Here is a sneak peak at some of the photos. There were 24 people I had to pose and keep entertained. 12 adults and 12 children. The kids kept moving not matter where I placed them, lol! It was a challenge, it was also the largest group of people I have ever worked with. I would do it all over again! I will post more after I process them.

My friend Kate is in the bottom right corner in blue, short hair. Her father is the old one in blue in the center back. I told him that since he started this whole mess that he needed to be in the back and center to anchor them all!!! Blown up this is a beautiful image!


This is grandma, grandpa and all 12 of their grandkids. I used screens to soften some of the sun however I didn't have large enough ones and the family only had this time of day to take the photos so I did the best I could with what I had. Some of the catchlights are nice but some I wish weren't there at all. The one kid behind the girl would not listen, behave or smile for anyone. He kept moving to behind someone so this is how he is in almost all the shots, lol! That stinker!!

This is the image that almost made me cry during the shoot. I asked them if I could do this and when I did the stories about hands opened up. This is how I learned about the mom being a concert pianist and performing regularly with the Boston Pops. I then also learned that their youngest son who worked in the World Trade Centers happened to be on his honeymoon that fateful day or else they said there would be one set of hands missing from this photo. It was all I could do not to cry so I cherish the fact that they were up for doing this picture. It also meant a great deal to them. I will never forget that moment, this is why I am a photographer!!!

Strength, wisdom, pain, grief, hard work, compassion, and so much LOVE in this generation of HANDS!

Monday, March 17, 2008

Leprechauns peed in our potty....

Happy St. Patty's Day everyone!

Of course it wouldn't be any fun if those sneakly little leprechauns didn't create a little mischief on a day created just for them. Those darned little creatures somehow got into our house (he must have spoken with Santa on those tricks) and "peed" in our potties...ALL of them! And they created a LOT of pee for such little guys!! You should have heard the exclamations all over the house. "MOM!" "DAD!" "how did they do that?" "COOL!" it was quite the scene.

We are having green milk with lunch because when we woke up it was suddenly green! And oh so many other goodies.....

Hope you are having nearly as much fun as we are on this festive Irish day.

Erin Go Braugh!!!

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Capistrano Unified parents lobby against massive school cuts

I have never been so passionate about a subject as I am the CA state budget that is in shambles right now. We just pink slipped 7 teachers from our school alone and are getting ready to take away the 20 to 1 class size ration for 1st - 3rd grade PLUS add 1 additional student to the already oversized 4th-12th grade classes.

We are also cutting janitors, aides, groundskeepers and so many other much needed positions. Music, arts, and other programs are being removed. For a state that is wealthiest in the nation to become 50th in eduction (as of this coming July should the budget pass) is not only unacceptable, it is embarrassing!!! From a PTA perspective and especially as a parent I am doing everything I can to pass along information, to be heard and to let the state know that the budget is completely unacceptable.

You may or not be interested but if you are, read on:

A delegation meets privately with lawmakers to protest a proposed $4 billion cut to K-12 public education.
By SCOTT MARTINDALE
The Orange County Register
Comments 8 Recommend 2
SACRAMENTO – A delegation of parents from the Capistrano Unified School District traveled to the state Capitol Tuesday to plead with lawmakers not to move forward with a proposed $4 billion cut to public education.
During more than four hours of private meetings with representatives for the governor and key lawmakers, eight parent leaders from the Capistrano Unified Council of PTSAs, along with school board member Duane Stiff, demanded that the state budget deficit not be balanced at the expense of California children.
"We hope that they understand that, for Capistrano Unified and for school districts across the state, the budget is absolutely unacceptable," said Kim Anderson, legislative chair for the Capistrano Unified Council of PTSAs. "We want the governor to come out with an entirely different budget. We want no legislator to support any legislation that suspends Prop. 98."
In January, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed suspending Proposition 98, the California law that provides a guaranteed source of funding to K-12 schools. For Capistrano Unified, the proposed cuts would mean a $27 million shortfall, forcing the 51,000-student South County district to lay off 427 employees, including 266 teachers, and eliminate the 20:1 class-size ratio of students to teachers in the first through third grades.
Across Orange County, more than 1,590 teachers could lose their jobs and an estimated $204 million could be cut from next year's school district budgets.
'SHOUT OUT' RESULTS
Capistrano Unified's district-wide PTSA organized a "shout out" effort Monday encouraging parents to flood the offices of key Sacramento lawmakers and the governor with phone calls protesting the budget cuts.
The office of Sen. Jack Scott, chair of the Senate education committee, reported logging about 1,000 phone calls Monday from Capistrano Unified parents, said spokeswoman Wendy Gordon.
"The phones rang for eight hours nonstop – eight of our staffers answering four lines for eight hours," Gordon said. "While we're glad to hear people are energized, Sen. Scott is very much on top of it and is fighting to maintain education programs and not to make draconian cuts."
The office of Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, chair of the Assembly budget subcommittee for education, reported receiving at least 300 phone calls from Capistrano Unified parents Monday.
"It helps us know that people really are genuinely concerned," spokeswoman Jennifer Mashburn said. "You get a feel for how families are personally affected."
While the Capistrano Unified parents said their voices were being heard, they acknowledged that the news was still grim. Paul Navarro, deputy legislative secretary to the governor, told the Orange County delegates that public education would have to share in the state's fiscal crisis, Anderson said.
"He can almost guarantee there will be a suspension of Prop. 98 because there is no way to avoid that," she said. "The state budget situation is a mess."
Contact the writer: 949-454-7394 or smartindale@ocregister.com

Thursday, March 13, 2008

New tunes...

I have finally gotten around to item # 72 on my list of things to do and that was update my music playlist on this site!

It's a work in progress. For those few of you who have shared with me that you leave it up and listen to it in the background while you work, I hope you like the new stuff! Some songs are meaningful to us as a family and others are just fun tunes!!!! I'll let you figure out which one's have meaning and which one's don't, wink! There are now about 50 songs from various artists and genre's of music.

Enjoy,
Kimberly
XOXOXO

Fauxhawks, offerings and "let me see"

ETA ("edited to add" for those not hip to the acronym lingo, lol - come on get with the times already.... :D):

someone (ahem Grandma Grove) wants to know why we can't just give our kids "normal" haircuts? Our answer? If we had normal kids we might but have you really looked at our motley crew??? We're trying to get it out of their systems BEFORE the rebellious teenage years. They can tell all their friends that they are behind the times because they've already "been there, done that"!! :-) Between the fauxhawks and the faux tattoos they sport, I think we're breedin' some winners here in SoCal!!!

What happens when you leave a 3 year old boy alone in the house while you are working in the garage? LOTS!!! Bob comes out to greet me with a handful of hair. Of course seeing as how Hannah LOVES the use of scissors, restyles all of her Barbie's hair and then strips them down to being nekkid (she loves them in the b-day suits), I naturally without thinking passed it off as Hannah cutting her own hair AGAIN! Bob's answer to me, "nope"! Then who I ask??? Not even cluing in that it might be my adorable, quite mischievous, perfect angel of a boy Christian. NO, not him??? I know he needed a hair cut as it was getting quite long however..... Yup, it was my boy. With all the trouble he finds, I always tell him "good thing you're cute my dear"!!!


He managed to cut off a 4-5 inch spot taking it right down to the scalp, lol! I quickly called Kelly, my hair girl and begged for her next appt, seeing as how she is booked up forever, I just knew I was going to have to take matters into my own hands (not a good thing). Fortunately she had a last minute cancellation and could see us at 12:30 the next day (this past Friday), whew, another disaster averted! Next problem, I took my camera out, put it on the pool table and left it right there, dang it. I had no resources to document my son's life changing event, shucks!!! Anyway, he went from surfer long hair hippy punk to short hair faux hawk rocker punk in zero to 30 minutes!!! Here is a picture of his new do: I'll post some others of him when I can tie him down (he runs when I pick up the camera, lol) so these pictures I caught him at a good moment when he was willing to look at me.
He LOVES his faux hawk, don't even think about touching it, he'll yell at you to not mess it up!!!

My boy is growing up and cutting all his hair off aged him. Now with his height and size, he looks like a 5 year old instead of a 3 year old.....that coupled with the fact that he is "passing down" shoes to his older sister by 3 years because he has outgrown them, well, let's just say I work directly with the local food vendors just to keep him fed, wink, lol!!!


While we are on the subject of my darling boy let's chat about his sweet favorite sayings. If he offers you something he has to eat (which is a rare occasion he offers up his food) and you decline, he gets very upset. He will then look at you and tell you , "but I would like to offer you some". How can you resist that? He will say that over and over until you take what he is "offering". At least he is polite and giving, let's hope it lasts!


Then lastly another famous, multiple times a day saying Christian has is this.... when you ask him a question, 9 times out of 10 he responds with a very drawn out "let me see???" all the while scratching his chin like he is thinking, lololol!!!!! Then he will "think" for a moment and then answer you. It's very cute until I am in a hurry to know an answer and he is taking his time pondering the the thought..... Good thing he's cute!!!!

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Because they come that way...

Driving to Costco today Hannah and I were talking about St. Patty's Day. She was all excited to ask me what happens to someone when you don't wear green. I quickly told her that they get pinched.... she was stunned, "mom, how did you know that?" SO, I asked her if she thought that this was a new rule that they just made up this year? "Yes mom it is" was her reply, lol!

Then I told her that this has been the rule since grandma was a little girl. "What?" is what I get from her. "You know that grandma used to be a little girl too, right?", I asked. To this she responded.............



"I thought they were old because they just came that way"

I told her that she was not old and I was not old so how could grandma's be born just old? Again her response was "because they just came that way"!!

So there you have it folks. If you are a grandma or grandpa, you had no former life, you were never little and well, you are just plain OLD!!!! LMBO, I was cracking up!!!

Monday, March 10, 2008

Net Lingo

WOWZA is all I can say to some of the language our tweens and teens are using these days. I was blissfully ignorant at their age and think it stinks that they are exposed to so much so young. We have real world conversations with Xander and he's like an open book and because we talk with him like that, when he has a secret, it is like a Christmas present, he can't stand it and needs to open it (or spill the beans) to us because he knows we'll listen. We don't always like what he has to say but always work through it and make sure he always has a safe haven to communicate. From the sounds of it on this site and some of the acronyms being used, it isn't that way with all kids. Dang it!

In this day and age of raising children who are constantly on the Internet and chatting with all their friends there, our middle school sent out the web address to a site that can tell you all the acronyms that kids (or Internet savvy) people are using these days.

For all of you that only periodically peruse the Internet and for those of you on here every day, I was astonished at some of these acronyms. I received a whole new education on this site!

http://www.netlingo.com/top50teens.cfm

Talk with your kids and grandkids about the perils of the Internet!!!

Obviously created by women....

Men's Restroom Mural

Read before looking at picture. Edge Designs is an all-women run company that designs interior office space. They had a recent opportunity to do an office project in NYC.

The client allowed the women of this company a free hand in all design aspects. The client was a company that was also run by all women execs.............

The result.........well.....we all know that men never talk, never look at each other.... And never laugh much in the restroom.... The men's room is a serious and quiet place... ....but now...with the addition of one mural on the wall......lets just say the men's restroom is a place of laughter and smiles.

Sunday, March 9, 2008

It's all coming together!!!

Well, when you pray, you believe and you try - great things happen. I also believe that everything happens for a reason. Two weeks ago, someone saw some of my photography work, loved what she saw and would like to partner with me. She is not a photographer herself but a make-up artist and stylist who has the world of connections in LA because both of her boys are successful child models who have appeared in local and national ad campaigns and commercials. She has the connections and experience to really put my business on the map.

I have taken a step back on my website (which I think I've stated before) and have been working on portfolio building and redefining who I am as an artist with plans to re-launch my website under a new name and look around the end of June. We live near the ocean, I can see it from my windows at home, so naturally most photographers do the same old ocean, happy family in jeans and white t-shirts photos or some derivative thereof. While I like those images, it's just not who I am. I am the funky, urban, street scene looking for old buildings, railroad tracks, furniture in fields, etc type of girl so I have been working hard to capture those images to reflect my true sense of being and style. Someone saw some of my recent images and she told me that I had an "eye and sense of style" that she hadn't seen in a long time and she thought she could help me to really embrace that, seek out new locations and to help me put my own spin on the same old stuff other people had been doing. WOW, what a compliment and to have someone approach me is amazing!

Now before you go thinking about scams, etc. I know this person as she is a friend of a friend. I know her as an acquaintance but never really got to know her until our boys decided to "jam" together one night. Her 2 boys are also part of another local tween rock band and they just lost their drummer so Xander stepped in as rhythm guitar and Noah (another boy in Xander's band)stepped in on drums. During the course of getting to know one another, she saw my work and the rest is history. She has a great reputation, she is a go getter, type A, creative, inspirational person. I feel very lucky for her to have noticed me. Better yet, she has sooooo many connections and has already secured our first client to be photographed in mid April!!!!

Can you feel me jumping up and down and hear me screaming with excitement? Now...to finally be zen and one with my camera. Between that and a maternity session I have coming up, it is truly all coming together.

So anyway, Katrina and I are meeting for breakfast one day this week to talk more about business structure and planning, how her work can compliment mine and all the other details. I was hesitant to say anything until I knew for sure but now I know it's a green light and I couldn't be happier! It's not what you know but WHO you know! Living here in the land of the plenty, lol, the opportunities are endless. We'll see what happens, keep your fingers crossed and say lots of prayers that this is a successful venture!!!

Til next time....