Well, it's been quite a while since I've posted anything here and I'm determined to resurrect this little blog. I've been very busy shooting and I have a ton to post. But I don't want to overwhelm you with photos! So we'll go by month.
Today I have December's highlights for you.
One of my first posts here was of the National Charity League debutantes ball. I shot them again, and it was as fun as I remembered.
Along with December comes, of course, ice skating at The Lakes in Westlake...
And visits from Santa, this time to a school in Somis, with his motorcycle buddies in tow.
But some kids just don't like Santa. This little guy at the Janss mall in TO wasn't thrilled about taking a picture with Santa.
Camarillo held their annual Christmas Parade, even in the pouring rain (note the raindrops on my lens!) I was soaking wet, but managed to keep my gear fairly dry.
Since it doesn't really freeze here, the Moorpark Water Polo team had no problem playing in December. These were shot during a practice at the Moorpark Athletic Club.
Also in Moorpark, big news - the Moorpark Post Office finally opened at the end of High Street, near the Moorpark Library.
And another highly anticipated grand opening, the Moorpark Skate Park.
It really was a gorgeous California Christmas, complete with sunny skies, a dusting of snow on the mountains, and blooming poinsettias in Camarillo.
We have plenty of fall/winter color though, and fallen leaves. Here's a family enjoying the warm December weather at Conejo Creek Park North in TO.
And at the RSRPD winter camp in Simi Valley....
Although they did have to truck in some snow.
There are always a few productions of The Nutcracker around the holidays, like this one in Thousand Oaks.
And after Christmas, families come out to play with all the new toys. These guys were at a park in Moorpark the day after the holiday.
December came to a close with a fundraiser to try to save the financially strapped Tutu's Hawaiian Ice Cream Shack in Simi Valley, but it was sadly unsuccessful. Tutus closed its doors at the end of the month. But the fundraiser was great fun, and the owner, Scott, had a good time despite the circumstances.
Finally, I finished December by shooting the Newbury Park High School basketball team, taking a day off from practice to stretch and relax at a gym across the street from the school.
Thanks for visiting the blog! Highlights from January and February coming soon.
This year I was pretty sick for the grad season. First a throat/head cold of some sort and then the kicker, a stomach flu immediately following. So I don't feel that I did as well as I had hoped. I was quite dizzy and hacking through most of them. But anyway, here are the results.
I've put them into a slideshow to make it easy on the front page. You can also find a direct link to the set on flickr here.
The next post will be all graduations outtakes, the shots that I didn't submit for publication. Some photos I just don't have the graduate's name, some photos are detail shots, some photos are just silly. These are usually my favorites. Coming soon! :)
Also, in other news, I get my nose pierced on Monday! I've been trying to do it for months, but first vacation, then being sick, then schedule problems... it's finally all worked out. I'll get Joe to shoot it, of course. We have to document what a sissy I am around needles.
Royal High School recently started a mountain biking club. Currently they do not get P.E. credit for participating. However, the golfers do. What's up with that?
I took some photos of Stage Plus employees setting up for the Cajun Festival this weekend.
And I photographed the grand opening of the new science lab at University Charter Middle School in Camarillo. Lots of great shots. These were a few of my favorites.
Last week I shot lots of balloons - water balloons at a church carnival, and helium balloons released at a memorial park by families who had lost loved ones in the past year.
Carnival shots first.
This is sort of a mini-dunk-tank game, so instead of having a water tank, when the ball hits the target, water balloons pop onto the victim's head.
Then I photographed a balloon release ceremony at Conejo Mountain in Camarillo.
When I photograph mourning families, I always try to be very sensitive to their grief. Sometimes your job as a photojournalist is to get the 'grieving family' shot no matter what. You have to swallow your empathy and intrude on their private moment. But whenever possible, I try to make compassionate photographs and if a family member hides their face, turns away, etc, I prefer to respect their wishes. I'm very sensitive to the wish for privacy at events like this. But occasionally, I come across people who seem not to mind being photographed, but then snarl at me when I ask for their names. This was one of those.
I made a few very sweet frames of this mother and daughter, holding each other, looking at this photo, with their balloons. When I approached to ask their names and reason for attendance, the mother nearly pushed me away and snapped "No. NO! It's different when it's a child."
While I very much sympathize with her grief, I often wish I could explain to people in this situation that as she is attending a public event, I may use the photograph no matter what. If she gives me her name I can publish a beautiful photo with a sensitive caption that explains her reason for grieving, something that she can clip from the paper and keep with her memories of the loved one she lost. Something that might help the process.
This photo ended up running on the front page of the Camarillo Acorn. I only wish I could have spoken to the mother and added a sensitive, empathetic caption rather than just using a generic that talked about the event.
Anyway.
Let's end on a positive note. Here are a pair of shots from the Conejo Valley Days carnival.
A bit of business to get out of the way first. I am in the market for a Canon 70-200 lens, either a f4 IS version or a 2.8 non-IS version. Hoping to pay between $750 and $900, hoping to find one that's in good working condition and tack sharp even if it has some normal wear on the outside. Email me if you have one for sale! Thanks!
And now on to the good stuff. I shot some interesting photos week before last that I didn't get in to my last post. Here are my favorites.
These were some swimmers from Calabasas High. Group shots are always hard, and one of the swimmers had a cast on his broken leg so an in-the-pool shot was out of the question. Here, standing them in the shallows and having a fill flash really popped out the portrait.
Here was a K-9 demonstration at the annual police department "luncheon with the chief." Very cool! Seeing the dog take down a "suspect" up close was impressive and made it obvious that having a K-9 unit would be extremely useful for the department.
Coach Gene Ubelhardt, who has taught football at Royal High School for as long as I can remember, is finally retiring. He's a really great guy and I will miss working with him when I shoot the team. This was just a very nice shot at his retirement dinner, where a ceiling bounce worked wonders for the photo.
And finally, a couple from the Pleasant Valley Museum living history day.
