Happy New Year!

     I can't begin to tell you what an incredible year I have had.  I can't imagine how this next one will be even better but that is the plan ;)  Thank you all for your support your encouragement and for always being there and making beautiful comments about my work.  I appreciate every one of you.  I am going to take a few days off to spend with my beautiful family and will be right back at it Jan 9th with my first shoot of the year.

     Tonight I wish you a SAFE and WILD New Years Eve. Tomorrow I wish for you the start of a wonderful year filled with love, laughter, good health, success, and peace.  May you be surrounded by loving family and good friends and may all your troubles last as long as your New Year's resolutions.  Happy New Year!!!!!!

Christian Scott Pappas

     Christian Pappas is a 13-year old boy who was just diagnosed with bone cancer. He will begin 10 long months of intense chemotherapy this September and will be in and out of UCLA for most of the year. He is not allowed to go to school and will miss all of his 8th grade year.  Christian Pappas has had more than his share of health issues. When he was seven years old, he fell off a trampoline and broke his arm just days before first grade. When he was ten, he had surgery for a benign, yet mysterious, 5 inch tumor in his sinus cavity and missed the last day of school. When he was twelve, he broke his ankle and growth plate and was in a full leg cast for 3 months, once again missing the end of his school year. Around his thirteenth birthday, his eye started watering and an MRI showed yet another new, mysterious tumor. Christian begged to postpone the surgery until school was out and had a very intense surgery on June 30th of this year.
     This second tumor was even more mysterious and complicated than the first. Top pathologists from The Mayo Clinic, Stanford, and Einstein all evaluated it closely. They concluded that this tumor contained aggressive, cancerous cells and that it was an osteosarcoma, extremely rare in the head area. Osteosarcoma is bone cancer.
     Christian is a straight A honors student who loves school. He is a club soccer player who runs a 5:53 mile. He is a friendly, funny, and kind kid and has always had a positive outlook on life. He has an eleven year old sister, Nicole, who is about to begin middle school and he had promised to look out for her.
Christian's bravery throughout all of his struggles and challenges in life is inspirational. Everyone who has been touched by Christian knows what a special young man he is. We ask that any friends and family take a minute to send Christian an email at Christian_Pappas_Fund@hotmail.com and give him words of encouragement through these tough times.
     Additionally, Julianne Pappas, Christian’s mother, is a 7th grade teacher at La Paz Intermediate School and a single mom. She is distraught and will be missing much (if not all) of this school year to be by Christian's side. She will be facing tremendous financial hardship this year. If you would like to make a donation to the Pappas family, please contact me and I will direct you to the right place. Christian and his family have a long, painful road ahead of them and any support is greatly appreciated.

Danny & Michelle

Sometime in October I decided that I would not take on any work the week of December 20th so that I can enjoy the holiday season with my girls.  Well, as I often do, I went back on my word.  How could I say no to Michelle when she contacted me asking if I could photograph her and her husband while he was home on leave.  He is in the Army and they had been apart for sometime and he would only be home for two weeks.   No brainer I think I could sacrifice 2 hours tops when they are sacrificing so much for us.  Well of course we get a nasty rain storm the day we're supposed to do our shoot but luckily Michelle was such a trooper and braved the rain.  There were some dry moments and some really really wet moments but all in all it was a fun experience and we ended up with some fun photos.  If you just can't get enough click on the title ;)

Pete & Ada are engaged!

YAY Pete & Ada are engaged!!!!  Well, here is my last E session of the year.  This was such a great time and the weather was perfect.  It was a record high for December and if I remember correctly it hit 91 in some cities.  Good ol So Cal weather.  I've known Pete for a few years now, he is a good friend of my brother in laws (and now a fishing buddy of my husbands) but I had not really talked to Ada.  I believe we met twice before the shoot.  She is such a nice girl and Pete seems so happy.  I love when good people find each other.  So this is part one of their E session.  Pete owns a boat so we are going to do part 2 on the boat sometime in Jan.  Can't wait for that one either!  Here are a few of my faves from their shoot.  If these aren't enough for you click on the title!  

Mirror Image

I snapped this image during a family session and knew the minute I took it it would make an amazing black and white.  It was actually the first image I edited in this series because I knew it was my favorite.   A friend of mine pointed out that it looks like she's holding herself as a child and I thought that was a really cool concept.  It's a mirror image.  They really do look like the same person and their body language is the same.  Well, I hope you love it just as much as I do!