Deene Souza Photography

New Blog Address . . .

2009-04-25T15:30:00.001-07:00

Gosh! Once I realized I've all but abandoned this blog, I forgot to let you all know! Now all blog updates will be on www.deenesouzaphotography.com

Easier to remember that address! Please head on over and check it out! It's still a work in progress, but I hope to make it easier for everyone . . . but mostly me!

OH . . . and PLEASE don't forget to sign up for the email updates. I THINK the old email list was moved over to the new blog, but who knows! Please don't forget to sign up!

Deene :)

You should have been there!

2009-03-08T12:22:00.001-07:00

So I'm probably going to be crazy every year from now until eternity when the wildflowers come out and the skies are so crazy beautiful. I had a BLAST photographing these kids at our little Wildflower Mini Session. Thanks for coming out girlies! The rest of the proofs will be up soon . . . . gotta get the boys done . . . . .Next up . . . SUPERMAN and his fearless caped friend . . .

NOW who wants to go???????

2009-03-02T08:09:00.001-08:00

A couple of you have expressed interest in showing up. I'm excited! Should be a fun little jaunt! Went up to the wildflowers on Saturday with my daughter and look at what I captured . . . .

The flowers are rockin' my socks off! I would absolutely LOVE IT if I could find some flowers other than just yellow. I think I know where some are, but the drive is like over an hour from Tulare. Does anyone know of any closer by that aren't just yellow??????? Not that I don't love the yellow flowers, I just need variety, you know?

Wildflowers!

2009-02-28T02:32:00.000-08:00

The wildflowers are HERE!!!!! Aren't they SSSOOO gorgeous??? I'm throwing this out to anyone interested. On Thursday (March 5) from 10 am -12 pm I'm heading to the hills to take pictures in and of the wildflowers. If anyone wants to bring kids, or even just you, drop me a note at deesouza@aol.com and I'll give you the location . . . I'm not real sure where to go yet, but it'll be close by. We'll play in the wildflowers, take pics of your kids, post them up here on the blog and make them Flower Children (as opposed to rock stars), and you'll get a cool picture of your little guy/girlie out of it!

And because I despise posts that don't have a picture . . . . here's one. It's not a wildflower, but it's a FLOWER with some KILLER COLOR on it thanks to a new processing technique I learned this week through my classes. Here's the before picture right outta my camera:

And here's the after picture from doing a little tweaking in Photoshop. Amazing pop, don't ya think?

WILDFLOWERS . . . . HERE I COME!!!!! Join me!

Do I hear wedding bells?? (Tulare/Visalia Family photography)

2009-02-23T11:12:00.000-08:00

I've done something I said I would never do. Yep, I took pictures for a wedding. And you know what, this isn't even the first wedding I've done!

First, I was asked by Erin of Studio 317 to help at her brother's wedding last October. I haven't blogged that yet, but seriously, it's about the funniest story ever. I'm gonna save that one for another post. Sorry guys. You're just going to have to wait to hear about that. It's quite the story and quite the experience! LOL!!!!

A few weeks ago I was asked by Stacy Welch to help her shoot a wedding on Valentine's Day. SSOOOOO honored, but . . . . Oh my! Seriously, the last wedding was such a fun experience, I was really excited to do another one. I absolutely LOVE being the second shooter. It's pretty fun to not have the pressure of getting "all the right shots". I just show up, take pictures, don't stress about anything, and just get to be creative and shoot whatever I see that I think the bride and groom would want to remember. At the end of the day, I give the hired photographer my images and AAAWWWAAAYYYY I go . . . back to my own little life that enjoys taking pictures and making people happy. One of the things I've enjoyed SSOOO much is the friendships I've made with other photographers in the area. Lunches, coffees, bible studies, and second shooting has been a great way to meet new friends that I share a common interest with. I love you guys! I hope I can help you out more and more . . . just ask! It's so fun!

Although I was only able to shoot at the wedding and a little bit before hand, I got some great pictures that just SCREAMED to be processed in BW! Matt and Jennifer were just about the most gorgeous humans I've laid eyes on. Jennifer's smile is contagious! She was a gorgeous bride. And Matt was no slouch himself! (just realized I haven't processed any photos of him yet . . . gonna get right on that and post in another post.) But my very favorite wedding party member was Jennifer's son. Love that kid! He was so cute and pretty patient with all the chaos. I found myself pointing my camera in his face more than I probably should have. Wonder why? HHHMMM, might be because I'm more comfortable around kids! LOL! So enjoy the couple shots that I loved. I might post some more later . . . .gotta run and do a bunch of pics for my classes. ENJOY! And congratulations Matt and Jennifer Morgan!

Oh Baby she's cute! {Tulare/Visalia Maternity}

2009-02-20T14:40:00.000-08:00

I think that if I was this cute when I was pregnant, I would have had about 10 kids! (Just kidding mom . . . don't get your hopes up!) Maryann contacted me around Christmas I think to do some maternity pictures. We were scheduled to shoot when she was 7 months pregnant . . . and guess what . . . . she gave birth to KIDNEY STONES on the day of our shoot! Totally unfair for her! She's gotta do this labor thing twice now and didn't even get a prize the first time! So we rescheduled and now she's just a few weeks away from the BIG DANCE! Here's a small peek (yeah right . . .there were so many cute ones I couldn't pick just a few) at Maryann's maternity session with her super sweet hubby, John. Congratulations guys! You were a blast to shoot and I'm really excited about your pics! Hope you love 'em as much as I do! Best wishes for your upcoming journey into parenthood! I hope it's everything you dream it will be. I'm sure it will be. It's the best!

This last one is my fav! :)

Class Work

2009-02-16T08:26:00.001-08:00

_MG_9333 BW
Originally uploaded by deesouza

A few of you have asked how my classes are going. Well . . . let's just put it this way. I've already dropped out of one. You know, it just wasn't what I was looking for. Actually, it was so difficult to understand, I felt like it was one that I really needed to learn with someone sitting right next to me telling me what I need to know.
But I am LOVING a natural lighting class that I signed up for. I've always looked at light differently than most people. I have some french doors in my home that during certain parts of the day, the light beats in so hard that I can see tiny pieces of Madalyn's fallen hair on my wood floors. 5 years ago I looked at that light and HATED it because it totally exposed me and my less than lackluster desire to clean house! Today, I look at that light and study it intently. I look at its color, its intensity, its direction, and it's ability to expose me (or any subject that wanders into the light).

My first assignment for this class was to position an object or someone in front of a window and shoot them straight on, blowing out the background but still capturing detail in the face and light in the eyes. I didn't quite do the assignment exactly correct because I shot more from the model's side. But I have a reason for that. Carl sits on top of my printer everyday and looks out this window that face my backyard (faces east). The morning light was sssooo gorgeous and considering he was the only willing model I had that day, he got the first modeling job! But cat's aren't all that willing and I can't really tell him, "Stay right there Carl, don't move your head even though I know you watch every single solitary move I make." SO I quick grabbed my camera, metered off the lightest part of his face, focused on his closest eye, and VIOLA! I captured a picture I LOVE of my adorable cat doing what he does every single day. He loves his window and I love him!

My second assignment picture will be posted tomorrow. It's SSSSOOOOO cute! And the light is AWESOME! I'm learning techniques to shoot in full sun without a flash to fill in shadows and how to make the light "DANCE" behind the subject. Fun stuff

I love to shoot high school seniors! LOVE IT!

2009-02-15T22:49:00.001-08:00

I had SSSOOOO much fun photographing a senior from El Diamante High School in Visalia a couple weeks ago. She was so cute when I met up with her. She truly was not sure what to think about someone photographing her. She was a little apprehensive at first, but as you can see, she quickly warmed up to the camera and really flirted with it! Congratulations Stevi on your upcoming graduation. I'm quite sure God has a plan for you that is so much bigger than any of us will ever understand! Enjoy your peak at your senior pictures - this is just a sampling of what you'll get to see VERY SOON (like by Tuesday evening)!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-15T22:38:00.000-08:00

Just thought I'd share a few of the Valentine's cards I did for my daughter and a couple friends to exchange at school. Oh boy . . . I can see a trend coming on . . . .

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I Do! . . . . engagement pictures!

2009-02-04T11:52:00.000-08:00

This was a first for me! SSSSOOOOO much fun to take Bree Koetsier and Jarred Sleger's engagement pictures. I've never really done an engagement shoot. Bree contacted me back in December and asked if I would like to take their engagement pictures with a theme of Camo and Pearls for their upcoming engagement party. ISN'T THAT JUST THE COOLEST THEME! I was really excited to see (or try to see ...remember, they're in camo so we aren't supposed to be able to see them, right . . .LOL) what they would come to the shoot wearing. Bree is such a fun girl . . . always playing with style. I knew she wouldn't disappoint! And this was the first time I'd met Jarred but I was sure I'd like him and he'd be a great photo subject because I just photographed his brother Rich . . . I mean Rick. :) (SIDE NOTE: I'm onto you dude. Why didn't you tell me I called you by the wrong name the ENTIRE time I was shooting you? Rich, Rich, Rich . . . . you just liked being called something else. I think you are wrong . . . I wouldn't call you by the wrong name! But since you didn't correct me . . . . you are officially RICH to me.)

Let's show some off in color . . . .
One thing I had the most fun with is that everytime I told them to kiss . . . they had NO PROBLEM getting into those shots! SO SWEET! Love young love!

I just LLLOOOOVVVVVEEEE these next two pics . . .

LOVE this last picture! Look at the sky! Blue . . . right out of the camera! I was SSSOOOO excited because the sky was really ugly the day we took these!

I've got more to show off, but I wanted to get these up quickly so that Bree could have some new pics for her Facebook page! (I'm so addicted . . . .look me up on Wastebook guys! I love it!)

(another side note . . . Bree was in my kids' 4-H club not all that darn long ago. I'm feeling WAY TO OLD to know someone in my kids' 4-H club that is getting married! My daughter ALWAYS loved Bree's cows because they would have boas, glitter, flowers, painted hooves, whatever was outside the norm. Total girl cow!)

So Congratulations Bree and Jarred! Congratulations on your upcoming marriage. Congratulations on your new home purchase! May God richly bless you in your marriage for eternity! XOXOXO

The local resident . . . .

2009-01-30T06:13:00.001-08:00

I can honestly say that I think I have one of the prettiest yards I've ever seen. ;) In fact, I fell in love with my home because of the yard. We have beautiful walnut trees everywhere on 1 acre. Now, appreantly I'm not the only one who thinks my yard is an oasis. Meet our local resident.

Every day this guy is perched in my tree. He watches me drive in and out of my driveway everyday. There's not many days that go by that I don't see him either perched in that tree or swooping down on my front lawn to make a kill. He's great at keeping the gopher and mice population down. But he wasn't always this big.

About a year ago, my son found this sweet "little" bird that had fallen out of a huge palm tree in our neighbor's yard. I bet he fell about 150 feet! We protected it from the resident cats and fed it raw meat and water. Now we aren't certain, but we believe it gained it's strength and flew away and now lives in our yard. Even though it doesn't look like the exact same bird, I choose to believe it is . . . or otherwise I've got a bird sanctuary!

Snow Bunnies!

2009-01-26T10:32:00.000-08:00

Had a blast last weekend driving up the very, very, very winding road up to the Sierras! Oh man, that's a curvy road with a lot of drop offs that go really, really far down. Mom and Grandma, you would have never made it. Yikes! So the very minute we saw snow (around 4,000 feet) that was bigger than a puddle (have I mentioned how much we need rain in the valley and snowpack in the mountains?), we stopped and took pictures. I had this vision of snow covered trees, light snow falling, winter wonderland look, right? Uh, no . . . this would have to do. LOL!!!! I don't think I like driving in the mountains. But the good news is we saw the sun and prior to that we hadn't seen the sun in quite a few days. Had a wonderful relaxing lunch at The Gateway above Three Rivers while enjoying the sun. SSSOOO NICE.

The fun pictures below are of the Vanderpoel girls and my daughter, Madalyn. I'll be posting another surprise with these pictures a little later, but for now . . . ENJOY THE SNOW!

Thank you Lord!

2009-01-24T16:10:00.001-08:00

Lord, today I just want to praise you. Thank you for the rain. We need it so badly. Thank you Lord.

Janice

2009-01-19T12:43:00.000-08:00

Before the Christmas madness, I was contacted by someone who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. She's 32. Wow. That nasty disease is so non-discriminatory. Janice had an amazing outlook on beating this. Before she started treatment, she contacted me through the Think Pink Network about taking her picture. (Think Pink was founded October 2007 to support individuals and their families who have been touched by breast cancer. It is a charitiable organization that serves two purposes - celebrating life and supporting the cause.)

When Janice called me, she was so amazingly genuine. I was overcome with emotion talking about the pictures she wanted to capture. you see, she's never been married. There are some memories about her upcoming journey she wanted to preserve . . . . and other's she wanted to eliminate. I was thrilled she picked me to help her with this task.

This was my first Think Pink assignment and I absolutely loved it. The pictures are somewhat personal, but she is anxious to get her story out. If you are interested in seeing the rest of the pictures, please either send me an email or leave a comment and I will get back to you with the log in information, pending her approval. The pictures are so unbelievably moving, I'm really proud of these pictures . . . and mostly Janice. She's just amazing. You'll see why through the pictures. No anonymous requests, please. Oh and Janice . . . please contact me . . . all my emails area bouncing back . . . I hope you are well . . . .XOXOXOX

Hey moms with new babies . . . .

2009-01-17T09:44:00.000-08:00

I have a couple of newborn photo shoots coming up. Just wanted to share this link with you all . . . I thought they were precious. If you don't know what to dress your baby in (other than my favorite . . . nothing at all), buy one of these in your favorite colors. I have a feeling it will take awhile to get this so if you're a planner . . . buy one BEFORE the baby gets here. Who will be the first baby to be bundled in a peanut wrap?

Recent Family Session (Tulare and Visalia Family Photography)

2009-01-12T19:59:00.000-08:00

Yeah for me! Post #100! I can hardly believe that I've posted 100 times on this blog. The best posts are the ones with pictures, I think. So to honor my 100th post . . . I'm sharing some pictures I did of the Vanderham Family back in November. You know . . . we had to keep these pictures secret. No one could see until the Christmas card went out. Wish I would have done that with everyone . . . but then I'd have nothing to post! Oh well . . . live and learn. Next year will be better. But without further adieu . . . my faves from their session with me! (oooh, I have a few more . . . but I'll save that for ANOTHER post . . . ::wink, wink::)

A New Baby! (Tulare & Visalia Newborn Baby Photography)

2009-01-10T11:15:00.000-08:00

Wedding photographers should be THRILLED about job security right now! The Collin's family are totally helping by adding more girls to their family. I got the absolute pleasure of photographing another one of my daughter's best friend's newest baby sister.

That would make 4, yes FOUR, girls for the Collin's family! Miss Avery joined this world on December 21. Here are the pictures from her recent photo session. I love them in BW because it's just so timeless. So sweet. So baby. OH, be still my ::heart:: !!!!!!!!

OH, and Miss "Big Sister" Mackenzie . . . .when you comin' to get that bike I promised you??????? It's waiting for ya! Just call me!

CVC Winter Formal - Blog Post Request (Tulare and Visalia Family Photographer)

2008-12-30T11:31:00.000-08:00

I was chatting with a friend the other day who has a daughter who has been watching my blog to get some info about the CVC Winter Formal! She's in junior high and can't wait until she can go next year! I never posted any info here . . . don't know why! SORRY! So for everyone interested in a few pics from the formal, here you go. Many have seen this if you are one of my FACEBOOK friends (ps . . . I always love adding new friends so add me if you are a FB addict like me).
CHECK OUT THE PICTURES BY CLICKING HERE
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=11875&l=61381&id=1092016177

Sorry, but I haven't figured out how to get my pictures off of my network hard drive and onto my new iMac! Poor me. In the meantime, you'll just have to see them on the link above. Once I figure it out, the post will be updated with pics!

PS - Isn't he just the handsomest???? And his date was and is absolutely gorgeous! They were SSSSOOOOO cute!

It's 9:52 AM and the Birthday Girl is still asleep!

2008-12-27T10:35:00.000-08:00

I guess she can do that TODAY. Although I can't take it anymore so I needed to go wake her up. It's Maddie's birthday today! She's the big bad 11 year old! WOO HOO!!!!! She had a party a week ago Friday at McDermont Field House in Lindsay and was sicker than a dog! So guess where we are headed to today? Yep, back to McDermont. Maybe later this evening I'll post some pics from the party. But for now . . . I thought I'd post a little video. Just had to play with Madalyn's Christmas present from my mom . . .

Oh, and guess what, we found the cat. He was never missing, just sleeping. ;)

The most creative gift winner is . . . .

2008-12-26T17:02:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Christmas at our house on Christmas Eve. My husband and I were so fortunate to have both of our parents at our celebration along with my paternal grandparents, an aunt, a cousin and his friend. Oh, and our children were there too! Can't forget them! The evening started out with a gift exchange. I raked in . . . let me tell you! My mom, who is basically afraid of technology decided her iMac was too difficult to learn how to use so she bought herself a new computer and gave me her old one. T-H-A-N-K-Y-O-U!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The only downside to that was erasing the 5,001 emails she opened and decided to save. If you ever needed a funny email video (I'm sure none of you are lacking in those), I'm quite sure my mother HAD a library of the funniest video emails ever posted to the Internet!

One of the more entertaining and creative gifts of the evening came from me, my husband, my brother and his wife - a joint gift for my parents who have everything . . . except for this . . .

Wanna know the funniest thing about this bike other than the fact my dad will probably never pedal and it could be the cause of a divorce? My mom TOTALLY guessed this present about 3 days before and I never even gave her one stinkin' hint! She's just that good. How did she know? I think they are gonna have a blast on it and will totally start a new trend with their friends. Come on guys . . .

So that gift was pretty creative, but this one takes the cake! Madalyn put an envelope under the tree a few weeks ago. Usually I'm terribly curious and do my darnedest to open everything because I hate surprises. But I let this one rest. I knew it would be sweet so I waited. She wrote me a poem. I'd love to share it with you:

A Special Christmas Poem For A Special Mom

You buy me things on the rack
Sometimes you even scratch my back
You make me do chores for my own good
Even when I know I definitely should
You put clothes on my back and food on the table
You even pay for the entertaining cable
You always make sure I'm having loads of fun
And monitor that I'm not fighting with your number one son
You taught me its not lady like to fart
And always to completely follow my heart

Merry Christmas, from your daughter who loves you!

OK, so she wins! Wasn't that just the sweetest poem ever???? I love it! Definitely getting framed. And it's funny, I don't have any idea where she gets her ability to use words so creatively! Maybe this next group of pictures will give you some clues:

Top right picture is my mom, Madalyn and myself - trying to cross my eyes but actually just looking confused! And then of course on the bottom left you have the annual spoon hanging demonstration. Thanks to my mom, she's passed on her many talents, one of those is being able to hang spoons from almost any part of her body - well almost. Top left is my grandmother and my cousin Richard who is 10 years my younger. We discovered we'd be turning 40 and 30 together this summer. Yikes. And then on the bottom right we have Miss Mad who turns eleven tomorrow. We celebrated her birthday a tad early this year. I'll post more about the birthday tomorrow . . . it's quite the story!

Don't all holidays have to have a story? Well ours is no exception and you all know I love to tell stories, so her goes. This is my BELOVED cat! I ADORE this cat!

He/She originally started out as Carley; however, when I took Carley in to get fixed, the vet informed me that Carley's name should be changed to Carl. Now we call "her" Carl. We can't quite get past the he/she thing! ANYWAY, a few weeks ago, Carl snuck into my closet where I hide Christmas presents under lock and key. I'm the only one with a key, so I know who goes in and who goes out. Well I couldn't find him for hours and was devastated. Finally he meowed loud enough for me to hear and I rescued him. Well, on Christmas Eve, he went missing AGAIN! My husband kept saying, look in the closet. I said, there is NO WAY he could be in there because I haven't been in there in a few days! I went to town to pick up the bikes and low and behold, who do you think got into the closet with my key? Madalyn. Apparently she hates surprises too and decided to look at all the unwrapped presents. Well . . .who do you think snuck in the closet? Carl. So all Christmas Eve I called his name thinking he got outside and was just sure I'd find him smashed in the road the next morning. When I went to get the stocking stuffers out of the closet . . . CARL BOLTS OUT and basically reads me the riot act! Luckily he was OK, but really he needs to develop a fear of closets. It's not serving him well. Oh and guess what . . . I can't find Carl again. I'll let you know tomorrow if I find him . . .

2008 Christmas Card Parade

2008-12-25T16:55:00.000-08:00

WARNING: SUPER LONG POST

Gosh, I have so much I want to share with you all. I'm dying to share my pictures from our Christmas Eve . . . but I think I'm going to give you something to come back here to look for tomorrow . . . for now . . . the promised 2008 CHRISTMAS CARD PARADE!!!!!!!

This was the very first Christmas card I did this year. We took pictures of the Vanderpoel girls back in July. And it was SSSOOO hot! Jamie (mom) cuts my hair and while under the dryer, she and I came up with an idea for pictures. After I designed the card, I started thinking that I would just LOVE IT if every single card I designed or took pictures for could somehow someway have a little rhinestone on it. Krystal DeLeeuw (card maker extraordinaire) has these little rhinestones she sometimes puts on cards and I just knew I had to have that signature. Jamie totally made it happen. And I just love how she did it. She cut off a portion of the front flap so that the black strip showed through that was on the inside. Then she added a little rhinestone to the swirls. LOVE IT! She's so darn creative . . . that's why I love her!

The next Christmas card is of the Dykstra family. Vicky contacted me in September and asked if I was interested. Honestly, I was PETRIFIED! Why? Because I know how much fun my son and husband are to photograph . . . .how could photographing 3 teenage boys and dad possibly be a success? I begged her not to expect much . . . and little did she know that my comedic act of fast talking would be provided at no additional charge . . . . "What?" you ask. Well, while taking pictures up on Rocky Hill, we heard a few gun shots. I thought to myself, "Ah never mind . . . I heard those last week . . . " I should have paid attention. Suddenly, I see this funny look on all of their faces and I'm thinking, "what are they looking at?" Um, that would be the property owner coming towards me TELLING me to GET OFF HIS PROPERTY. "Oh sir, please know that we will respect your property and are not here to destroy, just to photograph . . . yada yada yada . . . " Get off in 2 minutes because if anyone gets hurt, I'm liable and yeah whatever. "OK . . .quick Justin. Jump up on that rock. Now all of you sit in front of the rock. On the count of three, I want Justin to jump up in the air . . . DON'T GET HURT!" We got the "money shot" as my daughter would say (thanks to America's Next Top Model) and it landed as the front of the card. And of course, the back of the card is significant. John and Vicki are celebrating 20 years of marriage. And their first date was in this very car. Isn't that so cool that they saved the car! Thanks for working with me Vicki, John and boys. You guys were a blast. But most of all, I just want to say thanks to Vicki for the super friendship we've developed over the last few years. You are truly a gem!

When this next card arrived in my mailbox, I was jumping UP AND DOWN! I absolutely LOVE this card. I did not design the layout of the card, but did take the pictures. I'm not entirely sure who did the card for Marissa, but if you did, please comment below and stand up and take a bow! It's so gorgeous! It's hard to tell in these pictures, but it is a square trifold card. There is nothing on the backside, just the front side. JUST AMAZING! I was SSSSOOOOO happy to see such a beautiful card with my pictures in the mail. Marissa was actually the first person to ever "interview" me to take pictures of her newest little bundle of joy. Honestly I was so nervous to be interviewed. It was great to listen to her talk. I really learned a lot from our time together because she had some very specific ideas of what she wanted to accomplish and I was glad I could assist her in getting them done. Marissa and Anthony, your children are adorable and you guys were so fun to work with. Best wishes to you in the coming year!

I cannot say enough about this next card. Now here is a card that had a vision for a picture. Does that even make sense to you? Well, AJ just knew she wanted something totally simple with lots of color. Did I just say that? Lots of color? While I edited these pictures I just KNEW they had had had to be in BW. The picture HAD to tell the story without anything else getting in the way. Let me explain. AJ and Dick have four gorgeous boys. They've raised the most amazing men! But AJ is such a girl! We were SSSOOO happy when Corry John got married to Jaelene because AJ finally got a girl to play with. Well, Corry and Jaelene made Dick and Annette grandparents this year . . . WITH A GIRL! Seriously, no one ever thought this would ever happen . .. . at least not the first grandchild! So Mimi (AJ's grandma name) and I sat at my computer and played. She DEFINITELY wanted a long skinny card. And a postcard. She wanted EVERYONE, including the postal workers, to see her pink bundle. The front of the card has Bentlee in color (because she's all pinked out) and everyone else in timeless BW. On the back . . . you see pure spontaneity. We had finished the session. The boys were all pushing the pram. The light was hitting everyone just perfectly, so I snapped this totally spontaneous shot and KNEW that was going to be the story telling shot. They were just chatting, just like 4 brothers would . . . no matter if they were pushing tractors when they were younger, or baby carriages when they got older. Just pure joy to watch these boys grow up and those who received the card surely knows the joy that came out of those pictures. I love you AJ and Dick! Thanks for letting me capture and tell your story to your family and friends!

One of my dearest friends called me during graduation time and said something to the effect, "Don't even come to RJ's party unless you bring your camera. We need a big family photo . . . please?" Just kidding . . . it wasn't that harsh . . . she totally begged . . . and I succumbed because I'm addicted to Glitzy Bella flip flops and she keeps me well stocked! ANYWAY . . . the joy that has come out of this little group picture has been tenfold! We took pictures of her mom's family and her mother in law's family. Featured below is her mom's family, Marv and Lynette Herrema. I'm so happy I could help capture this family picture because this is truly what is important. Merry Christmas Marv and Lynette . . .

Seriously, I'm not even sure how to describe my reaction when this little number came in the mail! I laughed at this card for a good hour . . . .and laughed again when I took a picture of the card! I didn't design this . . .Derrick (dad) did. Isn't it awesome? I got so many cute pictures of this family I don't even know where to start to show them all off. This card and this family is the reason I cannot turn off my imagination for all the great ideas I have brewing for Christmas cards in 2009! I've been thinking about these pictures and jotting down ideas for more sessions . . . unique ideas with personality plus. This family TOTALLY has personality! And a great flair for design. Derrick . . . you and me baby . . . we need to get together! GREAT JOB! Merry Christmas to your family . . . (oh and if Grandma Brinkman is reading this little post . . . I LOVE LOVE LOVE your Christmas card! I totally cracked up when I opened it and started to giggle. Now I know where your son gets his humorous personality!)

This next card has a special story behind it even though it's very simple. I was walking into Michael's one day and ran into Vonnie (mom). She said, "Hey, do me a big favor . . . would you come to the chapel right before homecoming and take our family's picture? I might want to use it for our Christmas card because I'd love to do one with Savannah as the Sophomore princess." Sure! I ran into the chapel and had walked by that cross a million times, never thinking too much of it. Pretty. But suddenly I realized the very best picture would be IN FRONT of the cross! Good thing I had my wide angle lens on me. You probably wouldn't know this by just looking at this, but I am laying on the floor taking this picture. And better yet, my baseball cap I had on had to be turned backwards because I had to use a flash because the lighting was so pathetic in the chapel. Now, no big deal you are thinking, but anyone who knows Vonnie knows that she ALWAYS looks fabulous and I currently couldn't understand WHY I though wearing a baseball cap was a good idea! I learned that day that I will never wear a ball cap to shoot anyone ever again. It gets in the way. OK . . . so back to the special story. As I was getting people positioned, one of the boys' girlfriends was just hanging out waiting for the family to take the picture and be done. Vonnie calls her in and says, "Jodi, come get in this picture. You are part of our family. I'm so sick and tired of not being able to have you in my family pictures. Get in here!" I kid you not, those were her exact words. I filed that bit of information away and said . . . oh . . . a proposal must be on the way very shortly! It was just a few weeks later and Luke proposed in the most romantic way ever! Vonnie was actually so surprised and knew nothing about a proposal coming anytime at all so she was really happy when she realized our picture had Jodi in it and she could help announce their upcoming nuptials! Congratulations Luke and Jodi on your engagement and congratulations Savannah on your place on the 2008 CVC Homecoming court. Jace, next year it's all about you dude! PS - did you notice the rhinestone on the card . . .my signature

And last, but not least, another fabulous Christmas card. I've become good friends with Sheryl. She's been in my Bible Study Fellowship small group, she and her husband are high school youth leaders for my son, and she was one of my first models to help me build my portfolio outside of my own family! Sheryl took on the challenge of designing her own card and she did an AWESOME job! As soon as I got it in the mail, I called her on the phone giggling and jumping up and down . . . .I LOVED IT! There are several different layers of paper and it's gorgeous paper! Great font design too! Another great card that totally showed off everything I love to do! You did an awesome job designing this card Sheryl . . . I think you may possibly have a future side job kicking in!

And last but not least, my own Christmas card! After taking all the above cards, I was kinda nervous that my own creative juices for my card wouldn't flow at all. I took my kids out to picture them and all I did for the first 30 minutes was yell. I know, seriously hard to believe that I yelled. My kids are SSSSOOOO perfect! (and if you believe that then you must believe in Santa Claus too!) So as I was getting frustrated with them, the light, the everything, Hayden throws his little sister up on his shoulders. They've been practicing this for a few weeks and I'm quite certain Madalyn has had several concussions from it . .. and this was almost no exception, as you can tell. The outcome was good . . . no one got hurt. In fact, even though I wanted to choke them for doing this in the middle of the road without the landing pad they usually have, I was so glad they succeeded because I think I had a pretty cute card!

And of course, not rhinestone. I forgot! LOL!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

Needing some models!

2008-12-20T15:59:00.000-08:00

UPDATE: Thanks everyone! I can't believe it but there really are quite a few people who read this blog! You always blow me away! And really, if I could get to some of you across the US without my husband having a FIT, I'd be there in a heartbeat! I would especially take up the offers from those in Michigan, Rhode Island, FLorida and Wisconsin! Thanks guys . . . but its just a little far to travel . . . .for free that is. Anything can be done for a price! ;) Regardless, I've got some fabulous help from some great friends. Keep watchin the blog in January to see some of my "class projects".

Well . . . I always do this to myself. One thing you all should know about me is that I absolutely LLLOOOVVVVEEEEE to take classes. I love to learn and stretch my knowledge. L-O-V-E I-T!!!!! With that being said, I am determined to be more prepared than I was last year for my upcoming courses. Remember when I said my kids hated to be my models? Well they are even WORSE now!

So I'm extending an invitation to anyone (ANYONE . . . kids, teens, engaged people . .. no brides . . . old people, dogs, cats, birds) who would like to have pictures taken. HINT HINT, this would be a great time to try to get some senior portraits done for free. You cannot beat that I promise!

I need 6 models/subjects, spread out over 8 weeks. I already have 2 sets of models (thanks Lexi, Sara & Ava) but I need a few more. Here's the dealio, you've got to work with me on the time and day (basketball is making me SSSOOOO busy), you have to be committed to holding your appointment because I will be counting on you, and I get full control over the location and finished product. But what do you get . . .FREE CD of your pictures!!!!!

And although I absolutely ADORE the families and kids I've taken pictures of in the past, I kinda need some new faces. Not just because I'm tired of looking at you . . .. NO WAY!!!!!!!! I just need a few new faces to E-X-P-A-N-D my photography portfolio. So if you are brand new to my camera, and you want pictures taken of your loved one, please contact me. I'm doing this GRATIS for you for helping me with my classes. Dates I need to have models are starting January 9 through March 31. First come first served on the dates. Wanna help me out? Email me . . . and help spread the word!

Oh, and by the way . . . stay tuned for my first annual Christmas Parade of greeting cards! I had SSSSSOOOOO much fun creating photos and some cards for people. Probably one of my favorite years ever for Christmas cards because going to the mailbox each afternoon was such an adventure - such a beautiful testament to all that I love to do. Thank you to each and everyone of you who trusted little ole me to spread good cheer this Christmas to your family and friends. COMING SOON!

WINNERS WINNERS! And a new kid contest!

2008-11-23T07:56:00.000-08:00

Uh yeah, I'm the loser! Kids, I'm so sorry! Did you think I forgot about you? Well no way! I've been busy busy helping people with family pictures and Christmas cards, the Halloween contest just blew right past me! So, I need to announce a winner. I just cannot pick one winner because I love them all SO much! So here's what I'm gonna do . . . . category winners! Yep, I have more than one winner!

Best Example of Memory Detail - Lexi Medcalf for Entry #1

You know I'm all about details. Photography is not just about taking pictures of faces and places, but the details that make those faces and places special. Imagine this . . . you are a 7 year old like Lexi . . . you walk into a Halloween party and ALL THOSE GOODIES are on a beautifully displayed table. Just what do you think is going through that child's mind at the time??? As a mom, I know we are all thinking, "HIDE IT! SUGAR HIGH!!!! YIKES!" But a child is like OVERWHELMED with excitement! Lexi . . . I love your photo and your documentation! It was fabulous! THANKS FOR ENTERING! Can't wait to meet you. Have your mom contact me to set up our special little meeting, k?

Best Use of Color - Sara Vanderpoel for Entry #2

Another thing I'm totally in love with . . . COLOR! Bright poppin' your socks off color! Sara did a great job of capturing outrageous color in this picture. I love it!!!!!! It's really hard to get good pictures at night like this with a flash and all (BTW, I hate flashes. Turn those puppies off unless you just have to use them like Sara did because it's pitch black.) Anyway, Sara did a great job with capturing details as well, but she wins for killer color! THANKS FOR ENTERING! I can't wait to photograph that cute little smile of yours. I'll be in touch . . .

Best Job of Imitating Me - Ava Vanderpoel for Entry #4

Yeah, I pretty much stunk as a mom this year at Halloween. Can you believe that the only picture I have of my daughter dressed up in her costume is Ava's entry? I'm pathetic. But not Ava! She KNEW how to tug at my heart strings! Thanks so much for capturing this moment of my daughter! I love it to death! I totally owe you for this! It'll be documented in the scrapbooks for shizzle (shizzle means sure for all you non-rappers out there). THANKS FOR ENTERING! We're gonna have FUN again!

NEW CONTEST

So I know all you kids are totally excited to enter the next contest. I think I'll give you a bit more time to enter this time! LOL!!!!! And of course, I bet you can't figure out what the theme is going to be?????? GOBBLE GOBBLE everyone. So kids, get your cameras out. Capture a picture of what you are thankful for this Thanksgiving. Along with the picture, please send me a little explanation of why you are thankful and how the picture relates to your thankfulness. Trust me, I'm not looking for anything that sounds like it was written by a poet . . . just little ole you. And it doesn't need to be long. A few sentences will do . . . unless you have a lot to say and I LOVE to read what you have to say. If you don't type, have your mom or dad type it out. Mail all your entries to deesouza@aol.com by November 30 and just maybe I'll pick a winner sooner!

Here's the scoop:
1. Take a picture of your thankfulness.
2. Explain why the picture shows what you are thankful for in your own special words.
3. Picture must be taken by a person under the age of 18.
4. Picture to be sent to deesouza@aol.com by November 30 at midnight.
5. Please limit your photo essay to 1 entries per person.
6. The winner will be announced by December 3.
7. Winner will receive a gift card from Target (one of my favorite stores!)
8. Winner will also receive a one on one photo shoot with me and a personal story board (as long as we are within a doable distance. If not, you'll still get the Target card!).

Feel free to send this to all your friends! The more photo essays I have to choose from, the happier I will be! Flood my mailbox, please!

The Sweetest Things are Babies!

2008-11-15T09:51:00.000-08:00

Oh boy . . . I mean girl! I had the ULTIMATE priviledge of photographing such sweetness, beauty, preciousness, tenderness, cuteness, girlyness (is that a word . . . it is now!) . . . . Geez! I just can't find enough words to explain this little bundle of joy! Lil' Miss Bentlee. So forget my words . . . let the pictures do the talking. Enjoy your sneak peek Jaelene, Cory John, and Mimi AJ! I love you guys!

Ice Cream? No, Hot Wheels!

2008-11-13T11:23:00.000-08:00

Meet the Brinkman clan! Personality times 1,000,000 is the ONLY way to describe this family! I'm not even sure these pictures can truly convey the cuteness factor my camera and I got the pleasure of photographing! I downloaded these pictures to my computer this morning and I haven't been able to leave my desk because everytime I look at one and get it ready to show you, I can't wait to get to the next one. I had very few "unusable" pictures.

So what does Ice Cream and Hot Wheels have to do with this post? Well, it's all about bribery. Bribery for smiles. But trust me, personality just came naturally! I don't know . . . what do you think?

Someday they'll look back on that picture and CRACK UP . . . we hope. LOL!!! ;)

The cutest thing about this next picture is that Derrick just all of a sudden grabbed Sarah in the middle of the street and dipped her! I caught it on camera but that was one of those unusable pics. Let's just say she totally wasn't ready for that. But she was the next time!

Oh, and just in case you couldn't figure out WHERE IN THE WORLD the two brothers get their personality from . . . maybe this will help . . .

Hope you enjoyed this little sneak peek Brinkmans . . . your gallery will be up very soon!

C1BAD57 and a very GORGEOUS couple!

2008-11-08T04:39:00.000-08:00

Hi Mom. I know you are drooling right about now. Check this truck out!

Isn't that just about the HOTTEST TRUCK you've ever seen? Seriously! I was IN AWE of this truck, but not nearly as much in awe with the truck as I am with the couple! I just LOVE LOVE LOVE this girl! So that means the guy must be a pretty special dude too! (wink, Rich;) Sheryl and I are in Bible Study Fellowship together. When she asked me to take some pictures of the two of them, I knew every picture I took would be pure eye candy! In fact, I'm stepping up the diet after editing these pictures. Let me tell you . . . Ms. Sheryl has got THE CUTEST WAIST I've ever seen. And that is saying something because the rest of her is drop dead gorgeous as well! But the most beautiful aspect of both of these people are their souls. So beautiful. So giving. So devoted to the Lord. Thank you for giving me the honor of capturing your special moment in time and I can't wait for you to see the rest. It will be worth the wait . . .

Halloween ghoulies!

2008-11-03T12:19:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited to know that people actually DO read my blog and that when they land here they are not just searching for Stan Carrizosa! (Those that follow this blog know what I'm talking about! LOL!! How can I promise that poor kid that I'm NOT stalking him . . . he'll never believe me.)

I received the following entries for the kid's Halloween photo contest. I love them! I love it that kids are taking pictures! It's so fun to see the world through their eyes. There's a lot of great things I should point out about these pictures.

I love the colors!

I love that poses were actually thought about but still look spontaneous.

I love that someone remembered to get a big GROUP picture!

I love that one child documented details, as in the cookie picture and the "candy bucket".

And belive it or not, I also love that entry #7 has a suburban wheel in it. Know why?? Because 25 years from now when that child looks at that picture they probably won't remember the Halloween night, but they will get a kick out of remembering the car that mom and dad drove 25 years ago. Trust me, 25 years ago our rims and tires were cool, but not like that!

I love the use of texture in the chain link.

Oh, and I LOVE the colors! Did I already say that?

I love that kids took the time to enter the contest and that parents helped them. Thankyou!

And the winner is . . . . . . . . Going to be announced later. I can't choose. I need some unbiased help. Hang tight! And be sure to leave these kids some love in the comments section! They did a great job!

Another cute family!

2008-10-31T17:06:00.000-07:00

First off, don't forget to send me your children's photos that they took of their friends in Halloween costumes! I can't wait to see them!

So I have a little sneak peek of an ADORABLE family! Just precious! I really like the color choices for clothing because the colors were really fun to make POP! I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE, (TRIPLE LOVE AGAIN) pictures that have poppin' colors. I think green is one of my favorite colors to photograph for some reason. Green shirts, green fields, green trees. Yeah, I like green for some reason . . . Maybe this picture is the reason!

But this wasn't the only fun picture we took. See that darling little baby in the picture? I know, you can hardly see her because she is mega tiny! But she's there! Trust me! She is TOTALLY her daddy's little girl! I got to take her picture when she was just like hours old! Oh wow. You know how I get with those babies!

So, as I processed the newborn pictures, they didn't say "make my colors POP." (Bet you didn't know pictures have a voice!) They said "make me elegant." Make me "serious." So I did. I processed these pictures to match the elegance and softness this baby reminds me of. Quite possibly, the elegance comes from her mother and her grandmothers. All very elegant women. So enjoy your sneek peek, Marissa . . . the rest will be up this weekend.

Contest for your kids! Check it out!

2008-10-29T09:47:00.000-07:00

So I'm sitting here all sad and stuff because my kids are getting older. I do that a lot don't I? One kid doesn't want a Halloween costume because he's not trick-or-treating - he's going to be "working" with Dad. The other won't do the cute girly girl costumes anymore and wants to be a rapper. In all actuality, I am pretty impressed with her costume. It's actually very creative and cost me all of about $5!

I'm dying to see some cute Halloween costumes. So I decided to run a little contest. You know me . . . I'm all about the contests! So I got this idea from a photographer. This photographer had kids taking pictures of what summer means to them. The pictures were posted on the blog and a winner chosen. This contest is very similar to that except this one deals with Halloween costumes.

Here's the scoop:

1. Take a picture of your friend's/sibling's/parent's Halloween costume. Be creative! Be scary! Be sweet! Be unique! Rock the photos! Self portraits are cool too!
2. Picture must be taken by a person under the age of 18.
3. Picture to be sent to deesouza@aol.com by November 2 at midnight.
4. Please limit your photos to 3 entries per person.
5. The winner will be announced by November 3.
6. Winner will receive a gift card from Target (one of my favorite stores!)
7. Winner will also receive a one on one photo shoot with me and a personal story board (as long as we are within a doable distance. If not, you'll still get the Target card!).

Feel free to send this to all your friends! The more pictures I have to choose from, the happier I will be! Flood my mailbox, please!

Homecoming at CVC

2008-10-28T08:42:00.000-07:00

Just a few pictures to show you some of the sites of CVC's homecoming. The rest of the 80+ pics that turned out are posted on my smugmug site. I say "the rest" because I did not have a love affair with my camera that night. I was EXTREMELY frustrated. Still learning everyday . . .

Hello! I'm still here!

2008-10-23T07:01:00.000-07:00

Took a little trip last week with my hubby and good friends, John and Linda Moons. We were both celebrating our 17th wedding anniversaries. We were married about 2 months apart from each other. We travel really well with this couple. They are just a blast to be around. So easy going and very adventurous! None of us like to have too much grass growing under our feet while on a sightseeing vacation. Anyway, we went to visit the Quebec area of Canada. We specifically went to Quebec City, Montreal, and the Charlevoix region. SSSSOOOO GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We hit the colors perfectly. Never in my life have I seen such beautiful colors in trees! But then again, I doubt I've ever lived through the miserable snow they have to endure for about 8 months of the year either! This is definitely God's gift to people who live in such miserable winter areas! We stayed in castles turned hotels every night, ate at "gastronomic" experiences (I do not like foie gras), enjoyed lots of art from local artists set up in alleys and on the side of the road, and drank good wine! Overall it was a really nice trip and I can't wait to see where we go next with the Moons!

And now that I'm home for a bit . . . my goal is to have all my photo sessions done recently completely edited by Sunday! Stay tuned! It will be a big feat to get all caught up but I really want these done because I need to feel caught up soon!!!!!!!!! XOXOXOX

Sometimes they are SSSOOOO cute . . .

2008-10-08T13:02:00.001-07:00

You just gotta show them off! Couldn't resist posting this picture because I know someone would like to know if there is ANYTHING worthy! LOL!!!!! I thought this one was pretty darn cute! And believe it or not . . . .there's a bunch more! Yes, most of the good shots were taken BEFORE I had to ask for forgiveness for "tresspassing" . . . OOPPSSS! I think you'll be excited to see the rest Miss Vicki! Thanks for calling me to capture your family! I'm so honored! OH, and FYI . . .I'm almost completely overloaded for the holiday season so if you think you might want me to take your familia's picture . . . please call sooner rather than later because I will be sssoooo sad to tell you that I can't do it!

Go vote . . . again . . .please?

2008-10-03T06:39:00.001-07:00

Oh my blog readers. 'Member that last photo contest I entered and all the kids were stacked super high on each other. That picture got a ton of votes. And I know it was all because of you precious people - my blog readers! Did I win? no. darn. Well guess what . . . I'm at it again!!!!!!!!!!! Same blog, MeRah Koh Photography, is having her monthly photo contest and she picked one of my images again. Now to be honest . . . the last picture was a total surprise to me that it was a finalist. But not this one baby! I ABSOLUTELY LOVE LOVE LOVE TRIPLE LOVE THIS PICTURE. I dreamed about taking this picture with this dog because I knew he could do it. Didn't know the shoes were gonna work out so fabulously, but hey! A girl's gotta get lucky sometime!

So here's a little background on this picture. Tracy, the owner of the dog, and I just recently became friends through mutual friends and church. We have so many things in common, including our crazy love for animals. When I was at her house for a jewelry party, I fell in love with her relationship with her dog. It was so sweet. He would be right next to her, starring at her intently as if he needed to protect her the entire time. NaPali, the superstar of the photo (next to the ever so miserable, yet gorgeous, shoes . . . oh! and those knockout legs!) is a very old dog. In fact, he is not doing well at all. According to Tracy, he's got epilipsy, failure in his hips, and a multitude of other medical issues that go along with an aging dog.

Anyway, there's much much more to this story, but let's just say . .. more than making me smile and giddy if my picture wins, it would be a personal victory for my friend even more so. I know it would put a smile on her face and give her more strength to continue to help NaPali live out his last days in peaceful comfort.

MeRah - Thanks so much for choosing my picture. You really have no idea how excited we are over this. I love this shot so much, but more than that, I love the friend that asked me to take it. You really made our little photo session that much more meaningful. Isn't that what photography is all about? This shot captures the love a dog has for his owner in a whimsical, goofy, NaPali kinda way. Thanks for hosting the contest.

A fun project for me!

2008-10-02T10:51:00.000-07:00

I was asked by the "Design on a Dime" Tulare Community Church youth building remodel team to praticipate in a little project. This has been a lot of fun thinking up ideas and actually implementing them. So I have a little sneak peek for you. These are dfeinitely some of my favorites! Many people know about it but I think I'll wait to spill the entire details. You'll just have to wait and see the pictures hanging in their new home. Thanks so much for asking me to help with this. This is the perfect project for me. I love to help use talents that I love and God gave me to give back. Oh, and for the record . . . I don't know if I can do the letter shots in BW. I think they are screaming color at me!

New sports photos up!

2008-09-28T14:40:00.001-07:00

Just thought I'd let everyone know on the email list that new sports photos are up and loaded. Remember, every picture you purchase directly benefits an organization! Right now, CVC Yearbook and Visalia Cavalier Youth Football is benefiting. Great response! I'm excited! It makes me want to shoot more sports events! So wish I could be at every one of them, but at some point, I need to stop at home!

CLICK HERE TO SEE PICTURES -> http://www.deenesouza.smugmug.com

Thanks for all your kind comments too. I just love you guys!

9 Days of Pure Sweetness!

2008-09-16T22:50:00.000-07:00

Oh boy, did I have fun! I got the privlege of photographing a 9 day old baby last week! This baby is the newet addition to one of my daughter's good friends' family. A baby sister! It was so funny because Baby J's mom and I just giggled ourselves silly as we watched her stretch, yawn, make silly faces, burp, whatever! It was all so stinkin' cute! Actually, when I had my own children I don't ever remember marveling at the amazingness of it all . . . their little tiny body rolled into a life. I think I was just so busy in the moment of the chaos that I never took the time to really take it all in. Makes me sad, as I think about it, but then again . . . I don't want to relive it so I think I'll get over it! LOL!!! But this was definitely fun to laugh with Therese about the craziness of a new baby and a 10 year age gap between her children! Thanks again for letting me invade your home and capture your newest wonder in her environment. She's just adorable and I'm sure she's gonna be mighty and powerful!

Where were you on 9/11?

2008-09-11T11:50:00.000-07:00

Everyone knows where they were at on 9/11/2001. I was in my bedroom getting ready for a day of substitute teaching at Sundale School. It was early, like 5:30 AM. I don't usually turn the television on when I'm getting ready AND I don't normally wake up that early for any reason, but for some reason I felt very strange sleeping. Actually, I felt a tap on my shoulder and whisper in my ear to wake up. And turn on the TV. I decided to watch the news. And boy did our lives change forever while I was watching the news.

We all know the story from there. All of us, glued to the television for days, watched in disbelief, horror, sadness, confusion, and experienced a gamut of emotions over this national tragedy.

Two years ago my husband and I traveled to NYC with some good friends. One of our stops was Ground Zero. The World Trade Center, or it's remains.

The NYC skyline - it's just not the same.

GROUND ZERO on OCTOBER, 2006

The families who lost loved ones have put together one of the most moving memorials I have ever seen. Never before have I come out of an "exhibit" (if you will) with so many emotions publicly displayed. I was a balling mess. Worse than the actual day. I've prepared a few of those images I took for you to reflect on how much this changed our country . . . changed all of our lives, forever.

Inside the 9/11 Memorial, there is a wall full of the MISSING posters that were plastered all around NYC. Pictures of people's loved ones that perished were behind a glass case. HUNDREDS of them. The two pictures that are on the right really hit me hard. In fact, this is the first time I've been able to look at them since our trip . . . 2 years ago. And I have no idea who these people are, but they could have been me.

Artifacts from the wreckage were retrieved and housed at the memorial. The bottom right picture is the flag that was either at the top of the towers or raised on top of the pile of ruble. I can't remember. I just know that every little piece of whatever they recovered means so much to the families and friends that lost loved ones. The artifacts even mean something to strangers, like me.

These next few pictures . . . well, let's just say, get your Kleenex handy. In one room of the memorial, there are tables set up with pencils and these slips of paper. People share their feelings and thoughts on paper and they are posted on the walls and the ceiling. I believe there are grief counselors stationed in the room because it is just truly overwhelming. Here are a few pictures of a sampling of what people wrote. I had to leave the room.

This is a photo of a list of names of everyone who perished due to the attacks on 9/11. People from all over the world perished . . . including someone from the Central Valley. Otis Vincent Tolbert died in the Pentagon.

The NYFD Ladder Co. 10 was the first unit to respond to the 911 call. The unit was directly across the street. Walking by the station gave me chills and tears. It moved me beyond words. I just couldn't imagine how something so familiar to them could be so devastating. The bronze memorial on the side of the building is absolutely gorgeous, but still, I wish it wasn't there due to the circumstances of why it is there.

I really wish I could remember this man's name. He is a trader on Wall Street. After we visited the memorial, we walked to Wall Street to check things out. He was taking a break and gladly welcomed our questions. Of course, he lived the nightmare and lost many friends on 9/11. He recalled with us the dust and smoke that billowed through the streets for days. . . .people running down the streets . . . the posters all over the city. We probably talked to him for over 20 minutes. I felt bad asking him all these personal questions, but he did say it helped to talk about the tragedy. It didn't affect just him, it affected us too.

I'm so thankful we live in a free country. A country that gives us freedom of speech. Even to this day, I feel safe in our country. Sure, walking around New York gave me a bit of an uneasy feeling, but it wasn't because of the people, it was because of it's past. But there is definitely something special about the Statue of Liberty. What she stands for . . . and most importantly, her location. How ironic . . . NYC.

Life is getting back to a normalcy of such on the streets of New York. And I just can't leave this post with such a somber mood, so here's a little giggle for you. Just to prove to you that their economy was headed in the right direction, you can rest easily knowing that my friend and I helped support the streets vendors anytime we thought we were getting a good deal! Wanna buy a purse?

New Sports Photos!

2008-09-09T19:08:00.001-07:00

I'm pretty excited! Today, the yearbook advisor at my son's high school called and asked if I would take some action photos of the football team for the yearbook. Of course I said yes! What an awesome opportunity to learn and improve photography skills. I really have a new respect for sports photographers and basically newspaper photographers in general. They really know so much about cameras and how to push them to their limits . . . it's awesome. Such geeky camera talk, I know.

Last weekend I shot a couple gigs of pictures at the Visalia Cavalier's Football game. I got a lot of great tips on shooting sports from Kevin Ford. I just wanted to publicly thank him for sharing his knowledge with me and encouraging me. He was a wealth of knowledge and I'm sure I'm going to get to talk with him a lot more over the course of the next few years on Friday nights! If you are the parent of a CVC High School sports players, be sure to check out his pictures for sale. There are some great shots of your kids! And then when you are done with his, check my shots out too. All proceeds from the sale of my sports shots will be donated. Read the front page of the site to find out which club gets the money!
So if you have an athlete at a game I happen to be at, and I have my camera, ask me to get their picture and I'll do my best to capture them on film!

Stan's the Man!

2008-09-08T18:55:00.000-07:00

Everyday I get an email from this website telling me how many people visited my blog. Usually, it's not a ton. It's average for an average girl like me. But this is funny! So this afternoon I come home and I've got an email with numbers and they are like WAY off the charts. I'm talking in the 10,000's!!!!!!!!!! The site that monitors this stuff for me tells me that at somepoint everything kinda "broke" because the numbers were just too many! So now, of course, I'm thinkin" . . .OOHH GIRL! You're movin' up in the ole world! UH, REALITY CHECK. SO I look to see where the hits are coming from and it turns out everyone is fascinated with my Stan Carrizosa blogpost and picture(taken with a stupid cell phone camera of course!)

HE WON!!!!!!! So congrats Stan! Visalia is so proud of you. You seemed like such a great young man when we met you the other day and we've been rooting for you ever since the first day we watched you! Can't wait to see your video! (PS, can we maybe get you to leave us a comment on the blog? You'd make the day of a ton of little 5th grade fans!)

Tu-tu cute!!!!!

2008-09-06T08:49:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of photographing "Miss T" in some of her finest pretties! She sure is getting cute and growing up WAY TOO FAST! I remember when my daughter was this little. She had a peaches and cream coplexion just like T. I miss those days, sometimes. I love the days I have with her now, but I do miss the baby giggles and the super cute clothes!!! Enjoy your sneak peek! These are just a few of the precious pics you'll get to see in your gallery!

I promise, this will give you chills.

2008-09-04T10:55:00.001-07:00

A friend just shared this with me and I wanted to share it with all of you. SSSOOO moving and so awesome. Oh, and be sure to turn off my music on the right otherwise you'll have a musical nightmare on your hands! ENJOY!

The BIG DOG Grandparents!

2008-08-22T05:54:00.000-07:00

My grandparents have two dogs. Two BIG dogs. No really . . . BIG DOGS. When I go to their house to visit and ring the doorbell, you hear instant BIG DOG. Nobody in their right mind would attempt to break into their home because it sounds like they'd be eaten alive. But as we all know, BIG DOGS are usually big whimps and I'd have to say that these two would probably end up licking you to death before you'd get the tv through the door.

Last weekend, the kids and I paid them a visit. One of my grandmother's dogs is getting up there in age and hasn't been feeling the best for quite sometime. They've been battling tumors and rear leg problems with him for years. Before I got in the car to go to their house, I remembered to grab my camera. I'm so glad I did. Charlie, the Golden Retriever, had surgery this week. Yesterday was a really rough day for him. I know my grandmother is worried about him, so Grandma, this post is dedicated to you. We're praying for a quick recovery for that bundle of fur that brings so much happiness to your day. And of course, we're praying for patience for both you and Cliff . . . .we know you're going to need it with Max (the black labradoodle and a son/sister to our Lucy and Bella) as Charlie heals! I love you guys!

Calling in the troops!!! I need your help!

2008-08-21T20:15:00.000-07:00

Well, you know me . . . I'm contest obsessed. And I did it again. One of my photos that I took this summer at a family reunion has been chosen as a finalist for a monthly photo contest by one of my favorite photographers, Me Ra Koh. So naturally, I need your help. If you click on the link, you can visit her blog and see the five finalists. She explains how to vote for your favorite photo (hopefully it's mine, but if it's not, that's cool too, just vote. You might win something also!)

My picture is by no means a "work of art". It's a great snapshot. Technically speaking there are definitely "issues" with it, but sometimes you have to sacrifice rules to capture moments. I've talked about that several times on my blog. Moments are more special to me than a perfectly composed picture. And this moment could never be recreated. In fact, it barely happened! Poor Daniel, on the bottom, had kids crawling all over him for almost 3 days straight.

Anyway, I think the reason this photo is so special is because it will probably be the last photo of all these cousins, together, at the same time (unless it's a wedding). My mother and father in law have hosted a family reunion for over 35 years, every single summer, in their backyard. The reunion has grown to well over 50 people with kids having kids, getting married, etc. It's a huge event to put on, but this was the last year at her house. So we hope that we can continue it SOMEWHERE, but nothing has been planned yet. And everyone's finances are so different that the place has to be affordable for everyone and someplace that is easily accesible for people all over the state and the USA. It's just sad that this won't be happening anymore because it truly was the highlight of my children's summer each year. They wouldn't miss a BEAT of the reunion.

So if you feel so inclined to pop over and vote for my picture, I'd love it . . .

OH, and MOMS (or soon to be moms) . . . Me Ra has some videos that she's created that are just AWESOME if you've ever thought about learning more about your camera. A few of my favorites are "Refuse to Say Cheese" and "Beyond the Green Box". Seriously, she puts a lot of really technical camera "gar-bage" into laymen's terms. Check her videos out. They are awesome!

So that's it for today . . . Vote for me!

Happy Mother's Day!

2008-08-19T10:18:00.000-07:00

It goes without saying that Mother's Day is truly the day kids go back to school. FINALLY, after being a travel agent, activities planner, personal chef/short order cook, referee, taxi driver, scheduling agent, nurse, house cleaner, organizer, ATM machine, and a wife (oh yeah, that too), I am back to the regularly scheduled duty of stay at home mom. WHEW! So let me share a few funnies with you from the first day of school . . . .

Hayden and high school. So last year I told him it was the last picture he had to take for me AT SCHOOL with his teacher. Here is Hayden's first day of school picture.

There's nothing like cornering him in the back seat of a car to make sure you get a picture, through the rear view mirror of course. It's the best I could do. Sad, I know. I've lost control already, but I personally love this picture because he was truly excited about his first day of high school. We all were excited. I could tell he was a little nervous, especially when we drove up to the high school and he sat there for a moment and said, "How do I get in?" I want to remember that for the rest of my life. "How do I get in?" At that point I just wanted to squeeze his little cheeks and say, "Darlin', the question is not 'how do I get in', but how can I get out with good grades and an acceptance letter to the college of your choice!"

SIGH. My baby is a highschooler.

And then there is Miss Mad. Gotta love this little smile. Despite the last post on my blog regarding her room . . . . doesn't she clean up nicely? She's had her first day of school outfit laid out for 2 weeks. It's truly exhausting to live with her sometimes because really, she's organized. . . . in her own mind . . . . just like her mom. (side note - Madalyn and a couple of friends have planned out what colors they are going to wear everyday to school until December. See, I told you she was exhausting.)

She really likes her new teacher (5th grade), Mr. VanderHelm. She had his wife as a teacher in 3rd grade and loved her to pieces, too. She was so excited when she came home today with many stories to tell me about her day. The most exciting thing was that she knew the mystery state in Social Studies with the first clue. Wonder what state that would have been? Massachusetts, of course. See, that travel agent job I took this summer paid off! The teacher already thinks she's a smarty!

After school, we went to Chipotle (in Visalia) to eat lunch with one of her friends and her mom and sister. While we were sitting there, I glanced over at a table full of high school boys. Basically, I was thinking about Hayden, wondering how his day went because he was at football practice after school. Anyway, as I'm looking at all the boys, one of them starts to look real familiar to me. I kinda stared at him for awhile, then it dawned on me who it was.

This is Stan Carrizosa. He is currently in the running to be in High School Musical 3. ABC is doing a reality show to find the next Disney stars and he has a very good chance of winning! You can see him on Monday nights at 8PM. SSSOOOO, like any good mother would do, I paid my daughter $5 to run up there and ask him for his autograph and to pose for a picture. He was so nice. Just a doll. He'll be the next Zac Efron. GO STAN! We are rooting for ya! And I know I could have saved myself the $5 because we all know Miss Mad would've done it for nothing, but it just kinda blurted out of my mouth, like a lot of things sometimes. I'm thinkin' Stan needs some posing direction from one of his 5th grade fans! (PS - Stan's sister, Miss Estee was Madalyn's dance teacher a few years ago. Small world.)

So Happy Mother's Day to me. I'm off to get my hair cut and colored. I've developed just a few greys this summer. Imagine that.

How does this happen?

2008-08-08T19:13:00.000-07:00

Our cat needs prayers! He LOVES Madalyn so much. He follows her everywhere she goes, sleeps with her, purrs the minute he sees her, etc. (more on the cat later in another post).

But for health reasons, he should probably look into real estate in or near Hayden's room. Or at least bond with Hayden so that he can retreat to a place he might actually come out alive!

It might be kind of difficult for the cat to bond with Hayden since he might still be suffering from visions of Hayden teaching him how to fly. Pray for the cat.

And for the record, my son is much neater and more organized that my daughter. How did that happen?

Why I HAVE to diet . . .

2008-08-05T19:11:00.000-07:00

All summer long I've had to deal with this. Madalyn has taken on a LOVE of baking. BAKE, BAKE, BAKE, BAKE, BAKE! Good grief! My hips can only stand so much!

It's really happening . . .

2008-08-05T15:47:00.000-07:00

I've kinda been in denial I think for a few months. I didn't really have a lot of emotion over the whole ceremony and events leading up to it because my friends tell me I stressed way to much about it a year ago. So I thought I was over IT. What is IT you ask? High School. Yep, in about 13 days I will be the mother of a high school freshman. OH MY! It's amazing how fast 14 years flies by (especially since I was only 12 when I had him, right?) Well maybe not that young, BUT I MUST HAVE BEEN TOO YOUNG because I'm still young!!!!!!!!!!!

(photo taken of Hayden on May 23, 2008)

(one of his very favorite teachers, "Mr. E")

So today, I picked up his schedule for the first semester. I was going to let him do it, but he works on the ranch in the morning and the office closes at noon so he BEGGED me to go pick it up. So I did. Promptly called him to relay his schedule to him so that he could compare it with his friend Max. GOOD NEWS! These two have 6 out of 8 class periods together! (Note to self - send all teachers tylenol the first day of school wrapped like a package from Heaven from the two angels!)

(Photos taken at Bass Lake, July 21, 2008)

A few days ago I found the High School handbook online and I thought I should make him read it. I knew that if I shoved it down his throat, it would never get read. So, with my mommy thinking cap on, I laid the handbook ON TOP of the schedule. And just what do you think I caught him doing this afternoon?

There certainly is a God!

One can only hope to find a man like this!!!!!!!!

2008-07-23T16:35:00.000-07:00

I am IN LOVE with this picture. I think it may possibly be my most favorite picture I've ever taken! And doesn't it just say a thousand words without saying anything at all???? Where can I find a man just like this? A man who will not only not talk back to me, but sit at my feet and love my shoes?

Meet Na-Pali! This handsome devil is my friend Tracy's love of her life! This gorgeous hunk is 13 years old and actually quite ill; however, like any dirty old man, he gets very excited when his woman is around and puts on quite the act!

Tracy and I met a few years ago through some mutual friends and have really hit it off. I laugh my head off whenever I'm around her and always come away amazed at all the common similiarities we have. Of all our friends, I think we may possibly be the only true dog lovers. That makes us kindred spirits from the beginning.

So as we are doing the big shoot . . . . who could forget to picture the cat! The poser! The cat that wouldn't sit still to save it's life!!!!!!!!!! But I think we got some cute ones of him.

So thank you Tracy for a wonderful time being able to capture some great photos of you and your love. I love him dearly, too! Hope Mexico was fun! Your gallery will be ready shortly . . .

Illinois State University celebrity in Visalia!

2008-07-13T23:46:00.000-07:00

We have a celebrity amongst us! Roger Fluegel, a local dairyman and very good friend of mine, is being featured in an upcoming alumni issue for Illinois State University. His contribution to the school's agriculture department is being recognized, as well as making himself a respected dairyman in the ag community. Congratulations Roger on all your accomplishments. It was a pleasure to photograph you, even though it was the hottest, sunniest, and smokiest day this summer! ;) Did someone say "Go Dogs"????????

(Not sure why this is showing up so light because it sure isn't that way on my monitor! I've been playing with my blogger settings, but this is really bizarre! Weird!)

A challenge for you . . .

2008-07-05T17:13:00.000-07:00

I know this blog is supposed to be about photography, but sometimes I just have things to say . . imagine that! So because I own this blog, and I can post what I want on this blog . . . I have a challenge for you!

There is a young lady that goes to my church who was diagnosed with Diabetes as a child. I can remember when all of the testing and diagnosis was happening to her as we go to the same church as her and her family. Anytime something life changing happens to someone from your church family, you worry for them and the way something will alter their life. It's funny how much of a shock it is to find out that someone you know has a "disease". Hannah is a junior in high school and has diabeties. A disease, if you will. When I see this girl though, I see a normal teenager. A gifted musician. An intellectual young woman who is going to make great changes in the world. I never look at her as a child with diabetes. And I'm sure one of the reasons she's handled her "condition" so well is through this summer camp she's attended since the beginning.

I can even remember the first time we received a request to donate to this camp. Money was T-I-G-H-T when this request came in. We didn't even think twice about donating. I donated for the simple reason that a parent of a child who I personally knew asked me to contribute. So what if I couldn't "buy" something for myself that month. I just hoped that my donation could help make a difference in a child's life that I knew. And now I feel like my donation has paid off. It feels good to know that she continued to go to this camp each year and connected with kids to help her understand her condition all the better.

So here's the challenge. Hannah has a website where you can personally donate to her childhood camp to help make a difference in more camper's lives. If you have the means to help Hannah collect money to reach her goal, please do. If not, don't worry, you can still watch her progress on my blog to the right. There's a little fundraising "widget" on the right that shows her progress. It's pretty cool. And so is she!

Happy 4th of July!

2008-07-04T13:15:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to wish you all a very Happy 4th of July . . . and a cool one, too!

I'm feeling patriotic . . .

2008-06-22T21:42:00.000-07:00

I always get patriotic around this time of year. Who doesn't???? In fact, you could drive by my house right now and see my patriotism all over it . . . .and it's not even July yet! I think what totally gets me in the mood are the classic Old Navy tshirts, flags in the hardware stores, baseball games on all day long, and if you've ever been to Massachusetts, you can't help but notice and become more patriotic in your household decorations! I'd say that 75% of every single house has some form of patriotism displayed on the outside! It was so awesome! Before we left for Boston, I did a little photo shoot with a couple families. Here are some highlights from the shoot and a tri fold card that I designed for one of the famlies. Before I post these pictures, I want to preface that some famlies did not want their pictures posted on the blog for child protection reasons. I can totally appreciate that and want each and everyone of my clients to know that if for any reason you are uncomfortable with your child's sneak peek being posted on my blog, please don't hesitate to let me know. I will totally respect your wishes! I love to show off your darling kids, but the key word here is that they are YOUR kids and I am totally willing to oblige by your wishes! With that little bit of housekeeping out of the way . . . enjoy these pics and bust out that flag tshirt (unless of course it has last year's date on it . . . .then pay $5 and go get a new one!)

God Bless America's Kids Preview

2008-06-12T06:31:00.000-07:00

I know there are a few of you anxious to see your mini session photos! Your galleries will be live by the end of the week so stay tuned. I've had a few problems with the preview galleries lately so I think I'm going to revamp the whole preview process, but I'm not sure if the new one will be in place by Friday. Either way, they will be up by Friday and your password will be emailed to you then. Thanks!

Day 4 - I feel like a sports writer

2008-06-05T20:51:00.001-07:00

Today was all about baseballs and food that is not on my diet. Oh well. I walked a ton yesterday, climbed stairs every time I turned around, and carried a 20 pound purse and camera all over Boston to give me a little luxury eating day.

We started the day with laundry. Actually, Tim started the day with laundry. Our jeans, jackets, and socks were so wet from the rains yesterday that there was no way I was going to haul those dirty, wet clothes around for another 7 days. So he went to a local laundromat and did laundry. It's a good project or 'quest" for him. He gets up so early in the morning that it gives him something to do. He always comes back to the hotel room with an interesting story about a local that babysat him while he was on his adventure. (That's our little family funny . . . .anytime we strike up a convo with a local, they are basically babysitting us because we ask them a million questions and take up their time.) The guy Tim met at BUBBLES is a retired realtor who made his fortune selling real estate all over the US, including Newport Beach. As Tim is telling me this story, I hated to burst his bubble, but I said, "If this guy was so successful, then why was he doing his laundry in a laundromat." I guess some people don't think their story through very well. At least the guy could have told Tim he owns BUBBLES!

Next, we went straight to Fenway Park, the oldest baseball park in America . . . but you expected that, right?

Everything is the oldest and the first in Boston! We took a tour and learned tons of interesting facts about the stadium. Even me, who abhores baseball, kinda liked the tour. I read up about it before going so that I'd have some idea of who and what the guide was talking about!

First off, for all you sports fans back home . . . has anyone wondered where this lady is at? (photos below taken with my cell phone, not the Big Girl, so that I could text it to some people at home)

Miss Heidi Watney, former KMPH new anchor, has moved on to bigger and better things! She is now a field reporter for the Boston Red Sox, I think. Either way, she was an important part of the cameras tonight. And good thing there were cameras everywhere because otherwise they may have missed this . . .

Pure craziness developed at Fenway Park. I mean here we are with our children trying to enjoy an All American pasttime, preaching to our children that they have no idea how lucky they are to sit this close, in this historic stadium where obtaining tickets to a game is almost unheard of, watching sports legends who are paid millions of dollars to hit a ball with a stick and this is what they do - fight. What an opportunity we gave our children to watch grown men fight like children. "IT WAS GREAT," according to Hayden. I should also mention that Manny Ramirez hit a three run homerun - and all of this happened before the bottom of the second inning! (I love this picture of Ramirez because you can see the homerun ball soaring . . .right above the last A in AVAYA)

One of my favorite things I love about family vacations is that we HAVE to talk to each other. We can't get away from each other! My kids have really been great. I'm really fortunate because I think they actually enjoy hanging out with each other and doing things together. I hear them giggling all the time, telling secrets to each other. This was a shot I caught of them talking to each other at the game. They didn't know I was taking a picture. You'll see several of these type of "photojournalistic" pictures to come. They are never composed perfectly as a photographer would "like" to see them, but sometimes (actually, all the time in my opinion) photography doesn't have to be perfect. I don't always have time to think about my f-stop or my shutter speed. I just "shoot and pray." I have a moment I want to remember - a time I want to freeze in my mind forever. This was one of those times.

And this shot just makes me laugh! Do you remember how I said I was going to try to avoid the MBTA (T = subway)? We rode it several times today, but this one takes the cake!

Leaving Fenway Park after the game . . . isn't it hilarious! and do you know that not one person looked at me weird for taking these pictures! I just took it! Another thing - we only waited in that mess for about 10 minutes. Within 20 minutes we were safe and sound in our hotel room. I'm amazed with public transportation everytime I use it.

I have one last picture to share with you. I also took this picture with my cell phone. This was the bravest man in Fenway Park. You see, EVERYONE was wearing Red Sox gear except this man and Tim. (I can't even get him to wear Bulldog apparel so I didn't even TRY to get him to wear a Red Sox shirt) The Boston Celtics and LA Lakers are in the Finals and the first game was tonight. Lakers lost, but it's just a minor hickup I'm sure. Anyway, this man was not only the bravest man in Fenway Park because of his Laker spirit, he also made his fortune in creating all the paraphenalia related to the SMURFS. Remember them?

I guess you could also call him one of our family babysitters! We talked his ear off too. Actually we were hoping he'd adopt us and take us to the basketball game with him! LOL!

Day 3- Coming soon . . . .

2008-06-05T20:46:00.001-07:00

Already breaking my promise and it's only the third day. I'm gonna go post Day 4 because it's a doozy. Check back later for Day 3 . . . .

Day 1 &2 of Pure Family Bliss.

2008-06-03T19:14:00.000-07:00

I have just one thing to say. I hate red eye flights. Why . . .I mean WHY did I think that a red eye flight would be a good idea? Seriously. Our first day in Boston, where I have like this totally amazing itinerary for our family to do, was completely ruined because by 10AM we were dragging like we hadn't slept in days! WAIT! That's the answer . . . we hadn't slept! Absolutely miserable flight. Totally froze my butt off, although I was still able to see it all when I got off the plane and walked by buildings with mirrored windows. Man, you'd think we were from some country hick town like Tulare and had never seen a building like this!

Anyway, we started off in Cambridge. It's just across the Charles River

and is home to our nation's first university known as Harvard (Hahvad).

We took the T (Boston's subway and the first subway in the nation) to Cambridge and it took us an hour just to figure out where we were going. CRAZY!!!! Another trip planning blunder happened here.

This is commencement week. Yep . . . . the smartest kids in the country have their parents in town to watch them receive a diploma that should hopefully help them to become contributing members to society. Fat chance . . . d0 you see the woman with the mask on in the picture . . . . I didn't even see her until I looked at these pictures. WILD! Well, at least this Harvard qraduate/self-proclaimed Berkley hippie

has made some contributions to society . . . He sits in Harvard Square all day (weather permitting) and plays chess with people. If you lose, you pay $3. If he loses, he pays you $2. And people actually play this guy! OK, truth be known, we were exhausted and a chair sounded great to all of us even if I did make my child play chess with the "stayaway." What's a "stayaway" you ask? Well . . . while trying to break into the Harvard library, the security gaurd gave us a little lesson about really wealthy families. Sometimes they have kids that embarass the society families and they actually ship them off to schools and pay them money to stay away from the family and not embarass them. The library clerk thinks the chessmaster may be one of those people. Sad, huh. But he seems awfully happy doing his thing so more power to him!

Next we went to the Museum of Natural History. Honestly, I knew this was coming. I knew they were going to say something about the theory of evolution in this museum. Afterall, it was a scholar from Harvard who proposed the theory. This is his exhibit.

Madalyn tried to say, you know . . . we do have the mandible and the somethingdibles, yada yada yada. "GEEZ MAD! What does the Bible say about how we are created?" OH YEAH! Then the light went on. But we did have a little bit of fun in there, especially in the monkey area. We thought we'd take a few pictures of "family memebers." Maybe you know someone that these guys remind you of? LOL!!!!

From there, we spent more time negotiating the T. Funny thing . . . .once you get the hang of the darn transport system, it's time to leave. . . . tomorrow is a new day and I'm determined to not get lost on the T . . . or not get on it at all! So, we went back to our hotel room at 11:30 am and pleaded with the man to let us in the room. All I know is that we gave up a specially designed room for us on the 14th floor for one that had clean sheets and beds on the 4th floor. We took it. We are on the 4th floor and doing just fine. In fact, it super duper nice! I could seriously shop all day in this room. The mini bar has a cute tshirt for sale that says RELAX, a teddy bear, and tons of $5 M&M packages! Gotta love those!!!! Just think . . . the same price as a gallon of gas!!!

We slept until 2:00pm and then proceeded to the DUCK TOUR. A good friend said that this was not to be missed. It was pretty cool. We learned a lot about the area, like a quick overview, and went floating down the Charles River too, all in the same vehicle. Really groovy!

After the tour, we went to the North End which is fondly referred to as Little Italy. We had dinner in a little Italian restaurant galled Mamma Maria's. It was really good. It's nothing that I would say, OH BE SURE TO GO THERE, but then again, we were all half asleep because we are so tired.

So here's one more thing that I goofed on. I prepurchased tickets to the Boston Pops. Needless to say, I was the only one who wanted to see them and now I am sitting in my hotel room wondering what song is being played. Bet it is way better than the sound of snoring coming from Tim and the kids! I didn't go and neither did anyone else. Bummer. Tommorrow is a very full day. Freedom Trail. USS Constitution. JFK Museum. I better not have any tired people tagging along with me or I'm gonna get crabby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What do beans, bands, baseballs, and battles have in common?

2008-06-02T18:35:00.000-07:00

I'm off on an exciting family adventure! When Hayden was in fifth grade (::sigh::), he did his state report on Massachusetts. So this summer we decided to visit the state he learned so much about and get Madalyn excited about picking her state for her report next year.

I debated and debated about which camera to take. Do I take the one that is easy to carry but I never get along with OR the one that pretty much always makes me happy and is the major contributer of all the pictures on this blog? I decided at the last minute to take the "big girl" with me in hopes of getting some really cool artsy fartsy pictures of my family getting irritated that I took the camera along again. Pray for me . . . pray for them! ;)

So check back daily. I PROMISE (ok, maybe not PROMISE, more like WILL TRY REAL HARD) to post the details of our trip on here each night before I go to bed. With pictures. Family happy or not. Hopefully when I'm done with the posts, I can create a blog book to remember our trip. (::another SIGH::) The last trip before my son goes into high school. (::SIGHING REALLY LOUD NOW::)

By the way, for the life of me, I cannot remember where I found the BOSTON image above. If you created it, let me know and I'll give you credit.

Image (BOSTON BABY) courtesy of Shabby Creations.

More Laguna Beach photos to share . . .

2008-05-07T09:18:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, I attended a children's photography workshop in Laguna Beach. Here are just a few more of the models we worked with. Wish I knew their names. I do remember this one though - Miss Jacque. How could I ever forget her? I wonder if their parents are checking out all the photographer's blogs? All the models received prints from us for their time and trouble. What an awesome deal for them because there was some serious talent at that workshop. I was feeling extremely inferior, but I had an amazing time!

Tyler Kids are Too Cute . . .

2008-05-06T16:35:00.001-07:00

I can't even believe I let this mother wait as long as I did to see her sneak peek. She, I mean WE, all went through some serious bug bites. Lesson learned on this photo shoot. But oh man, it was ssssooooo worth it. I just can't get enough of these pictures. Stephanie, I wasn't too sure when to stop editing, other than my daughter is staring me down, ready to go see ANNIE in Fresno tonight. So enjoy!

Sorry for the frames all over the pictures. I got a little carried away. Obviously I'm learning some new things in photoshop. I think they look so cool!

Help CVC kids with a project!

2008-05-06T08:56:00.001-07:00

"Wow" is all I have to say about these two guys! I got an email from them today and just had to share it. Look at what they created for their sophomore World History project.

Now, don't you just want to donate to this cause? CLICK HERE to help the guys out and the NOTHING BUT NETS campaign.

Random Deene . . .

2008-05-03T23:04:00.000-07:00

I’ve been tagged by Erin from Studio 317! I've never been cybertagged before! So for all my new blog readers, this means I need to answer some questions as part of the game! And I'm all about games, so I'll share 6 random things about myself. Actually, I think this is going to be difficult! LOL!!!

Here are the rules of this little game:
1. link back to the person who tagged you. (this would be her)
2. post these rules on your blog.
3. share six unimportant things about yourself.
4. tag six people at the end of your entry.
5. let the tagged people know by leaving a comment on their blog

Random Deene #1

I've been linked to the Internet since 1987. Yep, pretty much last year in November, I could have had a 20 year Internet anniversary. Actually, there really wasn't an "Internet" in 1987. Just a bunch of bulletin boards and about 500 people that subscribed to this thing called AOL. Oh yeah . . . they offered us to buy "stock" in this "start-up company". I was a college student at the time and pretty much living on Top Ramen, so not a lot of money to invest $1,000 that would now be worth about $500,000 today. My mom thought it wouldn't be a good investment either. Oh well. ;)

Random Deene #2

I have a love hate relationship with sports - that's why I'm a natural cheerleader! When I was in Junior High, I played basketball because I was tall. TALL. The coach saw promise in me . . . until I almost (or maybe I did . . . I just choose to forget) scored for the other team. It was really exciting when the crowd went WILD while I had the ball. And man I must have been fast because no one was anywhere close trying to defend me. Go figure. So that's when I decided to become a cheerleader. Now I am a FOOTBALL FANATIC. I'm crazy crazy for football. In fact, I declare a national holiday in our house during College Bowl Week. Basically, don't ask me to do anything except curl up on the couch in my jammies, laptop nearby, remote "control" (and I mean I'M IN CONTROL, no one else), cup of coffee, and if there is rain and fog in the forecast, EVEN BETTER!

And I love watching my own son play. So exciting! I can't wait for September! GO CVC CAVALIERS!!!!!! GO BULLDOGS!!!!!!! FIGHT ON SC! (those are my teams)

Random Deene #3

I've had a ton of different jobs and careers.

1. Secretary/bookkeeper for my dad

2. Gottschalks employee

3. ManPower Temporary agency

4. House Of Fabric employee (uh hu, I'm serious!)

5. Real Estate Agent for Century 21 and Craig Smith & Associates

6. Mary Kay Beauty Consultant (yep . . . had a MK car . . .red Pontiac Grand Am)

7. Substitute teacher

8. Ghostwriter

9. Tim Souza Cattle Co slave. . . I mean owner (::wink::)

10. And now this

Random Deene #4

I am so hooked on Grey's Anatomy, its crazy. I think that it's the best show ever. I've downloaded it to my iPod and watch it when I work out. And sadly enough, I haven't watched a GA episode in ages . . . nor have I worked out.

Random Deene #5

I have to read my email in the morning before I can do anything else.

Random Deene #6

I love to scrapbook . . . in fact, my obsession started when I was chosen as a finalist in 2005 in the eBay One of a Kind Scrapbook Design contest. I didn't win the grand prize, but I was given $750 to purchase scrapbook supplies on eBay and I got a great scrapbook out of the deal, one to cherish forever.

OK, so now I'm tagging my sorority sister Lisa, a special client Zann, Meg - a photographer from Exeter, and yet another photographer friend - Traci, and 2 more . . .

Viewer Warning : If you are this girl's parents, you probably shouldn't see this.

2008-04-30T16:09:00.001-07:00

I had a VERY FUN Sunday afternoon with one of the sweetest girls I know. If I told you that this is not a high school senior session, would you believe me? Probably not, thus the title of this post. Miss Danielle is growing up into a GORGEOUS young woman who is headed to CVC High School. ENJOY your sneak peek Danielle. OH . . . .AND DON'T YOU DARE MISS THE VIDEO AT THE END OF ALL THESE PICTURES! If you want me to change up the song for your myspace, just let me know! :)

April Showers bring . . . .

2008-04-28T16:20:00.000-07:00

Well, our April has been anything BUT showers, but who cares! How cute is this little girl? Her eyes lit up like a flame as shoon as she saw me bring out this umbrella. I remember the feeling when I bought it! I kinda wish I could get away with this umbrella! Matheney Family . . . enjoy your sneak peek! I had fun meeting you. Let's do it again soon.

God Bless America - MINI SESSION

2008-04-21T10:20:00.001-07:00

Mini Session

God Bless America's Children

Think 4th of July, Red White and Blue . . .

May 27 & May 28

How this works and what you'll get:

1. Choose a time. (see time slots below) First come, first served.

2. Pay your special mini-session fee in advance in order to reserve your time slot (special restrictions apply).

3. Mini session limited to 3 people total. All ages welcome!

4. Shop for some fun patriotic clothes! Make it festive!!!

5. Within a week from the session, a general mini-session sneak peek from all sessions will be posted on the blog.

6. The photographer and her assistant (meaning Deene & Madalyn) will choose 1 pose from which you will receive

(1) 8x10 portrait
(3) 5X7 portraits
25 custom designed Happy Fourth of July cards to send to family and friends
(1-10) 4X6 proofs from which you can order additional prints

7. Fee for this mini session, portraits, and cards is only $100.

8. This would be a GREAT time to think about Christmas card portraits! HINT HINT!

Available sessions:

May 27, 2008
3:00 - BOOKED
3:45 - AVAILABLE
4:30 - BOOKED
5:15 - BOOKED
6:00 - BOOKED

May 28, 2008
3:00 - AVAILABLE
3:45 - AVAILABLE
4:30 - AVAILABLE
5:15 - AVAILABLE
6:00 - AVAILABLE

I'm so excited to offer current and new customers this special. I'm starting to plan my shots!

Hurry and book your session by May 1 and you will be placed in a drawing for a custom 10x10 canvas (or $100 in additional portrait credit).

If you refer a new customer to this mini special, you will receive $20 in print credit. Call all your friends! Tell them to tell me you sent them!

Contact me to reserve your session time!

A little Dutch baby!

2008-04-20T17:05:00.000-07:00

There's just something about black and white naked baby portraits that I just cannot get enough of. When I take a baby portrait, my goal is to focus on the child. I don't want the portrait to get bogged down with clothing patterns, backgrounds, and such . . . I just want to see the baby in its raw form. A baby in the buff. I want the viewer to focus on the eyes, the perfect unblemished skin, the shadows in the right places, the expressions . . . the innocence. My last baby session was no different. I knew these would have to be B&W when I opened them up. What a Cutie Patootie! This little guy is happy as can be! He's got a big brother that adores him, too! Lucky guy . . . Here's a little sneak peek from a recent session with Rachelle and Gerrit's three month old. Thanks for having me capture your little bundle of joy in the camera. I hope to be able to take many more pictures of your family! Your gallery will be up soon . . . .

Cousins.

2008-04-17T08:14:00.000-07:00

Creating a little project for my mother-in-law for her upcoming birthday. Hope she doesn't see this! ;) I think this was probably one of the more frustrating days in my life. I wonder if it had anything to do with the fact that MY KIDS are in the pictures? My mind was put at ease this weekend in talking to several other photographers as they confirmed that their children are their least favorite subjects to photograph as well. A photographer's child has a disease called Uncooperative Cameritis. Ever heard of it? LOL!!!!

Another graduation session!

2008-04-16T02:55:00.000-07:00

Everytime I do a shoot I always say that is my favorite age to work with. But seriously, I do think I like to work with seniors more than anything. I think trying to get inside their mind and find out what makes someone "tick" is fascinating. As kids get older, they become passionate about hobbies and talents. And this young man is no exception. In fact, he is so passionate about his direction in life, it's been obvious since he was a toddler.

Meet RJ. This guy is off to UTI in Phoenix, AZ (hope I got that right) in July. He really ought to be going to Hollywood though because he totally had his mother convinced that if he had to take pictures, he truly might die. Fearful of what might happen on the shoot, I TOLD his mother she could not come with us. OOPPS. The color drained out of her face. Sweaty palms. I truly think she was a little worried for me. I was a little worried, but hey, that is part of the job, right? I gotta catch the smile. I gotta catch the expression that makes her say, "That is my son. That is so him."

I didn't catch the smile. But was I dissapointed? Absolutely not. I had a great time with RJ. Even though I had some ideas of where I wanted to photograph him, he had many of his own ideas. In fact, my favorite shots are definitely locations he picked out . . . locations that were important to him. You see, every person has a vision of how they see themselves and how they want to remember the moment in time. As a photographer, my job is to recreate that vision. I was glad that RJ had a vision of what was true of himself. He's always stayed true to himself so why should these pictures be anything but that? Trying to get him to smile with full blown teeth just wouldn't be him. A toothy grin has nothing to do with his happiness because trust me, I'm not sure this guy could be any happier with his life than right this very minute. But recreating a vision of these moments in his life actually was important to him. I'm so glad I could be a part of it.

Best of luck in pursuing your lifelong dreams in Arizona. And please . . . don't forget to call your mom. We are all going to be anxious to here how well you are doing!

Enjoy a few of my favorites from the shoot.

I think this last one would look so cool on a canvas. Thoughts? Too wild for ya? ;)

Having a baby soon?

2008-04-14T11:38:00.000-07:00

I have the most amazing idea for a birth announcement/newborn session, I'm just bursting at the seams, hoping someone will be interested in it. Here's the scoop - the photo shoot would require some travel, like 3-4 hours in a car. The shoot would need to take place within 2 weeks of the baby's birth. And because I think it's so original, I can't just share it with anyone, only someone who is really REALLY interested. So basically, you'd just have to trust my instinct, be willing to travel, and reserve the idea with a non-refundable deposit. I promise this baby shoot will never be repeated again without your approval because I know how fun it is to surprise people in the mail with an amazing card or announcment. Trust me, this would be a card EVERYONE will talk about. If you decide to take a chance, you will be richly rewarded with a canvas, birth announcments, photos for your scrapbook, portraits for grandparents, and brag jewelry. When you contact me for details, I will need to know the following: when the baby is due and how many birth announcments you will need (increments of 25). Knowing this information will help me put together a package that will be specifc to this exclusive shoot. I know that travel will seem daunting after giving birth, but sometimes you have to go out of the way to be original!!!!!!!! With all of this swimming in my head, I think this quote sums up my idea perfectly . . .

If you cannot be a poet, be the poem. ~David Carradine

Miss Jacque!

2008-04-13T08:55:00.000-07:00

What a dolly! So much fun taking her picture in Laguna Beach this weekend! She revealed to me in the first picture that "Ryan" kissed her leg at school on Friday. Mom was listening in at the time and I think she got a bit embarrased! I'm kinda thinking many little boys will be trying to kiss her feet for a very long time! I've got many more to share from the Children's Photography workshop I'm indulging in! But here's a little sneak peek of what I've been doing this weekend . . .

It's official. I'm not a fashion photographer, but Marth Stewart should be concerned about the competition . . . .

2008-04-11T22:40:00.000-07:00

The title of this blog says it all. I will NOT be a fashion photographer. My first time out and I failed. I was waiting, waiting, waiting for Madalyn to come on stage during the 4-H Fashion Review show and got tired of holding the camera to my eyeball. Wouldn't you know it, the minute I put the camera down, she comes on stage. Fumble city. So sad. BUT . . . .as a mom. . . . I couldn't be prouder! My little fashion guru just won GRAND CHAMPION at the 4-H Fashion Review! Check out her darling creation using an old pair of jeans for the RECYCLED category. She had to make a 50% change in a garmet and make it into another garmet. So she cut off a pair of old jeans and made an apron out of it. How cute is it? Granted, she did have a little help, but all the great designers of the world started somewhere, right?

Baby Faces!

2008-04-08T21:33:00.001-07:00

I know someone who is ANXIOUSLY awaiting to see this sneak peek! Actually, it's not even a sneak peek for her because her gallery is done and ready for viewing, but I thought I'd give you all a little something new to look at rather than Oprah! Seriously!

This little guy is so cute. In all honesty, I was nervous as a cat that I didn't get anything worthy to show this new mom. I was in major panic city because I was working against several odds. First, I broke one of my favorite lenses in the Bahamas. Yep, flat out dropped it like a hot potato. I wanted to cry, but mascara runs and sunburns just look flat out terrible together, so I sucked it up and kept shooting.

So, I had to do this baby shoot with a "refurbished lens". It was my lens, but it was a lens I had recently taken to our local camera shop to say, "Is it just me or is something wrong with this lens?" I think they hear it all the time because I swear they all went in the back room, rolled their eyes, cracked up and shot daggers at me! BUT . . . I have good news! IT WAS THE LENS that was getting blurry shots. So I picked the fixed lens up the day of the shoot and LOW AND BEHOLD, I'm in love again with my old lens. My good ole "cruddy kit lens." It didn't fail me. SPOT ON SHARP pictures! YEE HAA!!!! I love them! (Did I ever let on how scarry nervous I was Tracy? I hope not!) And I think this little guy is thinking . . "You mean YOU are TELLING my mom and the rest of the world this? ARE YOU NUTS?"

Yep, pretty much nuts. And real. And yeah, I don't hold too much back. Have you noticed?

And then, not only do we have lens issues, but we have crabby baby syndrom. Yep, the little guy wasn't going to smile to save his life! BUT THAT'S OK! Little did he know I got shots of all those goofy faces he makes and have deemed him "THE FACE." I put his little faces in a great big picture that I think would look FABULOUS on a canvas. A BIG CANVAS. I'm talkin mondo huge! OK, maybe not that big, but for sure a 20x20!

I've had a ton of Internet issues (the joy of living in the country) and not to mention I'm working on a big project right now for my children's school. So Deene Souza Photography has had to be a bit on hold. But I've got several photo sessions to post for you all to see. I'll try to get them up in the next few days.

I hope you enjoyed your sneak peek Tracy and I'll send you the info for your gallery. CIAO!

Revised Church of Oprah

2008-04-03T15:49:00.001-07:00

OK, I know I'm totally posting something that has nothing to do with photography, but sometimes things just need to be brought up! This is just so powerful in light of the amazing shows she provides on TV for us to watch everyday. It may possibly change the way you think about her shows. I do have to confess that I may have to watch at least one of her shows a year though . . The Favorite Things show. That's just too much fun. Anyway, I'm curious to hear what you all think. Is this totally over the top, or do you also see it the way the creator of this video does? Personally, I think there is enough evidence here that will make me think twice about what I am viewing on television created by Oprah. I'm sad, because there is a part of me that does enjoy indulging in that show once in awhile.

Redecorating . . . my computer!

2008-04-01T07:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, my mother and I had this hilarious conversation about hobbies. You see, she is forever wanting me to remodel my house. SHE is constantly remodeling a house somewhere. She loves it. It's her total hobby. NOTHING (well, almost nothing) would make her happier than to see Tim and I knock out a wall and add on to our house. Total remodel. Fortunately, Tim and I know that we can barely survive the review of the VISA bill each month, let alone a remodel where you ineveitably go over budget by like 110%! And let's not mention the mess you live in while trying to remodel.

NO. THANK. YOU. I'd rather move.

Fortunately I'm quite happy where I live. It's home. It's cozy. And I recently found some extra storage space for toliet paper in my trees. WOW.

Now, my computer is a total 'nother story. I love having the latest and greatest gadgets in technology. I've been this way for YEARS! I have to "remodel" my computer like every other month because there is always something new and exciting to add to it or use with it. Anyone else like me?????

So mom . . . this is another post for you. I'm remodeling. . . . my computer desktop. Here's what I'll look at every morning when I turn "A Dell" (my pet name for my computer) on.

You can get your own version of this desktop here. If you are having trouble making your own desktop calendar, just let me know and I'll gladly help you out. It's easy peasy. Oh, and I forgot to mention, on the first of every month, she uploads a new calendar for download. Man, I'm gonna be B-U-S-Y redecorating!!!!!!!!

Love in the Bahamas!

2008-03-27T20:28:00.000-07:00

Basically, this pic sums up the excitement brewing in the Gorzeman household.

Big huge hugs and super duper congrats to these two!

UNFORTUNATELY, the big engagement didn't happen in the BAHAMAS, but I did get to take a few pictures of the soon to be Mr. and Mrs. Travis Gorzeman. Aren't they cute?

Fortunately for them, they've got a great example of love to emulate. 25 years of marriage and they are still hot for each other. Cute, huh?

I know you guys have had the widest range of emotions this week and my heart goes out to your entire family.

Thank you for letting me document a very fun week your family will remember for a lifetime. I hope to see you back there real soon! I think the singer might have another verse to his song made up about us next time we go . . .

M.I.A.??????

2008-03-27T18:29:00.000-07:00

Pretty much, these pictures sum up Spring Break. It also explains why you haven't seen a blog post from me in awhile. I know, I know . . . I've been home a week. Whats the problem? Life folks. Life. Gotta get rollin' again. So if there is anyone out there, still reading this blog . . . enjoy a few more fun pics from our trip. And yes, I took the fish pics with an Olympus 770 Stylus while swimming with the little boogers. Pretty coolio, huh???? Hope you all had a terrific Spring Break too. I'd love to hear what you did!

Bubbles make me happy!

2008-03-11T03:18:00.000-07:00

I tell ya what . . . toddlers are REALLY DIFFICULT to shoot pictures of. They run all over creation and just kinda stare at ya. I mean, after all . . . you do have black box sticking out of your face. I just wonder what their little mind is thinking about with the camera chasing them all over the place. I need a lot more practice with this age group! Fortunately, when I did this session with the adorbale Miss Madison, I had some bubbles in my bag which came in handy. Madison had never seen bubbles before, so she had a great time checking them all out... touching them, grabbing them, watching them explode in her face! And can I just tell you how dirty that gorgeous dress of hers was by the end of the session! LOL! Here's a little sneak peak of some of Madison's backyard bubble pics. I created this cool DEFINED canvas idea for her pictures. This whole thing would be printed on a 20x20 canvas. Isn't it cool? Different sizes are available, with different words, and I can do any picture and combo of pictures. The possibilities are endless! Char, your gallery is almost done. I just want to edit a few more pics. I may possibly have it done before I leave on Spring Break too! Wouldn't that be something! Thanks for your patience. It was a rough week last week!

Another GORGEOUS Senior Session!

2008-03-05T09:53:00.000-08:00

This girl makes my job look soooooo easy! Lys, you are just a beautiful spirit, inside and outside. I wish you the best in all that you choose to do! Enjoy your sneak peak! Thanks for taking a chance on me!

A reason to always take pictures

2008-03-04T12:28:00.000-08:00

It's a sad day here today. We just found out my husband's grandfather passed away. His health has been ailing for quite some time, so it wasn't entirely unexpected. But it sure doesn't make it any easier. As I was driving home from delivering the news to my husband, I remembered that I took this picture of him about a year and a half ago. This unsuspecting capture of him is just priceless. This is the way everyone should be able to remember their loved ones. Happy...Surrounded by family...Who loves them. We love you Grandpa Souza!

Help Valley Oak SPCA

2008-02-28T08:58:00.000-08:00

Something dear to my heart is the Valley Oak SPCA. I ran across this little blurb in the Tulare Advance Register today in the public section of the paper where anyone can enter "news":

Calleigh tries to win $5000 for VOSPCA. Calleigh is a 4 pound Chihuahua rescued by animal control and adopted from Valley Oak SPCA. She is currently in a contest to win $5000 for Valley Oak and needs your help. Go to spaydayusa.org, click on the pink "vote for pets" button and put her name in the search. Then follow the directions on how to vote. Let's win this money for the animals!

Here's a pic of Miss Calleigh. No, I didn't take it. Don't know who did. But I'm quite sure they won't mind if I post this here because I just KNOW all my blog readers will take 5 minutes of their time to go vote for Calleigh. PLEASE?

OH! And one more thing. It's kinda confusing when you try to vote. You click on the picture, then you enter your email to register to vote. THEN, you must research for Calleigh and then CLICK TO VOTE. PLEASE DO IT NOW! Thankyou!

Isn't it a crime to be this handsome?????

2008-02-25T19:42:00.001-08:00

Mr. Trev is gonna have a special place in my heart. He's the first Senior Boy I've ever gotten to photograph. And he not only made is great fun for me . . . he gave me some pretty "H-O-T" looks and made my job easy peasy. Although, I do have to admit that it took me days to decide which ones to actually proof! Trevor, I wish you much happiness and success in everything you do and may God richly bless the path you choose for your life. I know you'll have no trouble with the girls! Enjoy your sneak peak!

Six weeks of pure sweetness!

2008-02-21T14:04:00.000-08:00

I seriously had so much fun at this photo session. It was very trying because we couldn't make baby happy to save our lives, but I enjoyed hanging out with her Auntie, who absolutely ADORES her to no end! We tried some really different places to photograph a baby, which made it even more fun, artistically speaking . . . Thank you Tiffany for being so patient and excited to see what I could do on film with your "new toy." I hope to photograph her many more times! ENJOY your sneak peek!

Have camera, will eat . . . I mean "shoot."

2008-02-20T03:05:00.001-08:00

I got call from one of the sweetest and kindest person I've ever met. She said, "Hey! This is totally random, and you can say no if you want, but if I offered you a glass of wine and some desert, would you . . . " OK, you fill in the rest of the question and I'll tell you my answer.

YES!

OK, what did I just say yes to? Well, this . . .

This was totally challenging for me because it was in low, low light and FOOD! I've never shot food, other than my kids' birthday cakes, and that doesn't make me a "food photographer!" LOL!!!! GREAT EXPERIENCE is what this was, believe it or not.

Kelli's sister Natalie Wilbur (who lives in Pasadena and works for the Four Seasons as their event coordinator) decided she's going to give catering a go. I think she's going to do GREAT! She makes KILLER deserts! And you should see her inspiration book. It's absolutely amazing! I can't wait until she debuts her new website, The Spotted Apron. I'll be sure to repost a link to her website for all of you because she really wants to get this business off the ground. And if you live in the Central Valley, she would absoulutely LOVE LOVE LOVE to cater your event as well. She travels . . . with her Spotted Apron.

Sweet, sweet baby!

2008-02-18T13:36:00.000-08:00

This baby absolutely LOVES her mama! You can see it in her eyes because she couldn't take her eyes off of her! I enjoyed meeting Marissa and I hope she loves the little sneak peek of her daughter's 6 month session. I have a few more to post, but wanted to get these up as she has patiently waited for me to get them done. ENJOY!

Madalyn, Julia Roberts, and a brother

2008-02-12T09:27:00.000-08:00

No pics in this post, just a funny story for those of you who know my daughter (and more importantly, the dry humor my son has which was inherited from his father) . . .

SETTING: We're watching "The Pelican Brief" on TV during our foggy day morning school delay and the conversation goes like this.

Me: Hey guys, do you know who that woman is?

Kids: No.

Me: Only the best actress of all time, in my opinon. Julia Roberts. LOVE HER.

Madalyn: Well, I'm about to beat her.

Hayden: Madalyn, you've never been to Hollywood and the only acting jobs you've had are in Tulare County.

Madalyn: Well, someday I'll have more acting jobs outside of this area!

Hayden: Hanford doesn't count.

Gotta love the confidence big brothers give to their little sisters!

Boy OH Boy!

2008-02-11T14:06:00.001-08:00

Meet Erin. Erin is in my Bible Study group. She is just about the SWEETEST human you will ever meet. Words that describe her are soft, gentle, kind, sweet-spirited . . . the list goes on and on.

Erin and her husband have 2 children, and are getting ready to have a third. I am so honored to be able to show off my first photo session with a pregnant woman, I can hardly stand it! Erin is really hoping that this baby is a little boy, so I've done some fun things one of the photos to depict this dream. Erin, I wish you the best delivery ever for the newest little member of your family. May God richly bless his heart and your lives forever and ever.

The Shopping Tournament

2008-02-10T15:49:00.001-08:00

My friend Sherry sent me a text message this weekend - "How's the shopping tournament?" Well, the shopping was a success. The basketball games were not so good. Really, what I should have done is taken this picture before the 2nd loss. Doesn't this just break your heart?

Despite the fact no one smiled for me, I promise you that our boys were the very best looking boys at the Ontario Christian Basketball Tournament. Man are they cute! And that's not just a mom spouting off. These boys are DOLLS!!!!! OK, onto the tourney details. Some fun things we noticed . . . Melany VanDyke-Albers still owns the 400 yd dash record for her school. WOW! Can you still run that fast Melany? Jay teVelde was All CIF in Soccer. His name still hangs in the gymnasium. And our good friend John Moons has an opportunity next year to be the only coach in OC Jr. High Basketball Tournament history to have a first place team coaching at 2 different schools. Good luck John. I know you are up for the challenge. I can't wait to hear how your boys win the tournament and bring the trophy home for CVC for the first time in history. Big stuff!

So, the guys lost all their games. Does it make it any better if I say that they played the best they've ever played in the last game, but they still lose? Down by almost 30 points, those boys played with an AMAZING HEART and game back to within 3 points of winning. It was a super exciting game with even the non-CVC parents and kids cheering for the boys. Oh, by the way, Hayden is #32. Can you tell?

In the photography world, the biggest victory game after I downloaded the pictures from the game. You see, I was so engrossed in the game, I kinda forgot that Madalyn took off with my camera. YIKES! So I see her sitting down underneath the basket with her friend Cassandra using my camera. "MADALYN! Bring me my camera, NOW!" I totally thought I would need it ASAP to take the victory shots. Instead, I probably should have let her keep the camera. Look at what she got!

I sure hope Madalyn doesn't get too mad at me for putting my stamp on this last shot . . . This was the first shot I edited of hers before I realized, "Hey, I didn't take these pictures! Madalyn did!" I'm too lazy to change it. So credit to Mad for this shot too!

Missions, Memories, and Moms

2008-02-10T14:39:00.000-08:00

First of all, I have to dedicate this blog entry to my mom. And I should also preface this with a warning for her . . . Mom, I've decided that you should NOT allow Dad to read this post; otherwise, you could be taking a trip to La Purisma Mission very soon!

A little history . . . as a child, whenever we drove along the El Camino Real, my father would look desperately for a mission to stop at and explore. I'm not entirely convinced that he stopped at these missions for his enjoyment or to further educate his children in CA Mission history, but more so to irriate my mom to no end. My mother absolutely abhores missions. No, she's not anti-religious, I just think it's one of those little things that begins to bug you about your spouse, he catches on to the irritation, and suddenly, before you know it, you've seen every mission in California despite your adament protests! Mom, I'll have you know, I was silently dreading (ok, maybe it wasn't entirely silent) this field trip. I've been there, done that type of thing . . . however, this is my last mission trip, ever. No more 4th graders. So I went.

We had a ball. This is like no other mission tour you've ever experienced. La Purisma Mission is located near the town of Buellton along the 101 FWY. It's the only "working" mission in California. Seven to eight times a year, volunteers come to the mission to make the mission come alive for 1,000's of 4th grade students in California. Madalyn's class was one of the lucky classes to visit the mission this year. (SIDE NOTE: write to your state representative - Arnold wants to close this mission down because it's costing the government too much to stay open, supposedly. This should stay open. It's fabulous.)

We woke up early. Try 4:00 AM . . .and I looked like 4:00 AM. It's not pretty. This was the group of girls I was in charge of. Now, they are pretty!

We arrived at the mission around 9:30 AM. Long drive. Fix Hwy 46, SOON. PLEASE! BEFORE SUMMER.

Ok, back to the mission. Everywhere you go, there are people wandering around, conducting demonstrations, or waiting in rooms to teach the students something about the early mission life. The first demonstration we encoutered was candlemaking. (NOTE: You are going to see a lot of interesting faces in this post. These "faces" are the generous volunteers at the mission. Retired school teachers, principals, business leaders, historians, park rangers, children, YOU NAME IT! Enjoy them because they made the day so special for these children.) Meet the first two faces:

The candle wax is heated in a large cast iron pot over an open fire, then poured into molds. I thought the molds were quite advanced for mission times, but apparently this is what they used because I asked! Then the finished candles are hung on the tree to dry for a few minutes. The candles that they make during the demonstrations are taken to the gift shop for the children to purchase. It's really neat how they have so many affordable little mementos for the kids to purchase.

The next person we encountered was my favorite demonstration of all. The leather shop. I just LOVE this man's face! He demonstrated how the saddles, shoes, and ropes were made. Honestly, I think the girls would have been thrilled to stay there and listen to him all day, but he had his talk timed and it was time for us to move on . . .

Next stop, the confessional. Oh wow. Funniest story. Now remember, we've got a group of 10 year old girls. Why ANYONE would want to confess their sins to anyone but God, in private, is beyond them! Our theological debater, Shelby, asked the question . . . "What makes him so special to hear my sins?" Let's just say that the docent was in no way going to debate theology with this 10 year old.

Shelby wants to debate religion . . .my daughter wants to question their FASHION SENSE. I just KNEW the question was going to be asked, "Did they really wear THAT in the mission days?"

The kids played "mission games."

Saw TONS of cool animals:

Made tortillas. Can you tell I'm sick of writing yet?

Spun wool to make fabric.

Made soap. Which, by the way, I've determined that I will no longer be using soap on my body. Did you know that soap is made of fat. I'm talking F-A-T. FAT! So, for sure, don't ever weigh yourself AFTER you've taken a shower. You've got FAT on yourself. And that stuff just absorbs into your skin, I'm sure of it. A new meaning to "A lifetime on the hips!"

Pretty much, this was one of the best field trips I've ever been on. HIGHLY entertaining. I'm so sorry mom! It really was. I think you should make sure Dad goes with Jimmy on his field trip to the mission. He would really enjoy it!

Here's a few more photos from the day. It was a picture perfect day for taking photos. I LOVED IT!

Meet "Prints" Charming!

2008-02-06T05:09:00.000-08:00

Honestly, this kiddo and I have a love affair going on. I've deemed him "Prints" charminig because these pictures are gonna be A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E! Such a cutie!
I get to his house and he grabs my hand like he is so excited to see me! I LOVED IT! (Thanks Mom for prepping him and getting him super excited to take pictures! That helped A TON!!!!!!!)
He cannot wait to show me something in the back yard, but first . . . a quick stop at his tractor to rant and rave over the fact that there is SAND on it! The nerve of someone to leave SAND on his beloved tractor!

Next stop . . .

I guess this just proves you should never throw anything away! Mom found this cool car buried behind their house after her husband removed a bunch of scrap metal. Logically, this car is too cute to be left alone. Artistically, I hope it stays there forever and ever!

WHen I was in real estate, one of the first things they preach to you is to never take the same route home. Always go a different route looking for opportunity. That has been my MODE for 15 years now. I love to go different routes seeking out areas I've never been to. So on my way to Prints Charming's home, I took a new route and found THIS place! LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS PLACE! Isn't it just perfecto for Printsy? It looks like he's wandering through the forest looking for his maiden!

So Queen Kristy, there's a little sneaky peeky for you until I get a chance to finish editing the rest of the photos. Probably won't be until next week as I'm trying desperately not to get sick right now, I have 2 photo shoots today (YIPPEE! :) ), a trip to La Purisma tomorrow, and a weekend full of basketball at the South Coast Plaza . . .I MEAN Ontario Christian School! HHMMMM, wonder where my priorities are? Thanks for having me take J's pics! It was SSSOOO much fun!

So excited . . .

2008-02-04T22:07:00.000-08:00

One of the things that excites me about photography is that your creativity is only limited to your ability to see the uniqueness in something. Photography isn't only limited to a picture in a frame, perched on a desk or hung on the wall. People have taken the art of photography and turned it into fine art, housewares, clothing, and even jewelry. I ran across this ADORABLE bracelet that can feature people and things you love on photo tiles! Isn't it cute? Anyway, it a great price, only $75 and you can put 6 different photos on the bracelet. I'm excited to offer this as an option for my photography clients and can't wait to reveal some of the other goodies I have up my sleeves . . . . STAY TUNED!

I've been asked . . .

2008-02-04T08:12:00.001-08:00

Them: "Would you ever want to take pictures for weddings?"

Me: "Nope."

Them: "Why not?"

Me: "S-C-A-R-R-Y!"

Them: "Really? Why do you think so?"

Me: "I'm passionate about photography. Always have been. I don't ever want this photography business to seem like work. Maybe someday I'll venture out in the wedding world, but then that would mean I'd have to give up my Saturdays and then that is work. I'm not willing to undergo that much pressure on a Saturday! The only pressure I want on a Saturday right now is deciding if I should wake up at 8AM or 9AM."

Them: "Yeah, I can see that."

Me: "And it would look ridiculous if I showed up in my jammies and Uggs. So when I find that wedding, THEN I'll be the shooter. Besides, I don't think the bride would like it if the photographer stuck her finger in the cake frosting and licked it. And it's really not fun to see the photographer juggle a glass of champagne AND a camera . . . or maybe . . . . "

Cuteness Overload . . .

2008-02-02T01:04:00.000-08:00

First off, I have to show you these.

I'm positive that even if I purchased every sprinkle known to mankind I still could not make cupcakes as cute as these! I wonder if my obsession with these cupcakes has anything to do with the rhinestones on the butterflies and the letters that spell ELIZABETH? Nah, couldn't be. I'm not into anything that sparkles! LOL!

OK, back to the subject at hand . . . LIZZIE! This little cutie has had quite the wild ride in her first year of life. And mom and dad are throwin' a BLOW OUT tomorrow! Thus, the cupcakes that Tina made for the birthday party/photo shoot. So, mom wanted a pic for the cupcake table to match the cupcake dress and the cupcake bow and the cupcake candles and the cupcake invites . . . you get the drift. Basically, she's a little cupcake! And despite my apprehensions that I totally bombed today, I got a few . . .and I think I have a few more to show you eventually; however, as I type this, the clock says 1:14 AM. YIKES! So, I'm gonna post a few of my favorites here and send you a link to your private gallery where there's a few more. Tina, pick your favorite, I'll print it off for you for tomorrow and bring it by around 9 AM. That's when I have to go pick up my own little cupcake! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MISS LIZZIE!

PS - A great big HUGE thankyou goes out to Laurie Sytsma, owner of A Taste of Holland, for letting us totally bombard her store, remove her delicious homemade cookies from the glass case and replace them with the cupcakes. She was so sweet and accomodating! THANKS LAURIE!!!!!!!!!!

Oh. Wow.

2008-01-28T09:49:00.000-08:00

It's absolutely amazing how beautiful this girl is. And it's even more special that she is just as kind and sweet as she is beautiful. Thank you Sheryl for helping me with my class portrait assignment. You are so gorgeous!

My photography style is like Pottery?.

2008-01-26T17:52:00.000-08:00

Huh? OK, so Madalyn and I were wandering around Fig Garden Village today, not buying a thing (and if you believe that, I have a bridge for sale.) Anyway, Pottery Barn has a cool thingy going on to re-define your style. I'm reading all the descriptions and of course, my head is no where near thinking about my house (which I know kinda drives my mother crazy because she just can't wait for me to bust a wall out somewhere!!). All I can think about is "WHY DON'T I HAVE MY CAMERA HERE!!!!!!" I had the point and shoot, but the two of us have not gotten along lately. Of course, I can't operate the easy camera. I can only love the confusing one. OK, back to Pottery Barn. So, the style description that resonated with me is "a little modern, a lot of warmth, and enough personal detail to make you feel at home." That's me baby! That's what I want my photography to be about. That's my mantra. I'm so glad the POT defined me . . . finally!!!!!!!! And we all know PB is cool. It's simple, classy, and understated! Doesn't that just sound like me? (OK, quit laughing you guys! LOL!!!!! I know you're all rolling on the ground, belly laughing, and TOTALLY AGREEING with the fact that Deene is simple, classy, and understated. It's not nice so take it back!) XOXOXXOXOXOXOXXOXO

Need. This. Now.

2008-01-25T19:34:00.000-08:00

Just a few things I'm wanting (just in case hubby is reading). . .

Familjen Wallpaper

Jill.e. camera bag

Trikke T-8

These chairs for my kitchen in red and green . . . but I still need a table . .

This mirror for my bathroom I'm dreading to remodel . . . (UPDATE: It's too big. DARN!)

Maybe this curtain panel for the window.

And this bath mat for the dreaded bathroom remodel

This chair for my bedroom

This tablecloth . . . although I think I'm just gonna buy it because I need one badly!

What a HEARTBREAKER! What a session!

2008-01-24T10:08:00.000-08:00

OK, who knew that something so sweet and cute as this little guy could do the things he can do. Let's just say this . . . he's definitely a BOY! THROUGH AND THROUGH!!! Denise was so kind to let me use little E for a model. I'm so excited to give Mom and Dad a few of these shots from our session, but in the meantime, here's a little sneaky peaky for you. I have something REALLY SPECIAL planned to give to ya . . .

Photo of the week . . .

2008-01-21T19:32:00.000-08:00

My photo was recognized by my instructor, Ibarionex R. Perello, as a PHOTO OF THE WEEK. More specifically, this means (in Ibarionex's words) "Its an image that I believe is one of the better examples of not only the assignment, but also has certain qualities in terms of lighting, composition and content that I believe that everyone can learn from." WOO HOO! Don't I feel special! I wasn't the only over achiever in the class, but it wure did excite me!

Shouldn't she be famous?

2008-01-21T12:33:00.000-08:00

Call me crazy, but doesn't she look like she should be someone famous???????????? She just turned 10 last month, so this is her 10 year old portrait . . . taken by yours truly!

Kinsley = cutie!

2008-01-21T10:21:00.000-08:00

This little one totally reminds me of my Madalyn. Such a cute and happy baby! Not to mention the bows!!!!!!!! Enjoy your sneakie peakie. I'll have your gallery ready soon . . .

Search for Fresh Faces

2008-01-05T13:16:00.000-08:00

It's no secret that when you are just starting out in this line of work, usually those closest to you have the camera shoved in their face all day long. Well, those that I refer to happen to be my kids and quite honestly, we are all sick of the camera relationship that has developed. It's just not pretty anymore!

With that being said . . . I'm on the hunt for new faces to shoot in the Tulare and Visalia area! So, what does that mean, for a limited time, I am offering a photo session for one child, complete with a generous photo package, for only $50. That's right. You get photos of your children, I get more photos for my portfolio, EVERYBODY'S HAPPY! (my kids especially, because did I mention how sick and tired they are of seeing me with a camera pointed in their face?

So email me today at deesouza@aol.com to get your session booked. In fact, the earlier you book, the better chance you have of becoming famous on my new website . . .

And if you are a past client who refers someone to me, I will give you a $25 print credit towards a future order. I can't wait to hear from you!

Print Pacakage includes:
1 8x10 print
2 5x7 prints
1 3.5X5 print
8 wallets
(1 pose per package)
$50 value in prints alone!!!!!!!
no substitutions please
All sessions must take place by February 29, 2008 to take advantage of this offer. THANKS!

Developing a mailing list

2008-01-04T13:54:00.000-08:00

If you'd like to be listed on my mailing list, please sign up by sending me an

with the following subject line:

DEENE SOUZA PHOTOGRAPHY MAILING LIST

You'll receive mailing list only specials, and very little email, less than twice a month. And I'll remove you whenever you ask. Promise.