Our sincere thanks goes out to everyone that participated in our fundraising event last weekend! We were able to contribute greatly to the relief efforts in Japan thanks to all!
We adore each of the families that we worked with last weekend. One family, in particular, stands out when we think about how narrowly they escaped tragedy.
The Galvin family came to us on Saturday after just picking their Obachan ("grandmother"), Junkosan, from the airport. Her family had been in Sendai, Japan, just hours before the tsunami hit! They happened to leave scarcely one hour before the tsunami ravaged the city. We get chills thinking about how close they came to such calamity and we are so grateful they are all okay.
To the Galvin family and all of the other wonderful families that participated last weekend we say THANK YOU SO MUCH for being a part of this fun and successful event. We hope you will each treasure the photos that came from this session, and every time you look at the portrait you can be reminded of the wonderful deed you did, helping those in Japan that have undergone such tragedy and turmoil.
We are grateful to have had the opportunity to do our part to help with the relief efforts in Japan and we are so appreciative of our clients that participated with us. We had such a wonderful time and can't wait to see the photos!
We truly enjoyed spending our weekend photographing beautiful families, darling little children, lovely grandparents, hunky guys....(you know who you are!)
The news of the tragedy in Japan has really been on our minds. It is heart-breaking and devastating to think about each individual that has been affected - those that were lucky enough to survive. We have been longing to do something to help but we are not in a position to fly over there and assist in relief efforts.
So we came up with a plan.
On Saturday, April 9th and Sunday, April 10th we are donating as much time as is necessary for a series of $50 mini portrait sessions to photograph you and your immediate family! These 30-minute in-studio sessions will provide you with an everlasting gift for the one you love, however, even more exciting, is that the entire session fee will be donated to the victims of the recent Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami!
If you are interested in participating in this event, please contact us right away and we will set up your 30-minute session for Saturday, April 9th or Sunday, April 10th. This is a gift that will touch countless lives. There are only a few spots left! Don't miss out!
I'm very sorry it's been so long since I've written!
We decided to take a much needed vacation after the crazy holiday season. We packed up our bags, stopped the mail and the paper, found a loving home for our sweet pup to stay in during our absence, and headed out to the airport at 5:00am, ready for our trip. Apparently we needed a reminder that we are most definitely NOT in charge here, because our flight was cancelled, and not just temporarily, mind you, but for a week! And so we headed back to our quiet, dog-less, mail-less home.
After a week of this strange "stay-cation" of sorts, we finally boarded another plane. We barely made it out of Orange County, into the air, across the country, and into New Jersey, just before another blizzard struck and all flights behind us were cancelled again! Upon our return, I realize that it is much more likely that this forced relaxation at home was probably exactly what we needed to fully enjoy our amazing but whirlwind journey.
We spent most of our vacation with Prasad's delightful nephew, Avi, his beautiful wife, Tasneem, and our sweet niece, Amita. They have a lovely home in New Jersey and were the perfect hosts. They live only an hour from New York City, so we were able to go in frequently and knock several items off of my bucket list!
One of those items was to see Rockefeller Center all dressed up for the Christmas holiday season. I was sure I'd missed it, thanks to the debacle with our flights, but it was still adorned with everything Christmas when we arrived! So there's one item checked off the bucket list. Only a few more to go...
During our stay, we visited another nephew, Abhinav, in Philadelphia for a few days. We stayed in Old Town and loved this quaint, picturesque town! It reminded me of a European city, with cobblestone streets and sidewalk cafes. The snow was falling lightly enough that we were able to walk all about the town, even happening upon a movie being filmed with Bradley Cooper! (sigh), until we found the best restaurant in town, Le Parc.
Parc, as you may infer, is a French restaurant situated on the edge of a beautiful park. Tables had been set up just outside the restaurant, but it had started to snow and so the tables were piled high with fresh snow. What a beautiful sight that was. We opted to sit, snow-free, inside by the window and enjoy our meal. The meal was magnificent, but the true highlight was being able to gaze outside and watch children dressed colorfully in their snowsuits, playing on the white snow, people bundled up, walking their dogs, and just enjoying nature. It was a work of art.
I adored Philadelphia, Liberty Bell, Independence Hall and all. I was captivated by Elfreth's Alley, the oldest street in the country! It was a tiny little street with tiny little houses. We were able to go inside a couple of them and I could not believe how small these houses were! It shocked me more to learn that people are living in these houses still!
Ah, if it weren't for my brood back here on the West Coast, I could easily see myself living in Philadelphia. It is charming and close-knit, and you have all of the conveniences you could desire, yet the access to New York City is easy and quick. It is like having the best of the big city without living just within it.
I truly can't wait to head back to that side of the country again. It was stunning, breathtaking, and a lot of fun.
However, for the moment, I am very happy to be home.
Her bat mitzvah is one of the most auspicious events of a young Jewish girl's life. It is always an honor to photograph this very special coming-of-age ceremony, and none more so than our dear friend Lurae's. Lurae came into our lives when she was just two. As the years passed, watching her lead the charge around the cul-de-sac, bouncing blonde curls flying, was always a joy to watch.
Lurae's mom (Randi) was a single mother who had fostered ten other children. When Lurae came into her life, it was love at first sight, and she formally adopted the child. What a wonderful life changing occurrence for both of them! In fact, Randi's experiences as a foster mom inspired her to found a nonprofit organization, Education for Successful Parenting (www.eduparents.org<http://www.eduparents.org/> ).
Look at Lurae now! A young woman, surrounded by love, dancing with joy!
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Lurae's bat mitzvah ceremony took place at the Temple Shir Ha-Ma’alot in Irvine where she read the Torah and led part of the prayer service. Her grandparents came all the way from the east coast to witness the event, and many friends and family members attended - including Lurae's foster brothers and sisters - most of whom are grown now! How wonderful to see everyone together, celebrating this wonderful occasion.
After completion of the ceremony, it was time to hoist Lurae into a chair and take her into the reception room which was decorated as a jungle, wild animals and all (well, stuffed ones anyway)!
The food and decorating was provided by Solomon’s Bakery who kept that jungle theme going, including making a wild jungle cake!
The festivities were emceed by Chris Ledezma, a fantastic DJ from CD Players Entertainment. He came up with so many crazy and fun games, we secretly think he must be a kid himself! He even got the adults into the mood, playing games, joining the conga lines, and dancing along with the kids. Super entertainment by an amazing pro!
After the bat mitzvah, we invited mother and daughter to come to our studio to view a slideshow of their event set to music. They were both brought to tears and told us we had “...given [her] a gift [she] could never repay." In truth, it is our clients who give us the gift - the opportunity of being a part of their lives and sharing their special moments. That is exactly why we do what we do. And we love every minute of it.
One of our favorite things is photographing children! Recently we photographed the most beautiful little girl, Naaya. She is an absolute doll. We like to call her our little princess! She is smart, funny, shockingly beautiful, and quite precocious. We have the most amazing time when we are working with her. She keeps us on our toes!
She is hilarious. She is so used to us (we've been photographing her since birth) that she walks in, owning the place, and proceeds to do her own little model moves!
It was a lot of work to keep Naaya still for two seconds to snap a photo. We were constantly being creatively challenged, trying to find new games that would help keep her still for a moment to capture her adorable expressions!
But as you can see, it was well worth the effort. This little princess was a delight to photograph and we always look forward to her sessions.
Look at those big, beautiful brown eyes! She just emanates beauty. And mischief!
We can't wait until we get to play with her again.
