My man really knows how to throw a good birthday party, especially for himself. My only regret is that I didn’t take more photos… but I was too busy rollerskating. We’ll just have to do it again soon.
ps: I love my rolleiflex… film wins again!
birthday party
Some people get Porsches…
…and some people get skateboards during their mid-life years.
We received a skateboard for our wedding from one of Arann’s best friends and Arann has been obsessed with his new sport ever since. So much that he wants to have a roller rink party at the junior high school for his 35th birthday.
My mom said that is the reason we are not having children. She said some people have children so they can feel young again, but we apparently don’t help remembering how to feel young.
Sadly this amazing outfit is not a part of his daily skateboarding sessions. He wanted a special outfit for his Birthday invitation photo… so I helped him pick out the perfect combination from my wardrobe and then we headed out in to the world.
The funniest part was crossing the street in front of our house… he definitely got cat calls by men in big trucks. Arann, who was feeling a little embarrassed, heard, “Freak,” but I like to think that they said, “Sweet.”
We are submitting this week…
Jude and I met yesterday and picked our top 15 photos to submit to the stock agency in order to hopefully get accepted and hopefully start getting paid for all the fun photo shoots we have been having. Here are 5 of our favorites that have not been posted yet… to see some of the other ones (preteen rock-star and skater girl, bed in field, woman on bicycle) click here.
Don’t worry we only took one photo of crying baby, after her sister knocked her with the plastic fish and before mom picked her up. So no babies were mistreated in the making of this photo… but even crying she is still so cute.
It was hard to choose only 15, we have so many more that we love… so hopefully we will be admitted to the club and then we can put them all in. Thank you to all of our beautiful and wonderful models!!
Happy Hula Hooping Birthday
These are just some of my favorite photos from Suzi’s Birthday Party at Oak Hill Farm last weekend. Funny how I have reoccurring themes in my life… right now they seem to be grasslands, bathtubs, and Oak Hill Farm. And hopefully from now on, hula hoops will be a on the list. They make for great photos, they’re fun and I found out I wasn’t as bad at hula hooping as I thought.
Turning Two in Style
Pony rides, a petting zoo, a cotton candy machine, Ben and Jerry’s professional scoopers, a paint station, a knock the fish through the wall station, and 32 of his closest toddler friends all came to Sonoma to be a part of Matias’s 2nd Birthday Party. His mother wanted to give him the party she never got to have, and lucky for me, I got to document it all….
…right up until nap time.
Besides seeing how much sugar could be consumed in one day, the most amazing aspect for me was being surrounded by toddlers who spoke two or more languages. It was incredible to see how their little brains switched back and forth so easily. While I, and my linguistically handicapped tongue, couldn’t even remember the basic Spanish I once knew. And the few times I attempted to speak, I ended up tripping over my words so miserably that I gave up and assumed my role as the silent observer. Needless to say, I was in awe and inspired to get back into my Spanish classes.
the un-birthday birthday party
Sunday’s Un-Birthday Party was the Un-Official Launch of Paige and Jude Photo, a Partnership and Adventure in stock photography. Petaluma photographer, and my new friend, Jude Mooney, has been dreaming of stock for the past few years… and she decided in order to make her dream a reality, she needed a partner… and lucky for me…. she picked me. So we started our journey by having an un-birthday party in her brightly colored breakfast nook.
The un-birthday party went exactly as planned, well, except for lumpy icing, a grumpy young party go-er (not pictured here), and minor technical mishaps with camera settings… but all in all it was a successful first shoot
However, there was one other minor important point to mention. During the shoot, it took me a little while to get used to the artificial element that comes from staging everything, but I realize now that is because I am coming from a hands-off documentary photography approach, so it makes perfect sense.
But because of that feeling, and because the whole scene was Jude’s creation anyway, I let Jude do most of the photographing on Sunday. I did manage to capture some candid moments and I played with my beloved Rollei a little, but I look forward to jumping in more actively on the next shoot. I think learning how to produce and direct photo shoots is going to be a well-needed challenge for me. I also look forward to setting up some scenes that I have been imagining, but would probably never make into a reality my own. And most importantly, I look forward to just having fun with photography with another photographer…. so let the adventures begin! And maybe it was a real birthday afterall.
Taylor
This is Taylor. She just turned 10 and for her birthday she wanted to have a boy-girl dance party. Her favorite presents were a razor to shave her legs and a toothbrush with a picture of a new boy-band singer who sings when you brush your teeth. She is wearing her new favorite clothes she got for her birthday.
Unfortunately the party was not a huge success, because it seems 10 year old boys are not as into dance parties as 10 year old girls and so Taylor spent most of the time upset that her boyfriend was not acting the way she wanted. And by the end of the party there was a rumor that he was going to break up with her which made her upset because she really wanted to have a boyfriend for the fifth grade. Taylor’s mom (left) and step-mom (right) tried to make her feel better by giving her their relationship advice.
Moments later the grandmother’s ex-husband, who she is dating again, rough-housed with this dog until the dog bit his arm and made him bleed.
turning 3
The biggest challenge of them all….photographing a 3 yr old’s birthday party with a camera made in the 50’s…..I looked cool doing it, but my photos are hit or miss….these are some of my favorites.
The photo actually includes Darren’s feet but the place where I have the negs scanned goofed on a few of my rolls….this is one of them.
somewhere between a handshake and two kisses 
