I really want to preface this post by saying that  I am always so thankful for my clients.   2011 was a great year and I really owe it all to my people.  Thank you for supporting my vision,  letting your guard down, and allowing our time together go where ever the light and the kids lead us. xoxo. New and exciting stuff coming up. What’s up 2012!?

She is one of those friends. You now the type….the one where 10 years passes and you pick right up where you left off.  You can’t help but love the girl.  Welp, she was recently diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer.  One lymph node over the line for stage 2.   She has already gone through radiation and had surgery the other day to remove the funk. Things are looking good.  She starts chemo sometime very soon. She’s a feisty little sprite and I she will get through it. Unfortunately, the poison that is chemo is going to make things worse before things get better.  So, if you would, put her on your care bear stare line up and for those of you that prefer to pray, rub a buddah belly, hollah to allah, rub your rosary beads…whatever. Pick your poison. Anything goes.   Just put the good healing energy out there.  After all, we are all connected.

A few days before Christmas I took shryner to his vet in Mission Viejo and then we headed out to Brea for a long over due hang out sesh.  Pretty light out there by the way.  We hung out for a good old fashion run around the park. I’m glad I had my camera and I am also glad this happy little meet up turned out to be my 2011 closer.  Cutest little girlies ever.

xoxo – amy

PS.  Make it your NY resolution to save your dollars, sell that ugly expensive hand bag on ebay, Spend $20 less at Target each time you go, give up the starbucks habit, buy from the bulk section at the grocery, get the refined sugar out of your diet and hire a photographer. Preferably a good photographer with a vision, that you connect with and pays their taxes like you and I.  muah. xo

Since the time this happened I have read numerous beautifully written articles from friends in the photography industry who have tragically lost clients, friends and family members to illness, car accidents, natural disasters and sweet little babies that just didn’t stand a chance.  This article comes to mind and I so wish that I could turn back time so that this story was different.

It started back in 2009 when I chose Patty’s family as a winner to my “tell me why your family is not boring” contest. Her son, Colyn, had a service dog named Fina and she stole my heart immediately. The bond between them was palpable so, it was a no brainer. I wanted to tell their story. A fifteen year old boy with freckles and the most beautiful black retriever  I had ever seen. Yes, please!

After a few attempts of trying to get the family on the calendar the holidays had come and gone. I had just moved from Murrieta to Fallbrook and the holiday rush had finally ceased and I was back to work.  I called to pester Patty one last time to get her session on the calendar.  The phone rang and she answered, “hello?” I started to talk but after a few words my brain had caught up to my mouth, in typical amy b. fashion,  and my words just stopped and it was silent.  I could tell that her world had been rocked within that single word.  I had no reason to believe Colyn was gone. He was not terminally ill.  All that rang through my body  was Why didn’t I place more stringent deadline on booking?   I could physically feel her pain in her silence and a sense of guilt and failure washed over me as a photographer. It was certainly something I had never felt before and it has most definitely changed my outlook on the actual value  and importance of what we do as photographers.

I was devastated for this family I barely knew and for a sweet boy that I would never get to meet. There are no words.  It simply was too late.

Over the past two years Patty and I have become quite good friends through facebook and recently she was nice enough to share her perspective:

I was so excited to enter the contest the Amy posted in her blog in July 2009. I had been wanting to have photos taken of our youngest son and his service dog, Fina. He had her less than a year and she was already his best friend. I knew I needed to document the love that was growing between them in some way. Honestly, I had scheduled an appointment at our local WalMart only to be given grief about bringing the dog with us even though she was a service dog. It was ok though because I wanted something much more than what WalMart could offer. So, I wrote up Colyn’s story, included a few snap shots I had taken, dropped a video I had made and sent it off to Amy with my fingers and toes crossed! It felt like an eternity until it was announced on August 10 that we had won a session! Even Colyn was excited, not about getting his picture taken, but having his picture taken with his girl, yes, she truly was his best friend.

We were busy planning a big vacation to Alaska so we decided we would schedule the photo shoot for when we got back. Our son got sick during the last days of our vacation and was admitted to the hospital as soon as we returned home. The admission lasted 2 weeks. We celebrated his 15th birthday when he came home! It took him weeks to really recover and get some energy back. I knew we could finally schedule the photo shoot as soon as the craziness of the holidays were over.

January 12 everything changed again. Colyn became so sick again and this time never recovered. Instead of scheduling a photo shoot, we found ourselves sorting through the photos we had of our precious son, longing for just one more. We realized that even though we had a large file of them on our computers, it just wasn’t enough. If we had just taken the time before our vacation and had those pictures taken. We also found that we didn’t have any recent pictures of Colyn with relatives even though they were with him frequently. Sadly, they didn’t like to have their pictures taken. We’ve learned some hard lessons through this. *You can never have enough pictures.  *Your hair/make up won’t matter, what matters is the memories that are captured in the photo. *You may not like to have your picture taken but loved ones might want pictures of you.

When Amy called me a month after Colyn had passed away, it was another loss. It was then I realized I had lost the opportunity for a photo shoot of my son and his best friend because I was too busy packing.  If I could go back and do it all over again…. well, that goes without saying.

I had the pleasure of meeting up with Patty and her family a few weeks ago for their long over due session. We ventured into Colyn’s room for a spell and Fina immediately jumped up on the bed, grabbed one of Colyn’s stuffed bears and touched our hearts.

Because I could not have said it better myself…I leave you with the wise words of my talented friend Michele -

If you have not had family pictures taken within the past 3 years, promise me right now that tomorrow morning, you will find someone to do it. I don’t care if it’s a neighbor, I don’t care if it’s a portrait studio, I don’t care if it’s a tripod and a remote. Just do it. We have no guarantees in life, but at least we can have the photos to prove that we were here, we were together, and we were happy.

 

xo, amy b.

You can see more from their family session HERE.

see the rest here - 52 weeks

In light of the recent events I just wanted to again say thank you to the families that choose this as their job. Especially the mamas and the papas that stay home with the babies while the other goes to work…for like a year. You all are hardcore. Thank you all for your service and welcome home.

last year i stopped buying plastic water bottles cold turkey and am proud to say that I have not bought one single plastic bottle of water since. it really wasn’t that hard actually. i am also way more conscious about buying locally grown foods and organic eggs and milk as well. this year the biggie…..composting. yes, we are going to try to create our own soil for gardening and reduce the amount of garbage that we send off to the dump every week. fancy. i just keep getting more and more granola. some people say it like it’s a bad thing….you’re such a hippie…ha! thanks for the compliment?

at first i totally turned my nose up at it like any orange county girl would. this is not my idea i am merely and innocent bystander that will be putting stuff in this thing and am crossing my fingers that it won’t smell. we are still in the beginning stages. it took some convincing and decided to roll with it. people call me a hippie all the time so here i go starting to live up to it a bit more. i think my grandma and grandpa boring would be so proud. i remember visiting them as a kid in shingle springs, ca where my grandpa built a house with his own hands. they grew a lot of their own food and dug a lake that we used to fish in as kids. there was a large barn wood box under the oak trees that we used to dig through to get worms for our hooks. funny enough the place i used to visit as a kid, the place that felt like another planet, is much like fallbrook, the place i call home.

There are many choices on amazon HERE
THIS is the one we got…in green.

Here is a little expert from howtocompost.org

Food Wastes: vermicomposting and food digestors

Vermicomposting or worm composting is the easiest way to recycle food wastes and is ideal for people who do not have an outdoor compost pile. Composting with worms avoids the needless disposal of vegetative food wastes and enjoy the benefits of a high quality compost. It is done with “redworms” (Eisenia foetida) who are happiest at temperatures between 50= and 70= F and can be kept indoors at home, school, or the office. As with outdoor composting, it is best to avoid putting bones, meats, fish, or oily fats in the worm box as they emit odors and may attract mice and rats. When cared for properly, worms process food quickly and transform food wastes into nutrient-rich “castings.” Worm castings are an excellent fertilizer additive for gardens or potted plants.

The redworms are placed in a box or bin which can be built or purchased, along with “bedding” of shredded cardboard and/or paper moistened to about 75% water content. The container should be wide enough so that food scraps can be buried in a different location each time. The dimensions of the container and the amount of worms required initially will depend on how much organic food waste will need to be composted each week.

The worms will gradually reproduce or die according to the amount of food they receive. A sudden addition of a large amount of food waste may attract fruit flies, so increases should be made gradually. In a healthy box, worms can build large populations and consume four to six pounds of food scraps per week. About four to six months after the box has been started, the worms will have converted all of the bedding and most of the food waste into “castings” which will need to be harvested so the process can begin again.

Food waste digestors are an option for people who want to reduce the amount of food waste they produce but do not have a compost pile. These units resemble commercially produced compost bins, but differ in purpose. They are designed to accept food wastes otherwise inappropriate for composting such as meats, fish, fats, or oily food scraps. In general they are built to prevent odors from being released and prevent rodents from entering the unit. Food waste digestors are fundamentally different from worm boxes and compost piles, because the digestors do not ultimately produce a soil enhancing product. Their purpose is to cut down on the volume of food waste generated. Food waste digestors are not a “magic hole in the ground” however, and the decomposed food residue must periodically be emptied into the trash.

People think I am crazy when I admit my biggest fear. I wouldn’t say it goes so far as being irrational about it but I certainly wouldn’t choose to live at sea level. Don’t get me wrong I am not opposed to an evening on the sand, an afternoon car ride down the coast, or even an occasional session at the beach. You may have read or heard me talk about having dreams of giant waves since I was a young kid. I’m not ashamed and those that have said I was crazy….am I? I never squeal over bugs, spiders, snakes or anything really…. so point, laugh and roll your eyes all you want. I can take it. There are not many things that suck the air out of my lungs quite like the footage that has been swirling around of the events that have taken place in Japan.

Growing up in Orange County California earthquakes have always been our most common threat of a natural disaster. I actually don’t mind them….as long as they stay small. Those of us that grew up in Southern California we are not strangers to the talk of the big one. It’s difficult to hear the testimonials of the survivors, relive the footage, and watch the devastation continue to unfold in unimaginable ways. With food shortages, inclement weather, missing family and friends, lost pets, non existent homes to go home to, topped off off with nuclear melt down it’s just about as bad as it gets. It makes my heart beat faster and hug my dog a little tighter. We simply have no idea what the people are going through physically, mentally or emotionally as we sit cozy in our homes. As humans we have an obligation to give what we can.

The photography industry and blogging community is a powerful force of some of the most giving people around and I feel so lucky to be a part of such an amazing group of people. Utterly Engaged and Ever Ours have joined forces to help raise money for those directly effected. All donations will go towards emergency shelter and lifesaving supplies via shelterbox.

It’s Monday and I missed the boat on the day of silence as I had not seen this yet. It’s not to late to help out and no matter the size of the donation every little bit helps.

From the shelterbox page:

We’ve all seen the images and videos rolling in of the devastation from the Japan earthquake and tsunamis. While aftershocks and tsunami scares are still happening days later, the nation is in for a long long road of recovery. So far, the death toll is estimated to be 2,800. In just one town, 9,500 are missing. Not only do the survivors have to suffer the loss of loved ones, but as temperatures fall, electricity, water and food are now scarce to none. Many have tried to go back to their homes and to start picking up the pieces, only to find the tsunamis have plowed their homes down and there is literally nothing for them to come home to. Convenience stores have lines hours long and a limit of 10 items to each person. The second crisis has only begun and so many are left helpless.

We are not ones to sit and do nothing. While as much as we’d like to hop on a plane and fly there to help with the search and rescue, the immediate need for help for those in Japan is the dire need for shelter. This fundraising page is specifically geared to help with that. Utterly Engaged and Ever Ours have handpicked shelterbox as the organization to donate to.

ShelterBox provide emergency shelter and lifesaving supplies for families around the world who are affected by disasters at the time when they need it the most. Each large green ShelterBox is tailored to a disaster but typically contains a disaster relief tent for an extended family, blankets, water storage and purification equipment, cooking utensils, a stove, a basic tool kit, a children’s activity pack and other vital items. A whole box costs $1,000 (US), so we’re hoping to raise enough to send 5 boxes.

Please join us. We know it won’t save the nation, but we strongly believe every little helps. Whatever you can contribute, we truly appreciate.

Here’s how you can help:

Donate by clicking on this link to For Japan with love or shelterbox.

Share this on your own blog.

The initial goal was to make $5000, in order to send 5 boxes. The current total is nearing $55k. Let’s get it even higher – let’s send 100 boxes to Japan!

2010 brought in a new circle of friends and peers in my own back yard, different states and some even across the pond.  It’s been a pleasure getting to know you, shoot with you,  collaborate and bounce ideas around freely.  Thank you for being you.  I am a better person and photographer for knowing all of you.  Thank you!

A big fat THANK YOU to all of my clients for your support.  You all have carved a spot in my heart and am forever grateful to you for trusting me with your families. Hope to see you all again in 2011.

Cheers to looking forward to an amazing year ahead filled with new beginnings, growth, change and beautiful reflections.

He’s back in full effect people and let me tell you….he is ready to take over the world. A fly got into the house yesterday and he ran with full stride and jumped up on and almost over the back of the couch to get it. Not OK. He also face planted into the side of the hill yesterday. He’s turned into a flying squirrel. For the love of dog spare me from any more injuries and/or ailments for a while. The good news is he’s excited and he feels great.

The whole tumor on his spleen thing was an interesting experience that came on suddenly, like many things in life do, and the results could have easily been swayed to the dark side. I am beyond thankful for this outcome but in those moments when my mind wandered I couldn’t help but tell myself no matter what the results were I knewI could handle it. It helped that I knew he was in good hands and any fear that did creep it’s way in was followed by a wave of an indescribable appreciation for the photos I have of him.

This boy is still my favorite subject of all time and as for the lens…The color is amazing. Not much done to these. Slight contrast boost and a cloned eye bogey…or two. How’s that for a review?

**If you are looking for a new puppy to LOVE.

It took us about 30 minutes to get him out of the car last night because he wouldn’t stand up and it is quite impossible to pick him up without hurting his belly. It’s times like these I realize how big he really is. I was up every two hours with him and he whimpered all night long synonymously with his breathing and stayed in the same position all night. A little taste of what having a newborn might be like. I need a nap.

Today seems to hurt him most when he’s trying to lay down. He has gone to the bathroom, drank a bunch of water and then proceeded to stand for a good hour before his pain meds kicked in and didn’t have a choice any longer but to lay down.

This is how he landed and is still in this position an hour later.

Thank you to the staff at The Alicia Pet Care Center. You are all amazing.