Bay Area Family Life Photography Blog

I can’t believe Halloween is just a few days away!   Today I’m brainstorming new ideas to help me capture the excitement of Halloween, so I decided to revisit the tips I wrote last year for taking pictures of your kids.  The Halloween photo tips were run on People.com (I know. Pretty exciting, huh?)

Here’s a peek at the article on People’s Celebrity Baby Blog.  Click on the image below to read all of the tips.

 

In looking them over,  I can’t think of anything I’d change.  I really love them just the way they are.  But I did discover that there is one thing missing.

Tip 9: Break up the picture taking into two or three events to avoid the inevitable meltdown or photo burnout.   The month of October brings many opportunities for your children to proudly dance about in their costumes.  In addition to Halloween night, there are several events that require dressing up… trips to the pumpkin patch, Halloween parties, and parades at school.  Use each one of these to cobble together your Halloween story!

Do you have any tricks for getting the best Halloween photos?   Email me or post them in the comments.  I’d love to feature the best ones on my Facebook page!

 

Here are some pictures I took of my Crazies last weekend.  I refer to this set of pictures as Phase I.  We still have two parties and a parade, so there will be more opportunities for pictures!

“In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight…beware my power…Green Lantern’s light!”  Do you have ANY idea how many times a day I hear this?  Or some totally off rendition of it?  Gotta love boys and their obsessions with super heroes.  He told me the other day that he didn’t want to just wear the costume… he wants to be the REAL Green Lantern.  He’s very passionate about it.  I know you parents of boys know what I’m talkin’ about.

One second he adores her.  The next he’s trying to blind her with his green power ring.  Ahhh… siblings.  At least she’s smiling (for the moment.)

Have a wonderful and safe Halloween everyone!  XOXO

 

 

 

 

Most days I feel like the world’s worst juggler.  I have four balls that I must keep in the air, but I can only successfully juggle three.

Let me explain:

• Ball one:  My family
• Ball two: My photography business
• Ball three:  Housework
• Ball four: Me

For years, I’ve been quite good at juggling with just the first three.  People would marvel and ask how I manage it all.  My response?  I jokingly said, “I have a house cleaner.”  But in reality the answer was, “I totally put everything and everyone before myself and therefore don’t have to worry about finding time to do things for me.”    But all of this changed in 2011.

Last winter I hired a business coach, Jeff Jochum (check him out… seriously.)  We started working on my goals, messaging, etc… and with that came an automatic slowdown in my business.  I couldn’t keep marketing if my business was in the process of fundamental change, right?  At first this freaked me out, but now I’m TOTALLY okay with slowing down.  Why?  Because it made me realize what a poor juggler I am.

You see, I didn’t know there was a fourth ball until this year.  It never dawned on me that I wasn’t giving myself enough time.   I would workout three times a week and maybe read for 10 minutes before falling asleep, but really that was it.  I had no extra time for just me.

So now what?

Now I alternate which ball gets dropped and plan for it.  And if the “me ball” needs to drop for a day, I still try to sneak a little time in for myself.  Even if it’s just watching Madmen on Netflix or reading for 30 minutes.  This shift has given me a much better perspective on my life.  I am happier and healthier than I have been in years… yes, years!  And a wonderful by-product of tossing that forth ball into the air is that I also get to play more with my kids.  I’m much less stressed and can easily engage with my Crazies without constantly thinking about what I need to do next.

Yes I still can only juggle three balls at once, but I’ve gotten quite used to rumpled half made beds, an ever-present mound of laundry quietly waiting to be folded, and having a very “lived in” car.   Several times a week, I catch myself having mini heart attacks when the house isn’t sparkling, but then I realize that it’s okay.  When I’m older and the kids are off on their own, I’ll never look back and wish that I had cleaned the house more.

And with that, I shall share a little of my life and heart.  I’m so grateful for my family and for the shift in focus.

 

Last weekend I went to San Francisco to meet with a new client and scout the area.  Typically I’ll do these meetings on my own, but I’ve discovered it’s much more fun to have my family nearby, so I can meet up with them when I’m done.  Since I usually have my camera at all client meetings, it’s a great opportunity for me to grab a few pictures of my own family.

 

And of course, this crazy picture is my favorite of the lot.  I’ll be framing this one for our walls!

My husband was trying to control crazy #2 lest he dash out onto Marina Blvd… whatever the case, the photograph works for me.

This shot embodies my boy’s looney-ness!

P.S. I hope you found my revelation helpful:  my perfect balance is the acceptance of my lack of balance.

 

 

 

 

 

All summer our sweet Beazy has been limping.  The vet wasn’t sure what was wrong, so we treated her as though she had a sprain and kept her activity low (which wasn’t easy – she’s a very happy, dancey dog who likes to greet our visitors with zest.)  Unfortunately, things never seemed to improve, and suddenly last week she could hardly walk.  My husband took her to the vet and was told it was either a break, an infection, or a tumor.  We were crossing fingers for a broken leg.  But after the vet reviewed her x-ray, my husband called me with the bad news.  She has bone cancer.  My heart was instantly crushed.  This is our Beazy… a member of the family… our first baby.  I couldn’t even wrap my head around what we were going to do without her.  So we dashed her to the oncologist who confirmed the diagnosis and gave us our options.  If we let it go we’d get four painful months with her, or we could have her front leg amputated and follow up with chemotherapy for several months and hope for one or two more years.

My husband and I independently came to the same conclusion.  Although the amputation and chemo is incredibly expensive, our dog is worth it.  She has brought us so much joy and laughter over the years.  She makes me feel safe and happy.  And what’s more important, we don’t feel like we have any other choice.  We will give the amputation a try and pray, visualize, think happy thoughts, and cross our fingers that we’ll have her in our home for more than just one more year.  She’s only eight, so we are hoping to some how get several more years out of her.

(Update: We’ve decided against amputation.  We think it will be too hard on her and odds are not in our favor.  Instead we’ll go with pain management and lots of love.)

 

These are pictures we took of Beazus when she was just a tiny puppy… yes, she is named after the character in my favorite childhood book, Ramona the Pest.  :)   It’s so touching to look back at these pictures and see how tiny she once was.  This little pup grew into the 100lb giant Ridgeback that she is today.   I loved going for runs with her in the Open Space.  I’m going to miss that… desperately.  She was the best running partner. Ever.

When my dad was diagnosed with cancer 8 years ago, Beazy and I would drive down to Carmel to help out several times a week for four straight months.  Ever since then, Carmel Beach has become symbolic.  It reminds me of my dad and Beazy.  It pains me to think that we were going to go down there this coming weekend so she could run on the beach while my dear friend, Michelle Ocampo, photographed all of us.

 

I love my two reds.

I adore her sweetness.  Her paws.  Her kissy tongue.  Her wrinkly skin.  And of course her red hair.

We didn’t get to take her to the lake this year because of her leg.  It’s possibly her favorite place in all the world.  But I do love seeing these pictures.  It reminds me of happier times with her.  I also love looking at the ones of her playing in the snow with her BFF, Boo.

I hope to still be able to take her up to the Open Space.  She’s been going since she was just 6 months old.

Below are pictures that Anna Kupperberg took this last June.  Right when things started happening with Beazy’s leg.  I’m so glad we had pictures taken and I’m grateful that Anna spent so much time with our other baby.

Thank you so much for reading my post and looking at the pictures of our girl.  Remember to take some photographs of your “other” babies.  We all need to honor the furry ones who give us so much joy.  :)

We are a Ridegeback family and Beazy is our girl.