Lifeguards

Last Saturday morning was the recertification for returning life guards and try outs for new/assistant life guards at Leo. I couldn't miss it, even though I was up late for a wedding gig the night before. I missed the recertification, but was there in time for the try outs. It was so gloomy and cold. Believe it or not, I actually lightened all the pictures I'm posting and they are still dark! The potential guards had to swim out to a buoy and back (pretty far out). Next, there was a run on the beach, swim around 2 buoys, and run on the beach to the finish. It was AWESOME to watch. Couldn't believe some people were in speedos. The water was freezing! The photo of the lone runner is Makena's favorite assistant Spencer, from last summer. He did great! Spencer was amazing with the kids last year, so patient and fun. The smiling girl in the group picture is Gianna, another assistant from last Summer. She out swam and out ran most of the guys. She has an amazing work ethic. Can't wait for Summer!

Head Shots

Last Sunday I got to take head shots for an old friend of ours. Actually, John, Kyle and I were room mates for about 2 months. John is a technical genius, an inventor, designer , motorcycle rider, accomplished actor, oh, and faithful husband and father of 5 (five)! He recently grew a beard and needed some rugged looking head shots. We found some great spots. Mission accomplished. Watch out, Hollywood!

Slide Show DVD

Whenever I do a shoot I present all the pictures in a beautiful online slide show set to music so my clients can view the pictures at home as often as they like before placing their order. The slide show is available for purchase for only $89. Ordering the slide show is a great way to preserve all memories of the shoot, without having to order prints of everything (show is for viewing only, no images can be printed). Since the slide show DVD is sent directly to my clients, I've never actually seen how it's presented, until now: I ordered a DVD directly for Katie as part of her Wedding package. Was I impressed when it arrived. The DVD comes in a beautiful, high quality leather case with a picture on the inside of the case. The leather case is packaged in a black box. Very classy and beautiful.

Lifeguard Towers

A lot of the vintage lifeguard towers are being replaced with modern ones. More comfort and better function for the lifeguards, but I for one will miss the old ones, I love the bleached out color and the clean lines. During a pit stop at the beach I snapped some pictures for old times sake :( On a happy note, I found out that Leo Carrillo Junior Lifeguards is getting ready to launch their new Website, featuring photos I took last Summer. When it's ready, I'll post the link!

Happy Anniversary

Happy 23rd Anniversary, Kyle! It's been an incredible adventure and I feel so blessed that we met when we were really young. You always know how to make me laugh and it's been great living life with you. I really appreciate your honesty, optimism, integrity, loyalty and ability to see what's really important. And your flawless recollection of funny lines from our favorite movies. I love you and I think you are awesome (even though you hog all the pillows on the couch :) )
(Photo Credit: Makena Duty)

California Dreamin

The rain today made me think of the beach, as in how much I miss sunny beach days. It is kind of cozy to be inside our comfy house on a gloomy day though. Perfect night to have a fire going in the fireplace. Also perfect weather for soup, so I had some lentil soup for lunch. The lentil soup made me think of my mom. who makes the best lentil soup. My dad got me hooked early on on adding a little vinegar and sugar to it. Makes it kinda sweet and sour. All this made me miss my mom and dad who live in Germany. They are still having a lot of snow there right now, I'm sure they are having some "California Dreamin" going on right now. So here is a picture of all of us taken in December. Lifeguard Tim was nice enough to take the shot for us. I did some magic editing and the result is my favorite picture of my family. Thanks, Tim, I'll have to return the favor and take some pictures of you in action!