Breaking news....

Madeleine lost her first tooth....

She said the tooth fairy was so good to her, she wants all her teeth to fall out.... Ha!

have a great weekend...
~g

Peter....

There are so many times when I photograph children and visit with their parents that I feel I immediately made new friends.. it happens most of the time... I am just a sucker for all kids and new friends in general...

This is what is so great about my career.. I get to see most of my clients children grow up and I get to photograph them year after year.. and I love it.. sometimes I see them around town or at a local restaurant or maybe just by a simple e-mail.. but I try to stay connected in some way or another...

Well, I received an e-mail the other day which put a lump in my throat...I was in shock...

Little Peter, not quite 2 yet, was diagnosed with a very rare cancer in the liver. 1 in 1 million as his Dr. said...

he has gone through his first dose of chemo and is doing quite well.. he has many more treatments to go, but he is a fighter...

I am writing to ask that you all keep him in your prayers.. it is amazing what prayer can do...I do believe he will beat this, but sending well wishes and prayer their way will just ensure a faster and speedy recovery...

Thank you....


Peter...

with his brother
~g

Onward Bride.....

Chris is working on something special.. If you are interested.. shoot him an e-mail for further information... it will be so much fun....
chris@onwardfilms.com

~gina

I'm Back!!!

but so much to catch up on..... I am still in the process of editing and catching up on e-mails, so please be patient with me...:)

We had a blast this past weekend for our family reunion... the turnout was great with almost 300 of our relatives....

This is the 19Th year our reunion was held at Campland in Mission Bay, San Diego... The campsite was great, the weather was great, and the food was great..

Chris and Madeleine could not go up for the first night, since they were in school, so I managed to drive the trailor up and set it up with no problems.. I am actually quite proud of myself... Ha!

What is so great about this site is that they have so much to offer for the kids which makes it really nice.. I actually love primitive camping, but when you have 2 little ones, you need some of those fun amenities....pool, crafts, beach, and hot showers(that one was for me)...;)

Here are just a couple to show right now, till I get all caught up...

our family dinner

and our immediate family with some of our very good friends...

~g

vacation ( sort of )

getting ready to spend some quality time with 300 of our closest relatives...
;)
Family reunion time...

camping, food, smores, family.. love it...

I will be back on Monday to return all e-mails and phone calls.
and a couple sneak peeks your way and "The Anatomy of a Wedding Cake" at Martha Green's Dough'Lectibles...... ooh How sweeeeet...! Yum...
have a fun week!
~g

Raul and Denise....

I think it is safe to say that I don't think I ever cried so much at a wedding till 8.8.08 ... Wow.. what an amazing couple... and a amazing family...

I had the honor to document Raul and Denise's wedding on 8-8-08.. The most perfect and luckiest day of the year...

Their small intimate ceremony was held at the La Quinta Resort with just their family and closest friends... and it was just perfect....
It was a beautiful, warm, summer day with lots of love, lots of emotion and lots of tears and I was so happy to witness it...

here is a mini sneak peek of their story...
















and a big thanks to the talented Rowena Curtis for coming out and second shooting...:) thank you....
~g

Welcome to Kindergarten....

Today(Wed.) was Madeleine's first day of Kindergarten and she did so great....

She had her backpack set the night before, she picked out her own clothes and picked out her own snacks for lunch.. She was so excited herself, I think I had the hardest time... But I know she will do well and we are so proud of her....

So off you go....(sigh)..... :)



and she is off....

only she knows what she was thinking at this moment... ;0

Ryder welcomes her home with big hugs and a bunch of flowers

Back at home

look who I saw....

Before Joanne and I headed out to the Free to Succeed tour in LA, I figured since I was in the area, I might as well hand deliver some prints to my clients in Pasadena, and then since I was so close in that area, I wanted to make one more quick stop..

To see my other favorite Madeline.... Yep, My daughter is a Madeleine too, just different spelling... and I just so happened to have my camera with me...:) Oh Darn!!!! :)
Here is a mini sneak peek of our mini session... ;)









If you need some catching up on Matt and Madeline CLICK HERE

The lucky number 8-8-08

another fabulous wedding coming up... stay tuned...

To be free.........

What is it to be free?
it can be many different things to you and to me.... it can be...
free to make choices..
free to go places...
free to live....
free to try new things....
free to fail and try again....
free to not make it perfect....
free to succeed...
free to just be me...



I attended the "Free to Succeed Tour" last week in L.A and WOW.. I have been inspired.... I know I have said this before, but I do get my inspiration from numerous sources...

Color, objects, places, photographs, and photographers who take those photographs..:)

but more importantly, after attending this particular workshop, I think I found inspiration in myself....
I do have much to work on, but I am certainly going to have fun doing so....

If there are any photographers out there, I do recommend this workshop...
Check it out HERE!

here is my inspired picture of the day.. I hope you like it....

It's not the perfect composed shot, nor is it perfectly lit, but the little girl is perfect and the moment is perfect and that is why it is perfect to ME....
Much love...
~g

One step closer.....

I had the opportunity to help my friend Jo with Joanne Distaso Photography this past weekend with a celebrity wedding... ( all I can post or say about that is "BEAUTIFUL".. there.. that's it...

Then the following day she asked if I would like to come along to help her shoot a celebrity poker event for the One Step Closer Foundation, hosted by the Sam Simon Foundation.. cool digs, I am there... that was so much fun...

The foundation raised money for a great cause...To help finding a cure and bringing awareness for Cerebral Palsy...
The One Step Closer Foundation aims to make a difference by establishing fundraising efforts towards bringing a keen awareness and understanding of this disease to the community...~JZ

Jacob Zalewski is the president & CEO of the foundation and living with CP himself...
This hit home, because a couple months ago, I met a new friend.. His name is Julian.. (the one that likes my laugh) ha!....

Julian was diagnosed with CP early on and fights this battle every day of his life....I would love nothing more to see more education and faster progress with this diagnosis and to get one step closer...

Thanks Jo.... it was so much fun hanging out this weekend...








and the other best part of the day was watching Jo in action... Is she talented or what??? Jo, you are going to have to show me how to do that one handed trick.. very cool... :)



Mam, please put the drink down!!! You have had way too much energy for today.. Ha!


okay.. now off to prep for my 8-8-08 wedding.... the most popular day of the year to get hitched...... this is going to be a fun one... Stay tuned....;)

Have a great weekend...
~g

A and K

oh ! what fun I had on this session.... I just wanted to blog their whole session, but I will leave some other favorites for the finale... :)

I met up with Aregane and Karl at their grandmother's house for this session in Oak Glen.. and to my surprise, the location was absolutely yummy... A beautiful Japanese Koi pond, a very green apple orchard and some very friendly llamas... and can't forget the beautiful light... Oh! just yummy....

Miss Argenae is quite the photographer.. I handed over my big camera so she could take my head shots... she had great composition, filled the frame and perfect all round... Thanks Miss "A"... and Mr. "K" showed me how to get the llamas attention by waving a big branch and having some apples in hand... Thank "K" for the tips.. :)

Here is a sneak peek into your session... have a safe trip back to Haiti..:) and thank you Chandra for sharing your inspiring story with me... you and your husband are two amazing people....:)
CLICK HERE to read more of their travels and work... and HERE...
~G














and my favorite of the day....