JOSEPH, SPECIAL PERSON OF THE WEEK 3-15-11
I had a great time this afternoon with my Dad, Kim, Joseph and his entire First Grade class. The students had lots of questions for us and we had fun answering them all. My dad told the story of his horse when he was a little boy in Cuba. Josephina was her name and she was super special. Kim told the children stories of her childhood in Ireland and the kids were very eager to hear all the details. When she asked the class “What is an Irish Traffic Jam”, Jospeph actually figured it out. The answer is “too many Sheep in the road”. After I took the class picture, we had a little time left, so I showed the kids some of my Flamenco dancing. I did a Sevillana and two Bulerias. I didn’t have any music, so I just danced to the beat in my head. It was the first time many of them ever saw this and I’m glad to have introduced them to something new. Here are some photos I took. Enjoy!
CAREER DAY AT MY HIGH SCHOOL January 15 2010
Wow. What a day today! I was asked to share what we do as photographers for career day at my Alma Mater, San Gabriel Mission High. It’s always weird and exciting going back to the place where you spent some of the most important years of your life. Joe was a dear to come with me for moral support and most importantly the carpool lane. We had to be there ready to roll at 8 AM, so that meant getting up at 5:30! Yes, that was brutal for us, especially since I stayed up until 2 AM fine tuning our slideshow presentation (I’m sure there are a few photographers out there who can relate to late nights.) So we got ready, made a trip to Starbucks, and we were off. As I sat there in the passenger seat, I looked down at my coffee lid and low and behold – a perfect V! Somehow there was a little splash of coffee on the lid and it formed a beautiful letter V. I started thinking of all the positive “V” words I could think of like Victorious, Veni-Vidi-Vici and thought “Cool, I’m going to do great today”. Joe and I had a great time sharing what we did with many students and we also enjoyed finding out what kind of careers they are thinking of pursuing. It was great to see my old high school successfully educating the promising young women of tomorrow. There were 3 other ladies from my graduating class presenting as well; Donna, Josie and Lolita. It’s great to catch up with them. All in all, we had a wide variety of careers represented and the girls seemed to appreciate our insights into the business world.
To all the girls we met today, Joe and I want to remind you… Follow your dreams! Anything is possible when you set your mind to it and stay focused. Most of all, don’t forget the power of building positive relationships with people who can help you succeed. Here are a few pictures that Joe took with my trusty iPhone. Thanks, Joe!
HAPPY NEW YEAR! 01-01-10
2010 is here. The last year of the first decade of the second millennium! As 2009 ended, with Mirta and I making Holiday plans, driving around, being with family; I couldn’t help noticing that everyone we talked with seemed to be looking forward to a new year just a little more than in years past… We felt the same way. 2009 was a good year, and we’re grateful for all the good things it brought us, but it was not without challenges. It’s human nature to think that our problems and difficulties will disappear with the old year, and as the beautiful crystal covered ball reaches the end of it’s journey in Time Square the old challenges become shiny new opportunities. That is, of course, unrealistic… Or is it?
Maybe it’s all in our attitude, maybe too much news about a bad economy, a flu pandemic, big corporations that can’t live within their means and about banks eating each other up, is not such a good idea. We need to be informed of course, but remember, good news doesn’t sell newspapers or prompt you to turn on CNN or FOX news… Maybe ALL of us having a POSITIVE outlook for the new year, a can-do attitude, trust in each other and in a higher power that will look over us, will bring about a better environment for us all in the New Year. We are a great country and a great people, we have been blessed to live here in the land of freedom and opportunity.
As we watched the Rose Parade with our family this beautiful New Year’s morning on Colorado Boulevard, I kept looking at our niece and nephews, Marie 8, Joseph 7 and Daniel 18 months. They are so amazed by everything they see. Picasso said “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up”. This is one of Mirta’s favorite quotes. As photographers in a creative field we owe it to ourselves, our art and to our clients to achieve this goal.
Now with my soap box safely put away… Here are some Rose Parade photos taken with the new little Canon G11 point-and-shoot camera Santa left us under the tree… Happy New Year Everybody!!!
FLAMENCO 10-21-09
Last night Joe and I went to our final rehearsal before our big show on Saturday. He will be photographing the event and will even make a cameo appearance on one of the numbers as, you guessed it, the official wedding photographer. Last night Joe spent some time rigging a 2000 watt dynalite studio strobe for a special effect he wants to do during the performance. He also shot some candids of us practicing. The images you see here were shot with no flash (very stealthily, I might add). It’s pretty amazing what the Nikon D3 can do at 12,800 ISO. He used a 70 – 200 mm 2.8 VR zoom at 2.8 to get these fun shots.
I’m going to be dancing Fandagos, Sevillanas and after intermission, I’m dressing up as a witch…with a green face and hands. We’ll be an assortment of ghoulish dancers including werewolves, vampires and the Bride of Frankenstein.
Angelita Concierto Flamenco will be this Saturday at the Baldwin Park Performing Arts Center at 2 PM.
Practicing the Sevillanas:
MARIE’S FIRST GRADE CLASS 3-19-09
I was honored to be invited to Marie’s first grade class during her special week to share a little about myself. I got to go with my Pop, who is Marie’s “Abueli”, as she likes to call him. Abueli talked about his horse, Josephina, that he had when he was a boy in Cuba. Before the stories started, the class asked Kim, Pop and myself what our favorite things were, like color, season, day of the week, month, holiday, etc. The children LOVED Abueli’s stories and everyone agreed that Josephina was a very smart horse. I got to tell the class about photography, because that’s what I do. One of Marie’s classmates has an uncle who is also a photographer. Marie, I hope you and the class enjoy the photos I took on this special day.
Love, Tia Mirta