Sara + Ned + Shay | Bernal Heights family portraits
February 9th, 2012
Shay is my new official BFF. We hit it off immediately and his parents were just as awesome! 
Sara & Ned – loved hanging out with you guys… and that you were willing to brave that freezing wind to get some fabulous portraits on Bernal Hill! Thank you for welcoming me into your home and for letting me hog Shay while we were together! He is SOOOOO huggable. Yep. My new BFF for sure!
Tara + Mark + Edie
February 4th, 2012
This little girl, is adored. Completely, unequivocally and wholeheartedly. Seriously. You want to see blissed out? Here, have a look at her mum and dad. I so recognised this look because it’s the look of new parents who are past the ‘oh my goodness??!!’ phase and are in the ‘Oh MY GOODNESS!!!’ phase. Y’all know what I’m talking about!
Awake or asleep, Edie is the center of their world. Sigh. This is the most wondrous kind of love.
Tara, Mark & Edie- I’m so grateful to you for trusting me to get beautiful images of your beautiful family and just being yourselves… it was amazing for me to be with you and get to see your family loving on each other. I can’t wait to see Edie all of you again soon!
12 in 2012
February 1st, 2012
D’oh. (geddit??! geddit??!!)
I’ve written this post a few times over the last month. And lost it all twice. It’s been driving me nuts. Gah! Anyway. Onwards and upwards.
I’ve been giggling at all the posts I’ve seen online where people say, ‘I don’t usually make resolutions, buuuuuuuuuttttt….’ because that’s what I often say. And yet, I make resolutions just about every year. I’ve tried having just one or three. I’ve tried making them super simple or super complicated. Partnering with someone else and other ways to keep myself accountable… and still my general sense is that I usually don’t keep them. I’m not sure how accurate that is, but it’s how I feel about it.
This year is chock full of big plans and ideas though, so I’m trying something different. First, I’ve got my word for the year. Now, here’s a short list of 12 related goals for this year. One for each month seems fair and somewhat surmountable. And we’re already done with January!! Eeek!!
1. Sort out my office. Once and for all. This means actually setting it up so it works for me and clearing everything else out.
2. Purge. Start with my office and then go room to room until I’ve been through the whole house. There’s stuff I already know is ready to be passed on or tossed. It’s just a matter of, well, passing it on or tossing it!
3. Decide on, map out and launch some ideas like beginning photography workshops, Q&A’s and connecting with local vendors.
4. Write more. About parenting, feminism, social justice…. whatever strikes my fancy. Here and everywhere.
5. Shoot three personal projects. Start to finish.
6. Print albums for HRG. Year 0, 1, 2, 3.
7. Meditate for 30 consecutive days and have a releasing ritual at the end.
8. Walk four days a week, for the whole year.
9. Take HRG to a museum or gallery, at least once a month.
10. Eat out less than once a month for the whole year. Eat more veggies and fruit, less processed foods, more water.
11. Visit a state park every week.
12. Give myself a treat once a week.
This is the final list I’ve come up with. Pretty broad but I’m going with it. Lots of list making and plotting and planning this year. I got kinda lax with it last year and I think it made a difference.
Will be coming back to this list to share how I’m going with it. And I’m linking up with a few other bloggers that I adore to keep myself accountable. How about you?
oh little baby
January 30th, 2012
thoughtful
January 28th, 2012
dream a little dream…
January 28th, 2012
Three is the magic number
January 27th, 2012
Protect Your Internet
January 17th, 2012please, please, please watch this video and take a stand folks. This is my internet, your internet, OUR internet.
Tell the US Congress that we don’t need them to censor the internet. And if you’re an artist, especially if you’re an artist, sign this petition here. Please.
PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.
my word for 2012
January 16th, 2012
re·lease/riˈlēs/
Verb:
Allow or enable to escape from confinement; set free.
Noun:
The action or process of releasing or being released.
Synonyms:
verb. free – liberate – discharge – set free – let off – let go
noun. liberation – deliverance – discharge – relief – exemption
How’s this for ironic…as soon as I decided on my word, I got scared about sharing it. And realised that in part it was because I was holding myself as having ‘failed’ last year’s word. Don’t ask me how that makes sense. Apparently, I wasn’t really clear about what having a word for the year meant. Not to myself at least. So I while I said my word was ‘Move’, I wound up actually thinking of it as a new year’s resolution to lose a thousand pounds. Or it morphed into that. And guess what? By the end of last year, I wasn’t moving very much at all. Not physically at least.
So, this year, I’m getting really clear about what choosing my word (and THIS word) in particular means.
Release.
I chose release because I have been holding on, folks. Holding on like I’m drowning. And as it turns out, what I thought would help keep me afloat is actually helping me drown faster. Concrete boot anyone?
This seems true everywhere I look in my life.
As 2011 was drawing to a close (and HRG was napping) I sat here, at my desk… completely overwhelmed and just focused on breathing in and out while I tried to think of a word for 2012. I was feeling a little apprehensive, reluctant, ambivalent about it because I didn’t think it had worked, so that little voice in my head was asking, ‘why bother trying it again?‘
But… I had this yearning nonetheless so I cleared my mind, breathed some more and just let my thoughts wash over me. Finally two or three words kept floating up. They’d fade like smoke as I focused on them and then re-emerge as I turned away. As I got frustrated, I started noticing my outward breath… whooshing past my lips. And then one word remained, and it was – release.
Like a whisper from the universe right into my ear.
And this time, I heard it.
I’ve been holding on, folks. To past hurts and disappointments. To dashed dreams, spoiled plans, and unexpected detours. I’ve been holding on to fears, limitations, expectations and demands. Everywhere around me piles and piles of stuff I might need, might use, might come in handy grow before my eyes all over our house. My very body manifests all the holding on I’ve been doing.
And it’s time to let it go.
I’m lightening up so I can rise up.
I’m writing my goals list for the year and it’s heavily influenced by this word. My word for this year. I’ll share more details about that later. Suffice it to say, for now, that there are a few main areas where I can see clearly what needs to be released:
My health – this is one that last year layed the foundation for. I did move. A lot. And it was wonderful. And I still have miles to go before I sleep. Speaking of sleep, I need to get more of it. Essentially, as with all these areas, I need to let go of the idea that I matter least. Putting everyone else first is not enabling me to be the person, woman, mother, partner, sister, daughter, photographer that I want to be. So, I’ll be working on this.
Mind – tough to describe but I did a lot less writing than usual last year. Writing is so important to my well being and I’m recommitting to doing more of it. Perhaps on the blog, definitely in my journal and who knows where else.. bathroom stalls, train stations… hahahahaha! Lots more meditation as well.
Money – there’s some clever saying that describes how difficult it is to be open to abundance when you’re clutching scarcity and this is where we’ve been. It’s been tough. Really tough. Barely scraping by thanks to the help of our loved ones tough. We’re grateful for it and we also want more for ourselves. More than scraping by. We’re making changes and plans and reviewing our budget/spending and debts. Again. Miles to go before I sleep.
Home – in one word – purge. Making room. Clearing space. Moving on.
Business – streamlining, improving systems and workflow, getting ever more clear about what, why and who I’m wanting to serve.
Relationships – letting go of the unhealthy ones that don’t serve and support me, letting go of the energy drainers. Surrounding myself with people I adore. Setting boundaries is something else I need to work on!
Six seems like more than enough to start with. I’m sure more will come to me as the year wears on. And I’ll be open and awake enough to notice it.
This word is not a whip to beat myself up with at the end of this year. Nor is it a word to measure my value or worth against. This word is simply a suggestion, a guiding light for this year. So, when I forget my purpose or my motivations for doing what I do, when I’m unclear about the choices I’m making, this is the word I’ll be considering to bring me back to my path.
