Yvonne's 1st Birthday...Surprise!

Have you ever been thrown a surprise birthday party? Maybe or maybe not...I'm a "maybe not"...I'm too suspicious for anyone to succeed in throwing me a surprise birthday party. Yvonne had never been thrown a surprise birthday party before...everyone worked hard to make it a big surprise. They wanted to make it so special because it was her "1st Birthday...Surprise". When she finally walked through the door it was indeed a huge surprise that brought tears to her eyes...and I was so lucky to be there to capture it. Hopefully I can be surprised like that some day=)

Where's my ball...

Pushing your radioflyer around in the park must be one of the most awesome things when you're a kid...too bad we don't remember doing it. That's what Aiden had fun doing...taking photos of someone in their "element" is the best thing an aspiring professional photographer could ask for. One may think that being "photogenic" is the most important thing when taking portraits, but it's not at all. Making your subject feel completely comfortable and allowing them to do what "they want" is the most important aspect of "capturing emotion". I absolutely love capturing the emotions in kids.

Pulled over here...pulled over there...Shug Ree

Had the chance to take photos of an up and coming female rapper. We went into downtown LA and just let the grounds guide us. Pulled over here...pulled over there until we found a desolate and grimy staircase. We thought this would be a great spot to get some grungy shots...only to be met by a man and a woman with no teeth...yes folks...no teeth!!! They said..."you gotta axe da boss..." what did we have to ask the boss??? "you gotta axe da boss". So we took some quick shots and got the heck outta there. Continued on and were met by some other interesting characters...one was a store shop owner that kept asking us..."what are you doing? You can't do that here". Needless to say, the day progressed with more shots and interesting characters. Shug Ree handled it amazingly and with so much poise...taking it as an opportunity to promote herself. Can't wait till she blows up..."diego to the bridge"...

Click your heels...Ballet Folklorico

Just a few shots from the park with Sol de Mexico. They're an amazing ballet folkorico group that perform dances from Mexico. It was a fun experience taking photos and being exposed to this form of dance and culture. Had a great time even though I was melting. Hopefully, I'll get the opportunity to be a part of it again. Thanks to all the dancers it was truly a great day!!!