Let me in the sound

Sadly, I'm not at press pass status yet, so I had to sport the G9 to last night's historic U2 360 concert at the Pasadena Rose Bowl. It was a phenomenal show, and I know that they pulled out some stops for the YouTube stream. We got to see Slash come out and play "Sweet Child of Mine" with the Black Eyed Peas, we got to see volunteers from Amnesty International take the stage is support of Aung San Suu Kyi, and we were personally greeted by a kindly astronaut up at the International Space Station. All of that is to say nothing of the awesome set list, which masterfully covered hits from a slew of albums.

I'd never seen U2 live, and I'd always wanted to. Now, I can put a check next to one more thing on the bucket list.

Thanks for all the music, guys!

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ps: When is the Nobel committee going to give Bono his prize?

Nic & Zen Wedding

In early October, I shot the wedding of two of my favorite people in a beautiful Old World-style location called Beau Rivage, in Malibu. Despite a really bad spill in which I damaged my 70-200 lens, the day (and the shoot) were a raging success. I am so happy for these wonderful people, and I'm humbled and honored that I was able to capture memories for them.

Visit here for the whole show, and see below for a few highlights. Click the images to view them at full res.

Eulogy

My uncle died today. He was an incredibly humble man, whose immeasurable riches were not to be found in his house, but in his heart and family. I am so grateful that I spent last New Year's with him and the rest of my family in Costa Rica. Tío Daniel and his amazing family were a such an inspiration to me. I hadn't seen them in over fifteen years, and they taught me so much in the short amount of time I spent with them.

Tío, I'm so glad I get to remember you this way.

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A Day in the Park

A few weeks back, I had the pleasure of photographing the most adorable family out in Elysian Park. It was only an hour-long shoot, but it was ridiculously fun. To think... it all came out of a chance encounter at Fatty's Restaurant in Eagle Rock. They were sitting a few tables away, and I couldn't help but go hand them a card because they were SO CUTE! Seriously, this kid is not only handsome, but totally charming and well-mannered.

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Henry, mid-flight.

Henry, discovering the joys of being a Superman.

Henry with his beautiful mom.

Poolyard

A couple of weeks back, I got to shoot the band Poolyard in action down in Santa Monica. They put on a pretty great show, and I couldn't escape the feeling that the set was too short. They're an LA-based band that somewhat defies categorization. If you like good grooves and a high-energy frontman, they're your game! Here are some choice shots.

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Phoenix

A lot of bad stuff happened over the summer. I was hospitalized in early June, I was recovering until mid July, my husband and close friends got diagnosed with Lyme Disease after a trip to Yosemite, and fires burned hundreds of thousands of acres of the Angeles Forest.

Needless to say, it was rough going this summer. I was feeling kind of low last weekend when I went into Petco to buy our little Gizmo some Petromalt. Then the most incredible thing happened! -- I saw all of the kitties from Happy Strays who were up for adoption. There were so many adorable little mews! One little kitty instantly caught my eye, but she was already being removed from her cage by other prospective parents, so I asked to hold her brother, an orange tabby named Simba. He was so completely intoxicating that he was all I talked about over lunch with Eric.

Eric agreed that we could head back to the Petco and see if Simba was still available for adoption. Sadly, when we got there we learned that he had been adopted earlier that day. I was pretty bummed about it, until they told me that his sister was still available. Wouldn't you know it? -- His sister was the first kitty that had caught my eye. No one had adopted her. She's a splotchy little Torti cat with a tongue of flame running up the right side of her face. When I got a hold of her, I just couldn't let go. She was the sweetest, warmest, most affectionate little purr monster ever! So, we adopted her. She has added so much to our family. She's rambunctious and erratic, totally curious, and an absolutely adorable little firebird. For this reason, we named her Phoenix.

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Phoenix, stalking

She looks like such a queen!

Pheonix, at play

I'm so happy that we adopted her. She single-handedly burst my funk, and I've been pretty happy about her (and life) ever since.

State of Emergency

Eric and I live in La Crescenta, and it's been a truly surreal few days with all of the fires. We watched as flames appeared on the ridge above our house, and continued to watch as they descended toward La Cañada and us. Yesterday, I went driving around the immediate area and couldn't believe how low the fire had gotten in multiple places. It's almost as if rivulets of fire have been flowing down any available canyon towards the city.

Ash is snowing all around us. The sky looks like a CGI effect from a Star Trek episode. It's unrecognizable as Earth's atmosphere. Our lungs are heavy from three days of breathing smoke.

Mostly, my thoughts are with those on the front lines. I've watched as tens of planes and helicopters have battled the blaze in at least five locations, and it's still only 5% contained. I think about how harrowing it must be to fly under those conditions. I think about the men and women on the ground, who are the only line of defense after nightfall. To be honest, I feel almost guilty that they're out there risking life and limb while I sleep. I think about their families' concern.

Right now, I hope for whatever conditions necessary to abate this inferno. I hope no one has to lose their home, and more importantly that no one loses their life.

View from Flanders & Encinas on Thursday night.

An example of the height of the flames. This was taken from the La Cañada movie theatre parking lot.

Valiant pilot.

Self-explanatory.


View of the Tujunga area fire mushroom cloud.

The next time there's a ballot measure asking for increased taxation to support our fire department, I'm voting for it. I've always done so anyway, but it seems all the more urgent now.