One of my favorite lines in a Christmas song is, “So this is Christmas, and what have you done?” It’s definitely the time of year when we all sit down & reflect on our blessings & we take the time to reach out to those around us who might not be as fortunate as we are. It is Christmastime once again & last week I posted on Facebook for all of you to let me know if you knew anyone who might be in need of a little extra help this Holiday season. The response was completely overwhelming…I read stories of families who needed financial help, stories of families who needed medical help, stories of heartbreak, sadness and hope. I spent last Friday at my computer sobbing as I read these stories that everyone had sent my way. It was so, so hard to narrow it down but I’ve prayed that I might pick a family who needs our help & I feel like the Anderson family is a family who we can help out this Christmas.
This is the story of a darling family-the Andersons. The parents, Marc & Janette and their 4 & 6 year old boys. Over a year ago Janette was diagnosed with leukemia. Being diagnosed with leukemia never happens at a good time, but Marc had just graduated and did not have a job. Janette had dreams of watching her kids grow, being a great mother to her sweet children & to spend a long life together with her prince charming. Because her treatments were so intense, Marc spent the past year being her sole caretaker since her treatments required 24-hour care. Anything that could have gone wrong with her did…she had organs fail, blood clots, blindness, you name it. She had 3 bone marrow transplants but it just wasn’t enough. Sweet Janette passed away on Thanksgiving day, leaving behind her prince charming of a husband and her two beautiful boys. Between the medical bills, funeral expenses & payments for her medical treatment, the bills that Marc will have to pay are astronomical. You can read more about Janette’s story on the blog she updated before her passing HERE.
Their story is completely heartbreaking to me-I think it’s difficult for anyone to imagine leaving behind a darling, sweet family. So this is Christmas, the time of year when we reach out to help those around us…whether they be people we know or complete strangers. It’s the time of year when we lend a hand in a soup kitchen, give someone in need a warm coat or donate some money to a family in need. It’s the time of year when we can show each other that there is love and that there is goodness in this world.
The photograph I chose for this fundraiser is a photograph I took in a cathedral in Brussels this summer & I loved the serene look on the mothers face as she helps her child. I felt like it was an appropriate photograph for the Anderson’s story…because even though Janette isn’t physically with her family, I know that she is definitely watching her family from up above. If you can, please make a donation to this family during this time & share in the true meaning of the Christmas spirit by clicking on the donate button below the photograph. Any dollar amount will be accepted. 100% of the donations received will be given to to this family. The photograph will be emailed to you in high resolution format. The photograph is then yours to print, frame, give as a gift, use as a desktop photo, etc. The photograph will not have my watermark on the image. ALL of the proceeds will be given to the Anderson family to help them during this tragic time in their lives. The fundraiser will go through Christmas day & I won’t be posting anything else on my blog besides this fundraiser until after the New Year.
God bless each & every one of you who donates. I know that we are put here on this earth to help each other, to lift each other up when times are hard. May each of you find joy in helping others this Christmas season. XOXO, marielle.
I am E.X.C.I.T.E.D!!!!! to do mini sessions again this year! The mini sessions will be held both in Oakland, CA and Reno, NV. Quite honestly I wanted to create a cute flyer on my blog with amazing graphics, a fabulous typeface & possibly some glitter if it was possible. The problem is that I don’t know how to do any of those things so YOUR job is to just pretend that this post has amazing graphics, a fabulous typeface & some glitter. Plus, I figure that my photos can speak for themselves. If you haven’t had a mini session done before, it’s a great way to have family photos taken at more than half the price. If you have done a mini session with me in the past, I hope to see you again this time around!
Here are the details:
Each mini session is $249, includes a 35 minute time slot & ALL of the high resolution images. You will receive a print release so you can print the images at your leisure, wherever you’d like. Heck, you can even print wallpaper with your photos if you want. You can pick your time slot & pay via paypal at the bottom of the post. After you’ve signed up for your mini session you will be entered to win a FREE custom designed coffee table book with your family photographs inside (valued at $350) if you simply share this link on Facebook. I will pick one winner & the winner will be announced the week of August 13th. I’m looking forward to all my mini sessions this year! Here are some of my favorites from my mini sessions last year…
Oakland Sessions
Every single year on the 4th of July we do the same thing…attend an Oakland A’s baseball game (and they always, always lose!). After the game, they open up the field & let everyone down onto the field to lay out blankets & watch an incredible firework show. It is one of my very favorite things to do-it’s so fun to be ON the baseball field, laying on a blanket with those I love & watching a spectacular firework show.
Last year I got bored of taking photos of the fireworks. Plain old photos of fireworks just weren’t doing it for me. I made sure to capture a few photos of the fireworks in their beauty like this:
It’s just a plain old photo of fireworks. Nothing dazzling, spectacular or out of the ordinary. And to be honest, I didn’t want 300 photos like the photograph above to remember how beautiful the fireworks are. So I decided to play with my camera & get a photograph that was more exciting & more unusual than the typical firework photo. I thought it would be fun to give you a short tutorial on how to get unique (read: NOT boring) photos of the fireworks that you’ll hopefully be seeing tomorrow night (after you overindulge in delicious food)! I’ll walk you through how to make photographs like these ones below with your DSLR:
Canon 5D Mark II, ISO 100, 16-35mm lens shot at F6.3 with a 7.1 second exposure
Canon 5D Mark II, ISO 100, 16-35mm lens shot at F6.3 with a 1.6 second exposure
Canon 5D Mark II, ISO 100, 16-35mm lens shot 8 with a 4 second exposure
First thing’s first: TURN OFF YOUR FLASH! Do you know why I just used caps? Because I was YELLING that through the computer! Yes, first thing-turn off your darn flash! By using the manual mode on your camera, you’ll be able to tell it how to let in enough light.
You are going to start with a LOW ISO. Lower ISO’s let in less light. I chose my ISO for these photographs to be 100.
Next you’ll want to set your aperture. Normally I like to shoot with a really wide aperture that lets in tons of light. For these photographs, I chose an aperture that isn’t completely wide but that’s wide enough to let in enough light. My aperture for these photographs ranged between a 6.3 and an 8.
Shutter speed is always the last thing I choose when I’m taking a photograph. I choose my ISO, then my aperture & THEN my shutter speed before I take the photograph. The slower your shutter speed is, the more light you’ll let into the photograph. For this reason, if you shutter speed is lower than 100 & you are hand holding your camera, your photos will be blurry. But for this scenario, it’s totally okay. Actually, that’s what we are going for here.
My shutter speed for these photographs ranges between 4-7 seconds. After I choose my shutter speed, hit the shutter button & as the photograph is taking, I will MOVE my camera around until the photograph is finished taking. Since you chose a long exposure, this might feel like it’s taking FOREVER. Because let’s be honest…4 seconds in real life goes by super fast, but 4 seconds in camera life feels like 10 minutes! BUT that means that while your camera is recording the information & while you are moving your camera up & down, each color is being recorded. I sometimes move my camera in a figure 8 motion, sometimes side to side & sometimes both. Believe me-people might look at you like you are crazy (nothing new to me-people look at me like I’m crazy every day!) but when you see how amazing the photographs can look, you won’t care who is looking at you like you are cray-cray.
I hope this blog post was able to help out at least one person! One of my favorite things about photography is that it’s all about trial and error. If you can’t figure out the settings right away, try again until you get the kind of photo you want. Wishing you all a very wonderful, safe & beautiful 4th of July! I am so grateful to live in a beautiful nation that I am lucky enough to call home. Now get your cameras & start moving!!!
Sam waited in the car with Hadley while I went in to the 7-11 to buy some lottery tickets. Playing the lottery wasn’t something we normally did but a couple years ago we decided to play because the amount was up to $300-somthing million. I walked up to the cashier & said, “I’d like to buy a lottery ticket.” He looked at me as if I had just told him I was the Queen of England. He blinked a few times, looked me straight in the eye & said,
“You have to be 18 years old to buy a lottery ticket.”
“Uhhhhhh….I know that. I am WELL over 18.”
“No you aren’t.”
“Um. Yes. Yes I am. I’m WELL into my 20′s. I have a husband and a child forcryingoutloud.”
“I’m pretty sure you are NOT over 18.”
So I pulled my drivers license out, proudly displaying to the cashier that indeed, I was well into my 20′s (actually more like almost in my 30′s!) and that indeed, I could purchase a lottery ticket. Ahhhhh, the blessings of looking like I’m STILL a teenager! We didn’t win the lottery that day but the whole idea of winning the lottery is something that certainly has been crossing everyone’s minds this week. What would you do if you won the lottery? Would it make you a happier person?
Yesterday I spent the day with my sweet four year old daughter. We went to the library, window shopped for fancy dresses, galloped like ponies through the city streets, shared a gelato & threw pennies into a fountain as we made wishes. She kept on saying proudly, “Today is MY day.” I loved every second of it.
I have yet to purchase a lottery ticket this time around…but when I look at my life…my wonderful husband…my sweetheart daughter…I KNOW that I’ve most certainly lucked out & won the lottery.
When my mom was in High School, she wore a pair of Levi’s jeans to school. Surrounded by her classmates who were wearing dresses & skirts, there she was in all of her 1970′s glory: bellbottom jeans, most likely a flowered, ruffly shirt & Farrah Fawcett hair. I’m positive she looked amazing. The only problem was that jeans weren’t allowed at school. The principal called her to his office, DROVE HER to her house & waited in his car while she changed out of her jeans. I always loved hearing that story from my mom…I remember thinking, “What a rebel! Wearing JEANS to school!”
Flash forward to a few years ago when I worked in the Marketing Department for a residential Real Estate company. The company has a no jeans policy for their employees. BUT they never had a no tie-dye pant policy!! I have this darling pair of pale green & white tie-dye pants. They sound ugly but I promise they are totally adorable. One Monday morning I decided to wear my darling pale green tie-dye pants to work (with a white blazer & heels so it seemed more professional, obviously). My boss called me on the phone & asked me to see him in his office. I knew I was in trouble. We stood in front of a floor length mirror, side by side. He said to me, “What’s the difference between what I’m wearing & what you are wearing?” I replied, “You are wearing a business suit & I am wearing something with more…texture & color.” He explained that he looked like he was going to work in a professional office & that I looked like I was going to a rock concert. And just like my mom back in the 70′s, I was asked to go home & change.
Flash forward a few years…I am working from home at my dream job. Photographing engagements, weddings & people’s lives. I am sitting in my home office with the windows open while I work & once again I am wearing my pale green tie-dye pants. Unapologetically. While I won’t be wearing my tie dye pants to any weddings, I will be wearing them in my office…listening to the Led Zeppelin & Aerosmith all day while I work. It’s a simple pleasure, but a pleasure nonetheless. And while this photograph has nothing to do with pants, it has me looking forward to a fun weekend with my two favorite people, my wonderful husband & darling daughter. Both of whom LOVE my tie-dye pants.
