Thursday, August 27, 2009

A new beginning

Well, I guess it is official: the Canyon Country Crossfire no longer exists! Last Friday, the team had a meeting and signed a new contract with Coach Alec. They also received their new uniforms and backpacks. They are now proudly wearing Valley United Soccer Club colors: red, white and black! And they will play their first official game as a VUSC team this weekend at a Tournament in Newburry Park.
So without further do, I present to you the VUSC Boys U13 Black!



And here are the 15 members of the team:

Michael P.

Alec

Ariel

Austin

Bryant

Cesar

Cody

Daniel

Eli

Jacob

Junior

Michael A.

Nicholas

Trevor

And Zack!

Go Valley United!

Monday, August 24, 2009

iheartfaces -Nostalgia


This week's theme is "Nostalgia". For me, Christmas photos are usually nostalgic. There are so many memories associated with the holidays. And last year, my final project for a photography class I took at the local college was titled "Vintage Christmas". I researched the different Christmas Traditions of each past decades, from the 30's to the 70's. I tried to recreate the home decor and Christmas decorations from those decades. I even found clothes that matched the clothes kids wore during those days. But when I photographed my kids playing games from the 70's, I became very nostalgic. After all, I was raised in the 70's!
So here is my entry for this week's challenge: a photo of Christina and Anthony, playing "Twister".



To see more photos of "nostalgia", visit iheartfaces and check out other entries.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Hiking 8/22/09

Today, the whole family went on a nice hike at Ed Townsley Park. The sky was overcast and a few drops of rain fell on our heads as we were walking along the trail. But overall, it was a perfect day for a hike. We took Rocky and Catie along with us and had to limit our walk to 1.5 hours as Catie (who is now 12 years old) was starting to have difficulties keeping up with us. I brought my camera along and Anthony took our little Canon G5 point and shoot camera. He and Christina took turn taking photos, while Allan and Nicholas led the way with the two dogs.
Since I was a bad mom and didn't take any photos of the kids on their first day back to school, I figured I could use these photos as their "back-to-school" shots!

Christina started 3rd grade this year and already had to change classroom as her school is making adjustments to accommodate last minute registrations.


Anthony is now in 5th grade and his teacher also taught Nicholas. It didn't take long for Mrs. Kurimoto to call Anthony, "Nicholas"! They might look alike but she will soon find out that their personality is completely different!


Nicholas entered 8th grade this year and will be graduating from Junior High in the Spring! Time sure flies!


The scenery was beautiful and everyone really enjoyed a nice hike!

Finally, at the end of our walk, the kids posed for one last shot. It is always difficult to get all three kids and both dogs to look in the same direction at the same time... but this time I was fast enough to catch this photo. The kids look serious, but these days, the "serious" look is better than their "fake" smile!

Friday, August 14, 2009

Noah & Vaughn - August 12th, 2009

We met the Webber-Eason family last Fall at soccer (big surprise!). Allan chose Noah as one of the All Stars player and offered him a spot on the Canyon Country Crew. What a great soccer player he is! He is also a very fast runner and both he and his brother participated in track & field in the Spring.
This photoshoot was done at Canyon Country Park on Wednesday, August 12th. The boys started off a little shy but pretty soon their personality came out! They are quite a pair... and best of all, they gladly tried anything I suggested without any complaints!


I knew Noah had a great personality from watching him during soccer practices and games! Always a smile on his face and always trying his best! That's what I remembered about Noah!





Vaughn was a little shy at first but tried very hard to do what was asked of him. He is at the age where he is learning how to smile without forcing it... he still needs a little more practice! But overall, he was awesome!





This first shot was taken at the end of our session and the boys were definitely getting tired of "smiling on command"!



Well, this is it for now... I sure had a great time and I hope the boys did too.

Monday, August 10, 2009

iheartfaces - Crazy, Silly Funny faces entry


This week's i heart faces contest is for Crazy, Silly, Funny Faces. As a sports photographer, I strive to capture not only the action but also the emotions... and with the emotions come the crazy, silly, funny faces! Take for example, the photograph I chose for this entry; Eli is a player on my oldest son's soccer team and I was able to capture this image at one of the Tournaments they participated in last Spring.

It is also very interesting to me to see players' associated reactions when they are concentrating on what they do. My youngest son, Anthony, will often stick his tongue out and to the left side of his mouth when playing soccer or basketball. Another player on Nicholas' team plays soccer with his tongue inside his cheek, and another one always has a very serious/ painful expression on his face, etc...
When watching the game, you don't see these little things. But when it is captured in one or many photographs, you definitely start to notice it!


If you want to see more Crazy, Silly, Funny Faces, go take a look at more entries at iheartfaces.