Happy Thanksgiving

I want to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving. I love this time of year, you get to enjoy just being with your families without any of the craziness. We're going to my sister's, I'm so looking forward to being together for a few days... As a child, we always went to friend's houses for the holiday as we didn't celebrate Thanksgiving (us all being from England), which was fun. I always went to my best friend, Judy's, house and remember her uncle snoring on the couch after the meal every year! This is better, my daughter gets to be with her cousins, we've got baby Dade for his second Thanksgiving, and I get to be with my mum & my sister & everyone, it's much more special... just less snoring (well maybe!!)

So enjoy.

The photos are of one of my favorite families to photograph, I've been photographing Emily since she was a baby, her brother, John, too, so it's such fun to watch them growing up... what a cool job I've got! Cold Storage beach is a fantastic beach in Dennis, and that night, although a little cool & windy, had spectacular light, a perfect night for a family beach portrait...

the moon

so I've been sick for the better part of a month, and I'm starting to get downright grumpy, but Friday, oh it was a good day... I felt miserable, but... Melaine, a dear friend, who is so funny & sweet & kind, came in right at the end of the day when I was leaving to go home to bed, and gave me a bag for my b-day... A Johnny Depp Rolling Stone cover shot - oh he is so beautiful. She said it was on the clearance rack, and she said, 'oh no Johnny, this is not where you belong, let me bring you home' (even my husband laughed at that one!)...

So I stumble into the house and go right to bed (after showing off my fab new bag of course...) I re-enter reality an hour or so later, and find that my birthday present from my hubby has also arrived, seems a week after your b-day is a good day for presents!! I got the most amazing, fantastic, really, really, crazy cool telescope!!! It has this way cool auto alignment thing, and even will tell you the viewing highlights for the night, every night of the year!!! Are you kidding? So last night it was crystal clear, and we looked at all of these stars & constellations, it was amazing. Ray & Adriana both saw a few Leonids, I only saw the flashes that lit the sky... (but of course, I had been out at 3:30am on Tuesday morning and watched them for more than an hour, so I can't complain, I did catch the highlights!!) Spent ages examing the sky... Ray was bummed as the moon set right as the sky was dark enough to view last night... so tonight we went & looked at the moon - wait until I get the photo attachment - I will probably never post another photo of a shoot again!!! You could see all of the craters on the moon, it has been so banged up, it's amazing. It was so bright it was almost glowing... The clouds kept obscuring our view, and then it would clear and I can't even tell you how fantastic it was, absolutely brilliant!!!! I may just have to give up my day job so I can stay up all night and stargaze....

and once again...

I'm reminded I'm not Martha... *deep sigh* In the new issue of Martha Stewart Living she has needle felted animals, well I love needle felting. My sweet sister, Marla, and I took a class and learned to felt sheep. Kind of funny making sheep from sheep... came home made a penguin, kinda sweet... started to make a goat, but his legs need to be a giraffe, so I've got some bits, a goat head, giraffe legs, and there they sat waiting for winter for me to take them out to play...

but then along came bronchitis, and Martha's mag, and I just assumed my polar bear would be way cuter than her, admittedly wicked cute, polar bear. She even cheated, pipe cleaners, what? Well, guess maybe I should have used the pipe cleaners!

Took my polar bear a long time to stop being a rat, think he's still got a little rat relative in his past, and one paw's slightly red from a really good stab to the finger... but I'm going with he's kinda cute. That, and the fact, it's true I ain't no Martha... oh well... at least I've never been to jail...

Cranberry season

so as I'm sure you can tell, my days are not long enough to have enough time to fit everything in... which makes my blog super boring, sorry!!

Well, in the midst of all of the insanity which is a photo studio in the fall, I took a few hours off last week to go with Adriana's class on a field trip to a cranberry bog. What fun!

They had flooded the bogs and were using some funky machines to beat the cranberries off the vines, the kids loved it. As did the adults! We're so lucky to have such a cool place to visit right around the corner (well, every corner really, there are loads of bogs round these parts).

I never walk Lucy on the bogs while they're harvesting, can never be sure she'll use her good dog manners! So it was fun to see it all in action.

I've got so many portraits to share, like the 4 generation family portrait I did on the beach on Sunday, or maybe my last senior of the season (phew!!) in a couple of days we'll see what happens...

First Things First

The press release for the upcoming Arts Foundation exhibit, not to be missed! Mark your calendars now - Sarah

Arts Foundation of Cape Cod presents major art exhibit
FIRST THINGS FIRST
An Interactive Art Exhibit of over 50 Established Cape Cod Artists

October 19, Centerville, MA - The Arts Foundation of Cape Cod will present a free, major regional art exhibit, FIRST THINGS FIRST, at the Cotuit Center for the Arts from January 9 to February 6, 2010. This free exhibit is the fourth annual regional exhibit presented by the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, and will feature over 50 established Cape Cod artists.

Keeping younger patrons in mind, art work will be displayed at a height of 4 feet throughout the exhibit -- right at children’s eye level. In addition, a mini-art library will be made available to visitors, and a series of child-friendly events will be scheduled over the course of the month. School groups will be welcomed to the exhibit for free for the duration of the show, and will be given docent-led tours and art instruction customized to the age level of the children.

FIRST THINGS FIRST is presented thanks to the generous sponsorship of the Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation, and support from the Donald C. McGraw Foundation and Cape Cod Melody Tent. “We are honored to join with the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod to present this exceptional and engaging exhibit for the enjoyment of Cape students and families,” said Rana Murphy, Vice President of Eastern Bank. “The arts are an integral part of the education process and an essential element of every child’s complete education.”

The exhibit is free and open to the public. Gallery hours have been extended to accommodate the high demand anticipated for the show, based on advance bookings for school visits and the popularity of previously presented exhibits, Self Portrait Cape Cod, When We Were Younger and ROYGBIV.

For more information about the exhibit, the artists being featured, and opportunities for school groups to visit the exhibit at the Cotuit Center for the Arts, please call the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod at 508-362-0066.

About the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod
The Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, the designated local arts agency for Barnstable County, was founded in 1988. The mission of the AFCC is to:
• Support, promote, and celebrate the arts and culture of Cape Cod
• Create a strong, stable and diverse arts and culture industry
• Contribute to the quality of life and economic vitality of the region

About the Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation
The mission of the Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation is to contribute, in a meaningful way, to the health and vitality of the various Greater Boston communities. This is done through financial support for selected nonprofit organizations operating within these communities. The Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation is based in Lynn, Massachusetts. For more information visit www.easternbank.com.

Max & Killian

I love photographing senior portraits on the beach, it's a great job I've got... but sometimes... it's even better than normal...

Max brought Killian to Sandy Neck the other night, and it was one of those perfect Cape Cod evenings (which we didn't see enough of this year, sadly). Max was great, Killian was great, the tide was perfect, the light was gorgeous, the bugs decided to leave us alone, it was truly fantastic. One of those nights when I realized I must have the best job in the world!!!

get your kicks...

Seems like a million years ago we got our kicks on Route 66! It's a great season so far, insanely busy, which everyone assures me is good!! Trying to keep up with it all makes things like my blog get ignored...

As my posts will be scarce for the next month or so, figured I'd put some of my own pix up...