Malena & Family - Sunnyvale, CA

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Eileen and Chris have been wonderful friends of ours for years now, so it's been a joy watching them start their lives and especially their family.  Their first child, Mason, is as precocious, engaging and intelligent as you could ask a little boy to be, so with that track record, April and I really anticipated the arrival of their new daughter, Malena.

Malena was an angel the entire time, but Mason being a 2-year old, was a handful.  What you see here is the best we could do after bribery (a lollipop), patience (waited for a short tantrum to pass), and his own sense of humor (petting his sister in lieu of holding her like like he's interacting with a human relative).  Either way, it was a good time with a great family, with results about which we're really proud.  The love this family has for each other was truly inspiring.

Aforementioned sibling petting.

Almost!  It's all hands and feet!

Marylou's 70th Birthday - S. San Francisco, CA

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Marylou Albano is my mother-in-law, and she's easily one of the most hospitable, and accomodating people that I know.  Her kindness and selfless care for those she loves is boundless; she really is the type to give to her wards everything even if it leaves nothing for herself.  She's a modest woman, and really deserved the wonderful luncheon that April, my wife, threw for her.  It was held at the Grosvenor Hotel in South San Francisco since Marylou is an awesome cook and would no doubt insist on preparing food for the 50 or so people who would attend her own party.  This was not a desirable outcome, so the party needed to be out somewhere away from her kitchen.

I was only too happy to do what I could to help her preserve and celebrate her party for posterity.

As far as the shoot goes, this one was a little taxing since I didn't have April or another assistant help me out for most of the lunch party.  As such, I was in an endless loop of placing a lightstand opposite from where I wanted to shoot and hoping that my subjects hadn't moved.  It worked most of the time, but it was difficult to track fast moving objects (i.e. children).  The room itself was a dim, since blasting the venue with sickly flourescent light was a worse option. The walls were mostly bare, but luckily the tables were decorated beautifully.  I really tried to concentrate on the people and their immediate surroundings in this one, so I had the 70-200mm on most of the time.  Got a great right arm workout.

This was particularly great to shoot since ultimately, it will be enjoyed by a woman whom I dearly love, and for someone who means so much to so many.