Living on fault lines!

Many have already blogged about yesterday's extraordinary event that occurred at 11:42 AM, PST yesterday, July 29th. So I thought I would join the club, but also put in a little history of the quakes I have lived through. So, in case you haven't heard, which how can you not by now, Southern California had its first large earthquake in 14 years yesterday. It measured a magnitude of 5.4 on the Richter scale which measures the seismic activity of a fault line. At first it was a 5.8 and was later downgraded. I was at work when God decided to hold this little party on a fault line, and while sitting at my desk, I noticed this strange hum, kind of like a rather large truck barreling down the street. And then I got the sense that something was not right, and right after that, the building I work in was moving rather extensively and we all got up to stand in the doorway. Dummy! You have lived through enough of these that you should have gone under your desk. Oh well! Thank goodness the earthquake was not more than 20 seconds, because we all eventually ended up outside. I went back in to grab my camera, and then sent two instant messages. Only because I was in a panic with some major goose bumps on my arms. My friend Priscilla was the first to get my IM in Boston, and my photographer friend, whom I have not yet met in person, only via email, the sweet Katie Beverley was the other recipient of the panic IM after the quake. It was crazy, as after we had gathered to see that the building stopped shaking, I just went back to my desk to see what the news was saying and IM with Katie and Priscilla. I have worked at APU for 8 1/2 years and this was the first earthquake we have had, so of course, I did not know what the true emergency protocol was. Oops! Some people just went right back into their buildings / trailers and did not know we had to wait for them to be cleared. Sorry Jeff! Regardless, everyone was safe and there was no major damage that we know of. Thanks Prisca and Katie for being there!

I am sure you have heard the officials say, "don't use the phones" after the quake. All of the phone lines were either dead, or jammed. The only thing that worked was texting and email. I completely forgot that my Mom was proctoring the Bar exam in Century City, so I was panicking about not getting in touch with her for a while, so I had to enlist some out of state friends to call her home, because out of state calls were coming through. And I sent my brother a text message in Orange County and finally heard from him at 3 p.m.

The Epicenter is two things here in California. First, it is a park/sports arena out in Rancho Cucamonga, and second, it is where the seismologists determine was the center of the earthquake and what fault line had erupted. About two minutes after the quake, we learned that the epicenter was Chino Hills. I immediately began to freak out, because my best friend Jennie lives in an apartment building on the third floor. Let's just say that a Texan living alone on the third floor of an apartment building in the epicenter is not a good combination. I could not get a hold of Jennie at all, until I tried to send an email. It was a miracle that it went through and that she responded. Thanks Verizon! She was scared out of her mind, and her apartment was thrashed. And, her 100 lb. TV fell to the ground out of her entertainment center. I am just thankful she was not watching TV at 11:42 a.m. She managed to not get hurt, and got in touch with her family via Skype. Later that evening, we went to see Jennie and the TV was shot, and her nerves were starting to calm down after all of the aftershocks.

I know this is a really long post, but just bare with me! For those of you who have gotten this far, thanks for reading. :)

Today, I was catching up with one of my high school classmates Mike Dutcher. We were reminiscing about the Whittier Narrows earthquake, October 1, 1987 during our senior year. It was over 100 degrees that day and during zero period, the earth began to move. I was still at home and thought my brother was banging on my bedroom door. Nope! Everyone was yelling to get to the center of the house by the kitchen. The house kept shaking, glasses fell out of the cupboard, my Mom cut her foot, and we held on tight for the ride! That earthquake measured a 5.9 on the Richter scale. They say that for every 10th of a point the force is 10 times stronger. And we had huge aftershocks after, for what seemed like forever. Mike as sharing with me where he was during that quake and how he was in the choir room at our high school. It was one of the many days of our senior year we will never forget. This was the second largest earthquake of our lives, as the first was the Sylmar quake that was a 6.6 on the Richter scale, February 9, 1971.

The other major earthquake I have lived through is the Northridge earthquake. At 4:31 a.m. on January 17th, 1994 the earth decided to move again and this time it was far more dangerous. It was a 6.7 on the Richter scale. I was living in Sierra Madre with my friend Laura at the time. When I was knocked out of bed, I went to stand in the doorway of my bedroom, but my door slammed shut. See, this is why the experts said today on the news not to stand in the doorway, unless you live in 200 year old mission style home. Anyways, I was screaming for Laura and she was not answering. I waited for the trembler's to stop and started looking all over the apartment for Laura. In our small apartment building, we had an emergency plan where everyone was to meet downstairs at Catherine's place. We had accounted for everyone except for Laura. My neighbor Debra had just given birth to her son Miles the day before and was holding on for dear life. As the pool continued to "slosh" we tried to figure out where Laura was. We waited an hour and then everyone went back to their apartments. The power and phones were out, so all we could do was pray that our loved ones were okay. After bout four hours, the phone rang and it was Laura. She had stayed at her future in laws home because she was too tired to drive home. I think that was one of the most scariest times of my life.

Being a native Californian, we are raised with the knowledge and training that we will have to fight for survival when the earth begins to shake like it did yesterday, in 1994 and 1987. We had earthquake drills every year growing up and now at our places of employment. We have to build earthquake survival kits for our cars and homes, and pray that we will survive the BIG ONE! I pray that you take all of the necessary precautions for when the next earthquake strikes!

The Shahbaz Quadruplets! Walking, Talking, and Teeth!

The Shahbaz Quads are officially 16th months old this week. A few weeks back, I went over the the Shahbaz home and photographed the Quadruplets for their 15 month session. Wow! I had seen them since their 1st Birthday, but oh my how they grow! They are doing so well, Jeremiah and Jordan walked for me. It brought tears to my eyes, only because I am so happy they have come this far. Each of them is starting to develop their own unique personality, along with knowing how to get their way. Cedar has beautiful curls and a killer smile, and Jordan knows how to fool you to throw the ball back. And that silly Jeremiah, who will laugh at anything! We had such a blast doing this shoot. Amy's parents were over to help out for the day which I always appreciate because then we have one little one per adult. Phil was out of town for some family business, so we missed him during our time together.

Amy, I appreciate you so much for how much love you give to each of your children and how you tirelessly give every hour of your day. Wendy and Darrell, you are the greatest grandparents and I hope you had a wonderful trip to Switzerland. And Phil, I missed you during this session, and pray that your family has peace in their hearts. Love, Tira J.

To view the pictures and order, click here enter quads15months and then 13966

To view more from their session, CLICK HERE for a slideshow!

*note to photographers, I shot this entire session with my new 50mm 1.2. Love it!

Today we celebrate...

Our 8th Wedding Anniversary!

This week, 8 years ago, David and I were married at First Church of the Nazarene in Pasadena California. It was the most beautiful and best day of our lives, where I got to marry the love of my life. The man who will protect me and love me the rest of my life. The man who has clearly over the years provided for me for better or for worse and in sickness and health. The man whom I call my soul mate, partner, husband, and love of my life. We had the most beautiful wedding and were so excited that our friends and family could be there.

Some of the highlights from our wedding day:

1. Great cake from Sarkis Pastry in Pasadena. They even served the top of the cake, which is normally meant for that crazy first anniversary tradition, which I hear is over rated.

2. Our pastor, whom some of you know, asked me if I take Michael to be my husband. Umm yeah, wasn't his name David? Seriously, it totally lightened the mood and we all broke out in laughter. Apparently Mark forgot his glasses! We love you Mark!

3. Our wedding photographer shot 100% film with his medium format camera! And, we built our wedding album by going through proofs in a box and a booklet of templates. Yeah, how about those templates in InDesign from Ben Harrison, and online ordering from KISS & Leather Craftsmen? Yep! A lot can change in 8 years.

David, I love you with all my heart and I would not change anything that we have gone through in our 8+ years together. I am looking forward to another 50+ years of marriage with you. Happy Anniversary My Love!

Here is a picture one of our friends took just after we were pronounced Man and Wife!

Sunscreen......

We all know that the sun is dangerous and can cause skin cancer of many sorts. And, sometimes we don't think about putting sunscreen on when we are out photographing our clients and loved ones. So, I thought I would do one of those completely random posts for my photographer friends out there. Actually, it is pretty good advice! Are you ready? We should start wearing sunscreen on our hands when we are outdoors for long periods of time.

I have a lot of friends who are golfers and they have one of their hands protected from their glove and have hands looking like the ones below:


*thanks Dave for being a great model for this entry!

I am sure, very few if any photographers out there wear any type of glove while they are shooting out in the sun. So, what is one to do? We should start using sunscreen, not only on our faces (which is a given), but on our hands. I looked closely at my hands the other day and noticed a few spots appearing. They really look like freckles right now, but I know that with age and over time, they could become worse. These age spots are also known as liver spots and are brown blemishes mostly associated with the aging process and extreme exposure to sunlight. These age spots are flat, unlike moles, and range in color from light brown to black. You can generally find these spots on the areas of your skin most exposed to the sun, such as on your arms, face, shoulders, and forehead. Age spots on the hands are extremely common. See!!! We need to protect our hands! Some of you reading this aren't remotely close to the age of 40, (clearing of the throat) so you may be thinking you don't have to worry, but you do. Start now!

*so not only do we now have to wear bug spray, but also suncreen. Hmmmm...is there one that is a combo?

Noah Douglas: 3 Month Session

It's true! Noah Douglas is a little over 3 months old, actually almost 4 months this week! The morning of the 4th of July, I met Dave, Marsha and Noah at their home so we could capture some images of Noah for his 3 month session. This was the first time Dave was going to be available to join us, which I was extremely happy! And, Marsha was going to be leaving for Colorado for a few weeks with little Noah the next day. We set out to find some good spots on the way to Azusa Canyon and made it into the housing development where some friends live. Unfortunately, we were once again, eaten alive by bugs which made it difficult to get some relaxed images. *note to self, start bringing bug spray! The sun was rather bright given it was morning, but were were still able to get some great images of Noah. Noah has grown so much since our last session and he is starting to laugh, smile, and is slowly figuring out what those two hands of his are doing, and how many fingers he has. So super cute!!!

Dave and Marsha, thank you so much for being patient while waiting for these pictures. And thank you for allowing me to capture images of you both with your handsome little guy Noah! I can't wait for his 6 month session to see how his personality has changed.

To view more images from our session, CLICK HERE for a slideshow!

Website is back and kudos.....

Hey blog readers! Just wanted to give you a heads up to let you know that our website is fully operational again. Whew! It was a long three days as we waited patiently to get our website moved to a new hosting company. For you photographers out there that are reading this post, if you have a blu domain website that is hosted by blu and want to make a change to a new hosting company, I HIGHLY recommend IX Web Hosting. Blu was continuously going down, which was a huge pain in the side! I first heard about them from Brock Martin of Infinet Design who will be doing our redesign in the fall. There is a guy by the name of David Holt aka the Site Dude at IX Web Hosting! He was so great to work with and was able to move my entire website away from blu domain. I have enjoyed my blu site, as it has provided great start for my photography business and a place for current and future clients to get information. We will keep you posted on what we are doing in the fall! Have a wonderful day!

Sara and Josh: Anytime - The Real Post!

Here it is! The real post for Sara and Josh. Thanks for being so patient, as I had a lot going on the past two weeks with work, family, and some other sessions. Anyways, here we go.....

Sara and Josh Morrill were actually marred on January 20, 2007 in the Elipse Chapel at Point Loma Nazarene University down in San Diego. Sara and I were in the same graduate program at Azusa Pacific University and we just recently graduated on May 3rd. We talked about her wedding dress, which was a Maggie Soterro dress and if I would take some more photographs of she in it with Josh by her side. I said certainly, why don't we do a "day after" type session after graduation and get really creative!

So here they are, two love birds who were destined to meet on the mountainside! Sara and Josh met their freshman year at PLNU while they were on a backpacking trip. Sara was one of the guides and it was love at first sight when she set her eyes on Josh. They actually waited three years to date, as Josh said, until "I was good and ready" to settle down! Sara knew on their first date that she wanted to marry Josh. They dated 11 months and in September 2006 they were engaged. Where do you think they got engaged? On a backpacking trip! They were hiking Mt. Whitney and Josh popped the question! They are major outdoors people, and I am certainly surprised that they did not get married in the mountains.

This session I did for Sara and Josh could not have been done with out the wonderful help of my good friend Shelby Knight of Shelby Knight Photography. Shelby also graduated from the CSA program with Sara and I. Shelby is just getting her feet wet in the photography industry and has shared with me that she would love to be my second shooter anytime! Please visit Shelby's blog and leave her a comment! She will be posting some of her pictures from this shoot soon. I look forward to working with Shelby in the near future! Thanks Shelby for your help with this shoot, as I could not have done it without you!

Back to Sara and Josh! We took them so the mountains all dressed up in their wedding attire and were able to capture some great images. I was kind of bummed that there was not a lot of sun left in the valley we were in, but we did okay! Minus the horrible bug bites we all got, the four of us had a great time. We were up in the mountains pretty late, but the creative juices were still flowin'! Be sure to notice in a few of the shots, their Chaco sandals! What every bride needs! :)

To view more from this fun session, CLICK HERE for a slideshow! Please allow the slideshow to load, it is worth the wait! **edit - we are switching over to a new server. If the slideshow does not work, please come back soon! So sorry.

Sara and Josh: Anytime - Preview!

*Normally I would not do a preview of a session or what some would all a teaser, but I have been so busy, that I am just now posting the first two pictures from the session we did for Sara and Josh.

So, here is a preview for you of what I promise will be worth the wait! I should have more available in the next few days.

Now, if I can just get rid of the horrible mosquito bites I got from this little excursion!

All I have to say, is that it was well worth it!

Happy Birthday America!