Public Service Announcement

SO.

So I spent the weekend at Disneyland with two of my three children and a bunch of kids from the dance studio. Many parts of the weekend were awesome. (Basically all of the dance parts, plus going on rides with dance friends.)

One part of the weekend that was not so awesome? Dropping my phone will careening around a corner on a roller coaster at California Adventure. And then looking down and seeing it land in a restricted area, lost to me for at least a few days while it makes its way through the Disney lost and found process.

Sigh.

While losing my phone is not catastrophic -- and, to be honest, will actually lead to a nice little break from complete technology dependence -- it is fairly inconvenient from a work perspective. The phone's battery is long dead, and with all the last-minute trip coordination, I'm afraid that the voicemail box is 100% full. Meaning that anyone trying to reach me by phone is probably very frustrated about now.

Among other things, there is an ordering deadline of tomorrow for dance portraits from the Studio@ sessions. If you are trying to reach me by phone for any help with that process, please accept my apologies and try to reach me by email instead. The address is erin@erinclausenphotography.com. I will be extra vigilant in monitoring email and following up very quickly.

If you're affected by that lack of phone access, once again I apologize. And if you are mocking me for being a complete doofus and taking pictures while on a roller coaster, then go right ahead. My husband is doing it right along with you.

Dance Portrait Proofs Are Up!

The proofs from last week's portrait sessions at Studio@ are now online and ready for you to view. I am really excited to share them with you, as I think they are quite RAD. ;)

HERE'S A DIRECT LINK.

We captured so much -- beautiful individuals, sweet siblings, fantastic tricks, and a whole lot of goofiness. I encourage you so flip through them all so that you don't miss a single one. You never know where your dancer might pop up!

And while we're on the subject of goofiness...

Dance Portrait Update

For those of you looking for dance portrait proofs, I wanted to offer the following update:

The proofs will be online EARLY NEXT WEEK (most likely Monday evening). My intention had been to have everything online by noon today, but as those of you who participated know, we shot A LOT. We had tons of fun and got many, many great images. :) As a result, getting everything edited and uploaded for you is going to take a little extra time.

Thanks for your participation and your patience... I promise that it's worth the wait!

And for now, have a great show. Can't wait to see everyone on stage!!

Dance, Dance, Dance

This weekend is the big summer show from Ryan's American Dance. The studio is buzzing with rehearsals and it looks like it'll be a totally RAD production. Can't wait!

In between practice and more practice, we're shooting studio portraits. Sign-ups are easy and can be found HERE.

Studio Portraits Available Next Week at Ryan's American Dance!

Ryan's American Dance and Studio@ are getting ready for their Summer Showcase at the PAC (shows are June 22 and 23), and in advance of the shows, they've decided to offer the chance for all of their dancers to get studio portraits. Fun!

Portrait sessions will be held at the dance studio next Tuesday and Wednesday, June 18 & 19, from 9:00-noon both days. Sign-ups are for a one-hour window, and dancers will be photographed first-come, first-served within their window.

The best part is that the packages are flexible and reasonable and siblings can sign up to take photos together! No need to buy separate packages for separate kids if you don't want a lot of photos. :)

TO SIGN UP ONLINE, just click here.

Payment is due at the time your dancer is photographed.

Package A, $20: Three 5x7 prints, with any add'l 5x7 prints $10/each
Package B, $25: One full-resolution digital image, with add'l digital images $20/each

If you've got a dancer at Ryan's, sign him or her up! This is a great way to get a little extra mileage out of those show costumes. ;)

Adios, School Year 2012-13!

Last week was a whirlwind of end-of-the-year activities and fun. At times I felt like I was going to lose my mind, but then I don't think that's unusual for a parent of elementary school kids, especially at this time of year.

Each of the Clausen kids had a fun way to mark the end of this school year. For the littlest Clausen, it was a big reading of her favorite piece of writing at Room 3's special Author's Party. (Her selection was called "All About Dance." She was also thrilled that she got to go first.)





She was bursting with pride and fortunately she had some solid family support there to hear every word and celebrate afterward.



Clausen kid #2 had a fun Bunco & Breakfast party on the last day of school. When I stopped in to say hi, he told me that he was so disappointed because he had NEVER ONCE won a round, either during practice the day before or during the party itself. According to him, he stunk at the game. (A game of complete chance, if you don't know that already.)





And then he got a bunco!! His smile killed me. :)



And later that day, the biggest Clausen kid proved -- as he has since second grade -- that there's no need to remove your fedora for sports. Even water sports.











He also looked darn cute with his buddies. :) These guys are on to 5th grade in the fall!



And there was no rest for the weary. Despite it being the first day of summer vacation, we were off the next day to HOT, HOT, HOT Visalia for three baseball games in 109-degree heat. The car thermometer actually read 118 when we started it up after game three, but it settled down to 109. Sheesh!

Here are a few favorite shots from the day. I'm shocked that my camera didn't malfunction or start to melt. I sure did...







Fortunately, we're done with trips to the valley for this season. Our remaining baseball games and tournaments are local. Thank goodness!

The Last of the Portfolio Seniors

Last week I finished pulling together my materials for the school district and officially applied to be a senior portrait photographer for SLOHS for the 2013-14 school year. As of today, I'm officially approved.

My plan is to book a very limited number of senior sessions this summer and fall, but I am excited about the opportunity and look forward to building my business in this fun area of photography. As I mentioned before, I loved my portfolio-building sessions way more than I even thought I would. Seniors rock. :)

Here's a selection of shots from the last of the portfolio sessions. Amazing girl, amazing setting. A photographer's dream.

A Few Snaps from The Weekend

This weekend our family embarked on a new adventure: all-star baseball. We'd heard many stories from past participants and were well-prepared for the heat, the aggressive valley teams' base-running, and the short break between games. Even with the advance warnings, though, we thought it might be tough to notch something in the win column this first weekend. After all, our team had had a grand total of two practices together before heading off to Tulare.

Despite the limited practice, our little guys really rose to the challenge. They came focused and ready to play. They scrapped their way through a tough first game and came out on top, winning 3-2. They were ELATED. Unfortunately, I was still driving out to the tournament, having stayed home Friday night to shuttle my daughter to and from dance rehearsal and to host a sleepover for our other kids.

No matter. There was plenty of good baseball left to watch and a lot of fun to be had hanging out poolside with the other families. And there will be LOTS more of it to come in the next six weeks.

Here are a few snaps of our little all-star, proving that he can play hard on the field and off. :)

Pitching:





Catching:



Batting:



Stealing home (successfully!):



Celebrating an awesome first day as all-stars:



Love those little dudes!