Now That's How You Do It!

I think I might have actually clapped my hands together in excitement when I saw how this extended family had styled themselves for their session over the weekend. The coral-y red, the happy blue, the mix of patterns...In my book, this is the ideal way to casually coordinate a group. Love it!

An Evening in the Lavender and Vines

I'm wrapping up several projects in anticipation of our big summer vacation, and I realized that I never shared anything from this fun summer session. These guys have a beautiful home surrounded by lavender and grapevines... perfect for capturing some dance shots and some sibling sweetness.

Three-Year-Old Portraits

Most of the time, three-year-olds give you about three seconds before they're done with you and the portrait experience. This little guy is an absolute doll. I got a good 10 seconds out of him, at least. ;)













Seriously, he was as darling as ever, and I appreciated every second of our little walk around downtown SLO. Can't wait to see you again soon, D (and his mom!). xoxo

Lil' Performers

Just a few quick snaps from Saturday's big performance at California Adventure. Can't resist these cute Lil' Rads. :)

















And some good news: Apparently my cell phone is on its way back to me now. Another day or so and I'll be completely back on the grid. Yippee!

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!