Procrastinating

I am trying really, really hard to get my house cleaned up and myself organized and ready for a week-long trip. Unfortunately, the weather makes me want to crawl into bed, read a bit of my book, and fall promptly to sleep. Plus it's just really, really not fun to clean up and organize.

So in lieu of the actual work I should be doing, I'm going to post a couple of recent shots of my big dude. He seems to be getting older by the day. They say that happens...



And here's his brooding face. If he had a brooding face.



And for a little perspective: Here's Mr. Man a few short years ago. Pre-fedora, pre-long locks.

Someone's One

I have had the distinct pleasure of photographing this little guy throughout his first year. It has truly been a privilege, as he (and his mama) are fun and easy going, making each appointment a highlight on my calendar. You can check him out and watch him grow -- and see his gorgeous big sisters -- by clicking here, here, here and here.

He turned one around the holidays, and we recently headed out to capture some images of him at this big milestone. It was an entertaining workout chasing him around and grabbing shots here and there. We enticed and cajoled and suggested and ran interference when things got dangerous... but mostly we just let him do his thing. Here's a sampling of what we got. :)

Did You Hear My Anguished Cry?

If you heard, at about noon today, an anguished wail ricocheting off the hills of San Luis Obispo, you can safely assume that it originated from me. I was catching up on downloading personal images... and in the course of doing that, I realized that I had deleted an entire set of fun shots of my kids that took a lot of bribing and a great deal of stress to capture.

(Okay, to be honest, there was no keening, shrieking or wailing. There was, however, a moment during which my jaw fell into my lap, followed by a string of expletives.)

You see, I am practically religious about downloading and backing up my client sessions. I have systems and strategies and those images get immediate and careful treatment. But my personal images, well... A lot of times those sit on a memory card until I find some time to get them onto my computer and sorted. It's a bad habit. And now I'm paying the price.

There were probably 40 or so shots of my kids at a super fun location. I'd dragged them there before dinner last Monday, and as I said, it was painful. They were all in kooky moods and it was muddy and no one listened... but I managed to get at least a dozen really awesome images. I was excited to have them and -- true to form -- I felt that there wasn't any big hurry to do anything with them.

Ugh. I am going on record to say that I have learned my lesson. I swear. I will not do this to myself again. Thank goodness I protected a couple of the shots on the spot. They're not even my favorites of the bunch... Those were definitely the individuals... These are just shots I happened to think were decent and so I hit the "protect" button in the moment.

Perhaps I can come up with a way to entice my monkeys into heading out there with me again sometime.

Maybe we can recreate those lost images.

I guess a girl can always hope.





And another crop of that one, since these are all I have to work with. :(



I should note that I've done this before, long ago. (I know, I know.) Back then, I purchased a card reader that allowed me to recover the files. Unfortunately, that card reader no longer works. I suppose that I could research and buy a new card reader, and I could go through the process of trying to get these shots back... I'll have to think about that and whether or not it's worth the time and expense. :(

New Year, New Babe

It was a busy and travel-filled holiday break for the Clausen crew, and while it was all great, I have to say that I was more than ready to send everyone back to their respective classrooms this morning. Despite our road trips taking us away from home, there is much to clean up and organize around the house; my kids have an incredible knack for putting the hurt on their rooms... the family room... my studio... pretty much every room during their extended periods at home.

There is also work to be done, starting with editing a session for a new client I got to meet up with last Friday. You've got to love California and the fact that we can play and take photos outside -- even barefoot -- during the first week of January. :)

Those cute little toes did get cold after awhile, but little Mr. R was a super sport.

















And finally, I love the little green shoot popping up next to this little sprout!

Big Dance Weekend

The next few days are going to be BIG dance days for one Foxy Clausen. She gets to dance at Farmer's Market tomorrow night with her performing group, the Lil' Rads. Then on Friday night and twice on Saturday she's performing in her studio's Winter Showcase. She has all of her costumes lined up and she is PUMPED.

If you're thinking of hitting the SLO Farmer's Market this week, look for the Studio @ kids at the corner of Higuera and Chorro at 6:30. Here are a few shots of the Lil' Rads from a performance earlier in the fall. I can't take credit for these; they were snapped and shared with the studio and parents by a thoughtful performance attendee.

Closing the Books on 2012

Just a quick note to let everyone know that I'm done taking orders of any sort until after the New Year. I have two final deliveries to make tomorrow, and then it's time for me to turn my attention to Christmas shopping and planning for the Clausen family.

If you're interested in scheduling a session for January or beyond, please feel free to email or call. If you want to place an order from a previous session, it's okay to call or email as well; I just won't be fulfilling the request until January.

Since I can't post without a photo of SOME sort, here are a few snapshots from our decorating a couple of weekends ago. I tried and tried and tried to get Stella to pose in front of the tree, but she would only wait for about two seconds after I said "stay" before she came charging toward me, looking for her promised treat. Oh, well. At least she isn't eating the trains under the tree as she did last year.



And here are a couple of snaps of my holiday decor project 2012, garland style. I was inspired by something I saw in a magazine or on TV or somewhere... Anyway, I strung what felt like a million balls together and then found these nice little reindeer and fake candles to pull it together. (Side note: How awesome are today's fake candles?? You'd never know, and there's no risk of forgetting to blow them out and setting off your smoke detector... something I may or may not have done once before.)





I'll likely be back with a few random posts through the rest of the month, but until then: Happy Holidays!

Just a Quick One From the Files

I am popping up from fulfilling client orders to take a breather and put something happier on the site. (I spent so much of last week cranky with my domain host -- see below, if you haven't already -- and I am trying to purge myself of all that negative energy.)

Here's a shot from the files. It's one I'm printing up for the client, along with the rest of her order. I would so love to have a shot like this of me with one of my own babies... Then again, I don't look like her, so it probably wouldn't be as lovely an image. :)



Ha! Just looked at the snapshot of me with my nephew two posts down. No, and I am most definitely NOT as photogenic as this client!

If You've Been Trying to Reach Me or Access My Site...

Just a quick note to anyone who has tried emailing me in the last 24 hours and had it bounce back, or who has tried accessing their gallery or anything else on www.erinclausenphotography.com:

My web site and email are down today as a result of an error made by my domain host, bludomain. I've spent most of the day trying to get answers and help, but that company has so far provided very little of either. (Though they did offer a big ol' helping of poor customer service. Seriously. Officially the worst customer service I've dealt with to date.)

Anyway, they say that the site and email should be back online by sometime tomorrow. I apologize profusely on their behalf to anyone who has been inconvenienced.

Thanksgiving 2012

This Thanksgiving started out just like last year... Brian and I woke up early (for us) and joined dozens (hundreds?) of friends and neighbors to run the 8-mile Turkey Trot. We capped it off by having a few friends/fellow runners over for bloody Marys and bagels once we finished. I can't think of a better way to begin a day of thankfulness. Nope.

The rest of the day was similar to our typical Thanksgiving, with the addition of some very special guests. The biggest treat this year was our new cousin/nephew, who is as cute as they come and gave those of us done birthing babies a good snuggle and a trip down memory lane. Of course, his parents -- my brother and sister-in-law -- were much appreciated, too, as were my parents and Brian's mom. :)

We also had good friends from Brian's side of the family, most of whom were visiting from Davis. They brought a fun dynamic and the added benefit of kids to entertain my own. Foxy enjoyed a funky manicure and Noah had someone to throw a ball with between rounds of Mario Kart. Yippee!

I didn't do a lot of picture-taking until the last few minutes before dinner, though I think I did manage to capture the essence of the day.





















After dinner, there was an impromptu dance performance, Gangnam-style. It ruled.





The next day we had not one but TWO photo shoots. We are busy peeps, let me tell you.



We snuck in a quickie with Brian's mom:





Then a little bit later, we met up with my side of the family:







Good times! Hopefully all of our extended family and friends had an equally festive and happy Thanksgiving weekend. xoxo

Last Light

I have an abbreviated shooting calendar this year, since I decided that my family's current whirlwind of extracurricular activities and the uptick in schoolwork just don't make for a flexible and full work schedule. As I wrap up the final sessions, I think that I have struck the right balance. I'd love get out there and shoot a few more, but the truth is that I'll be plenty busy in the next few weeks with editing, holiday card design and order fulfillment. It's the stuff on the back end that no one really sees that tends to become the black hole of my autumn. I think that -- for this year at least -- I've come up with the formula for keeping it at bay.

So as I post this preview from a gorgeous evening on the beach, it's with a sense that I'm nearing the end. I'm soaking up that last gasp of golden light just before the curtain comes down and the day is done.

Maybe it's something about the incomparable beach light that puts me in that mood.













While I have some pretty shots that are more "formal" family images, I can't resist the sense of fun and spunk that we caught in photos like this: