Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

I wish I could publish my photos much larger than blogger allows, in this case to see the tears streaming down Emily's cheeks.
Have a fabulous holiday season, ya'all! 

Never Ever

Here's Marlee, 2, sitting in the captain's seat aboard the Baja after the sun set yesterday. I like the lines of the boat, in addition to the color. When you're watching the light and attempting to shoot the day's last light for its softness on a subject, but arrive at the beach late so that the sun drops out of sight less than a minute after feeding coins into the parking meter, there's nothing to do but gasp something to the effect of "I'll never get anything now!"

Heartbreak

The high school volleyball team I cover played in the semi finals for the California state championship last night. They played a team that had beaten them twice before. The match went into a fifth and final set. The Sea Hawks were serving for match point, but ended up losing the next three points, and the match.

The players are really sweet girls. I took my 6-year-old niece to a game earlier in the season, and we arrived very late (my fault), so we only saw the last point of the last set. My niece was so disappointed, as it was her very first high school sporting event to attend. But then a few of the players spoke with her, and now my niece still talks about meeting the players on one of the best teams in the state.

I took this photo after last night's match. It's a little artsy the way I framed it. Honestly, my first inclination was to shoot the moment straight because it's such a tremendously strong moment, with Hannah seeking the comfort of her father Don in the stands after coming so close to playing for the state title.

The reality of getting this shot was I was in a crowd of people, and I shot from where I was standing before trying to move any closer. Moments are truly fleeting, especially while attempting to capture them. I couldn't help shooting another parent checking her cell phone in the right side of the frame, and I had to crop her out. That's really when I noticed the lines on the wall.

Here's the photo gallery of last night's match if anyone is interested.