My friend and former UCSC colleague Stacey works for the Homeless Services Center in Santa Cruz, a place that provides crucial assistance to many families and individuals in this area. You can visit their website by clicking here. Last October she got in touch with me to ask if I’d be willing to take some photos for various purposes. This included getting one photo of a donor and a family to be made into a promotional banner on the side of the Rebele Family Shelter building. I was thrilled to be asked, and happy to volunteer for a cause I believe in very strongly.

If you care about this cause too, and you have time, energy, talent, and/or money to offer in support of homeless individuals and families, there are many ways to help. Here’s a link to the Homeless Services Center “How to Help” page. You can also check out their blog for upcoming events and opportunities.

The next big event: United Way is bringing the highly successful Project Homeless Connect to Santa Cruz. It’s a one day community-wide event that provides housing, support, and quality of life resources to homeless individuals in the community. It happens on March 30, and you can learn more by clicking here.

And now, about the photos. We had to do the shoot twice to get one picture in which everyone was in focus. (This was entirely the fault of the photographer.) Fortunately, the family and the donor were all very patient and easy to work with. The final choice was the last photo below- for the banner, their designer worked some Photoshop magic to erase the background and make the photo look good in a very large size. You’ll also see some photos from a third shoot, meant to be used for newspaper ads encouraging people to give to the Homeless Services Center during the holiday season.

I really enjoyed taking these photos, and having the chance to meet these families, especially the kids. And I was very impressed with the Rebele Family Shelter itself, where staff members and volunteers put an enormous amount of work and love into helping families during important times of transition in their lives. If they ask for photographic assistance again, this Red Bat will definitely say yes.

This wedding was about my great aunt Barbara and her new husband Fred, but I’d like to think that my great uncle Frank was there as well, in spirit if not in body.

Frank was a pretty amazing guy.  When I was a kid, he and Barbara owned an almond farm in Modesto, and Frank taught me how to drive a tractor and an ATV, which was pretty much the most incredible thing in the world for an 8 year old boy.  He could also wiggle his ears.  Actually, FLAPPING would be the correct word. He was always smiling, always had a quick comeback, and was a genuinely good person.

He and Barbara were very active in their church, and when Frank was diagnosed with cancer, everyone just sort of pulled together.  Barbara and Frank’s friend Fred was there to help as well, being there for whatever was needed.  When Frank finally passed away, Fred was there then, too.  And then, after a time, Barbara and Fred fell in love, and got married at the church that meant so much to all of them.  And everyone came. Everyone who knew Barbara and Frank and Fred.  There were so many people there that they had to bring in extra chairs, and people were standing in the back and spilling out into the hall.

Because love crosses all boundaries, and is not hindered by time or experience or sickness.  Sometimes it’s a surprise, and sometimes it’s something that’s been there for years without anyone realizing.

To close, here are some famous words from Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet about love:

Love gives naught but itself
and takes naught but from itself.

Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient unto love.

When you love you should not say, “God is
in my heart,” but rather, “I am in the heart of God.”

And think not you can direct the course of love,
for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.

Remember the baby we took pictures of in this post from a year ago?

Well, now she can walk! And point! And make animal noises! My, how time flies.

This year’s Sadie holiday photo session took place at Wilder Ranch State Park, where there were at least two other photoshoots happening with other photographers, one of which involved a whole family doing a line dance in the doorway of a barn. (I wonder if we’ll ever get a family to dance for us at a shoot. Seems like an great idea, now that I really think of it.)

This year, instead of dressing in a Santa-themed costume, Sadie went for a more rustic-chic look. She was, as usual, adorable. In fact, we agreed that Sadie is steadily making the transition to outright beautiful. She loves Wilder Ranch, especially the hay and the farm machinery. And the bikes she found in a meadow. And the dirt, and the plants, and the goats and the chickens. We just followed her around and watched her enjoy herself.

Below is a movie of some of our favorite photos from that afternoon. The soundtrack is by Land of the Loops. This movie file is larger than last year’s, so it may need a bit of extra time to load.

At the end of the show, you can see Sadie crawling rapidly away in terror, in response to a sheep noise that was louder than she expected. Poor Sadie burst into tears at that point, and thus our shoot was concluded. It was one of those times when a toddler is crying and the adults are trying not to laugh. Aw, Sadie, we’re sorry you got upset, but that was pretty funny.

I’ve got more stuff to post from 2009, but it will have to wait until 2010. Anyway, Sadie photos seem like a good way to end the year. Enjoy the show, and Happy New Year!

This post is part 3 of a 3-part series. Read part 1 – Read part 2 - Read part 3

This fabulous couple’s wedding reception was held at 515 in Santa Cruz. Talk about a challenge for these photographers! It was dark in there. I couldn’t have gotten the shots I did without the Lightscoop, a small, inexpensive piece of equipment that made it possible to shoot in those dim rooms without the awful results that happen with forward-facing flash.

The newlyweds treated us to an hauntingly sweet duet, with Peter playing the guitar and both of them singing. They claimed that this duet would replace their first dance, but then they gave us a sort of first dance anyway, and everyone was utterly charmed by them for the hundredth time that day. Here are 32 (!!) photos of the first evening of their married lives.

As a special bonus, I’ve included another behind-the-scenes Red Bat shot, about halfway down in this post. It’s Patrick, helping to test the lighting in the area where we expected the first dance to be. By dancing with an invisible partner. Because at Red Bat Photography, we know how to use our imaginations.

Hooray for Crystal and Peter!!