Photosensitive Portraits

Happy Halloween!

okay, I'm a few days behind...just got back from a trip to Brisbane, California (where I just moved from) - visited a couple of old friends, did a little shopping (lots of new yarn - ethereal mohair and the softest alpaca!), but what I was there for was Halloween night! The little cutie pictured above is Madelyn - I was thrilled to see a little representative of my new home state that night!

Seven years ago I created a fundraiser for the local school group, B.E.S.T. (Brisbane Educational Support Team), that helped get my name out to parents, raised needed monies for things like library books and software, and was a whole LOT OF FUN! I was sponsored by MadHouse Coffee, a local coffeeshop - I set up an outdoor studio complete with hay bale and pumpkins on their patio and for several hours on Halloween night created portraits of every little hobgoblin, pirate and princess that came by. Parents paid $5, $10 or $20 for prints; all monies excepting expenses for printing and packaging are donated to B.E.S.T. This year we raised $1,500.00, bringing the 7 year total to nearly $9,000.00! A BIG SHOUT OUT to all Brisbane parents who have so generously donated every year! Many thanks to Ron Davis of MadHouse Coffee for his continued support - I couldn't have done it without him. Kudos to all the B.E.S.T. volunteers, too many to name but I hope you know how much I appreciated the hours you have put in over the years manning the order-taking table! A special thank you to B.E.S.T. president, Diane Glazman, for playing hostess and giving me a place to stay while in Brisbane and to the Radisson Hotel, for comping a Very Tired Photographer a lovely room (with a cool Sleep Numbers bed!) to crash in on Halloween night!

I was thrilled to go back to Brisbane and create Halloween Portraits one last time and will miss watching Brisbane's children grow up in front of my lens - seeing their faces shining with excitement and happiness makes all the hard work worthwhile. Now I'm concentrating on the future and am jazzed about establishing a similar Halloween tradition in my new hometown of Hood River!