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UCLA CLASS OF 2012 | MEGHAN | MED SCHOOL HERE SHE COMES!

Deborah Tracey — Tue, 15 May 2012 22:32:32 +0000

A week ago, this past Sunday, I met up with Meghan on her magnificent college campus of the University of California Los Angeles or better known as UCLA, home of the Bruins. What an incredible place to go to college and all I could think was how blessed anyone was to get the opportunity to go to a college like this. The campus is huge and the buildings are just incredible. I was really excited to meet Meghan, because not only did I work with her sister, Morgan, last year, but it was a shot I took of Morgan that made me want to “brand out” my grads website. (She is the center shot on my Facebook page too). So Meghan is just as sweet and beautiful as her younger sister We had fun hanging out near Royce Hall and the surrounding area near the library and gardens, where Meghan has spent time, and then we walked over to the buildings where she has studied. I laughed because she thought her science building was the ugliest and that’s exactly how my daughter felt about her math building on her college campus. I guess the architect is only out to impress when it comes to libraries, concert halls and various other multipurpose buildings! But overall what a special place to hang out for 4 years!!! Meghan’s major has been “physiological science” and she is pre-med and off to med school, on the east coast, in the fall. What an even bigger adventure ahead! Best memories, from the last 4 years are exploring new places, random adventures with friends and just being surrounded by people in the dorms and sorority house that were always willing and ready to go explore Los Angeles or try new things (I LOVE that!!) I would really miss that, but there is en entire east coast waiting!! Meghan has a goal to do her residency back here in California and hopefully end up working here too. She’s an outdoor girl that loves to swim, go to the beach, bike and hike and loves the city (in case I didn’t mention that!). Three things Meghan can’t live without are rainbow sandals, cheesecake and friends and I have a feeling that she might have to change to boots on occasion, but that the east coast will be full of cheesecake and new friendships I love that Meghan said she is very motivated and driven, but that she’s learned how important it is to balance that with enjoying life and the people in it.

God Bless you Meghan, as you enter this new chapter of your life. You’re going in an amazing direction and will be a great asset to the medical field. Congratulations and enjoy this next chapter… ox

Pomona Catholic Girls High School Class of 2012 | Gabby | Dancing Days

Deborah Tracey — Thu, 10 May 2012 02:16:53 +0000

It is always so wonderful to get the opportunity to work with a dancer….. let alone a high school senior that LOVES to dance. I met up with Gabby and her mom, last Friday and we really had a good time exploring the local mountains, in all it’s splendor. It was majestic, to say the least. I normally go over clothing in general terms and talk to my clients about how they feel about incorporating their passions into the shoot ~ but I usually have no clue what colors they are coming with. I ask them to pick colors that show off their eyes and skin tones and it seems that every time, the areas I’ve scoped out and the ideas for clothes that they bring with them, work perfectly for what I’m thinking. Most of the time my clients don’t really know what I’m thinking because I get these feelings of where I should shoot, for at least one area. On this day, I was obsessed with this giant tree grove and felt that somehow I must use it for Gabby’s dance clothes and I honestly didn’t know what she was bringing in terms of that. When I saw her little green dance dress, I just knew she would look so beautiful in the grove and become this magical presence that I wanted to see. Gabby is about the sweetest girl and as far as the question of what she loves to do, she put it beautifully….. “I love to dance. Dance is how I express myself and where I feel most happy.” I felt exactly this way growing up too and will always be brought to tears over dance. Whether happy ones or sad, it’s a common bond of emotion that I believe most dancers have. Besides dance, Gabby is a campus minister and an ambassador/volunteer with her youth group. She and her family LOVE the outdoors (hence the shoot locations) and one of her fondest memories are the family trips to Yosemite. Gabby is a country girl at heart and loves country music. Favorite subject in school has been psychology and it seems that all 3 of my kids loved that too (they loved to analyze me I think!!!) and favorite memories are of being a song leader, as well as being on dance team and making homecoming court. In the last 4 years, she has grown up quite a bit and learned how precious friends are. The hardest part of her high school days was losing a friend (her “big sister”) suddenly, with no real conclusion as to why. Learning how fragile life can be is never easy, but I saw a depth to Gabby and a strength and maturity that will carry her far for a long time. The last thing she filled out for me was the “one valuable lesson learned” and her last sentence struck a cord: “You will be most happy when you are true to yourself.” BE YOU. We all have to nudge ourselves, every once in awhile, and remember this.

Gabby you’re a beautiful girl, inside and out and I hope you dance your whole life and always smile the way you do, even when life has it’s challenges. It was so nice to meet you and mom. Good luck and God Bless you as you graduate and move onto college…. ox

UPLAND HIGH SCHOOL CLASS OF 2012 | JARRETT | AN ERA GONE BY

Deborah Tracey — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 01:05:39 +0000

I met up with Jarrett, last Monday and I was so looking forward to this shoot, because not only did I get to see his mom again, but I worked with his big sister, a few years ago, and I knew that this would be as special as working with her. Jarrett is such a unique young man, in the fact that his maturity level, for his young age, is from, I feel, an era gone by. He’s so polite and so engaged and loves conversation, which is so rare these days, as we all seem to concentrate on our computers more. To look someone in the eye and talk to them is refreshing. I do have to say that I work with a lot of young people that have obviously been raised to do this, but Jarrett is like this old soul that speaks to you as if he’s lived his life much longer than 18 years and what he has to say makes you stop and think about even how you think. It was so much fun walking and driving around my neighborhood, where we also shot his sister’s portraits. His family LOVES nature and they’ve spent time at many national parks together. Jarrett has also been a member of his high school marching band, and like my last guy senior, Tyler,… Jarrett, is also a trumpet player. Some of his best memories are also of being a part of this special group of musicians, plus all the times he’s spent with his church youth group. Homework and all the late nights have been draining, but when we talked about college, I’m thinking that it’s all paying off and he has many choices. Jarrett loves math and says, just like my daughter, that it’s because “everything is logical and makes sense.” He also mentioned that math allows for creativity and I’m constantly impressed with the people I meet that love math, have a knack for it and also play instruments? There is definitely a correlation. Jarrett loves everything about music and loves the wide range of emotions that it can express and I couldn’t agree more. I love the fact that he mentioned that he has a special love for jazz and classical, as that’s the match of my husband and I – I danced half of my life to classical music, he played it and we both love jazz a ton. In 5 years Jarrett hopes to have a college degree and might pursue being a pastor or a teacher and I think these careers are ideal for him. His love of people and the sense of compassion and maturity will get him far in either one of these fields. When I say “an era gone by,” I look at the image, below, that we “re-created” of Jarrett doing the same thing as his grandpa (peeking out from the mailbox) and I see not only the same looks, but possibly that same politeness of the past. Jarrett truly is a gem.

I’ll leave you with this, regarding the one valuable lesson he’s learned in these last four years: “I’ve learned to not worry about finding perfection, but rather being grateful for what I’m capable of accomplishing. I will never be perfect and so I need to love and be satisfied with who I am.”

Well spoken and on that note, I might take heed to this lesson myself. I think a lot of us can relate. God Bless you now and always in your life Jarrett. May it be filled with adventure and love. Congratulations! ox

Upland Christian Academy Class of 2012 | Beautiful, Calm Callie…

Deborah Tracey — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 18:57:39 +0000

I met up with this beautiful high school senior, last week, and I have had so much fun looking through her images. For one, her eyes just draw me in and I can’t stop staring. I hope you will stare too and feel some sense of peace. Callie is a calm, sweet and is extremely photogenic young lady! I have known her family, since our early days at Upland Christian and I have watched all 3 children grow up from afar. I even got to do some family portraits a few years back. The youngest, Taylor, has always had a very special place in our hearts, especially, Ian’s ~ because she was younger than Ian and could challenge him at every turn, with her intellect, bright spirit, wit and giggles. Working with Callie, made me think of Taylor, not only in looks, but I believe she has the same bright spirit and wit, she’s just a bit more shy with it I adore their mom, Cheryl and it was so great to have her there (especially when I shot her from the behind, bending over, upside down, taking an “iPhoto” of Callie – - I completely set her up and then I had to snap it, but as promised, I didn’t post it!) Callie has a great sense of style and loves English and writing. She’s a bit of an old soul and I forgot to tell her how much I love her just for her love of Led Zeppelin (of which I edit to a lot!!). Callie loves the city. Seems most big cities and sees herself living in a big city, someday, owning a bakery. Now this is a very cool goal. I will be first in line for that coffee and scone But before that, deciding which college she will go to is a very exciting next phase!! Callie wrote that she was “camera shy,” but I think she did great! We laughed and had such a nice time together.

It was so great seeing you again and I wish for you, Callie, all of God’s blessings, along the way. Your journey, into the big world, I’m certain, will make mom (and maybe dad) cry a bit, but I know you will do wonderful things with your life. Congratulations and happy graduation!!! oxoxox

This was crazy!! Cheryl found this chalk writing on the steps and we think it was for a photo shoot, as there was more down below the steps and arrows pointing somewhere! ha ha!!! It was perfect

AYALA HIGH SCHOOL CLASS OF 2012 | TYLER’S JOURNEY | MARCH ON

Deborah Tracey — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 23:09:27 +0000

Last Monday I met up with Tyler and his mom in Claremont for a really fun senior session. I was referred by another client to Tyler’s mom, Nancy, and I’m so glad I had the opportunity to photograph Tyler at this special time in his life. He has had a truly extraordinary experience being a part of the championship marching band at Ayala High School in Chino, California. They have quite the reputation and are regional and national champions. Tyler couldn’t be more on fire for life, music and his studies. He has applied for several top colleges and has many to choose from now. His hope and dream is to go to medical school. He loves math and biological studies at school and outside of all the work he has, he loves to listen to music and, of course, play it, volunteering in an e.r. room (wow), photography, Disneyland and he has even learned how to do Polynesian dance. Tyler has taken a journey, with his faith, in recent years, and has grown up a lot as a consequence. He is a a really cool, interesting, and deep young man and I loved working on these images with him. If I may quote the one valuable lesson he learned, in these last 4 years, it was this: “It doesn’t matter how successful one is when pursuing challenges or everyday activities; one is truly measured by maintaining honor and a genuine being.” I couldn’t agree more and, once again, I, as usual, learn more from these young people, than I can ever hope to teach them. That is truly what the word “amazing” should be reserved for. There is hope for the future and I can’t wait to see what you will do with yours Tyler. I’m positive you will have a great impact on many people as you march, with honor, through your life.

God Bless you always. ox

HOLLY | MARCHING TO HER OWN BEAT | ALTA LOMA HIGH CLASS OF 2012

Deborah Tracey — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 21:38:27 +0000

A few weeks ago, I had the most incredible opportunity to work with Holly! One of my closest friends gave Holly the gift of a grad session with me, for a graduation present, and I was super thrilled and honored!!! (thank you Marti!! ox). I met up with Holly her mom and her big sis, that was on break from UCLA (where Holly had just found out, that day, that she also got into UCLA!!! yay – although I think she’ll have a few choices beyond that to ponder!!) in downtown Pomona. Holly is the drum majorette for Alta Loma High School marching band and all around quirky and fun girl that LOVES movie soundtracks, alternative rock, origami, studying about dinosaurs, AP Biology, and of course playing her very cool instruments, the basoon and the flute!!! They were all so much fun to hang out with and we laughed a lot! I really thank her sis for helping with lighting and putting up with my excitement! Holly is absolutely beautiful and kind and I can’t wait to see where her future leads. She has done a lot of community service and her favorite trip was to China. In the summers, Holly has worked as a tutor and I think any young person would be so lucky to have her helping them with their studies. In her future she sees herself in a biomedical engineering lab! wow.

Thank you for the opportunity to get to know you, for a few hours, Holly! I wish for you all of God’s blessings now and always! Congratulations to you and job well done oxox

Baby’s First Year | Kairi | 1 Month

Deborah Tracey — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 07:28:16 +0000

Still catching up a bit here! A few weeks ago, I was able to go back and visit with one of my clients, Kristen, (engagement to wedding to maternity and baby) and take some pictures of sweet baby Kairi at 1 month old. I got to see baby Kairi, for the first time, at 5 days old, with Kristen’s mom, Charmaine, (a good friend of mine) and it was just so nice to catchup and see this little miracle and my friend as a new grandma! Kristen has become such a sweet friend, in my life as well, and we decided that it would be very cool to document Kairi’s first year. So, in May, I will go back and capture 3 months, then 6 months in August and onto 9 months, in the fall, and then one year. Time flying right before our eyes! I hear she’s already much bigger since I went over there! On this day, Kairi was somewhat grumpy and Kristen, being the sweet, sweet mommy that she so naturally is, spent most of the time comforting Kairi and calming her down enough to grab some images here and there. We let her just be and I think we got some decent, and natural images. Troy stuck around for the one shot below and I’m so glad he did. It’s been so special to work with them from the beginning of their life together and to photograph Kristen pregnant and then to see this sweet little miracle and this sweet little family grow. C.C. or Cupcake, the family dog is so funny when I come over. She follows me everywhere, parks herself near my equipment, is a total camera hound, and has taken to baby Kairi, like a concerned sibling! She loved to be near Kristen’s belly, during the pregnancy, and she is hysterical to watch around Kairi, especially when she was crying. C.C.’s ears twisted back and forth and her eyes went from side to side and she just laid there, wanting to be near Kairi and kiss her. It will be fun to watch this relationship grow too I can’t wait!

I love you guys and thanks again for this opportunity! oxox

REDLANDS BICYCLE CLASSIC | BEAUTIFUL WORLD OF CYCLING | ANNUAL TREK

Deborah Tracey — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 23:04:09 +0000

To see a full gallery of my cycling images, from Stage 2, men’s and ladies pro crits: CLICK HERE!!!

So, I’m playing catchup on my website here and thought I’d start with posting the gallery of just some of my cycling work over the last month. My husband and I have enjoyed hosting the women’s pro team, Primal | MapMyRide, in our home, during the San Dimas Stage Race (March 15-18) and this year was no exception. These ladies are amazing. Kind, generous, smart and full of life. They are fascinating to be around and they are professional cyclists, chasing their passion for sport. I initially grew up very involved in the world of dance and this beautiful sport has the feel of such beauty, color and movement to me. I hope I was able to show the ladies in a passionate light, as the men usually get so much more coverage. During the San Dimas Stage Races, I posted a bit of work on my Facebook “page” and I ended up getting to shoot for the men’s pro cycling team Kenda 5/Hour Energy Pro Cycling, during the Redlands Bicycle Classic the weekend after SDSR. I covered Time Trials for them and mostly workout stuff, showing sponsor gear and then covered the Crits, Stage 2, on Saturday March 24th. As a result, you can see a lot of that work spread all over Kenda’s Facebook Page, including their timeline banner image and their newsletter/website and it was truly quite the honor. I also just had an image picked up, commercially, by another brand new team, being introduced next week and hopefully I can talk about that later! I worked pretty hard, learned a lot, and wished I was much younger! But I think I kept up with the best of them on my 2 races, out of several, for those circuit shooting pros!

By the way, Kenda won the RBC, overall, protecting their yellow jersey, Phil Gaimon, the whole way! Congratulations Kenda 5/Hour Energy Pro Cycling!!!! It was such a pleasure working with you

Jade Wilcoxson, Team Optum and Megan Guarnier, Team Tibco, held onto their jerseys and finished at the top.Famous American cycling legend, Davis Phinney. Honored with the Redlands Classic Legend Award for a lifetime of cycling and overcoming some amazing obstacles.Kenda pulling the locomotive most of the way…Emily Kachorek pushing for her team, Primal | MapMyRideJim Stemper, from Kenda, giving it 200%Alison Powers riding for NOW! (Phil Keoghan, host of The Amazing Race on CBS, and co-founder with partner Louise Keoghan of No Opportunity Wasted (NOW), teamed up with Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation to create the first of its kind pro cycling team, “NOW and Novartis for MS”)Joelle Numainville, of Canada’s team Optum Pro Cycling, screaming to the finish line! Her team placed her 3rd overall and she held on as sprint leader! Fantastic!My husband, John, a wonderful guy and avid hobbyist cyclist, took this picture, knowing I would not have a lens this big in my hands very often (that is the awesome new Canon 300mm, f/2.8 and I almost ran with it, never to be seen again…)

Kenda’s Phil Gaimon, taking it all in, at the end of a very tough and hard fought race….. holding onto that yellow jersey and handling all the adoration for his team. ahhhhhh… onto the next race…..

Beautiful Melissa | Passionate Foodie | Thoughtful Writer

Deborah Tracey — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 21:07:50 +0000

As some of you might know, Melissa is my oldest son’s sweetheart of 6 years. I could say “girlfriend,” but she is truly his sweetheart and like a daughter to me. They met, while in high school and then ended up at San Diego State together, without really knowing that, until they were there. I wrote all about this very cute story, on my old blog site, in 2009, when I went to San Diego State to photograph Max and Melissa, just before graduation. In fact that was the first and only time I took just a handful of images of Melissa by herself. She has been using one of them as her bio pic, for her wonderful food blog, For the Love of Food, and I believe for her writing job with Patch, (San Diego) the country-wide “community specific online newspaper.” So we decided she needed some updated images that somewhat express her quiet, often quirky and “old soul” spirit. I think that when I look at these, I see a beautiful woman who is still growing and searching, yet has reached that wonderful place of knowing what she loves to do in life. Melissa has a great love of her family and cooks for them often. I salivate over her blog recipes and I encourage you to follow her! She has been probably my single most greatest fan and her encouragement of my work, that has also spread to her sister, Stacy (who just hired me to fly to Colorado, this Sept. to shoot her wedding), has honestly kept me going for these last several years. There’s nothing like having a few people who believe in you and who take the time to remind you of that almost every week. Melissa is one of those thoughtful and caring people. She’s full of life and has thee most infectious laugh EVER! I can’t help myself but laugh along when she and Max are laughing out loud about something that I have no clue about! She is fun, kind and honest and I’m glad to call her a friend. Melissa is a good friend. I’ve affected her so bad (good? $ ouch?), she recently picked up a nice DSLR camera to learn how to take better food shots (yay!!) and I can’t wait to get together to show her a few pointers! She already has the eye for exactly what she wants to do with that yummy food – and I’m thinking that if I can help with the camera, maybe I’ll get to eat too? It was great to spend an afternoon with you Melissa (finally!) and I’m really thankful you put up with my new “boom/light crap!” ha ha!! What a pain!! But for some shots is was absolutely worth it and you definitely saw where the light was heading!! lol

Love you always,

deb ox

LAUREN | STEPPING IT UP | VANGUARD GRAD ’12

Deborah Tracey — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 08:58:38 +0000

Stepping up my game this past weekend with the beautiful and very smart Lauren. In a few months she will graduate, from Vanguard University, with a BA in Political Science and History and a minor in Psychology. Crazy to think you can do all of this in 4 years and she’s almost there. Lauren has enjoyed living by the beach, hanging out with friends and she especially LOVES photography. That is something I love too. ya think? I also love working with people who love photography. They usually have no problems with the way my mind works, and that really makes it easier to shoot. I can get a bit excited. Lauren’s plan is to go on to law school and possibly work in the criminal area. As you can see one of Lauren’s big passions is her love of fashion and all that goes with it. I loved her jewelery especially! She’s trying to figure out how to possibly break into modeling and I said that that would be a fun way to pay for law school ! One of the lessons she has learned in the last 4 years is that “you can’t control everything that happens and to roll with the punches and trust God.” I wish I had learned that earlier in life.

I really enjoyed working with you Lauren and I loved your sweet nature. It was so much fun to get a little crazy and I’m sooooooo extremely thankful we went into L.A. to explore. I really want to push my work harder and you gave me the chance to do that – so thank you for rolling with me on things. Also, having your best friend, Marissa, along to help, was incredible!!! Talk about helping!!! We “caught” some awesome light I wish for you good health and peace as you approach the downhill slide towards graduation and many blessings in your future. ox