Talented Youth of Ventura Perform at the Rubicon Theater

Grace and I photographed the sold out "Kids for Kids" show at the Rubicon Theater in Ventura this past Monday evening. Grace and I loved the show and were very impressed by Toby Tropper who emceed the show and wrote and acted in the funniest piece of the night. Toby is pictured below.




Also watch out for Sydney Unseth. She can't be more than 9 or 10 and is talented enough for Broadway right now. Photos of Sydney in rehearsal and during the show below.




The following was paraphrased from a Ventura County Star article.

Recognizing the Rubicon Theatre Company’s financial hardships and eager to give back, former participants in Rubicon youth camps performed in a one-night “Kids for Kids” youth benefit showcase to raise money for scholarships and future camps.

The showcase featured highlights from past Rubicon youth productions, such as “Bye Bye Birdie,” “Footloose,” “Babes in Arms,” “Once on This Island,” as well as the current production of “Godspell.”

The showcase was conceived and produced by Julie Farrell, 19, a former participant who recently finished her first year as a musical theater major at Point Park University in Pittsburgh, Pa. Julie is in the red shirt with the flowers below.

Pretty Pretty Pony Tale

I took these images of Grace today working her magic. She drew this cute card for her friend's neice's 2nd birthday. She was painting it on the patio in the cool Ventura air. Her work always impresses me.

I only wish my wrist would support me!

Don't you wish you could stop everything you are doing right now and do this! I get to photograph some of the most talented high school dancers - this is Shelby.

Decadence is everywhere!

Sue and I decided to have a little fun downtown on Tuesday, and this is the product! We walked around for about an hour trying to find the letters to Decadent Images without using signs (I admit I cheated a little bit on the 'g', but that was a tough one!). Sue found all the letters to Decadent, and I gathered up everything for Images, and then put them all together.

Each of these letters can be found somewhere in Downtown Ventura, for example, my 'e' came from Jerold Thomas Salon on California St, and Sue's first 'e' came from the lobby of the Perry Mason building.



See if you can identify some of them yourselves!

My inspiration

Frank Niemier, a legendary newspaper photographer, took this photo of me in 1979 when I was 16. He sent me this digital copy yesterday.

I already have a printed copy in my scrapbook and the page that ran in the newspaper - it has been in there for 30 years!

I was a varsity tennis player for Royal High School in Simi Valley. This memory is worth a million dollars to me. It is one of those images that tells the story of the person. I can see the determination and focus in my eyes. Even all these years later, I can say those are two of my best qualities.

This photo is one of the reasons I like to photograph athletes and dancers. I can always look at this photo and remember who I want to be. It reminds me that I can do anything I set my mind to. I want the same feeling for the boys and girls I photograph today.

Check out our photo in 805 Living Magazine!

Dr. Kathleen Carson is a talented cosmetic dentist. She owns Westlake Dental Arts. She is one of our first clients and has been with us almost 6 years. We have photographed many of her clients who have received a smile makeover. The beautiful woman in this ad is Catherine Taggert. We photographed her in her backyard on a sunny day.

Her new smile is fantastic!




***After seeing this post Dr. Carson wanted to add her own comment and say:
“We have had excellent experiences with Sue and Grace and the results are beyond our expectations. Many of our clients whom we have had them photograph in turn have requested their services for their own professional photography needs. Every one has raved about the results. Thank you! Kathleen Carson, DDS”

Thanks Dr. Carson!

July 4th Fun

I celebrated this Independence Day by taking a looong hike in nature with some great folks. I took a lot of great pictures and decided I'd share some with you all. This was my first time heading out to the Punchbowls in Ojai, we had to park across from Thomas Aquinas College to get to the trail, and we ran across Hwy 150 like a pack of ducklings after their mother. Not sure who the Mama Duck in the group was, but I tried my best to keep everyone covered in sunblock at least.

I think it took about 2 hours of scrambling over rocks and trying to find the trail where it had been washed out til we finally got there, but it was soooo worth it when we did. Once we cleared the corner and the actual 'punchbowl' came into view my breath was taken away. Despite the recent graffiti, it was still a gorgeous sight.


The bowl was about 16 feet deep, and there was a high ledge all the brave guys would climb up the rope to and dive in, I'm not nearly so brave, so I just slid off my rock and went for a well deserved dip. The water was FREEZING I found out, but after a 2 hour hike in the heat it wasn't so bad.

Here I am on one of our breaks before reaching the punchbowl. I owe my not sunburnt shoulders to that gigantic hat I borrowed from Sue!