Betty and Nick are Married!! What a gorgeous couple and a gorgeous wedding. Betty and Nick are beautiful through and through. I met both Betty and Nick through dodgeball a number of years ago; they are a very fun and competitive couple, which makes for perfect teammates! Dodgeball is a about teamwork, as is marriage; perhaps that’s why so many dodgeballers have been getting married. Dodgeballers know how to work together and what it means to be a good teammate.
One of my favorite dodgeball couples; Betty and Nick are not only awesome on the court, but also awesome off of the court!
And they dress up real nice too!
A theme among many of my favorite dodgeballers is the ability to have fun together, to enjoy the moments in between. Betty and Nick exemplify this ability!
It was an honor and a pleasure to photograph the Wedding of Betty and Nick Conger! Wishing you both many, many happy years together, few headshots and plenty of catches!!
Sometimes you blink and a year goes by! I know I have had a serious lack of posts, but it’s not for a lack photos. With 2014 now upon me, I am refocusing my photography efforts. I now have a new price list and plan on reworking my website. As I started pulling photos for this blog, I realized, it’s been quite the year! No wonder I didn’t have time to post! Below are my 2013 highlights. Here’s to a fantastic 2013 and looking forward to an even brighter 2014!!
Early in 2013, I started working with an exciting organization, Nerd Nite LA. Nerd Nite LA hosts monthly lectures at Witzend in Venice. Lectures vary in the nerdy topics, discussing topics ranging from Google Glass to new innovations in cancer treatments. As one friend described it, “Nerd Nite is like Ted Talks with booze.” Yes, drinking and heckling the speaker are both encouraged.
Though many new things happened in 2013, some things stayed the same. I continued to shoot dodgeball for the World Dodgeball Society. Covering leagues from Long Beach to Melrose and even a tournament in San Francisco.
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And in venues that sometimes also include the Staples Center
There were also head-shots
And a family trip to Sedona, where I was able to take a breath and shoot scenery instead of people for a few days.
But since it was Spring-training that week we had to stop by for a game in Phoenix on the way home.
In April, my Otis coworkers and I hosted the 2nd Annual Kite Festival. This year we more than doubled our event passing out 2000 kites and having close to 5000 people in attendance. Save the date for next year, we’re planning for it to be even bigger and better, Sunday, April 13th.
Later that month, I shot the wrap party for the Jeff Prost show. You might remember Jeff Prost as host of Survivor. Jeff and his crew were some of the nicest folks I’ve ever had the pleasure to shoot. It’s rare that you find a crew that cares so genuinely for each other, that even an outsider can feel the warmth.
In the Summer, I returned to Palau with Otis College, which in a lot of ways was like coming home. (More blogs about Palau in past blogs)
One of the more special shoots I had this year was of this little fella’.
He’s truly a miracle baby. His mother was on bed rest for months before he was born and he was still born months early. Every step of the way this little guy had to fight and has won. However, with a dad who is called “Super Dave,” he was born to be a warrior.
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I did my second shoot for AYSO and although it was a long day (thousands and thousands of photos), it was fun to be outside and in the middle of excited kids kicking a ball (that wasn’t going to errantly hit me in the head).
The Year ended for me with a trip to Paso Robles for no other reason then to enjoy and celebrate all the hard work of 2013.
Phew! Ok, so that’s why I was so tired.
Now it’s 2014 and I’m up and running. This year was off to an early start, beginning at sunrise on New Year’s day. If you know me, you know that I love my sleep; however, some things are worth waking up pre-dawn for, such as having the honor to shoot a very special wedding.
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They say what you do the first day of the year can set the tone for the rest of the year. If this is true, it’s going to be a year immersed in photography and surrounded by beauty and love.
Wishing everyone a fantastic 2014; stay tuned! – Allison
On September 29th, in an effort to promote family fun and togetherness, Families Uniting Families held their 4th Family Game Night. And just when I thought I was going to have a non-dodgeball blog, what did they play most the night?? … well dodgeball of course!! What says family fun and togetherness more than throwing balls at each other?!
My favorite memories of my childhood involve simple moments with my parents: playing checkers, while watching football on my dad’s bed, riding bikes on an overcast Sunday to the park with my mom. Family Game Night gives families a stage to build those special memories on, during a time in a child’s life that vanishes in a blink. In honor of the late Steve Jobs, this quote feels very fitting, “When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: ‘If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.’ It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ And whenever the answer has been ‘No’ for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.” So if you can, take a moment out of your day to do something important, hug a child… or throw a ball at them!
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“Families Uniting Families has been serving children in Los Angeles County and Orange County since 2004. They are known for providing excellent care and treatment to children who suffer from abuse and neglect. Families Uniting Families cultivates nurturing and knowledgeable families to protect and enhance the welfare and stability of vulnerable children and their families so that they are able to live productive and meaningful lives.” If you live in the Long Beach area, Families Uniting Families is a great organization to get involved with, either as a volunteer or as an attendee.
For the second year in a row Otis College of Art and Design participated in National Coastal Cleanup day (year one blog here), hosting a two-day event of fun, education and activism. Friday night’s event at the Custom Hotel was bigger and better than last year. Not only did we screen an important environmental film, but the group FMLY also joined us, bringing with them the musical stylings of Jack Littman and Kynan (both very enjoyable) and their free-store a way of recycling and re-purposing clothing.
In addition, SurfRider (host of Saturday’s beach cleanup) had a goal to make this year’s beach cleanup a “zero waste” event, meaning, that in the efforts to cleanup the beach we would not add to the trash, people would bring their own gloves and bags. To help with the “zero waste” effort, SurfRider was on hand Friday night to make bags out of used t-shirts and tank tops.
Another highlight of Friday’s event was a visit from Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who delivered a speech before the movie that was both animated and engaging. Mr. Rosendahl talked about his early years in politics and taking his 29th year off to explore the world, encouraging listeners to also go out there and make a difference!
This year’s movie was the documentary Waste land. Produced by the same people who made the fiction film “City of God” (one of my personal all-time favorite foreign films), Wasteland illustrates the life of the “pickers,” workers in Brazil who make their living literally picking through mountains of trash in the “waste lands” / dumps in Brazil. It is a moving film, that depicts the life of people who want better for themselves and their children and the impact that waste and lack of recycling can have on a community. If you missed the movie night, you need to see this film (it’s netflixable!).
Saturday morning we again met at Daniel’s bike shop to bike to the Beach Cleanup, this year the at Venice Pier.
YES ANNOOOTHER Dodgeball post! But this one is particularly special, this post is of a GIRL’S only charity tournament, with proceeds ($800 worth) and donations of business clothing and accessories supporting Chrysalis .
Sooo, if you’ve been following along, you know, sometimes I shoot and sometimes I play. Well, at this tournament I got to do both!! (my team awesome team bellow).
Special thanks to my awesome media team cohorts, Faith, Mark and Ahn for helping take photos of this fun and exhausting event!! (Me in action!)
Thank you Faith, for this particular photo illustrating my point of the exhausting (I made a promise to include this one haha).
Playing with just the girls is different, for one, we actually get to PLAY!!
Sorry guys, but when we play with you, you guys hog all the balls, so with no dudes to get in the way we all left the tournament sweaty and with sore arms; it was great!
Also, all the girls were so fantastic, little to no arguing, no angry comments. It was as blissful as dodgeball can get… The tournament was so successful that there are rumors of having a girl league…. World Dodgeball Society folks, let’s make this happen :O)
More on the tourney: 120 awesome ladies, comprising 12 teams, played 4 hours of fun and competitive dodgeball. In the end C-punch 2.0 (sorry ladies for the edit) took out the team hailing from Arizona that had the entire gym on the edge of their seats… including the pre-teen boys on skateboards that wandered in mesmerized.
My own team made it to the semi-finals, battling through two knock out rounds playing (wo)man down. It was an absolute blast and I can’t wait to do it again!! PS. More pics on facebook!!
One of my favorite parts of photography is that it allows me to give back to the community. And it is the off-season for dodgeball after all…
Thursday May 19, 2011 was “Family Game Night” hosted by the organization Families Uniting Families. “Families Uniting Families has been serving children in Los Angeles County and Orange County since 2004. They are known for providing excellent care and treatment to children who suffer from abuse and neglect. Families Uniting Families cultivates nurturing and knowledgeable families to protect and enhance the welfare and stability of vulnerable children and their families so that they are able to live productive and meaningful lives. For more information about Families Uniting Families, call (562) 437-4114, contact info@familiesunitingfamilies.org or visit http://www.familiesunitingfamilies.org.”
Family Game Night was one of the opportunities Families Uniting Families provides to strengthen the family connection. Too often we forget to take the time out of the day for fun; Family Game night was just that, fun! With a variety of different games from a balloon relay race, musical chairs with a twist, to dodgeball (haha ya, see how I still worked dodgeball in here), the night was filled with laugher and togetherness.
Something about the smell of leather mixed with grass reminds me of childhood, a simpler time, just hanging at the ball field. Now is the time of year when days begin to stretch longer, the nights begin to warm. Night games were my favorite; perhaps it was because I got to stay out past my bedtime (I had a really early bedtime), but probably more so it was because there seemed to be some sort of extra magic in a little league field at night. As a child, you read about heroes, people much older than yourself who make a difference, rescuing strangers from burning buildings, spurring on political movements, performing lifesaving surgeries. As a child, the ball field is the place where you too can be a hero. With one swing of your bat, you can hit that game-winning run, or make that diving catch that holds the go ahead run on base. I loved the feel of my cleats gripping the earth as I rounded the bases, a well executed slide into home, hitting the “sweet” spot of my bat… a catch where you go into an all out sprint and by some miracle you make it to the ball in time, and you know you did by the thwacking sound the ball makes when it hits the pocket of your glove.
I rarely will I sit through an entire baseball game on television, but there is something that draws me to live baseball. One of the best things about the location of my office is that my window overlooks a baseball field; spring afternoons are greeted with the ping of the metal bat and other faint echoes of baseball. If I go for a run in a park where there is a little league game, it never fails; I end up at the field, as if pulled in by some magnetic force.
Across the nation, gloves are being oiled, fields neatly trimmed and hotdogs are boiling. Major League baseball’s opening day might not be till March 31st, but just like the flowers and trees, little leagues are in full bloom. The sweet smell of fresh cut grass, the crack of the bat, the roar of the crowed: ahh baseball. It doesn’t matter if it’s the big leagues, minor leagues or little league, just “take me out to the ball game!” … oh and buy me some cracker jacks too!!
Below are some photos of my friend Sarah’s son, Nate and his first ever baseball game. It was kind of special for me to be there for Nate’s first ball game. I have known his mom since we were not much older than he is now… wow and now I feel old, haha.
People come in and out of our lives on a daily basis; some fade away with not much more than a whisper, while others linger in our memories, leaving footprints in our hearts. In some of my more philosophical moments (yes, I do take time away from dodgeball to ponder things), I question (like so many others before me), what is the meaning of life? And like so many others before me, I come up blank. Nonetheless, this much I know, I know that when my feet can no longer leave footprints in the sand, I hope that scratches of my life live on. For me, much of my legacy are my photographs. I love being part of a family’s history, recording that special moment or capturing laugher in a person’s eye. Michael Porzucki lives on by continuing to inspire others to take care of those in need.
One day a year, scores of people get together in the spirit of Michael Porzucki and give back to their community… and they do it with a twinkle in their eyes and smiles stretched across their faces. This year, Mikey Mitzvah Day took place on Sunday, March 6th. A mitzvah is a good deed, a selfless act and it represents the spirit in which Mikey lived his short life. The kitchens opened at 8am to start with food preparation for the needy. Not only were those in need invited for a hot lunch, they were also treated to games of bingo, gained access to a clothing drive and were given a sack lunch for later. Other service avenues included demonstrations and photos with the Guide Dogs, a blood drive, as well as writing letters and making care packages for servicemen.
When I arrived at Mikey Mitzvah Day, there was a flurry of activity, people everywhere, girl scouts decorating cupcakes, teenagers serving food and parents calling out bingo numbers. People were laughing and smiling; there was so much excitement and so much joy that it warmed my heart. Below is a small sampling of the day’s activities, for more information on Mikey Mitzvah Day Please contact Temple Menorah at (310) 316-8444 or Elaine at elaineporzucki@gmail.com
I’ve posted here before about the amazingness of adult dodgeball; however, sometimes you have to take things to the next level. So after the Los Angeles Clippers triumphed over the Denver Nuggets, scores of 20 and 30 somethings donned knee-high socks, sweat band, laced up their sneakers and a new rivalry was born: Torrance (Coalition of Under Achieving Nugget Throwers) vs Manhattan Beach (Ninja Please!) dodgeball! The dodgeball contest was arguably more exciting then the professional game previously played on the same court, with even fans getting involved and needing to be removed from the premises.
Every story needs a good ending; however, I think this game, well it ended. After 50 sweaty minutes of dodging and diving, the match ended in controversy; do I hear rematch??
Otis Instructors Lara Hoad and Todd Erlandson show off the trash they collected from the Ballona wetlands as Part of National Beach Cleanup Day.
What a long weekend! However, long days and nights always feel rewarding when you’re working for a cause bigger than yourself. Working at Otis College of Art and Design I often get to participate in some pretty great events. For the past two years the program I work for, the Integrated Learning Program, has helped put on the Movies that Matter series, where we show films of social and/or environmental importance. Past films have included “Soundtrack for a Revolution,” “The Cove” and “Fuel.” This past Friday, in honor of National Beach cleanup day Saturday, we screened the movie Tapped. “Tapped examines the role of the bottled water industry and its’ effects on our health, climate change, pollution, and our reliance on oil.” The screening was part of a local movement in conjunction with National Beach Clean Up Day.
At the Movies that Matter Screenings, we not only show films, but also invite relevant speakers to screening. Here Councilman Rosendahl explains to the crowd how he reduces his plastic use by bringing his own water bottles and reusable bags with him each day.
The Environmental Charter High School in Lawndale is an amazing school that focuses on a sustainability and trains their students to go out into the world and educate others. “The mission of Environmental Charter High School is to inspire students to discover their own sense of purpose, to equip all students with the knowledge and skills to graduate from college, and to empower them to become quality stewards of their community and world.” One of the presentations that the students do is a fashion show where all of the clothing is designed from recycled materials.
We also were visited by the guys from Making Moves. “Making Moves is an inspiring show about 3 very young entrepreneurs without loans or investors while helping others follow their dreams.” Making Moves is very IL (Integrated Learning) which promotes working together and we were lucky to have them speak at our event.
On Saturday, September 26th, a group of Otis Students met at Daniel’s Bike shop in Marina Del Rey, to do a group ride to the Ballona Wetlands and participate in National Beach Cleanup Day.
My fearless leaders mapping out our ride.
Team Otis
Approximately 250 people participated in the National Beach Clean up at the Ballona Wetlands location and close to 100 bags filled with styrofoam, candy wrappers and plastic bottles were removed.
After a morning’s hard work, nothing beats an ice cream cone! (Free with bike rental at Danie’s Bike shop. Does this guy know me or what!?)
Allison Knight Images 