Category Archives: Cool Stuff

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Life imitating Art

September 1, 2008 – 3:13 pm

Korean photographer Yeondoo Jung created a brilliant set of photographs called Wonderland back in 2005.  The photographs are inspired by drawings from Kindergartners in Seoul Korea.  He recruited high school students to help him recreate the drawings in to photographic form.  They are creative, beautiful, amazing and inspiring.  Be sure to click on his name above and check them out.

My friend Keet is a fantastic children’s artist and I asked her to create a new piece of work for my kids.  She just finished the one for my daughter Morgan, and I just had to share it with you.  Morgan is in love with Disney Princesses (as most little girls her age) and cats.  I asked Keet to create something that combined Snow White and cats.  She came up with this super cute combination of Snow White & The Seven Cats.  Of course Snow White is my daughter, who also happens to resemble Snow White so it’s a perfect fit.  When I showed Morgan she said “I want to do that”, so outside we went with her seven cats and her Snow White costume.   Now she’s a feisty one and was already done with the idea within 30 seconds of going outside, so we didn’t really get to recreate the image, but oh well it was fun for the minute that she was willing to participate (hey wasn’t this her idea anyway).

Here’s what Keet created for Morgan:

My shot is not quite as wonderful as Yeondoo’s work, but a mini tribute to him, here is my semi co-operative Morgan aka Snow White with her seven “kitties”.

Hope you are all having a great Labor Day! Don’t forget if you know someone having a baby today email me to win a complimentary portrait session & 11×14 photograph.

By Angela | Also posted in atlanta children's photographer, just my kids | Tagged , , , | Comments (15)

Risking my life…

August 26, 2008 – 8:31 pm

When I was young my uncle would take my cousin and I to the skating rink at least 1x a week. In fact I was *sooo* super cool that I had my own shiny white roller skates all decked out with colored wheels topped off with the biggest pom poms ever attached to my laces. I would wear my hair in one pony tail TO THE SIDE (who in the world ever thought that was a good idea was clearly out of their head). I could roller skate with the best of them, I could even truck (which is a cool word for being able to do fancy moves with your feet while skating). I was the ultimate roller diva, school skating parties I was so there, church skating parties - yep, slumber skating parties - yep. I remember the skating rink we used to go to loved to play Dirty Laundry by Don Henley over and over.

Fast forward to oh about 25 years later (I’m guessing the last time I roller skated was when I was 10) and my son’s school is having a roller skating night to promote the PTA. Now I think in my entire time in California I only saw one roller skating rink and that was when I worked for Special Olympics and they had a competition there. I guess it’s not a cool thing there, but there are tons of ice skating rinks. So we head over to the skating rink, my kids skated for the first time (more like attempted). “Mommy Mommy skate with us like you did when you were a kid.” Really? Oh man, Mommy is old, tired and well, when grown ups fall on their hiney it’s kinda painful. Ouch, I was having visions of the ambulance carrying me away with a broken leg.

Well I’m a push over so I ended up renting a pair of skates and skating with the kids. I’ll admit I’m very shaky, but I didn’t fall and some of it came back to me, in no time I should be back to roller diva status. Now this is the cool thing, the skating rink has Monday afternoon skating that is .99 and that is admission, skate rental, pizza and one other thing that I can’t remember. What a deal! So I’ve now been talked in to taking the kids back again soon so they can learn and be able to “skate real fast and be cool”.

For all you peeps here in Metro Atlanta, check out Sparkles Skating Rink for a good time with your kids, they have four locations - Hiram, Kennesaw, Smyrna & Gwinnett. My kids loved the playground and next time my son said he wants to play laser tag!

So today, I risked my life… and it was fun.

PS - Happy 40th birthday to my husband, who by the way chose not to try to roller skate tonight, he’s never ever roller skated before and he didn’t want to push his luck on his birthday

By Angela | Also posted in personal | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (8)

Photographers…do yourself a favor!

August 16, 2008 – 11:38 am

Earlier this year I was lucky enough to attend The One Light Workshop in Phoenix. It is one of the best investments I’ve put back in to my business. Fellow Atlantananan(did I just make up a word) Zack Arias is like the Jimmy Hendrix of lighting. AMAZING. Because of the awesomeness of his workshops they sell out quickly. Well now he has just released a 2 disc One Light Workshop DVD. Seriously, do yourself a favor and buy this bad boy asap. He has poured his heart, soul and wallet it to producing it. I’ll also add in he is one of *the* nicest most real dudes you will ever meet. Also in the box were some sweet bonus items - a tshirt, a cd by his very talented girfriend Meghan Coffee and some discounts for other things. Oh and it comes with a book filled with great info to accompany the DVDs.

I love how the DVD is shot in a MTV type style, very contemporary. My favorite is the second DVD (it almost reminds me of a cribs episode with the music and editing style). I really like seeing other photographers shoot and hearing them talk about their process and what is going on in their heads. Also it’s funny to see Zack’s face when he gets kicked out of a few places, the look he gives the security officer is priceless.

So if you want to kick your lighting skills up a few notches you *need* this DVD.
http://www.onelightworkshop.com

*** No I have not been paid, solicited or asked to rave about this. No discounts, nothing, I just had to share how great it is and it will change the way you shoot.***

Here’s Zack getting kicked out of a parking lot… (I so dig the music he uses)
[youtube jm1puuyojiE]

By Angela | Also posted in Photography Tips, atlanta children's photographer | Tagged , , | Comments (8)

This little light of mine…

August 12, 2008 – 8:42 pm

I just had to share with you my latest find. The. best. nightlights. EVER!

They are Tyke Lights by Mobi. The best part about them is that they are portable. Depending on which model you get they sit on a little base to recharge, or have a little cord that charges them, and they hold a charge for about 10 hours. They are totally safe to sleep with, play with etc. They are very hard plastic and very durable.

Here is the description from Mobi’s website:

The world at night is a place of exploration and adventure for your child. The TykeLight casts the perfect glow of light for play under the covers, inside tents, in the back yard and outings down darkened hallways. The TykeLight lights the way and becomes the security friend for any wanderer. Parents can also check on little explorers without disturbing their sleep with the soft glow nightlight feature. Long lasting rechargeable batteries and kid-friendly design make the TykeLight the perfect playtime friend day or night. TykeLight is fully rechargeable and will deliver many adventures for your little tykes over the years.

Perfect for nightlight or playtime
Quick and safe rechargeable batteries
Illuminates up to 10 hours on a single charge. Charges while glowing
Easy to clean surface
Designed to easily fit children’s hands as the perfect glowing playmate
Impact resistant plastic - Safe and Durable

My kids LOVE these! Just a note, the pink looks really like freaky red, so for a girl I would recommend skipping the pink and choosing purple or another color. You can get them on Amazon.com and various other sites on the internet, Costco stores have them too (in a two pack!).  Here are the three that we have - blue, purple and pink.

By Angela | Also posted in marietta photographer | Tagged , , | Comments (3)

Can you see me now?

August 11, 2008 – 11:45 pm

I often get emails from friends, clients and potential clients asking when my site will be compatible with the iphone. Trust me, I understand the frustration, I’m still surprised that the iphone doesn’t handle flash applications! In the mean time the good folks over at Big Folio have created Small Folio which creates a special little website off of your own website just for iphones!

When you visit my site now via iphone it loads the new iphone version of my site instead of the “no flash for you” icon. Although I must warn you it still needs a little tweaking, but it’s still pretty cool! So whip out your iphone and visit www.angelacalderon.com, feel free to check back often as I add more images and galleries!

If you don’t have a iphone, then I think this is a perfect excuse to get one right? ;-)

It’s 2:42 am Atlanta time, I guess I’m still on California time (11:42 am), does that mean that I am typing this from the future? I’m in a time warp!

Happy Tuesday (or late Monday)!

By Angela | Also posted in atlanta newborn photographer | Tagged , , | Comments (3)