Every college has its seasons; the start of school, midterms finals, midterms finals, graduation and somewhere in between it all: Halloween!  However, at Otis college, a school where students live breathe art and design; Halloween is kicked up a notch.  At Otis, students’ love for all things nostalgic, pop culture and spooky, meet artist ability and actual know how of creating a costume from scratch.

Every year I am impressed by the students’ creativity and ability to make time for these crazy costumes.  The costume contest is fun to shoot and fun to share!

Hope you all had a spooktacular halloween!

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I’ve working on updating my website, so we thought: CAKE SMASH!  Turns out, Tyler had little interest in the cake! Who knew? haha

Broccoli and carrots it is then, good for you kid!   Even unsure about what this cake thing is, Tyler is still quite a cutie.  Happy birthday little guy!!  Wishing you a wonderful first birthday!

Before the holidays, I had the pleasure of photographing my coworker Angelina and her family.  Working at Otis College, I meet and photograph lots of wonderful folks.  At an Art College you find a certain vibrancy, not only in the art, but also in the people you meet.  Photographing coworkers with their families can be especially fun!  Angelina and her family, certainly exemplified this sentiment.

Creating exciting and beautiful family photos is very gratifying for me.  I love being able to capture kids as their parents see them: lively, unique individuals.

And there’s no greater compliment to me, then when a parent looks at a photo and laughs and says, “that’s my kid!”

Happy 2017 everyone, a little late, but more coming soon!!

Dodgeballers do more then play hard and create cute babies; they also work hard and have brilliant and creative minds.  Last week, I met up with Mark Hardy, a Westside dodgeballer, to do a product shoot for his Kickstarter Campaign for the Mangos Ring, a wearable SOS device that allows you to call for help discretely and easily, by pressing the front of the ring.

Mangos is a simple, yet stylish looking ring, that works with an App on your phone to help notify loved ones when you might need help or could be in danger.

It is exciting to be part of something that could save a life.  It is also something special to be part of something from its infancy, right now Mangos is partway through their Kickstarter Campaign and is looking for more supporters; we all can help bring this awesome device to market!

For more information on the Mangos Ring, check out the the Mangos Website here , the Mangos Kickstarter Campaign here or the Mangos Facebook Page here!

Of the  many things I love about photography, one on the top is the list is the people I meet.  Barbara Crane came to my studio to take author photos for her book, “When Water was Everywhere” a book that discusses the history of water in Los Angeles.  Barbara was a delight and I am happy to announce that her book is now available on www.Amazon.com and at Barnesandnoble.com.

Water is a hot topic these days.  The promised El Nino pretty much skipped us and this week’s heatwave has sent many of us running for water: beaches, pools and even sprinklers.  But as I am reminded every time I open my water bill, though when we look out at what seems like a vast ocean body, our water in California is actually becoming more and more precious and scarce.

“When Water was Everywhere” Book Synopsis: “Once upon a time in Los Angeles, water was everywhere—in rivers that rendered the vast plain marsh and woodland; in underground streams that provided an abundance of water for people, cattle, orchards and vineyards. The American Henry Scott encounters this fertile landscape in When Water Was Everywhere. Arriving in the Mexican pueblo of Los Angeles in 1842, he meets Don Rodrigo Tilman (based on the historical John Temple). Scott becomes the foreman of Tilman’s newly-purchased cattle ranch along the Los Angeles River, the present day Rancho Los Cerritos. As Scott learns about ranchos and cattle, vaqueros and Indians, Mexican California and Tongva Indian village life come alive under Barbara Crane’s deft grasp of narrative and history. Tilman, Scott, Big Headed Girl (a young Tongva Indian woman) and Padre José’s (a Franciscan friar) unfolding stories assure the novel’s themes of loss, hope and redemption resonate from every page.”

– Allison

9 Months is a fun age, babies are sitting up and interacting; they make faces at you when you make faces at them.

We were also able to do our first shots at the park around the corner.  Midday and we were able to find shade to shoot in!  I will definitely be coming back to the park for more shots in the future; it’s a great spot of children and family photos!

–  Allison

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!!

I’m pretty excited for this newest dodgeball baby; a baby girl!! Finally!  Like a true dodgeball team, it’s been mostly boys, but finally another girl!

I met both Dave and Roni through dodgeball, before they started dating.  They are two of the sweetest, goofiest, nicest dodgeballers.  More likely to make you fall down laughing, rather then fall down from a headshot!  It has been fun seeing their relationship develop, from those first few months of a new “dodgeball relationship,” to marriage and now parents!

It was difficult choosing what images to post; baby Emma is a doll, such a cutie!  I can’t wait to see her grow!

Welcome to the world Emma Chaya Lindenbaum!  You have some pretty awesome parents that are going to show you so much love and laughter!

Thank you Roni and Dave for a special testimonial!!

Allison Video Testimonial from Allison Knight on Vimeo.

– Allison

https://www.citizine.tv/article/your-ultimate-guide-to-los-angeles-dodgeball

I’ve written before about #dodgeballfamily , how the dodgeball community is more then just a rec league where people sweat and throw rubber balls at each other.  When you look across the court and see a ball being hurdled at your face, you might think that people don’t care, but off the court dodgeballers look out for each other.  Paula Rebecca is dodgeballer Ashley Guevara’s cousin.  At the age of 16 Paula was diagnosed with cancer. A family member of the dodgeball family is also family and when a family member is in need the community rallies behind them and in what better way then through a dodgeball tournament to raise funds and show support!

From the #playingforpaula event page:

“In October 2015, my 16 year old cousin was diagnosed with cancer. She’s recently had surgery to remove the infected bone, but she still has more chemo she has to go through. Her name is Paula Rebecca and she loves dancing. Even though this has been a tough situation, she’s managed to maintain her bright, bubbly, and positive personality.

This is a fundraiser tournament where all proceeds will go towards helping my cousin with the medical costs.”

A total of $2,700 was raised from the tournament, if you would like to donate, please contact Ashley at: [email protected]