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Today was Pawtrero Bath House & Feed's 8th annual Dog Day Afternoon street party, and what a blast it was! This was my first year at the event, I set up a photo booth with the gold sequin background. I thought this particular background would be extra fun! If you attended the event and participated in the photo booth, THANK YOU! I am proud to report that my little tent helped raise $560 towards the overall fundraising pool, which was divided up among various local rescues... woo hoo! Here are links to the photos: If you are on Facebook, you can tag, share and download photos HERE. To view all photos and purchase prints/products, CLICK HERE. Here are a few of my favorite shots from today!

OMG, it's not everyday that I get to meet and photograph one of my true life heroes. Yesterday I had the honor, pleasure and privilege to photograph Diana Nyad at an event by Copperfield Books in Santa Rosa. What a thrill, even at 7:30am! Diana Nyad, if you are not familiar, is the amazing woman who swam 110 miles from Cuba to Florida (at 64 years old).  I remember the day she did it - I was in a hotel room in Arizona, on the way to the Grand Canyon, we turned the TV on and it was being covered.  It gave me chills, I couldn't believe it.. insane! As a swimmer myself (a very amateur one at best, lol), I've been following her for years now, and she is such an inspiration to me as an athlete and as a person. Her drive, perseverance, dedication and positive attitude are unrivaled; giving up is not an option, and I absolutely love that about her. I often think of Diana as I'm struggling to finish my 1-2 mile swim workout... one more stroke! If Diana Nyad swam 111 miles, I can surely swim 2, geez!! Diana has recently published a book about the journey of achieving her goal of swimming from Cuba to Florida. I just started reading it, and it is fantastic so far... love it! Click here to buy Find a Way by Diana Nyad The event was freaking awesome. When she arrived, everyone in the room erupted in applause, waved their arms and cheered for her. What a great feeling, it was really moving and made me really emotional, hah! We all love you Diana, you're the bomb! This was the event program. Here she is entering the room... clap clap! This event started at 7:30am, people started arriving at 6:45am...  I was really impressed by how many people showed up, the room was packed! The event started off with a short Q/A led by Chris Smith from the Press Democrat. I didn't know what to expect. I've seen her documentary, TED talk and read countless articles about her, but I wasn't expecting her to be so full of life and personality in person! Really amazing in front of an audience, very spirited, funny, genuine and articulate. The room was packed! Copperfield's also honored local businesses and individuals who exemplify the spirit of Diana Nyad. Below is a photo of the business winners. Here are the individual winners. These are people who work tirelessly to bring positive change to the community. After the talk and awards ceremony, everyone lined up for the book signing. The line wrapped around the entire room... I sat beside the table waiting for the line to die down, and it was really awesome to watch each person's interaction with her - almost everyone who had their book signed told her how much she inspired them. Thank you Diana Nyad for being a source of inspiration for everyone. I know you hear this everyday of your life now, but are truly a force to be reckoned with and I am so honored to have met you. Onward!

I had the privilege of photographing baby Petra recently, she is the newest addition to a growing family of now 5 (4 humans, 1 canine). You may recognize her big sister Sonora, I was her baby photographer as well since she was a newborn. I have to say, it's quite thrilling to meet these babies brand new and watch them grow up over the next year, so exciting! As you can see from the photos below, she is such a little doll. Petra is super chill and was very cooperative, awake and alert throughout the entire photo shoot. It's always extra fun when there's no crying or fussing, more poses, more photos! Here she is, Baby Petra, just one week old!