shutter to think

philanthropic love

Naomi Lawler, 34, an American expat living in San Miguel de Allende, originally from Wisconsin by way of San Diego, dedicates her weekends to two orphaned sisters, Angeles and Elena. She has been a host mother to the girls, whose ages are around 5 and 8-years-old, for nearly two years.

“I feel that everyday they are integrating and its complimentary because it expands their minds to understand various cultures,” said Madre Chuy, Mother Superior of Casa Hogar Santa Julia. There are four nuns who care for 40 girls at the San Julia de Hogar, where the sisters live during the week.

The city of San Miguel de Allende has a population of about 60,000 residents and is one of the wealthiest cities in Mexico. Nearly 8,ooo expats from mostly America, Canada, England, and Australia live in the city and boasts 130 non-profit organizations supported by grants and donations from the expat community. Virtually no funding comes from the Mexican government. 75% of expats are retired and live on fixed incomes.

outtakes

some pictures in my outtakes from recent assignments:

Missy

I photographed my friend Missy at her job as a waitress for a 24-hr diner in the Castro, the gay district of San Francisco, famously known for their street festivals, Harvey Milk (and the movie), and its color. We started at the diner, then went on to the beach with her dog DeeDee, named after a Ramone. The shoot was to photograph some lifestyle images, something I've been working on and needed to produce couple new images.

 

Belen and Dalia

I photographed cousins Belen and Dalia, of Ceja Vineyards, for a lifestyle stock shoot....we started off a little late, after a glass of Ceja Rose...yum. then into the vineyards for a little wacky fun. Surprisingly, and I know, I am surprised, but it was such a beautiful evening along the Napa River (yep, i just said that). While everyone knows I have a big heart for the City, every now and then, I am sweetly surprised at the natural beauty of the Napa Valley.

Surfer Portraits

I'm working on a storyboard about a little surf town in Mexico and got distracted in making these images of local surfers for the blog to share. These guys have seen their little fishing village transform over the past 10 yrs to a tourist destination. And now, themselves have gained a little from the tourism, such as providing a business teaching surfing, or taking surfers out on charter boats, and family business of restaurants and bars.

Burro -

Tigre -

Jose Luis -

Chile -

Tarzan -