Monday at the park

It's that time of year when family photos are taken and turned into lovely Christmas cards. Today I had the honor of photographing two beautiful siblings, and I mean "really" beautiful. They were fun and playful and just loved to smile, what a delight! Here are a few from the day...........





~Cindy~

Women's tennis superstars - watch out Venus and Serena!

I took these photos yesterday of these adorable girls playing tennis. Tennis is a sport my entire family plays, we love it and both my kids doing very well at it. I find it to be a sport that if you learn to play it at a young age you will play it for the rest of your life (of if you're like me until your elbow gives out!) I made the decision to give it up for the sake of photography, so now I just enjoy watching and taking pictures of others playing. Here are a few.

I'm back!!!!!

My goodness,
How long has it been since I have blogged??? Isn't it amazing how time just flies by! I have an enormous amount of catching up to do, that's for sure. I'm sure you all think I vanished off the face of the earth but I have actually been very busy with photography, but mostly with Photoshop and finally taking the time to perfect my skills. Of course, school started in September and have been busy with the kids and can't believe how quickly summer flew by. Now it's almost Thanksgiving and Christmas and there will be so many great pictures to share over the next few months, I'm sure.

Today I got to do what I love most, shoot at the beach. I LOVE rolling around on the sand, taking photos at sunset. It was a perfect overcast day, the sweet couple (best of luck to you, Andy and Lauren) were so much fun to work with. Needless to say, I am in awe of how incredibly fun and exhilarating it is to be a photographer and capture special moments in peoples lives. It's an honor to be a part of something special and I truly love it. Here's one from today!

Love,
Cindy

The gondolas and the day I met Tim Salmon

Photos by Cindy Meadors

What an amazing week!!!! Wherever do I start to explain it. It was VBS week at my church and I was signed up to be a counselor. For those of you that don't know what VBS means, it's "vacation bible school." On the very first day I met a wonderful man who was my co-leader of my group of 12 kids. As it turned out Greg is the owner of Gondola Adventures and needed someone to photograph his gondolas for an upcoming book. What a night it turned out to be! The boats were beautiful and such a delight to shoot, they are elegant and glide through the water with magnificent splendor.

While shooting I ran into one of my girls from my VBS group with her family. Who is standing there with her family but Tim Salmon, the greatest Anaheim Angel (no, I won't say of L.A. because I still think that's crazy!) of all time. He's THE Angel, the King Fish, #15, who I absolutely love. He's a humble man, who spent his entire career as an Angel, something you never see anymore. Over the years I heard countless stories about his heart, his spirit, how he shares his faith and how he was devoted to his wife (she's a wonderful lady!) and his family. So to meet the man was truly an honor for me, of course I was in the middle of a shoot so it was only for a moment. In that moment so many images came to my mind; sitting behind him in game 6 of the World Series, that infamous game in which the Angels came from behind to win and to then go on to win game 7 and take the title. I can still see him standing there with his head down and seemed so sad that his team was losing. Then to remember the very next day when they won and he was appropriately given the trophy to run with around the field. I remember that vividly; he was beaming from ear to ear and in honor of the late owner of the Angels, Gene Autry, he wore a cowboy hat and tipped it in remembrance of Mr. Autry. What a class act! There will never be another Angel like him again. Thank you, Tim, for making my day. Even if you don't like hearing it, you're still the greatest Angel that has ever lived and you will forever be missed.

I was truly blessed all week by those kids, there's nothing better than to make a difference in the life of a child.

~Cindy~

Happy 4th of July!

all photos by Cindy Meadors

4th of July in our family means two things: great day of fun and games and tennis! We always start and end our day at the Mesa Verde Country Club in Costa Mesa where they put on a spectacular tennis event. The event ends with a game of "Around the World" and the first photo is of this year's winner (she looks pretty happy, doesn't she!!) My kids are great tennis players and look forward to this every year. I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July this year!!

~Cindy~

It's bath time for Jonah!

Yes, I'm sure you have figured out by now that I am head over heals in love with my dog, Jonah. He is by far the best dog anyone could ever own, however, yesterday we determined that he was also the stinkiest dog and he needed a bath. So my husband pulls out a huge rubbermaid container and this is what I walked into on my patio. It only took me about 10 seconds to run and get the camera to capture it all. It was absolutely hysterical, we all couldn't stop laughing. Jonah turns 6 tomorrow (at least that's the day we have designated as his birthday as he was rescued) so Happy Happy Birthday to you, my sweet doggie!

Happy Easter!

I spent my Easter Sunday with my family, friends and my church. The service was at the Pacific Ampitheatre and was absolutely wonderful. An added bonus was that I got to do what I love best, take pictures. The kids were just adorable all dressed up in their Easter clothes, I couldn't get over how precious they all were. Here are a few of my favorities. Blessings to you all!
~Cindy~

A day at the park with friends

I spent a lovely afternoon yesterday with my beautiful friend, Carrie, and her darling son. We chose a park nearby and had the best time taking pictures. I was so sick, but somehow taking photos made me forget all about it. That's when you know you have it bad for something, when you're really too sick to do it but can't stand the thought of passing up an opportunity to do what you love. Of course when you are photographing some as lovely as Carrie it's effortless, she can't take a bad picture. It dawned on me yesterday that what I'm doing is making memories for people, memories that will always be with them as long as these photos exist. What an absolutely awesome thing!

~Cindy~

The unexpected great ones

I took this photo the other day and was blown away by how it turned out. This wasn't done in a studio, just against a wall but turned out spectacular. It doesn't hurt to have such a beautiful model either! This photo reminds me of the joy I feel when taking pictures, the utter joy. This one will remain in my family for years to come and when she is grown we will all look back on it and remember how lovely she was at such a young age.

A touch of photojournalism

These photos were taken of my fantasic hairdresser, Lanette, while she was intensely cutting my friend's daughter's hair. I took both of these shots with a mirror behind the subjects. It's just precious to see this beautiful child with her hands folded in the first photo and the sweet look on her face with her eyes looking down as Lanette cuts her bangs in the second shot. I made them into black and white to place the emphasis on Lanette's face and just how deeply she places
her focus on her clients. Lanette, you are the best!!!

~Cindy~

My girl

Hi everyone,

I took this photo of my daugher at a park on Sunday, we had such a great day together. She is so photogenic and loves everything having to do with photography. It looks like someday I'll have someone to pass all of this down to. My kids are the lights of my life and taking photos of them and capturing their childhood is what it's all about. She is growing up so fast!!!!! If I don't mind saying so she is absolutely adorable!

~Cindy~