Pasko Photography

Cat Albert - Tussle Fight Gear

2009-12-09T20:03:00.005-07:00

I am way behind on my blog posts so I thought I would start with the most recent session and work my way backwards. I shot a portrait session last weekend for my friend Cat Albert, a professional MMA fighter and totally smokin' hot chick, who needed portraits for one of her new sponsors, Tussle Fight Gear. I believe Cat's next fight is in mid-January - I'm really looking forward to it!

The Falk Family Fotos

2009-07-12T12:34:00.010-06:00

On Father's Day, I headed out to our good friend Kevin Falkenstein's house for a portrait session with him and his girls, Sydney and Elise. My husband used to work with Kevin, so I have known them pretty much as long as I'm known Joe, about 7 1/2 years. Elise and Sydney are two of my favorite kids, although I'm not sure I can call them kids for much longer! It has been great to watch them grow up and Kevin is such a great father. The girls were actually our flower girl and ring bearer when we got married - almost five years ago.

They also have a six month old puppy named Shasta, so we started with a few of him and then a few with the family together.

After that, we headed out to Denver Botanic Gardens for some portraits with just Kevin, Elise and Sydney. The Japanese garden there is especially beautiful.

Of course we did a few of each girl separately. Elise is the older of the two:

And Sydney is the younger:

Kevin was great in getting real smiles from the girls:

A few more family pics, and of course a couple with each girl and Dad, and we were about wrapped up!

Happy Belated Father's Day Kevin!!

Kimberlin Family Portraits

2009-07-12T12:16:00.009-06:00

It was time again for the Kimberlin Family Portaits!!! I love photographing this family, the twins are so adorable and Melody and Brian are just lovely people. This year we decided to try a new location - Hudson Gardens in Littleton, Colorado. They were setting up for a wedding in one of the gardens and it seemed like a beautiful place for it. We had a wonderful time wandering around with the girls, Audrey and Brenna.

The girls had fun smelling the different flowers.

And then we wandered through many of the other gardens.

After the above portrait we had a bit of a mishap. Brenna (in the red and white dress) is very adventurous, and was exploring the edge of the pond. In one split second, she went from leaning over the water to falling head first into it! Brian caught her quickly, with very fast reflexes, but not in time to avoid her being dipped from the neck up in the pond water. Even though I was on the other side of the pond shooting, I almost fell in myself trying to instinctively reach out to her when I saw what was happening. Luckily, I caught my own footing, and Melody had her other set of clothes to change her back into, so we were able to capture a few more portraits. But poor Brenna!!!

Thank you again, Melody and Brian, for having me photograph your family! These girls are growing so fast - I can't believe how much bigger they are than last fall!

Welcome Makenzie!

2009-06-10T20:22:00.009-06:00

Makenzie was born on April 26th, 2009 to Stephanie and Josh. She is just about three weeks old for our portrait session. I arrived to a wide awake little girl and we were able to capture a few portraits of those beautiful eyes.

But soon, she started to fade and it was time for a nap.

Finally, a couple of Stephanie and Makenzie together. Unfortunately Josh had to work, but we will be sure to include him next time.

Makenzie is also the cousin to Madilyn, whose newborn portraits we did earlier this year - I know these cousins will be close.

Also, this shoot was very neat for me, as this is my first client where I photographed their wedding, back in June of 2007, and now their first baby. It is so exciting to see my clients' families grow! Thank you again, Stephanie and Josh, I am looking forward to seeing you again.

Raeann and Christopher Engagement and Family Portraits

2009-06-10T19:56:00.006-06:00

I believe that Raeann and Christopher may just be getting back from their wedding and cruise down in the Florida Keys as I write this. I am oh so jealous! However, before they left, I had the opportunity to shoot engagement and family portraits for them. We decided to head up to Red Rocks National Park to have some fun.

First, some portraits of Raeann and Christopher:

And then, some family portraits with their daughter Ashley. Wow - they are a photogenic family!

Raeann, Christopher and Ashley - I had a great time working with you, thank you for letting me drag you all over the park in your nice clothing. I am looking forward to shooting your Colorado wedding reception in July!

Happy Birthday Isabella!

2009-04-12T17:15:00.012-06:00

At the end of February I had the opportunity to visit my best friend since high school, Marie, her husband Mark and their daughter Isabella. I flew out to Washington D.C. to visit as Isabella was turning one! I can't believe it has already been a year since she was born - where has the time really gone? I have known Marie for over half of our lives now, and Isabella feels like my niece, not just a friend's baby. Even though we live half way across the country from each other, through some finagling I had the opportunities to also do Isabella's newborn and six month portraits. After doing both of those, it only seemed right that I finish the series so I flew out for a weekend of photographs and birthday celebrations.

We had to capture Isabella's first cake experience:

She actually seemed to have more fun trying to eat it with her feet:

During the weekend we took a stroll through downtown Old Town Alexandria to capture some family photographs as well. I loved the cobblestone streets with their interesting texture:

The brick in the area provided great backdrops for my beautiful friends as well.

We even got Mark in some of these photos - he had managed to escape me in the past two sessions.

Last, we took a couple of just Marie and Mark in this neat little corridor. What a darn good looking couple!

Marie and Mark, thank you again for having me out for the weekend. It is always such a treat to visit you. I can't wait to see you again!

Madilyn

2009-03-21T16:29:00.008-06:00

In February, Suzanne and Mike welcomed their first baby, Madilyn, into the world. What a beautiful girl she is!

I'm jealous of her great head of hair - when I was a baby I didn't have hair for a very long time.

I just had to get one her great bunny slippers.

And finally a few with Mom and Dad.

Congratulations again Suzanne and Mike!! I can't wait to see you all again.

The St. Denis Portraits and KC Art Museum

2009-02-21T17:01:00.011-07:00

While in Kansas City I took a few portraits of our friends, the St. Denis family. It was the first time we met five month old Victoria, who, as Brian and Jan pointed out, is the cutest little crier ever. When she gets upset, she cries through her nose with her mouth shut - it is really quiet and almost like she is humming. When she is happy she is pretty darn adorable too!

A couple of Janice and Victoria together:

And finally, a couple of Brian and Victoria:

One of these visits we will do a real portrait session and get some of the family all together, too!

One of the days we were in Kansas City we also decided to visit the KC Art Museum. I must admit, I took only one picture the entire time. This one of our group:

My husband Joe, for those that don't know, is the guy in the middle with the black shirt on.

But Joe (who is also my second shooter at weddings) took some wonderful photos that I thought I would share. Here is his work:

Rosko Dog St. Denis

2009-02-19T16:29:00.005-07:00

I received very sad news today that Rosko St. Denis, the dog of our very good friends Brian and Janice St. Denis passed away. I met Brian, Jan and Rosko almost seven years ago now after my husband and I first started dating. Rosko has always been amazing. He was incredibly smart, and very fast and strong. And he always wanted you to play with him and his red ball. Rosko was born June 19, 1999, and was now almost 10 years old. The St Denis' moved to Kansas City a few years ago, and we went out to visit them two weeks ago. Rosko had just had surgery to remove lumps from under his skin, which turned out to be cancer. I had brought my camera to take some portraits of their beautiful five month old daughter, Victoria, and I took some of Rosko as well.

Brian and Jan, I am so sorry for your loss. I hope these portraits help you remember him. Rosko was truly a magnificent dog and Joe and I will both miss him, too.

Kristy + Jim, Red Rocks Amphitheater

2009-02-14T15:38:00.011-07:00

On January 10th I had the pleasure of photographing the intimate wedding of Kristy and Jim Borowicz. The ceremony was held at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado. A risky proposition to have an outdoor ceremony in January, but it turned out to be a beautiful day! They each have two beautiful daughters from their previous marriages, so the girls served as their attendants.

The ceremony was short and beautiful. Jim and Kristy exchanged personalized vows and rings, and ended with a kiss (of course).

We finished up the afternoon with portrait sessions for the family....

and then portraits for just Kristy and Jim.

After that they headed off to have a wonderful meal with their newly joined families.

I wish you the best, Kristy and Jim! You make a wonderful couple and I can see how happy you make each other.I hope that every day you are together is better than the last.

The Gebre-Mariam Family

2009-02-12T17:47:00.010-07:00

I have done several portrait session with them now, including one a year ago, when Noelle was still pregnant with Marco. I can’t believe he is almost a year old already – boy how fast they grow!

We started out with a few portraits outside of their home. The tree in this one was given to Luca, their oldest son, as a present when he was born.

We wanted to get a Colorado flavor in a few of the portraits, so we headed out to get the Flatirons in the background. These boys are just adorable – and Brook and Noelle always look fantastic!

And then we headed back to the house to capture a few in front of the Christmas tree.

Marco just has the cutest cheeks.

And Luca is becoming such a little man.

Last, I just had to include this one. Luca and Marco were playing and Marco just grabbed a big handful of Luca’s hair and pulled. He meant no harm, but it was just so funny!

Thanks again Noelle and Brook - you have such a wonderful family!

Luiz Claudio

2009-02-11T17:03:00.012-07:00

In November, Luiz Claudio, a multi time world jujitsu champion and just all around great guy, came to my jujitsu school, Zingano Brazilian Jujitsu, to give a seminar. Luiz and my professor, Mauricio Zingano, have been friends for a long time, and our schools are affiliated. Luiz’s primary school is down in Brazil, the Luiz Claudio Combat Team, and hopefully we will get to visit at some point.

I didn't take any photos of the seminar but my husband and our friend Chris Goettch (aka Big White Chris) also took a private lesson with Luiz and I had the opportunity to photograph the lesson.

My husband Joe, (aka GI Joe) is on the left in this photo, Luiz is in the middle and Chris is on the right.

For those that aren’t familiar with jujitsu, it is a grappling martial art. In general you use a combination of joint locks and chokes to submit your opponent on the ground. Here is one of the arm bar sequences that Luiz taught:

Luiz taught several other moves and sequences - he always end up teaching me so much I feel like I can't remember all of it.

He is a fantastic instructor, passionate about jiujitsu, and a lot of fun to hang out with! Luiz visits our school about twice a year, and he will visiting again this spring.

I’m looking forward to his visit and if you take jujitsu and ever have the opportunity to take a seminar or class from him, I would jump at the chance!

You can also see some video of Luiz and his students from on YouTube – Here is a link to one of them: Luiz Claudio Combat Team (L.C.C.T)

One last pic of me and Luiz together is below. Thanks again Luiz for all your instruction!!

Estella, Nick and Tommy

2009-02-02T18:43:00.009-07:00

Estella found me back in mid-November through one of the September weddings I photographed - it is always neat to have new people referred to you through previous clients. It feels like an extra special complement somehow.

Estella and Nick were looking for some fall color in their portraits so we headed to Cheesman park down in Denver. What a blast hanging out with these two - you could see the love they had for each other. And I am a total dog person,so Tommy was tons of fun!

Halfway through we took a break to let Tommy run around and play for a bit, so I thought I'd grab some cute action shots.

And then, back to business. I love this shot of Tommy.

The Zainy Twins

2009-01-28T17:53:00.009-07:00

Zainy - what a great last name!!

Laila and Kai Zainy are the twin babies of Jolene and Heider. Jolene is truly one of the kindest people on earth and Heider can crack anyone up! Honestly, just a fantastic family. Jolene asked me to photograph the twins in early November (yes, I'm still playing blog catch up), when they were about six months old to get some photos for Christmas cards. I happily obliged her.

Laila and Kai are really just adorable. It was still nice weather out, even though it was November 9th, so we took a few outside first.

For some reason, Kai just loved the taste of his mittens.

Laila just played as cute as a button.

We then headed inside to take a few of the twins.

A couple of Kai - I can tell he is going to be devilishly handsome as he grows up, just like his Dad.

And a couple of Laila - who I know will be beautiful just like her Mom. I bet she is breaking hearts already with that smile.

Last, one photo of the family.

Thanks again Zainy family for having me spend the afternoon with all of you!

Introducing McKenna Griffis

2009-01-04T13:43:00.011-07:00

Back to playing a little bit of catch up on my blog! I think one of my New Year's resolutions needs to be to get caught up and then stay caught up.

McKenna was born to our good friends, Justin and Jen Griffis, on October 28, 2008. I had the chance to do her portraits when she was about two weeks ago - still just so tiny. McKenna has this perfect little round head!

I always love doing the detail photos of the little one's hands and feet.

Justin is in the Marines, so we had to take a couple with his fatigues. In December Justin graduated from the University of Colorado and was commissioned as an officer. Congratulations Justin!!

Jen and Justin also have another daughter, Madison, who I believe is currently three, but the time passes so fast I may be mistaken. We have also known Madison since she was very little, and she is growing up so fast! She loves her new little sister very much.

The following portrait is one that Madison wanted me to take. I like to incorporate all the kiddo's ideas in the portrait sessions. It keeps them involved and interested and they tend to be so naturally creative that I end up with some fun stuff!

Last, Jen and Justin ordered baby announcements from me, so I thought I would include the design that was their final decision.

Thank you again Jen and Justin for letting us be a part of your family's exciting times. We will miss you when you have to move away!

Happy New Year!!!

2009-01-01T19:07:00.004-07:00

Happy 2009! Every year on New Years Day Joe and I go snowboarding. In the past we have taken trips to Steamboat Springs, but this year we decided to just head up to Keystone for the day. The snow wasn't that greatBelow is the picture taken today from my Blackberry of our trip today - I love the reflections in our goggles.

2008 was a rough year for us, so I'm hoping 2009 is better. I'm putting the good thoughts out there, so hopefully that will help.

Best wishes and much love to everyone!

The Kimberlin Family

2008-12-28T14:08:00.014-07:00

I am still playing catch up with my blog, but I will get there, I promise! Back on November 1st I had the opportunity to spend a couple hours photographing the Kimberlin family at Chautauqua Park in Boulder. Melody and Brian have twins, Audrey and Brenna, who are just about a year old now. Melody is one of the kindest, warmest people I know, and it was wonderful to spend time with her and her family on a strangely warm November day - I think it hit 70 degrees that day! Although very odd for November it gave us perfect weather to have the twins outside in the beautiful fall colors. I think they got the perfect fall color weekend this year! First, here are a few of the whole family and the girls together:

Audrey and Brenna are both such beautiful little girls. Brenna is very active, always wanting to move around so photographing her can be a challenge, but I loved chasing the girls around. I just love her big blue eyes!

Audrey has cheeks that I just always want to reach out and pinch!

I love the following two pictures together - both girls were adorable in their dresses and I love the contrast with the grass.

And last, I love both of these series of pictures. The girls were getting a bit tired so we took a break and Brian started tossing Audrey up in the air. She just loved it so I grabbed a few shots of the two of them, and thought it would be great to have matching photos of Melody and Audrey.

Thank you again Melody and Brian for spending time with me! You are a beautiful family, and it was a pleasure to photograph all of you.

The New Kittens

2008-12-08T19:37:00.007-07:00

We used to insist that when Bear, our previous cat, passed away that we would never get another one. Bear was far more destructive to the house over her life than the dogs have ever been, and I was happy to not have to deal with a litter box. However, once she was gone we realized we really missed having a cat around. No one will ever replace Bear in our hearts - she was just that awesome of a cat - but the house seemed empty with no cat to sit on our laps and cuddle with us when we slept. After mulling it over, we finally decided to head to the Boulder Humane Society at least to check out the kitten they had. We sat with about 6 or 7 cats that we thought we were interested in, but none of them were "the one." We had no particular breed we were looking for, and no gender. Our pretty much sole prerequisite was that they had to love people, as we wanted a cat that wanted to be around us. We had pretty much given up and had one more room to stop in - the room with a couple cats that were getting over upper respiratory infections. A brown tabby ran right up to Joe and starting purring. Joe picked him up and you could see that was it, that was the one he wanted. But, there was also a small black one was buzzing around the room, running from place to place and playing with toys and the other cats. I picked him up as he went past and he immediately snuggled up to me and didn't want me to put him down. Now we each wanted a different cat.....we decided to think about it overnight.

We really didn't need two cats, heck, we didn't really need one cat.

Yet the next evening I found myself picking up both cats to take home. We are such suckers for animals!!

We brought them home on November 6th, and these are pictures of them from soon after. Barrett is the brown one - he is already about 9 or 10 months old. We almost named him Sniper because he loves to sneak around and find the high ground to watch us from.

Anderson is the small black one, named after one of my favorite UFC fighters, Anderson Silva. He is only about 3-4 months old and I think he will grow up to be a long and lanky, like Silva. He is still getting over his respitory infection in this pictures, but he is much healthier now!

I finally got one picture of the two of them together.

When we first brought them home they both really wanted their own space so putting them next to each other just caused trouble, but now they will snuggle with each other, and with the dogs. They also like to chase Edison's tail around, which Edison doesn't seem to mind. The house is finally a bit more complete again!

24 Hours of Moab

2008-12-01T20:20:00.019-07:00

I am a bit behind on my blog posting, to say the least, but I will now attempt to get caught up. It is just amazing how time is flying by this year! It still feels like just last weekend that I was hired by my friend David Bach of Bach Builders to go down and photograph the team that Bach Builders sponsors in the 24 Hours of Moab mountain bike race. Here are Dave and then his twin brother Fran, who own Bach Builders. Dave also raced in this event!

Before knowing Dave I didn't realize that these types of races existed - literally a 24 hour race. There are various divisions ranging from solo riders up to five person teams, and from "just for fun" to pro. Dave rides in the solo mens division and Bach Builders sponsors several other solo riders and teams. These athletes are insane to watch! The solo riders literally ride their mountain bikes on a difficult, technical loop trail for 24 hours, taking just minutes of a break between each lap. Even with five people on a team that is a lot of mountain biking! I don't think I could do this.

I drove down to Moab to meet up with Dave and his team - I had never been to Moab so I took a few photographs of my surroundings as well:

The race began at noon on October 11th and the racers would continue to start laps until noon on October 12th. The winner of each division was the person or team with the most laps, and if competitors had the same number of laps, the person with the fastest time to the finish line wins. As if racing for 24 hours isn't difficult enough, the weather was not in our favor. We had sustained winds of 30 miles per hour for most of the race, and gusts up to 70. The night was also freezing cold - we even saw a few snowflakes! It was fairly miserable weather for everyone, the racers and their support teams, but it was a great experience! You can find more details on the race itself at the Granny Gear Productions Moab page.

Here is one photo of part of the campground where the support teams were stationed along the course.

The race began with a LeMans start. Each racer runs from the starting line out to a certain point in the field and back again. They then pick up their bike and start their first lap.

You can see the dust already in the air - only some of which is from the racers. The wind was so strong it was blowing dust and sand around the entire race. Boy were my camera and lenses dirty the the end - and so was I!

Here are a few photographs of the racers sponsored by Bach Builders:

And a few of racers from other teams:

My husband always says that the wipeout photos of any sport are even better than the ones where an athlete makes it - the crashes just make for more spectacular photos! So of course I have to include a couple of the best crashes I had the opportunity to photograph. No one was seriously injured in the falls - the riders all got up and kept racing.

As the sun set, the temperature dropped - boy was it cold. Eventually the winds did die down, but not until very late!

In the morning, while the adult racers continued their trek, they had a 24 Minutes of Moab race for the kiddos. They were all so adorable I had to grab a few shots of them as well.

Finally, the race drew to a close. And one of the riders that Bach Builders sponsors won the Men's Solo divison. Congratulations to Josh Tostado for an impressive victory!! Here are a few shots of Josh's last couple laps and his victory.

He beat several world renowned mountain bike racers, including Tinker Juarez, a US mountain bike Olympic medalist, and Chris Eatough.

Another team, named Shake and Bake, that Bach Builders sponsors, won the Duo Pro division. Congratulations to Dax Massey and Dean Miller! Here is a photo of one of them... unfortunately I'm not sure which one he is.

It was amazing to see these racers throughout this entire event. They all showed a huge amount of fortitude, heart and competitive spirit and it was wonderful to watch. Thank you Dave for having me photograph this incredible event! I hope to shoot more of these in the future so stay tuned!!

Renee & Matt's Wedding

2008-10-26T20:56:00.021-06:00

Matt has been a friend of my husband and myself for several years, and he had been with Renee that entire time. However, I hadn't realized that they had actually been together since they were in the 8th grade until it was mentioned during their ceremony. What a strong relationship! Their wedding and reception was at the Boulder Country club on a beautiful Saturday with perfect weather at the end of September. They had so many great moments to the wedding, and I have far too many images I want to share, so this may be a bit of a long post. To start, here are a few of the details from the day:

I then snuck in to get a few photos of Renee getting ready, she looked beautiful even before she had her makeup and dress on!

We were able to capture a few portraits of the bride and groom separately before the ceremony - I love the sun flare in the full length picture of Renee!

The ceremony was outside on the grounds of the country club, and although some clouds seem to initally threaten rain, the afternoon was perfect. Renee's Dad looked so happy walking her down the aisle and Matt was so excited to see his bride.

It is so neat when couples decide to include something a bit different in their ceremonies. Renee is part Japanese, so they included a sake ceremony. Three is a special number in the Japanese culture, as it can't be easily split apart. So Matt and Renee each took three sips of sake from three different sake cups.

I am noticing I must have an addiction to photographing hands. I captured both of these images during the ceremony, and couldn't decide between the two. Which do you like better?

All the excitement building up to the kiss at the end also creates great moments before the kiss as well.

And having a second shooter allows us to capture the family's reactions. For Matt and Renee's wedding my husband, who is also a fantastic photographer, assisted me. He captured this image of Renee's grandparents during the kiss. I love the look on Renee's grandmother's face!

After the ceremony, we grabbed a few more portraits as the sun set, and then headed inside for the reception.

Matt and Renee took dancing lessons before the wedding, and I thought they looked very Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire during their first dance. And you could see the love Renee's father and Matt's mother had for their now all grown up kids as they took their turns on the dance floor.

After that, everyone danced the rest of the evening away!! Thank you Renee and Matt for letting me and Joe be a part of such a special evening.

Matt & Renee's Engagement Photos

2008-10-09T18:38:00.006-06:00

I photographed Renee and Matt's wedding on September 27th and I was about to post some photos from their wedding day. However, since I didn't have my blog up when I shot their engagement photos in July, I thought share a couple of these first.

My husband met Matt almost four years ago now when he started taking Brazilian Jujitsu at Zingano Brazilian Jujitsu. Matt is a fantastic athlete, and a recent purple belt, but also a wonderful person. I have never had the opportunity to spend much time with Renee but she has been wonderful in the interactions we have had, and anyone that makes Matt happy must be great!

We headed down to downtown Denver, near the art museum, to get some fun shots. Matt and Renee make taking portraits of them easy - they are both just so good looking!

this blog goes to the dogs

2008-09-26T17:45:00.010-06:00

After doing a post for Bear, I just could leave the dogs out. I don't know why we come up with odd nicknames for our pets, but we seem to accumulate them. Edison, our collie, has become Edi-san or Big Man. We also call him Turkey Butt because when you look at him from the rear in the winter with all his fur, it kind of looks like big fluffy turkey legs.

Brandy, our lab-mix has become the Bran-dito or Hog Dog. She lets out the funniest snorts sometimes when she gets excited and is rolling around!

Even though both dogs were originally Joe's, Edison has really become my dog. He will follow me around the house and come to me even when Joe is the one is calling him. He really is a mamma's boy!

Brandy is certainly a daddy's girl, though. She loves attention from anyone, but Joe's attention is special! My husband says that she is Honda of dogs, runs great for a really long time, low maintenance cost, and easy to take care of.

He also says that Edison is more like a Jaguar. A specialty dog where the people that have them love them, but everyone else wonders why you would ever own one. There is a lot of upkeep and maintenance, but they sure look pretty!

These last six portraits were taken with a Holga camera, which is a plastic toy camera from China that uses medium format film. There is two apertures (cloudy and sunny), one shutter speed, and no real focusing. I bought one from HolgaMods, a company that modifies them slightly to make them a bit more versatile. I like to get it out and play every once in a while because you can get some really fun pictures with it!

bear aka the bear-bear aka little bear-rito

2008-09-23T16:58:00.010-06:00

One week ago our cat Bear passed away. She was 16 years old, so we knew it was coming, but it is still so painful to lose a pet. My husband, Joe, had Bear since she was a kitten, which has been about half of Joe's life. We have been together for 6 1/2 years so I knew her for that long. I wanted to do something to remember her and thought showing portraits of her would be fitting.

Bear had a tremendous amount of personality. She always came when you called her name. She walked around with attitude, knowing that she owned the house. She would stalk the dogs and pretend like we couldn't see her crawling along the floor. She and our collie Edison would chase each other back and forth around the living room.

She loved people in general, and always wanted to sit on laps, particularly the laps of those wearing denim.

But she loved Joe the most.

When Joe and I first started dating Bear would stare at me with a look of disdain while I was at the house. I swear she was saying "I have seen girls in your place before, but I have always outlasted them. Why don't you just leave now!" Joe was HERS and she was not about to give him up. She would even randomly bite me (gently) or scratch me, and I have a few scars to prove it. The closest portraits I have to Bear's look are these two:

Joe has always said Bear and I make the same faces when we are fussy...so I guess that is what I look like too when I'm not getting what I want.

After this rough introduction to Bear you would think perhaps I wouldn't care for her, but the darn thing grew on me, just as I grew on her. At first she started to cuddle with me when Joe wasn't around. The funny thing was as soon as he showed up she would jump off my lap, run away and pretend she was never there. Slowly, she realized I would be around for the long haul and sat with me even with Joe around, though she always preferred his lap. For my part, I started to want to have her on my lap while I sat at the computer and worked, and liked messing with her on the couch, rolling her around my lap and rubbing her belly.

Back in college, before I knew him, Joe used to have movie nights at his house. His group of friends would get together, turn down all the lights, have some popcorn and drinks and watch a good (or bad) movie. Bear loved the taste and texture of hair gel and hairspray, so she would creep along the very wide back of the couch and at the crux of a movie jump on some one's head to munch on their hair, scaring them half to death.

My favorite story about Bear is one that I think is fairly amazing. Bear was an indoor cat, but occasionally if we left the screen door open she would sneak out to play. Typically once we realized she was out there were only a couple places we had to look to find her around the outside of the house. Or, when she was done she would sit by the back door and wait to be let in. However one night Bear simply disappeared. She got out while we were making dinner, grilling something on the deck, and when bedtime rolled around we still couldn't find her. So, we went to bed...

"Ding dong ding dong" - the doorbell rang. Joe and I sat up straight in bed. It was after two in the morning. I looked at him and whispered "did you just hear the doorbell ring?" He quietly got up, went out to the front door and looked through the peephole trying to see who was out there. There was no one there. He opened the door, and Bear was sitting on the brick ridge right next to the doorbell! Somehow, the crazy cat had rubbed against the house in the exact right place and rang the doorbell to be let in. Whether this was coincidental or purposeful, it was still amazing!

I am lucky enough to have taken all of these images of her about a year and a half ago. I had just purchased a new Lensbaby lens and wanted to test it out. Since the animals were readily available, I took that opportunity to shoot portraits of them, and I'm glad I did.

Bear-Bear, you are missed.

jen's pregnancy portraits

2008-09-21T19:11:00.008-06:00

After posting Julia's newborn portraits, I was looking over her mother Jen's pregnancy portraits. Since I didn't have the blog up at the time, I wasn't able to post them, but I thought I'd post a few now. I hope that I look like Jen when I am pregnant!

Finally, I just have to post a couple more pictures of Jake, her son, from this session. He is such a cutie and I love the faces he makes!

a new baby : a new blog

2008-09-18T19:35:00.000-06:00

I couldn't think of a better way to start of a brand new Pasko Photography blog than with portraits of a brand new baby. Julia Rae was born to our friends Jen and Joe on August 18, 2008.

To round out the "J's" in their family, their son Jake joined in the photos. You can tell he loves his little sister a tremendous amount already!

I love how Jake looks so protective of Julia in this one:

What a beautiful family!! Thank you Jen and Joe for letting me be a part of this special time in your lives.