Nature Light Photography

The text message said that the district special ed prom was going to be at Ramona High School at 6:30. It was 4:30. A friend was asking me to come and shoot an event. Did I mind? NO!! and I was rewarded with an evening of constantly being awestruck by the joy and energy these special kids have.

They danced, laughed, and they had fun. For a few hours their lives were “normal” and I loved being a part of it.

Balloons outside the Prom

Two Attendees at the Prom

Poly's King and Queen

Ramona's King and Queen

King's King and Queen

I met Alyssa when I was coaching water polo. She was the girl that was always around trying to get involved in any drill that would make her a better player. She was the girl that welcomed others onto the team and helped out on the pool deck.

Alyssa is graduating this June and headed to CSU San Marcos. She is interesting in that she likes the outdoors and likes to hunt. I don’t know a lot of girls that like hunting.

It was fun to work with her at Fairmount Park in Riverside for her senior portrait session. She was willing to try different things and even climb trees to try to get the images that showed her spirit.

Here are some of the images that we took during the day.

On Saturday, myself and Peyton Cooke of PVC Photography got to help Jessica and Robert of Jessica Elizabeth Photography shoot an engagement shoot at USC. The couple, Marisa & John, were a fantastic couple. They didn’t even know we I was coming, yet they were just fine with it.

He went to ‘SC and they met at LBCC. There was something about peanut butter and some other great stories that made us laugh. She had a infectious laugh and you could tell that he loved her. We shot from 2:30 to after six in the evening and they still had the same smiles that they had when we started. I don’t think I could have done that with four people constantly taking my picture.

John and Marisa are amazing people and I want to thank them for allowing me to shoot with THEIR wedding photographers. I wish them all of the best in the world.

I was asked shoot an event at school, the COMEDY SPORTz competition.

The event is modeled after Whose Line is It Anyway? The British and then American TV show that spotlighted improvisational comedy. The contestants have to be VERY quick on their feet and react to what is going on around them. In addition, they have to be able to act and get ideas across quickly and lots of times without speaking.

The kids weren’t bad. They really got into the scenes and were very witty and quick. It really wasn’t a bad show. Again, it is always nice to see students doing something they love to do. Passion.

You can view all of the images at the Nature Light Photography Gallery.

Last night, I was invited by a friend to see her perform in a play at the King High School where I work. I was honored to have been asked. It isn’t every day that a teacher is asked to watch a student do what they love.

It was a fun evening. I realized that we have some very talented and passionate people on our campus. The acting was good, the singing was good, and the photography was fun. OH! That last part was about me. You can view all of the images here: Nature Light Photo Galleries. They’re free, please download them as you wish.

As for the kids: like I said, they were passionate about what they were doing. Not all of them were great actors or great singers or great dancers, but they got up on stage and performed. You could tell that they loved what they were doing and the were proud to do it. They didn’t care about what others thought or how they compared to others, they just did it. It made me realize that to succeed in anything, you have to do the same thing.

Almost as a side note, a parent approached me asking if I was Mr. Williamson. After confirming her suspicions and steeling myself for the onslaught of “I want to talk to you about how my kid is doing in your class…”, she introduced herself as the mother of the lead in the play and she wanted to let me know that I was her son’s favorite teacher. I had her son in my class THREE years ago!!! I didn’t even think he remembered me. To tell the truth, I was TOTALLY not ready for that and very pleasantly surprised.

Like I said, to succeed you have to be passionate about what you are doing. The results might surprise you.

I had the opportunity to work with Josh on Saturday. We went to Corona Del Mar and Laguna Beach and had a great time.

Josh is a water polo player and in great shape. It has been a long time since I have run across someone as polite, mature, and classy as Josh. He was more like an assistant than a model. Always wanting to carry something or help. I loved setting him against the background and getting the ocean and beach setting while capturing his great smile.

We had two of his friends along, one of them another senior and the other a budding photographer who has great vision in her own shots. You can see some of them at PVC Photography. I didn’t get a chance to shoot Lauren as much as I wanted to because she was working with PVC Photography.

Here are some of the images from that shoot.

Josh’s friend Lauren was also fun to work with. Although, like I said, I didn’t get to work with her as much as I would have liked to.

Lauren is also on the water polo team and is a great student. As long as she is not deep in thought, she has a smile on her face and is helpful and a shining star for the future of our youth.

For those of Josh’s friends and family who would like to see more of Josh’s pictures, be sure to visit my portrait gallery page by clicking here.

Torye is an amazing young lady. She plays water polo, loves photography, and a decent student. Plus she is a good friend. She was in the San Diego area with her best friend, Briana, from her Havasu days and she wanted her senior portraits done, so we agreed to meet at La Jolla. Her mom and her little sister, Piper, were there and we got a shot of the three girls together. Torye was a great model and Briana’s boyfriend assisted with lighting. It was a fun day.

Amber was a member of the school’s swim team. She is a wonderful person with a deep sense of family and a good work ethic. She wanted her pictures taken for the swim team and I was glad to be able to do that for her.