I have been documenting Harper’s life since she was in her mommy’s tummy so to be there to see her turn one meant a lot. Harper turned one with an amazing circus themed birthday party planned entirely by her creative and talented Mom, Andrea. From hot dogs to popcorn to face painting and some of the most amazing cupcakes ever…the party, with Harper as the Ring Leader, was a smashing success! And now you are invited too…
Valencia College celebrated Matador Day 2011 today with a school spirit themed party! On the Osceola campus students took part in activities such as making their own license plates, bull riding, rock climbing and tons more. Once they worked up an appetite they were then treated to some Sonny’s BBQ and sweet tea thirst quenchers! I walked around, snapped a few shots and grabbed some BBQ myself! Here is a little of the day…
I think after this post I may finally be caught up. Phew! For now at least…
I had the pleasure of photographing Olivia shortly after this beauty was born and was then blessed to photograph her baptism on May 22nd (my birthday even!) Olivia’s family and friends were there to witness this special ceremony and Olivia took it well when the Priest poured cold water over her forehead. She actually seemed to be fascinated as to what was going on around her. I want to thank Dena and Andy for letting me share in this day with them-what an amazing family.
To say I was blown away is an understatement. These guys (and gals!) are talented. Period. You can check them out here and here. Their next project is the StarKid Funtastic Slamaganza-an amazing charity event-just go to their YouTube page and watch the video all about it! And, yes, if one of them looks familiar it is Darren Criss who plays Blaine on Glee. Prior to their performance at LeakyCon 2011 they did a crazy signing, which I had previously blogged about and bragged on them even more! So here they are performing for a very appreciative crowd at LeakyCon 2011 in Orlando, Florida…
Backstage chillin…
I adore that Darren Criss is taking pics from the stage!
Cody with Scarlet Byrne and Evanna Lynch
There was not just a line of fans waiting to get StarKids autographs-there were even rooms of fans, just waiting to get into line, to get StarKids autographs. I have to admit that when I arrived and saw the lines and saw the rooms full of people waiting to get in line, I wondered what all the craziness was about. I think I may have been the only person at the conference who did not know who StarKid was and was feeling a deep need to stop, drop and do some research on this phenomenon. Fortunately, StarKid performed the next day and I was introduced to the awesome sauce that is StarKid (and if you have seen my Facebook page recently you also know that I even bought a StarKid super cool purple t-shirt!) So for those of you that are nieve to the fact of who StarKid is-this is a group of very talented singers and songwriters who created “A Very Potter Musical”. And to give you a little idea of the type of talent…Darren Criss, who plays Blaine on Glee, is a member of StarKid and the talent doesn’t stop there. And for those of you that have been loyal fans of StarKid…well, thanks for letting me blabber on. I can’t wait to share their performance photos with you (on a blog post coming soon!) For now StarKid meets their fans…
A simple photo of eight fingers being held up encompasses so much meaning…
As the LeakyCon 2011 program schedule stated:
It is time to rock. That is all.
Wizard Rock Night II: The final Guitar Battle featured the following bands:
• The Parselmouths • Gred and Forge • Hank Green • Tonks and the Aurors • The Whomping Willows • Draco and the Malfoys • Harry and the Potters
Actress Scarlet Byrne, who plays Pansy Parkinson in the Harry Potter movies made a special appearance on stage.
Also making a special stage appearance was Evanna Lynch who plays Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter films. She even treated the audience to Luna’s dance.
So let’s go back to the beginning. The beginning of LeakyCon 2011. LeakyCon fans began arriving at the Royal Pacific Hotel all week just waiting…waiting for the opening festivities to kick everything off on Wednesday night. The Opening Festivities featured some very special guests, such as Harry & The Potters, Potter Puppet Pals, Team StarKid and Hank Green (just to name a few!) After Melissa Anelli, Headmistress of this whole shabang, kicked off the conference, everyone headed over to Universal’s Islands of Adventure to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter for the Open at the Close! Yes, the entire Wizarding World was opened just for LeakyCon. DJ’s, cash bar, an English fare of food and desserts, Butterbeer and pumpkin juice galore-now this was a party to beat all parties! And a surprise to all fans…Evanna Lynch, who plays Luna Lovegood, made an appearance and participated in a special podcast with the LeakyCon head staff.
So I had my share of frozen Butterbeer, tried pumpkin juice (not my thing!), hung out with amazing Potter fans and took some pictures…
This is the first of several LeakyCon 2011 posts to come. It’s the only way I can do this amazing event justice. So for those of you reading this that are wondering, “What is LeakyCon?” Here is the answer straight from the LeakyCon website:
LeakyCon 2011 is the second conference from LeakyNews.com, focused on the canon and community of Harry Potter. It is a charity conference. In short, it is what happens when the best academic minds in the Harry Potter fandom and its most dedicated fans come together to create a canon-centricenvironment in which all of us can learn, talk, and play.
So this first post features the Wizard Rock Night and the Deathly Hallows Party that took place on Thursday evening shortly after everyone saw an early premier of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II. This first Wizard Rock Night (yes, there was a second!) featured the following wizard bands:
MC Kreacher • House of Black • Justin Finch-Fletchley and the Sugar Quills • The Moaning Myrtles • The Remus Lupins • Ministry of Magic
Harper was baptized on February 20th and I felt truly honored to be able to document this special ceremony for the St. Onge family. And speaking of family-they came from California, New Hampshire, New York and all over Florida for this amazing day. The last time the entire family was all together was for Andrea and Ed’s wedding three years ago so this was a day to celebrate. Harper was a perfect little lady for the entire ceremony and did not even budge when, as the Priest aptly warned us, cold water was poured onto her head symbolizing her baptism. I’ve said it before and I’m sure I will say it numerous times in the years to come but I adore this precious family. So here is Harper’s day…
