Golden Goggle Awards 2011

My mom always said I was born to swim. I'd sit in my stroller and kick my legs as fast as they would go. Once I got in a pool I was like a fish to water. Swimming has now been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Until about a year ago, I could still be found at swim meets almost every weekend running the timing system or running the computer system.

So, you can imagine my delight when an email came in from the USA Swimming Foundation asking me to photograph their biggest (non-swimming) event of the year, the Golden Goggle Awards! It was such an honor to meet some of my favorite Olympians and photograph such a large event! Thank you USA Swimming Foundation for trusting me this honor!







I got to play on the red carpet before the event!


Kaitlin Sandeno, 2000 & 2004 Olympian (and my idol when I was a swimmer!), & Mel Stewart, two-time Olympic gold medalist, and our guide for the evening!


Kaitlin Sandeno & Jason Lezak (fellow Rose Bowl Aquatics swimmer!)


Ryan Lochte, you'll get to know him really well during the next Olympics!


Shooting on the red carpet!





Our Host for the evening Kevin Nealon.


Female Race of the Year:Presenters - Chris Bauer (True Blood) & Dave BerkoffWinner - Missy Franklin


Male Race of the Year:Presenters - John Slattery (Mad Men) & Amy Van DykenWinner - Ryan Lochte


"The Return"





Bill Maxon & Rowdy Gaines


Impact Award: Presenters - Ryan Lochte Winner - Carolyn Dirks


Breakout Performer of the Year: Presenters - Kevin Farley & Debbie Meyer Winner - Alex Meyer


Perseverance Award: Presenters - John Naber & Louie Zamperini (The book Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption was written about him) Winner - Peter Vanderkay


Coach of the Year: Presenters - Dave Wharton & Summer Sanders Winner - Greg Troy


Relay Performance of the Year: Presenters - Tyler & Cameron Winklevoss (aka the guys that helped create Facebook!) Winner - 4x100 Relay Natalie Coughlin, Melissa Franlkin, Dana Vollmer, Rebecca Soni


Female Athlete of the Year: Presenters - Michael Lewis (author of Moneyball & The Blind Side) and Janet Evans
Winner - Missy Franklin


Male Athlete of the Year: Presenters - Brian Clay & Matt Biondi
Winner - Ryan Lochte



And to end the evening, a picture with my new friend, Kaitlin Sandeno!
Were you a guest at the Golden Goggles? Check out the rest here!

Sports: 2011 SCS Junior Olympics

Bat Mitzvah: Sophie & Mara

The fun part of being a photographer is sharing in special moments in families lives. Like a daughter's Bat Mitzvah. But sometimes a special moment is made even more special, like when a daughter shares her special day with her mother who never got to have hers.

Sophie & Mara, thank you for letting me be a part of your special day. Sophie, I am so proud of you for taking this step later in life. I know I wouldn't have been able to. Mara, you are such a amazing, mature young lady. I wish you all the best in the years to come!

A special thanks to Dana Bresin from DB Creativity and the guys from Real Genius Entertainment! You guys are amazing and so much fun to work with!


































I LOVE LOVE LOVE the theme! I'm a Broadway geek...















Mara's Aunt and Uncle did a special song for Mara. They are from Chicago so they sung a song from the musical Chicago, but changed the lyrics to be all about the Bat Mitzvah! So funny and cute!





The kids played a game where they had to run into the adults eating dinner and find whatever the DJ asked for and bring it back before everyone else got back to the seats! It was fun to watch!



The next game they had to get into groups with the amount of people the DJ asked for. Watching kids running to get into groups was hilarious!



Mara lit candles for her past, present, and future. It was very touching.



Conga line!



My fellow Gleeks...







Thriller!

Crazy kids....

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