The Wiz Of Oz

I know I have talked on this blog before of my obsession with my nieces and nephews, but have I really ever talked about my obsession with their mom? Now is the time.

Stephanie is my sister in law…but can we just cut the “in law” part and call her what she is.. MY SISTER. She is my sister. From the first time we met and my brother warned her that my opinion mattered, we were sisters. We clicked. Immediately. I can’t tell you a time since we first met that I have ever felt uncomfortable around her. I haven’t. It’s impossible. She is one of the most affable, disarming and likable people. And although she has every reason to make you feel inferior, like her 4 amazingly stunning children she made from scratch, her looks, HER LOOKS, her social skills, her sex appeal…OK now I’m just getting creepy…She NEVER makes you feel any less than her. In fact, when you are around her, you actually feel better about yourself. She makes me feel important..and the ability to make others feels important and loved is an indispensable gift.

I recently had the great pleasure of stalking her on stage as she commanded an audience with her performance as Dorthy. She and my nieces have been performing with Broadway Bound, a great, local theater company based in Orange County. Michael, the Creative Director is amazingly talented. You can tell  that everyone  REALLY likes working with him.

This is a sampling of some last minute photos I snapped for the cast. Excuse the abundance of Stephanie….but..well..she shined.

If you were part of this cast contact Michael for information on where to view all of the images and how to buy a CD.

I love you Steph. You knocked my socks off. You always do.

(And congratulations to the entire cast. Your hard work paid off. The show was fantastic!)

(Geek Facts: No tripod was used. I rarely use a tripod unless I want to do a fairly long exposure…1sec or more. Everything was hand held and stage shots were all done with my 70-200 f2.8 lens. I was sitting middle back of the auditorium and was able to still get that close! Amazing right? I love that lens. When you shoot concerts or performances I know the reaction is to bump up your ISO but I wouldn’t. I never shoot above a 400iso in those conditions..otherwise it just gets really contrasty and brassy looking and your highlights will be blown out. I try and shoot as wide open as possible so I can use as high of a shutter speed as possible. most stage shots were between f2.8 – 3.5 and shutter speed fluctuated between a 1/40 and 1/125 depending on the light. Everything was exposed manually. I did bounce some flash on some of the backstage shots but NO flash on stage shots. It would do no good since I was so far away.)