Carousel of Dreams in San Francisco

 It was an honor to be the photographer for the fundraiser the RARE Carousel of Dreams in San Francisco.

 The event, a fundraiser organized by the Festival of Children Foundation and Global Genes, was located at the Children's Creativity Museum Carousel. It raises awareness of rare diseases and the importance of working collaboratively to combat them.

 Two of Orange County’s most influential and philanthropic women, The event was put together by Nicole Boice, Founder and CEO of Global Genes, and Sandy Segerstrom Daniels, Executive Director of Festival of Children Foundation.

 The event also observed World Rare Disease Day.

SF Nude Valentine's Day Parade & Cupid Undie Run

It was a busy weekend for nude rights in San Francisco.

 One was the Nude Valentine's Day Parade where people celebrated their right to walk the streets in San Francisco.

 It was a friendly event.

 And people showed their pride.

Read the SFGate article about the parade.

 On the other side of the city, people came to take part in the Cupid Undie's Run.

 It is a fundraiser for neurofibromatosis and participants got nearly naked to raise money.

 The fundraiser raised about 39 thousand dollars.

For more read the SFGate article.

Santo Nino Ceremony

Last year I photographed the Santo Nino ceremony of Pablo Julian Gervasio Reyes in a town in the Philippines.

The Santo Nino ceremony happens in January throughout Catholic Churches throughout the country. It is to honor the image of the Santo Nino, Jesus, as a child. The festivities center around an appointed child, known as the "Hermano Mayor" who lead the ceremony for the church. 

For Pablo, he was the Hermano for the church in his grandmother's hometown. He actually did not know many of the kids who attended the parish personally.

Before the ceremony, he handed out gifts to the other kids attending the ceremony

And lunches were handed out as well.

Afterwards, Pablo was dressed up for his part in the ceremony.

A marching band led him to the church.

Where he walked down the center row... 

...and was seated in front of the altar.

Many people brought their statues of the Santo Nino to the ceremony.

And the kids took up most of the pews.

After saying his anointed words...

...the pastor blessed all the Santo Nino statues with holy water.

After the mass was a parade through the town.

Apparently, the parade used to take hours, but it was decided to be made shorter.

For the kid's sake.

It was also led by the marching band.

And featured many Santo Nino statues.

Santo Nino of Pablo Julian Gervasio Reyes

After the parade, the Hermano Mayor handed off the responsibility to the next child who will take the position next year.