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Happy Thursday everyone! I was absent from my blog last week cause I made the annual pilgrimage to Las Vegas to attend the yearly Wedding and Portrait Photographers Int’l conference. It’s where pros and enthusiasts alike get our leaning on, see new equipment, have a great time, and just do everything photography for nearly 24 hours a day! (Like we don’t do that already!). It’s such a great conference, and is open to anyone interested in the business, art and retail of photography. Like I said, you don’t have to be a pro, just an enthusiast! Although you WILL meet the top of the tops of the industry when you do attend. It’s so inspiring, so check it out! WPPI.

After all the partying was done, I was back in L.A. to get back to work with a new friend’s website/lifestyle photos. She’s a reiki practitioner/master, by the name of Jaclyn, and is an awesome person! We originally started working on her images about a month ago, and we’re still not entirely done! It’s great when you get to work with cool people. It doesn’t feel like work ;p

We photographed around the arts district last Friday here in L.A., using available light. When I first started out, I used to be be “afraid” of “harsh” light (contrasty, mid-day type), but now, I embrace it, as light is just light. It comes in so many forms that you use it the way you want your images to look. So, for all your photographers out there, don’t be afraid of mid-day light!

Here are a few of the photos we made last week.

I’m still catching up on stuff from last week, so check back next week for more from this shoot and other new stuff coming up, like a fun engagement session coming up this weekend, at a historic building in downtown L.A.

Thanks for clicking by everyone! See you soon,

Mike

Check out Jaclyn’s website here.

Happy Summer gang! Okay, maybe it’s NOT summer, but temps sure do feel it. It’s supposed to be 88 degrees today here in LA. What the?! I’m trying to keep cool. Weird. Seriously weird weather.

This week has been a little hectic, but I wanted to share with you all a cool swapmeet find I purchased last Sunday, and two shoots I had this week. I’ll go more into detail about all of these in future posts.

The first of the things I want to show you, is my 113 year Kodak Vest Pocket camera. A real beaut! Picked it up for a sweet $40.00 at the Rosebowl swapmeet last week. I could just imagine where it came from, and what kinds of images it took during its prime. Here it is!

They sure don’t make ‘em like they used to! If you’re interested in reading a little more about this centenarian,  click on this link.

Then, I had the distinct honor and pleasure to photograph a good friend of mine, Cesar, for his most recent round of headshots. Great stuff BTW! Afterwards, as with all my sessions, we played around and got some fun photos using a Profoto ring light. Love the look! Thanks Cesar!

And finally, the week started with a lifestyle session with Jaclyn K. of “Reiki with Jaclyn”. She’s like a 10th degree blackbelt in Reiki (if there is such a thing!). So if you need this type of work, do look her up. You can click here to find out more. Plus, she’s going to be updating her website soon, and you’ll be sure to find more of our collaboration with each other on it.

Why yes, that is Cesar again in the photo above

And that’s it for now. Sorry for the short post this week. Have a great week, and a happy Valentine’s day, single or not! Thanks for stopping by and see you next time!

Oh, and a huge thanks to Cesar and Jaclyn for allowing me to photograph them this week! Great peeps!

Thanks for stopping by!

Mike

Hi Everyone! I know, I’ve been M.I.A. the past few weeks. March has been fun and busy for me, and I have so much to share with you!

The first week of the month started off in Las Vegas, for the annual Wedding and Portrait Photographers Int’l (WPPI) convention that took place at the MGM. Every year, it’s an opportunity to take platform classes and learn from the best in the industry, as well as see all the new goodies from all the leading camera manufacturers. But the best thing about WPPI is meeting and making new friends, of which I made a lot this year. It’s inspiring being around like-minded individuals who share the same passion, triumphs and struggles that all of us go through. I spent five full days in Vegas (which is quite long actually), classes each day, expo as well, and hang-outs at night. Kinda felt like summer camp in a way, but everyone had nice (camera) toys!

Once I got back, I had three back to back photo sessions, which started off at the Japanese American Nat’l Museum. They opened up their “Perseverance” exhibit, all about tattoos! I had the opportunity to photograph over 40 models, with full body tattoos amidst a sea of tattoo fans and aficionados. Plus, they even had a live tattoo demonstration, the old fashioned way! No “buzzing” tattoo guns there!

After that, I had the most wonderful opportunity to photograph two amazing families. Both of which had some terrific and fun members, or all ages! Age ranged from 7 to 92 years! Oh what fun. Plus, it was such an honor to be asked to create something like that for them. That, truly makes this “job” so worth it

Add to all this, I also had a great first time opportunity to photograph a good friend of ours with a horse she’s been taking care of. It has only been recently that I’ve grown accustomed to  how majestic and beautiful horses are, so this too was a treat. I’d totally do it again

Okay, enough talk. Here are some of the images of March 2014 so far! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy!

 Thanks again for stopping by. See you next week!

Mike

Happy THIRD week of the new year everyone! How’s it going so far? I truly hope that your holidays were filled with all the joy, family, food, and FUN that is possible. I know mine was! Heck, it feels like just yesterday that I “signed off” for 2013. I guess time does fly when you get old huh? Sigh…

Nonetheless, here we are, 2014. No flying cars or transporters a la Star Trek yet, but hey, we’ve got iPads, computer phones, and this dandy little thing we call the internet. J/K! Not to poke fun, but hey, I AM still waiting on that teleportation device!

2013 ended in it’s usual grand fashion, hanging out with family and friends, and even scored a trip to the happiest place on Earth – yup, Disneyland! Three whole days with the little rugrats and pre-teens from Hawaii. Such a great time. Despite the place being over-populated due to the Rose Bowl, National Championship Game, and vacationing families, it was a great time! Didn’t ride as many rides, but just being there was fun. I just love that place!

New year’s came and went, and for the first time in a while, I was actually sleepy when the clock struck midnight. Should’ve had that extra green tea soy latte I love so much prior to the ball dropping.

A few days after the new year, I was back at work photographing my first wedding of 2014. The amazing, fun, terrific, sweet, cool, talented Aaron and Jill! The wedding and reception took place in a downtown photo studio, complete with food trucks for the main course, AND a surprise showing of the In N’ Out burger truck! What?! You bet I had a few (it was after I was done, come on!).

In a nutshell, that was the end and the beginning of the holidays and new year. How was yours? I wish you all the best that life can give you; many smiles, much success, great food, family, and friends; exciting destinations, beautiful sunsets, the sounds of laughter, and blessings to keep you all safe.

Happy 2014 everyone. Enjoy! And thanks for checking in

Mike

Happy 2014! Next week – A visit to the Space Shuttle Endeavor! Yay!!!

Happy Tuesday everyone! Wow, can you believe we’re in the last week of January already?

As my title suggests, what is a renaissance woman or person for that matter? According to the dictionary, a Renaissance person is:

ren·ais·sance woman

About a month ago, I was put in touch with Michelle Flowers by a mutual friend. Michelle had seen one of my photos on my Facebook page and was interested in scheduling a lifestyle photography session with me, one that highlights the many facets of her day to day life – writing, teaching, spirituality, education, the arts, etc. A perfect definition of a Renaissance woman!

So, we put our heads together and came up with a shoot for her to use the photos in the many blogs that she contributes to, almost like a visual tag for each article she happens to write that day. We incorporated the Renaissance theme complete with a renaissance costume, with a bit of a modern twist.

A true renaissance woman!

Leaning never exhausts the mind – Leonardo da Vinci

Check out her articles on the Huffington Post!

So true da Vinci, so true!

 We also wanted to incorporate an old typewriter in our “writers” theme. Yes, typewriter. That thing we used to use before computers.

Hmmm…

I’ve got it!

Typing away

Success!

A huge thanks to Michelle, and her lovely friends Tamika and Penelope for helping out on this session. Great times indeed.

 

For more of Michelle’s articles, do check out the blogs she contributes to at:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michelle-flowers/

 

and 

 

http://sgiwomenschronicles.com/

and

http://www.orijinculture.com/community/2011/indigo-thread-women-vision-purpose/

What inspires you?

Have a terrific week everyone! thanks for stopping by