mila | irvine portrait photographer . oh how they grow

ack!!  what's going on?!?!?!  one second these kids are helpless little blobs in a carrier and two blinks later they're attempting to stand up on their own!  just take a look at my fave lil gal kendall and her (not so) little (anymore) brother shephard.  oh how they grow.... i'm not looking away from kaya anymore.  she might start running soon.

my lens loves kendall kisses.

look dad!  no hands!!!

just kidding!

 

and... my favorite picture of the day.  the one that says it all..

to view my portfolio just click on these links mila|weddings by michelle or mila|portraits by michelle. to book sessions please send me a message through milaPhotography.com or contact me via michelle@milaphotography.com | 949.734.0604

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mila | june smugmug . roberto valenzuela

the sharpshooter group invited roberto valenzuela to speak at a gathering last year.  that was the first time i even heard of him.  i sat down steeling myself for another pep-talk and was happily surprised to hear of a different kind of lecture.  here was a guy that was giving me some technique tips for once!  it was an amazing talk from a very dynamic and entertaining speaker.  he's got an accent and a great sense of humor and i was enthralled by his grasp of the subject matter.... getting a good handle on your photography basics, extending your comfort zone and being the master of that spot.  i told all my friends about him and how impressed i was.  now i have a chance to share again.  he's coming to this month's smug!


here's the details..

Date:	Thursday, June 24, 2010
Time:	7:00pm - 8:00pm
Location:	Mesa Verde Country Club
Street:	3000 Club House Road costa mesa, ca

Description 

BREAK IT DOWN!
Break it down is a practical program designed by Roberto Valenzuela to serve as a guide to breaking down the challenges and harnessing the hidden opportunities presented by any location or pose. For every challenging situation, there are many opportunities hidden beneath. This seminar will help you find just that. During the program, Roberto will show you how you can break down poses and locations based on colors, geometric shapes, balance, angles, symmetry, converging lines, and overall impact value. Never run out of ideas again!

Roberto is a 50-time International award winning photographer, 3-time 1st place winner, and a WPPI print competition judge.

Roberto just got listed by Junebug weddings as one of the top wedding photographers in the world.

Find out more about Roberto Valenzuela at http://www.robertovalenzuelaphotography.com/

i hope i see you there!

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here's some photos from last month where hanssie spoke on being yourself in this industry and mirta and joe barnet sharing a spot in their workshop.

matt is always watching out for hanssie ... or maybe it's the lighting he's always aware of.

and kaya bear sleeping thru it all...

mila | dear daddy . love kaya

dear daddy,


i wanted to show you how happy i was that you're my daddy.  i had this whole thing planned out but mommy's not too good at this surprise stuff.  well.. actually the first oops wasn't her fault.  i asked her to take your fish (surfboard) to uncle bobby so it could get fixed once and for all.  you've been talking about that one damaged spot since i was in mommy's belly but haven't taken it in yet.  that plan was going well until the surfboard fixer dude said he couldn't fix it.  but there was good news --- it's still surfable!  of course mommy had to go and tell you all about it that day.  ugh.  all that sleuth work, even using uncle steven as surfboard taxi ... all for nothin.  and then i sent her to HIC to get you some boardshorts and twice she had to reschedule and then she puts it in her google calendar so she wouldn't forget which was fine except that she FORGOT that you guys shared that calendar.  so you saw it!  ergh!  everyone knows she doesn't visit tito baltazar for fun.  lol.  what am i gonna do with her?!  oh and now she's doing this post on a friday and father's day isn't till sunday!


ah well ... it's the thought that counts right?  we still got you some boardshorts to get you ready for the philippines and indonesia.  i hope you like them.  i helped her pick them out :D  i think next year i'm gonna hire tita ina to do this.  she did a great job for mother's day.


love,
kaya


p.s.  i got you a bball jersey too.  to show you that i love being your bball buddy.  go lakers!


farty kisses,
kaya


here's some pictures from our last family meeting ... mom says these are SOOC (straight out of camera) shots.  i had a lot of things to say but you slept thru it all.  

here's the pictures of you n me watching bball.  you're the best TV buddy ever!

to view my mommy's portfolio just click on these links mila|weddings by michelle or mila|portraits by michelle. to book sessions please send her a message through milaPhotography.com or contact her via michelle@milaphotography.com | 949.734.0604

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mila | blog sheets

getting your photo in a magazine = major bragging rights.  i'm not talking about having my mug on a mag although that would be rad too.  i'm talking about having a photograph that i took featured in a magazine.  back in the day, photographers would collect what is known as tear sheets.  literally they were pages from the mag torn out to prove that their work was featured.  these days online blogs have taken over the world and getting featured in a blog has become the goal.  just wanted to share a couple of recent "sheets".

this shoot was one that hanssie, myself and mary lalland (of jay's catering) put together at the astor car center.  we love doing these shoots since it gives us a chance to get creative, work with new vendors and crack our photography knuckles.  it was recently featured on rock n roll bride.  thanks kat!  we couldn't have been more thrilled that you liked it!

this morning curtis calls me down to his computer and says... recognize anything on this page?  me, being so dense, did not see anything unusual about his favorite website surfline.  then he says... that's your picture on the banner ad!  what?!?!?!?!  hahahah!

curtis, bobby (his brother), myself and our friend petra had gone to cardon surf resort in mexico a couple of years ago.  i spent every morning taking pictures of the guys from sunup to noon for a week.  i got a great tan, an arm workout (handheld camera .. no tripod) and an awesome set of surf photos.  i gave the resort a cd of my faves of course and that's what they used for their recent banner ad!

what a great place for the guys to go surfing!  the waves were epic, the place was professional, clean and gorgeous oh and the food was practically gourmet.  it was such a step up from the typical surf camp i was surprised how reasonably priced it was. 

here's a few more shots from that week.  btw, this was the week i taught myself to go on full manual on my camera.  back then i was rocking the canon rebel xti and a tamron 18-250 lens that i LOVED.

to view my portfolio just click on these links mila|weddings by michelle or mila|portraits by michelle. to book sessions please send me a message through milaPhotography.com or contact me via michelle@milaphotography.com | 949.734.0604

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mila | cerritos photographer . 50th wedding anniversary

this event was so special to me.  it was the golden one!  and....as if i wasn't enough of a sap already it also reminded me of my grandparent's 50th.   i so had the hardest time keeping my emotions in check, the tears kept threatening to gush.   gregorio and saturnina have grown their family to a talented and loving brood of 18 with great success; and even after all these years, the love between them was apparent.

this is allie.  all the kids performed as is the filipino tradition for family gatherings, allie stole the show.  she did a jaw dropping rendition of west side story.  her mom swears that the skirt she had on has the pixie dust coz apparently she learned the entire routine on her own .  the kid's got talent!  i already ordered a skirt for kaya.

these four were on this bench for 20 hours!  i exaggerate, but they were definitely on it for at least four hours. not even sure if they took pee breaks coz everytime i walked by they were on it.

if this shot looks blurry to you it looked blurry to me too... coz i couldn't hold back my own tears.

to view my portfolio just click on these links mila|weddings by michelle or mila|portraits by michelle. to book sessions please send me a message through milaPhotography.com or contact me via michelle@milaphotography.com | 949.734.0604

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mila | photographing friends . dylan

and then there was three.  so now we have dylan, kaya and austin each 2 months apart.  they're gonna be best buddies, i can already see it.  my lil girl flanked by 2 boys.  hee hee. 

i can't wait to get together for another play date.  this time we can have the 3 kids side-by-side.  i crack up coz dylan is clearly the oldest and double kaya's size.  he's gonna be the protector i'm thinkin.