mila | july smugmug

joe photo brought on exactly what i needed to hear as far as albums.  he had a triple stack of albums from all the different companies he's worked with that we could touch n feel.  he had quality and price information on each and every one of them.  he showed us design ideas and he shared his workflow.  it was the album lesson from head to toe, and i needed it.  THANK YOU joe!  it was like a WPPI summary.  the show i've still never been to.  


whaddya say?  you couldn't make it?  again?  sucks to be you.  not only did you miss out on the joe album show n tell, you also didn't get a chance to meet jack of west coast albums whose product i just love.  oh and hanssie brought in her canvas wrap and metal print from bayphoto.  they looked gooooood!  i can't wait to order one of each myself!  


i keep telling you guys that these gatherings have a ton of awesome information and it's free!  but since you didn't make it i better tell you about smugmug and moo connecting the dots and making it easier to order cards.


anywayz ... next up is Art Suwansang of Wedding 64 to teach us about Lightroom 3.  if you've never used LR this one is a treat.  i gave hanssie a mini class and she's a convert.  if you ARE familiar w LR you should come anyway.  you might learn something new since the new version has all kinds of awesome sauce.  join our meetup group to stay on top of the dates.


p.s. special thanks to joe & mirta barnet for helping setup the room.  you guys are rad!  

hanssie's hooked on kaya.  i swear the kid is the worst form of birth control ever.

mila | kelly + raleigh . the teaser

what a fun wedding at the pacific edge in laguna!  congratulations kelly and raleigh!

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

mila | 2nd photographer etiquette

second shooting for someone is fun!  i get to experiment and shoot great events with less pressure.  but it's also a lot of responsibility.


when a photographer asks me to second shoot with them i consider that an honor.  to me that means they love my work, they get along with me well enough to stand spending a whole stress day with me and they believe in me enough to count on me in case there is a problem.  and i take that seriously.  i pack a full gear and i shoot responsibly.  three things that i always do as a second:

• stay out of the primary's shot
• shoot from an angle that is different than the primary (i'm there to add to the portfolio not create duplicates)
• try to shoot with a lens that is different than the primary

it HAS happened.  the main photog's battery died, the card was full, the flash stopped working, the camera wasn't cooperating.  it was my job as second to be right there, ready to take the necessary shots.  i'm always fully aware of where the main photographer is and what's going on with that person.  so when disaster strikes, there's no stress, no shock, things run smoothly and the bride didn't even feel a thing.


taking pictures is exhausting.  sometimes i'm just the fire that lights that main's ass and pushes in a second wind.  (that sounds bad huh?)  i'm the critical second eye that notices out of place details and steps in for the correction.  i'm also the stylist, poser, water runner, light finder and whatever.  when i'm the second, it's my job to be the primary's entourage and support.  when i'm the primary i expect no less from my second.  luckily, in this world, we're all friends coz that's a whole lotta responsibility.


other things to note when i play second photographer:

• they are NOT my client, this is NOT my job and i am NOT operating as milaPhotography on that event.  so the photos are NOT mine.  if the main photographer allows me to blog or post on fb any of the pictures then i am very very grateful.  if the main photographer uses my shots for their port, slideshow, album, etc.  then i am flattered.  in no way are they obligated to credit me for a shot taken at their event. 
• should i be allowed to blog about the even i always credit the main photographer.  ALWAYS.
• to call a shot "my own" means that i found the light, the background, the pose and the composition.  so if the main photographer sets up the shot then i can't call it mine now can i?  subsequently, this is also the reason why we put into our contracts that other pro photographers (or people with pro-like cameras) are not allowed to shoot at our weddings.  it's too easy for a shot to get setup by someone else and then 10 people stand right behind the photographer and take the picture.  

things i DON'T do as a second:

• contact the client via fb, twitter or email.  
• any kind of social media in this industry is a marketing tool.  contacting the client would be all kinds of wrong.  
• tagging the client's pictures on fb.  see above.
• blogging images BEFORE the primary (and without permission).  
• blogging is also a marketing tool.  to post photos before the primary posts photos would be stealing thunder.  bad idea.
• give out my business cards at the event.  
• on the day of the event, the second (and third) photographer is working under the primary's company.  giving out business cards that are unrelated to the primary is a conflict of interest.
• i will NOT use any of the photos for my online portfolio.

despite how harsh some of that stuff sounds trust me, 2nding really is fun and a great opportunity to stretch myself as a wedding photographer.  

here's some shots i took as hanssie's 2nd at this rad wedding she invited me to.  the bride was soooo my kind of DIY gal.  she thought of everything and added the cutest most genuine touches of craftiness to her wedding.

mila | scott robert N me . flash

back in may i took a workshop with scott robert and i tried to practice what i learned as much as possible.  it's always easy to fall back into habits.  it's a comfort zone thing and as roberto valenzuela once said, your comfort zone is about a minute long.  but i press on.  the easiest way for me to do this is to practice on my own.  using my clients as guinea pigs for my latest experiment isn't always the best idea so kaya and curtis get the brunt of the shutter exposure.  (mm hmm.. you know it, no pun intended).


first he said "look for the light".  


and that's what i've been doing.  it's helped.  a LOT!  not that i didn't know where to look or what to look for in the past, but i ran on instinct rather than science.  it's the science that makes the doing repeatable.  and in this industry, consistency pays off.  


then he said "bring your own".  


flash can be my friend!  i'm telling you, this man can teach!  the concept of flash for some reason in the most complicated and intimidating lesson amongst my peers (unless you're matt).  after the lesson, i think i got it down!  well ... i thought i did anyway.  i figured out (at a wedding) that i needed to really practice the crap out of this and have it become second nature.  i second shot with joe photo and becker recently.  those guys were sooooo generous to let me tag along at this amazing wedding in malibu.  good thing i was only the 3rd string tag along, they showed me what i forgot to do.  i forgot the first lesson.  look for the light.  just coz i brought light didn't mean that i should "hide" the existing light.  i need to make it all work harmoniously.  practicing, trial and error and perseverance will get me there.  and so i keep on.

here's the experiment shots at the scott robert workshop.  btw... i found it easier for me to learn the lessons on my own with a group of friends rather than work under a time pressure with the models.  this was one of those lessons i really had to think about.  so ... you'll notice that i only have 1 model photo.  not because there weren't any models there.  i just opted out of using them.