Count Your Blessings...

Man, what a crazy couple of weeks it has been. From school to work to church to sending off our winter missions team to Ecuador, the holidays, friends visiting, and finishing up some senior requirements, it has been a tough couple of weeks for me to get in my updates... So here we go!

Story of my life, it's been tough getting the chance to pick up my camera. Back in late November, I approached by a good friend of mine, Michelle Leonardo, to photograph her 18th birthday party. I figured this would be a good way for me to practice and start charging for my services. Charging services, for me, is more about building up the confidence necessary to successfully photograph a day such as her 18th birthday party, more so than getting a pay day or anything along those lines.

So while I do not have much time to write an extensive update, here are the pictures.... Enjoy!

The decorations were, phenomenal...

I'm not going to lie, Michi's court looked GORGEOUS!

I am constantly amazed at how ridiculously popular and loved Michi is.... 

Happy Birthday Michi....

1, 2, 3.... SMILE!

I've been saying this time and time again but I cannot stress enough how difficult it is for me to practice my photography. With that in mind, what better way to do so by practicing my photography during a community service project?!

Part of being in the IB program is needing to carry out a community service project. My community service project piggy-backed off of another project known as Help-Portrait. 

HELP-PORTRAIT IS A GLOBAL MOVEMENT OF PHOTOGRAPHERS USING THEIR TIME, GEAR AND EXPERTISE TO GIVE BACK TO THOSE IN NEED

In order to kind of mimic their mission statement, I partnered with Mending Hearts to carry out a small scale version of Help-Portrait's mission. I, along with four other close friends of mine went into an under-priviledged neighborhood where we spent all day giving those who came makeover, and a small scaled photo shoot. However, I MUST give some shout-outs.

• Pooja Patel: Thank you soooooo much. I was so surprised at how ridiculously talented you are with make-up and hair. I could not have asked for anything else to have been done differently. You are freaking amazing. Thank you so much.
• Carla Mae Ramos: Thank you so much for everything with hair. You seriously are uber talented with hair. Likewise with Pooja, I could not have asked for anything different to have been done. Thank you so much!
• Anna Nicole McGehee: What can I say? You may think you didn't do much, but you did. You were that one person who did a little of everything to help everything else go smoother. Thank you so much!
• Berlimar Andreina Anez: Much like Anna, you did a little of everything that helped everything run. From taking preliminary shots, to helping with make-up, to hair, to clean up, to dealing with me all day, literally ALL DAY!!!!! Thank you so much. You're amazing...

My lovely, lovely helpers...

Did I say thank you yet???? No?

THANK YOU!!!!!

P.S

Be sure to stay tuned! Pictures from my good friend's, Michelle Leonardo, birthday party will be up shortly

Happy Birthday Austin!

Man, it's been tough getting around to the whole photography thing but every time I get the chance, I never regret it. As 2012 is coming to an end, I'm looking back a my blog and realized that compared to 2011, I have about half the number of posts in 2012 than I did in 2011. Is this a lack of photography opportunities or a lack of dedication on my part? I must confess that it's a little of both. As I'm going through my senior year, I'm finding it tough to find opportunities to really stretch my photography career. Between school work, SATs, ACTs, college applications, and work itself, it's been pretty tough to just pick up camera and do what I love.

This past Saturday, November 5, 2011, I was able to do exactly that. This past Saturday, about 30-40 of my friends and I put together a surprise birthday party for our good friend Austin. To be completely honest, I was never SUPER close with Austin, but he has always been one of those close acquaintances who, when we hung out, we always interacted as close friends. With that in mind, me photographing his birthday party was of no burden what so ever. I'm constantly amazed to see how much an individual can be loved by his friends and family. I was so encouraged to see the love and care put into this party from both his parents and his friends. I am so blessed to have been given the opportunity to serve and photograph the birthday celebration of a good friend of mine.

As I have in the past, I must give a shout out to...

• Mr. Spickard: I don't think I've ever seen a father more proud and loving towards his son. To see the desire in your heart to put together a surprise party for your son makes me kind of jealous honestly... haha. 
• Amanda: I am so proud of you. I have never been more proud and blessed to call you my friend. To see the love, effort, and stress that you went through to put together such an amazing birthday party for Austin reminds me of why I can call you one of my best friends. The party, decorations, presents, and everything else was P.E.R.F.E.C.T! I'm so proud of you and proud to call you my friend.

In case you guys are getting bored by now, here are the pictures. Enjoy!

Happy birthday Austin!

The decorations were phenomenal! 

While there were not many photographs to take, but it looked amazing.

And we wait for Austin to come....

And we wait some more....

And finally, at around 7.20PM, SURPRISE!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUSTIN!

After a night of food, fun, and lots of dancing, I set up a nice photobooth where people could grab a bunch of friends, some props, and take some pictures for Austin.

Overall, the night was an awesome time of fellowship and bonding. 

Happy birthday Austin!

Senior Homecoming

Boy has it been a crazy couple of months. From school, to work to college applications, IB requirements, and other duties, it's been tough for me to pick up my camera and just take some photographs. This past Friday, October 14, 2011, was Cypress Creek's Homecoming Dance. Originally, I had refused to be on photographer duty, but due to the lack of photographers at school, ha-ha, I was forcefully put on photographer duty anyways.

All I can say is the night was awesome. It was great to be spending time with my friends of four years along with the best possible person I could ask for. It was definitely a night to remember and for once in my lifetime, I actually danced in public! Homecoming night made all the stress and nonsense of the past two months totally worth it. Class of 2012!!!!

While I do not have much to say, a more elaborate post is in fact to come but for now, enjoy the pictures!

Time to Professionalize... A Little

So as I take steps closer and closer to professionalizing my photography, I'm now starting to offer services.

The first service that I'm beginning to offer is portrait work. There are different types of portrait "packages" available. Ones for senior portraits, individual portraits, and couple portraits as well.

Underneath the portrait information is my second service that I'm starting to offer. As a photographer, I find it important to be a versatile artist. Along with my portrait services, I am also offering video making services. The more important details are listed, but the basic gist of it is, any pictures/videos that you may need created into a movie and/or DVD can be done through the information listed.

If you have any questions/comments, please feel free to contact me.
Happy Friday!