Here’s a little peek from a fun family shoot I did with an adorable family from church.
I love the 5 spray painted on the door (I swear it wasn’t me haha) because there are actually 5 people in this picture – yep, you guessed it, baby #3 is on the way!!!!
We did it! We reached the goal of $500 to provide clean drinking water for 25 people in less than 36 hours!!! If you didn’t see my post about charity: water, here it is.
Now here are the details for the $5000 campaign to drill a well that will provide clean drinking water to an entire village of people and change their lives forever!!!!!
I will provide a complete wedding package that includes an engagement session, 8 hours of wedding day coverage, and a full res dvd, to one couple who is willing to give up their gift registry and instead, ask their guests to donate to charity: water. Check out this blog post about a couple who already did this and read about the impact it had =)
There are, of course, some rules:
1. The wedding must take place in Orange, LA, Riverside or San Diego County
2. The guest list must contain at least 125 guests
3. The wedding must take place in 2011
So, if you are reading this and you want free wedding photography and are willing to give up the toasters and ovenmits and you fit all of the criteria, please contact me and provide the following:
1. A letter indicating why you want to do this – hint: if it’s just for the free photography, that’s not a good reason, sorry =) And also, tell me about yourselves, how you met, etc.
2. The date and location of your wedding
3. A recent picture of the two of you
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Congratulations Michelle! Thanks for caring=) the world needs more people like you!
Michelle this is awesome!!! Congrats to you for taking on this project. Love it!!! Changing the world through photography. Rock on!
I recently read a book called The Hole in Our Gospel by World Vision President, Richard Stearns. Being President of World Vision, he has seen first hand the world’s poverty. This book pretty much rocked my world and I don’t think I’ll ever be the same, actually I hope I’ll never be the same. It really got me thinking about what I can do to help. At first it was discouraging and overwhelming.
Here are some shocking statistics:
4,500 children will die today, today! Not in a year, a day! All from not having clean water, something we take for granted every day.
Americans spend 20 billion a year on ice cream. It would only take 7 billion to provide the entire world with clean drinking water.
I knew that I needed to do something and instead of sitting around and thinking it through any longer I’m just going to act.
I love this quote by Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility.
I want everyone to know that 10% of every penny I make from now on will go to help give clean water to people in developing countries. There are so many ministries that are close to my heart and do so many wonderful things, but what I love about Charity: Water is the fact that 100% of all proceeds go to providing clean water and you can actually see visual proof! I am a visual person and I love that!
The other thing I love about Charity: Water is the founder’s story. Please watch it here.
I started a campaign page with the goal of $500 which will give clean drinking water to 25 people. My next goal is going to be a bit larger – $5000 which will be used to drill a well to give clean water to an entire village! And we’ll be able to see visual proof using GPS!! How awesome is that?!?!?! Stay tuned for details of my next fund-raising campaign =)
But in the meantime would you please consider giving? Here is a link to my starter campaign. =)
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Michelle, I love what you are doing with charity: water. Congratulations on your first campaign! Awesome.
PS I also love the B&W Lopez family photo.
[...] We did it! We reached the goal of $500 to provide clean drinking water for 25 people in less than 36 hours!!! If you didn’t see my post about charity: water, here it is. [...]
Jena loves vintage things and Jason is the owner of Lefty’s tattoo, so I wanted to make sure their session really reflected who they are. We started out in their adorable kitchen:
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I recently had the amazing opportunity to photograph a wonderful woman of God, Nicole Johnson. Nicole is a bestselling author and motivational speaker, including speaking at Women of Faith. She is about to release a new DVD series called “Hands Free” that deals with teaching women how to let go and enjoy the freedom of letting God be in control. I had so much fun hanging out with Nicole! I love this quote of hers:
“We live in a world of great beauty and enormous pain. I like to write about the strange way they come together on the shores of hope.”
Here is a sneak peek of some of the images that will be in the DVD series:
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Great captures of an amazing woman! I’m a big Nicole Johnson fan and these photos are amazing!
We are LOVING the images, Michelle. You are incredibly talented. I’m so glad the lighting turned out perfectly. Thank you for your gift.
I have been so crazy busy lately, thus the neglected blog. I hope one day I can catch up on posting. One thing I did take a break for though, was a weekend trip to LA with Eric for our 15 year anniversary – yes folks, I was pretty much 12 when we got married =)
When I look back at the last 15 years, I am amazed at how fast they went by and how blessed we’ve been: 3 beautiful girls, a house, a business, health. Life is good. God is good.
For our trip we went lots of places, but 2 highlights from our trip were a diner from a movie that was a big influence to us before we got married and The Getty.
this one cracks me up:
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Here is the full post as promised =)
Jennifer and Jeff are awesome and hilarious! I had so much fun with these two! They decided to have a private courthouse wedding which gave us tons of time (and locations) for portraits
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gorgeous, as usual! I especially love the the chair and flowers
These two are going to make for some pretty awesome parents:
the sun came out for like 2.7 seconds, at least we caught it =)
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These are absolutely beautiful! Congratulations to David & Sarah!
I have never met a cuter couple in all my life. I want Eric and I to be as cute as they are one day =)
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Thank you Michelle! We will cherish these forever. My dad gravitates toward cameras wherever he happens to be, posing for everyone regardless of whether he is asked to or not! My mom is much more modest, graciously complying when asked. You have captured them perfectly. We are blessed to share in their special day and grateful to you for capturing their love so beautifully.
I’m so happy to be able to spend your 60th anniversary with you. Do you think I’ll make it? 20 more years to go for Ray and me. The Caigoy’s
What a treasure! These are the cutest and I, too, hope to be like this someday with my honey!
These pictures are beautiful! You have truly captured how much in LOVE they are!
Their enduring love shines …. Happy 60th Anniversary Uncle Ray and Aunt Sally. Your love inspires all of us. luv you
Michelle – You’ve got to stop blowing my mind away like this or before you know it I’ll have no mind left!
Phenomenal!
love, love these!
Elle surprised her mom and dad by coming a month early – she wasn’t due till June 14th! She was a champion sleeper for her photo shoot. Her parents are hilarious! I have never laughed so hard on a newborn shoot. ever.
I am shocked that this picture wasn’t blurry from me laughing so hard =)
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Oh my goodness….my ovaries are aching. How precious!!!! Your work is so amazing Michelle. Keep it up.
great job, Michelle! i don’t know why i am always so amazed at your work – you are always FABULOUS and capture people so well!
I’ve had a lot of people asking about 2010 mini sessions. After last year I decided that mini sessions are not for me. I learned a lot about myself last year and one of the big things I learned is that I love spending time with my clients. I love getting to know them and hearing their love stories. I can’t do that in 15 minutes, plus another problem is, it usually takes people about 20 minutes to warm up in front of the camera anyway. I learned that when it comes to my business, quality, not quantity is key. I want to find the perfect location for you, and incorporate your life into your images. I want to tell your story.
Plus, almost getting my sofa stolen and picking the most disgusting park around didn’t help either =)
So, as of right now, I only have 8 spots left for the rest of the year. If you want to set up a session with me, go to my website and click on ’schedule’ to see my open dates =)
xoxox
Here is another even smaller sneak peek. I promise more to come soon!
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I am knee deep in a ton of work this week, so this is a tiny sneak peek at a wedding I shot this last weekend at an estate in Orange Park Acres with an incredible view:
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All I can say is the picture with the headphones makes me want a boy super bad, but since my 3rd girl graduated from preschool today I will need to get my baby fix by taking pictures of cuties like this guy. The one on the right is one of his newborn portraits. Check out the difference a year makes with the one below it =)
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I can’t even begin to tell you how giddy I am right now over these new studio albums that arrived in the mail today!!!! As soon as I saw the box, I grabbed my camera and the albums had their very own photo shoot. The albums are from KISS and their philosophy at KISS is all about simplicity. Simple is Hot they say and I couldn’t agree more. I know that if I have too many choices I get way overwhelmed and can’t make any decision. So for my clients I offer three sizes of albums: 4×4 (the mini album that fits in your purse!), 10×10 or 12×12
First I’ll show you the 10×10 in Forbidden Green – because you know how much I love green, don’t you?:
All pages are printed on Fuji Crystal Archival paper that will never discolor – unlike the arm of my chair. I didn’t even know that stain was there till after I put the pictures on my computer. What do you think – lipstick? punch? frosting? sharpie? blood? We may never know =)
Check out the no-cut, lay-flat binding:
Look how thick the pages are:
They come with a super duper cute dust cover:
And here’s the 4×4 mini in Virgin White:
Isn’t it cute?!?!?
And here are the colors the albums come in:
Smouldering Brown, Sultry Blue, Virgin White, Passion Pink, Forbidden Green, Voluptuous Black & Redlight Red
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Michelle,
I want to get married again just so that you can take the pictures and make one of those albums for me. Maybe for our 25th anniversary…
<3 Susie
I really like these albums. The dust covers are great, too.
Here is a sneak peek from the cute mother & son session I did this week =)
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so sweet!
Seriously, how cute is Rachel?!? We had so much fun hanging out the other day taking some fun senior portraits. Rachel plays guitar, sings and is so sweet.
Then she helped me with a little project (more details to come) I have in the works for my favorite town….can you guess what town?????
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beautiful pictures!!!! you look amazing Rachel!
beautiful pictures…love them Rachel!!!!! Love, Mrs. Yates
omg……. before i read what you wrote, i was thinking “seriously, how adorable is this sweet girl!” then i read that you wrote the same thing! great pics, and an adorable young woman!
My friend Salley has 3 beautiful sister in laws and they all got together this weekend to celebrate a bridal shower and a baby shower so she asked me to take some portraits while they were all in town =)
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The wonderful Wedding Chicks featured Alison and Paul’s wedding!!!!! I feel so honored and blessed to see how God is growing my business.
You can see the full post here.
And then they also featured Danielle and Ryan’s wedding a while back but I never blogged about it….so here it is =)
Thank you Jocey and Amy – you guys are the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Alison and Paul are an amazing Godly couple and I had the pleasure of capturing their special day for them. Alicia Martinez did Alison’s makeup and Bekie Edwards did her hair. They choose to do a first look (and I’ll love them forever for it!) and it was so sweet to witness. Then their ceremony was held at Lifebridge church in Rancho Bernardo. The church burned down in 2007 during the Witch Creek fires that destroyed so many wonderful things. The doors of the newly reconstructed church building opened recently and this was the very first wedding!!! It was super emotional – especially for Pastor Tim who has watched these two grow up and serve God wholeheartedly and then fall in love =) And the reception was at the Marine Corps Air Station in Miramar at The Palms restaurant and Golf Course. I love it when a reception has dancing and people actually dance – what a fun group of people! Thank you so much Alison and Paul for letting me be a part of your day!
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Michelle,
I absolutely LOVE your photography. I find myself browsing your site on a regular basis. Tim and Natalie’s photos came out so well as did Paul and Alison’s. :)
Hopefully someday you can do the same for me!
Best,
Fiona
Michelle,
Those photos are so amazing! I cried at the “first glance” photos. They so captured the moment. Thank you so much.
Debbie Anderberg (Paul’s mom)
Michelle,
To say these photos are AMAZING is an understatement! Even the hillside pics at LifeBridge looked great … wow! So many favorites to pick from, but I did manage to see one that I love the most.
Did not get to attend the reception on Miramar, but your pictures definitely told the story of how much fun everyone had.
Thank you for such great work and for sharing some of Paul and Alison’s special day with the rest of us.
Suzy Ubry (LifeBridge friend)
Michelle,
Thank you for such beautiful pictures! You are amazingly talented and have given us a treasure that will remind us of the day for years and years.
Last Friday I went to Temecula for the April shootout. It was fun to hang out with other photographers and take some pictures. Here are a couple favorites:
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I’ve known this beautiful mama since she was teeny tiny. I was friends with her older sisters growing up and there are 5 girls in her family. Now there’s two granddaughters and this little guy is the first boy in a looooong time =)
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this little boy is adorable!! love his smile =) great pics, Michelle…….you are amazing!
I really, really love the last picture on the right. How imaginative and clever of you. Very novel! That little boy is too cute for words.
these are great pictures, Jackson is so cute, looks alot like his momma, and a little like his daddy! And a little like his Uncle Monroe. Love them all!!
Check out that adorable dimple and amazing hair:
beautiful big sissy wanted to make sure she got plenty of time in front of the camera too =)
and check out the difference 6 months makes:
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I love the last shot of newborn / 6 months!! it is crazy how fast they get big. These are great pictures – such beautiful girls =)
Look at that HAIR! Such an adorable, true carrot-top. The “now and then” shots in the basket were a great idea. Your imagination for creating unique photos is boundless.
Here are a couple shots from a fyeo {for your eyes only} party I did this weekend and when I say sneak peek I really mean sneak peek – hey, I want to keep it family friendly on this blog =)
I love my job – one day I’m doing newborn portraits, the next I’m doing boudoir and the next I’m doing a project for the children’s ministry at my church. I love the diversity. Plus it keeps things interesting =)
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Gentree is so beautiful and sweet. She has great style and loves doing hair and makeup. When we first started I told her that it usually takes people about 20 minutes to relax and loosen up for pictures, but she didn’t need 20 minutes, she was great from the first image on =)
Then afterward her mom and dad wanted to do a family session:
This picture is proof that I do know how to take a traditional portrait =)
Thanks guys! I had so much fun hanging out and I’m glad we didn’t get caught by any park rangers =)
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Where was this taken? It’s beautiful!
Love the open field. Very cool pictures. Okay her parents look so young. I thought they were friends at first.!
This was the very first thing I saw when I walked through the door. Seriously, what more do new parents need? In my opinion, these are the 2 most heaven sent tools in the world haha =)
Levi was WIDE awake when I got there. I love this picture. It cracks me up. He was laying there and all of a sudden he sat up and looked like he was going to start talking to us. Have you ever seen a 2 week old baby with neck muscles like this?!?!?!
We cranked the heat and turned on the blow dryer and slowly but surely he got sleepy:
Their first baby, Bo, wasn’t sure what to think, but I’m pretty sure he’s going to love those kissy lips very soon =)
Congratulations guys!!!! He’s a keeper =)
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Beautifully done Michelle. Brian and I were just looking at these and the ones of the ‘Turi’ family below. We’ve both concluded that you rate right up there with the world’s best!
Oh, I love these! I left them up while I’m answering emails, just so I can laugh. You captured his little personality so perfectly.
Sarah and I first met when we worked together at Vineyard Christian School 12 or 13 years ago. Sarah was single at the time but she soon met and fell in love with Bryce because of his heart for worship. Bryce is a pastor at Calvary Chapel Tustin and the love of the Lord is so evident in their lives. They have three beautiful children and cute vw bus. I am so glad I was able to spend time with them capturing who they are as a family =)
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They had a fun area set up for silly dress up portraits, because you’re never too old to play dress up =)
Even the grown-ups got in on the fun (sorry Jim, heehee):
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amazing!! i love all of these =) you are the best! Madi had a great time, and so did everyone else at the party. Thank you so much for the fun memories!!
AWESOME photos! Looks like a great time was had by all! Great job, as usual, Michelle. Your talent is amazing!
I’m so excited! This baby arrived in the mail yesterday! The wall above our sofa has been naked for far too long =)
You may be wondering what the difference between a canvas wrap and a gallery wrap is – well, I’ll tell you:
- a canvas wrap is a print printed on canvas and stretched around a custom built wood frame
- a gallery wrap is the same idea except it’s printed on super sturdy photographic paper and stretched around a custom built wood frame
Our’s is 20×40. I got that size with a fireplace (hope hope) in mind. I think if we weren’t putting in a fireplace in the near future, I would have gone a little bigger =)
If you are interested in a gallery wrap please contact me for a quote
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