Victoria & Edwin

Last year, was a year of new online things for me. One of those was entering the whole twitter world! I saw a lot of people had it, a lot of famous people were using it too, so I thought… hm, that should be interesting, I’ll give it a try! And of course, my best friend didn’t hesitate on helping me (since he’s pretty much an expert in a lot of online things! :P).

I got to meet really nice people around there, I love how internet has done that nowadays! And two of the greatest people I had the pleasure to meet from twitter were my buddies Victoria & Edwin. Their a really cool couple! and they asked me if I could take some photos of them, and of course I said SURE THING!! :D

It was a great experience!! While being a bit shy at first, both started to feel comfortable soon enough, and the photos just kept on coming! They’re amazing people and they’re so in love with each other that you can really feel it!

So Toshita and Edwin, thank you so much for giving me the chance to capture in photos a little bit of your love! ;)

Mil gracias muchis!! Insisto, re buenos modelos!!! :D

Here are some of my favorites!!

Enjoy!! :)

——————————-

——————————-

——————————-

——————————-

——————————-

——————————-

——————————-

——————————-

——————————-

——————————-

——————————-

——————————-

——————————-

——————————-

——————————-

——————————-

——————————-

——————————-

——————————-

New Year, New Goals!

Hello dear friends!! :)

We’re just beginning the new 2010 and time is already flying! I’m sure everyone has set themselves some New Year resolutions, goals, etc. Some have already had a great start of the year, and some maybe not such a great one. For those of you who haven’t really had a great beginning, hang in there! I’m sure it will get better as the year goes by.

Let me share with you how my year began… and hopefully, get the chance to inspire those of you who still need a bit of an inspiration boost.

January was going to be the month, THE month. I’ve been interested in attending a really cool photography program in D.C., and they hosted an Open House while I was visiting in Virginia. So I decided to attend and find out about everything concerning that program, etc. After hearing a couple of people talk about how it works, what you get to learn, what you can do afterwards, etc… I came out of there truly looking forward to be part of this place, learn everything I can learn, be part of a group of people who share the same passion as me. I even came out with a new friend! :)  The thing is, it really inspired me and made me want to do so much more with my photography, and I honestly couldn’t wait to begin! So, there it was… best night in January so far. And it was only the 5th.

Now let’s go back a couple of months into 2009. As you know, everyone has some kind of an idol or someone who does what WE love to do, and does it incredibly great! Therefore, we look up to them and admire their work. Last year, 2009, one of my favorite photographers: Jeremy Cowart, announced he was having a workshop at his studio (in Tennessee). A little hopeless to attend, I replied to him on twitter saying I would love to be able to attend… if I lived in the States. He replied (which was a really cool surprise!), convincing me to do it! he said: well come on over then! So let’s say a little light of possibility appeared in between my hopelessness, and thought that I might actually have a chance to attend, so I started to check my budget, plane tickets from VA to TN, etc. And after a few days of trying to get a ticket, I finally got the opportunity to get my spot in the workshop! and me… I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited/in shock in my life. :)

Finally, January 8th comes… and my mom and I were already in Tennessee (my mom’s a sweetheart, she wanted to go with me and join me in this really cool experience for me). On a snowy, pretty-cold night, right after a few minutes of looking for the exact location of Jeremy’s studio (and making 5 new friends in the process), I met one of the best photographers out there and 20+ incredibly talented photographers. The night began and I was the only foreign participant in the workshop, what a privilege! We all shared our stories with each other, and once again I was sort of ‘high’ on happiness and awe. Jeremy talked about his story, which was quite interesting (especially the one about photographing Sting!) and shared some of his lighting techniques on most of his website photos. It was really great to know how his creativity worked in a place where it wasn’t easy to be creative, and that’s something to really admire! The night finished and I couldn’t wait for the next day! It was mind-blowing to have met Jeremy, and also to have met such wonderful people in only the very first night! My excitement was so big that I was unable to go to sleep early… it was just impossible.

On the second day, the real action began. Sadly, Jeremy had had a small car accident that morning, but thank goodness everyone was ok! He got to the studio and he said we made his day better, so that’s a huge ‘yay’! :)  The whole day was filled with photos, learning, questions, answers, creating “something out of nothing”, like Jeremy said. And it was an absolutely amazing experience to learn from someone whose photography is way too original and who pretty much shares my idea of ‘the rules are made to be broken’ (photography rules, that is! :P), because it’s all about creativity and knowing how/when to use it and with what! So, before the workshop ended, we all gathered around in a circle to talk about what we wanted to do this year in the photography field, what our goals were, etc. I felt incredibly inspired by the goals and motivation everyone had towards this year and their photography, especially what my new friend Jesh said. He said (and I’m paraphrasing here), we all had to work on ourselves in order to get better on what we do, because that’s what matters! what’s inside of us and what we want to show through our photos, and the better we worked on ourselves, the better our work would be. And he was so right! Those were only some of the words that made me feel truly inspired, and I mean genuinly inspired. I don’t think that something like that had ever happened to me before! I was completely overwhelmed with that feeling, I thought it was going to come out of my chest or something! Made me think about how many things I want to do, and what I want to become, and how close I am to actually get it!… and that, as my best friend said, was an epiphany. And I think he’s right too. :)

So there you have it. And there I was… on the 9th day of the year, feeling completely overwhelmed by the extreme inspiration that took over me, and thinking about my future like crazy! Things like that don’t happen often, like I mentioned before, it was really the first time I had felt like that! and I thought it was the best thing that could’ve happened to me in this point of my life. I wish for all of you to get the chance to experience that type of feeling at least once in your life, because it’s mind-blowing and completely overwhelming in every sense… it is truly amazing. :)

To Jeremy, thank you so much for an unforgettable experience!! :)

I leave you with a few photos taken during the workshop. Our model was Josiah Hawley. I hope you like them!!

Have a great week and hope you guys find your inspiration source! ;)

———-

UPDATE!! — my best friend Pablo wrote a post on his blog about this! make sure to check it out!! ;)  (btw! it is in spanish!)

———-

———————————————-

—————————————————————–

—————————————————————–

—————————————————————–

—————————————————————–

—————————————————————–

—————————————————————–

—————————————————————–

—————————————————————–

—————————————————————–

—————————————————————–

—————————————————————–

—————————————————————–

—————————————————————–

—————————————————————–

—————————————————————–

—————————————————————–

—————————————————————–

Girls just want to have fun!

Hello everyone!! :)

I’m back with some photos, as always! I was away for a few days in wonderful Virginia, visiting my oldest brother and his family. It’s always great to visit them, we end up having a really good time! The only downside was my health being silly at some point, but of course that didn’t stop us from having a great trip! ;)

A while ago, my oldest niece (who’s about to turn 15) asked me to take some shots of her and her best friends in order to use a couple of picture frames she has in her bedroom. So we scheduled it for Oct. 10th, and apparently I wasn’t the only one looking forward to it! She kept telling me how excited she and her friends were!! And that, of course, encouraged me even more! :D

So there we were, on a cloudy and almost rainy Saturday morning… taking a few shots in Old Town, VA and having a blast!! :D

Here are some of my favorite shots!!

——————————————————-

——————————————————-

——————————————————-

——————————————————-

——————————————————-

——————————————————-

——————————————————-

——————————————————-

——————————————————-

——————————————————-

——————————————————-

——————————————————-

——————————————————-

Meet Karen…

——————————————————-

Olivia…

——————————————————-

Jessica…

——————————————————-

…and Carolyn.

——————————————————-

You were awesome, girls!!! Thanx for a great photoshoot!! :D

Somewhere in Wash.DC and Pennsylvania

Hola, hola!! :)

So, here I am again with some “old” photos from a trip I had a while back. They’re from somewhere in Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania. I hope you enjoy them all!! Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!! ;)

Curious, baby nephew

El horario de misa es…

Ya viene Semana Santa

The things we can find when where we usually wouldn’t look…

Pretty fields through the (car) window

Somewhere in Pennsylvania

Siluetas por todas partes!

Hershey Park @ sunset

There it goes!!

Photoshoots @ La Reunión

Hello my friends! :)

About a month ago, and then again a couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to work wih my friend José Pablo in a couple of photoshoots in an incredibly gorgeous new golf resort called La Reunión, in Antigua Guatemala.

The first couple: newlyweds who had just spent the night before in one of the very nice suites of the resort. Here are a few of my favorite shots from Sasha and Will’s shoot.

The second couple: a soon-to-be married couple that was celebrating their legal marriage just a few minutes after the photoshoot. This was more of an e-session, but a formal one! So here are some of my favorite photos from Lilibeth and Aaron’s photoshoot:

It’s a family thing

About a couple of months ago, one of my brothers asked me to take some family portraits for him because he wants to decorate his house with some new, different photos. I took the “different” part very seriously! Because I thought, what if I take these photos at his house? Everyone would feel comfortable, the kids could be themselves… it would work perfectly!

And so we did it. We organized ourselves and they got ready one Sunday morning. The day was gorgeous, sunny and bright, which made it perfect for some “natural light” type of photos. I was very pleased with the result! I think the whole photoshoot turned out great, everyone’s personality shines in every shot and I liked that! So here are a few, hope you enjoy them!! :)

 

Black and White Madness!! (part 2)

Hello everyone!! :D

This is another version of a post I made earlier this year on my spanish blog called: black and white madness!! And now, I have quite a few new black and white shots that I’ve taken since I posted that last ‘madness’ deal, and thought about giving it a second part!

So I chose a few of my latest shots for you, and hope you enjoy them!! :) 

My shadow and I

Walking, and walking, and…

Camino desde la Puerta del Sol, Madrid

Fancy a ride??

Old-school-ish

Music @ Potbelly’s

 

Take care and hope you’re having a great week!!

The beauty of Wedding Photography

A year ago, I was completely unaware of the fact that I was going to end up working as a photographer… a wedding photographer, actually. But since my friend José Pablo asked me to help him with a few weddings in January this year, I started looking at weddings from an entirely different perspective.

One of the first things he told me was about how one as a photographer, grows fonder of the bride and groom from the wedding(s)… which, at first I thought it really wasn’t that true, but as my first wedding took place I immediatly knew he was right! The bride and groom were complete sweethearts!! The bride was even calling me Anita (which is like saying ‘little Ana’, most of my friends call me that) and it felt so nice because it felt as if they were really putting their trust on us to capture the most special moments from their big day. At the end of the party (well, the end for us :P) I was completely exhausted! but feeling so happy and accomplished because I thought it was a very special and unique experience.

Of course this one being my first wedding didn’t really make me an expert or anything like that from the beginning, so after a few suggestions from my friend, I was ready for my next wedding! And after that we had wedding after wedding after wedding, and my ‘wedding photographic eye’ grew even more and more with every wedding we had. I was so happy and excited about that! So here I am now, working as a photographer and loving it more than I thought I would!!

The beauty of wedding photography though, is beyond all that… in my case (and in my opinion), I think it’s a very special type of work simply because you’re not photographing any type of party. It’s a wedding, something most women have planned and dreamed about ever since they were little, and there we are with front row seats to witness that unique day for both the bride and the groom! We sometimes even get special views from when the bride is getting ready, the little details on which everyone has put so much effort on, the look on the family members’ faces to see their daughter/son getting ready to take a very important step on their lives. And to know that those special little moments that happen during that day will be captured by our cameras, is something unexplainably beautiful… because you know that whenever the newlyweds (their families and friends) look at their photos they will live those moments all over again, and that’s actually very true once you see the big grins on their faces while going through their photos! So that’s what I think makes wedding photography so beautiful and special, capturing the most meaningful moments and details of that very special day. ;)

 

Thank you very much for your visit!! hope you have a wonderful week!!

Official HELLO!!

Greetings everyone!!

After some time of consideration, I thought about opening an english, photography blog… since I already had one, but in spanish (given the fact that it’s my native language, hehe). So here I am, introducing myself into the english blogging world! ;)

I’m from Guatemala and a self-taught photographer, being a freelance photographer on my own and working on wedding photography with a very good friend of mine. Thanks to his help and the help of a couple of other photographer friends, I’ve grown a lot as a photographer. So here I am, sharing with you a little bit of my work and how much it means to me. Therefore, I hope you enjoy it!! :)