Josh: Portraits

See Josh. Josh Rocks. Rock Josh Rock. :)

See? Josh Rocks. :)

P.S. I had a blast with you, Josh, hope you like the photos!!

I Think We Have A Problem...

Grit and I sometimes have a ....problem... with getting a nice picture of the both of us together. I just... I ... really don't know why... perhaps its all the FACE-MAKING, and EAR-BITING, and 'WET WILLIES'!!!!! Oh, the photos I could post... I bet I could make a full length slideshow with all the 'bloopers' we have had throughout our 'picture taking' relationship! :)

These shots below are just a quick sample of what MAY happen during a typical photo session. I should clarify for future clients... this won't happen at YOUR photo session (at least I hope not), I was referring to when Grit and I have our OWN photos taken.

These were taken almost 2 years ago to the day during a "Formal Night" when we were working on the cruise ship The Coral Princess. Ah, the memories...

(Note: The 'tux' is my work uniform on a Formal Night, trust me, only wearing it cause I had to.)

I'm so GLAD we are getting a chance to redeem ourselves in Vegas in a few days. We are heading down for the annual WPPI conference (think 'Star Trek Convention' but with Wedding & Portrait Photographers... and a few less Vulcans). We are heading down Saturday night, and then Sunday morning we are driving into the desert with Braeden (Ambient 11) and Gabe (PerspectivEye) for a REAL photoshoot of Grit and I!!! How Stoked am I?? VERY STOKED!

...I hope I don't pull that damn Zoolander face I always do...

And here's a few more... I thought I would combine a good photo of Grit with a good photo of myself (via Photoshop)...if thats how its gotta be to get a good photo of the BOTH of us (until Gabe and Braeden work their magic that is), then fine. :)

Have a great day!

Michael

Focus On The Good

I am a very firm believer in the phenomenon that is "The Secret". Whatever you focus on, and feel, becomes reality. If we focus on bad news, or being in debt, thats all we get... more bad news, and more debt. You even have to be careful HOW you say and think things too, as The Universe does not understand 'NOT wanting' something... for example, if you think "I am NOT going to be late. I am NOT going to be late", you will still attract the word LATE, even though you wanted the exact opposite. All it takes is a simple change of focus, to something like "I will be on time. I will arrive on time.", and as long as you honestly FEEL that, it will be so.

One of my favorite quotes from "The Secret" that really puts this into perspective is:

"Mother Theresa always said she would not attend anti- war campaigns but would always attend Pro- Peace rallies"  

According to "The Secret ", Anti-War in fact attracts just the opposite. Pro-Peace is the answer.

Which brings me to why I am posting this. There are many changes happening with my branding and the way that I am conducting business AND life for that matter, and one of the things I have done is purchased www.RealLoveIs.com . The web address, as you will see, simply links to my own photography website. (It may be a lot easier to some to type in RealLoveIs.com instead of MichaelWachniak.com lol) You may have noticed also either through emails or twitter or even on my website the words "Real Love Is.".  Its not a 'fill in the blanks' or even telling you that "MY PHOTOGRAPHY = REAL LOVE"... its just simply to tell you that Real Love exists. We all know that, its everywhere, this isn't news. I just strongly feel that it is one of those things that doesn't hurt to remind ourselves of every now and then. Love and Happiness. Positive Energy. Its really my attempt to give my little section of time on this Earth  a hand in the right direction. Whether its enough to change our focus, I'm not sure. If we all did something? Absolutely.

For today's post I'd also like to add this little gem. A photographer posted this on Twitter yesterday and it really struck a chord. A website dedicated only to posting Good News. I am sure there are plenty of sites out there that are doing this, and when I find them, I will post them. How AMAZING would it be to sip your morning coffee/tea and open a paper only to find nothing but good news. This is exactly what Glee Report is doing. I strongly recommend taking a peak.

Have a great day,

Michael

Engagement Session: Manna and Sukh

Last Sunday I headed down the street to the beach here in White Rock and met up with Manna and her fiance Sukh for a session by the ocean. The weather tried to keep as nice as it could for us, but there were times where my teeth were chattering just a bit ;)

Manna and Sukh though were troopers! They found that a little cuddlin' keeps you warm even on the coolest days!

Portrait Session: Cyndi

Here is my story:

Today Grit and I went out to Boundary Bay Airport and met a lovely lady named Cyndi for her portrait session! We laughed, we froze, we laughed some more! Cyndi is really funny, has a contagious laugh, is almost exploding with positivity and feel-good emotions. Simply put, Cyndi kicks ass. The End.

Supah-Stah!!!

We had an awesome time with you Cyndi! I hope you like the photos, and had an awesome time too!

Mike + Grit

My Deep Thought on 'Capturing Moments'

I was writing a few things out for my new site today and something occurred to me. Its kind of silly and strange, but I wanted to know your opinion:

When talking about photography, a lot of people use the term (or variation of the term) 'Capturing Moments', right? Or TAKING a photograph. Doesn't that sound negative? 'Capturing'... sort of like 'Hi, I saw this moment and took a picture, now I have it in captivity! MWA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!' *insert thunder and lightning here*....

Personally, I think that the moments that are NOT photographed or even remembered could be considered as 'captured' but captured by TIME.... in the sense that we will never see them again...

SO, having said that, I think as photographers (pro, amateur, whatever), we are 'RELEASING moments'.... like releasing something into the wild. The moments then fly wherever they may, but freely, not caged or captured. Doesn't that sound more positive? I tell ya, its little 'tweaks' like that thats going to change the world ;)

And don't even get me started on the term 'freezing time'... its just way to cold out to talk about that.

thoughts?

by the way, here's a random photo I took YEARS ago....obviously before my wedding photography days lol. Its nothing fantastic, but when I wrote this, for some reason this photo popped into my head... maybe not the BEST illustration to go with my thought, but hey... its a mountain goat...sheep...thing in mid air!

A Foggy Day in White Rock Town ;)

Today was a wonderfully foggy day, so Grit and I decided to head down to the beach for a walk. At first I wanted to bring my camera to snap some cool fog photos, but once we got there, the fog was so amazing that we just went NUTS snapping photos of each other! We are slowly trying to get Grit more involved with the photography, so today was a great day to get her playing with the camera... and my LORD, after seeing the photos, I think she can show ME a thing or two!!!

We had a blast today snapping these photos and being outside together on a beautiful Sunday, and I hope you enjoy the photos! Don't forget to leave some blog-lovin' comments! :)

Namaste,

Michael