So far the year has been busy. And thankfully so! (Not complaining, Universe!) Had a good number of shoots, and all with some terrific people :) 

One of those people is no other than our niece, and former production assistant from our 2009 production of "Songs For A New World", Claire. Yup, that same Claire from the last post on this blog, yet now, to coin a phrase from the movie "Swingers", "She's all grows up and she's all growns up!". Claire will be off to college soon, so she and her parents asked me if I could photograph her for her family senior photos. They all grow up so fast :( 

Nonetheless, we had a super time! She and her parents are one of my favorites from Helen's family, so the whole session was just a blast. Great times indeed. 

Here are some photos from our session. Enjoy! 

Last but not least, a big thanks to my VALS (Voice Activated Light Stand), and Claire's dad, Brian. Thanks dude!

Alrightee! Enjoy your week everyone :) Next up next time is a headshot session with actress Jeaneen Tang, winner of the headshot session from Artists at Play's fundraiser last summer. Great stuff!

Thanks for visiting!

First and foremost, the straightforward photo, although still cast-able as a business-type, or perhaps "best friend" role. Very confident and engaging. 

The cool, calm, and ever so present attorney look. 

How about a sexy, intimidating, confident business woman, or CEO? 

I say YES!

Lastly, our favorite of the shoot, I'll call it the "artist" look. 

So next time you're thinking of getting your portraits done for the acting industry, think about who you are trying to portray. Sure, you can portray yourself, but until then, you want to let casting directors know that you can look like the "Law and Order" attorney they're looking for, or perhaps the street thug that "Hawaii Five-O" is casting for (which they do so often BTW). 

Bring your "A" game, be prepared and have fun! 

And with that, I leave you with this photo I took of my nephew the other day:

Hmmm... but can I cast him as an attorney though?... 

Thanks for stopping by! 

The past couple of weeks have been filled with a lot of shooting. Had a headshot session last week with a good friend of mine an uber-talented actress/dancer, and a personal project session with my other good friend Robert. Personal projects are what keeps artists going, especially those who contract their services out for a living. I think everyone should have one, artist or not, and when you get the chance to work on them, it is so fun and rewarding! 

One concept I've been contemplating over is the "film noir" genre. The deep dark shadows, the "interrogation" type lighting, the moody scenes - it's so cool!!! Plus, you don't need that much equipment to do it. For those of you wondering, I only used one flash to get all the shots below (with some light mods of course). Heck if you think about it, everyone's photos should look "noir-ish" since most people use single flashes on the worst place ever created - on top of their cameras, but that's another topic for another day. Here's our results! Oh, and thanks to Robert C. for being such the suave, cool, cunning, magnanimous actor that he is. So fun to work with!!!

Film Noir usually starts off with a murder of some sort (doesn't it?!)

Then our hero, the veteran, crotchety detective comes on to the scene...

He interrogates witnesses,surveys the crime scene, etc., takes notes, and tries to figure out "whodunit?!"

But then, a shocking revelation that has our "hero" change his mug...

Later that night, alone, in his apartment, the detective begins to think about what he saw and heard...

Unbeknownst to us, a look of panic comes over his face...

Yet somehow, in the dark recesses of the detective's mind, he figures out a way...

TUNE IN NEXT TIME FOR MORE OF...

(totally just made that up, but it sounded right)

Starring, Hollywood's Latin Lover, and most interesting leading man!

That big star of the BIG screen - Robert Covarrubias as "the Detective!"

The dapper Don himself. Thanks Roberto!!!

Thanks everyone for visiting. If you'd like to know more about how to get lighting like this, drop me a line, and if I get enough responses, I'll write it up. 

More to come from this past week of shooting. Stay tuned!!!

Congrats on finally getting hitched you two (after ten years! Yup, TEN years!). Here's to a long and prosperous, happy life together :) 

*Included are images from Kabahead Photography for M Palma Photography. 

Congrats again you guys :) 

As for me, (and everyone I guess), the holidays were hectic, not only did we have all the familial obligations (and mucho-mondo food to devour), but I had two weddings, and a model portrait shoot all within one week of each other. I wouldn't want it any other way though :) 

I'm still in the midst of editing down these three shoots, but wanted to share with you some photos from each event. 

First off, I LOVE my brides! A HUGE congratulations to Sandy and Mike who tied the knot last week Friday! What an awesome day it was. I've known Mike's family since I was in High School (coughing) just a few SHORT years ago [coughing again] and it was so nice to see everyone again, and document Mike and Sandy's big day. I had a blast watching their day unfold, and just being a part of it. 

A huge, HUGE thank you to Sandy and Mike for letting me be a part of their day, and to Mike's Family for being so warm and open :) I thoroughly enjoyed being there for this terrific event. Also, a huge thanks goes out to my friend and second shooter, Keri Kaba for having my "back" when needed and for the awesome images she also help create! You rock Keri!

Here's a preview of some of the images we created that day :) 

I love these guys! Sandy and Mike :)

Congrats you two!

One of my favorites from the day. 

Love this one too!

The Bridal par-taaay!! These guys were great to work for/with :) 

Okay, and before Mike and Sandy's wedding, I had an up-and-coming model shoot with a cousin of a good friend of mine. I think Lauren is going to go a long way with her chosen endeavor. Check these out:

A big thanks to my buddy Aaron T. for the referral, and to Lauren's mom Jennifer for being so cool on the set! :) 

Lastly, the Friday before last, Helen's brother George got married! Yay!!! (And here you guys thought it was me didn't you?!) Their ceremony was held on top of L.A.'s City Hall, (yes, the TOP of city hall) to just the immediate family, including Helen's sister and brother-in-law, and niece and nephews from Hawaii in attendance. So cool! I was honored to be there to capture their wedding :) Thanks you guys and congrats!

Love this photo - George and Ling. Congrats you guys :) 

The "Hawaii Kids" as I like to call them. Does this remind you of your cell phone antenna bars or is just me?

Love this photo - taken a split second before the ELEVATOR doors closed :) Yup, elevator. 

A quiet moment post ceremony overlooking L.A.

My favorite image from the day :)

Congrats again you guys! And welcome to the fam, Ling :) 

OKAY, if you got this far through the post, I wanted to offer any would-be-brides out there a special discount for the month of January. If you make an appointment with me regarding your wedding day, and decide to book with me during the month of January, I'm offering a 15% discount on my select wedding packages/collections. Yup, that's 15% off my select collections. But, you have to book in the month of January (this month) to get the offer. (Offer expires January 31st, and limited to availability. Subject to change without notice. Darned legal stuff ;p) So if you're interested, or know someone who just might be, please have them contact me at info@mpalmaphotography.com to schedule a meeting. I'd be honored to photograph your big day :) 

Okay, that's it for now folks, this was a long post. I do wish you all a happy, successful and CREATIVE 2012 :) Now, let's get moving shall we?!

Till next week,

Mike

Hope you are all having a terrific holiday season, and here's to a prosperous new year! Thank you again for visiting, and see you next time!

All the best,

Mike

In the middle of all the seasons' happenings, I have finally turned the corner in terms of finishing off my final performance obligation - A Little Tokyo Christmas Goes to Las Vegas! show. In it's second year, it basically brings together talent from the Asian American acting community, with most, if not all of us having been in an East West Players show at one point or another. What a hugely talented pool of performers - from dancers, to singers, and even acrobats, etc. It was such a honor to be on stage with some talented friends, and even though we only had two shows, we felt as though we could have done more! It was also nice to see friends that we sadly don't get to see that often, other than perhaps this one show a year. 

Here are a few images I took during the dress rehearsal and the show itself. 

Although you can't see everyone performing, this was a huge night of TALENT!

Our friend Melody killing it while singing "Proud Mary"

One more of the AMAZING Kennedy during his aerial trapeze number. 

It is such a honor and thrill to be a part of this community of artists :) Thanks to our friends Mike H. and Emily K. for putting it on again this year. Great work everyone :) See you next year - for sure!

Is it just me or are Christmas cards coming in late this year? As of this writing, Tuesday, December 20, we're now hitting full stride as to receiving everyone's cards. Last year, the onslaught started at the beginning of December. Go figure! 

Adding to the "late" mailers is my cousin ;p I spent monday over at her house photographing my adorable nieces and nephews for their card. Hard work? Nah. Fun times with people a lot shorter (and younger) than you? You bet!!!

Here are a few images from our Christmas card shoot. 

My nieces and nephew, the Taylors :) 

That's it for now. I'm slowly but surely cruising into Christmas. It'll be here soon enough. 

Till next time, I wish you and your families a joyous Christmas and holiday season :) Thanks for stopping by, and see you next time! Oh, and don't forget to take photos of all the parties and gatherings you go to! Would love to see them sometime! I'll see about getting them posted up next time :) Bye everyone! Merry Christmas!

For me, the week was spent preparing for the annual Grateful Crane Ensemble's Christmas show in Torrance this past weekend. Couple that with a headshot shoot of one my friends, include a Cold Tofu show, and yet another two holiday parties, and that makes for one busy week! 

So, that being said, here are some images from the week. 

During rehearsals :) 

I wish I was small enough to do this still! Aydin, one of our cast members during rehearsals for the show. Cool hat BTW.

What the holidays are all about - laughter and good friends :) 

Finally, here are a few images of my session with my friend Rumi. Fun times!

One more Christmas show to perform in this week, and then it's "smooth" sailing until X-mas, well, until two weddings before the year ends.

Have a terrific week everyone! Happy Holidays!

First off, hope everyone has recovered from the great wind storm of 2011! As you all know or saw, everyone, and I mean everyone on Facebook posted a photo of a downed tree in their neighborhood the days following "windogeddon" (or "windpocolypse"). Sad that some of those trees we're so used to seeing are gone now, but I guess it's Mother Nature's way of cleaning house - with upwards of 70-80 mph blowers! I'm glad that we're through it and if you're reading this at home, your power is back on, which as usual, is a good thing. 

For me, life went on as usual despite the strong, gale force winds. So much so that on Friday, I was finally able to photograph my good friend Carin's headshots that she had twice previously had to postpone due to unforseen circumstances. Great times! A big thank you to Carin, and her uber awesome make-up artist Amber Rae for helping out with the shoot. Here are a few photos from our session :)

Thanks for a fun session Carin! 

Saturday was spent with our Cold Tofu family at our annual X-mas party and gift exchange. Great times all around, with some pretty interesting gifts given (the "White Elephant" variety). I walked away with a multi-tool that some "donated" from a wedding party they belonged to. I know this cause there was a special thank you note still attached to it from the bride who gave it. Uh, thanks, BTW. 

Here are a few scenes from the night's festivities. 

Have a great week everyone, and get your shopping done already!!! :) 

The end of Thanksgiving is the surest sign that the Christmas holiday season is here! Wow, pretty soon, it'll be 2012 and we'll all be left wondering (as usual) where did the time go?

Here's a few scenes from my family's Turkey day extravaganza! Hope you had a great one too :) 

Lastly, just wanted to give a huge thanks to my buddy Aaron T. for inviting me to the lopsided USC game this past saturday against the pee-wee leaguers from the west side school UCLA. 50-0 shutout! Awesome! Great to be a Trojan as usual. 

Enjoy the last few days of November everyone :) 

Anyway, just wanted to post a few fun shots of a recent headshot session I did with my good friend, musician/composer/musical director/awesome improvisor extroadinaire, Marc Macalintal! We had a great session, filled with some awesome images, but I decided to post the fun stuff here today. Why not? :p

Lastly, I've also included a few more from my fashion shoot with Jully. Enjoy!!!

Sly devil!

"Okay, now act like you just won the lotto!"

"Just a little more to the left..."

Fun times Marc!!!

Thanks again to Jully L. for being my model :) Enjoy the rest of you week everyone! And stay healthy!!!

First, our good friend Rodney K., celebrated his 70th birthday party last week, Oct.30th, with much fanfare, food, and friends. Great times indeed. At his party, my good friend, and enemy during college football season, Tamlyn T., was there to rub in the fact that USC barely lost to Stanford that weekend. Here she is "celebrating" the loss. 

Me being a good sport with Tamlyn's taunting. 

A moment later I MADE her make it up to me by representing the Trojan "V" for victory sign.

Okay, we're friends again. 

Monday was spent photographing The Biller Foundation's Theater Best Awards at the Colburn School of music. The Biller Foundation is a terrific philanthropic  organization that supports the arts and many other worthwhile endeavors. A great group of people! Thanks for having me. 

Afterwards, it was Halloween time! Woo hoo!!! Unlike most people who really prepare for the one night of the year where we can dress up like other "beings", I sadly threw together my quick costume, with the simple purchase of a moustach and goatee, and styled my hair differently. That, coupled with passing out literally 3000 full sized bars of candy, made for a great night! Oh, and it was mom's birthday too! Happy Birthday Mom!!! 

"All I do is win, win WIN!!!"

(As he WILL on November 12th!!!)

Before all this happened, I did a  little headshot fashion shoot that I posted a preview of last week, with my friend Jully. After a few tweaks with some of the other photos I took, I decided to share these with you all. Thanks Jully!

Due to copyright laws, I had to come up with a new type of cosmetic product. 

Besides, this was just a test :) Jully can pull it off though right?!

Friday was spent with the opening of "Ching Chong Chinaman" by Artists at Play, at the Actors Company in North Hollywood. My very own girlfriend Helen is in the show, along with a stellar cast and producers! Great times and fun show! Have a great run everyone!

Me and my "Star" Helen who plays "Grace" in the play. 

(L-R) Helen, Stef (Producer), and Peter (Director)

Founding producers of Artists at Play, (L-R) Julia, Marie, Peter, and Stefanie.

Congrats on your inaugural production guys! 

Finally, on a totally "weird" note in the history of my life, Saturday, I happened to finally turn down the street where Manny Pacquiao's "Wild Card Gym" is located, and to my surprise, from the sidewalk, you could hear the legendary boxer working out with his coach Freddie Roach preparing for next saturday's title fight in Las Vegas. Being a proud filipino, I couldn't help but stop my car, park and hang out with dozens of other fans of the "Pacman" hoping that after his workout, that we would get a glimpse of one of the greatest athletes to ever grace the boxing canvas!!! 

     After three hours of waiting, sadly, I wasn't able to see him as he took another door out of the gym to the Thai restaurant he frequents next to the gym :( BUT, during those three hours, I saw Scott Caan, Justin Long, Freddie Roach (his coach), Manny's right hand man, Buboy, and Aaron Rogers of the Greenbay Packers (who apparently drove up from San Diego for the day to see Manny). I had photographed Pacquiao's press conference with Oscar De La Hoya years ago, and it would've been cool to see him again, but oh well, not this day. Great luck to the "Pride of the Philippines" next Saturday, (although he won't need it!). 

See that door at the upper right of this photo? That's Wild Card Boxing Gym,

home of the champ, Manny Pacquiao!!!

(The cars exemplify all the "money" that's involved in world championship boxing")

Manny's party bus for the ride to Vegas this week - sweet!

Lastly, what's a blog post without a cute little "bug" to finish off a great week? Here's our little pal, Kaia in her Halloween costume last week.

This was Kaia's first Halloween :) Hope you had great time little one!

Thanks for stopping by everyone! Have a fantastic week, and don't forget to pick up your camera or phone and take a photo of your life :) 

(Okay, not that long ago, but long enough). A while ago, for nearly a century, there was this thing called "film", that worked by exposing any type of light onto a small plastic sheet, which then activated these little silver halide cells on it, that then created a negative. After it was processed with chemicals and let dry for a while, it then went through another process for it to  became photos. Unlike the memory cards we put into the cameras of today, these things were what we had to work with... Whew! You get the picture!

For most of us, I would assume that we grew up in the age of the almighty silver halide days of analog film, right?! The 35mm rolls of 24 or 36 exposures (having to choose between what speed of film to get), perhaps even the days of Poloroid (which I still love and need to get!). And for the really obscure, how about APS (Advantix) or even 110 film?!!! Remember those!? 

Sadly, the realm of celluloid film (old film) now resides with old timers, avant guard retro artists, and those who want to take a stroll down memory lane now and then. But for those familiar with it and who haven't shot with roll film in a while, (especially for those with a true interest in photography, or in perhaps becoming a professional), break out those old cameras, buy a roll of 400 ISO film (good speed for most lighting conditions) and shoot away! 

The reason for this suggestion is that I have been wanting to go back to the old days of shooting with film, to  S L O W  myself down a bit in this world of high speed, high megapixel  cameras, and really SEE a scene and photograph it from there. What I've learned and experienced with the onset of the digital age is that most people (okay, everyone) are becoming lazy and start firing away, getting weird exposures, and thinking to themselves that they can "fix it in photoshop" No!!!!! Shooting with film will force you to slow down and really think about what it is you are shooting. Once you see something that inspires you to press the shutter, you have to think about where your light is coming from, aperture, shutter speed, composition, all before you make that final (and with film, it is FINAL) click! Plus, you won't be able to see what you've created, so you have to visualize what it will look like, therefore making you think more about what it is you are doing. Slow, right?!  Helpful? Absolutely!!!

For the past few months, with a little help from a friend, and from old school "toy" camera, I was able to get back to film photography. I have to say, I really enjoyed it, and plan on doing some more of it soon! A friend of mine inspired me to start shooting film again by loaning me his iconic Leica M6 manual film body. If you don't know what a Leica is, check it out. And before that, just for the heck of it, I went out and bought a completely plastic camera called a Holga just to play around with. I have to say, once I got the film developed (yes, developed!) I was thrilled and astounded by the results I got, especially since it's been months since I've taken those photos! 

Will I stop shooting digital from now on? No. It's a necessary tool these days, especially for the working pro. BUT, I will break out the occasional roll of film, and slow my process down so I can see better. Heck in these days of cell phones, iPads, and instant gratification, I think it's a good thing, don't you think? 

The photos below took about 4 days to process and get back. But, I was happy with the results. Reminds me of Henri-Cartier Bresson, although perhaps not as good, but I can see why he loved shooting with his Leica. I sure did. What I love most about film are the textures you get in the grain of the film, and the "feeling" it conveys. Even the out of focus photos work for me. 

Enjoy :)