document the day

Bookstore Flirtations /  by Mike Daclan

This was definitely one of the funner shoots I did. It started with the thought of a stolen glance in a book store. The idea was that she spotted someone she had eyes for and wanted to entice him into following her. Once he realized her plan it would’ve been too late as her trap was set and he was hers.  

She immediately took to this idea and ran with it all the way.  I love how concepts and ideas turn into looks and feels evoked in the photos. By putting her in the subject of power she was able to put forth some great looks and poses. In the end I think it came off a little more natural and slightly voyeuristic which adds a better element to the shots. 

There are a lot more concepts and ideas that I want to shoot so reag our and let’s create something fun together! 

Aolani & The Colorado Street Bridge /  by Mike Daclan

Yesterday I had a chance to shoot in a location I've been wanting to shoot at for a very long time.  I drive past it nearly weekly so once I found a model in Pasadena, I knew immediately where to book the shoot.  It's definitely a popular spot as there were three other photo sessions that were taking place over the course of the afternoon/evening.

Aolani joined me with her mom as a chaperone and we had a very fun time on this shoot.  Her would pop in every now and then to help adjust hair/makeup and swap stories with us while we walked to a different location.  She's been at this since she was 5 years old and with her 18th birthday coming up later this year, she's excited to do some more traveling for work and see the world!

We joked and laughed throughout the shoot and she very much felt like the little sister I never had.  By the time the shoot was wrapping up, we had already begun to plan our next shoot together later in the year.  The themes and ideas she had for that one were things I haven't done yet so I'm excited to try them out!  

Ami & The Disney Concert Hall /  by Mike Daclan

Super excited to be shooting with Ami again this weekend so I wanted to throw back to our first shoot together at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. 

She has a great energy about her which is super infectious! I’ll definitely be needing it as we have a super early shoot time tomorrow to try and avoid the triple digit weather. 

Hope you have a great weekend!

NYC in the Fall & The 9-11 Memorial /  by Mike Daclan

New Year...New Post! /  by Mike Daclan

I am so glad that the year is done.  2014 was not kind to me and I'm glad I survived it.  The new year holds a lot more promise however and I'm interested to see what develops.  I'm already starting off the year with a much better job than I had all last year.  This alone has put me in a much better place mentally and emotionally.

In terms of my photography, I'm trying to branch out a bit more into different styles.  I've started working with a few models which has been a great change of pace from the typical street and documentary styles that I'm usually shooting.  I met with one model named Rosie and together we did a very fun semi-boudoir and portrait session.  Being one who doesn't work big studio settings, I loved doing this in a nice room with a lot of natural light coming through the window.

She was very fun to work with and we were able to talk and joke around a lot which I think helped to ease both of us into the shoot.  I brought some donuts for us to snack on in between shots and to go over what we shot.  It turned out to be super helpful and we even included it in one of the photos!

I have a few more model shoots lined up already for the month of January to go along with the traditional street/documentary sessions.  One of my personal resolutions is to build up my site more and more so look forward to more changes and upgrades to slowly roll out and of course...more posts! 

Cheers and happy New Year!

Thankful /  by Mike Daclan

So recently I just posted a link on my Facebook Page about 10 National Geographic photographers who gave thanks for a photo that they took.  My aunt (who herself is a great photographer), asked "What's yours...?"

It was such a simple question but it forced me to go back through a lot of my old photos to look back at one I was thankful for.  I combed through several albums looking back at what photos stood out and what they meant to me.  It was tough to pick out a single photo from the thousands (yikes I need to post more!) I've taken.  Eventually I realized I had to go back to a very early photo.

The photo below is one of the first photos I took with my new camera.  I decided to go in on a new system from a company called Fuji.  It was part of the new wave of mirrorless camera's which were thought to be part of a fad.  As soon as I took the photo I was absolutely in love.  This small and unobtrusive camera helped me to capture a great candid moment without being noticed.  This small and seemingly random photo helped to reignite my love for photography and really steered me into the direction I was to head down.  

It may not seem like much, but this photo really is the source for all that followed.  There are more photos that I've taken along the way that I am thankful for and I'm sure I'll go over them in further detail as time goes by but for now, I wanted to start back towards the beginning.

Cheers.


Consistency /  by Mike Daclan

So much for that huh?  

There's been a lot going on and many changes have taken place since my last update.  I'm happy to say that they have been for the better.  The most significant change was moving from a job that caused me heartache, stress and pain to one of positivity and HAPPINESS.  I think that this change will also help fuel my drive to be more active here as I feel the fire begin to burn and inspire.  

Despite my lack of updates here, I actually have been somewhat active shooting.  Over the course of the next few weeks I will be adding in photos from recent street sessions, model sessions and random day/night documents.

For this first update, I'm moving through some street photography I shot back in August.  It was a nice cool day with a little bit of cloud cover.  It made for a nice cool day of walking around and I tried to match the tone with the feel of the day.  Overall I think it came out well and I'm very happy with the results.  

I started off the day at a nice little scenic park which overlooks downtown.  I've seen it in a few other photos and wanted to explore it myself.  Unfortunately it was a bit too crowded when I got there so I didn't spend much time.  I will definitely be heading back and would love to schedule some shoots there.  Afterwards I decided to head to Santee Alley.  It was a crowded day there but unlike the park, this was exactly what I was looking for.  I needed to get back into walking through a vibrant crowd and feel the energy of the crowd as it moved from shop to shop.  Despite having done this many times before, I still felt a bit timid as I began to weave through the crowd but as time passed, all the familiar instincts kicked in once more.

The photography day wound down as a light sprinkle began to move into the area.  With the crowd dispersing I headed back to my car and went home to edit (but not upload!) the photos.  Flash forward three months and here you go!