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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!

Keep Moving Forward & Don't Stop /  by Mike Daclan

So one of my most recent photo sessions I got a chance to work with my buddy Ernest.  From the moment I met him he's always been working hard at becoming an actor and not letting anything get in his way.  It's been his goal and purpose and I recently found out that he booked a major supporting role in an upcoming movie with Scott Eastwood and Orlando Bloom.

HUGE AND AWESOME NEWS!

I love seeing these kinds of stories.  What's even better is that I see more and more friends with these breakthrough successes.  They have been putting in the hours and their own blood, sweat, and tears relentlessly in pursuing what they love.  It gives me hope.  It makes me take a second look at my processes and what I need to be doing to get there. 

Even though it may not be something I say directly to my friends, I want them to know how much I look up to them and admire what they do.  It helps me to look at what I'm doing and to gather focus and purpose.  Figure out where I can improve and raise myself up to match what they're putting out.  When speaking about the output I don't mean the level of creativity that they're at (I have a long way to go for that!), but more in terms of volume and regimen.  The more I keep this up, the more I can raise the personal bar I'm setting for myself.  

Taking all this into stock I just have one request.  STAY ON ME.  Don't let me stop in this journey.  If you see it's been a while since I've posted something kick my ass into shape!  Tell me I'm breaking a promise that I set out here.  Tell me that no matter what, I need to keep moving forward, and don't stop.  EVER.

Cheers. 

Warm LA Nights /  by Mike Daclan

Earlier this year I had the pleasure to work with a great up and coming model.  Since we last shot, she's gotten to shoot with other photographers and build up quite an impressive portfolio.  As you can tell from these early photos, she had a lot of confidence and knew how to pose.  

The backdrop of Little Tokyo suited the shoot very well.  In total we captured three great looks and here was the first of the sets.  You can check out her MM profile here and make sure to follow her on Instagram!


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!