Vintage Vegas Wedding

I just finished shooting the most amazing wedding here in Las Vegas at the Sterling club in the exclusive Turnberry highrise condominium complex on Paradise Road. It was the second wedding for one of my favorite clients. I love shooting for this family because they are so nice and they have pretty much adopted me into the family. They always go over the top for their family functions and this wedding was no exception! It was a 50's vintage Las Vegas theme and was simply elegant. The centerpieces were custom foam cutouts of all the different Vegas resorts. For the getaway, they rented a red convertible classic caddy and we cruised the strip taking photos before heading back to the afterparty which lasted until 2pm. I have to get up in the morning to photograph the brunch so I'll have to wait to post some images. The third daughter's wedding will be taking place next year and the rumor is that it will be in Portugal! Saweet!
Mike Colon LLC (mobile)
949-706-7761 Newport Beach
800-992-6650 Toll-free

I couple years back I was hanging out with my buddies Scott Brogi and Michele Celentano after the PhotoPlus Conference in New York. We somehow ended up on a subway at 2am in the morning heading down to take a ride on the Staten Island Ferry just for the fun of it. Inspired by the bright fluorescent lights and fast moving trains with sleeping commuters as a backdrop, I vowed to someday do a late night subway shoot if I ever found a willing model. Well, I found her! My new friend Brittany, who I met at Brooks just happened to be in New York this week modeling for Marianne Lanting Couture. We planned the shoot via phone before we got to NY and met up last night at midnight for our adventure. Since the subway at night isn't exactly the safest place in the world for a stunning model in a short skirt and bag full of expensive Nikon goodies, I brought along a few friends to watch my back (Thanks Frank, Jason, and Luke!). We had so much fun and pretty much stayed up all night shooting in the streets. Since most of the subway stations we passed by were closed for the night and it was getting late (4am), we almost ditched the idea of the subway. The guys wanted to get back to their beds since they had some work and traveling to do the next day so Brittany and I were left to brave the underground railway on our own. About 5 trains and 1500 images later we were pretty much lost without many english speakers around to help us out. It was quite a delirious adventure and something I won't soon forget! We made it out alive with some great images and a story to tell! Sleep? Well, about two and a half hours then I was up again for my final day of shooting for Wedding Style. I guess I'll be catching up on my sleep in my cozy Jet Blue upright bed.

Taxi-blogging

The city is so beautiful from a taxi about 15 minutes after dusk! I just had to blog about it. Maybe because I can or maybe because I'm a geek. Taxi-blogging is fun and safe but you have to have a strong stomach or you might get a bit woozy. We just almost hit a pedestrian! This is way better than thunder mountain!
Mike Colon LLC (mobile)
949-706-7761 Newport Beach
800-992-6650 Toll-free

Just finished up another long day of shooting here in Manhattan and I'm about to head out to a poker game with some friends. Here's a shot I grabbed through the crowd at an "installation" fashion show for Elizabeth Fillmore. I love sneaking around with my 200mm lens seeking out these little in-between moments when the model doesn't know she's being photographed. I shot this wide open with my white balance set to incandescent for the indoor lighting. The cool shaded daylight outside turned blue in the background.

Aside from missing my wife and son SO much, today was pretty amazing! After 11 straight runway shows we ended up at a cocktail reception for Kenneth Pool and Priscilla of Boston at Splashlight Studios on 35th street. I was with Tracy Freedman and Jessica Latimer who are photography editors for Grace Ormonde. They are the coolest girls are just as excited about this industry as I am! They introduced me to everyone including Melissa Sweet who was amongst the crowd at the reception. Melissa asked us to join her at the Spice Market with a few of her friends for drinks. Melissa is such an amazing designer and she is pretty much world famous for her absolutely stunning bridal gowns. Her fashion show today was one of my favorites and it was quite a treat to sit down and chat with her tonight! We really hit it off and if she wasn't just pulling my leg there might be a Melissa Sweet fashion shoot in my near future :)

Here's a behind the scenes kinda shot so you can get an idea of what "the pit" looks like. This was taken before most of the photographers showed up so you can imagine how hard it is to get the angle you want when the show starts. This is also one of the smaller shows and it only gets worse on the larger ones!

I'm here in my hotel room in New York after an awesome day of shooting the Wedding Channel Couture Show in the Waldorf Astoria Hotel and an amazing dinner at Paper Moon Milano Restaurant. I guess I'm still on West Coast time because it's 2:15am and I'm not even close to sleepy yet! I've downloaded and backed up my images (about 2600 of them) and I'm about ready to hit the pillow to try to get some sleep. The alarm clock goes off early tomorrow with eleven back to back runway shows. I'll be shooting for about 13 hours straight finishing up at about 10pm. Yeah, it's a long day of work ahead but it's more like play for me. I really love this stuff! Here's a shot I grabbed during a rehearsal for a runway show tonight. I walked behind the model as her dress was being fluffed and grabbed this shot.

Below is a sneak preview of a new gown by Ines DiSanto. It looks like wine is the new white!

Here's a couple shots Kristin took of me during my live shoot with Bambi, Tony Corbell, and Angela Carson on Sunday night at WPPI. I used the WiFi transmitter on my Nikon D2x to display images instantly as I photographed our model bride and groom. Liana, knowing I'm not a big fan of shooting against a backdrop, suggested that we take the models off stage and simulate a first dance using Nikon's off camera iTTL SB800 flash units. Look for the shot in the next issue of Rangefinder! Thanks Liana! And thanks Shyla, Kristin, Julie, and Jasmine for your help positioning strobes and reflectors that night!

I just ran across this image that was left on my desktop and had to post it because it's full of my favorite people! It was taken by me (obviously) at Disneyland a couple months back. What a fun day hanging with an awesome crowd from OSP and some peeps from the OC! From right to left in a counterclockwise swirl: me, the infamous becker, eric cotter, liana, kevin meyers, amanda phillips, sarah barlow, nathan & amber holritz, my twin sister crystal, jessica claire, and shyla. You guys make me smile!

I'm still working on getting caught up with my clients since I'm leaving again early Friday morning. I'll be in NYC shooting bridal fashion for Wedding Style Magazine. I'll be slammed with shoots during the day but I hope to find time to post images that I've been promising at night. I haven't forgotton about the images from WPPI, the engagement session album I described a few weeks back, my Pittsburg workshop, and my cool OC wedding with Katie and John (still editing through 10,000 pictures! thank a lot Jessica! haha). If I forgot anything else that you were hoping to see, feel free to comment :) Here's a shot that Amanda Sakundiak just emailed me! I was taking pictures of my son Aidan with my new D200 and my wife pinched his cheek because she couldn't resist (as usual) so Aidan thought that she wanted him to pinch his own cheek resulting in a series of poses that were quite hilarious. The next day at my workshop Aidan and I demonstrated the new pose for Amanda. Thanks for the pic Amanda!

***CLICK HERE NOW*** to view the Simple Photo Minute vodcast that Dane Sanders just put up for Thirst Relief International!

Here's an encouraging passage from Psalms that I memorized about 3 years ago (and forgot shortly after) and just came across again:

Psalms 1:1

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water.
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.

This chapter in Psalms reminds me that I need to seek God as my counsel for everything. It's easy to look to others who appear to be prospering for advice when we need help. Scripture tells us to meditate on God's law day and night and we'll prosper in whatever we do!

About five years ago I had the opportunity to chat with a guy from my church who is a multi-millionaire. I remember his words very well. He said "I try to avoid spending too much time networking with other businessmen because my time is better spent on my face before God seeking His wisdom." He told me that he's constantly turning down invitations for lunch meetings and networking parties. He spends about 2 hours every morning praying and reading his bible!

When I really stop and think about this... it's so obvious that my time is better spent seeking God's wisdom because God knows all things and created all things. He's got the inside scoop on the entire world!

Ok... just had to share that :) I'll be posting some images shortly.

I'm back from a long crazy week in Las Vegas at WPPI. Wow, so many great stories and experiences to share and so many images to post! I'm gathering some images that I'll post today so stay tuned!

I want to give a special thanks to Kristin, Shyla, Jasmine, and Liana, and my wife Julie. Thank you for the hours you spent helping me at WPPI! I couldn't have made it through the week without you! Also, click on the links to the girls' blogs for fun slideshows from Vegas!

More to come so stay tuned...

One more announcement before I hit the hay...

My new DVD "The Colon Experience" is ready! I will be making it available at WPPI at a special discounted price! I'll be posting my speaking schedule soon in case you want to come by and pick one up. Check out the trailer by clicking here!

I just booked the wedding of Mike Lieberthal of the Philadelphia Phillies. I haven't met him in person yet but he's planning on coming out to CA with his fiance Kelly in a couple months for an engagement session. Seems like a really cool guy! I found a couple images of him online. The wedding will be held at the Four Seasons in Santa Barbara later this year. I'm excited to see how the wedding turns out. It should be a good one for a magazine feature!

This is a picture of me showing my March Newport Beach Workshop students how to love their camera! I need to mention that Ray Santana (the guy in the red shirt in the middle) did throw an "I love you" sign to his wife back at home but it didn't make the cut because everyone else looked too ordinary in the shot. This was not an ordinary group by any means! They were one of my best groups yet! It's funny because I always think that my next group will never be as good as the last, but they just keep getting better! I love doing workshops because I make so many friends that I know I will keep for the rest of my career! It's such a blessing to not only make a living photographing people, but also be able to teach and connect with photographers which is just as rewarding!

I have so many images that I need to post but it's late and I need to sleep so I'll try to get some more up tomorrow in between preparing for my gazillion speaking engagements coming up at WPPI! Can you believe I am giving something like 11 lectures in one week?! Craziness.

250 LIVES JUST SAVED!
Thanks to your generous contributions to Thirst Relief International in the month of March, you helped save the lives of hundreds of children in Brazil and around the world! The largest donation was made by Gary Fong in the amount of $500. Thanks Gary for your awesome example of selfless giving and thank you to everyone who sacrificed financially to help families in need of clean water!!

Continue giving in the month of April! I'll match your donations dollar for dollar. Just send me an email to thirstrelief@mikecolon.com with the amount you gave and I'll total them all up for my donation on May 1st!