Mike Colón | Blog: 11/01/2006

Hi Everyone, I hope you all had a nice holiday. I just released 5 more seats for my 4-day Intensive this coming February in Newport Beach so if you were wanting to come here's your chance! ***CLICK HERE TO REGISTER***

Here are some more shots of Paul and Christine. I have to say a little something about this couple because they are quite special to me. Julie and I are so blessed because we get to meet so many great couples because of this awesome job we have. Since Christine booked me via email from Canada for her wedding on the island of Providenciales (Turks & Caicos), we were so glad that they invited us to dinner the night before the wedding. I always feel so much better shooting a wedding when I feel closer to the couple and have had a chance to hang out with them in a casual setting before the big day. Paul and Christine work for the same company and travel all over the country analyzing businesses. The company schedules them in the same cities often so they can travel together which I thought was very cool. They met in an Apple store in Portland where Paul worked as a "genuis". Christine told me that she kept coming into the store and buying things just to see Paul. He didn't catch on that she was interested in him for quite some time which became extremely expensive for her. She started returning things at other Apple stores so she could keep up the visits. She would dress up all nice and show up at the store right before closing on a Friday night hoping he would ask her out. They started dating and knew right away they would get married. They are the coolest and sweetest couple and I'm so bummed that they don't live in CA because Julie and I wish we could hang out with them some more. Here are some shots from the wedding day.

The Ocean Pearl Villa

Yes, that is their clothes up on the rocks :)

I'm having trouble posting from my macbook. It appeared as if the beta blogger site was down but I just logged on with my pc and it worked so perhaps its something to do with safari or firefox. I'll post images from my turks & caicos wedding as soon as I get this figured out. If anyone knows what could be wrong, please comment. Thanks!

It's super late and our condo flooded again tonight during another storm but thank God the weather held out today for the wedding with unbelievable light! With all the mopping and packing, I only have time to post one image tonight but I'll post more soon! Christine and Paul were so much fun and so in love! It was awesome to have the whole day with them to just hang out and shoot! More fun images to come...

Our latest drama: Flooding in Turks & Caicos

I'm headed out at 5am tomorrow for a wedding in Provo (Turks & Caicos) so I'm kinda already in vacation mode even though I have a couple more things to do before I leave. Packing is one of those things, but I always do that last minute anyway so no worries. I also have to change out my camera gear to my new Tamrac case since I busted my old one on my last destination wedding.

I had a playoff softball game tonight and we won so I'm celebrating with a late night dinner from Jack-in-the-box :) I got an Eggnog shake which is THE BOMB, and a Sourdough Jack with curly fries. I swear I only ate like 3 fries on the way home and I totally got gypped because there were only 4 more broken curly fries in the bag when I got home. They gave me more bags of ketchup than they did fries so I guess I'm supposed to use like 1 1/2 bags of ketchup per curly fry. They did throw in a free antenna ball snowman Jack head so I can't really complain. Wait, do they give those free to everyone? I haven't been to Crack-in-a-box in a long time because it's not the healthiest snack. Oh well, like I said.. I'm in vacation mode :)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I'll try to post some pics from the island to make you all jealous :) Go get one of these eggnog shakes, they will cheer you up!

I just found out that the most influential wedding photographer in the nation (and an inspiration to me since I started my career) just had a seat open up in his exclusive "Conclave" that will be held in Atlanta in just a couple of weeks. I guarantee you will be more successful after attending a Denis Reggie seminar! I've attended two of his workshops, a half dozen of his lectures, and have also purchased his DVD. The wisdom and inside information he shared with me has done wonders for my business! Click the banner ad below for more details!

I highly recommend this one day workshop with the incredible [b]ecker! This guy has shared so much valuable information with me over the years and is one of the photographers I credit with helping me get started in this amazing business! It's going to sell out quickly so don't wait if you want in! He's only accepting 5 photographers. I'm sure we'll be planning a poker night that week so I'll see you there! All the info to sign up is below -

[b]'s "Party of 5" one day workshop:

Instead of offering another large workshop where I try to get a bunch of photographers to sign up and go to some hotel for another seminar, I am offering an intimate, unique learning experience for a select few. "Party of 5" will be an informal workshop hosted at the [ b ] pad in Mission Viejo for 5 lucky photographers. It will be a condensed version of the [ b ] experience where I will open up my home, my life and business to anyone who wants to see exactly how we do thing around here. I'll be covering branding, pricing, marketing without advertising, workflow, shooting tips, our album process and business basics.

If things go well, I may do this once or twice a month, but for now, the only planned dates are Tuesday, December 5th (just about 3 weeks away) and Tuesday, January 9th.

The investment is $800 for an 8 hour day, ($1,200 for SoCal residents) and includes:

Tentative schedule (subject to change based on the interest of the participants)

11:00am- The Client Consultation & Profitable Pricing
12:00pm- Business Basics
12:30pm- Lunch at Claim Jumper (on me) and we'll talk about branding and marketing without advertising
2:00pm- The Album Process (+the best way to predesign)
3:30pm- Engagement Session at the beach with an actual couple (you can bring a camera or just watch me shoot)
5:00pm- the [ b ] flow & Photoshop for Slackers
6:00pm- Free for all, Q&A, portfolio review
7:00pm- Event officially concludes but y'all can stick around to chat, play pool, Ms. Pacman etc... or y'all can take me out to dinner if you want and we'll just chat some more.

Slots will be held on a first come, first serve basis. A $400 non refundable retainer is required to reserve your day. The balance is due upon arrival on the day of the workshop. Contact kk@thebecker.com to make arraignments to pay by credit card or send a check to: Becker Photographer, PO BOX 3714, Mission Viejo, CA 92690

Make sure to write down the day you want to sign up for. I hope to see you soon.

The grounds at One Ford Road - our new home and workshop location

For those of you who asked to be put on the waiting list for my live 4-day Intensive, I just released 5 more seats. The first group sold out in one day! I love doing workshops because I get to spend time getting to know so many cool and talented photographers. I'm intentionally releasing the first two groups of seats on my blog because I want to meet more of you in person.

***CLICK HERE TO RESERVE YOUR SEAT!***

Just read this article on Salvatore Totino. Check it out if you haven't read it already!

Thanks guys for all of your kind words about my family! You're right, I totally scored when I married my beautiful wife. I keep wondering why she picked me and when I'll wake up from this dream. As Dicky Fox from Jerry Maguire said, "...I love my wife. I love my life. And I wish you my kind of success."

A couple months back at my 4-day workshop in Newport Beach, I took the photographers down to the beach with some models for a photoshoot. I couldn't help but take advantage and ask the group to take some quick shots of my family while we were there.
Thanks to all for this awesome gift!

photos by Garrett Burdick

Photos by Bradie Jarman

My wife is hot :)

photos by Connie Brown

Photo by Sean Watson

A few I took

The claw is coming to get you!

I wish he could be this small forever

After a good nap :)

Just released seats for my Feb 2007 4-day Intensive!

***CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS***

Ok this is hilarious! I just got an email from my friend Grace Kim who saw me on TV recently shooting runways at the wedding channel couture show in New York. Just so you know, I fully endorse chimping :) haha!

We're moving! Not far though... actually only a couple blocks from our current studio location in Newport Beach. Our new home/studio will be in the beautiful "One Ford Road" community just north of Fashion Island. See the aerial shot below that I took from my helicopter (aka mapquest) with a red line showing the quickest path to my surf spot.

I love this new home! Click here to see a sample virtual tour (not our actual place) of the cool layout of this 3 bed 3.5 bath floor plan. It's got 3 large bedrooms upstairs plus a huge loft area for my office/digital darkroom. The master bathroom upstairs is just ridiculous with a jacuzzi bathtub and a walk-in closet that is about the size of a small bedroom! Downstairs has a two living areas that wrap around an open air courtyard. I'll use one for family and one will be a nice meeting space for my clients. It's got a wood-burning fireplace (just in time to hang stockings), a chef's kitchen and brand new wood floors (the deal closer for me). It also has a 3-car garage which is quite rare in Newport Beach! This home made sense for us with the new addition on the way because it will allow me to work from home and help Julie out with the little guys. Being out of town so much these days, when I'm home I want to be HOME, not at the office. This will maximize the time I get to spend with my family which is very exciting for me! We'll be in the new place in just a couple weeks so I'll post some pics of it when we're done. Have a great weekend and happy shooting!

Just found this quote while browsing Scarlett Williams blog. What an awesome challenge!

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that frightens us most.
We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and famous?’
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that people won’t feel insecure around you.
We were born to manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.
And when we let our light shine,
we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others."
~Marianne Williamson, American author and lecturer

My friend Danny is the kind of guy everyone loves. He's kind, generous, funny, and full of charisma! I found out recently that he is in training for a 100 mile cycling race in Palm Springs this February to support The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. First of all, Danny is by no means a professional cyclist and must have quite a bit of training ahead of him to accomplish this self-assigned task! It takes a special kind of person to dedicate so many hours each day doing something completely selfless. If you would like to support Danny and keep track of this cool challenge check out his blog by clicking the link below.

Danny's 100 Mile Challenge Blog

Mike Lieberthal & Kelly Culbert Wedding

Just got back from Santa Barbara where I photographed the wedding of Phillie's catcher Mike Lieberthal to his beautiful new bride Kelly Culbert. This gorgeous event was held at the Four Seasons Biltmore. Celebrity wedding designer Ava Carroll-Brown blew me away as usual with the luxurious decor and elegant floral designs thoughtfully tied in with a fun baseball theme. A special thanks to my good friend Ray Santana for letting me drag him all the way from Miami to assist! Here are a few shots from the wedding.

Good times in the bridal suite :)