(Detalles del concurso en Español abajo)

Although it seems like the year just started, its February already. Happy Groundhog’s Day and Happy 20th Birthday to my brother Shawn!

Februrary means the vendors will soon fill the streets of Santiago with all things red and heart shaped as Valentine’s Day approaches. While the “holiday” has become somewhat commercialized, I think its still important to focus on its original intention-to celebrate love. And my opinion, this means any loving relationship, whether it be between a couple or between a parent and child, cousins, or even really good friends.

As for my part in all of this love, I am giving away a portrait photography session in celebration of Valentine’s Day and all loving relationships. Plus you are the one to spread the love, as you can win the session for a friend or family member.

Here’s how it works:

1. Contest runs from February 2-February 13. The winner will be announced on February 14 on the blog.

2. You can only nominate someone else, not yourself or your immeadiate family-it’s all about spreading the love.

3. To nominate someone to win the session, send an e-mail to info@medianaranjaphotography.com with why you think the nominee is such a great example of love-whether it be amorous, platonic or even family love and why the deserve to win a session with Media Naranja Photography.

4. The top story will be selected on the 14th and posted on the blog. The winner will receive a portrait photo session and CD of digital files from the session. This can be for a maternity, kids, family(up to 6 people) or couples session. The session cannot be used for a newborn session and must be used in Santiago before March 31, 2010.

5. And as an extra love bonus, the nominator of the winner will receive 50% off for a photo session for themselves as well.

Aunque parece que el año recién empezó, ya estamos en Febrero.  Hay que desear un Feliz Cumpleaños a mi hermano Shawn, que cumple 20 años hoy día.

Febrero significa que pronto los vendedores van a llenar las calles de Santiago con todo rojo y de corazón. Aunque el día ya parece un poco comercializado, es importante enforcar en la idea original del día- de celebrar amor. En mi opinión, es importante celebrar cualquier tipo de amor, no solo entre parejas, pero también entre familias y amigos.

Como mi parte en todo este amor, estoy regalando una sesión fotográfica en celebración del día de San Valentín. Uds. son los que me ayudan difundir el amor- pueden ganar la sesión para un amigo/a o familiar.

Aquí es como funciona:

1. El concurso va desde hoy, 2 de febrero hasta el sábado 13 de febrero. El ganador será anunciado el 14 de febrero en el blog.

2. Solo puedes nominar a otra persona, no a si mismo ni su familia imeadiata-la idea es compartir el amor con los demás.

3. Para nominar a alguien para ganar la sesión, manda un correo electrónico a info@medianaranjaphotography.com con las razones de que esa persona es un ejemplo bueno del amor (entre pareja, platónico o familiar) y porque merecen ganar una sesión con Media Naranja Photography.

4. El mejor cuento será seleccionado el 14 de febrero y ser publicado en el blog. El ganador recibirá una sesión fotográfica y un disco de las imágenes digitales de la sesión. Puede ser una sesión de embarazo, de niños, de familia (hasta 6 personas) o de pareja. No puede ser usado para una sesión de recién nacido y tiene que ser usado en Santiago antes del 31 de Marzo, 2010.

5. Como un regalo extra, la persona que nomina al ganador recibirá un descuento de 50% para una sesión para si mismo también.

I’m hoping to start a new feature on the blog talking about some of my top picks. Right now, one of my favorite things is Google Reader. Those familiar to the blogging world probably use this regularly, but for those who don’t, it’s great. I started using it a couple months ago and quickly filled it up with all my favorite blogs. Its so nice to be able to log-in and see who has new posts right away instead of having to go to each individual blog itself and hope that they have a new post up.

If you already have a Gmail account, it is super easy to get started(just click on reader in the top left hadn corner of your gmail account. If you don´t have Gmail, you can still setup a reader account at www.gmail.com/reader.

Give it a try and be sure to add: www.medianaranjaphotography.com/blog to your list of subscriptions to see my latest posts.

Some other great blogs I follow and find entertaining(photography and non photography related)

Melissa Jill: www.melissajill.com/blog

Betsy King: www.betsykingphoto.com/blog

Cake Wrecks: www.cakewrecks.com

Jasmine Star: www.jasminestarblog.com

And because every post is better with a picture, here´s a quick shot from a birthday party a photographed a little while back.

Have a great weekend!

Meet little Amalia. These newborn portraits were taken at 5 & 7 days old. It took two days to get her to sleep a bit for the pictures-she definitely just wanted to be part of the action. Everytime she seemed to fall asleep, she would wake her self up and roll over.  With a lot patience and a lot of rocking her back in forth by her very loving parents, I think we got some good shots. Enjoy the sneak peak of Amalia!

Conozca Amalia. Estes retratos fueron tomados a los 5 y 7 dias de vida. Demoremos dos dias en hacerle dormir para las fotos-ella solo queria interactuar. Con mucha paciencia y cariño de sus papas, creo que obtuvimos algunas buenas. Disfrutan las primeras fotos de Amalia!

I spent Saturday afternoon with this fun family out in Cerrillos. We had a tasty barbeque, true to Chilean tradition, and then took some updated family photos. The session was a Christmas gift for the in-laws and I’m glad we got the chance to get everyone together. The dogs even made a cameo as well. As you can see, they like to have fun and laugh together.

Pase el sabado con esta familia divertida en Cerrillos. Comimos un asado, segun tradicion Chilena y saquemos algunas fotos familiares. La sesion fue un regalo de navidad para los suegros y me alegro que juntemos todos para las fotos, incluyendo los perros. Como pueden ver, les gustaria reirse y divertirse.

I’m a little behind on posting, but will have New Year’s and some client posts up soon. In the meantime, here are some fun memories from my nephew Francisco’s first Christmas.

These pictures were taken with my new 50mm 1.4 lens, my Christmas present to myself and goal #25  of my 51 in 501 list. Well, the goal was to try it out, but I figured I’d go ahead and buy myself a Christmas present after all the hard work that has gone into this year and starting a business. I’m so happy I did because I absolutely love the lens and the great results it produces and am excited to use it in some of my sessions coming up.

Enjoy!

Merry Christmas and Feliz Navidad to everyone. I hope that you enjoy this holiday creating special moments with those you love.

For me, being in Chile,  this is my first warm weather Christmas, and while it does take some getting used to, I do have to say that it has its perks. After Christmas eve dinner and presents last night, we went out to see Christmas lights at 1 am without having to worry about being cold. It was really nice to go out to the plaza in Providencia and see all sorts of people sharing and enjoying the beautiful display.  I missed being with my family but at least had some good subsitute company with Hugo´s family.

More to come soon. Happy holidays everyone!

I had the opportunity to photograph this lovely family at their beautiful home this past weekend. We had a lot of fun being both serious and silly  and  I immediately felt welcomed by everyone. Their grandmother and oldest daughter were visiting for the holidays, so it was nice to get everyone together for some family portraits. Just because your kids are older, doesn’t mean its too late for family photos. Enjoy this sneak peek!

Mom & Dad

Four generations of beautiful women

Sisters

The family together

Three girls having fun

Even Monty, the family dog, wanted to part of the shoot

And finally, everyone together…

Happy Holidays!

Meet Wyatt. He just turned 10 weeks old.

And now meet his beautiful family.

This little guy gave me some great faces throughout the session, always keeping one eye on me and the camera to make sure he didn’t miss out on anything.

He loves watching his mom too…

I love the relaxed feeling in this next shot. They look so happy as a new family of three.

And to finish off, a nice father/son moment…a sign of many more to come.

Thanks for a fun session. Wyatt played the part of model perfectly.

I met all these cute kids at a birthday party I photographed last week (More on that coming soon).  Enjoy!

Conoci todos estes ninos lindos en un cumpleanos que fotografie la semana pasada (mas de ese evento viene pronto). Disfruta!

The Birthday Boy-El Cumplenero

I think Chile has some of the cutest kids. Creo que Chile tiene algunos de los ninos mas lindos.

I have been wanting to get out of Santiago for the weekend for over a year now and finally had the chance to on Halloween weekend as Hugo and I headed north to La Serena and the Elqui Valley. I had been planning this trips for a couple of months and was so excited when we finally arrived. And now, I can cross of the first thing on my 50 in 501 list. Yes! This post is a combination of pictures taken with my camera and Hugo’s point and shoot. Hope you enjoy this quick peak of our trip. Next week I’ll do part 2 with pictures from the Elqui Valley. Enjoy!

Love the Andes Mountains

Arrival to La Serena= Lots of Walking

And here’s me taking that shot above….very rarely do I have a shot of me in action…

After walking around and exploring La Serena we decided to have lunch at a place that had been recommended to us. Possibly the worst meal I have ever eaten….oh well, we got a good laugh about for the rest of the trip:-)

The afternoon was spent on the beach-a little cloudy, cold and windy, but still relaxing.

On Friday, we headed to the sister town of La Serena, Coquimbo and visited the port. It ended up being pretty exciting as the fisherman brought up their catch and sold it right along the water and then tossed the leftovers back into the water. They attracted a huge group of sea lions, who competed with the birds for their next meal.

More to come from the rest of the trip soon!