Archive for the ‘Personal’ Category

Favorite Things: Google Reader

January 30, 2010

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.

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Have a great weekend!

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Francisco’s First Christmas & New Lens

January 12, 2010

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!

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Posted in 50 in 501, Babies/Bebes, Personal, Photography | 1 Comment »

Feliz Navidad!

December 25, 2009

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.

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More to come soon. Happy holidays everyone!

Posted in Personal, chile | No Comments »

La Serena/Coquimbo-Part 1 (50 in 501 #1)

November 20, 2009

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

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Arrival to La Serena= Lots of Walking

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Bloglaserena0172Bloglaserena0176Bloglaserena0179Bloglaserena0173And here’s me taking that shot above….very rarely do I have a shot of me in action…

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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:-)

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

Bloglaserena0199bloglaserenaDSC02453On 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.

Bloglaserena0229Bloglaserena0223Bloglaserena0221More to come from the rest of the trip soon!

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Posted in 50 in 501, Personal, chile | 1 Comment »

50 in 501-A list of Things to Accomplish

November 18, 2009

I have been working on both setting some goals for myself and making my blog more personal, so I think this is a great combination. This list was inspired by one of my favorite photographers, Melissa Jill, who created a 100 in 1001 list. Basically the idea is to have 100 goals or things you would like to accomplish in 1001 days. I think its so helpful to have this on here to help keep me accountable and motivated.  Because I have no idea what country I’ll be living in 3 years from now, let alone what I will be doing, I’ve decided to do a slightly abbreviated version of 50 goals in 501 days. I’ve come up with almost 40 so far, and will leave the last few spaces for new goals that come up in the next couple of months. They are a mix of life and photography/business goals and are in no particular order, just how they came into my head. The idea is that I will post when a goal is accomplished so that I have some satisfaction and a record of a job well done and my readers get to learn a little bit more about me and my experiences, especially those here in Chile. I started this list about a month ago, so I will have some goals recently accomplished to show you soon. Perhaps this will motivate you as well to create your own list, or at least think about some things that you would like to accomplish.

So here goes the list so far:

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Start Date: October 13, 2009

End Date: February 26, 2011

1. Take a weekend trip outside of Santiago-Completed November 1, 2009

2. Get permanent residency in Chile

3. Learn to drive a stick shift

4. Book a baby’s first year package

5.  Find my own apartment

6. Visit a college friend

7. Get a photograph published

8. Create a full business plan

9. Go surfing

10. Create a studio/office space

11. Send out Christmas Cards

12. Learn how to put slideshows on my blog

13. Redesign my website

14. Do a photo shoot with my parents

15. Take a salsa class

16. Get my knees healed and run a 5k

17. Second shoot a wedding

18. Finish bedroom update project

19. Do a photo shoot with my brother

20. Take a cooking class

21. Visit a new state in the US

22. Understand lighting with an external flash and use it!

23. Attend a photography workshop

24. Bake a pie

25. Try out the 50mm 1.4 lens

26. Create or purchase a set of photoshop actions

27. Visit a new country that I haven’t been to

28. Send a friend a surprise package

29. Send a real letter in the mail a month for 6 months

30. Read 2 books to benefit my business

31. Have a real picnic outside

32. Create a sole proprietorship for my business

33. Attend a photography networking event

34. Volunteer at a sports event

35. Make a mosaic something

36. Visit Barrio Brasil in Santiago

37. Go to a soccer game in Chile

38. Create a complete recipe book of my favorites

39.

40.

41.

42.

43.

44.

45.

46.

47.

48.

49.

50.

Posted in 50 in 501, Personal, Photography, chile | 3 Comments »

Photography for the Greater Good/Fotografia para el bien comun

September 29, 2009

(Espanol abajo). There is a big movement in the world of photography to try and help people through pictures. The are large movements like Help Portrait, Think Pink Photography (which I am a part of) and individuals who inspire, such as Zack Arias and his series of motivational blog posts. All of these things gave me further motivation to give back with photography, something I’ve been looking for ways to do for a while.

An acquaintance introduced me to an orphanage/foster home for children ranging from newborns to 3 years old. It is a great organization with over 40 kids in their care here in Santiago. The staff is diligent, caring and have a great responsibility for the kids living there. These children have arrived at the home because their family decided to/or was determined unfit(for various reasons) to be able to care for them. It can’t be an easy life, but they always greet me with smiles.

I have embarked on a project to photograph all the kids in the home once a month. Each child has a folder where we store the photos and follow their growth. The idea is that when the children either return to their family or are adopted, they have a record of their infancy and/or childhood and have these important memories, just like other kids who are in more fortunate situations.

It is truly an enlightening experience that makes you appreciate what you have and your upbringing. I’m lucky that I had a great supportive family growing up, with lots of memories and pictures, so I am glad to be able to at least help these kids in some way.

I have so many cute pictures of beaming smiles and big eyes from my visits at the home, but due to their at-risk situation, I can’t show their faces. So here’s just a small sampling  of what I can share.

Hay un gran movimiento en fotografia ahora para ayudar a personas a traves de fotografia. Hay grandes grupos y personas individuales que estan inspirando y coordinando varios esfuerzos.

Una conocida me introdujo a una casa de lactantes aqui en Santiago. La gente que trabaja alla es diligetne, carinoso y feliz y esfuerza muco para cuidar a los 40 ninos entre recien nacido y tres años de vida. Los ninos estan alli porque su situacion familiar no les permite vivir en casa.  No tienen una vida facil, pero siempre me saludan con sonrisas.

He empezado un proyecto de ir a la casa una vez al mes para sacar retratos de todos los ninos. Cada nino tiene una carpeta donde guardamos las fotos para mostrar su crecimiento. La idea es que cuando regresen a sus familias o sean adoptados, tendre un recuerdo de su infancia/ninez como todos los otros ninos.

Es una experiencia muy linda que te hace apreciar lo que tienes. Tenia suerte de tener a una familia que me quiere y que me apoye y me alegro poder tener la oportunidad para ayudar a estes ninos de alguna forma.

Debido a su situacion de peligro, no puedo mostrar sus caras aqui, pero por lo menos, puedo incluir algunos momentos que capture.

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If you are interested in supporting this great cause, either with monetar support, donations of diapers and forumla or by volunteering, please let me know.

Si esta interesado en apoyar a esta causa, con dinero, donaciones de panales o comida, o como voluntario, avisame.

Posted in Babies/Bebes, Personal, Photography, chile | 1 Comment »

Dieciocho-Independence Day in Chile

September 22, 2009

Chile’s Independence Day isn’t really a day, its more of a mindset. From the start of September, people just know that vacation is coming and all productivity slows down until the festivities begin. This year, September 18th fell on a Friday, leaving Thursday afternoon, Friday, Saturday and Sunday for celebrating. I had my fair share of fairs, barbequed meat, empanadas (savory turnovers), churros(my favorite!) and cueca dancing(Chile’s traditional dance). Here are a few of my favorites from the weekend.

Aqui van algunas de mis fotos favoritos de las fiestas del dieciocho. Ya disfrute demasiado, carne, empanadas, churros y cueca. Hasta la proxima!

I’m going to start with my favorite series first:

Some marching soldiers from the military parade-still trying to figure out what’s on their backs. Pillow and blanket perhaps…any thoughts out there?

Kite flying is also a big activity of the weekend…notice the small specks in some of the earlier plane pictures-those are kites…these people are serious about their flying.

However my kite flying usually turns out much like the following unfortunate souls:

And to end with…you can’t have Chilean independence day without some traditional Cueca dancing.

Hope you enjoyed the dieciocho as much as I did.I’d love to hear your comments:-)

Posted in Personal, Photography, chile | No Comments »

My grandmother/Mi abuela

August 29, 2009

My grandmother is a very special lady, as those of you who have met or know her can certainly attest to.  She is everyone’s friend and always greets you with a smile on her face, no matter the kind of day she is having. She has been a big part of my life and a source of great inspiration and support. She’s had a tough year after my grandfather and her husband of 60 years passed away last November, but it has given me a chance to see her strength and courage in a different light. While I was back home in July, I had the opportunity to take a few quick portraits of her and am honored to share them with you. She says she feels younger than her age and I hope that feeling continues for many more years. Please enjoy this simple tribute.

Mi abuela es una mujer muy especial, como los que la han conocido ya saben. Es amiga de todos y siempre te saluda con una sonrisa. Es una gran parte de mi vida y una fuente de inspiracion y apoyo. Ha tendio un año dificil despues de que mi abuelo y su esposo de 60 años murio en noviembre, pero me ha dado la oportunidad de ver su fuerza y coraje. Ella dice que siente mas joven que su edad y espero que eso sigue por muchos años mas. Disfruta esta regalo para ella.

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Posted in Personal | 1 Comment »

Welcome to my brand new blog!

August 7, 2009

I’m glad you made it over to my brand new blog. This is something I have been wanting to do and have been thinking about for a long while now, and decided, what better thing to do then debut it today, on my birthday. So happy birthday present to me:-)

I hope you all enjoy the new layout, bigger pictures and fun header and check back often. I have some fun sessions coming up(horses anyone?) and can’t wait to share them with you. As always, I’d love to hear what you think, so leave a comment. Thanks for all your support of me on my photographic and life adventure.

Gracias por llegar a mi nuevo blog. Es algo que he querido hacer hace tiempo y decidi que no hay mejor tiempo lanzarlo que hoy dia, mi cumpleanos. Entonces, feliz cumpleanos a mi;-).

Espero que disfruten el nuevo formato, con fotos mas grandes y que vuelvan muchas vececs. Tengo algunas sesiones divertidos pronto y me gustaria poder compartirlos con Uds. Como siempre, me gusta escuchar lo que piensan. Gracias por todo su apoyo de mi en mi aventura de fotografia y vida.

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Expo Diseno Bebe

April 19, 2009

Gracias a todos que fueron al Expo Diseno Bebe. Habian muchos productos y aun mas mujeres embarazadas.

Si recibiste un folleto en el evento, mandanos un e-mail con el numero de telefono listado en el papelito para recibir un descuento en su sesion de fotos.

Si quiere  recibir informacion de futuras promociones, escriba a:

medianaranjaphotography@gmail.com

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Y gracias a Modern Moms por su apoyo. Tienen productos muy lindos. Visita a su sitio para mas informacion.

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Posted in Personal, Photography, Promotions/Promociones | No Comments »