♪ On The 10th Day of Fabulous of 2012 ♪

♪ On the 10th Day of Fabulous of 2012...♪

Sky(sky.michaelpyoung.com)

Sky....dang, I want a name like Sky...cool name, cool personality, and cool look.  This high school senior musician has a lot going for him and I feel so fortunate to have gotten the honor of shooting his high school senior portraits.

Visit his ShareIt! site and his blog writeup where the thoughts of Rolling Stones Magazine, warm honey, and English Muffins describes my take on the vibe this fantastic young man brought to this photo shoot...

ShareIt Site: sky.michaelpyoung.com
Photo Shoot Blog Post:  http://blog.michaelpyoung.com/2012/10/warm-honey-english-muffins-and-guy.html

Until next time:  Love Yourself, Love Your Neighbor, and Stay Unique!
Michael P. Young

♪ On The 9th Day of Fabulous of 2012 ♪

♪ On the 9th Day of Fabulous of 2012...♪

Andrea, Baby, and a pair of pink shoes!

Momma Andrea's photo shoot was a fabulous example of the beautiful fire of mother and child.  And oh my goodness, did  baby love her pink shoes!

Until next time:  Love Yourself, Love Your Neighbor, and Stay Unique!
Michael P. Young

♪ On The 8th Day of Fabulous of 2012 ♪

♪ On the 8th Day of Fabulous of 2012...♪

Daniel(daniel.michaelpyoung.com)

Daniel was my man of intrigue this year.  The guy is a multi-talented young man from his accomplishments in track, playing the piano, blowing the horn, and chess.  During part of the photo shoot in their gorgeous house for the piano lifestyle shots, he played for us and it was beautiful.  I've never been so relaxed while shooting to the rich melodies from a live grand piano being played so gracefully.  It was an awesome experience....one picture could not do justice in depicting the multiple talents of this young man...

Visit his ShareIt! site and his blog writeup for more fabulous intrigue!  It was definitely one of our longest photo shoots to date!

ShareIt Site: daniel.michaelpyoung.com
Photo Shoot Blog Post:  http://blog.michaelpyoung.com/2012/08/daniel-man-of-intrigue.html

Until next time:  Love Yourself, Love Your Neighbor, and Stay Unique!
Michael P. Young

♪ On The 7th Day of Fabulous of 2012 ♪

♪ On the 7th Day of Fabulous of 2012...♪

Erica(erica.michaelpyoung.com)

We had a most fabulous photo shoot with Erica that took us into the canyons of Los Alamos.  I love the variety of landscapes and gracious sunlight of Los Alamos scenery and it did us justice on this photo shoot where we probably trekked close to a mile and a half to different locations for Erica's shots.  

ShareIt Site: erica.michaelpyoung.com

Until next time:  Love Yourself, Love Your Neighbor, and Stay Unique!
Michael P. Young

♪ On The 6th Day of Fabulous of 2012 ♪

♪ On the 6th Day of Fabulous of 2012...♪

Cecilia(cecilia.michaelpyoung.com)

Cecilia is an amazing young lady.  Captain of her soccer team, homecoming queen, and a fashion style of strength and grace.  Her photo shoot was as diverse as it gets.  Our creative planning session was awesome!  Mother Nature graced us with beautiful snow and a very crispy sunny day.  And yes, I know I'm cheating showing one picture with three images, but the uniqueness of what Cecilia brought to the table for this photo shoot was undeniably out of this world.  Her presence in the studio, in the snow, and at location was phenomenal.  The black and white tunnel shot was taken at a location used in the film "Let Me In" and provided a fantastic industrial-stylized location that Cecilia rocked with ease and grace in the frigid confines of that tunnel!

Visit her ShareIt! site for more fabulous snow scene shots, additional lifestyle tunnel shots, and gorgeous studio shots (especially with a special pair of red sparkly Converse shoes!)

ShareIt Site: cecilia.michaelpyoung.com
Photo Shoot Blog Post:  http://blog.michaelpyoung.com/2012/01/cecilia-santa-fe-senior.html

Until next time:  Love Yourself, Love Your Neighbor, and Stay Unique!
Michael P. Young

♪ On The 5th Day of Fabulous of 2012 ♪

♪ On the 5th Day of Fabulous of 2012...♪

(For the 12 Days of Fabulous I'm choosing my most favorite image from a randomly chosen 2012 client photoshoot...oh and the title is sung, of course like the 12 Days of Christmas, with the 2012 sung like Twe-eh-eh-nty-twelve!)

Jordan and Parker

Jordan and Parker are a brother and sister duo that made us laugh and were tons of fun to be around...and this picture gives me goosebumps...not for any technical merit on my part, but THEM!  Jordan is a lovely young lady with a fabulous beauty, grace and whit.  Parker would be a natural in front of any commercial photographer's lens.
 

Until next time:  Love Yourself, Love Your Neighbor, and Stay Unique!
Michael P. Young

♪ On The 4th Day of Fabulous of 2012 ♪

♪ On the 4th Day of Fabulous of 2012...♪

(For the 12 Days of Fabulous I'm choosing my most favorite image from a randomly chosen 2012 client photoshoot...oh and the title is sung, of course like the 12 Days of Christmas, with the 2012 sung like Twe-eh-eh-nty-twelve!)

Michael

Michael is very special to me...he is my son.  Michael blew out his knee his senior year playing football.  And he and I made many trips to Vail for his knee.  During one of his follow up appointments, I took his senior picture while we were there.  He's a little boy to me always, but is growing into a fabulous young man by the minute and has taken the bull by the horns in college.  It goes without saying, but I'm gonna say it anyways...I'm so very proud of him and God has blessed me.
 

Until next time:  Love Yourself, Love Your Neighbor, and Stay Unique!
Michael P. Young

My Christmas Eve Prayer for You.

 Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year

As Christmas day draws near, and we draw near to those we love this Holy Eve, my prayer for all my friends near and far:
May the deliverance of all that is good be yours to harvest. May you and your loved ones be kept in the mercy of safety and comfort. And may the New Year find you protected from anxiety with peace in each of your days.

Michael P. Young

♪ On The 3rd Day of Fabulous ♪

♪ On the 3rd Day of Fabulous of 2012...♪

(For the 12 Days of Fabulous I'm choosing my most favorite image from a randomly chosen 2012 client photoshoot...oh and the title is sung, of course like the 12 Days of Christmas, with the 2012 sung like Twe-eh-eh-nty-twelve!)

Miranda (miranda.michaelpyoung.com)

Miranda has a style and grace that is fabulous!  She is a young lady with confidence, flair, and a genuine heart of compassion and joy.  And OH! how she tricked us during the photo shoot in her modeling grace!  I have to admit I thought she was going to be timid and shy in front of the camera...but she truly surprised us and her parents once she got in front of the lens, it was pure magic.

I'm actually going to cheat on this one and show two shots.  The shot above was not planned.  While we were waiting for the sun to go down for the shot below, I thought it would be cool to get a couple of shots in a burned area of the mountains just a short way up the mountain...so we jaunted to the location and set this shot up...Miranda was such a natural.  I love this shot not only because it's freaking cool, but because it reminds me of my second guiding principle and executing on it by following my photographer's heart when shooting my clients...think outside of the box and create something unique and special each time.

When we were done with this shot and the light was just right, we headed back down to our original location to get this shot.  I thought I'd show both as they are interconnected in a story of spontaneity....and trust me, you will want to visit her ShareIt! site to see just how natural and fabulous she rocked her high school senior photo shoot!

Visit her ShareIt! site and photo shoot blog post at the links below!

ShareIt Site: miranda.michaelpyoung.com
Photo Shoot Blog Post:  http://blog.michaelpyoung.com/2012/08/miranda-you-tricked-us.html

Until next time:  Love Yourself, Love Your Neighbor, and Stay Unique!
Michael P. Young

♪ On The 2nd Day of Fabulous ♪

♪ On the 2nd Day of Fabulous of 2012...♪

(For the 12 Days of Fabulous I'm choosing my most favorite image from a randomly chosen 2012 client photoshoot...oh and the title is sung, of course like the 12 Days of Christmas, with the 2012 sung like Twe-eh-eh-nty-twelve!)

Raul (raul.michaelpyoung.com)

Raul is a fantastic young man full of ambition and dedication.  He's extremely polite and full of awesomeness in his heart.  He's a great athlete and he always takes time to say hi to me when we both happen to be at the YMCA at the same time...I don't know if teens realize it, but when you come up to old farts like me and say hi, it does our souls good!

I chose this shot from his photo shoot...what's funny is this particular shot was not planned.  Sometimes the best shots are the ones that are candid.  While we were setting up for a shot, I looked over at Raul and bam!  I have learned over the years to always have the camera ready and for this one I'm glad I did.  

Visit his ShareIt! site to see more of this great young man's fabulous fire at http://raul.michaelpyoung.com.

Until next time:  Love Yourself, Love Your Neighbor, and Stay Unique!

Michael P. Young

♪ On The 1st Day of Fabulous of 2012 ♪

♪ On the 1st Day of Fabulous of 2012...♪

(For the 12 Days of Fabulous I'm choosing my most favorite image from a randomly chosen 2012 client photoshoot...oh and the title is sung, of course like the 12 Days of Christmas, with the 2012 sung like Twe-eh-eh-nty-twelve!)

Gillespie Family (gillespie.michaelpyoung.com)

We start the 12 Days of Fabulous with the Gillespie Family!  This was the photo shoot that my youngest daughter assistant said was the funnest photo shoot ever.  And my most favorite image from this photo shoot?

I LOVE black and white and I love this picture for the story it tells in what THIS happy family unit looks like.  Add some Ghost Ranch scenery with Abiquiu lake in the background and this is my fav...

Feel free to visit their ShareIt site and photo shoot blog post at the links below!

ShareIt Site: gillespie.michaelpyoung.com
Photo Shoot Blog Post:  http://blog.michaelpyoung.com/2012/11/clarity-of-minds-eye-through-family.html

Until next time:  Love Yourself, Love Your Neighbor, and Stay Unique!
Michael P. Young

Reflecting on the Year - Roll The Sleeves Up and Punch Fear In Its Face

High Five to facing fear!

A couple of daddy-isms over the next couple of days as I wind down the year and reflect back on the year.

Daddyism #2: For the majority of us, life demands you to roll up your sleeves, get into the mess of things, make mistakes, and get your butt chewed every once in a while to keep you grounded.  And low and behold, as you work your way through it all you get better and better at the execution of your passion, while gaining humility, wisdom, patience and finally, respect for the unique bit of artistry you forged.

I have come to the realization that fear of failure is a death wish, and if not confronted and dealt with, will lead me absolutely to the end of my creativity and passion inside the rabbit hole of photography.

I realize that in order to grow, I must put forth my best effort, work tirelessly, and get knocked down by the constructive criticism, the destructive criticism, and actually try and push through the fear of doing those things that have a bigger chance of failing than the safer mediocre attempts....for whether my attempt is a failure or a hit, either way I learn something from it and, if in the proper frame of mind,  grow from it...it's really a win-win...but hard as 'effing hell.

Some of my favorite resources on the matter:

Reflecting on the Year: Daddyism #1

A couple of daddy-isms over the next couple of days as I wind down the year and reflect back on the year.

Daddyism #1: I think success should not necessarily be measured by who you think you are, but how you engage the world and show it what you have to offer.

I think it is definitely important for one to believe in themselves, no doubt.  But sometimes, that, in and of itself, becomes ego.

The challenge is "finding yourself" as a creative, and then creating a positive way of offering what you have to offer in a way that benefits and creates value....

So how does one go about that?

It's tough.  But here are some people who I study and learn form to help me beat the fear of my own self, and try to put a best foot forward on bringing value to my clients and future prospects:

Simon Sinek's Start With Why
TOFURIOUS: Marketing Strategies for Smart Creatives
John Acuff: Author of the book Quitter

Until next time:  Love Yourself, Love Your Neighbor, and Stay Unique!

Michael P. Young

Titanium: Power and Grace - Dignity and Respect

Each winter, I put the challenge upon myself to shoot at least one personal project.  And the inspiration and planning of these projects doesn't necessarily have to begin during the winter months!

As a father of two daughters, I'm always looking for ways to empower the importance of dignity and respect to young ladies through my photography and everyday living. And thanks to Kiana and Samantha participating in this photo shoot, they brought me one step closer to that dream.

This particular concept came to me a year and a half ago.  It all started when we were watching a local high school volleyball game.  As I watched the game, a young lady by the name of Kiana came up to serve.

It's not often you see jump serves in high school, or at least executed well...but when I saw her serve for the first time, her jump serve was exquisite.  I totally got the chills and was reminded of an image Dave Black once took of Kevin Barnett during the 2000 World Volleyball Championships.