Getting ready for the big Day!

There is nothing better then shooting a Wedding, then making a Bride feel comfortable, relaxed and Gorgeous on her Wedding day. I strongly believe as a photographer you need to build that confidence early when you arrive to the brides house. This is my version of how a Bride's getting ready shot should look like. I'm never a fan of capturing the Bride without truly being ready for pictures. Besides it's her wedding day and it's all about her!

Viva Mexico! A little History... beside I'm Mexican!

El Grito every 16^th of September is the Mexican Fiesta par excellence! On this day Mexicans all over the world celebrate Mexico’s independence from Spanish rule.

As you know, indigenous peoples were the first to inhabit what is now known as Mexico. They created great civilizations such as the Olmec, the Teotihuacan, Maya, Toltec, and of course the most powerful of all, the Aztec Empire. 

 After Christopher Columbus “discovered” America, the Spaniards carried out expeditions to find gold and riches from these faraway lands.   In 1521, about 500 Spanish soldiers arrived in Mexico, headed by an ambitious man: Hernán Cortés.  At this time, the Aztecs had built a great empire that ruled over all Mesoamérica. So the Spaniards decided to direct their attacks towards them.

 The indigenous nations that were under the Aztec rule were tired of the physical and economic hardships imposed upon them by this empire.  This circumstance made them think that by helping the Conquerors defeat the Aztecs, they would be better off.  So they decided to aid the Spaniards.

This is how the Conquest of what is now Mexico began.

  On the 13^th of August 1521, Cuauhtémoc, the last Aztec emperor was captured. The indigenous allies of the Spaniards raided Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec empire.

They didn’t know it at the time, but they had been liberated from one oppressor and fallen in the hands of a much more powerful authoritarian.

This was the beginning of three centuries of Spanish rule. The new colony was named Nueva España, New Spain.

 The years that followed were devastating. The conquerors brought with them diseases unknown to the natives. The epidemics that broke out as well as the merciless workload imposed upon the natives dramatically diminished the Indian population.   There were approximately 20 million Indians inhabiting this territory before the Conquest, and after just one century of Spanish rule there were only 1 million left!

  Colonial society was highly stratified. Spaniards born in Spain, occupied the higher echelons, followed by Criollos, those born in Mexico from Spanish parents; Mestizos, the mix- blood offspring of Spaniards and Natives; Indios, Native Indians; Negros, African slaves.

  Each socio-ethnic group had different rights and duties. The privileged were the peninsular Spaniards.  Discontent steadily grew, especially amongst the Criollos, who were always treated as second-class subjects of the Spanish Crown.   It is no surprise then, that Criollos were the spark that ignited the Independence movement.

  In  1808, Napoleon invaded Spain, and decided to impose his brother José Bonaparte, as king of Spain (1808-1810).  The Criollos found in this circumstance the opportunity to seek their independence form Spain.

Influenced by the concepts of liberty, equality and democracy proposed by the French philosophers Rousseau, Montesquieu, Voltaire, and by the war of Independence of the United States, they decided to start a revolt.  It was 1810, and their plan was to start the war on the 2^nd of October.  Unfortunately, their plans were discovered in early September. The movement was in trouble. They had two alternatives; either abandon their plans, or move faster and start the revolt immediately.  Fortunately for our country they decided upon the second alternative.

 In the early hours of September 16, 1810, father Hidalgo, accompanied by several conspirators –Iganacio Allende, Doña Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez-   rang the bell of his little church, calling everyone to fight for liberty.  This was the beginning of the Independence War, which lasted 10 years.   

by May Herz             

Fusion Stlye!

Photography has change from film into digital in the past few years and today it seems to make another transition. Photographer & Clients are asking what is Fusion style? It seems that this new mix of still capture images and Video makes for a fusion style theme, or that's what it's being called.

I am very interested in finding out how this creative cinema style capture called Fusion will take us to the next level of photography capture. Next week, I'll be attending a seminar at Calumet Photographic, in Oak Brook,IL with one of our local top photographers Bob Davis, on Fusion style Sponsor by Canon.

He's going over this concept of using the new DSLR's capturing in 1080P HD video like the 5D MKII and others. I'm excited to be learning this technique and practicing it on some up coming events. I still think it may be hard to shoot video & capture stills at the same time, but I like to try new thing every time. Wish me Luck!  I'll be sure to post some stuff soon, if they come out well. lol

Kimberly Anderson!

Some of you may or may not know Kimberly Anderson. She's this gorgeous model from Indiana who has been publish in mulitple national magazines. She also an Ex-LFL player of the Chicago Bliss. Kimberly was asked by Maxim to submit some images for a spread on an up coming fall issue. SO!Yesterday we did an amazing photo shoot for her submission images to Maxim Magazine.
Here are some Behind the scenes unitl we see which images Maxim will choose.