Family

Family can mean so many things to people- it can mean feeling secure, feeling close, feeling loved and feeling welcome to name a few.  I had the honor to photograph my good friends yesterday for a photoshoot downtown of their newly formed family. 

It was so much fun to photograph them together and how much of a family they already are.  They want to surprise their parents with pictures of them as a family.

Above are just a few of my favorites from our day in the cold.  Thank you guys for being such a fun group to photograph! :) I still look back and laugh when I see some of the pics we took and how much fun they were to take them.

See the rest of our shoot at my flickr site. http://www.flickr.com/photos/firefly_portraits/

The Adventure Begins

As we were walking into Islands of Adventure on our honeymoon I spotted this sign in the beginning. (Yes I know I cut off the "the" :( i'm NOT used to using Ben's Point & shoot camera) but I still loved this picture because it was such a perfect phrase to see on our honeymoon and how true it was in our lives. "The Adventure Begins" isn't that what life is? One big adventure? I think our adventure began when we first started dated but I guess our "real" adventure begins now. Married life: staying happy, loving each other and helping each other out in our adventure. 

This year will definately be an adventure for us as we grow together emotionally & spiritually. We have many goals for ourselves and i'm really excited as our "adventure begins".

Happily Ever After

Wedding day bliss!

I wanted to share a few of my favorite pictures from our wedding day.  March 12, 2010.  It was such a special day for me and Ben - we were so happy to spend it with so many friends and family.  We didn't expect to have that many people join us but we were glad they did.  We are soooo excited for everything upcoming.

So many happy things in our lives and when we get back from our honeymoon I have a huge shopping list for photography equipment! It's gonna be dangerous! :)   Well first I need to fill my frames with wedding pics but other than that i'm gonna be shopping for my new lenses so that i've got them ready for my upcoming weddings this year. 

It's amazing how fast your day goes by and how much all those pictures of all the details matter!  They really tell your story of your day and are so important.  I'm so excited for the weddings upcoming this year and being able to relate to what my bride and grooms feel that day and filling their albums with the memories that everyone shared that day.

Thank you everyone for the memories from our special day and i'm so looking forward to the continued happily ever after. Next stop- where all dreams come true and happily ever after was created- Disney World! :)

She Picked The Camera

Since it's so close to our wedding day I figured I had to share this story since it will make more sense as to why I was SOOOO shocked when I was proposed to.  So it was back in the middle of 09' when me and Ben first looked at engagement rings. He didn't want to blindly pick out a ring and have me not like it. So we looked at rings and of course I feel in love with a ring - not the one I got- one smaller.  So a few months pass and we were at our local camera store (Mike Carvellos- love ya Jerry) and I held in my hands the new Canon 5D Mark II! OMG! It was love at first site all over again!  I had to have it!!!!! I have been reading about this camera and my favorite photographers in California have this camera! Could it really be all that it's talked up to be?  It's got to be for the price! :) Ben asked me right then and there - the ring or the camera?  He said whatever my choice is he doesn't want any regrets later and he doesn't want to hear that I wanted the other one over the other one later!  I said without a minutes wait- "The CAMERA!" I thought -I already have him and he's not going anywhere so YES the camera! So yes I did choose the Camera over the ring!  I really did!  Ben surprised me with the camera the first week of November!  I was soooo shocked and sooo surprised!  I was pumped to use that baby. 

Now the rest of the story- the ring- so we talked about getting married and since I chose the camera I really didn't have a problem getting married without a rock on my finger - because I knew someday i'd get that too. :) 

Turns out the boy of magic up his sleeve and hidden funds surprised me with a proposal and a RING!  Yes I was completely shocked and didn't expect it.  So I am thrilled that the girl that picked the camera over the ring truely has it all- the camera, the ring and the man of her dreams!

One Proud Auntie!

There is just something about a pregnant belly! So cute and soooo exciting!  But this pregnant belly is so much more exciting, because my new upcoming niece is inside! :)  I'm soooo excited to meet her.  I actually had the honor of going to Ramiah's ultrasound to see my new niece!  It is amazing seeing the 3D ultrasound. We can already tell she looks like her bigger sister Lianna and that she doesn't have any hair yet.  Poor thing. :) 

So I got to take pictures the other day of my sister in law & niece.  I was really excited to do this shoot and Lianna just did NOT want to do any photos!  However there were a few shots I was still able to get of her. Unfortunately they lasted 2 seconds so I had to shoot fast!  Here are a few of the shots I was able to get. 

Can't wait to be posting newborn photos in a few weeks.

Boy I'm Going To Marry

I woke up today and decided it's time to start my BLOG! :)   I started my photography business not too long ago with the name of Firefly Portraits - I was happy with my decision for a name and excited to build the business, however things in life change!  In my life alot of things change.   I decided while doing research online about building a photography business that I definately needed to brand myself and make a "name" for myself. I started doing searches online for Firefly Portraits- turns out there is a "Firefly Photography" only about a 45 min drive away from my home.  I definately didn't want them to feel like i "stole" their name.  So then the hunt began for my new business name.  I have found a lot of photographers around the world that I just LOVE and almost all of them are using their names for their business name.  So then my thoughts were "Michelle Rose Photography". Hah- do you know how many "michelle rose's" there are?  Too many! :) 

So in taking a real adult look at my life I realized both myself and my boyfriend both know we want to be together forever!  We talk about it all the time. In fact before even meeting him for the first time he became in my cell phone known as "Boy i'm going to marry".  We both have been soooo busy putting all of our money into building this photography business that we truly have never sat down and decided when we were going to have our big day. 

So the quest to change our business name and getting married seemed like the perfect thing to do sooner rather than later!  So we decided to do a small ceremony now and do a large reception next year for family and friends! 

SO we got officially engaged on February 19, 2010!  We are getting married in 6 days on March 12th!   We are soooo excited and after the "i do's" we are Officially Nakasato Photography!  I'm soooo excited to get our website up and running, new business cards and all! 

Here's to a Great 2010!