The Suitcase Studio

boys will be boys // stylized camping shoot

Michelle — Thu, 16 May 2013 14:00:50 +0000

They were loud. Boisterous. All over the place, wanting to touch, move and PLAY.

And sooooooooo different from the group of girls that I had just finished photographing. Ha!

They were all boy… playing off of one another’s energy and constantly trying to out-do one another with their noises, movement and stories.

I witnessed other photographers struggle to get the boys to do what they’d already envisioned in their heads as the “perfect picture”… they directed, cajoled, and grew more and more frustrated as the boys grew more and more antsy.

But I just smiled to myself, stepped in, and took a different approach.

I watched them PLAY.

I encouraged the boys to pick up the props and PLAY with them. No… don’t worry about posing… just PLAY. Can you make a sound with that horn? Can you find US on that map? Those flashlights can double as light-sabers, you know?

It was beautiful to behold. All of a sudden, their energy was channeled somewhere, they were excited to welcome me into their game, and their personalities just SHONE.

And once they were relaxed, and without them even realizing it, I was able to get some pretty awesome posed pictures, as well.

Here is MY TAKE on the “camping trip”:

Images were taken during the Sweetlight Collective workshop held by Work of Heart Photography.

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Ready to PLAY with a styled session of your own? Good news… my stylized portrait parties are HERE! Contact me to get started.

As Seen on: Fashionably Geek

Michelle — Fri, 03 May 2013 16:07:10 +0000

I never truly realized I was a geek until I got older. Long after the girls around me began to focus on makeup and boys, I’d still loved my cartoons and superhero movies. So when I met my husband, it was a match made in heaven. I mean, come on… during our first date we were even singing some of their theme songs together. Ha! Tony helped me delve even further into the land of geekdom, and I have since fallen in love with many of his passions, as well. I can tell you which character is of what universe (talking Marvel vs DC here), why the new Star Wars trilogy never should have happened the way that they did, and can fully defend my position on why Batman and Iron Man are possibly the best “superheroes” ever, even though they’re not actually superheroes at all (hooray for the self-made man!).

Tony also introduced me into the world of Cosplay, where people dress in costume to pay homage to their favorite characters, shows and the like. With his amazing design skills and my mother-in-law’s mad sewing skills, they created this beautiful Steampunk-Lady-Iron-Man costume for me to wear at WonderCon. It was soooooo incredibly fun, and I felt amazing in it. Almost like a superhero, myself.

So, especially on the day that Iron Man 3 hits the movie theaters, imagine my delight to see that my costume and I had been featured today on the website Fashionably Geek.

Click here to see the full article.

I’ll be wearing this again at ComicCon in July, so if you see me, PLEASE come say hi. Hope to see you there!!!

Vintage Spring // Stylized Mini-Sessions

Michelle — Wed, 01 May 2013 14:00:45 +0000

Lately I’ve been playing around a bit more with the concept of “styled” shoots. In the photography world, you might see these type of shoots referred to as “editorial,” or “commercial/catalog” if done for a particular client.

I’ve been embracing my inner artist, doing a lot of pre-planning and coming to the table with a definite vision… setting the scene with props, accessories, clothing, and certain poses/looks to capture a particular mood about it all. I’m still ME, so of course there’s still a lot of PLAY involved. But the real magic happens in getting what I see in my head come to life before me, and transform into something even BETTER through the personality of the person I am photographing. The entire process is amazing, and sometimes takes my breath away.

I want to share the experience with you all, starting with my “Vintage Spring” stylized mini-sessions, created with the kids in mind.

And I’m offering my first round of Vintage Spring mini-sessions just in time to create a fabulous gift for Mother’s Day! Sessions take place this Sunday, and there are only a few openings left, so click here to reserve your spot now!

Click the image below to see my e-zine and read/see all the details!

Stylized Session; Vintage Spring

By Michelle Carrillo in the Suitcase Studio

20 pages

Let me assure you, this isn’t the typical photo experience, and you won’t end up with the typical prop-based photos. No cheesy grins or fake-ness here. Instead, I will be creating one-of-a-kind keepsake portraits that make your child look as if they just stepped out of the latest magazine spread.

One last chance… click here to reserve your spot now!

to remember.

Michelle — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 17:55:07 +0000

Today is a day of remembrance for me, and I wanted to (re) share some of the most important words I’ve ever written…. and also a BIG reason why I do what I do.

The blog post below was written 2 years ago, but too important not to share again:

That’s ME in the middle of the picture below. The one with bright maroon haircut in the shape of a bowl. The one who hadn’t yet discovered the art of eyebrow waxing. The one who still suffered heavily from acne. I cringe when I look at myself in this image. But I wanted to share it, along with a few others, for a very important reason. Please read on…

These images were taken in March of 1999, during my trip with the Fullerton College Choir to China. It was a very interesting trip, complicated by the fact that I had gotten sick with bronchitis on the plane trip over there. And for 10 days, I lived off of NyQuil and DayQuil. But I DID it. I visited places I never thought I would see in my lifetime. I got a chance to perform a song, sung in a Chinese language (Mandarin), to actual Chinese people (no pressure there…). I even climbed the Great Wall of China, bronchitis and all. Because I could either embrace this opportunity for all it was worth, or give in, give up, and go back home. So I stayed, and gave it all I got.

And so, I have an album filled with grainy images from my trip to China. Bad haircut, bad skin and all. But these images are even more precious to me than you might think…

Please take just a second to notice the other person featured in all of these pictures I have posted here. This was my good friend, David Lam. Unfortunately, I have to say “was,” because about one month after returning back home from our trip, David was killed in a car accident. This happened 12 years ago, today… April 26, 1999. And as I get older, and my memories fade with each passing year, I look to these photos to help me remember him. Seeing these images triggers my memory to dig a little deeper, to draw to the surface what might have otherwise been lost. And suddenly I can see us both in the moments when the photos were actually taken… I can hear the sound of his voice, see the way he moved and facial expressions he wore… things that made up who he was. And I can remember.

My bad haircut is forgotten. It’s not important here; I don’t even notice it anymore. Instead, I will forever be grateful that I stopped for just one moment to have these photos taken. So, the next time you find yourself thinking, “I don’t want to have my picture taken because I don’t look good today,” or “I want to lose 10 pounds first,” or “I simply HATE having my picture taken,” please stop and think of this. It doesn’t matter if you don’t look perfect. This is your life, and you, or somebody you love, might want to look back on this very moment and remember it.

So, whether you get professional pictures taken by me, or you simply pick up your point-and-shoot or even your iPhone to capture your days, please do it. I can promise you that your bad hair day won’t even be an issue.

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One last thing to show you just how much pictures really matter… here is an image of Dave while we were in China. He had actually brought a framed picture of Catherine Zeta-Jones along with him so he would have something pretty to look at. I’m totally serious. : ) And it still makes me smile.

simple beauty // stylized children’s portraits

Michelle — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 06:27:34 +0000

I wanted to share a bit more from my the Sweetlight Collective workshop I attended recently. Not only did I fall in LOVE with this style of photography, but I also learned a whole lot and would love to share a simple tip with you now:

The stylized session doesn’t have to be complicated. Simplicity is beautiful, too.

Take this setup, for instance: a bike, wooden fence, banner and some fresh flowers.

And, of course, a child with a beautiful smile. (And a really cool headpiece by Love Crush Bowtique.)

Sometimes it’s the simple things that take my breath away. Take away the props… the banners, the bike, and even the beautiful green surroundings. And there’s still something there… beautiful, soulful, wistful.

I had just finished editing these two images (below) when I was overcome by emotion. I immediately stopped to soak it all in, and then wrote down these following words before the feeling had passed:

“Currently editing photos from last week’s workshop, and I keep tearing up. It’s an amazing feeling to see what I envisioned in my mind come to life in imagery before me. And to KNOW, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that THIS is how I should be spending my time…”

My heart feels so amazingly FULL right now.

Such a simple thing to make me feel this way, and yet, so beautiful.

Inspiration & Creation // Sweetlight Collective Workshop

Michelle — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 07:07:08 +0000

Tears spring to my eyes, my vision blurring as I stare at my computer screen. Hands quickly dashing the tears away so I can see what’s in front of me. Only to have the tears come again.

This is a good thing.

I did this. Wow… I did this? Yes.

I did this.

My heart is so full it feels it might burst through my chest. My mind is exhausted but still racing… planning, thinking, creating.

It was a process. I’d forced myself to slow down, to take the time to envision. Create it, direct it, mold and shape the scene. Then add touches in post-edit to complete my original vision.

For the first time in a long time, I feel like a true artist.

And I’m excited to see what other creations await.

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I am still reeling from my photo adventure last week. I’d attended a 2-day Sweetlight Collective workshop held by Skye Hardwick of Work of Heart Photography, where the focus was completely on learning to stylize children’s portrait sessions, as well as incorporating posing techniques for the full effect. (Which will definitely be utilized in upcoming offerings of mine… hint, hint.)

On Tuesday morning, 12 photographers arrived at the Condor’s Nest Ranch in Pala (just past Temecula)… bright eyed and eager to learn. By Wednesday evening, we left with smiles on our faces, but were bone-tired, knowing we had given it our all. It was fantastic.

Not only had Skye set up beautiful scenes for us to photograph, but had provided fantastic models, to boot. It’s still strange to think of them as “professionals,” but they were very much so. The kids ranged in age from 3 to 15, and most of them had been doing this for years. You might even recognize a few from Gap or Ralph Lauren ads.

That’s not to say they weren’t still kids. I fell in love with one girl in particular, who held herself in such a soulful way… until the cameras went down. THEN she’d launch into a crazy song and dance about a cheeseburger, or runaway lips, and I couldn’t help but laugh right along with her. (I’m happy I pulled my camera back up to capture a few of those moments, as well.)

These two days with Skye and the others have been instrumental in helping me find just what I need to make my latest ideas come to life. Inspiration, execution, and all the in-betweens.

There are soooo many amazing photos that I want to share from this experience that I will be adding them to several different blog posts instead of simply adding them all here.

Enjoy the journey.

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psssst: if you haven’t heard yet, I will SOON be offering stylized sessions of my own. Make sure you’re signed up for my newsletter (click the red tab on the left) to be among the first to find out when this new service is launched.

Superhero for a Day // WonderCon 2013

Michelle — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 06:59:41 +0000

I was 8 years old. Wearing my Strawberry Shortcake plastic apron and hot-as-heck mask with the elastic bands and barely-there mouth hole (children of the 70s/80s… you KNOW what I’m talking about), but I wasn’t simply wearing a costume. I WAS Strawberry Shortcake. For a few short hours on Halloween night, my pretend world became real, and I was her. It was the ultimate expression of what I loved and who I really wanted to be.

As I grew older, and it became less acceptable to play in the pretend world, my toys and dolls were regulated to their shelves. Stuffed animals stayed on my bed a bit longer, but even they eventually got put away. I still decorated my notebooks with Hello Kitty stickers (because that form of expression was still “okay”), but most of the land of make-believe got left behind.

But I still looked forward to Halloween each year, because only then could I dress up and PLAY like I used to when I was a kid.

Till now…

Last weekend I took a trip to the Anaheim Convention Center, although for all intents and purposes I might as well have been on another planet.

Surrounded my space aliens, superheroes and cartoon characters alike, it was definitely a geek’s paradise. And I loved every moment of it.

These are my people…

Welcome to WonderCon. For those of you who haven’t ever heard of WonderCon before, don’t worry. You’re not alone.

WonderCon is like the kid sister of Comic-Con (which is the mother-ship of all geekdom). Here’s the scoop: Comic-Con is a 4-day spectacle of everything comic, cartoon and pop-culture, including panels of actor interviews, sneak peeks at upcoming movies and tv shows, and a humongous tradeshow. But tickets are known to sell out within 15 minutes (no joke), so not everyone gets to play. So the people who operate Comic-Con did something pretty brilliant… offer smaller versions of the event at various locations throughout different times of the year.

Enter WonderCon. Now in it’s second year at the Anaheim Convention Center, there are talks of making this a permanent annual event. (woohoo!) Yes, the tradeshow is nice, and some of the panels are pretty spectacular (Joss Whedon was there this year), but my favorite part of it all are the costumes!

It’s like Halloween. On crack.

No, you don’t have to dress up, but it’s definitely encouraged. And applauded. The world of cosplay is pretty amazing like that.

So, this is me. As a steampunk version of Iron Man. (Costume designed by my husband and created by my mother-in-law. Yeah… they kinda rock like that.)

My husband (Tony) also got into the fun, dressed as Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean. (Most of this costume was also created from scratch by his mother.)

And then… we PLAYED. Tony and I met up with friends of ours (also in Marvel-universe steampunk costumes) and simply wandered the lobby area, enjoying the spectacle. (And many, many thanks to Tony, for tag-teaming the camera with me… to ensure that I actually ended up IN some photos for a change…ha!)

(Deadpool, Iron Man, Lady Deathstrike, another Deadpool and Wolverine)

(And Jack Sparrow, of course…)

There were plenty of pirates to go around.

And I found other members of my Avengers team… and nemesis Loki, as well.

There were also lots of other people there in Iron Man costumes, as well.

But none as cute as THIS kid, dressed as Tony Stark!

I headed back outside just in time to capture this fantastic photo-op… sooooo many costumed characters from the DC Universe posing all together. The rows of photographers lined up to get these shots were 10 people deep, so rather than wait behind them all for a glance at the scene, I wedged into the sidelines and shot from where I was.

But I got lucky. The person running the show spotted me in costume with my camera, and waved me over to the FRONT of the group of photographers, and gave me a dead-center position!!! Which is how I got this shot below, as well as the first one in this blog post.

Words cannot express how much FUN this day was. So I’ll let my photos do the talking for a bit…

Captain Hammer, Dr. Horrible and a person from the Bad Horse Chorus (Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog)

Plenty of players from the Star Wars universe

Cosplayers from the Batman world

Misc. others

And, of course, lots of Disney characters. How CUTE is this father/daughter dressed as Wreck-It-Ralph and Penelope Von Schweetz???

And a few personal favorites of mine… My Little Pony characters.

Wolverine and Wolverine. Too, too adorable!!!

Note to parents: this is a kid-friendly place, and makes for fantastic entertainment at a low-low cost. Meaning, it’s FREE. While tickets to actually get into the tradeshow and panel area do cost a little bit (and are known to sell out ahead of time, as I learned the hard way), the front and lobby area of the Anaheim Convention Center are open to the public for free. And this is where the people in costume spend most of their time.

I highly recommend putting this on your radar for next year.
I know I’ll be there… dressed and ready to PLAY.

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Click here to see even MORE pictures from the day.

sneak peek: NEW products

Michelle — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 22:25:18 +0000

I’ve been back from my Vegas/WPPI trip for a while now (recap coming soon), but my head is STILL swimming from all the awesome things I saw.

After spending hours walking the tradeshow, visiting with new vendors (and re-visiting the next day), I am happy to be adding a few new products to what I currently offer.

Here is a sneak-peek of what’s to come…
(images are straight from my iphone; snapped of sample products on the tradeshow floor.)

Beautiful hardback books and albums. Thick pages, custom covers, and photos in matte (my favorite) or glossy. These books/albums are virtually seamless, allowing images to flow across both pages with little distraction.

Softcover books. Budget-friendly but beautiful, and made from 100% recycled materials.

Wooden prints, wooden blocks, and wooden calendar holder (with paper calendar). Wood items were HUGE this year, and I could see why. Beautiful and unique, they make for incredible display pieces. But while I love these, I’m haven’t yet decided if I will be offering them or not. Let me know what you think… yay or nay? If there is enough interest, I will definitely be adding these to my offerings.

And perhaps my FAVORITE new thing to come…

Custom Photo Jewelry! Please flip through the catalog below to see all that will soon be available to you. I am so impressed by this company, and can’t wait to order a few pieces for myself, too!

fluffy.

Michelle — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 14:00:44 +0000

(Self portrait in the mirror. And yes… this really IS me.)

Confession time:

My pants are snug. Even the stretchy ones.
I recently tore my favorite pair of jeans across the thigh when squatting down in them. I’m dreading the shopping trip to try to find something to replace them.
I don’t have good knees to begin with, but they are getting worse. The snapping and popping sounds they make as I move are louder than a bowl of rice krispies.
And I threw by back out right before my big Vegas trip. I wore stick-on heating pads under my clothes for the first two days and didn’t carry my camera with me because I didn’t want to deal with the extra weight.

Not glamorous by any stretch of the imagination.

Between the stress-eating and boredom snacking, sleeping too little and working too much, eating out constantly (the people at local fast-food drive-thrus actually remember my order… and I wish I were kidding) and mowing through the junk food I hide in the pantry, not scheduling time to take care of myself and just being too darn lazy to do so… I’ve gained a LOT of weight. And it’s finally time for me to DO something about this.

And so, I’m making this public announcement: Placing hand over heart… I pledge allegiance to myself, to take care of my one and only body. To learn what it means to live a healthy lifestyle and to take the necessary steps to do so.

I took the first step by joining Weight Watchers on Monday. And now I’m taking the next big step… I’m rallying my friends and fans because I know that so many of you have been here before. And I know that I’ll have a much better chance at success with your support.

So, please… if you identify with my story, or have a bit of guidance to share, a favorite recipe or snack food, or just want to give me a general high-five, I ask that you leave a comment below.

Thank you SO much for your support. And thank you for being a part of my journey.

Ethan turns ONE // Orange County Family Photography

Michelle — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 15:00:06 +0000

It seems like just yesterday that he was brand new. And now he’s a little boy. There are likes and dislikes, movements and gestures all his own. His personality has grown SO much… and his dimpled smile can instantly melt your heart.

I was happy to capture an afternoon with this family to commemorate this milestone of Ethan turning one year old. And more than happy to celebrate a few of their everyday moments so they would be able to remember all the little details of their little man at this precious age.

Ethan had recently started walking, and was still a bit wobbly. But that didn’t slow him down one bit, as he is also QUITE the explorer.

In one hand, Ethan held his bottle. With his other, he reached up and played with his hair. Over and over he’d grab a piece and gently pull it through his fingers. I learned that his father makes the same exact self-soothing motion.