Life and everything in it.

It’s been a season since I have posted some photos; last summer I was sharing photos from my shoot with my youth pastor, and today I’m enjoying the nice and cold autumn weather from the comforts of my room. Between then and now, not much has greatly changed. This new house we moved into over the summer is becoming more and more like home as the holidays approach our family. We have most of our Christmas decorations up and glowing, and it’s almost ready for the annual Christmas party we have for our family-friends down by the Bay Area.

For those who liked my Facebook page and follow my work and journey to be America’s Next Top Photographer (ahahaha), first of all, thank you. Second, last month I published the Holiday Sessions to be in action with a page regarding the information for those who are interested.  I finally found some time out to post that up on my website and you can view the details by clicking the banner below.

Last but not least, here are some moments earlier this fall with my family and close friends. I hope to see you all soon, especially since it’s that time of year where I want to photograph everything.

Tags | autumn, Bay Area, Christmas, family, fun, Self Portrait, Vallejo

Downtown Lights

Every time I go on sessions, I always learn something new. The main purpose, of course, is to capture moments beautifully, but the process of doing that is always different. For the past few days, I’ve been working with my youth pastor’s graduation pictures, and it’s been an incredible learning experience. We started the first day of shooting on a dark afternoon, stopping from place to place to get a couple shots, I was beginning to worry about the lack of sunlight I was so use to working with. When we arrived downtown, the night was filled with neon and fluorescent radiance.

 

The following week, or last Tuesday, we biked around the park by the water and I was back shooting in a more familiar setting. 

Tags | city lights, downtown, graduation, Sacramento, Senior, youth

Why my week was awesome.

I thought that it would be nice to start this post with some snap shots I took from my point-and-shoot while walking to my first day of junior year. It never ceases to amaze me how fast years go by. Before I get all nostalgic on this post, let me stop myself and just say how I am excited for this year. If you suscribed/liked my facebook page, I said I would blog about how I improved my schedule from last year so I don’t waste as much time this year- which gives me more photo taking fun time. This is my time saving secret: I stopped taking naps. Not just that, I took my nap time and turned it into productive homework time. So that’s it! I hope you weren’t looking for any helpful time management tips, unless you take naps like me, then you’re very welcome.

First day of school, it was awesome. Unlike my freshmen and sophomore days, I was more excited than nervous. I’m guessing it has everything to do with seeing who’s going to be in my classes and nothing to do with the class itself, except for AP English, it’s my last period and it’s a great way to the day. We recently started sharing what college we wanted to go to and our future careers as individuals. I’m always up for those kinds of conversation, I love hearing about a person’s endeavors, it’s pretty much what I talked about last semester with my chemistry lab group as we neglected our work-I’m kidding, I passed that class ok? Anyway, I haven’t been called on yet to share, and for the past few days, I’ve been shivering in my seat thinking up what to say and how to say it. Yes, I want to be a photographer, but the question about college is really indefinite for me and it’s frustrating at times because everyone has a straightforward answer. I’m more of the person who likes to think far into the future, way pass college, and into a happy career where I travel and sometimes relax outside my front porch with a slice of carrot cake as I overlook the sun setting on the horizon. I’m deciding whether or not I should erase that last part.

My family has been pretty busy this week. We’ve been spending special time with my Nanay (grandma) leading up to last night where we drove to the San Francisco airport and said farewell.

Here’s some of photos from yesterday.

 

Tags | car window, college, landscape, nature, san francisco, school, sf

Campfires and Company

Last night I stayed up until 3:30am spending quality time with a group of people really close to my heart. We circled around the fire and laughed, talked, sang a little and even ate the most revolting jelly beans for the sake of a good thrill. I can never get tired of getting tired from staying up late with great company.

Tags | amazing, campfire, camping, friends, personal

A different view.

I have little under a month of my Summer vacation left for me to enjoy. For the last couple of weeks my summer has been occupied by the whole moving process, but prior to that we were busy house hunting  before my break ever began. I’m tired. My parent’s are a bit conservative about news like this, however, the news has reached most of our friends and family, so I think it’s safe to blog about this.

Last night, before falling asleep,after reading this really great book I’ll tell you about later, I thought of what I would say in this post; all of the good and bad things about this new home and some stuff I really really miss about my old one. The first thing that came to mind was the area. First of all, I need to give you an idea of my locations without exposing to much personal information to all you cyber-strangers out there. My old house is in a neighborhood that’s a bit secluded. It’s branched apart by this incredible field that I really admired. This field, as you can tell by most of my mini photo shoots with my siblings and self portraits, was my favorite place to go to because it was like a blank canvas to me. The way it captured the light during the golden hours of the day and how it surrounded me like it was a world with just me and my thoughts, it became into a place of refuge for me. My home was walking distance away from that field.  Now I live on the other side, in a home built besides a semi-busy street, which at first I hated it, but I think the sound of cars driving by late at night is growing on me. Sometimes I think of where the people inside that vehicle are coming from-or going to.

I will miss my old room too. I feel like that room and I, as absurd as it sounds, was made for me. In the morning, only a hint of the early sun would make it through the window, just enough subtlety to wake me up. Then as the sun progresses  onto the other side of Natomas, just before it goes down, it floods my room with orange.  That is what I will miss the most.

Anyhow,  I’ve been reading a lot. At first it was because I needed to for my AP English class I’ll be taking this year. I had to read The Great Gastby, and if you knew me, the only reading I do is bible reading, or online messages. However, this book became something I really looked forward to every night! I plan on watching the movie with my best friend around the holidays. But this isn’t the book I was talking about earlier. So we got this awesome read in the mail, it’s entitled Destined To Reign by Joseph Prince. I really can’t explain what it’s all about, but for anyone who wants a better understanding of Grace, you should definitely check it out.

As for my photography, I had to kind of put it aside due to moving and such. My 365, if you’ve been keeping track, is waaaaaaaaaaaay over due, expect me to finish in another year or so. My Summer Sessions have been great since it’s kind of my first time really advertising my services. So cheers to that! The day I announced it I got a lot of support from friends and family AND received a record breaking amount of hits for Danny Montemayor Photography! Another cheers to all of you! Last week I was given the opportunity to shoot my good friend Calica‘s Sweet 16. We had the party at this restaurant built over a river where boats can stop buy and have a meal or a drink or two (of course, I was not drinking) and it’s was pretty snazzy~.  Here’s some of my favorite shots from that day.

And here are some shots of my packing up my room

Tags | book, moving, party, summer vacation, sweet 16