Love of Beauty is Taste…..

  

The Creation of Beauty Is Art.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

A simple, romantic, maternity session with model and gamer 

Lisa and her hubby Rick Malambri. 

A pretty awesome duo if you ask me…...

Cheers to New Things

Cheers to New Beginnings…..

-Brady  December 2013

Nothing Feels Better Than When You 

Love Someone With Your Whole Soul 

And They Love You Back Even More.

                                  -Karen Kostyla

As We Express Our Gratitude, We Must Never Forget That The Highest Appreciation Is Not To Utter Words, But To Live By Them.

                                  -John F. Kennedy

Cheers to 2014, 

May it bring you more love than you have ever felt before and more gratitude than you ever felt possible.

Agra.....Oh how I have missed you

Our trip to India was AMAZING.

Now I get the super fun task of going through all 8000 images and editing

them into a cute little coffee table book for the family. As I go through all my images I have selected a few to share with all of you of our wonderful time together.

Today's Images are from our day trip to a little place named the 

TAJ MAHAL

I'm not sure if you have ever heard of it. One of the 7 Wonder's of the World?

One of the most well known temples dedicated to true love.

It truly is magical.

Let me take you there......

How absolutely adorable are my in-laws? So in love!!!!

My boys....

Me and the baba's

My beautiful Jatin Baba

Jatin and Kingston

Kingston as himself

The next big thing in photography....Maya

I hope that one day you can visit this magical place too.....

Holidays are here....have you booked your Holiday Session?????

Holidays Sessions are fast approaching.  I am currently booking Holiday Sessions for November & maybe a few in the early days of December. I do not have many weekend dates available so hurry up and secure your date and time, like pick up the phone and call me now. Or email, I'm best at email:)

michele@michelepanizphotography.com

Don't wait until the last minute and send out iphone pics. Let's make this Holiday Card one your friends and family will remember forever.

Holiday Packages for 2013

Mini Holiday Sessions- November 22nd & December 8th
40 minute session
6 Full Resolution Images (8"x12") on disc for Holiday Card usage
15% Off ALL Holiday Gift Prints
$175 (Up to 5 people)

Holiday Portrait Session
2 Hours of playtime and picture taking at a location of your choice- We ALWAYS have fun!!!!
All retouched images (roughly 25) delivered in High Resolution (8"x12") on Flash Drive for Holiday Card Usage
20% Off ALL Holiday Gift Print Orders
Fridays & Sunday availability through December 22nd
$500 (up to 5 people)


Fun Holiday Extra's

Custom Holiday Luxe Pop Cards starting at $75 for 25 (envelopes included) 

Custom Holiday Books- Great Gifts for Grandparents, Aunt's & Uncles as well as stocking stuffers.

Prices Start at $50

                  

Wooden Block Prints & Calendars Starting at $50

Paniz Foster Family Care-Open in 2014....

WARNING I am not a writer.....I'm a photographer....

When I was a little girl, I wanted to adopt a baby (in my day dreams it was always a little girl with black curly hair). It dominated my thoughts from an early age and I carry that thought with me today, even now as I listen to the intense discussion over who's Lego Warship is built better and why coming from my eldest child's bedroom. I am a mother of 2 little boys. Jatin age 8 & Kingston age 5. They love Lego's, Minecraft and anything they can redesign into a gun. They are boys- boys to the definition and I adore them. I couldn't dream of my life without them. I will miss them when they grow up. My boys my homies. 

A little history for those who don't know me.....

I used to be a model, travel the world and party with the famous kind of model. It was an AWESOME life now that I look back, almost too awesome for reality. One particularly amazing job I was on in paradise I met this kinda cute super funny guy and we made an instant connection. He melted my heart and gave me everything I could have ever wished for in a partner and a friend. We married, had two beautiful boys and we are happy. Not Hollywood happy like the perfect families in the movies but we are in love, committed to each other and our children, and respect each other, fully.

When I spoke with my husband 12 or so years ago and I told him that I wanted to adopt, he said O.K. not agreeing but definitely not disagreeing, that would have been a deal breaker. We casually spoke about it from time to time but we had/have busy lives and adoption just didn't fit into our schedule.  I expected that when I was truly ready to pursue adoption he would delay as long as he could, and he did, for years.

Until last month.

September 14th my husband and I walked hand in hand into Zion Hill Baptist Church in

South Los Angeles and began our journey to become a Foster Family through LADCFS (Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services). Three hours later we walked out dazed and overwhelmed. I cried in the car (held it together in class but melted in the car) on our way to our friends baby shower and then cried on the way back home. The statistics our instructor blurted out regarding neglect and abuse was horrific. The hoops we have to go through to get licensed are ridiculous. The over all feeling we felt when we left the first class was nauseating but we found our peace.

When we entered the doors of Zion we didn't know what to expect and we were cautious, when we left we were united. 

My husband and I decided that very day to open our home to children in "the system". We chose to pursue temporary Foster Care rather than adoption for our own private reasons. It is not nor will it ever be an easy decision, it involves everyone we love. Our children, friends, parents, grandparents, sisters, brothers, cousins and neighbors. It will take a village but I know deep down in my heart that THIS is what I was put on this planet for. To provide a child with a safe, loving, nurturing environment when their life is in deep darkness. To help them find the light. To love them unconditionally. I, Michele Paniz, can do that. 

We have a long process before we are licensed. Hours of classes, fingerprints, financial records, background checks, ect.  Every Saturday from November 2nd through December 14th 8am-4pm is scheduled for Foster Care Classes. I'm shuffling my boys around from grandparents to neighbors to school friends but I do believe that all this bull*&%$ we have to endure right now will be rewarded to us in the gift of a child or many children in our life. I can only imagine to reward of loving a child no matter what or who they are.

I would love to hear of your experiences with LADCFS or any other experiences with Fostering and Adoption. I am new to this but ready and willing

to learn.

Stay tuned for updates........

Always looking for the next lesson in life,

Michele

My boys Jatin and Kingston on summer vacation in India 2013

www.facebook.com/michelepanizphotography

Back in the saddle

With summer in my rear view mirror, I take a deep breathe of fresh california air and focus all my energies on the slow process of getting back into 'photography' mode. I have taken the summer off for fun in the sun. We traveled to India as a family and had the most amazing time. We ate, we drank, we bonded with new family members. It was so heart warming watching my boys develop close relations with their "Indian" cousins. Aside from meeting family we were able to visit some monumental palaces and tombs along our route. We started our journey in New Delhi, where Nikhil's aunts and cousins live. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family that opened not only their homes to us but their hearts and love as well.
We hoped into a bus, 10 of us total, and traveled to Agra, Fatepur, Jaipur, Udaipur, Ranukpur, and finally Mumbai where the party really picked up.

For the next few weeks as I edit the daunting 8700 photos that were taken on our iphones, digi cameras and my 5D I will post a few of my favorites for you to see. Enjoy!

 

First stop on this photo tour is the town of Agra. Located about 200 miles south of Delhi, Agra is situated along the Yamuna River. Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal as a dedication to his favorite wife upon her dealth delivering her 14th child. It is a symbol of love and honor. Photographs do not do it justice. The tomb was breathtaking.

 

Monkeys are everywhere in Agra. They have taken over homes and businesses. I imagine they can be quite a nuisance but they sure were cute outside our bus window.

 Cows are all over India in general. I found this quote regarding the cow:

In Hinduism, the cow (Sanskrit: go) is revered as the source of food and symbol of life and may never be killed. Hindus do not worship the cow, however, and cows do not have especially charmed lives in India. It is more accurate to say the cow is taboo in Hinduism, rather than sacred.

There was major construction happening all over the place in Agra. The railroad being repaired, flood control from the Yamuna River (Monsoon season) and basic upkeep keeps a lot of people busy at work. These people carried baskets of rocks over to a truck for some unknown construction project .

 I can't help but think of the saying "It takes a village to raise a child" in this photo it sure looks like that is the truth.

 More manual labor. I am not sure about the labor laws in a country like India but I sawa  lot of children doing some heavy lifting all over the country. I hope my children understand what a privileged life they live.

This view was from the Agra Fort across the Yamuna River to the Taj Mahal. This was Shah Jahan's palace and when his son imprisoned him to his death this was the view he had fro his window of the beloved Taj Mahal.

Kid's followed us everywhere we went.. These two were on our heels for an hour or more.

The "Taboo" Cow

I imagine that this blog will be about India for the remainder of 2013. Until then

Namaste.

It's been a while. Again.

So apparently I am NOT a very good blogger. It's been something like 4 months since my last post and I'm o.k. with that. My life is busy, as is all woman with children. I just don't like to rush through life, I try to enjoy every moment. So, things like this blog, get put on the back burner. It gets placed behind: editing, returning phone calls, cleaning the vomit off the kitchen floor, picking up Matchbox Cars off the floor and maybe even a shower but mostly it gets dumbed underneath family time. We all want more of it, so I take more of it. My kid's are growing so fast as are most of your. Hold them tight and put off those dishes until later. They need us now. We need them now. Love them.

My motto for 2013

Live Simply

Love Generously

Care Deeply

Speak Kindly

On that note, this in NO WAY is going to stop my momentum in the photography business. I'm enjoying this ride to the fullest. Every session, hiccup and tantrum I encounter, I am learning and growing. Cheers to a great year. A year full of love, laughter and most of all children.

This is my crazy family.

Self Portrait Holiday Card 2012