Sneak Peek! Mrs. B : B is for Beautiful & Blue Eyes

Before I even go any further I have to say I am the luckiest photographer ever! All my clients are Beautiful inside & out! Beauty that comes from within is the kind of beauty that makes you smile for days.

That is exactly what Mrs. B had! She was stunning with amazing blue eyes on the outside, and on the inside she was smart, adventurous & easy going.

I like to set up an initial meet & greet with all my future clients so that they know exactly how crazy I am ahead of time. ;-) It helps us get to know each other and be relaxed on the day of the shoot. The day we met we ended up chatting for hours, but it didn't feel like it. It felt like hanging out with an old friend. This made my "job" so easy on the day of.

I arrived and we chatted for a bit then continued to chat throughout the session. She was absolutely awesome. I can only show you the below two images until I get the go ahead to post more. Especially because her husband has no idea he's getting a present! She will be giving him a little Black Book in the weeks to come.

Stay tuned for more from this session! There will be networking books, leather, lace and maybe a little hockey too!

Springtime!! Portraits in the Park

Hello everyone! The weather has been gorgeous lately and I for one am HAPPY!

To kick off the Spring season I am offering for the very first time a very special promotion. I will be holding mini-portraits sessions on Saturday March 28th at Shoreline Park in Mountain View. These very special sessions will last 30 minutes and include a $25 print credit for only $100.00

Who's eligible? Anyone.. Families, siblings, babies, couples. mothers & daughters, fathers & sons.. ..anyone except our furry four legged friends. The park does not allow pets. Sorry.

I am only offering 5 thirty minute sessions. Below you will find the list of available times (as they fill up I will update). If you are interested you must email me at info@marianamaya.com and let me know. I will then call you back to chat about your session in detail. I ask that you be on time for your session and come ready to shoot. These sessions will be very fast paced!!


2:45pm- booked

3:30pm- booked

4:15pm- booked

5:00pm- booked

5:45pm- booked

If it rains .. the alternate date is April 4th. same time slots.

the fine print:
-Each session is for up to 3 people. Unfortunately, anymore will take more time. If you are interested in a session with more people contact me for a private portrait session.
-This offer cannot be combined with any other offer.
- $50 non refundable deposit is due at time of booking to guarantee your time slot. This amount go towards your session. The remainder is due in full on the day of your session.
-Your proofs will be up within one week in a password protected gallery.

Film Friday

This weekend is Mexica New Year and as such I thought I would post some images from last year's event. I went briefly at the end of the celebration and braved the hail to capture a few images. Hopefully this weekend the event will be blessed with nicer weather. What is Mexica New Year? It is the celebration of the new year according to the Aztec calendar.
If you get a cahnce to go check it out you definitly should!

Here are some images from last year:

Life is AMAZING!

I met the mother of these two cuties when we were about the age of her now oldest! YIKES! We both went to the same high school, but after that lost touch as it happens so often. Thank god for Facebook!








I was thrilled when she asked me to come out and do a session for her boys. This was the first time I was meeting her children. I also hadn't seen her in about ten years. Good thing we stopped aging, it was as if we had just seen each other. We immediately fell into the conversation you have with a friend you see daily.

We grabbed the kids and went to a nearby park. The baby was at the end of a cold and sniffled a bit however he was in good spirits! his big brother very watchful and protective. It was very heart warming to see the interaction between the boys. I should also mention the baby got his first swing ride and push from big brother, which he LOVED!





I am not the kind of photographer who will ever tell anyone to "say cheese" to get a smile. Instead I like to ask people to talk about things they love and capture those looks as they are telling a story or remebering a detail. Children especially because in that moment they completly forget about the camera and get really into their story telling.






Can you tell who is the more intense child? Let me know what you think.



In many of these images I was very inspired by Spring and the dreamy lovie feelings it eveokes.











Spring is very near!! Stay tuned I will be announcing a very special event......

Don't forget to say Thank You!

Hi everyone just want to let everyone know I'm alive. I've been so crazy busy ( in a good way) as well as sick ( in a bad way). Stay tuned I will be over blogging in the next few days! So much has been going on. All good , well except for the sick thing.

Here's a little story about something that happened a couple of years ago. With an ending that many don't know about.

A few years ago I entered the below image in a contest offered by AVA (Alliance of Visual Artists). I was a wreck, I had never entered something like this. The first step had been to go to a pre-screening to get juried in. I almost forgot about it altogether. Once I was told I was accepted I had to prepare my work for contest entry. Mat, frame, and wire ready to be hung. That was a trial in itself as I had never done this from beginning to end. The day came to drop off my work, I entered 3 pieces. I figured might as well enter the max allowed. Well apparently I had forgot to add my name to them. Luckily a nice man receiving work reminded me. As I was leaving I felt like a total newbie and a train wreck wondering why I was wasting people's time. A few weeks later I get a call. I figured it was a courtesy call to let me know I can pick up my loser pieces. Imagine my shock when I was informed i was receiving Awards of merit for two pieces, and A FIRST PLACE for one!!! Not only that but they also wanted to know if I would be willing to sell the first place winner to the Triton Museum. "UM WHAT?! I'm sorry I didn't catch that" I practically choked as I whispered into the receiver. The voice on the other end said "oh was that too little?" As they had just offered me a very generous amount. "UM no that's fine" I replied. Thinking I would have given it to them. It's a Museum!!! I never in a million years thought a museum would ever buy one of my pieces, at least not while I was living. HA! I hung up and immediately called my dad to tell him what had just happened and ask him to be my date to the award ceremony. He said "you should ask your mom, you know she likes going to these kind of things" (she likes art) to which I jokingly replied "she can go to the next one, you should go to the first."



The day came and I was pretty nervous. My dad met me at my house, and we headed over. The awards were handed out, and each time I walked up my dad had this funny look on his face, probably wondering why I wore light jeans and a cotton t-shirt. He was wearing really nice dress pants and a button down shirt, however it was almost 100 degrees out. After the awards were all handed out they let us in to see all the pieces that had received recognition and placed. He said "ok let's go see what the big deal is". We finally found my piece and there was this little crowd, checking it out. When my dad stepped up to it, he said "that won, a picture you took in a bar?" I said "yea and the museum bought it" He then replied "wow you should give them their money back" and then immediately said "Take a picture of me with the winner, so I can show people and they don't think I'm making it up" In that moment I knew he was proud of me.

and here's a picture of my dad standing by the winner.



I'm sure I never said it enough if at all. Thanks Dad!

RIP 1938-2008