FREE Wedding + Engagement Photography Giveaway

A true photograph need not be explained, nor can it be contained in words.

Ansel Adams

In honor of my recent move once again even farther north in the Pacific Northwest (seriously, am I going to end up in Canada or Alaska eventually? No complaints here) I am offering up a FREE Wedding + Engagement Shoot Giveaway! The weather in the Northwest might be a little dreary but the cloudy skies can set up the perfect backdrop and lighting for your special day. Remove the added hassle of looking for a quality photographer by entering this giveaway and let me worry about capturing your perfect moments! 

Are you an adventurous young couple, in love and recently engaged? Set a wedding date for between February and September 2015? Looking for some beautiful photography to announce your love to the world and capture your special day? If you are pretty low-key, outdoorsy, and fun-loving then this is for you.


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ONE GRAND PRIZE WINNER

 ...receives an engagement shoot and wedding photography for FREE. That includes an on-location engagement shoot for one to two hours with roughly 40 images delivered via an online gallery. Six-hour wedding coverage with one photographer, access to an online gallery, images delivered via USB drive, print release, and an extra special secret gift to be determined.

ONE RUNNER-UP

...receives a one to two hour engagement shoot for FREE. On-location, multiple outfits if desired with 40+ images delivered via an online gallery, USB and print release available upon request.

Here's how to enter!
Like my page on facebook here
Leave a comment describing why you should win this giveaway
Earn an extra entry for following me on instagram

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Here's how to enter! Each option gives you a +1 entry.

1. Like my page on facebook.
2. Follow me on instagram, @mar_xela
3. Regram my image on instagram, don't forget to tag me! @mar_xela
4. Share this giveaway on your own facebook page.
5. Pin one of my images on pinterest.
6. Share this blog post on twitter and tag me! @mar__xela

Don't forget to leave a comment on this blog post with your name and e-mail plus your form(s) of entry so I can contact you if you're the winner!

Giveway ends on February 21st at noon, Pacific Standard Time and winners will be picked at random and announced on February 28th, 2015.

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Official Rules:

1. Participants must be 18 years old to enter, and must be engaged to be married or have a commitment ceremony in 2015.

2. The deadline to enter the giveaway is February 21st.

3. The winner will be announced one week later on February 28th.

4. The contest is available to anyone on the West Coast including California, Oregon and Washington. If you are more than 100 miles from Seattle, WA you agree to pay travel, room and board for one night for MGP Photography (I will make travel arrangements).

5. Participants must not already have a signed contract with another photographer for wedding and/or engagement photography.

6. The engagement and wedding session must be booked on a date that Marcela Garcia Pulido has available. If in greater Seattle area must be occurring on a Saturday or Sunday, elsewhere must be occurring on a Saturday.

7. Participants agree to have their story and photographs published online and across social media sites, as well as in any publication the photographer wishes to submit to.

8. The wedding and engagement session prizes cannot be sold, traded or exchanged in any way.

9. By participating in this photography sessions giveaway you agree to be bound by these rules.

It is the policy of MGP Photography to provide services to all persons without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, disability, marital status, or sexual orientation.

In Defense of Solitude

Whenever I tell someone about my recent solo camping trip I usually get a response back in regards to how gutsy or courageous I am and how they could never do something like that on their own.

But they could. Traveling alone can be scary for a lot of people but it’s also a healthy and important part of getting to know yourself. Two years ago if you’d told me that I’d be living in another state and going camping by myself on the reg, I never would have believed you. Luckily, somewhere along the way I realized I needed to experience new things.

And so,

I’d like to empower you to do the same. 

It doesn't necessarily have to be a solo camping expedition or anything like that. Tailor it to your experiences. The idea is to step outside of your comfort zone, and I’ll give you a few reasons why:

//Widen your horizons

When you spend so much time in any one given location, you start falling into a routine and a certain sense of comfort. While that’s not necessarily a bad thing, eventually you stop growing. Going somewhere new can and oftentimes is a life-altering event. You see new places and inadvertently learn new things.

// Take your time

As much as I love traveling with friends and family, sometimes you just gotta go it alone. As a photographer and avid nature enthusiast, I like to take my time to enjoy the sights, read the signs, learn something new. Sometimes people tend to have a schedule of their own or are in a rush to reach a certain destination. That’s just fine, but I like to stop and smell the roses, as they say, and the best method is sometimes to go it alone.

//  Be independent

I know for me personally one of the greatest comforts of home was that no matter the situation or what problem I had, someone had a solution. That's just fine and dandy, but eventually you have to figure out how to solve problems on your own. When there's no one else around and you're facing a difficult situation, you can surprise yourself in the best way to find you're more than capable than you previously imagined.

// Meet new people

When you don't have anyone else beside you, you're much more inclined to strike up a conversation with a kind stranger. You'd be surprised the sorts of conversations and connections that can arise from a simple "Hello!" and a friendly smile. 

// Find yourself

If there's no one else to listen to or distract you, you eventually have to listen to yourself. Traveling alone is a great way to become better acquainted with yourself.

Nearly a year ago I drove up along the California coast and the Pacific Coast Highway by myself, and that was the most rejuvenating experience of my life. If the wilderness and long road trips aren’t exactly your cup of tea, you can always try visiting a new part of a city or a new coffee shop.  

Whatever the experience, you never know what you'll encounter. That's the exciting part! 

So tell me, where will you go?

Thunderstorm Campouts and Summer Colds

I always try to look on the bright side and keep a positive outlook in every aspect of my life. Yeah, it's nice to be jolly but sometimes if things are rough you need to indulge and wallow, just for a little bit. Everyone can't be happy all of the time, right?

Last week was tough for me for some reason. I don't know if I've just been holding my composure for long enough that finally it just cracked or if last week was really just that much more difficult. For whatever reason I needed to just say enough.

So on my day off, I packed up my camping gear in my car without any real destination and ended up at Trillium Lake and Mt. Hood National Forest. It was a fairly hot day in Portland and it was incredibly nice to run away into the mountains to escape the heat. It was overcast and chilly, just how I like it. I walked the perimeter of Trillium Lake, breathing in the brisk air and instantly feeling at peace.

Afterwards I drove around until I found a campsite and set up my tent. It rained all night and thunder reverberated through my bones for a few hours until it finally settled into the constant downpour. I read beneath the light of my headlamp until sleep finally took over. 

Maybe camping out in a thunderstorm wasn't my best idea as now I have a summer cold and everyone's going around calling me 'Sniffles,' but I knew I needed to get away and do what helps me get centered best: be out in nature. A little cold seems a small price to pay for the experience.

Mt. Hoffman

I am a sentimental old fool that cannot help looking through old photos and smiling at the memories. Moreso when it pertains to last summer and the people that I encountered in Yosemite. I am completely enthralled by people and their stories.

But what I loved the most about my summer spent in Yosemite was the sheer sense of camaraderie and kinship between people throughout the park that worked there. As it is, there's hundreds of young folk within the park that have essentially cut off communication with their friends and family and there is no other means but to completely immerse yourself with what and who is around you. I still think that it takes a certain kind of person to drop everything and spend a summer in the wilderness, it's kind of like an adult summer camp but much much better.

The shot above was taken my last week in the park on my favorite trek up to the top of Mt. Hoffman. Mt. Hoffman is found in the Tuolumne Meadow region of the park, one of the most underrated and breathtaking locations I have ever encountered. It is also considered the geological center of the park, so I was more than excited to witness the view from it's peak.

On the hike to the top we encountered only two people. The first, showed above, worked at Crane Flats in the park. We exchanged smiles as we divulged where in the park we worked and he gave us advice about which was the best route to the top. 

The other gentlemen we met once we reached the top.  He hadn't been back to Yosemite in 20 years but without the use of the map that I had was able to point out the peaks in the distance and share a short story about his hike to the tops and name off each in succession. 

These are the stories that warm my heart and I seek to collect. We are all stories in the end. We might as well make it a good one.

Oneonta Gorge

Sometimes life can get you down. It can get hectic and you find yourself too exhausted to do the things you love.

This too shall pass.

Remember the good. Remember that the days you wont forget aren't the ones killing your feet over a dead end job with no future. That it isn't about the degree that's been gathering dust at your parents house back in the city you were born and raised in. It's not about the dwindling of your checkings and the snail pace at which your savings account grows.


The days I remember most are jam packed with good things and good people. I cut it close and cut into my sleep, tired and exhausted with heavy bags under my eyes but my muscles are sore, my skin is bronzed, hair is wild, eyes are bright and my grin is wide.

These are the days worth remembering that makes life worth living.

Last Thursday I met up with a great group of people for a hearty breakfast that we later hiked off through a 4 mile loop hike through the Triple Falls. We followed that hike with another hike through the Oneonta Gorge in which the river acts as the trail to your destination at the waterfall. It was a pretty spectacular sight to behold, not gonna lie.

in all earnestness

Man, life is hectic! I started this blog as a means of chronicling my adventures and photographs along the way and I definitely underestimated how time consuming it would be. Between work, trying to find a new, more fulfilling job, and unwinding with friends it's been tough to find time in between to sit down at a computer to go through photos that I've shot and of course, write!

So I've decided to sit down and set up some goals for my photography, this blog, and life in general!

Here goes nothin'!

1. shoot more,
it's the only thing that settles my anxious mind
2. exude positivity
you become what you put out
3. explore the landscape
it's a beautiful world out there
4. take moments to yourself and just, breathe
never forget this
5. hikehikehike
let me not forget the rejuvenation and 
tranquility that comes from physical exhaustion and beautiful landscapes
6. nurture friendships
I've met some tremendously wonderful people
along the way, and I'd like to never lose contact with them.
7. partake in more personal projects
I can't get hung up on work and need to spend more time to myself
8. and of course, blog more!
I want to share all the good vibes with good people

There you have it! Those are my personal goals because I like to be working on something, you know? It gets far too easy to get caught up on the negativity and I'd prefer to focus on the positive and always strive to be better. 

What about you? What are you currently working on?

LIVE AUTHENTIC || human in the wild

I have no qualms about admitting that I have suffered from debilitating anxiety in the past. Truth be told, two years ago I was in the midst of a breakdown that left my nerves shattered. A few key opportunities and large changes in my life were my saving grace, but sometimes the remnants of my anxiety-ridden brain still linger. Once your brain is hardwired to respond to certain triggers with anxiety it takes a lot to be able to retrain it not to react with stress.

Norepinephrine is better known as the hormone behind the fight or flight response. There was something going on in my life that was keeping me from making the choices that resonated with me that causes internal conflict. In psychology we call this cognitive dissonance. In essence, it means you are not living genuinely to your own subconscious standards and your brain starts to freak out. The  way I saw it, fight or flight hormone was being released at an above-average rate in my central nervous system, but there was nothing to fear or run from. So instead it was being directed into this internal turmoil within myself. It's hard to live a life in constant battle with yourself, you know?

I was tired, felt groggy, I remember vividly it being a hot August night in California and as I went out for a walk with my mother my body was literally shivering even though I could feel the damp sweat on my brow. My mother that night looked at me with that motherly gaze I'm sure we all know, a look of complete and utter acceptance, support, and love. She told me, "eres hija de la luna y las estrellas." You are the daughter of the moon and stars. Time and time again through hardships in my life I've looked to the stars and an absolute humbling sensation of irrelevance to the cosmos as a means of feeling grounded. I clung to those words like they were my lifeline, because they were.

But in order to feel grounded,  I eventually found I needed to return to the Earth. I took to hiking and exhausting my body through long treks and scenic vistas. There is something endlessly satisfying in feeling the strain in your muscles as you trek upwards and feel the sweat accumulate on your body as it's chilled by the cool breeze. This was what I had been searching for, a means of clearing out my head. When you're focused on nothing more than one step in front of the other, inhale exhale... you reach monotony in your thought process that clears your head, it's hard not to feel centered.

Some days I still awake with a thousand thoughts ransacking my scatterbrain and a weight in my chest that staggers my ability to breathe. On these days, I  hit the trail. Last week was no different. I've been working 6 days and it started to hit me that I really needed to just go. It's a desire to disappear, to get lost. Maybe not always geologically speaking, just to lose your thoughts if only temporarily. So I did. Maybe driving 1.5 hours to Hood River to do a 4 mile hike sounds nuts, but when my sanity is on the line it's not asking much.

So I took my time on this splendidly warm, beautiful day as I hiked to the vista point surrounded by wildflowers.

"It had only to do with how it felt to be in the wild. With what it was like to walk for miles for no reason other than to witness the accumulation of trees and meadows, mountains and deserts, streams and rocks, rivers and grasses, sunrises and sunsets. The experience was powerful and fundamental. It seemed to me that it had always felt like this to be a human in the wild, and as long as the wild existed it would always feel this way. "

-Cheryl Strayed, Wild

These photos were edited using the VSCO Film presets for Lightroom.

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