If you follow me at all, you’ve probably heard about this elusive Michael person once or twice.  Maybe in passing.  Maybe in a Tweet.  Maybe on the blog.  Maybe you’ve received an email from him.  Perhaps you’ve heard of him referred to as Miguel, as he often is, and were extra confused.

Because you see, Miguel is a really big deal at René Tate Photography.  Miguel is my assistant.

And I’m pretty sure the guy has been with RTP for over a year and he’s never been properly introduced.  Don’t ask me how this happened, but it’s about time that I introduce you to my work buddy, Michael.  Or as I coined him: Miguel.  I don’t know where I’d be or what I’d do with out him!

This kid has the best work ethic, he runs errands, wraps albums and makes them look super girly, he edits like it’s nobody’s business, and most importantly, he puts up with me.  Like after hours of sometime mind-numbing work and I say, “Miguel, you know what time it is?” and then I turn up Iyaz’ So Big as loud as my little Bose speakers can shout.  Yeah.  He hates that song.  But let’s me play it loud and pretends to like it. :-)

An incredibly talented photographer, he is.  Super creative.  And super cool.  He posts a photo a day on Facebook. He also has this awesome photography blog, too!  Which you can view here. He just shot his first wedding this December and will be doing more where that came from.  You may even see him at a few RTP weddings!

Michael’s awesome.  ‘Nuf said.  He’s going to be taking on a few big projects this year including a fancy new marketing campaign and streamlining the client life cycle.  Oh yeah.  Here he is ladies an gentlemen, Miguel:

And because a picture isn’t always worth a thousand words, here are a few of his. :-)

1. So…. What’s your story? I don’t quite know the best way to answer this question cause it is such a common question that usually gets answered in a way that does not show the actual story of a person.  So I suppose that I will answer this as honest as possible briefly showing the journey of my 20 years on planet earth.  To start with the basics I was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado and moved to Los Alamos, New Mexico when I was eight, lived and grew up there for the following 10 years and then moved back to Colorado Springs to go to UCCS for college.  I can tell you what I did those years and tell you what sports I played but that would not really show you who I am and my story so…. I would say that those first 18 years of life where lived in quite desperation, desperation for LIFE and to know something true and something eternal.  As each year passed and I grew older and more acquainted with the World we live in my eyes seemed to be opened to pain, suffering, anger, love, flickers of hope, envy, lust, and empty pursuits that looked fulfilling but never seemed to fill the longing in my soul.  Then as I came to college with thoughts of everything but God, it seemed through the workings of his grace that God had been pursuing me and filled me with that which my soul longed for since the day of my birth, namely Himself.  So I would say in short that my “story” is I was Dead in the ways of my own pursuits and fulfillment without Christ and then my God he sought me out and relentlessly pursued me and now I am Alive. Death to Life I supposed would be the summation of my story.

Now I do love and enjoy photography and graphic design lots and tons! Not as a means to an end but as a way to Know God and enjoy the beauty of Marriage and Life.  I enjoy reading, learning, and talking with people about life and listening to learn well.  I have met an amazing girl who I have been dating for 1 year and enjoy the time I spend with her and growing together.  So I suppose that is my story.

2. How’d you get into photography? What do you love about it? I got into photography because my friends and I all got into Mountain Biking in high school and they where all REALLY good and I sort of sucked at it so I decided to take photos of their awesome biking instead. And found out I had an eye for photography and capturing moments in time.  There has been a lot of progression in my photography from that point about 5 years ago and never thought I would enjoy Wedding photography as much as I do. :-)

Capturing life is hard; writers, songwriters, poets, and photographers all try their best to do this challenging task.  So I suppose that I enjoy capturing all the things we call life from wedding to orphans in Peru.  I need this creative outlet of photography because pictures can do many things to the human heart.

3. What do you want to do after college? Hmmmm. Well it seems as though my passions have changed so much within the last 2 years, so this is hard to say what I will actually be doing after college but I can give you a little glimpse at my plan.  I want to go to Seminary and get my Masters of Divinity and then teach others about the infinite grace that is in the eyes of Jesus.  I don’t know what this will look like exactly, but it will be good!  Oh and of course take pictures till the day I die.

4. What’s the coolest part about working with Rene/RTP? There are a lot of awesome parts about this job but I would say all the things I have learned!  Knowledge is very valuable so I am thankful for that.

5. What’s the biggest thing you’ve learned from assisting René? Tough, but I am going to say the ever increasing importance of customer service and how one can show the value of a company in the way it treats the customer.  Yep, pretty textbook answer but it’s big.

6. What’s one thing that no one knows about you? Well, I imaging there are lots of things but lets go with the fact that I used to have a guilty pleasure of listening to Taylor Swift.