November 25, 2024 • 18 mins
Join us for a captivating conversation with Michael Miller, the creative force behind M2M Pics Photography. Discover how Michael’s innovative approach redefines family photography, capturing the unique essence of each family rather than adhering to a one-size-fits-all aesthetic. As the official contributing photographer for Dunwoody Neighbors and North Buckhead Neighbors Magazines, Michael gives us an insider's look at what it takes to produce stunning family features. From delightful photo sessions with local celebrities Jeff and Callie Dollar to charming shoots featuring families with parrots and backyard chickens, Michael's stories offer a vibrant tapestry of community life through his lens.
In addition to sharing memorable experiences, Michael discusses his photography journey and the wide range of services offered by M2M Pics Photography, from magazine covers to pet portraits. With 28 glowing five-star reviews on Google, it's clear that Michael's focus on building genuine relationships through his work is paying off, often leading to unexpected opportunities like surprise engagements.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, north Atlanta,
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, stacey Risley.
Hello friends and neighbors,welcome to North Atlanta's Good
Neighbor Podcast.
Today we are back in the studiowith Michael Miller.
He is the owner of M2M HicksPhotography here in Atlanta and
(00:22):
we kind of have some surprisingnews to share.
Welcome back to the show,michael.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Thanks, stacey, I'm glad to be back.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Well, and the big news is that we have now
acquired for lack of a betterword, didn't steal, but kind of
stole.
I really have always been superimpressed with Michael's
photography since I've had himon the show the last time.
He works with a couple of otherlocal magazines, but since he's
(00:50):
been on the show last time, hehas now become the official
contributing photographer forboth Dunwoody Neighbors Magazine
and North Buckhead NeighborsMagazine, which we are just so
happy to have you on thepublication team, mike.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
I'm glad to be back too.
It's interesting.
We've talked over the lastcouple of years and I was glad
to receive your phone call andthe invitation to become the
photographer for the twomagazines.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Well, we are thrilled to have you.
It's just been a great fit sofar and you have.
You also have experience withwith our publications, because
you let's give a shout out toMorningside Neighbors, which is
Ken's publication in AtlantaMorningside area and Carmen's
publication in East Cobb EastCobb or EC Living for East Cobb
(01:42):
Living.
So in addition to Dunwoody andNorth Beckett Neighbors,
michael's also the photographerfor those two publications.
So you've got a busy scheduleLots on your plate.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
It keeps me busy.
There's no lack for things tobe doing.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Absolutely, and we're going to do this and I think
our audience has a pretty goodidea of how we do most of these.
We're going to do this one alittle bit different.
I chatted with Michael aboutthis ahead of time and kind of
wanted to give our listeners akind of behind the scenes peek
at what the photography, whatthe whole like family feature
(02:22):
involves as far as thephotography piece and from your
perspective.
So, michael, I know we startedoff.
We had your first month with us.
We got to feature the samefamily in both North Buckhead
and Dunwoody Neighbors becausethey're a local celebrity.
You know it's Jeff Dollar whowas on the Burt show for decades
(02:44):
well, nearly decades, and thenthe Jeff and Jen show just a
great morning show personalityhere in Atlanta forever.
And so they were on bothDunwoody and North Buckhead
Neighbors and that was yourfirst photo shoot for our
publications.
And Jeff and Callie are great,aren't they?
Speaker 2 (03:06):
That's a fun family to work with.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Absolutely, so let's start with them.
So this is just one magazine,or well, it's one family, two
magazines.
So tell us a little bit abouthow that shoot looked for them.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Well, the way I really start working with any
family even the dollars is justreaching out to them and finding
a time that's going to work forthe family.
What I've found is usuallytrying to schedule anything
during the week is not going towork because everyone's
schedules it's so crazy.
You can't get anyone buttoneddown to say, oh, this is going
to work for all of us, to say,oh, this is going to work for
(03:43):
all of us.
So Saturday and Sundays areusually my time for the
magazines and reaching out tothem and finding a time.
Or do they want to have theirhome featured in the shoot, or
do they have a differentlocation in the community that
they like to visit?
And we've got that all figuredout.
And then when we have kidsinvolved and you know the
(04:07):
dollars have two little onesI've been through that one.
I've had my two stepkids fromthe time when they were about
five and six on up and I knew itwas like all right, you need to
keep this quick so you knowthey don't get cranky and
causing problems at all.
So we try to keep the photoshoot under 30 minutes, yeah,
(04:28):
and we can get the pictures andwe can get one that they are
going to want to share on the,on the magazine, and the kids
are still, you know, having funand smiling, and you know
pictures that you know you wantto show on your magazine.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Yeah, absolutely, and you've just done a really good
job of that.
You would think that all you dois photograph kids, because so
far, every cover you've donewith us has involved kids
varying ages.
But it's just an outstanding,an outstanding job, and and I
know that in some of the issuesyou know some of your families.
(05:07):
You have their pets even withthem, so that's always fun.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Yeah, I mean the ones I've had with pets mainly have
been dogs, and usually I meanI'm really good around dogs so I
can usually try to get theirattention.
But I did have a magazine wherewe had two parrots.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Oh, my goodness, I'm jealous.
That wasn't in mine Talk aboutunique.
That would be so fun.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
That was different because each of the husband and
wife each had a parrot on theirshoulder for one of the pictures
.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
That's pretty cool.
Okay, all right, dunwoodiansand Buckheadians, if you've got
two parrots, I don't like to be,you know, outshined that would
be really exciting.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Oh, I forgot, there's also one family had.
They had chickens.
They raised in their backyardand they had chickens.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
So that is something I'm very interested in and we
have a family here in Dunwoodywho has backyard chickens and
they might just be getting aphone call to be featured as
well.
That's a neat story.
She was even involved in likegetting the backyard chicken act
or whatever it is for dunwoodyallowed where you are allowed to
(06:30):
have backyard exactly.
It kind of reminded me of theshow that I grew up watching
green acres yeah, yeah,different scale, but for sure
now you're telling our age,though, when you, when you tell
us, tell people we listen toGreen Acres and we'll tell so in
(06:51):
with having four differentmagazines to juggle, and I know
that all of all of these fourmagazines all have the same
deadline day, because that'sjust how our publications work
with our ones in the same area,or, you know, all have the same
deadline day of the 20th, so itgets a little bit hairy, I'm
sure, trying to get those photosin, and I know that when you,
(07:14):
when you are doing shoots forthe magazines, you're really
like specifically looking forthat cover photo and then you
know that photo on the inside toaccompany the article, so
you're not taking a whole bunchof you know how do you condense
that and keep it within 30minutes.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Yeah, well, usually I try to tell the family in
either an email or sometimes Iactually schedule a consultation
on the phone with the familyand I just refer back to the
magazine thing.
We're going to shoot picturesthat are going to be for on the
cover.
Think about a location aroundyour home or outside that you
would like to have featured toshow that as your background.
(07:53):
So I mean, I've started kind ofhaving them think about where
they would want to have showcasethe front, you know, for the
front of the magazine, what dothey want to showcase?
You know they're part of theirbackyard that they really like
it could be their front door,which a lot of magazines go with
the front door.
We just kind of go with that.
(08:15):
Then I just tell them anotherone for the article where do you
all hang out when you're alltogether?
Where's the place that thefamily gets together to play
games or watch TV?
Or I said let's just do likethey have.
You all sit like you normallysit, and just I'm not trying to
create things that are notcomfortable for them, I'm just
(08:37):
trying to make it right.
Yeah, we do sit here on thecouch and we play, you know,
this game, or we're watching,we're eating in the dining room
and this is where we normallyhang out.
I said, all right, let's justgo and go with that.
I mean, I had one family.
They for their picture for thearticle.
It was them with the kidsbaking cookies.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Oh, and I love that, like I feel like the more
natural you know, the backgroundis, the setting is the more
just authentic the photo comesacross, especially for the
purposes of our magazines.
You know our magazines are allabout getting to know your
neighbors and getting to knowthem.
You know, as they are, you know, so I was people get so nervous
(09:21):
about what to wear, what to.
You know how, how fancy they dothey need to be and is it OK if
they match.
You know I've had families thathave gone barefoot in the
summer months.
You know in the photo, or on thesoccer fields, because they are
.
They dad coaches and plays andboth kids play and they spend a
(09:42):
lot of time there.
The spots can be kind ofconvenient or not convenient,
but creative is the word I waslooking for as to where you go,
you know what's going to bestcapture.
You know your, your familystory.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Yeah, and I've had the same thing about what should
I wear and I say, well, whatshowcases what you are or what's
your family brand?
I will tell that because a lotof people are professionals,
they understand branding and Iwas like, what represents you, I
mean?
Is it being dressed up in asuit and tie or a dress or what
(10:22):
have you, or is it more like youknow you're at the beach, you
know flip-flop shorts and aT-shirt and a ball cap.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Right right.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
There's no perfect one.
I just want to capturesomething that really represents
your family and your familyvibe.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Yeah, absolutely.
I love that.
That vibe is really the word Iwas trying to capture too.
I mean, because that really is.
Every family is so differentand just on how they interact,
know, interact, what theirday-to-day looks like, you know,
and but it would be really easyfor all of the family cover
shoots to look exactly the same.
(10:58):
You know, like we're sayingwhere you know, wear your finest
clothes and look.
You know we would like you tobe, you know, we just we want it
to capture.
You know the essence of thatfamily, of the individual
families, exactly.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
They would get real boring if every single one of
them looked exactly like I knowsome, some magazines have a
standard and I just try I'vebeen able to kind of convince
them to go ahead.
Let's kind of break this mold alittle bit.
Let's do this and then thefamily members have been have
gone, or gone with it too.
Because I had one gentlemanrecently, instead of being in
(11:35):
front of his house, we were inan area where he had some of his
own artwork.
In the background he sat on astool and he was very
comfortable posing, so he gaveme a perfect pose.
I said all right, you need tohold that for like five minutes
because I've got a number ofshots.
And that was he.
Let me pick the cover and Ishowed her.
I said this one, I really think, shows your personality.
(11:56):
He agreed, and so we we usethat one and I love that picture
, probably one of the best onesI've I've seen for a while.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Yeah, I liked it.
We actually, when we had coffee, you shared that that cover
with me and I agree it was avery unique.
I love.
I love when they're a littledifferent than the norm.
So look forward to the minicovers that are coming our way,
courtesy of Michael and M2M PicsPhotography and in fact and I
(12:29):
can kind of do a little sneakreveal we will be introducing
Michael and his wife in ourDecember issue of North Buckhead
Neighbors, so we're excitedabout introducing a big,
important part of ourpublication team to the
residents he serves.
(12:49):
So we're excited to read moreabout you and hear more about
your wife as well.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
Yeah, we're.
I've got her all ready andscheduled for our photo shoot
this weekend, so she's she's nowtrying to figure out what will
I wear.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
See, we all do this my girls and I were featured,
you know, as a Meet thePublisher issue a while back,
and it was.
That's such a daunting question.
What do you wear thateveryone's going to?
And we were just in jeans andsweaters.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
It was real casual.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
You know, it does become a kind of a big issue for
us and we don't mean for it tobe.
It should be nice and laid backand easy, like you said, just
be aware of what represents you,and I have no doubt that
y'all's is going to be fantastic.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Yeah, she's ready for it, and so is my furry boy,
ruben, so he's getting ready forit too.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
And a shout out to your wife Her name is Veronica,
is that correct?
Speaker 2 (13:50):
Yes, is that right?
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Veronica, welcome to the North Buckhead Dunwoody
Neighbors family.
You're kind of married into it,I guess, are we married into it
.
I don't know.
You're going to love us, Ipromise.
Yeah, she understands the gig.
That's right, you're going tolove me Calling panicking.
(14:12):
No, it's fun.
Very, very well, I'm veryexcited to have you on board and
let's kind of circle back andtell our listeners you know that
aren't magazine fans or theydon't know about these
publications or receive themlet's tell them just a little
bit more about your business.
M2m Pics, photography.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Yeah, m2m Pics Photography.
I've been providing photographyservices for probably about the
last 10 years.
I've been involved inphotography up before then many
years just doing it for a hobby,and then started doing a little
bit of work here and there forfriends doing headshots and
(14:52):
family portraits.
But when I moved down here toGeorgia a few years ago I would
go ahead, went ahead and starteddoing professionally and I
focused primarily on doingheadshots, family portraits,
branding, commercial and we alsodo pets, nice.
So we've been doing it for awhile and we're doing very well.
(15:12):
I think now we're at 28five-star reviews on Google.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Nice.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
So we're happy with that and our last family we
worked with we did theirengagement.
Surprising proposal in MariettaSquare.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
Oh, how exciting, and that's what is neat about this
gig you really do.
You meet these families throughthe photography, through the
magazine shoot, but then theyform a relationship with you and
then are able to use you forsome of their other needs and
photography needs as well.
So it's a great way to buildrelationships and how fun to do
(15:57):
a surprise engagement.
I would feel so much pressurethat I wouldn't capture just the
perfect image, that I would belike messing with my Zoom and
then the proposal would be overand I missed it and it's gone.
I'd have to have like sevenbackup photographers.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
I was going to get anything like that I pretty much
positioned myself where I knewthey were going to walk in.
They walked, walked into thegazebo there at marietta square
the uh groom, his uh sister, andthen the bride-to-be, her best
friend.
They were decorating that.
So I was there like an hour anda half ahead of time.
(16:31):
So I pretty much staked out allright, I'm standing here, you
know, in front of me.
So we got a number of shots sothat, and they love all the
pictures so far.
So we're right now talkingabout setting up a time for an
official engagement session andthey may even we may even bring
(16:51):
people in to help us doing somedrone and video for it too.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Oh, how fun.
Oh, my goodness.
So it's not just magazinecovers, y'all, it's everything
you can imagine, from surpriseto corporate headshots or you
know shots.
You do it all.
Well, we, on behalf of Kiana Iso she's here, but in the
background, quietly but soappreciative that you joined our
(17:18):
team.
We're super happy to have youon board and we look forward to
having you come on the podcastperiodically too and we'll, you
know, just talk about the funshoots that we have or anything
that, if you decide you want tocome on to talk about it, just
just you'd let me know.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
No, I appreciate you being able to join the team and
also be back on your podcastagain.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
Yeah Well, and we'll have you back on real soon.
We'll shoot for quarterly, likewe do with our experts, because
you're contributing to themagazine and that's how often
they come on.
So we'll have some quarterlyepisodes with you on the show
and I look forward to workingwith you for a long time to come
(18:00):
.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
Likewise Thank you.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Thanks so much, Michael.
Talk soon All right.
That's all for today's episode,atlanta.
I'm Stacey Risley with a GoodNeighbor podcast.
Thanks for listening and forsupporting the local businesses
and nonprofits of our greatcommunity.
Thanks for listening to theGood Neighbor podcast North
Atlanta.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses visit
(18:24):
gnpnorthatlantacom.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
That's gnpnorthatlantacom.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, north Atlanta,
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, stacey Risley.
Hello friends and neighbors,welcome to North Atlanta's Good
Neighbor Podcast.
Today we are back in the studiowith Michael Miller.
He is the owner of M2M HicksPhotography here in Atlanta and
(00:22):
we kind of have some surprisingnews to share.
Welcome back to the show,michael.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Thanks, stacey, I'm glad to be back.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Well, and the big news is that we have now
acquired for lack of a betterword, didn't steal, but kind of
stole.
I really have always been superimpressed with Michael's
photography since I've had himon the show the last time.
He works with a couple of otherlocal magazines, but since he's
(00:50):
been on the show last time, hehas now become the official
contributing photographer forboth Dunwoody Neighbors Magazine
and North Buckhead NeighborsMagazine, which we are just so
happy to have you on thepublication team, mike.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
I'm glad to be back too.
It's interesting.
We've talked over the lastcouple of years and I was glad
to receive your phone call andthe invitation to become the
photographer for the twomagazines.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Well, we are thrilled to have you.
It's just been a great fit sofar and you have.
You also have experience withwith our publications, because
you let's give a shout out toMorningside Neighbors, which is
Ken's publication in AtlantaMorningside area and Carmen's
publication in East Cobb EastCobb or EC Living for East Cobb
(01:42):
Living.
So in addition to Dunwoody andNorth Beckett Neighbors,
michael's also the photographerfor those two publications.
So you've got a busy scheduleLots on your plate.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
It keeps me busy.
There's no lack for things tobe doing.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Absolutely, and we're going to do this and I think
our audience has a pretty goodidea of how we do most of these.
We're going to do this one alittle bit different.
I chatted with Michael aboutthis ahead of time and kind of
wanted to give our listeners akind of behind the scenes peek
at what the photography, whatthe whole like family feature
(02:22):
involves as far as thephotography piece and from your
perspective.
So, michael, I know we startedoff.
We had your first month with us.
We got to feature the samefamily in both North Buckhead
and Dunwoody Neighbors becausethey're a local celebrity.
You know it's Jeff Dollar whowas on the Burt show for decades
(02:44):
well, nearly decades, and thenthe Jeff and Jen show just a
great morning show personalityhere in Atlanta forever.
And so they were on bothDunwoody and North Buckhead
Neighbors and that was yourfirst photo shoot for our
publications.
And Jeff and Callie are great,aren't they?
Speaker 2 (03:06):
That's a fun family to work with.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Absolutely, so let's start with them.
So this is just one magazine,or well, it's one family, two
magazines.
So tell us a little bit abouthow that shoot looked for them.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Well, the way I really start working with any
family even the dollars is justreaching out to them and finding
a time that's going to work forthe family.
What I've found is usuallytrying to schedule anything
during the week is not going towork because everyone's
schedules it's so crazy.
You can't get anyone buttoneddown to say, oh, this is going
to work for all of us, to say,oh, this is going to work for
(03:43):
all of us.
So Saturday and Sundays areusually my time for the
magazines and reaching out tothem and finding a time.
Or do they want to have theirhome featured in the shoot, or
do they have a differentlocation in the community that
they like to visit?
And we've got that all figuredout.
And then when we have kidsinvolved and you know the
(04:07):
dollars have two little onesI've been through that one.
I've had my two stepkids fromthe time when they were about
five and six on up and I knew itwas like all right, you need to
keep this quick so you knowthey don't get cranky and
causing problems at all.
So we try to keep the photoshoot under 30 minutes, yeah,
(04:28):
and we can get the pictures andwe can get one that they are
going to want to share on the,on the magazine, and the kids
are still, you know, having funand smiling, and you know
pictures that you know you wantto show on your magazine.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Yeah, absolutely, and you've just done a really good
job of that.
You would think that all you dois photograph kids, because so
far, every cover you've donewith us has involved kids
varying ages.
But it's just an outstanding,an outstanding job, and and I
know that in some of the issuesyou know some of your families.
(05:07):
You have their pets even withthem, so that's always fun.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Yeah, I mean the ones I've had with pets mainly have
been dogs, and usually I meanI'm really good around dogs so I
can usually try to get theirattention.
But I did have a magazine wherewe had two parrots.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Oh, my goodness, I'm jealous.
That wasn't in mine Talk aboutunique.
That would be so fun.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
That was different because each of the husband and
wife each had a parrot on theirshoulder for one of the pictures
.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
That's pretty cool.
Okay, all right, dunwoodiansand Buckheadians, if you've got
two parrots, I don't like to be,you know, outshined that would
be really exciting.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Oh, I forgot, there's also one family had.
They had chickens.
They raised in their backyardand they had chickens.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
So that is something I'm very interested in and we
have a family here in Dunwoodywho has backyard chickens and
they might just be getting aphone call to be featured as
well.
That's a neat story.
She was even involved in likegetting the backyard chicken act
or whatever it is for dunwoodyallowed where you are allowed to
(06:30):
have backyard exactly.
It kind of reminded me of theshow that I grew up watching
green acres yeah, yeah,different scale, but for sure
now you're telling our age,though, when you, when you tell
us, tell people we listen toGreen Acres and we'll tell so in
(06:51):
with having four differentmagazines to juggle, and I know
that all of all of these fourmagazines all have the same
deadline day, because that'sjust how our publications work
with our ones in the same area,or, you know, all have the same
deadline day of the 20th, so itgets a little bit hairy, I'm
sure, trying to get those photosin, and I know that when you,
(07:14):
when you are doing shoots forthe magazines, you're really
like specifically looking forthat cover photo and then you
know that photo on the inside toaccompany the article, so
you're not taking a whole bunchof you know how do you condense
that and keep it within 30minutes.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Yeah, well, usually I try to tell the family in
either an email or sometimes Iactually schedule a consultation
on the phone with the familyand I just refer back to the
magazine thing.
We're going to shoot picturesthat are going to be for on the
cover.
Think about a location aroundyour home or outside that you
would like to have featured toshow that as your background.
(07:53):
So I mean, I've started kind ofhaving them think about where
they would want to have showcasethe front, you know, for the
front of the magazine, what dothey want to showcase?
You know they're part of theirbackyard that they really like
it could be their front door,which a lot of magazines go with
the front door.
We just kind of go with that.
(08:15):
Then I just tell them anotherone for the article where do you
all hang out when you're alltogether?
Where's the place that thefamily gets together to play
games or watch TV?
Or I said let's just do likethey have.
You all sit like you normallysit, and just I'm not trying to
create things that are notcomfortable for them, I'm just
(08:37):
trying to make it right.
Yeah, we do sit here on thecouch and we play, you know,
this game, or we're watching,we're eating in the dining room
and this is where we normallyhang out.
I said, all right, let's justgo and go with that.
I mean, I had one family.
They for their picture for thearticle.
It was them with the kidsbaking cookies.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Oh, and I love that, like I feel like the more
natural you know, the backgroundis, the setting is the more
just authentic the photo comesacross, especially for the
purposes of our magazines.
You know our magazines are allabout getting to know your
neighbors and getting to knowthem.
You know, as they are, you know, so I was people get so nervous
(09:21):
about what to wear, what to.
You know how, how fancy they dothey need to be and is it OK if
they match.
You know I've had families thathave gone barefoot in the
summer months.
You know in the photo, or on thesoccer fields, because they are
.
They dad coaches and plays andboth kids play and they spend a
(09:42):
lot of time there.
The spots can be kind ofconvenient or not convenient,
but creative is the word I waslooking for as to where you go,
you know what's going to bestcapture.
You know your, your familystory.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Yeah, and I've had the same thing about what should
I wear and I say, well, whatshowcases what you are or what's
your family brand?
I will tell that because a lotof people are professionals,
they understand branding and Iwas like, what represents you, I
mean?
Is it being dressed up in asuit and tie or a dress or what
(10:22):
have you, or is it more like youknow you're at the beach, you
know flip-flop shorts and aT-shirt and a ball cap.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Right right.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
There's no perfect one.
I just want to capturesomething that really represents
your family and your familyvibe.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Yeah, absolutely.
I love that.
That vibe is really the word Iwas trying to capture too.
I mean, because that really is.
Every family is so differentand just on how they interact,
know, interact, what theirday-to-day looks like, you know,
and but it would be really easyfor all of the family cover
shoots to look exactly the same.
(10:58):
You know, like we're sayingwhere you know, wear your finest
clothes and look.
You know we would like you tobe, you know, we just we want it
to capture.
You know the essence of thatfamily, of the individual
families, exactly.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
They would get real boring if every single one of
them looked exactly like I knowsome, some magazines have a
standard and I just try I'vebeen able to kind of convince
them to go ahead.
Let's kind of break this mold alittle bit.
Let's do this and then thefamily members have been have
gone, or gone with it too.
Because I had one gentlemanrecently, instead of being in
(11:35):
front of his house, we were inan area where he had some of his
own artwork.
In the background he sat on astool and he was very
comfortable posing, so he gaveme a perfect pose.
I said all right, you need tohold that for like five minutes
because I've got a number ofshots.
And that was he.
Let me pick the cover and Ishowed her.
I said this one, I really think, shows your personality.
(11:56):
He agreed, and so we we usethat one and I love that picture
, probably one of the best onesI've I've seen for a while.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Yeah, I liked it.
We actually, when we had coffee, you shared that that cover
with me and I agree it was avery unique.
I love.
I love when they're a littledifferent than the norm.
So look forward to the minicovers that are coming our way,
courtesy of Michael and M2M PicsPhotography and in fact and I
(12:29):
can kind of do a little sneakreveal we will be introducing
Michael and his wife in ourDecember issue of North Buckhead
Neighbors, so we're excitedabout introducing a big,
important part of ourpublication team to the
residents he serves.
(12:49):
So we're excited to read moreabout you and hear more about
your wife as well.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
Yeah, we're.
I've got her all ready andscheduled for our photo shoot
this weekend, so she's she's nowtrying to figure out what will
I wear.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
See, we all do this my girls and I were featured,
you know, as a Meet thePublisher issue a while back,
and it was.
That's such a daunting question.
What do you wear thateveryone's going to?
And we were just in jeans andsweaters.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
It was real casual.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
You know, it does become a kind of a big issue for
us and we don't mean for it tobe.
It should be nice and laid backand easy, like you said, just
be aware of what represents you,and I have no doubt that
y'all's is going to be fantastic.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Yeah, she's ready for it, and so is my furry boy,
ruben, so he's getting ready forit too.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
And a shout out to your wife Her name is Veronica,
is that correct?
Speaker 2 (13:50):
Yes, is that right?
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Veronica, welcome to the North Buckhead Dunwoody
Neighbors family.
You're kind of married into it,I guess, are we married into it
.
I don't know.
You're going to love us, Ipromise.
Yeah, she understands the gig.
That's right, you're going tolove me Calling panicking.
(14:12):
No, it's fun.
Very, very well, I'm veryexcited to have you on board and
let's kind of circle back andtell our listeners you know that
aren't magazine fans or theydon't know about these
publications or receive themlet's tell them just a little
bit more about your business.
M2m Pics, photography.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Yeah, m2m Pics Photography.
I've been providing photographyservices for probably about the
last 10 years.
I've been involved inphotography up before then many
years just doing it for a hobby,and then started doing a little
bit of work here and there forfriends doing headshots and
(14:52):
family portraits.
But when I moved down here toGeorgia a few years ago I would
go ahead, went ahead and starteddoing professionally and I
focused primarily on doingheadshots, family portraits,
branding, commercial and we alsodo pets, nice.
So we've been doing it for awhile and we're doing very well.
(15:12):
I think now we're at 28five-star reviews on Google.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Nice.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
So we're happy with that and our last family we
worked with we did theirengagement.
Surprising proposal in MariettaSquare.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
Oh, how exciting, and that's what is neat about this
gig you really do.
You meet these families throughthe photography, through the
magazine shoot, but then theyform a relationship with you and
then are able to use you forsome of their other needs and
photography needs as well.
So it's a great way to buildrelationships and how fun to do
(15:57):
a surprise engagement.
I would feel so much pressurethat I wouldn't capture just the
perfect image, that I would belike messing with my Zoom and
then the proposal would be overand I missed it and it's gone.
I'd have to have like sevenbackup photographers.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
I was going to get anything like that I pretty much
positioned myself where I knewthey were going to walk in.
They walked, walked into thegazebo there at marietta square
the uh groom, his uh sister, andthen the bride-to-be, her best
friend.
They were decorating that.
So I was there like an hour anda half ahead of time.
(16:31):
So I pretty much staked out allright, I'm standing here, you
know, in front of me.
So we got a number of shots sothat, and they love all the
pictures so far.
So we're right now talkingabout setting up a time for an
official engagement session andthey may even we may even bring
(16:51):
people in to help us doing somedrone and video for it too.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Oh, how fun.
Oh, my goodness.
So it's not just magazinecovers, y'all, it's everything
you can imagine, from surpriseto corporate headshots or you
know shots.
You do it all.
Well, we, on behalf of Kiana Iso she's here, but in the
background, quietly but soappreciative that you joined our
(17:18):
team.
We're super happy to have youon board and we look forward to
having you come on the podcastperiodically too and we'll, you
know, just talk about the funshoots that we have or anything
that, if you decide you want tocome on to talk about it, just
just you'd let me know.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
No, I appreciate you being able to join the team and
also be back on your podcastagain.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
Yeah Well, and we'll have you back on real soon.
We'll shoot for quarterly, likewe do with our experts, because
you're contributing to themagazine and that's how often
they come on.
So we'll have some quarterlyepisodes with you on the show
and I look forward to workingwith you for a long time to come
(18:00):
.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
Likewise Thank you.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Thanks so much, Michael.
Talk soon All right.
That's all for today's episode,atlanta.
I'm Stacey Risley with a GoodNeighbor podcast.
Thanks for listening and forsupporting the local businesses
and nonprofits of our greatcommunity.
Thanks for listening to theGood Neighbor podcast North
Atlanta.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses visit
(18:24):
gnpnorthatlantacom.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
That's gnpnorthatlantacom.
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