Yuriy Manchik Photography

Last Post

info@yuriymanchik.com (Yuriy Manchik Photography) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 00:05:00 +0000

First of, for those of you who kept coming back to the same old post on my blog, I apologize. Not to make excuses or anything but on top of my month in Thailand I had quite a bit of other things going on and didn't have time to blog. Since coming back from Thailand, I've been working on a new, and might I add, much better blog that will be up shortly. On top of the new blog, I'm also in the process of updating and completely redoing my site, going with a new marketing strategy and rebranding my business. So all new things to look out for.

This will be the last post for this blog, you will still be able to get to this blog through a link on the new site, so if there is a post you really like, no worries, it's not going to disappear.

I look forward to hearing your opinions about the new look and just the new directions that I'm taking my business in.

For those of you who still follow my blog, I'm extremely sorry for not keeping it up to date and promise to do a better job on the new blog. Thank you for following and hope you stick around for the new blog.

Here is a link to the NEW Blog!

Cheers!

-Yuriy Manchik

Misty & Jajuan

info@yuriymanchik.com (Yuriy Manchik Photography) — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 01:50:00 +0000

I met up with Misty and Jajuan at Sunnyside Park in Steilacoom for what looked to be like a nice day (it drizzled a bit). We had a great time hanging out on the beach. This park means a lot to the both of them, this was where Jajuan asked Misty to be his girlfriend and there was to be one more significant event here later in the day. I asked Misty about her engagement ring which hadn't arrived yet and she was getting quite anxious; I was hoping to get some shots of the ring as well but I guess it wouldn't work out.

After a change of outfit we went a little bit farther down the beach to take some more photos. While I was taking photos, Jajuan got on one knee, took a little black box out of his pocket, which held the long awaited ring and proposed to an astounded Misty. After the initial shock wore off, we decided there was no point taking any more photos, Misty couldn't stop looking at the ring and was excited to show it off to friends and family. It is a beautiful ring, I might be a guy and all but I know a beautiful ring when I see one and this one was most definitely that.

Congratulation to the both of you, I am very excited for your wedding

Here are some of my favorite photos of our time together-

Tiffany & Ian Wedding

info@yuriymanchik.com (Yuriy Manchik Photography) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 07:23:00 +0000

Tiffany and Ian are one of my favorite couples I've ever worked with, they're both so chill, easygoing and FUN! I had an amazing time with them on their wedding day.

They had a beautiful ceremony at the Unviersity Presbyterian Church. Before the ceremony we walked over to the University of Washington campus to take some photos, they had a big bridal party but it made for some awesome and fun photos. After that they got in a vintage Rolls Royce and we headed over to the Rainer Club for the reception. The Rainer Club is beautiful, with all sorts of vintage stuff hanging around the place (you can spend hours just walking around and looking at everything).

Tiffany and Ian, I want to congratulate the two of you one more time. Thank you for letting Julia and I be part of your amazing wedding, we had an awesome time.

Here are a few photos and a slideshow of their day-

info@yuriymanchik.com (Yuriy Manchik Photography) — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 06:57:00 +0000

Kyu & Jason

info@yuriymanchik.com (Yuriy Manchik Photography) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 09:21:00 +0000

Julia and I had the chance to photograph the beautiful wedding of Kyu and Jason at the BEST new golf course in the USA, the Chambers Bay Golf Course is beautiful. The wedding was beautiful with an amazing backdrop of the Puget Sound, the clouds added a magical feel. Towards the end of the ceremony, the clouds opened up and a light rain attempted to spoil the event, but no worries.. umbrellas were promptly distributed to the guests. It didn't last long and always let up at just the right time for pictures. A magnificent rainbow following the wedding made the rain worthwhile. The reception was a lot of fun as well-- when Jason and the groomsmen started singing and playing the cowbells, I don't think there was a single person not laughing.

We had a great time hanging out and being part of Kyu and Jason's day. Here are a few images from the day. Check out the slideshow for more.

Go VOTE!

info@yuriymanchik.com (Yuriy Manchik Photography) — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 20:13:00 +0000

Here is a video done by several well known celebrities encouraging you to go out and vote for the upcoming election. If your not registered yet, you have until October 20th to register in person here in Washington state. If you don't know where to register, google it and I'm sure you'll find a place, if you're to lazy to do that, e-mail me and I'll find a place nearby to where you live where to you can register. If you already registered or not sure if you have, check out MyVote. Make sure you’re registered and go vote.

Check out this video, Jonah Hill is hilarious-

Angie & Rod

info@yuriymanchik.com (Yuriy Manchik Photography) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 16:18:00 +0000

Kseniya & Yuriy

info@yuriymanchik.com (Yuriy Manchik Photography) — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 09:17:00 +0000

Irina & Sergey Cannon Beach

info@yuriymanchik.com (Yuriy Manchik Photography) — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 00:09:00 +0000

On Sunday we all drove to the beautiful Oregon Coast, more specifically Cannon Beach. Had a great time taking photos, eating pizza and running around in the freezing Pacific ocean water. Here are some images from our time together.

Irina & Sergey

info@yuriymanchik.com (Yuriy Manchik Photography) — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 00:03:00 +0000

Here is the beautiful wedding of Irina and Sergey, in Portland.

Dasha & Alex's Wedding

info@yuriymanchik.com (Yuriy Manchik Photography) — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:34:00 +0000

Beautiful wedding with a gorgeous couple. We had a lot of fun.

We did a mini girls photo-shoot around Auburn before the ceremony, we had a blast, the girls are all beautiful and were fun to work with. After the reception, we headed up to Seattle Sculpture Park for some more photos. We also stopped by under the Viaduct for some industrial type pic's and finished up at Alki.

Congratulations Dasha and Alex!

Check out this slideshow for amazing photos from their wedding day (slideshow is a little long about 6 minutes)

Cheers!

Laura & Mike

info@yuriymanchik.com (Yuriy Manchik Photography) — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 23:16:00 +0000

I had an awesome time hanging out with Laura and Mike for their engagement shoot. They both have amazing smiles and are a lot of fun to be around. We walked around Golden Gardens, took some great shots there and then headed over to the Ballard locks for some more photos. Check out this awesome couple-

It was a pleasure meeting both of you and am looking forward to your wedding day, cheers!

Katya & Roman

info@yuriymanchik.com (Yuriy Manchik Photography) — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 00:31:00 +0000

Beautiful couple and a beautiful wedding

Check it out-

Jennifer & John

info@yuriymanchik.com (Yuriy Manchik Photography) — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 09:30:00 +0000

A couple Sundays ago I had the pleasure of hanging out with an awesome couple, Jennifer and John, and shooting their engagement photos. We started out at Pike Place Market and eventually finished up at the waterfront. The weather was great and we got some amazing shots. I'm looking forward to photographing their wedding.

Here is a little slideshow of our time together-

Vicki & Eugene

info@yuriymanchik.com (Yuriy Manchik Photography) — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 08:28:00 +0000

I had the pleasure of photographing Vicki and Eugene's beautiful wedding in Portland back in late June. The reception was held at The Aerie at Eagle Landing, beautiful location. Take a look at the slideshow and see for yourself.

Congratulations Vicki and Eugene!

Yelena & Eric

info@yuriymanchik.com (Yuriy Manchik Photography) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 05:59:00 +0000

Want to see an amazing wedding? Check out the video below. I drove down to Portland to shoot Yelena and Eric's wedding back in June and had an amazing time (although I was a little sick). Yelena has an awesome laugh and likes to laugh often, she was a lot of fun to photograph. The ceremony was at the beautiful Ainsworth House. After the ceremony we headed down to some railroad in downtown Portland, took some amazing shots there......until we got kicked out. After a quick stop at Fatburger we headed to over toAndina restaurant for the reception. I can honestly say it was my pleasure photographing this couple's beautiful wedding and want to wish them the best in their new life together.

If you want more info on anything below, let me know and I can send you contact information

Flowers - Madame Des Fleurs
Cake - Vera Kalavina
Decorations - Luxury Events

Katya & Roman

info@yuriymanchik.com (Yuriy Manchik Photography) — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 06:47:00 +0000

Awhile back I had the awesome opportunity to hang out with Katya and Roman and shoot and their engagement session photos. We started off at Pike Place Market and then headed down to Discovery Park. They're an amazing couple, beautiful and very fun to work with. Below are a few images from our time together.

Olga & Alexey

info@yuriymanchik.com (Yuriy Manchik Photography) — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 09:21:00 +0000

Here are some images from Olga and Alexey's wedding. We spent quite some time at University of Washington taking some awesome photos and then headed down to Tacoma for the ceremony. But before we got to the ceremony, Olga and Alexey got into a horse drawn carriage and made quite an entrance. Beautiful wedding.

Congratulations Olga and Alexey!

Mt. Rainer Climb

info@yuriymanchik.com (Yuriy Manchik Photography) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 05:40:00 +0000

After climbing Mt. Adams back in September with Dan (you can read about that climb here) we've always been talking about doing Mt. Rainer. We see it everyday, doesn't matter where we go, as long as we're in the puget sound area, that mountain will always be visible. It's a challenge that was staring us in face and just daring us to climb it. At 4,392 meters, Mt. Rainer is the highest volcano in the contiguous U.S. We decided to climb it around the end of June. I thought twice about this whole thing when an experienced climber from Bellevue died on the mountain June 10, you can read about it here. But in the end we decided to climb the mountain.

There was a total of five in our group-

Dan - climbed Mt. Adams with me in September
Vadim - no climbing experience
Viktor - no climbing experience
Henry - no climbing experience
Me - climbed Mt. Adams with Dan in September

So on Monday the 23rd of June we all met up and started our trip. After a quick stop at REI to pick up some boots, crampons and ice axes; we were off. We arrived at Paradise (5400 feet elevation) around 2 PM, got the necessary permit (which took MUCH longer than necessary, the lady who was helping us out was at least 90 years old, used her one index finger to type, couldn't really see the computer screen, and should probably be at home watching soap operas instead of hanging out at Mt. Rainer). After getting our backpacks all packed and organized, we started off at 3 PM. Between the 5 of us we had at least 60 Clif Bars and about a gallon of water each.

This first part of the climb wasn't all that hard except for the fact that this year happened to be one of the years with the biggest snowfall in decades. So from Paradise on, we were walking on snow. It was overcast the whole time we were climbing; the summit was not visible. After 5 hours of climbing we reached Camp Muir at 8 PM. After finding one of the last available camp sites, we started setting up our tent. We had a regular camping tent ($100 at REI) nothing special, it wasn't lightweight and definitely wasn't meant to be used at Mt. Rainer in freezing temperatures. Compared to all the other tents there, our tent looked like a Hummer in a sea of little Mini Coopers. Most of the climbers looked at us like we were crazy little kids just out to have some fun and didn't realize the dangers of climbing this mountain.

After getting settled in (sleeping on snow is NOT comfortable, I don't care what you tell me otherwise) we tried to get to sleep around 10 PM but in a tent with 5 guys that's not the easiest thing to do. We had an awesome time cracking jokes, laughing and just enjoying the moment before we had to get up and continue the climb. Eventually we fell asleep, which was soon interrupted by a alarm at 2 AM. So after about 3-4 hours of asleep we were up again and getting ready for second half of the climb. Henry decided to stay at camp and not continue with the rest of us (he had some pretty bad cramps the day before). After saying a quick prayer we got all packed up, roped up and our headlights on, we set off at 3 AM. After climbing for about an hour, it was light enough to turn off our headlights and continue with the available, which was getting more magnificent by the second. I've seen some amazing sunrises in my short lifetime but this one was definitely one of the best. Unfortunately camera batteries die VERY fast in freezing weather so we couldn't take much pictures.

Crossing our first crevasse was quite exciting, although small (about 2 feet wide) it was still cool to look down and see how far it went. After reading books like Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer, you began to respect mountains and realize that once you fall into a crevasse, your screwed especially when you're with 3 other guys who have no training or climbing experience. About two hours into the climb we decided to ditch the rope, it was just getting in the way and making it harder for us, so we unroped and continued on (I know a lot of you are thinking that this was a VERY dumb idea but hey we're young, dumb and invincible). This was the point were breathing got harder, climbing was a pain and taking breaks was becoming very common. We would climb about 20-30 feet than take a little 20 second breather, after about 150 feet we would take a 1-2 minute break.

We met three parties on our way up that were heading down. We asked why they were heading down and they all said that somebody was either fatigued or to sick to continue. This is the one benefit of not going on a guided climb, if somebody gets sick, you tell them to go down and you continue on. But in a group if somebody can't go on, than everybody turns around and goes down (and you just threw away $2000 and didn't even summit). Around 12000 feet our group of four spit up (yes, I know a another very bad idea) I didn't want to sit and wait for the other three so I continued on by myself. The views were amazing our second day, we were blessed with a perfectly clear day. Standing on top of a mountain, looking down at the clouds is an amazing feeling. On my way up, I ran into a few guided groups coming down, I thought they would give me trouble for climbing by myself but nobody said anything so I continued on. I reached the false summit around 9 AM and after crossing the crater I was on top of Mt. Rainer, standing at 14,100 feet. The views were incredible, you can see Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Baker and Mt. Hood. It was also VERY windy, I took a picture of another group of 4 guys and then decided to climb down a bit to hide from the wind.

After spending about an hour by myself at the summit I began to get very light headed and was debating whether or not I should head back or wait for the rest of the guys. That's when I saw Viktor come over the ledge and was quite relieved to see him. A few minutes later Dan and Vadim also showed up. At this point I was really beginning to feel sick, so we took a quick group picture and started back down.

Going down was much easier but seemed much more dangerous (we were still un-roped), it was very steep and it seemed like on slip could get you in some deep trouble. We did some glissading, which was more scary than fun, I lost control one time and slid a good twenty feet before I could get my ice axe planted into the snow, that had my heart racing for the next thirty minutes. We tried to take short cuts, except some ended with us actually climbing back up the mountain to get back on the path. We crossed some very scary crevasses on the way back; in the end we reached Camp Muir around 2 PM, safe and sound, except for a major headache that wouldn't go away until I swallowed an undisclosed amount of Ibuprofen. After getting all packed up, we started our last leg of the climb. By this time the snow was practically slush, because of the sun and warm temperatures. So we practically ran down the mountain to Paradise. We were all out of water awhile back and had been eating snow for quite some time. Once we reached Pebble creek, we filled up our water bottles and continued on (we didn't use water filters, too expensive and heavy). After reaching Paradise, we checked in and let them know we were safe, threw everything in the car and drove home.

We stopped by The Rock Restaurant, for a quick celebration and headed home. We were all sunburned pretty bad, mostly our faces and the next two weeks were a pain. I couldn't smile, laugh or do anything that required my face to stretch. After going through quite a bit of Aloe Vera, Coconut Oil and lotion, it got a little better.

All in all, this was an awesome trip. Lot's of people climb and summit Mt. Rainer every year. If 4 guys with no climbing experience can do it then I'm sure just about anybody else can to. I would not recommend doing what we did (not roping up, splitting up, glissading, etc) but if you do it by the book, you shouldn't have any trouble.

I think Mt. Baker or Mt. Hood is next...........

Boots and crampons courtesy of REI in Tacoma

Viktor, Henry, Dan, Me, Vadim

Day 1

Our insufficient camping tent

Sunset, Mt. Adams

Day 2, Summit

Getting down, yes it was very steep

Some of the many crevasses

Euro Pics Part IV

info@yuriymanchik.com (Yuriy Manchik Photography) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 00:11:00 +0000

One of the stops on the trip was Munich. We weren't really planning on going to Munich but since we couldn't find an affordable way to get into Switzerland we decided that Munich was the second best bet. And I'm very glad we did, we ended up staying in Munich for a total of 5 days including Christmas. We stayed at an amazing hostel, met some incredible people

Dasha & Alex

info@yuriymanchik.com (Yuriy Manchik Photography) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 07:30:00 +0000

I had an awesome time hanging out with Dasha and Alex awhile back for their engagement photos. We spent quite some time together visiting a cool barn by my place, Pike Place Market and Discovery Park. They are a beautiful couple and very fun to work with, looking forward to the wedding. Here are a few images from our time together-

Tiffany & Ian Engagement Session

info@yuriymanchik.com (Yuriy Manchik Photography) — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 19:00:00 +0000

I recently had the opportunity to hang out with an amazing couple, Tiffany and Ian, they were up here for the weekend from San Francisco so we decided to do an engagement session. We met up on a beautiful Sunday morning at the Grand Central Bakery in Pioneer Square and as luck would have it, the bakery was closed (which is where we wanted to do the shoot). So we ended up spending a couple hours just hanging out around Pioneer Square and got some awesome photos. Tiffany and Ian were up for just about anything (including getting into a very old rickety bike cart) and they both have such amazing smiles and stunning blue eyes, you just want to take their photos. I had a blast and I honestly can't wait for their wedding in July.

Pleasure meeting you two and I'll see you again here quite soon.

Here is a slideshow of our day at Pioneer Square.

Isabella

info@yuriymanchik.com (Yuriy Manchik Photography) — Tue, 13 May 2008 22:05:00 +0000

I was recently in Sacramento and had a chance to visit some family, including my aunt Dina and her family. One night we decided to do a little informal photo shoot It was late in the evening, lighting was really bad so we used a construction light; under the circumstances I think they came out great. Isabella is an amazing baby with the biggest eye's I've ever seen and the cutest smile. I really miss Isabella and can't wait to see her again. The boys, Jacob and Daniel, are awesome, we had a great time wrestling (I lost, pretty bad).

My aunt Dina, is an amazing woman, she is a single mom, raising 3 beautiful kids and always in an uplifting/happy mood (when I went to visit her, she was doing some remodeling on her place). Amazing woman. I'm very blessed to have such an awesome aunt as her.

Here are some images from our shoot-

Isabella's pulling Jacob's hair.....

Superior Tile & Stone

info@yuriymanchik.com (Yuriy Manchik Photography) — Tue, 13 May 2008 18:53:00 +0000

My younger brother, Igor, recently launched his business site. He's been doing tile for over 5 years and after some convincing, I got him to agree and make a site. I spent a couple days driving around the jobs he's done, taking pictures.

So if you're ever in need of some tile, marble, stone, granite, etc. work, you now have somebody to go to. He's my younger brother so I might be a little bit biased when I say that he does an awesome job but check out the site and see what he can do. For those of you who have been over to my place, you have seen his work. He did the granite in my kitchen and the floor, as well as the marble and tile in the bathroom.

Let me know what you think of the photography on the site.

Superior Tile & Stone

Euro Pics Part III

info@yuriymanchik.com (Yuriy Manchik Photography) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:36:00 +0000

I've got so many awesome pictures of Paris that I decided to post some more. This will be the last post of Paris, Munich is next.

The last image is my favorite image from the whole trip.