Bay Dusk
It must have been just a few minutes past five, but the sun had already sunk beyond the curve of the Great Ocean, its (the sun) remaining light, faintly whispering goodnight.
Afterward I felt alone. I peek through the viewfinder and reached the pier at the long end of the Nikkor 200mm. The water near shore glowed ethereal emerald and blue as if lit by submersible pool lights.
The winter sky appeared to amplify time and I could practically see the seconds racing into the past. Just a few frames later and the glow was gone, replaced by total tranquilness. The kind of tranquilness that would deepens as the night wore on. I heard waves crashing ashore for the first time that evening.
Afterward I felt alone. I peek through the viewfinder and reached the pier at the long end of the Nikkor 200mm. The water near shore glowed ethereal emerald and blue as if lit by submersible pool lights.
The winter sky appeared to amplify time and I could practically see the seconds racing into the past. Just a few frames later and the glow was gone, replaced by total tranquilness. The kind of tranquilness that would deepens as the night wore on. I heard waves crashing ashore for the first time that evening.
El Dorado
Clouds and fog encased coastal San Diego in a dull wrap. That was until about thirty minutes before sun met ocean. Dullness lifted. Sea and land glowed golden in the remaining hour of light, El Dorado.
I stayed perched on the cliff on the slanted slope until there weren't anything left but faint light from the new moon. A chill suddenly washed over me. I carefully extracted myself from the precarious position and head for the parking lot.
Time to called it a night. My mobile read 5:40pm :)!!!
I stayed perched on the cliff on the slanted slope until there weren't anything left but faint light from the new moon. A chill suddenly washed over me. I carefully extracted myself from the precarious position and head for the parking lot.
Time to called it a night. My mobile read 5:40pm :)!!!
Holiday Photos KVF
My mom, Grandma in this set, often asks if I really have a memory card or film in my camera when I take photos of the family because she hasn't seen the many photos that I take of them at all.
So for this Holiday, I made the concerted effort of photographing the family and made the photos available for them in time to print Holiday cards.
Please feel free to contact me via email or phone for your family portraits and questions. Time flies and we can't stop it, but in photos we have something to hang on to even if memory fades.
So for this Holiday, I made the concerted effort of photographing the family and made the photos available for them in time to print Holiday cards.
Please feel free to contact me via email or phone for your family portraits and questions. Time flies and we can't stop it, but in photos we have something to hang on to even if memory fades.
Holiday Photos KF
Black Friday has come and gone. That means there are about two weeks left to get family photos taken for the Holidays and still have enough time to get greeting cards made and send out.
Last Saturday I shot this set for my cousin's family in Crystal Cove on Newport Coast in Orange County. The girls have grown more beautiful with every year and this time around they were actually posing for me...well for the first 40 minutes or so anyway :)
My turn-around time for Holiday photos is between 3 to 4 days to proofs and 3 to 4 days to prints, or about a week total. Please feel free to shoot me an email or call to schedule a shoot or if you have any questions.
Last Saturday I shot this set for my cousin's family in Crystal Cove on Newport Coast in Orange County. The girls have grown more beautiful with every year and this time around they were actually posing for me...well for the first 40 minutes or so anyway :)
My turn-around time for Holiday photos is between 3 to 4 days to proofs and 3 to 4 days to prints, or about a week total. Please feel free to shoot me an email or call to schedule a shoot or if you have any questions.
Life Lines
The exposed switches and conduits inside the new Burger Lounge in Little Italy, San Diego.
Elegy
"I have always been vulnerable to beauty. She was different. Her posture was perfect and she dressed like a young associate at a prestigious law firm. There was a sophistication that set her apart...She knows that she is beautiful, but she does not yet know what to do with it."
David Kepesh.
David Kepesh.
True That
For a couple months now I have let my hair grown gray. I started to go gray in my mid-twenties. Since I stopped coloring, my online profile photos no longer match what I look like so you thought you knew what your photographer looks like, here is an update.
Cheers!!!
Cheers!!!
Ode To Edamame
In photos:
Supposedly healthy, I keep several bags of edamame in the freezer at all time to either keep me and beer company or for my drinks happy buddies after work :)
Supposedly healthy, I keep several bags of edamame in the freezer at all time to either keep me and beer company or for my drinks happy buddies after work :)
35mm Nostalgia
Yesterday I succumbed to my vice and picked up another compact 35mm camera off of eBay. By all practical measures, I do not need it. I already have two excellent compact rangefinders that I'm very happy with, the Olympus 35-SP and the Canonet QL17 GIII. Both are classics in their own rights.
I remember how stunned I was looking at the prints from my first roll of film from the Canonet. The color was so vibrant and the overall tone of the photos were so dreamy that had me smiled from ear-to-ear in satisfaction.
But need can be an impractical thing, driven by self-indulgence and when I saw something on the web that sent me googling for a Yashica T4, I suddenly became needy. In the end, I couldn't locate a T4 that I wanted, but in the process I found an Olympus XA4 that was high on my list. The XA4 it is then. One camera comes off my list, another one gets on :( Oh well, desire isn't exactly free and at least it gives me something work toward. Now I'm just hoping I will get the XA4 by the week-end for the City of The Angels, LA.
That was completely useless. I'm going back to the saving the world and that's a wrap :)
I remember how stunned I was looking at the prints from my first roll of film from the Canonet. The color was so vibrant and the overall tone of the photos were so dreamy that had me smiled from ear-to-ear in satisfaction.But need can be an impractical thing, driven by self-indulgence and when I saw something on the web that sent me googling for a Yashica T4, I suddenly became needy. In the end, I couldn't locate a T4 that I wanted, but in the process I found an Olympus XA4 that was high on my list. The XA4 it is then. One camera comes off my list, another one gets on :( Oh well, desire isn't exactly free and at least it gives me something work toward. Now I'm just hoping I will get the XA4 by the week-end for the City of The Angels, LA.
That was completely useless. I'm going back to the saving the world and that's a wrap :)
Jessica & Eugene's Engagement
Here is another Engagement Session that I had missed blogging. Jessica & Eugene were super fun to shoot and the color of the sunset in Corona Del Mar was simply gorgeous.
I'm amazed by the color every time I look at this set.
I'm amazed by the color every time I look at this set.
Kim-Phuong & Bryan's Engagement
This set is from the Kim-Phuong & Bryan Engagement Session last year in Laguna Beach. Some how I had missed blogging it, so here it is :)
Their Wedding set can be seen here.
Cheers!!!
Their Wedding set can be seen here.
Cheers!!!
Photo-Realistic LA
...or Beverly Hills. I thought the shots below look better photo-realistic than hyped. In any case, these images were taken with my Panasonic LX3 and I must say I'm quite happy with the point-and-shoot performance.
Hyper-Processing
It's not cross-processed and it has elements of LOMO, push-processing and over-exposing so what else to call it but hyper-processing. Hyper-processing is hyping hyped photos that have hyped attributes such as vignetting, colors, contrast, textures, etc...In the age of Industrial Light & Magic, 300 and LOTR, our visual senses have been trained to perceive hyped-up images as beautiful, dramatic and evocative and images with normal attributes as photo-realistic.
While I normally prefer making photo-realistic images, sometime I do give in to my darker side and on one faithful night stumbled onto hyper-processing :)
Hahaha...now that was hyped. I hope you won't take my hyped-up story too seriously; anywho this photo from a downtown LA. sidewalk was the result of my digital alchemy play and hyper-processing was born.
Hyped but true!!!
Cheers.
While I normally prefer making photo-realistic images, sometime I do give in to my darker side and on one faithful night stumbled onto hyper-processing :)
Hahaha...now that was hyped. I hope you won't take my hyped-up story too seriously; anywho this photo from a downtown LA. sidewalk was the result of my digital alchemy play and hyper-processing was born.
Hyped but true!!!
Cheers.
Amy & Marcus Engagement Photos LJ 2009.03
Many thanks to Tania for introducing me to Amy & Marcus and many thanks to Amy & Marcus for going along with the plan. The plan was, "Thuan, lets take an engagement set for Amy & Marcus tomorrow afternoon :)" I thought about it for 5 seconds. I hadn't booked a photo-shoot and shot it the next day before. OK I said. Tania is a good friend, Amy & Marcus being Tania's friend, I wanted to do it.
It had been overcast for the past few days so I was a little concerned about the weather, but the day of the shoot confirmed the previous day's weather report, plenty of sunshine, lucky us.
There wasn't anything not to like about shooting in La Jolla (Spanish explorers didn't named La Jolla "La Jolla" for nothing), except for when I thought I had forgotten the batteries for the camera. Luckily I found the spare in a different pocket of my bag.
Click, click...off we go. Amy & Marcus had great chemistry and I was focused on the great dynamics between them. Tania was super helpful with the reflector during the early parts of the session when the sun was still bright. Tania also helped Amy with her hair, etc...
We spent between an hour-and-a-half to two hours at different locations around La Jolla at the beach, at the park and by the pier making the shots.
I had a great time and I'm pretty happy with the way the photos came out.
Congratulations Amy & Marcus and thank-you for the opportunity to shoot your engagement session.
Thanks Tania, you were awesome too.
PS: I'm also debuting the Flickr slide show!!! Please click "Play" to begin.
It had been overcast for the past few days so I was a little concerned about the weather, but the day of the shoot confirmed the previous day's weather report, plenty of sunshine, lucky us.
There wasn't anything not to like about shooting in La Jolla (Spanish explorers didn't named La Jolla "La Jolla" for nothing), except for when I thought I had forgotten the batteries for the camera. Luckily I found the spare in a different pocket of my bag.
Click, click...off we go. Amy & Marcus had great chemistry and I was focused on the great dynamics between them. Tania was super helpful with the reflector during the early parts of the session when the sun was still bright. Tania also helped Amy with her hair, etc...
We spent between an hour-and-a-half to two hours at different locations around La Jolla at the beach, at the park and by the pier making the shots.
I had a great time and I'm pretty happy with the way the photos came out.
Congratulations Amy & Marcus and thank-you for the opportunity to shoot your engagement session.
Thanks Tania, you were awesome too.
PS: I'm also debuting the Flickr slide show!!! Please click "Play" to begin.
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