fotografiablu

Perspective

2012-01-24T21:19:00.001-08:00

Perspective, originally uploaded by truublooo*.

Life is a journey, go with it!

Boathouses

2012-01-22T19:44:00.001-08:00

Boathouses, originally uploaded by truublooo*.

Another photo of the boathouses, on the Schuylkill River, near the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Search: boathouse, boathouse row, pennsylvania, philadelphia, rowboat, rowboats, schuylkill river

Lighthouse

2012-01-20T22:00:00.001-08:00

Lighthouse, originally uploaded by truublooo*.

I saw the boathouse row three months ago, when I first visited Philadelphia in the fall. As we drove by at 70 mph on the way to Baltimore, and DC, I remembered picturesque houses by the river bank. I was told they were historic. I particularly liked the one that looked like a lighthouse.

On this trip, I wanted to take photos and thought these buildings were beautiful subjects. There were roads on both sides of the river, but there was no place to park on the side I wanted to take photos from. It wasn't because the parking lot was filled. There simply was no parking.

I could have gotten dropped off, but I didn't know how long I would take so we ended up parking in the Museum of Art front parking lot and googled our directions to the boathouses.

I hope you like the photos.

Cheers!!!

Search: boathouse, boathouse row, pennsylvania, philadelphia, rowboat, rowboats, schuylkill river, lighthouse

Boathouse Row

2012-01-19T07:30:00.001-08:00

Boathouse Row, originally uploaded by truublooo*.

The Boathouse Row is just above Fairmount Dam, on the bank of the Skuyllkil River near the Museum of Art in Philadelphia. They house boats that are used by local rowing clubs, presumably on this beautiful part of the water.

Search: boathouse row, philadelphia, pennsylvania, schuylkill river, boathouse, rowboats, rowboat

Just say no to SOPA

2012-01-18T07:26:00.001-08:00

Just say no to SOPA, originally uploaded by truublooo*.

Pass the word...

Benjamin Franklin Parkway

2012-01-16T21:42:00.001-08:00

Benjamin Franklin Parkway, originally uploaded by truublooo*.

A look at City Hall, down Benjamin Franklin Parkway, from the top of "Rocky Steps."

Search: philadelphia, philadelphia city hall, museum of art, benjamin franklin pkwy, pennsylvania, overcast, museum, rockysteps

Rocky Steps

2012-01-15T08:43:00.000-08:00

Rocky Steps, originally uploaded by truublooo*.

After four heavily overcast days in Cleveland, I was very happy to know the sun was good and well in Philadelphia. Approaching Center City on the 76 from the north, one runs into this temple of a building on the east bank of the Schuylkill river. It looked rather official and massive, and it turned out to be the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Though it was sunny, it was very cold. Cold enough for me to use a scarf for the first time in eons. My eyes were tearing in the brisk wind and I was wishing for a pair of goggles.

Come to the Philadelphia Museum of Art any day of the week, but don't come on Monday because they are closed. It is, however, a superb museum and is well worth your time.

The steps leading up the front of the museum is called "Rocky Steps." For those of you not too young to remember, they were the steps Rocky ran up and raised his arms in the Rocky movies. His bronze statue was placed not too far away, to the right of the stairs. There was a line of visitors queueing to take photos with the figure with its arms raised.

It was Monday and to add insult to injury, I had to go. Instead of a warm cup of coffee and the pleasure of the interior of the museum, I had to hurry taking photos of the area outside of the museum in the cold and ran. I ran for the warm hand drawn noodles of Nan Zhou off Race Street and the use of their facilities.

Here is a photo of the "Rocky Steps."

Cheers!

Search: pennsylvania, philadelphia, museum, museum of art, rocky steps

Happy 2012

2012-01-08T22:15:00.001-08:00

Cold, originally uploaded by truublooo*.

I hope the new year will bring everyone fresh beginnings.

Cheers!

Season's Greetings

2011-12-20T20:33:00.001-08:00

Season's Greetings, originally uploaded by truublooo*.

I had this shot in mind for a several days but the weather was either too bad or I was too lazy. Today, it turned out too beautiful to pass up. I hope you enjoy it. Cheers!!!

Search: california, christmas, mission bay, san diego, sunset, tree

Sunset

2011-12-18T10:38:00.001-08:00

Sunset, originally uploaded by truublooo*.

Happy Holidays Southern California style, from the land of beach and sunset.

Search: california, christmas, pacific beach, pier, san diego, sunset, tree

Westlake, OH

2011-12-02T09:16:00.001-08:00

Untitled, originally uploaded by truublooo*.

I like the idea of the fence free approach in this part of the country. The yards just go from house to house with no barrier to separate them.

Impromptu

2011-11-27T15:07:00.001-08:00

Impromptu, originally uploaded by truublooo*.

A shot for the memory, remembering how I used to take photos and post them for comments.

Portraits 2011.10

2011-11-21T18:28:00.001-08:00

America's Cup San Diego 2011.11

2011-11-13T17:51:00.001-08:00

The America's Cup stop in San Diego (http://www.americascup.com/sandiego), scheduled for 11/12 through 11/20, has already started.

We took off toward Seaport Village hoping for a parking spot, but no such luck. The parking lot was full. We ended up settling for a spot on the western end of Harbor Island.

Two o'clocks rolled around. We were hungry. It was around then we determined we were too far from the racing action. Content with the sunny afternoon in the mid 60's, a far cry from the rain from just a couple days before, I snapped a few photos of the America's Cup boats before leaving the area.

It was the 2nd day of the America's Cup. Next week-end would be when the championships will be determine and the action should get hot-and-heavy. I hope to snap a few more photos then.

Until then, I hope you enjoy the photos.

Cheers

Remembrance

2011-09-13T21:54:00.001-07:00

Remembrance, originally uploaded by truublooo*.

Ten years ago the towers fell. Today we gathered to remember those who were lost.

Gently

2011-09-06T07:56:00.001-07:00

Gently, originally uploaded by truublooo*.

Hold me delicately. A stroll in the garden revealed secret photographic pleasures.

Baby's Got Blue Eyes

2011-08-23T23:27:00.001-07:00

Baby's Got Blue Eyes, originally uploaded by truublooo*.

LA by Night

2011-02-13T19:55:00.001-08:00

A shot from an impromptu visit to the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, California.

James Dean and the observatory were immortalized famously in the 1955 movie Rebel Without a Cause.

Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RN5XERTQLI

Poor Man's Noodles

2011-01-06T00:55:00.000-08:00

For someone who likes taking photos of food, I can't believe I didn't have a Food Photo set in 2010. It must have been the worst of times.

Well here is to changing that in 2011, my first food photo of new year, the Poor Man's Noodles!

I made it with pretty much whatever I found in the fridge that evening, cabbage, tomato, cilantro and Vietnamese pork bologna.

It's a rather humble beginning, but I figure things can only go up from here. Here's looking to the best of times.

Happy eating 2011...Cheers!

View post on blog here.

Keeping up with the Meases

2010-12-29T23:31:00.000-08:00

The party is popping.

Happy birthday 2010/11 Kaniel. Cheers!!!

View post on blog here.

Sunday Brunch 2010.12

2010-12-27T12:16:00.000-08:00

I have a confession to make, I love the Sunday brunch and my indulgence of choice usually involves seafood and white bubbly of some sorts.

For the second Sunday in as many weeks, I made the trip to the Carlsbad Aqua Farm stand at the Farmer's Market in Hillcrest and spent $10 each on a bag of dozen "blonde" oysters and a bag full of Mediterranean mussels.

I opted for nearly the same choices as last week-end because I wasn't able to get a decent photo out of the whole affair, and wanted to try the shots again this week-end. For this week-end I went with "blonde" rather than "luna" oysters simply because I don't remember how they tasted like. I have had them before. I think it was at the Santa Monica Farmer's Market.

The blondes turned out quite nice. Whereas lunas are "teases," small, delicate, and concentrated in taste not unlike the famed Kumamotos oysters. I found blondes, their slightly larger cousins, entirely more "fun," a party with every piece. On the shucking front, blondes open more readily than lunas. I cannot find fault with this oyster. On the pairing front, I am liking the taste of oysters with sourdough bread big time.

A $10 bag of Mediterranean mussels from Carlsbad Aqua Farm is large enough to make 2 to 4 servings. Mediterranean mussels are black mussels that are, on average, much larger than their Prince Edward Island (PEI) counterparts. The smallest pieces in the bag approach the diminutive size of PEI's. The largest pieces are 5 times as large. To make a quick dish, I steamed them in sake. The smaller and deeper orange color ones turned out very tasty; the larger and lighter color ones not so much.
.
.
.
It's beautiful outside. I'm going to clean up and head out.

Until next time...Cheers!!!

View post on blog here.

Angels of Christmas 2010

2010-12-25T20:28:00.000-08:00

I'm happy to make this first post about my Angels of Christmas after the blog revamping.

They are of-course my nieces, and I almost broke my back pulling all four of them in a Radio Flyer cart around the garden this afternoon. All the while they were screaming "faster, faster..."

Cheers ;)

Lifestyle Photos Mode J

2010-12-23T20:48:00.000-08:00

Without a doubt, J was the most beautiful and compelling person I had the chance to photograph.

I'm just posting a few photos here, enjoy.

Family Portraits in Mustard Field

2010-06-22T22:20:00.000-07:00

Casual Portraits S

2010-06-20T14:47:00.000-07:00

Engagement Photos LT

2010-03-02T21:31:00.000-08:00

Saturday Rain

2010-02-06T11:53:00.001-08:00

In Southern California it rains so little that when it does it is such a gift. With a little imagination, I imagine going to bed last night in San Diego and waking up in San Francisco, Seattle or perhaps even some place in Japan when I open the front door of my apartment.

I'm putting on slicker to go outside and play.

Embrace your world. Catch you later!!!

Arterial

2009-12-27T09:36:00.001-08:00

Visit La Jolla

2009-12-27T08:43:00.000-08:00

Bay Dusk

2009-12-22T15:27:00.001-08:00

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.

El Dorado

2009-12-21T00:12:00.001-08:00

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 :)!!!

Holiday Photos KVF

2009-12-13T12:18:00.000-08:00

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.

Holiday Photos KF

2009-11-28T20:50:00.000-08:00

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.

Urban Portrait Photo Mode T

2009-07-19T11:35:00.000-07:00

Profile Photo Mode V 2009.07

2009-07-15T22:52:00.000-07:00

Fashion Photo Mode L 2009.07

2009-07-15T07:40:00.000-07:00

Fashion Photo 2009.07

2009-07-05T00:42:00.001-07:00

Life Lines

2009-06-23T13:09:00.001-07:00

Life Lines, originally uploaded by truublooo*.

The exposed switches and conduits inside the new Burger Lounge in Little Italy, San Diego.

Elegy

2009-06-03T21:22:00.000-07:00

"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.

Seattle, WA 2009.05

2009-05-31T16:36:00.001-07:00

Nicole & Dai's Engagement 2009.05

2009-05-13T09:29:00.000-07:00

Walk in Balboa Park, San Diego

2009-05-06T20:00:00.000-07:00

True That

2009-04-10T09:47:00.000-07:00

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!!!

Ode To Edamame

2009-04-03T00:38:00.000-07:00

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 :)

35mm Nostalgia

2009-04-01T21:46:00.000-07:00

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 :)

Jessica & Eugene's Engagement

2009-04-01T11:09:00.000-07:00

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.

Kim-Phuong & Bryan's Engagement

2009-04-01T10:50:00.000-07:00

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!!!

Photo-Realistic LA

2009-04-01T00:34:00.000-07:00

...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.

Hyped-Up LA

2009-03-31T22:32:00.001-07:00

Ok, so here are some recent photos from LA all hyped-up!!!

Hyper-Processing

2009-03-31T16:09:00.000-07:00

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.

Amy & Marcus Engagement Photos LJ 2009.03

2009-03-27T20:10:00.000-07:00

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.

Anza Borrego 2009.03

2009-03-19T07:55:00.001-07:00

Portrait Sessions SD 2009.01

2009-03-19T07:54:00.000-07:00

Thuy, John & Girls 2008.12

2008-12-20T18:04:00.001-08:00

thuy, john & the girls family portrait at the beach in front of the montage in south laguna in december 2008, a couple weeks before christmas.

Headshots

2008-12-02T21:31:00.000-08:00

Trang, Eric & Girls 2008.10

2008-11-07T10:32:00.000-08:00

K, CB & Children Portrait Session

2008-11-04T09:00:00.000-08:00

My-Linh & Justin Wedding 2008.08

2008-08-20T00:41:00.000-07:00

Torrey Pines Gliderport, La Jolla

2008-08-17T01:00:00.000-07:00

want to fly? earn your wings in paragliding or hang-gliding at torrey pines gliderport in la jolla, california.

want to be just a passenger? sign up for a tandem flight with one of the highly qualified instructors.

i had a chance to stop in at the gliderport with good friends sunday last week-end. torrey pines gliderport perched high on a cliff over-looking black's beach, adjacent to famed torrey pines golf course in la jolla.

the weather was beautiful and we spent a good hour or so watching paragliders took off and exploring the area immediately next to the gliderport.

if you are visiting the san diego area, be sure to add it as a stop on a good weather day.

cheers!

Kim-Phuong & Bryan Wedding 2008.07

2008-08-02T21:51:00.001-07:00

congratulations to kim-phuong and bryan on tying the knot on 07.27.2008. a big thank to the newly wed couple for choosing fotografiablu as their wedding photojournalist.

they picked in the hacienda a beautiful venue located near the cultural center of orange county, in santa ana. i had previewed the location a few weeks before and liked the outdoor patio ceremony and dining area arrangement a lot when i saw them.

on wedding day, the weather was on the warm side. fifteen minutes into the job and my shirt had already soaked through.

contrasting lighting during the ceremony from the late afternoon sun dappling through tall trees and roof structures proved to be a handfull as the bridal party passed through the small courtyard on their way to the stage.

we took advantage of a small break between the cake-cutting and dinner to take some formal photos of the bride and groom by themselves in front of the hacienda marquis door.

dinner followed by a fantastic performance put on by stevie b. and the band complete with afros who showed us all how to get *down* :) bryan warned us the band would be loud, but it appeared that no one minded.

once again, congratulation kim-phuong and bryan. may your lives together be fill with countless laughters and endless happy moments.

cheers!

Gabrielle's Baptism

2008-07-28T22:30:00.000-07:00

Salton Sea (2008.07) Prologue

2008-07-17T08:02:00.000-07:00

Michelle K Outdoor Session

2008-07-11T07:34:00.000-07:00

i met up with michelle an hour or so after leaving ariana's baptism post-ceremony luncheon.

it was a very warm day, and at first we had some issues with the heat until we were able to find a location that suited us both in terms of lighting and shade where we also benefitted from a pleasant breeze. the session was intended as an introduction. i wanted to get a few good head-shots of michelle for my files and for michelle to get started on her portfolio.

i hope to work with michelle on a fashion shoot for a future project.

check out michelle's blog on modelmayhem.

Vanessa & Mark's Wedding

2008-07-10T00:57:00.000-07:00

i 2nd shot this set for fab sarah of sarah k. chen photography.

Helen & Kenny

2008-07-09T22:34:00.000-07:00

after having to reschedule 3 times due to cloudy afternoons, the 4th time was a charm. i often wanted a variety of scenes and helen and kenny's session was no different. we mixed it up by kicking things off at the carousel and ended with beach photos.

from the start, it was clear that helen and kenny preferred to interact with one another candidly and it was up to me to miss the shots. this was really the best of both worlds.

helen and kenny's chemistry are pretty obvious from the sample takes of the set.

check them out!

Ariana's Baptism

2008-07-02T00:44:00.000-07:00

Vicki & Andrew

2008-05-25T09:00:00.001-07:00

I was taken by their amazing eyes. Even from across the street they glowed like precious turquoise. We had not met in person, but their eyes easily gave them away.

I barely had time to figure out my lighting when Vicki & Andrew gave me wonderful candid opportunities such as the one in the photo above. Click, click...focus wasn't even quite on but this turned out to be one of my favorite photo in the set.

Congratulation Vicki & Andrew on tying the knot just earlier this June (2008).

Good Eats

2008-05-18T09:24:00.000-07:00

good eats and drinks are certainly some of the greatest delights in life. often it's not even about the dishes themselves, but about how you get there, where you have them and who you share them with.

check out my new food-photo blog at http://grubsu.blogspot.com.

thanks to or blame it on television shows like anthony bourdain's no reservations, more than ever, food is something we experience rather than simply consume.

how lucky we truly are those of us who have the fortunes of experiencing food made with love whether from commercial kitchens or home kitchens. and to that, i can think of no better way to applaud my favorite chefs than turning their savory arts into photographic delights.

Khalana

2008-05-13T08:13:00.000-07:00

on photo session week-end i missed khalana on saturday, but was lucky enough to catch her on sunday...

we shot at a park and then moved onto the pier. the sun was contrasty, and while there were a few decent shots for our effort at the park, i like the set in hb a lot better.

needless to say, khalana made my task easy...

thank-you for stopping by, cheers!!!

pier rendez vous

2008-04-16T23:55:00.000-07:00

this past week-end was a wonderful week-end to photograph portraits outdoor, indoor, any-door albeit warm. it was 36.5c at 1:30 pm in rancho santa margarita when i was returning to my parents' place after a lengthy haircut in little saigon.

the night before, i went to a concert in la. before that i had photo-session by the pier in san clemente. before that i drove up from san diego to stay in oc for the week-end.

the drive through camp pendleton between oceanside and the check-point near san onofre is nice this time of year. the scorched earth from last year's fire have been replaced by lush green vegetation with blankets of gold and purple wild flowers.

the area around san clemente pier was beautiful. i stopped in on it on my way to my parents'. i continued on smiling ear-to-ear and started to look forward to the afternoon's engagment photo-session with growing excitement.

with only a slight delay, the afternoon session started about 30 mins later than i had scheduled it. but it didn't matter, there was plenty of daylight left for a couple hours worth of work.

i could not have asked for a better couple to photograph this afternoon than mike & elizabeth. they are as nice and wonderful to work with as they are beautiful.

this couple first met on this very pier so we chose it as the location for the enagement photo-session. lets just look:

i hope you will enjoy the photos as much as i have enjoyed making them.

for now, it's a wrap...
good night from la jolla, california.

night tracks

2008-04-12T07:45:00.000-07:00

lets just say i miss street photography. i look forward to doing it more. even if it takes me a bit away from other things, i think the therapy will be well worth it!

nicole

2008-04-12T07:36:00.000-07:00

looking back, i'm still quite impressed with the image quality of the d70s. i think i possibly prefer it over the s5.

to me, the nikon photos just look smoother, almost creamy, in comparison to the fujifilm. ok so pixel count isn't everything. moving on...

nicole is a friend of sort, though not the kind who hangs-out. she is not only beautiful, but smart and is an excellent cook. she likes to reverse engineer dishes at restaurants at home. the love for good food is what we have in common as well as some favorite sushi restaurants in the oc.

in this portrait set, i photographed nicole at her house and in her garden. while i had taken many more portrait sets since...this one set of nicole remains one of my favorite.

i hope you enjoy the photos...

kimberly

2008-03-28T22:41:00.001-07:00

introducing kimberly...
this photo-set isn't from a new photo session. it's from one i have made sometime ago that i haven't blogged. we shot nearly all day that day, at the pool, in laguna beach, and by the beach. kimberly changed her outfit several times for a variety of looks. it was by far one of the longest session i had attempted up to then.

kimberly was a 2005 miss vietnam little saigon contestant. she was easy to work with as she go through her poses without much input from me. these are a few of my favorite photos from that session, one from each setting.
the first two photos (top and left) were taken in kimberly's backyard. it was around noon and the sky was brightly overcast. on this occassion, i made rare use of a reflector. a reflector is my fill of choice, however, more often than not, i find myself taking photos without an assistant and as consequent without a reflector.

we spent a good portion of the afternoon in the back of the house. kimberly was in blue by the pool. then she was in white by the flowers. then she was in white in front of the pool. sometime between the house and the late afternooon in laguna beach, we break for lunch at plums.

the third photo in thumbnail was taken between the small boutiques and shops in laguna. by the time we hit the beach, the sun had broken through the fog and clouds and glowed mesmerized gold, no fill required :)!!!

photographers' best light...

cheers!

a traditional wedding

2008-03-28T00:11:00.000-07:00

vietnamese style!!!

wedding day

2008-03-27T01:12:00.000-07:00

i'm finally getting around to blogging the wedding day photos of a couple dear friends. it will be one year ago this april.

*
sarah & jeff's wedding
april 2007
.
rancho las lomas
.
.
.

revisited

2008-03-25T23:47:00.000-07:00

an engagement session digitally re-processed.

the beautiful background (bokeh) in these photos were rendered by one of my favorite lens, the nikkor 85mm f1.4. little direction was given by me during this engagement session. the couple was very comfortable in front of the camera, and they knew exactly how they wanted to present themselves in front of it.

the lighting on some parts of the csu long beach campus was excellent. it was the engagement session of a hundred kisses. check out the slideshow "kiss me" on margin's right in their honor.

that's it. see you soon on the next blog entry.

now going to bed ;)

really!!!

road unpaved

2008-03-19T00:36:00.000-07:00

i'm two weeks behind with my blogging. here we go.

a few weeks ago, i had the good fortune of contacted by "m". m asked if i would take headshots for some of her actresses participating in a for-television pilot.

i was a bit anxious the night before. i was supposed to be in granada hills the following saturday afternoon, but when i was getting ready to go to bed at 1:30 am, i had neither address nor schedule information.

sometime during my sleep the email came. for breakfast in the morning i had coffee, an email, a place to go to and a time to be there. anxiousness became excitement.

the good thing about having my parents in the oc is being able to stay with them on short notice. it makes my mom happy. i can count it as a visit with them. everyone wins. the bad thing is sometime i wake up the next day without a clean shirt or warm clothes to wear. on these occassions, the benefits of recyling seem quite clear :)

granada hills wasn't going to be a short drive. i stopped for an iced-coffee in westminster for wake-up insurance. unfortunately insurance expired too soon. i dozed off soon after...

if i had been more alert, i wouldn't have missed the turn, and if i hadn't missed the turn, i would have made it to the location on time. ok, no big deal. i would be just a little late, but then...surprise!!! the road ended. a couple blocks from where the address were, the road ended. there was road on this side. there was road on the other side, but for a good 30 yards or so in between there was no paved road.

easy grasshopper...think!
#1: range rovers are practical!!
#2: gps save time if not photo sessions!!!

"there is no spoon!" doh, there is no road! the road here must have buckled. the broken asphalt were probably carried away by the strong current that buckled it and by subsequent clean-up effort. what was left was a highly uneven dirt road with a deep gouge in the middle of it.

worry #1: the low clearance of my car won't make it.
worry #2: i will get stranded in the middle of the dirt road.
worry #3: worse yet, i can make it to the other side, but won't be able to make it back.

i drove a couple car lengths onto the precarious surface. my car's taut suspension refused to yield to the hostile terrain. like tip-toeing on eggs-shells, car and i made our way slowly to the other side.

finally, i had arrived. i met with m and with j. they were wonderfully nice as were the cast and crew. the large backyard of the house is on a hill. a stone stairway graced the hillside leading to a tennis court below. i rubbed my eyes. inside the tennis court there were two large living and breathing llamas, two llamas on centre court.

i had a great time photographing the cast, mostly headshots, and some group photos that could be used for the dvd cover later.

time flew, it was time for me to go. and then she came up and asked for her photos to be taken. i'm brazilian she said. i ended my day photographing this beauty in the backyard and on the hillside steps. the sun was setting. everything glowed golden...

the end.

sunset at eucalyptus grove

2008-03-10T01:47:00.001-07:00

if streets were ever aptly named, this one definitely qualifies. follow westbound i8 on the southern border of mission bay in san diego until it turns into sunset cliffs blvd. and you get exactly that, tall sheer cliffs perching high above where water meets land plunging steeply into the pacific, providing for a good mile of vantage point from which to watch the sunset from.

driving through ocean beach on the two lanes road was like driving through a vintage california surf-culture documentary. the kind of film we used to watch when i was in high-school during pe. when it rained outside. ob is kinda hippy. bohemian a colleague from work described it. strangely, it felt like familiar territory.

there was a reason i came this way. i was looking for an apartment for possible future rental. my lease on my tiny studio will be up soon. it would already be 6 mos. i'm ready for a new pad.

i must have missed the turn. i will have to look for it on the way back. for now, lets see where the road goes. past the unstable-sheer-cliff warning signs, past the million dollars mansions the road climbs moderately for about a hundred yards then turns right into a dirt parking lot. i have arrived at sunset cliffs park, the end of the road.

come to sunset cliff park when the sun set to witness an amazing view. even without a compass one can be certain the park faces directly west as the sun goes down at near the middle of one's field of view, straight out the pacific. and when you get here, take out the camera and take a few snapshots because when you return home and you want to remember it again and again you could.

the end!

in the (monterey) park

2008-02-18T15:09:00.000-08:00

the week-end was going to be a cloudy if not rainy one. this we all had known from the weather forecast about a week in advance. just a few days before the saturday afternoon of our shoot, kp asked if we would canceled if it will rain. my thought was, if it would rain we will put on our rain coats.

i had a photoshoot with kp about 6 mos earlier. my, how time flies. in that session she had jeans and a nice top on and we shoot all the photos around her house. i thought the results were pretty un-remarkable, but when she saw the photos, it was clear that she had thought a lot more of them than i did.

she told me what she liked and what she didn't like about the photos. she likes the close-ups. i like the more environmental ones. the ones that incorporate more of the surrounding into the composition of the photos.

when you have time, lets shoot again i invited kp. ok! when i'm not so busy she said. i made mental notes of our conversation and her preference for the close-ups.

an employment change for her, an apt change for me, a xmas, and a new year later...i revisitted with kp in moterey park for photo session #2. it was almost a pity that the rain gave way to late afternoon sunshine at the wind-blown park when we arrived. i would have like to incorporate the rain into our photos.

the park wasn't my first choice for a shooting location. i had wanted to photograph kp in a more urban or modern setting. the park was quite unassuming and lacked any structures of real interest. the time constraint prevented me from suggesting that we take a drive to a different location. the late afternoon traffic in la. would not have been forgiving.

luckily, a quick jostle of memory reminded me that kp likes intimate close-ups versus enclosing environmental shots...the park would do :)

here are some photos that are representative of what we came up with that afternoon.

cheers!!!

sunset beach

2007-05-24T00:08:00.000-07:00

on this saturday i drove to the earl burns miller japanese garden at csu long-beach for a visit. it was my second attempts in as many weeks. on the previous week, i came on a sunday just before 4 pm. i should have checked the hours, because it turned out the garden closes at 4 pm on sundays. bummer, spontaneity can definitely bite.

obesityhelp

2007-04-18T12:51:00.000-07:00

i had an opportunity to work with the fabulous jackie guerra and to cover the obesityhelp west coast national event in irvine this past week-end. jackie is the spokewoman for obesityhelp.

character

2007-04-09T02:03:00.000-07:00

i went to the "orange cirle" in old town orange, california, where chapman meets glassell that sunday.

i have always like this area since the first time i saw it when i went to cafe felix for cuban food.

it was an overcast day. i had a few hours to myself before meeting up with friends and head up to la. to meet with more friends for dinner so i thought i would explore the surroundings of this circle, looking for possible location for future photography projects.

it was toward the end of my walk, that this man caught my attention. i was standing there, taking in the sights, when seemed out of no where, he pulled up and effortlessly set this large table down outside an antique furniture shop in the circle.

hmmm...now that's cool i thought. and just as suddenly as he appeared, he was gone. arghhhh...where did he go? while i lamented not having taken a photo of him, he reappeared. this time with boxes under his arm.

ah...i got it. he was making repeated trips transporting antique furnitures between several shops within the circle to show to prospective buyers.

on a couple of those trips, i was lucky enough to capture these memorable shots of him, and everytime i look at them, they prompt me to ask "what is character?"

car wash

2007-03-30T23:18:00.000-07:00

my car was so filthy i took it to the car wash during lunch today. i stopped by coffee factory to pick up a small sandwich and my customary double-shot vietnamese coffee, then head to my usual car wash.

as i was waiting for my car, this red lambo out of you-know-where pulled up to thunderous roar of the quad exhaust.

surprisingly, everyone was so non-chalant about it including myself that a few minutes ticked away before acting cool, i took the camera out of my bag and sneaked a couple shots.

it was so beautiful outside today...it's friday. have a great week-end!!!

fab foursome

2007-03-27T11:33:00.000-07:00

jenn of jpexposure were sharing some of her four's with friends via email.

below are mine. what are yours?

four jobs:
1. shirt press operator ; )
2. shoes salesman
3. bicycle tech
4. console game programmer!!!

four movies:
1. office space
2. ronin
3. ghostbusters
4. the matrix

four places i have lived:
1. saigon, vn
2. east coast, malaysia
3. caen, france
4. the oc !!!

four shows:
1. csi - vegas, ny
2. no reservation w/ bourdain
3. 24
4. iron chefs

four vacation places:
1. italy 2005
2. tba
3. tba
4. tba

four food:
1. sushi
2. pastas/noodles/udon/soba
3. yakitori
4. rare steaks

four places i would rather be:
1. paris, france
2. tokyo, japan
3. saigon (hcm city), vn
4. prague? budapest???!!!

cheers!!!

studio lighting

2007-03-25T09:53:00.000-07:00

i like to photograph people in their environment, but i found my lack of studio lighting experience limitting, so a few weeks ago i attended a studio lighting workshop given by maura lanahan.

(here, maura was going over the finer points of studio lighting when a friendly fellow offered his hound for use in our photoshoot, making for an action shot opportunity.)

maura is very knowledgeable, personable and effective. i found the workshop very informative, and immediately useful. it has also enhanced my desire to incoporate commercial photography into my portfolio.

happy sunday everyone ;)!!!

island blues

2007-03-09T11:58:00.000-08:00

i heard koop for the first time at my buddy rick pizza dinner a couple nights ago, and like them immediately. rick sent me some of their tracks, and i can relate to this one the best, except for may be the "too young" part ;( !!! i can sit and listen to it all day long. it's called island blues and this is how it goes:

hello my love
it's getting cold on this island
i'm sad alone
i'm so sad on my own
the truth is
we were much too ~~young~~ (proud)
now i'm looking for you
or anyone like you

(i've never) we said goodbye
with (my swollen) ~~the smile on our faces~~ face
now you're alone
you're so sad on your own
the truth is
we ran out of time
now you’re looking for me
or anyone like me

na na na na…

hello my love
it's getting cold on this island
i'm sad alone
i'm so sad on my own
the truth is
we were much too young
now i'm looking for you
or anyone like you

(ane brun)

so kiss me...

2007-03-03T23:27:00.000-08:00

i have completed the photo album for the newlyweds in my previous post.

i titled it "so kiss me" cos, they were sweet like that ;)

check it out...cheers!!!

sweet december

2007-03-02T14:50:00.000-08:00

i photographed this newly-wed-couple back in late december of last year. the christmas rush was in full swing, but they were generous enough to spend a few hours with me on the grounds of my old university, the california state university at long beach, pretty much for my own benefits, out of the generosity of their own hearts.

i was just sizing up the old school turf, gauging the lighting, and took a few shots, when the new groom broke one of his sandals. remember i'm in southern california so we can wear open toes almost all year round.

bummer, and right then, i thought of one of the must-have's that may not be obvious when going on a photo session. beside back-up photography equipments, one would also need...yup, back-up shoes ;)

i'm finishing up their slideshow of the photos taken on that day, and as soon as i finish, i will post it here.

the week-end is upon us, have a great one...

happy camper

2007-03-01T11:06:00.000-08:00

i'm always trying to look at the bright side of things, because there are just simply too many things in the day that can bring me down if i choose to wallow them.

today i choose to be happy because i had a food photography assignment over the week-end that went better than i expected, despite a week full problems at my corporate job and some heavy introspection on my part.

i'm ok, you're ok!!!

the pianist

2007-02-26T22:11:00.000-08:00

this past sunday i went to my cousin's for my niece's birthday. i haven't seen them in a while so i made the effort to be a good uncle to my nieces and nephew, cousin to my cousins, nephew to my aunt and uncle, brother to my sister, son to my mother and father, and grand son to my grand mother and show up. that's a tall order.

as usual there were a lot of food, but food under incandescent light don't usually look very good so i forego the food blogging attempt altogether to save myself the frustration of post processing so i can sleep a little sooner later.

the surprise highlight of the evening was an impromptu performance eric put on the piano. now i have heard eric played before. as a matter of fact, he serenaded my cousin during their wedding, but was i ever impressed this past sunday. i was completely floored by what he was able to do from memory. he doesn't even play that much any more.

on post-processing, as i was flipping through the photos, i noticed how the consecutively shot photos of eric playing the piano would fit well in a slideshow.

it takes another 15 minutes for me to select a song that resembled what eric played, and another 15 minutes to put the slideshow together and toss it on the web. by the way, i apologize for not able to embed the slideshow in this blog. for some reasons, my server doesn't seem to want to serve the content to pages on a different domain.

i added the soundtrack to enhance your viewing experience, but i can assure you eric is up to and above the level of performance of the soundtrack.

eric is the father of my nieces, the husband of my cousin, and i supposed that makes us cousin-in-law.

we went to the same high school together the three of us...they were high school sweet hearts.

ja mata...

low key, high key, just pick a key!

2007-02-24T00:24:00.001-08:00

my preferred key seems to be low key, but as my friend jvan pointed out in her comment, whatever key you chose, keep it beautiful ;)

after spending some more thoughts on defining the difference, i now think of high-key as the lighting situation in which the photos come out, well...mostly bright, and low-key as the lighting situation in which the photos come out with more shades and shadows.

i suppose the confusion in terms for me has always been HIGH-key = LESS contrasty, and LOW-key = MORE contrasty. high equates to less, low equates to more, how does that work?

an author also suggests nevermind the confusion...if you photograph your subjects in front of a white screen, it's high-key, and if you photograph your subjects against a dark background, it's low-key ;)

happy friday ; )

2007-02-23T12:49:00.000-08:00

the forcasted storm did dumped some heavy rain over southern california yesterday, but for a very short amount of time, and the weather today is glorious over orange county from my vantage point on the 20th floor of an office building in costa mesa.

it's a little windy. the air feels a little crisp, but it sure feels like spring is in the air. i wish i am out there taking photos right now. i hope the weather this week-end is going to be just as nice.

oh i need a beer right bout now...

2007-02-21T16:28:00.000-08:00

by late afternoon, i'm usually pretty beat up at work and once daily operation matters have calmed down, i'm ready for a beer.

if i come to work early enough, i could usually leave work and enjoy a couple cold ones with friends at happy-hour before heading home or seeing some other friends for dinner.

well, my office drinking buddies have moved on, one to a new consulting company, and one got let-go.

the circumstance in which the later left was unfortunate. he is my friend. i was his supervisor. for performance and attendance reasons, he was let go by my boss, our third friend ;( !!! ahhhh, how to feel???

so no happy hours for me this past couple weeks, and this evening was the same. i came home to an already opened bottle of "cab," which is an entirely different experience than hanging out with the buddies at the local bar.

in the former, the gratification has to be delayed, i.e. the drive home, and the glasses of reds consumed more thoughtfully as i reflect over the day, while in the later, the gratification is instant as the pints go down rather quickly and most importantly, one is not by oneself and laugh the day away.

i need new happy-hours buddies. until next time, ching ching ;)

dim sum

2007-02-20T22:18:00.000-08:00

dim sum are beautiful chinese small dishes that are enjoyed over lunch that often get paraded in front of the guests in small carts until someone decides to save them from the go around, and take them off the carts and put them in their tummies.

wysiwyg lunching, you take what you like and pay for what you eat. and i don't mean you see the dishes, order them, and the waiter brings them out of kitchen a few minutes later. you actually take the dishes off the cart and eat them. it's a revolving sushi bar with out the sushi and conveyor belt, omakase dinning on wheels ;P

that said i realized from my recent outing to a local dim-sum restaurant that of all the decent restaurants in little saigon, there isn't a decent dim sum restaurant among them.

my favorite dim sum restaurant in town is actually more or less, a deli that offer dim sum to-go. it's true. i find their dim sums to be the freshest and tastiest in town.

i used to stop in on them from work and bring some back to my friend at the office who was always too busy to go out. i haven't been back in a while, and i don't even know the name of the place, but they are located in a small plaza at the south-east corner of brookhurst and bushard in little saigon. come early for the best selection. they usually sell-out of the most popular items by noon. drop in on them when you are in the neighborhood and see what you think.

cheers...

tet / lunar ny

2007-02-19T09:09:00.001-08:00

thank goodness for president's day and the fact that it's the monday following the lunar ny week-end is an extra blessing. i was working through the week-end to get a slideshow out to a couple that i shot late last december. i hope they like it. i will share it later once they have a chance to see it.

so it was only last week-end that i attended the david jay photojournalism workshop at brooks institude of photography in santa barbara. boy that was a mouthful. this week-end i applied everything i learned from dj to roll the slideshow project out in record time. needless to say, it was time well spent for me and i got to meet some real cool peeps. i don't do endorsements, but dj has my vote of approval ;)

alright, what about tet / lunar ny? i was so darn focus on getting projects out that i thought about skipping out on the festivities all together, but luckily, i reached a milestone sunday morning around 3 am that allowed me to sleep in until 10 am, waked up, worked some more, and hit the street of little saigon looking for fireworks and dralion performances around noon.

i have been trying to avoid driving through downtown these past couple of weeks, knowing traffic would be snarled up, because vnmese take their tet seriously, but on this morning, i went down town looking for action ;) and boy did i find some.

once i find parking and walked 1/2 a mile to where i wanted to go, i ran into some serious traffic, foot traffic.

oh the humanity of it. what are all these people doing here? they don't seem to be trying to go anywhere. hmmm...and then i found out.

apparently makeshift games of bau cua ca cop, which is identical the game chuck-a-luck, have sprouted out of no where in front of shops, spilling onto parking lots, with players making bets and on-lookers cheering them on, a spectacle and quite surreal at the same time.

cool...

firecrackers went off sporatically accenting the festive scene, reminding me i needed to be looking for dralion performances. once i negotiated past the crowd to the main parking lot at the front entrance of the asian garden mall i had this empty feeling that i had missed the dralion performance. there was a small stage in one corner of the mall entrance with a vnmese folk-singer crooning away; sweet, but not quite on a par with a dralion performance.

wait, i saw a young dralion performer out-of-uniform running across the parking lot to meet more buddy dralion performers out-of-uniform. i caught up with one and asked when they will be performing.

"oh sorry, we just finished" was his replied. "where are you guys going next?" i asked. "first & harbor."

arghhhh...early birds get the worm. late birds get none i see ;(

i dropped my head, aimlessly playing with the on-off control of my camera slung over my right shoulder.

wait again, what's that across the street way in the distance? i focused on these gold and red objects that appeared to bob up and down, visible above the cars. oh my goodness, i think they are dralions ;)

and the rest of the story as it goes, is in the photos. 5 dralions in all, and i caught the performance from start to finish.

chúc mừng năm mớ...gung hay fat choy...happy lunar ny...cheers!!!

yawn...

2007-02-15T22:18:00.000-08:00

i count myself among the fortunate daily commuters who do not have to be at work by a specific time in the morning. of-course, not having to leave work at the end of the day in the twilight is also nice, but that wouldn't be right. there ought be certain balance in life.

what that amounts to is i stumble into work between 9 am and 10 am, and leave around...well, well after most of the people i work with have gone home.

i'm usually very ambitious at the beginning of the day, thinking i will do all these chores i pile-up for myself to do after work, but more often than not, i'm so low on energy by the time i leave work that everything, even the ride home is a blur...

...yup, by about now it's nevermind-the-sport-car, give me something cushy with just the stop and the go button ;) !!!

omg, you wouldn't believe how many miles i put on my car just around the oc. try 30k miles, but that's another blog entry.

happy valentine!!!

2007-02-14T14:05:00.000-08:00

happy valentine my friends ;)

i just got back from lunch with my photographer buddy rick at kaisen katen for some very reasonably priced sushis. we talked about photography of all things ;D

i woke up with a miserable stomach ache that lingers through early afternoon from super spicey thai take-out the night before ;(

wife of a co-worker made some gorgeous valentine themed cupcakes and i was able to take some photos of them. hopefully they will come out ok. i will post them later today when i get home.

here they are ;)...

ciao...

1st thought...

2007-02-12T18:54:00.000-08:00

note to self: hmmm...interesting, the profile viewed counter does not exclude one's own click from counting. narcissisism is a personality disorder.

2nd note to self: refrain from taking and posting self-portraits. the world would be a more beautiful place ; ) !!!