San Jose Walkabout

I decided to take a quick walk around my city, San Jose and enjoy the beautiful day that we were experiencing. The clouds and blue sky made for a wonderful backdrop against the architecture. I've been trying to capture the Bank of America tower for a while now, but I never liked any photos I took, until today. Walking by and looking up I found the perfect alley that captured it just right. I really liked the reflection of the tower against the building.

I've been focused on enjoying and capturing the beauty that is around. Going to keep capturing the city that I call home.

Food For Thought

If you told me a few years ago that the food and photography movement would coexist so closely and that the majority of us would be obsessed with photographing our food before we ate it, I would laugh at you and say you're nuts! But we have and I don't mind at all. I really enjoy gathering ingredients and making various dishes. Simple or elaborate, homemade or dining out, food is such a wonderful way to connect with others. The best conversations for me happen over a meal and it creates a wonderful bond between the parties involved.

I've gathered some food photos I've taken and posted on Instagram for the past couple months. All of these were captured with my iPhone 4s and edited some in VSCOcam app.

How do you enjoy your food? Do you endearingly ;) photograph your meals as well?

A Trip to The Farmer's Market

Yesterday I went to the farmer's market in Campbell and it was so much fun capturing all the beautiful colors of all the fruits and vegetables. I've been cooped up in the house all week and it was so nice to be outside. I picked up some plucot and nectarines. Hope you're all enjoying the wonderful fruits that are offered during the summer as well. These were shot with the Fujix100s and light edits and cropping with Light Room.  

Stars In The Sky

While many people were out late on New Year's Eve partying it up, I was sleeping early so that my friend and I could get a super early and drive down to Big Sur to see the beach at sunrise. I know living on the west coast doesn't allow us the beauty of a sunrise, but the satisfaction of starting the new year with a sunrise seemed perfect. We got to Big Sur around 5:00AM and it was still dark, so I decided to try to play with some long exposures when we pulled off to the side, right by the cliff. I'm sure I would have been really scared if I saw how close we were to falling off with light.

These were shot on a tripod with my Canon. I used a timer and allowed it to stay open. I wish I had a trigger release, but  I was excited to see they actually came out!

Pointe Taken: Dancer in SF Part 2

Welcome to part 2 of the ballerina series! Thanks so much for all the support and love from Part 1, it really meant a lot. This is the second half of the photo shoot and it was so much fun going around SF. We started pretty early in the day, so it was nice while shooting on the streets in Chinatown. However, after lunch it was getting too crowded and as people do, they like to stop and look, which can change the mood of the shoot.

Despite all that, I thought Lani, the lovely ballet dancer and Bar Method instructor of Seattle, did beautifully and it was fun capturing the beauty of ballet against my most favorite city, San Francisco. Please leave any thoughts or comments you may have. They're always so appreciated.

Thank you to everyone involved with this project. It feels so good to see something we've been planning coming to fruition. I am so grateful to be able to do photography and follow my love. Thanks for your time.

Pointe Taken: Dancer in SF Part 1

Last week I shared a post of the ballet shoot I had done a couple weeks prior with my wonderful and talented friend, Lani. She is an amazing dancer and it was such a pleasure to photograph her doing something she's extremely passionate about. Lani's other passion is Bar Method and is a fantastic instructor up in Seattle. So if you're ever in the area, be sure to take a class there.

There will be two parts to this photo series. This first set took place in a beautiful studio called Maiden Lane, which is a great yoga studio right in Union Square of SF. The owner was so gracious and kind to let me use the space. If you're ever in SF, please do get in a yoga class there.

I learned a few things about ballet that day, but it was just amazing to such a beautiful form of dance in person.

 

Any input about these photos will be greatly appreciated.

Please stay tune for Part 2 of these series, which will feature ballet on the streets of San Francisco.

Special thanks to my wonderful friends who graciously assisted that day. Could not have done this shoot without you. Please check out their sites: Andrea Isasi , Jarhod Geronimo  and Ian Lundie.

Trip to The Bayou

My first trip to New Orleans was in the summer of 2012 and it was one of  my most favorite trips. So much so that I decided to celebrate my birthday there earlier this year. I found some photos from that trip and looking at them I could remember how amazed I was by the beauty and uniqueness that New Orleans offered!

Today, this set of photos is going to highlight the day trip I took to the bayou, which was only about 45 minutes outside of the bustle of New Orleans.

Saying it's hot in New Orleans during the summer months is an understatement. The air doesn't move, the humidity is thick as butter and right when you step outside the moisture attaches onto you. However, the streets are filled with people, the architecture is beautiful, and there really isn't any place quite like NoLa.

However, taking a trip out to the bayou was a relief. Out there in the water, you can feel the breeze and while riding in the air boat, you are transported to a whole different world filled with fluffy clouds that keep going and see alligators poking their heads out to see who had come to invade their quiet time.

These are my photos from the trip to the bayou. Hope you enjoy and if you can make it out to New Orleans, please do try to get out to this area.

These were taken with a Canon point and shoot.

Black & White Wednesday: Huntington Beach

When I was 9 years old, my cousin allowed me to accompany her into the school's dark room so I can check out how photographs were developed and then after that I was hooked! I have been shooting film for a long time and only recently did I get a film scanner and I am so excited to be able to scan all my film and share them online.

Below is a set of photographs taken with medium format film using a Holga. Holga is such a wonderful toy camera that is simply built, essentially a pin-hole camera, which produces vignettes, blurs and light leaks and lacks precision. I use electric tape along the sides to limit light leaks, but sometimes they get through, but I think that adds to the appeal of Holgas.

These were taken in Huntington Beach in late January. Looking over these, I just miss the area so much. For my SoCal friends, enjoy the beach for me.

Film: Ilford Delta 100

Ballet Shoot: Behind the Scene

Wee!Last week I spent time preparing for a photo shoot that my friend Lilani (the dancer) and I have discussed for a while. We  chose a date two months ago and it finally happened this past Saturday! Lilani is a trained ballet dancer and we wanted to capture ballet poses done by her around San Francisco, a city in which she frequently visits for her close friends.

To prepare for the shoot, I spent a good part of Thursday scouting out locations in San Francisco around the same time we'd shoot on Saturday. This allowed me to see the lighting and how it would work for our shoot. And San Francisco is always congested on weekends, so I wanted to make sure we weren't around places that were TOO crowded, even though some places I wanted were iconic parts of SF.

Here are some shots I took while scouting:

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I had other places in mind, but I have shot at them before and was familiar with the locations beforehand.  I also reached out to a yoga studio in the heart of Union Square called Maiden Lane Studios, a beautiful yoga studio I had taken classes at before to see if I could shoot there and they were so gracious and nice about it. I also made notes in my sketchbook about what the temperatures were and how the sun was casting down. This allowed me to pack appropriately and for Lilani to figure out what to wear.

As I'm working on processing photos from the shoot, I wanted to show some behind the scenes photos and outtakes. The candid photos are always so sweet and fun to see.

Special thanks to: Andrea for being the best BFF to Lilani with hair, holding of all the stuff and her wardrobe, Jarhod for helping me with metering, shots, carrying of camera, second set of eyes and making sure we didn't get hit by cars and for Ian for the transportation and keeping us safe.

Live Music In April

In the first weekend of April my friends and I attended two music shows back to back and it was really exciting! On Saturday, we saw CunninLynguists in Santa Cruz at the Catalyst, which is a really great venue. It doesn't look that large on the outside, but inside there are two separated areas for shows and we were in the larger venue.

I enjoyed how the venue was set up, because you could either be downstairs in the thick of the crowd, or hang out upstairs on the balcony and be able to see everyone. This allowed for a great vantage point of photography.

CunninLynguists has been a recent discovery music wise, and they're great live and they kept the crowd going during their entire set.

On Sunday, we saw ZZ Ward, who is AMAZING. Pandora played her music a few times and I downloaded her album and every song is worthy of playing over and over. So when I found out she was coming to the Bay Area, I was really excited. The show was at the Independent in San Francisco and it's such a great place. If you have a chance, check out either venue for shows. It's more intimate and you can really feel the music.

I used the Fujix100s camera, which is really great in low light,  another reason why I really wanted the camera. I was also able to take some HD videos of the show.

San Jose SubZERO Festival

Friday was really warm, which was perfect for San Jose's 7th Annual SubZERO festival. SubZERO is part of South First Fridays (a monthly art walk that takes place on the first Friday that stretches about 3 blocks with various business and galleries opened to show art work from artists local and far) and it happens at the beginning of summer and at the end of summer.

It's really fun to attend because there are vendors who come and sell their art, share music and do live performance art. It's such a great addition to Downtown San Jose, which really makes the large city feel like a community. More info here.

Below are some photos of the fun activities that were happening.

Shot with FujiX100s

Quick Quote Type

Quote by comedian genius Louis C.K. regarding how we get on our phones all the time because we avoid the emptiness in between things. Embrace it. Font: Clasica Slab

Designed in Adobe Illustrator

End of An Era: Good-Bye Domes

About two months ago San Jose said good-bye to the iconic movie theaters, lovingly called the Domes located on Winchester Blvd., across from the shiny and vibrant shopping center, Santana Row. The Century 21 Dome theater, which was the last dome to have a single screen was hosting one last viewing and it was showing Indiana Jones: Raiders of The Lost Ark. I had never seen the movie before (GASP: I KNOW!!!), so it was a double treat to see it on the big screen in a sold out theater and say good-bye to a place that housed so many memories.

My with the dome is from when I attended the midnight showing to see Star Wars III and I remember thinking that it was so special to see the last of Star Wars in such a historic place.

When we arrived, the line was wrapped around the building and everyone was in high spirits. Families were gathered and some people were dressed up like Indiana Jones. Parents were telling their children about the movie and sharing their story of when they first saw the movie.

Upon entering the theater, we were given colorful hats to look like Indian's famous brown hat and goodie bags filled with props that related to the movie such as, a date, rubber snack, a party popper and Twizzler straw.

Beach balls were being bounced around as people made their way to their seats. Over 1,000 people packed in and when we all settled in, the host came out. She was really funny and got the crowd engaged with trivia questions and contests.

The movie was so good! I became really wrapped up in it and although it's an older one, it was done so well, that nothing really stood out. I'm so glad I got to see it on a large screen. It was The fun was over, and I think it really sunk in that  it was the last movie to ever be shown on the screen. People took photos with each other in front of the screen and you can hear people talking about their own memories of the theater.

I'm sad to see such a place go, and I've heard rumors of it developing into a commercial shopping area. It's on trend with the changes in the area and although I understand the monetary draw to opening another center, it's still sad to see a historic spot be taken away. For more info here's an article from The Mercury News.

Photos shot with iphone and fujix100s, slight edits in Lightroom.

Summer Concert

Today was such a beautiful day for an outdoor concert! My friend and I went to the  20th Annual BFD concert in Mountain View and it was such a blast!! There were over 24,000 people there with 3 stages of a variety of alternative bands and DJs. Concerts are so amazing because for that amount of time thousands of people have come together to watch and share the experience. With lives getting busier and more distracting, it's really special to have that kind of interaction.

What was really encouraging to see was that I noticed there weren't a lot of people constantly on their phones, but just enjoying the moment.

What has been your favorite concert experience?

NYC 2013

How did that happen? It's almost been a year since my trip to NYC last year and although I had posted some photos, more specifically the wedding and one snap shot. I haven't had a chance to share photos from the whole trip. These were shot with Fujix100s, which after a year I now have one. No more renting it! After a while, the cost of renting was adding up, so I decided to save up for it and it is one of my most beloved cameras. The lens is amazing and it creates really crisp photos and great for enlarging.

The Coney Island photographs are really vibrant and bright, but that isn't from editing. It really was that bright that day.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Get lost and bring your camera.

Portrait of a Photographer

My friend Carla whom I met via Social Media have been "friends" for a few years now. The magic of the internet has allowed us to keep in touch, learn about each other and our lives despite us never having met each other. So when she reached out and asked if I would be able to photograph her for her portraits, I was super excited and nervous. Shooting people is fun, and something I really enjoy, but shooting a photographer makes me nervous because we can be a little critical, since we know what we want. However, I was looking forward to finally  meeting her.

We chose San Francisco as our destination since she works there and we are both from the Bay Area. It was such a delight to shoot and talk with her.

Here are a few photos from the day. These were shot with a Canon 30D, using 80mm lens.

Weekend Exploring

This weekend was fantastic. My friend came up to visit from LA and we went exploring with two other friends. Although heavy rainstorms were predicted, we decided to go anyway, and I'm sure glad we did. We drove out about 1.5 hours out and ended up in this abandoned building. The brickwork was still standing strong and you can see from the bones that it had a beautiful interior. It's interesting to see how things we've built stand over time and what happens when it is left to the elements.

There were moments when I just stopped and realized how extremely quiet it was, and seeing as how far we were from the main roads, it felt like we were the only four in the world, like a scene right out of Walking Dead.

All four of us are photographers and it was really great to go with them because we all aimed our cameras at different things, sometimes similar, but we all had a different way of seeing things, and that allowed us to be inspired by each other.

We stayed for a little more than an hour and as we walked back to the car the sprinkles were starting, and by the time we drove home, the storm was in full form.

These were shot with a Fujix100s, the newest member of my camera family and I love the camera so much!!

We continued on with our day with a self guided Vietnamese food tour and time in the local used bookstore. What a great way to spend the day.

New Orleans Snap Shot

My birthday is  next weekend and wanted to celebrate with some friends by getting out of town. I chose to go to New Orleans because it really is not like any city I've ever been to. When you are here, you are in a different world and I wanted my friends to see that. Two of them were able to make it and today was our first day here. It was a travel day, and by the time we got to our B&B at 5, we were ready to get down on the food and walk around to check out all the sites. It was really fun showing my friends what I could remember and wandering around. Can't wait to go back through the streets again in the morning when they can see in more detail how beautiful the architecture of the buildings are.

Here are some photos from today. They are shot with a Fujix100s, my favorite digital camera.

Dahlia Flower

Today's painting is inspired by my trip to Seattle last summer and when I visited the Public Market and walked down the rows and rows of flowers. I loved seeing all the flowers, especially dahlias. I never really had a favorite flower until  saw them there. The painting was a good challenge because I used lighter colors than yesterday and there was a lot more layering. Below are pictures of the step-by-step process I took with this painting.

I had to use the white paint a few times to lighten some spots that were over-saturated with red.

I was really excited to start a new painting when I woke up this morning. It's a really good feeling.

Watercolor

I've always been really fascinated and intimidated with watercolor painting. It seemed so permanent. A light colored area could be tainted by an accidental drip of the brush. I guess that was me being used to working with acrylics and knowing I could always cover up any mistakes with another layer of paint.

On my list of things I wanted to tackle during this time, I wrote down watercolor painting. I  wanted to get over my intimidation of it and dive into something I've always admired. So, I decided this week was Watercolor Week.

I have watercolor pencils, but wanted to start with tubed watercolor paints, so it was off to Michael's. I was able to score paper, brushes and paints for $15, including the use of their 40% off coupon. The brand I chose was Michael's Artist's Loft which is great for artists on a budget, because we know how expensive supplies can get!

I looked up some videos for techniques people have used so I decided to do the wetting of paper and the salt technique. By wetting the paper the paint was able to absorb a lot better and laying the salt on top after I was done. Why salt? For texture.

Sprinkling salt

A little table salt sprinkled on damp watercolor paint creates a delicate flower-like spot. Each crystal of salt chases away the pigment to make a lighter area beneath it. You can use this texture to create a field of flowers, snow, or leaves on a tree. It also creates interest in a background or foreground where not much else is going on. Source

I chose to paint the California mountains against the sky during pre-dawn. I used the salt to create star like textures.

It was a lot of fun working on this and can't wait to keep making more paintings. The gradation wasn't exactly what I had wanted, but it's my first one and I am happy it wasn't a complete disaster. I approached this like an acrylic painting, so I kept the color less diluted.

Tomorrow I will work with a lighter color palette, which I think will bring on another set of challenges that I look forward to working through.

Hope you all have a wonderful week!