Sorry for the lack of updates on the blog. I am looking to get a professionally customized blog with all the essential plugins for a photographer’s blog. I am browsing around looking for the best options out there. If you have any suggestions, feel free to drop a comment.
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Lately, I’ve been looking to find my own ‘look’. I am no longer ‘feeling’ the super color vibrant processing style that I so adored when I first started. The last event I shot was for a family friend. I’ve been experimenting with post processing and I hope you all like it as much as I do.
I’ve also shot a couple of birthdays. These are Ralston and Reagan’s birthdays which were about a few months apart. It was a lot of fun shooting both of these birthdays. While the theme and location were VERY different from each other, the kids were mostly the same in both and it reminds me of my childhood. These events really test your speed and knowledge of the camera and flash equipment.
Here are some shots:
I’ve met a lot of people who I’ve lost touch with during my time in the Navy. I met a girl in Tokyo who I managed to exchange contact info with but, still, we barely kept in touch. We added each other on Yahoo messenger and, between all the other instant messengers, I stuck to AIM and barely went on Yahoo. One day I randomly logged in to Yahoo and I get a message from Emi. She said she moved to NY and turns out she was living in the same neighborhood as me! We met up and kept in touch and reminisced about Japan.
Three years later she told me she is getting married and wants me to shoot their wedding reception. I was very nervous. I’ve shot other events but nothing this big and this ‘cutthroat.’ It was also my first destination shoot, as well, outside of NYC. I think I did alright but nothing beats having a second photographer for a large event.
As a friend, I was really happy for her. I looked at some of the photos and I can’t imagine how emotional it must’ve been for Emi when her family was giving a speech led by her father (and translated by her good friend Minako). Here are some of the photos from that event.
I can’t believe it, either. I’m actually writing a blog post! It’s been about three months but I have a great excuse, I promise. I work fifty hours a week now at an investment bank. What? My excuse isn’t good enough? If I can spend 30 minutes on Facebook then I can definitely spend at least half of that time blogging? Yeah, you’re right. Well, it’s good to be back. I still do photography and you would know that if you visit my website.
I’ve done my first wedding reception, some individual photo shoots, some events and even planning on shooting for my book (I’ve made some great contacts for it!). I’ll try to post about each photo session but I can honestly say I’ve never been busier.
Stay tuned for updates on the book. I will try to have it done by Fall, that is, if time and weather permits it. I hope you did something nice for your dad today (unless, of course, you dislike him)!
Happy Father’s Day!
She’s an actress who needed character photos for her portfolio. We shot in Prospect Park for her cowgirl character. I used my beauty dish, another B800 for rim lighting and portable power for the first time. I definitely placed the BD way too close and will remember that next time. Also, we were kicked out by police after only an hour (about 20minutes of that were used for setting up my equipment). Sorry for the lack of posts here – I will have more photo shoots in the very near future to post up here.
I’m out of town until March 18th. I have a shoot as soon as I get back so I hope to update this blog with shots from those.
After shooting the Candy Rock Couture fashion show, I assisted a photo shoot with Trey Songz! It was my first celebrity shoot and first time assisting. Also, I’ve never hauled as much equipment as I did for this shoot. It was a great learning experience and I was able to network with some people in the industry. 
Here are a couple from my Chicago visit so far:
Gear update – I’ve moved from a Canon 450D to the 5D MK II! Sold my beloved Canon 17-55 IS and bought a new Sigma 24-70 HSM to replace it with (since the 17-55 can’t be used on a full-frame camera like the 5D). Traded my 85L 1.2 II for the 70-200 2.8 IS (for the fashion show) but I’m going to sell the 70-200 and get the 135L and the Sigma 50 1.4. I will be sending in my Sigma 24-70 in for calibration while it’s still under warranty.
That’s all for now! I will update with more photos from Chicago.
I’m not gonna lie – I’m a little overwhelmed. I’m trying to plan several shoots, running family errands, interviewing and trying to get my name out there by doing fashion shows. I don’t know if it just takes getting used to or if I’m spreading myself too thin. Anyway, I won’t say too much about those shoots, yet. It’s really great, though. ”From concept to completion.” I have to think of every photo shoot in that way. I have to take a holistic approach instead of just focusing on very specific things. With that said, I’m ready for Spring and Summer. Also, I read from another photographer that when you’re not doing a photo shoot or processing pictures, you should be marketing. I’ve been marketing and reading.
I have to mail out a CD containing all the images from the fashion shoot tomorrow. I’ve waited to mail it out so I can include a few business cards that I hastily designed. I’m not completely satisfied with them but it’s better than nothing for now. It has my flickr website on it. I gave a few to my hair stylist at Shape NYC. I’m excited to work with her and her salon. I ordered 250 business cards so hopefully I give most of them away by Summer time because I’m planning on having my own domain name by then (Summer or early Fall). We’ll see.
I’ve got my eye on the Canon 5D Mk II. It’s a beast of a camera and has been my dream camera for a while. I’m trying to plan out how I’m going to finance this purchase…haha. I’m planning to sell my current Camera which, by the way, has an exact shutter count of 7777. How crazy is that? There’s a program that counts how many times the camera’s shutter has clicked. Used camera buyers usually ask for this number. It’s like the camera’s mileage. I bought mine when it had about 3500-4000 clicks. Since February 2009, I’ve only shot about 3500 photos. That’s pretty low for an entire year, I think.
As you know from my previous post, I’ve gotten rid of my ultra-wide angle lens – Tokina 11-16mm 2.8. I’ve also sold my Canon 85mm 1.8 lens to fund my purchase of the Canon 85mm 1.2 L II lens! I have a 450D and not the camera shown but it shows the size of the lens relative to the camera body. It’s a lot heavier and bulkier (that’s what she said) than the regular non-L version that I’ve sold. You’re probably wondering what’s the difference between the size and weight so I’ll try to explain a little. The fact that I’ve gone from a 1.8 to a 1.2 aperture lens means it’s ‘faster.’ It can open up more to allow more light in so it has better low light capability than my old one. The image quality is slightly better. The construction build is much better and is weather sealed. One of the advantage my other lens had was a faster autofocus.
I’ve also bought my first studio light – Alien Bees B800! The one I have is actually black – not orange. This is definitely much stronger than my speedlites but obviously not as portable. If I want to use this outdoors I’d have to buy a portable power solution like their Vagabond II’s. I still have to buy 1-2 more of these…when I get the funds.
I’m still planning out future photo shoots and if you’d like to schedule one, let me know!
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