Back from Hawaii

I was in Hawaii for a week on vacation and had a great time. It did rain a bit while I was there so it limited some things that could be done. I came back with a slight sunburn, but overall, it was great.

Took a few shots while I was there.

Boudoir Workshop

Last night, I was able to attend a Boudoir Workshop held by Doug and Henry of Tiltnshift. It was a great shoot and I learned a lot of about lighting and posing a model. Our model was Tori Bell from Florida. She was great to work with and was very good in taking directions for poses as well as just posing on her own. This allowed us to focus a bit more on shooting as well as looking at the lighting options during each pose.

This was different from other shoots since the lighting was completely controlled in a studio environment. I shot everything with a 50mm f/1.8 lens since my other lens which is a 18-200mm doesn't shoot very well in low light.

The results turned out very well and some of the photos are up. Due to the nature of the shoot, I chose not to post up the nude photos publicly.

SoCal Photog Shootout

Last Thursday, I was privileged enough to participate in a Wedding Shootout in Pasadena. It started at 1pm and finished around 8:30pm. A long workshop to say the least. I had a great time. Shot close to 3000 pictures, although the final collection was only 93 pictures. Many shots were duplicates.

It was truly a great learning experience. One casualty however was that my SB-600 flash unit burned out. So I have to save up to buy a replacement. For now, the onboard flash will have to do.

I still have a workshop to go to on Monday and hopefully, that will not require to have a flash. One of the bad things about being unemployed is that I just can't go out and buy equipment as needed. In addition to the flash, one of my camera batteries also went bad.

Event Coordinator: Amanda Auer, In the Now Weddings

The Venue: “The Romanesque Room,”

The Hair, Make-up and Stylist Team: Kacee Geoffroy, Alisha Baijournas and Michelle Cunningham

The Videographer: Nick of Crafthouse Productions

The Engagement Rotation: Models, Sarah and Derek, who are actually photographers.  Lead Photographers: Gavin and Erin Wade

The Details Rotation: Brian Khang, Lead Photographer.

The Linens and Furniture Rentals: Town and Country Rentals & Wildflower Linens & Classic Party Rentals

The Paper Details : Alli Wells Studios.

The Getting Ready Rotation: With model Ashley and makeup artist Becca, lead by Matthew Saville. Dresses from Mariposa Bridal Boutique in Anaheim

The Bridal Portraits Rotation: Jenn King, a model and a photographer and leader Wai Reyes

The Florist: Honey & Poppies

The Ceremony: The models – Kacee, Erik,Joanna, Shane, Mike, Tim, Sam and Mackenzie. Lead Photographer: Garrett Davis

The Romantics: Models: Ashley and Sean, Lead Photographer: Cean One

The Caterer: Jay’s Catering

The Cake: Fancy That! Cupcakes (909)524-1864

The DJ: First Choice Entertainment

 Rest of the Photos are here.

Post Processing

I decided to re-process some of my older pictures that I took a few years back. I've learned a lot more regarding post processing and I was able to make the pictures that I thought were already good, even better.

Attempting to also re-organize the galleries on Smugmug in order to show the updated pictures.

One week to go before the SoCal Photog Shootout workshop. Hopefully, the news of rain will fall through. Although I think being indoors wouldn't be that bad.

On a side note, I returned the Canon gear that I borrowed because I realized that it really affects my workflow dealing with Canon raw files and editing. Also the camera battery was bad. I should be mastering my own equipment anyway.

Cameras..

I was able to borrow a Canon 5D from a friend as well as a 70-200mm lens w/o IS.

This weekend, I'm going to be borrowing a Nikon 24-70 lens from another friend.

All this means is that I'll be dual wielding at my workshops this month. This also means that I gotta learn how to use a Canon 5D by then since I'm primarily shoot with a Nikon D300.

I have some time to learn and practice at least. :)

Updates

It's been a while since I've updated. Work has gotten too hectic, but no longer. Today was my last day at work.

Hopefully, I should have more time to do some shoots. I was at the OC Smugmug Meeting last night and won free registration to a Wedding Photoshoot Workshop that's being held in a couple of weeks. That should be a great experience. I've also registered for a boudoir workshop.

It should be a great February.

Happy Holidays!

Work has been keeping me away from photography lately.


Merry Christmas Everyone and have a great New Years!

Business....

Last night, I attended the October LA SmugMug meeting with speaker Kathy Rappaport. She went over the business aspect of Photography and I was completely overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information. There were many things to be considered. From business plans to taxation, bookkeeping to business licenses. It was truly an eye opening experience. Looks like I have a bit more to study up on.

Star Wars in Concert

Last night, I had a chance to go to see Star Wars in Concert. They wouldn't allow pro cameras so I only brought my point and shoot camera. Best experience EVER! So many props and stuff to see PLUS the actual concert. It was so awesome!!

Lots of progess today.

I did some fine tuning of my website and it looks like most of it is functioning like it should. I also updated my portfolio page and it's now part of the flash slideshow on the front page.

Finally...

Looks like I'm done with in the initial customization for my SmugMug site as well as this blog. Will make some more changes tomorrow. Took a lot more work than I expected, but I think it's worth it to learn exactly how to make improvements myself instead of hiring someone to to do it for me.

New Blog

I finally set up a blog and also in the middle of customizing my SmugMug website. I believe it was time that I became more serious with my photography in hopes to eventually start my own business one of these days.