Michelle and Joe's Engagement Photos in San Francisco

In January, Michelle, Joe and I spent time in San Francisco, our beautiful neighboring city and did engagement photos. The Golden Gate Bridge was shut down that day, so we didn't know what to expect, but it ended up making for the most perfect day.

It made for a lot less people around the areas we went to, which is an incredible blessing considering it's San Francisco, a heavily loved city for tourists and residents alike. We all love visiting the city and with festivals every weekend, it can become chaos. But, back to our weekend, it was perfect.

We first went to the Palace of Fine Arts, then to Fort Point and areas surrounding and finally we finished at our beloved SF Giant's Stadium, which was opened for us to run in and take some photos. Everything fell into place and it was so much fun.

Next, I'll share Michelle and Joe's wedding. So look out for that.

Shawna and Mike's Maternity Session

Shawna and Mike contacted me a few weeks back to do maternity photos and we decided to meet on Superbowl Sunday at a beautiful farm in the foothills of Los Altos.

Shawn and Mike are high school sweethearts and are proof that love can only get stronger through the years. They brought along their beautiful Pomeranian, Tofu. I had so much fun photographing them around the farm. 

The backdrop of the farm and greenery that surrounded us was just perfect. The farm is still a functioning and educational one, which allows families to bring their children to learn about the animals. 

It was such a fun day and I can’t wait to meet the little one in a couple weeks. Wishing Shawna and Mike all the best in their delivery. 

I can't get over how cute Shawna is!

Family Photos

It was a great summer and I got to spend time with a lot of people and photograph some families as well! I will be posting them throughout the week. Wanted to share the shoot I had with my friend Ky and his beautiful wife and their adorable daughter. We took these in Santa Clara and I just really love the colors. You can tell she is the apple of their eyes!

Holidays are coming up, so let's do some family photos for those cards. Cheers!

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Road Trip

First Stop: Oxnard

Took a road trip down to Southern California to see some friends and old stomping grounds. Decided to drive 101 this time and take in all the sights and see the beautiful California coast.

Right as we were about to hit the 1, we saw this abandoned plot of land and stopped. From what I could tell, it looked like it was a small motel oasis that must have been booming during it's time.

All that was left was a bowling alley, skate rink that was long forgotten and some buildings. There were some slabs of concrete that marked off former buildings and piles of rubble.

In the distance you can see new condos erected, a huge contrast to the old pastel signs.

I looked up Wagon Wheel and learned that it is considered a landmark for Oxnard and had set the trend for western themed motels and creating resort style space for car travelers. Google it if you have time.

I decided to edit these photos to look vintage to pay homage for the time when it was at its peak. I read they are going to still keep the iconic sign, so if you see it, wave hi.

To forgotten yesterdays.

 

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.

Chalk Art Made by Visitors

Heisenberg Chalk Art

Chalk Art

Girl Drawing

Chalk Art

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Live Art Models

Photographing Live Art

Live Art and Performance

Live Art and Performance

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Two Story Live Painting Mural

Live Art and Performance

Shot with FujiX100s

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.

The Line Wrapped Around the Theater

Waiting for The Movie To Start

Movie Watchers

Last Showing

Candy Stands

Final Good-Bye

Last Showing

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?

Main stage lawn area

When Music Hits You, You Feel No Pain

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.

Ariel view of NYC from the Roosevelt Island Tramway

Red & Grey

Bay Area Bar in NYC. Felt right at home.

Grand Central Station Break Time Hot Dog Capital Coney Island Over There Coney Island Whirl DSCF0081 Keeping Watch DSCF0093 DSCF0112 Burgers Yankee Stadium Baseball Castle NYU DSCF9143 DSCF9101 The Pink Bike Pouring Coffee Lazy Summer Days DSCF9097 DSCF9027 In Her Shop Chinatown Market Sunset Chelsea Market Waiting West Side Flatiron Building Empire State Reflective Cityscape DSCF9218 Layered Water Towers Momofuku Manhattan from Brooklyn Bridge Brooklyn Brooklyn Bridge Manhattan Bridge and Workers Time's Square DSCF9036-2 Statue of Liberty DSCF9050-2 Late Night Eats Rain Exhibit Rainy NYC DSCF9428

Until next time.

 

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.

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Wedding in NYC

DSCF9356 Spent the day at work. Edited some wedding photos I attended in NYC this past summer. This is one of my favorite shots and the bride and bride loved it as well. These two are some of my closest friends and I'm happy I got to witness their union.

Tomorrow I have more free time and will either be shooting or working on some lettering.

Happy 2014!

_MG_4208-2A Happy New Year to you! What a year it has been and I wish I had been more diligent with documenting it on this blog. Nonetheless, it's a new year and I have much to do.

Here's the first post for 2014, and this is a photo I took this morning on the way to Big Sur. I opted to stay in for New Year's Eve to get up extra early at 4AM and head down the coast to Big Sur.

It was such a treat because the stars were still out and I was able to try out long exposures with my camera on a tripod. I've never photographed stars before and it was so wonderful to see it come out!

We spent about 6 hours in Big Sur photographing various spots and enjoying a lunch. What a great way to start 2014!

Cheers!

Pinhole Image

Taking two photography classes this semester. One is traditional black and white, complete with dark room time and the other is digital color photography, using Lightroom. For our first black and white project, we made a pinhole camera using an empty oatmeal box, painted it black inside, using blackout electrical tape we designed lightproof box to expose paper.

Here is one of my prints from the 5 picture series. I exposed 7 papers, and this one I liked the most.

The photo had just finished being washed and was on its way to the drying rack.

Really enjoyed this project, I hope to do some more throughout the semester as I'm working on my semester long project.

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