SF China Town | UCD Graduation | Jax

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UCD Class of 2007

 

 

 

 

Jax

 

 

 

 

Friday: Went to my best friend Eric’s graduation.  Congrats buddy it’s hard to believe how far we’ve traveled this road together.  I’ve been best friends with this guy since I was five.  I still remember the day we met and eighteen years later we both ended up at the same college and are now both graduated.  Well I guess well just see who ends up married first haha.  A beautiful girl already nabbed our buddy Josh so that leaves the two of us haha.  Well just have to wait and see what happens.

Sunday: My sister left for Korea for the summer to study abroad.  I miss her a lot already and I can’t wait to hear her experiences and what she learned there.  I can’t wait to pick up on some more Korean from her. =)  I’m getting better but I still suck haha.  One of these days I’m going to go there and maybe I’ll met my wife there hahaha.  We dropped her off at SFO and while it was father’s day my parents and I spent the day visiting China town in SF.  I had some horrible dimsum but all good since I haven’t had that in a long time and got some Chinese baked goods too.  Visiting China Town is my poor attempt to be more Chinese hahaha.  Anyways, it was cool walking around and scoping out shops and snapping a few pics here and there.  While walking through down town SF there are so many great places I imagined to place a bride and groom; I think it wouldn’t be most appropriate but I still think it would make for an interesting photograph. 

Jax:  Well there only one word to describe my close friend Jackie…Fiesty.  I had the priviledge of shooting a few shots of Jackie a few weeks back and she is such a beautiful person inside and out.  She is like no one else I know.  I don’t think I know another person who cares for all her friends like she does.  I am blessed to have her as a part of my life.  There was a lot for me to learn from this short shoot too.  I do know I like shoot down on people for portaits!  The lighting that day was way harsh if you can’t already tell.  I knew better but that was the only time of the day I could do the shoot and didn’t get to any places ideal where the light was diffused well. 

Extras:

So its official!  No, I don’t have a gf haha.  Still happily single (for now) hahaha.  I’M GOING TO PARIS & LONDON BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Yup, I’m attending Scott Robert’s and Kim Nodurft’s workshop in Paris.  I am extremely excited and I can’t wait to go.  The sweet part is I get to travel with one of my best friends aka the xanga celeberty….Junshien. =)  I’ve never been to Europe but theres a first for everything =)  Paris, here I come. 

SFO International is a pretty sweet airport.  I happen to think the engieering is brillant and extremely efficent.  The airport is extremely efficent with using natural light to light the airport.  I also noticed they use large canvas materials to diffuse the light too so sunlight creates softer light.  The transit system and air rail are extremely well mapped out too.  The rail system is so easy to use and it would be really difficult for anyone to really confuse themselves as to where they need to go.  I also think the drop off zone is pretty sweet too.  Its right off the 101 and it gets you back on the freeway in seconds too.  It’s nicely designed and did I mention it was huge?  Yah it’s large!

Thanks for reading.

Cheers,

Steve

 Currently Listening to….

Arthur & Cindy

***photo splurg***

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well I finally finished post processing photos from Arthur and Cindy’s wedding in Nevada City,CA at Empire Mine State Park.  I’ve never took so many photos in my life at one event.  I shoot somewhere around 1,800 photos !  The Historical site is such a beautiful place.  If anyone of you ever want to take a trip with me just to take photos here please let me know.  Perhaps I’ll organize something where some of your photo guru’s and people who want portraits can go for a fun shoot!  I will tell you the lighting there is incredible.  It’s like no other place I’ve seen in terms of light distribution.  Perfect lighting in my honest opinion.  I had a blast at the wedding and the food was most excellent by Supper Club of Sacramento.  If you need catering for a wedding or special event you wont be disappointed.  I also used Gary Fong’s whale tale for many of the reception photos but I was using the amber gel tab which created a lot of warm images that I had to fix back to WB but no biggy.  I still need to experiment with the diffuser a bit more before I start that comparison with the lightsphere II. 

The cool thing about this wedding was my close friends Ruth and Matt were the coordinators for the wedding.  Well Ruth is the main coordinator and Matt(Ruth’s husband) is most supportive of Ruth throughout a long day.  I tell you for a guy to keep up with his wife during a wedding is something to admire! Mad Props =)  Ruth is a awesome at what she does and if you know anyone who needs a wedding coordinator drop me a line. 

On another note, this weekend I also got to meet my second cousins from Korea.  They are significantly older than I am but it was interesting meeting them.  They have four kids of their own (all girls) but they do not live in the states.  Being the first time I’ve met them, they are certainly kind people.  My uncle is taking them golfing before they head back to Korea. 

Misc. Rubbish…

So I want to begin shooting automotive professionally to feed my desire and passion for import tuner and exotic cars.  What I need to know is what sorts of lighting equipment would be ideal without a high price.  I have a light stand but thinking about external lighting for those urban shots in parking garages and what not.  I’m pretty serious about adding this to my photography habits.  A lot of automotive inspiration comes from a couple guys form my Skyline forum.  OB Photo and a photography I know who shoots for JTuned.  I still need to learn how to make a still car look like its moving 100mph! =) 

So for you wedding photographers…how often do you change your lens during a wedding or do you have enough backup cameras that you don’t even have to really change.  I know it depends on what the photographer wants but I’m just curious! =) How many of you folks shoot primes at weddings?  It’s possible but I don’t think anyone does unless the shot is setup! hahaha. 

So I need some color management/calibrator.  I was wondering what you guys thought about the Gretag Macbeth Eye One.  Let me know if you guys have any recommendations or comments about the calibrator I listed. 

So if you haven’t heard yet…I’m switching over to Mac in the near future and wanted some of your guys opinions on two Macs I am thinking about.  So I know for sure I’m either getting the Macbook Pro 17″ or iMac 24″  I probably wont be getting it until the Fall because I’m waiting for Leopard OS to come out along with new processors that Macs will have this September/October.  Comments welcomed!  =) 

p.s. – Yah, I know I said “so” four times! =)  And in case you were wonder…I shot the wedding with only two lenses and I love rich color!

Stay tuned for photos of my friend Jackie

Thanks for reading!

Cheers,

Steve

Pebble Beach, CA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another quick update.  This past weekend I headed down to Pebble Beach with some good ol’ friends from college and we had a blast.  I swear we are all normal. hahahhaha  I couldn’t resist after Junshien’s post.  I was going to keep this post pretty plain(for lack of a better word) but I couldn’t resist haha.  Sometimes I swear we are 10 year old stuck in 24 year old bodies, haha.  Anyways, a much needed R&R for all of us.  It was really nice to get away from computers, internet, phone calls or masses of people.  I was going to say my camera but it would be a crime not to bring it to Pebble Beach! =)  Anyways, snapped a few shots here and there.  Stopped at Bird Rock, Lone Cypress and a few other prime locations.  I swear ever area we went to whether the beach house or in downtown Carmel we had to do a odd photo there haha.  I’m still laughing at most of these pics and this picture above of Esther jumping off the steps just cracks me up because of her expression.  I have no idea what she is doing but its funny.  Anyways, I hope you all have a awesome week. 

Stay tuned for more photos from Cindy & Arthur’s Wedding…

p.s. – who wants to go see Ocean 13 with me this weekend?

To the Canon DSLR users…what setting do you use most often…Av or M?

Thanks for reading – Steve