A Few More Photos

She was definitely working the camera.

Let me talk about why weddings are difficult to shoot. When conditions are less than perfect, like indoors in a dark church, it can be very tricky. Aperture mode and auto white balance on the camera get easily fooled because of the white dress and dark tux. Most of the time you can't use flash, which means you have to have really good lenses and you have to really know your camera. You generally have to shoot in manual mode and you have to be fast adjusting your settings.

In this case, what really drove the camera nuts was the mix of natural, incandescent, and florescent lighting. You'll get half the person really cool (blue) and the other half warm (yellow). One sign a wedding photographer isn't good is if a majority (or all) of his or her indoor and night shots are in black and white.

Randy & Victoria's Wedding

I love the veil blowing in the wind.






This is a cool shot for some reason.

I assisted AC today at a wedding. Technically Randy and Victoria renewed their vows after 17 years of marriage and 2 kids. Pretty incredible this day and age if you ask me. Here are some of my favorite pictures from today. The ceremony was simple yet beautiful. Then we went to Cascades Park in Monterey Park to shoot some photos before the reception, typical wedding place that everyone goes to. Hopefully it didn't turn out cheesy - I don't think it did. I didn't do my usual several thousand shots today since the pressure was on AC. I just snapped away casually but I think I got some nice shots. A few more pictures when I get the chance to fix them up then send the whole thing over to AC to edit the rest however he likes.

The 70-200 2.8 is an absolute must for any wedding. AC borrowed the Canon 70-200 2.8 IS lens. That thing is a solid piece of metal that's shorter and thicker than the Nikon equivalent I used for Lynn and Donovan's wedding - but equally as expensive. It was a pretty spectacular lens. I didn't have it and missed a lot of important shots. I stuck to my 50 1.4 most of the day and used my 17-35 2.8 for the wider shots. I didn't use too much flash much so I can't really review the flash diffuser I bought. Instead, I cranked up the ISO to 1600 and things looked fine. People complain too much about graininess but it's really not a big deal. Things used to be even more grainy with film so I think they're just looking for excuses for poor shot selection.

Shari @ Santa Monica

Earlier this week Shari and I met up in Santa Monica for some food and hanging out. I had my camera with me so we snapped a few photos. She spotted a great location on the pier and the lighting was perfect.

So what's the best way to light a person with sunlight? There are a couple of ways to go about this. A lot of people face the sun, but all you get are squints and it looks harsh. Some people will have the sun to the back but it'll come out dark or you'll have to use a flash, which isn't flattering. My favorite is to have the sun at an angle - notice the nice glow :) This can only be done during specific times.

So what's the best time to shoot? Ideally, I like to shoot during dusk, about 30 minutes before the sun sets. The worst time is probably high noon, when the sun is bright which casts harsh shadows. It can be easily fixed by just going in the shade - but if you do make sure you have a good fast lens.

That's my way of shooting, there is really no right or wrong way but this way produces the more flattering pictures in my opinion and it's just my style of lighting. Some people love it and some might hate it.

Saturday I'll get a chance to shoot with AC so hopefully I'll have some nice pictures to show.

A Birthday with Crawdads

I had a tasty cholesterol-filled treat this past weekend at Anisa's birthday crawdad extravaganza. This is the second year I've done this so I'm a pro at this now - the trick is not to eat the meat and suck the head but you gotta peal the head back to scrape the head fat (the best part). Yes, it sounds gross but true crawdad fans know what I'm talkin about. The next birthday coming up in my good friend "Prince" Howard's this weekend (see the post where I was a groomsman at his wedding).

Anyway, here are a couple of my portraits shot with awesome sunset lighting and my favorite 1.4 lens. I'm going to post another golden sunset lighting picture soon that I shot at Santa Monica.

Also, looks like I'm going to be assisting AC this weekend to shoot a wedding so that should be fun. A lot more pictures soon.

Sienna The Slideshow

Ok this is the last Sienna post for a long while, as I am only documenting the first year of her life. It's a good thing Kris has a nice camera so he can take over from here. It's amazing to see someone grow up so fast. She's developing quite the personality as you can tell by the pictures. She's got a split personality, so goes back and forth between all-business like dad and silly/funny like mom with her own goofy style added in. My regular blog readers have shared this experience with me. If you like the pics you can see most of them in the archives. Enjoy :)

Sienna's Birthday Part 2

Polo shoes?!


How to entertain a kid without exerting much energy? Ans: Bubbles.

Here's part 2 of Sienna's first birthday. She's having a party this Saturday so I'm still debating on whether or not to go to that. I also have a video that I'll be posting soon based on pictures of her first year.

On the photo front...I did receive a tax refund so what new toy should I buy? The 70-200 lens??? *scratches chin*

Someone Just Turned 1 !!!

Guess who can walk now!?! It's not Sienna because she doesn't walk, she struts. Check out the bounce and her snappin those fingers - which can only be described as FIERCE!! (Project Runway fans know what I'm talkin about). Some more pictures when I get to them.

Howard + Sandy + Nikon F4

Nikon F4 with the fat 17-35mm 2.8.

Howard and Sandy came up to visit today for some lunch (See history for their wedding). Sandy brought her Nikon F4 film camera, which was the top-of-the-line Nikon back in the day. Actually, Howard's dad owns the camera and it's been sitting in storage in mint condition for ages. She's taking a photography class. Attached to it is the 85 1.8 lens ...yummy (did I tell you how much I think prime lenses rule???). Unfortunately for me, I have an old Canon EOS Rebel S film camera that isn't compatible with my Nikon lenses. Two gear posts...what's going on here??!!

The good news is that there are some birthdays coming up in March, which means some pictures of people coming soon.

Update: New Poll (Which camera brand do you use) on the right as well as a link to Sandy's blog -->>