Monday, March 31, 2008

San Francisco Pt.II

A Photowalk through San Francisco – Revisited..

I flew through a whole bunch of shots in my files to look for a set to experiment with – one where I can begin to exercise some really flabby Photoshop muscles… but really – to say that I was exercising a new-found skill would be saying WAY TOO MUCH… in reality… if I’m exercising what little PS muscle I do have, then Barry Bonds hit every home-run without.. well… you know… help (c’mon, I’m a full on Giants fan – I’m in denial, remember! Blind and Die-Hard support! My Giants can do no wrong! Haha..)… Well as I was saying, if it looks like I’m punchin out my photos in Photoshop like a pro, then I definitely have some… ahem… help… Actions! Totally Rad Actions! No really, that’s the name… TRA for short… and these things saved my life…

Here are some of the ‘rejects’ (they aren’t really rejects – they just didn’t make the initial cut list) from my solo photowalk through my hometown a few years ago… (for the first set of photos from this photowalk check out San Francisco)... Goin' for that old town feel, I worked with a few Actions that I thought could help me develop a ‘look’ or ‘theme’ of nostalgia… all for the goal to tell a story… on of a beautiful city full of culture and history… enjoy!





Saint Patrick’s Church – from what I remember from my childhood, this church was one of the biggest on the block and really made a difference in the surrounding skyline… Now - it is just dwarfed by new high-rise buildings….



You can’t tell from the angle of this picture, but this really talented break dancer only has one leg… He was crazy good too!

This one of the cable car turnaround is Vaness’s favorite of this set =)


I’m learning of myself - that as a photographer - the necessity and beast of post-processing, in whatever program you choose, is still something I don’t really wanna spend my whole life learning ‘how to do’… I want something simple, fast, and most of all – professional… and all the work that I spent trying to learn with the books I read could only give me a base for what I needed to know to take my photos to the pro-level… disclaimer: I’m not quite pro yet… but, facing reality, I know that my post-processing skills are going to be limited by my expertise in a computer program – and that’s kinda sad in a way! I mean I am in no way hatin on CS3 experts out there... in fact, I envy you… I wish I had that skill set to just know the ins and outs of the program… I wish I just knew what to do when I want that effect – that set of steps that makes the colors pop even more – that set of moves to tighten up my photos… but, alas… I am learning to be a photographer – not a graphic artist! So in comes Actions… a program plug-in that gives me – the guy with only a basic knowledge of a layer and a mask – the ability to bring the best out in my photos (still with a natural, less-is-more approach)… and in turn… it gives me the knowledge base to ‘make my own actions’ if you will… all while giving me the option to venture out into the digital/film-effect world that I would normally not go to… a world bombarded and accustomed to fancy graphics and artificial effects – one that I have to, and in some ways – enjoy, getting acclimated to… This part of my professional development is indeed necessary… Actions really has stepped my knowledge of CS3 that much farther that much faster… and it has really saved my life… in the pro-photo-shooter-caught-in-a-digital-world kind of way…

Easter Sunday 2008

At the Rock Church in Point Loma 8, 10, and 12 services…

Being signed on with the photo ministry has been an amazing blessing and will definitely be a huge help in so so many ways… Really great and beautiful people are involved in the ministry and I am really excited to see where it will all take me… =)

Easter Sunday was an intense shooting day filled with so many moments and frames that it was overwhelming… and because of multiple moments, you are inevitably going to miss some… and the ones I WAS able to pull my camera up for were EXTREMELY challenging… not necessarily for framing (although that’s tough too) but for the low light – and the lights you do get are multi-colored beams blowing up in your face… metering is practically impossible… but it was a really great learning experience for shooting events, concerts, and low-light…

As far as what I was able to capture – even more blessings… here is a sample of the day… enjoy!








The morning was really nice and it was crazy to see people lined up around the block to get into church! Lot’s of favorites in this shoot… Indoors, shooting was really really tough – but I got a few shots to work with…








Hey! You can dance in church! I love it! =) The Rock Steady Dance Team was pretty good and they got an awesome reaction from the audience… So clean!





The next shot is actually from the Good Friday Praise Concert and the rest are a few more ‘artsy’ shots of Easter Services =)






The church community is amazing.. it’s made up of all sorts of people – different races, ages, families, all in different stages in life… it is really a blessing to be a part of it and to capture the day… just the amount of people that dedicate themselves to Christ, service after service, is staggering… God is truly moving in this Church…

I will also say that I love the fact that they had so many different pieces for the Easter and good Friday services… gospel choir, great voices, hip-hop dancin (really crazy! And they are pretty good too!), children’s choir, the Katina’s on Good Friday, and UFC MMA Fighter Diego Sanchez sharing his testimony on Good Friday… and photography ministry! You can’t help it – there is always a place here for you to Do Something… =)

Sunday, March 23, 2008

The Engagement

The Storytelling of a perfect moment captured…

Well… if you can’t tell by the header – Vaness and I are engaged! Crazy! Without a doubt – 100% - We know that it was because God has pushed, broken, re-built, and shaped our lives individually and together… But, with all the learning and incredible growth that we were both able to experience, everything really has truly accelerated in the past year – the point at which we both dedicated our relationship to Christ… Our relationship has truly been heaven sent and God-led… going forward, we both know that this is the only way we can continue to grow together…

The moment that was captured is, hands-down, the best picture and moment that I have taken and will ever take… and somewhat poetically – and really, fittingly – it was a picture which I was not behind the camera to actually take… the capturing of this moment could not have been more perfect and the fact that I was literally not behind the camera for it – to me – speaks volumes as to how our relationship has been guided and molded perfectly by God… sure, I was measuring and metering the exposure, and sure, I set up the camera on a tri-pod to capture it… but God led me to the idea of this moment… there was a huge degree of faith I had to have in order for the picture to be taken in the way that it was… a million things could have altered the moment and its capture… and with all my careful planning and thought… the image that is ingrained in our lives forever through this picture was more amazing than anything I could have ever imagined - a lot like our relationship – even with all the effort and planning, the current result is more than I could have ever prayed for…

A three-part theme to the entire moment as a whole is the next series of photos… The exact moments before, during, and after the proposal… each one of the photos expresses more thoughts than I could ever put into words… without facial expressions – just silhouettes – a story can be told for hours on end….

The exact story as to how it all worked is actually pretty detailed… I will start by saying that, even though everything seemed like it was captured to perfection – I was the most nervous I think I have ever been! I was pretty cool, calm, and collected going up to Hilltop Park – even while we were just hanging out together admiring the scenery – but once the moment was coming closer, I got extremely nervous…

I was thinking Saturday, March 15 was going to be THE DAY… I was so ready for the weekend… we made plans to watch the sunset and have dinner at an Italian restaurant in Hillcrest – and little did she know that those reservations were supposed to be for an engagement celebration!! But, as Saturday came, the thunderstorm of the year (literally! We haven’t had one like this in close to a year) decided to pour down on the sunny San Diego - Vaness likes to point out the “sunny” part of sunny San Diego to me all the time… =)… Vaness recommended to me to not even bring my camera when I went to pick her up… so, on our way to the restaurant as we were driving up the freeway, the hailstorm that we were experiencing began to slow down! Then, out from the clouds, the most beautiful sunset was forming… I was really disappointed and I couldn’t hide it… and, to make matters more difficult, Vaness thought that I was blaming her for me not being able “take pictures of the sunset” – uh, I was upset that I couldn’t propose on such a perfect day! Dinner was great that evening… but, the engagement had to wait until... Sunday…

We made plans again to “watch/take pictures” of the sunset for Sunday and all seemed like it was going to go according to plan this time… except for the fact that it was her parent’s anniversary!!! As we were going to head up to Hilltop Park to “watch/take pictures” of the sunset, she receives a call from her mom telling her that they had just decided to celebrate their anniversary and go out to dinner… disappointment settles in again – this time even more obviously… and Vaness felt really bad that she had to go… I felt bad that she was feeling bad – and well let’s just say that it unfolded into a day that may not be ideal for - the plan…

Monday, March 17 comes around and I get a call from Vaness in the afternoon. We were having pretty normal conversation and then she mentions to me, “You know what my dad asked me today? He asked me if we were engaged yet!?”… great… I had asked for her parent’s blessing the week before, but I guess they may have thought that the proposal was going to happen really soon (and it was!! On Saturday! And on Sunday!)… she actually thought nothing of the question and brushed it off as casual conversation… I was able to push the possible thoughts of an impending engagement by saying, “Oh wow! He really asked you that?? Maybe they are hoping we get engaged soon… Scary! I’m gonna have to talk to your parents and ask them for their blessing soon!!”… yah… I already did that.

Tuesday, March 18 came around and we are finally able to meet together, no distractions – everything seems set… the weather’s good, plenty of time, no rush, good plan… Enchanted even comes out on DVD that day (one of our Disney favorites) and so I decide to buy that for her… I called Vaness to tell her that I’m on my way to meet her - I have something for her and ask her to guess what it is… she says, “A wedding ring???” Ha. Ha. Ha. Is she serious? (In fact, V – are you sure this whole thing was really a surpise?? You SAY it is…=)) I try to shrug that bullet off by saying, “Okay okay, I’ll go get you one right now.. what kind do you want.. plastic? How ‘bout those ring pop candy things – you’ll be REALLY blingin with that one..” She says she was only kidding =)…great… I THINK she doesn’t know… well we head up to Hilltop park before sunset and everything finally seems to be going smoothly.. I got the big ol’ ring box in my left pocket, with my camera bag and sweater covering that whole side of my body… and the whole way up we just talked about little fast-food joints that we may want to eat at afterwards… thankfully she decided it was okay that we eat late, cuz the day before she really wanted to just grab something to eat or cook before-hand… I answered both of those requests by saying, “Uh, if we bring food up there, it will be kinda cold weather for a picnic… and uh, cooking may be too hard in such a short time, I don’t want to be rushed.” Actually, it’s cuz, uh, I already made reservations for our favorite restaurant, Peohe’s, for the celebration of our engagement! Duh! Wow – I think I dodged another one – AGAIN…

Of course – it couldn’t go perfect – even if I had her right where I wanted… I was so consumed with the series of events that had to happen that I must have looked like a total space cadet that day – I feel like I had this very blank stare in my eyes until the sun was setting… my hands were super clammy… all I could think about was everything going right…

She gladly decided to jump into the frame as the sun was setting... as I set up the exposure, even more things began to go wrong!! My camera, for some extremely odd reason, didn’t want to focus!!! I had to take a whole bunch of shots of her standing there just to make sure it all went right… AND, I had my ISO up to something like 1200 for some crazy reason and forgot to change it (Thus the slight grain)! On top of that, it turns out, I had the camera in Bracket mode the whole time – so immediately after a properly exposed shot, a very underexposed and a very overexposed shot follows… I normally know this, but I was so nervous that I couldn’t figure it out!! I was so frustrated!! So I ended up changing my lens to my 50mm prime lens (which ends up being a good thing because it is the only lens with which I know how to consistently get a starburst effect out of a direct light source – thus explaining those rays you see in the final product)… and even then, I’m still struggling! Well, here is a little montage of all those exposures of her patiently standing there…

All the craziness that was happening with my camera made time fly right by – Vaness reminds me, “The sun is setting! I’m sure the picture is fine!!” I was really not confident in the picture the moment that I set my camera on timer – but I had to let go – I’m convinced it was God’s way of telling me that he’s got it all under control… even if I am hesitant to let go of the reigns…

I joined her in the frame and grabbed her for a hug while trying to hide the box I have in my left pocket… I began to fumble for the ring in my pocket… the timer is running down… I struggle to find the front of the box between our hug so that I could open the box in the right direction…the camera timer clicks faster… it’s time…

I bent to one knee and said four words… “WILL YOU MARRY ME?”… ‘Click’… I swear that I had a whole lot more to say than that!! How 'bout I love you? I want to spend the rest of my life with you? You're beautiful? Hi? I guess I was just that nervous… but at least I got the important words out… She answered me by saying “Are you serious? REALLY? ARE YOU SURE? The ring is unreal! Are you serious? Are you sure? Really?”… I stood up and, after a few more of the same questions, said, “Yes, of course I’m serious… so, uh… Well?”… She finally answers, “Oh yah! Of course!! I didn’t say yes yet?”… Excitement really does cause you to forget your words…

The moment of our engagement is a collection of our two passions… My passion for photography and her passion for the sunset… the result is a perfect match and marriage of the two… as for me… Her passion for the sunset – something that is arguably the most powerful symbol of God’s undeniable and constant presence – is just one of the many reasons why I love her… not just because she likes sunsets, but because she appreciates and loves the beauty of what everyone finds to be a regular everyday occurrence… we take it for granted, if you will… but, she finds a place in her heart for those kinds of things, the details in life we all forget… not only does she remember and appreciate the details and the everyday things, but she works endlessly to ensure that in some way, they are recognized… she reminds me, a person who has a wide scope of vision and often sees a whole picture, that the little things and the details matters just as much… small acts of kindness and thoughtfulness are things that we don’t realize have a huge effect on people… she is a romantic in that way… I am in another way… and in both – we fit together…

It is a breathtaking image… A real image… Beautiful… Romantic… I couldn’t possibly take all the credit… Psalms 27:1 - The Lord is my light… the verse directly above my bed containing a picture of - you guessed it - the sunset… You cannot doubt the presence of light in every bit of what is – easily - the most perfect moment I have captured and will ever capture… The moment that I actually never really shot… the one I wasn’t behind the camera to take… God has such an amazing way…

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Reyelisa - Fashion Editorial, Pt. 4 of 4

Fashion Layout – Details – Part 4 of 4

Final shoot! With the prestige of San Diego’s Balboa park, you would think this would be a haven for anyone with a camera… and in a way, it was… the moment we got to the pavilion that was the target of our shoot, we spotted 4 other people with dSLRs and a wedding party doing a shoot on the other side… yup – the quintessential shoot location… but as we were shooting, we had the hardest time getting anything that was really interesting! I mean the place is a bit flat when it comes to color, and the place is only really full of repeating patterns – you could take a picture of a bunch of columns only so many ways… well tell me what you think of this one… and remember – you are reading in reverse order, if you want to read forward, skip to part 1 of 4 and progress to here…

Here is part/location 4 of 4…. Theme - Cinderella... Enjoy =)

| Organ Pavillion | Balboa Park | San Diego, CA |

| Organ Pavillion | Balboa Park | San Diego, CA |

| Organ Pavillion | Balboa Park | San Diego, CA |


| Mark M. | Organ Pavillion | Balboa Park | San Diego, CA |

| Organ Pavillion | Balboa Park | San Diego, CA |

| Organ Pavillion | Balboa Park | San Diego, CA |

| Organ Pavillion | Balboa Park | San Diego, CA |

| Organ Pavillion | Balboa Park | San Diego, CA |

| Organ Pavillion | Balboa Park | San Diego, CA |


The entire four part shoot was a lot of fun to do and the post processing was just as fun… Thank you to Reyelisa for allowing us all to partake in the project… Thanks to Mark and Cha for all your shooting inspiration throughout the day… Thanks to Tep for coming along for the ride and being a great model…

Special thanks to the Corner House Café off of Sorrento Valley road near Mira Mesa as well as Café Noir in downtown SD for allowing us to shoot directly on location… Thanks to the county of San Diego for having the Organ Pavillion and to the Salk Institute for not sending out the snipers to the roof… =)

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Reyelisa - Fashion Editorial, Pt. 3 of 4

Featured Shoot 2 - Fashion Layout, Details – Part/Location 3 of 4

Definitely my favorite location of the day…

Part/location 3 of 4…. Theme – The Evil Step Sisters… Enjoy =)

| Cafe Noir | Downtown | San Diego, CA |

| Cafe Noir | Downtown | San Diego, CA |

| Cafe Noir | Downtown | San Diego, CA |

| Cafe Noir | Downtown | San Diego, CA |

| Cafe Noir | Downtown | San Diego, CA |

| Cafe Noir | Downtown | San Diego, CA |

| Cafe Noir | Downtown | San Diego, CA |

| Cafe Noir | Downtown | San Diego, CA |

| Cafe Noir | Downtown | San Diego, CA |

| Cafe Noir | Downtown | San Diego, CA |


This location started immediately as a disappointment… but eventually resulted as the winner of my favorite location… we were going there intending to find a dark, evil location so that we could shoot right out front and get it done… As we drove by it, all the dark character was there – but, it was conveniently highlighted by some spunky neon colored lanterns placed smack in the middle of the entire layout for the purposes of a “grand-opening”… we walked closer, sad faces and camera gear in hand, trying to save the scene in our heads… “maybe we can photoshop it? Or maybe we can keep those happy-time lanterns out of the image?”… then the owner pops out and says “Come on in! We have a photographer’s paradise in the back-lounge!!”…

Wow – this guy wasn’t kidding – I probably could have spent another hour there, but we were on a time crunch… He went on giving us a tour of what turned out to be a quaint little place in the middle of downtown condo-mania… It was a historical landmark apparently, required to be untouched by the city… but this hip and modern place had more charm then the front door lets on… he explained the history of the building and went on about the changes and visions of the little plot of land went through over the years… a true storyteller, you can see the passion that he had for this place in his eyes… He still saw even greater growth and changes coming for a place that he said started humbly, from the ground up – he laid out plans and showed us sketches of the future... this guy could not be stopped…

How fitting… (Read Part 1 of 4 and you will know what I mean)…

Reyelisa - Fashion Editorial, Pt. 2 of 4

Featured Shoot 2 - Fashion Layout, Details – Part/Location 2 of 4

I just realized – that because I am posting in the chronologically forward direction – you the reader will be seeing all the images from END to BEGINNING… haha… well, if you want the full intended effect – scroll down as fast as you can – and start at part 1 of 4… I think I’ll have to post this in front of each new one of this 4 part series… oh well… live and learn..

Although, not as dynamic in the way of tonal ranges as the first location, geometric shapes and leading lines were the practice piece of this location’s shoot… Very challenging, but still fun… the theme and storyboards of all the shoots will be covered in a future post of all of Mark’s work on the project – the photographic visionary and Primary Shooter of this project… He came up with some great concepts to go with the overall design and direction provided by Reyelisa (who received an A+ for all her efforts!) The final fashion portion covered my Mark pulled out some HDR (High Dynamic Range) work and resulted in some incredible images… We worked together to get the final color mapping and filters on the shot and voila – Herra Bomb work. We had a heck of team for this whole project… really, really, fun…

Part/location 2 of 4…. Theme - Fairy godmother, Juxtaposition of Nature and Man... Enjoy =)

| Salk Institute | La Jolla, CA |

| Salk Institute | La Jolla, CA |


| Salk Institute | La Jolla, CA |


| Salk Institute | La Jolla, CA |


| Salk Institute | La Jolla, CA |


| Salk Institute | La Jolla, CA |


| Salk Institute | La Jolla, CA |


| Salk Institute | La Jolla, CA |


As we were shooting here, security came out to check up on us… They said we were alright, but we could swear that there is some secret underground spaceship from the planet Zerton under this place.. It was probably more guarded than Area 51… This place had cameras on every rooftop corner, long drops, steel bars at every stairwell into the compound, a moat (yes, like the kind in medieval times), and I am fully convinced that automatic 100 rounds/second guns pop out of ALL of those little evenly dispersed and well placed holes in the concrete walls… But, that’s just my theory…