A Few From My Sister’s Wedding

Okay! I know what you are thinking. Why do you only have 3 pictures of your own sister’s wedding!? Well here’s the thing, my sister Tracy Luu, now Tracy Jane Luu Varnes, the one seen below in the white wedding dress who is always so thoughtful, kind, beautiful and loving wanted me to “enjoy” the wedding and not take part in any photography for the day. She’s so sweet huh? At first, I was sort of depressed about it, as her brother I thought I would be the obvious choice. Although, looking back I can see what. I was able to be a groomsman, to be in the presence of my family , immediate family and extended family. To really get to watch my sister Tracy and her now husband Adam basks in each other’s love and joy with both eyes and not squinting behind a lens.

I did however, sneak my camera with me that day so I could get this one shot I had in mind. Fortunately, I GOT IT! It’s the 3rd one below. Behind her is my other sister whom I love very much Steph! To me, it is probably the most meaningful and cherished photographs I’ve ever taken. It’s not perfect, it’s focused on the wrong eye for you pixel peeping, technique savvy perfectionist out there, and normally I would have thrown it in the trash. But! It’s not the quality, or the way it was taken, or the photographic features that make this image special to me. It’s that the two people I love the most, next to my parents, grandma and my dog cookie are sharing a very precious moment together, my sister’s wedding, her wedding dress and in a very candid moment. I’m not big on posing and that photograph as my mentor Genaro Molina would say, when you capture an photograph, you capture a precious moment in history; a moment that can never be genuinely duplicate or recreated.

I love you Tracy and you too Adam. Congratulations. Please bring home chili cheese fries.

My Sister Tracy and her Husband Adam Wedding Video

iThank You Steve Jobs

So it’s been a very sad day after the reality of Steve Jobs’ death has finally started to set in. Unfortunately, I never got a chance to meet him. He’s has been one of my most looked up to heros/icon/role model or whatever you want to call it. Steve Jobs’ life is a testament to his personality and his story & career are the thing I remember most. College drop out who started a billion dollar company in his garage, left out by the company he started and came back with a bang. He’s changed the culture of our generation and helped shaped the lives we live today. Almost everyone today has been affected somehow directly or indirectly by the products Steve Jobs & Apple have created, even Android users. His attention to detail and his ability to think differently makes him one of the greatest innovators of our time. He made technology cool, easy to use and for everyone. Above was a quick picture I took of all the iPods I’ve ever owned.

I still remember how I got each one and where I was when I opened them. Something about owning a Apple product is very memorable for me, it probably has to do with how I got my first one. The iPod Mini.

Green iPod Mini: Purchased this in my junior year of high-school on eBay for a little over $120. Took it apart several times (thus only the shell is shown), changed the color, the screen whenever it got too beat up. I swear I dropped it a dozen times, the circuit board actually came out on the cement once but it still worked! Absolutely, loved it! The iPod Mini was my first venture into technology as I didn’t have a cell phone at the time. It was also the most money I ever spent at one time. I saved for 8 months and purchased the entire thing out of saved coins in a mayo jar. I later gave the coins to my friend who used his eBay account. He gave it to me during second period lunch (remember 1st and 2nd period lunches in Highschool?) and I opened under building A on a cloudy day. Sadly, it was stolen at my best friend’s birthday party, I miss you. The iPod Mini represented for me, that if you really want something, you have to work hard to get it.

Silver iPod Nano: Purchased this at my local target around christmas time for $249+tax for a 4GB with my friend who bought the one above. It was actually black but I sold it to fund a purchase for my first iPhone, later to be shown.

Green iPod Shuffle: Given to me as a gift by Edison for all the interns of our year. I always bring this with me when I am running or biking. Best workout tool there is! I’ve logged at least 100 miles with it just this summer.

How do you Apple?

“I want to put a ding in the universe” – Steve Jobs

Jenny & Balazs

First time taking a back seat at a wedding, it felt really weird! I thought it would be nice to try video at this wedding and ran out of memory fast!! It was all for fun though and I had a great time being a “guest”. Although, mid-day came around and one of the bridesmaids (Esther Han) had a Canon S95 which I’ve never used before and decided to “temporarily borrow it” 😛 Enjoy!

Thanks Esther! Minor Noise-reduction and contrast adjustments. It’s a very nice point and shoot camera. I really want one now. AHHHHHHH!

3rd Logo Draft Applied 😛

Looking Back @ Basketball

I dont think I ever posted this picture. Also, testing out the new logo. 😛

Here’s another image with 2nd logo draft:

 

 

 

 

Bridal Shower: Tracy Luu Part 1

Getting Back to Basics: Courtney McCullough

 

 

This is Courtney McCullough, free spirited and traveler abroad doing her first shoot. Going back to basics and simplicity with these photos. No crazy photoshop effects, no reflector, no flash, just camera, lens, model and ideas. I’ve taken most of the summer off photography to concentrate on my Internship and training for my Ironman Triathlon in March. I’ve sold most if not all my camera gear. Thanks Nicole Chow and William Lu for letting me borrow your gear! William I absolutely love your lens, although I bet you can’t tell which photos I used it on :P. Thanks Courtney for being very easy to work with and open minded and working with me while I tried to shake off my photography rust.

Model: Courtney McCullough

Camera: 5D Mark II (Nicole Chow’s)
Lenses: 24-70 2.8 & 70-200 2.8 IS II (William Lu’s)

About That Time Again

Got to shoot with my first hasselblad, film camera with digital back. It took an hour to get it working, was working on time constraints… Just getting the camera to work was an accomplishment. The viewfinder was squared shape and the final pictures were not… Not bad for first time!

Credits: Model: Kara Lyne

Some Nicki Minaj Photos I Took on the Web!

http://www.missxpose.com/2010/08/nicki-minaj-billboard-interview-and-photo-shoot/

 

About Time I Update my Blog!

About time I update my blog!… so busy lately.

Heather Norgord
Model: Heather Norgord

This was a real refreshing shoot, didn’t think I’d have any time this weekend with all thats been going on right now. I should be studying but worked on this picture these pictures. I didn’t get a chance to work on them completely, so many midterms this week but here’s a quick preview. I think I might have bitten off more than I can chew with school and work. ANYWAYS,  Heather is a very gorgeous model. Thanks for modeling for me Heather! During the shoot, I got to meet Charlotte Rutherford who’s from England and a friend of Andrea. Check out her flickr (link provided below). As much as I love wedding photography it’s nice to change it up once in a while. I haven’t had much time to photograph anything at all! I have some wedding pictures I’ll update my blog with soon.

Peace!

Charlotte Rutherford: http://www.flickr.com/charlotterutherford
http://www.charlotterutherford.com

Andrea Pun: http://www.andreapun.com