Robert Yee Photography - Orange County & Los Angeles Wedding Photographer Blog

2,500'

2010-06-13T01:56:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I woke up at 3:35am to drive to Temecula for the 2010 balloon & wine festival. It was definitely worth the early wake up!

I want to go over some brief precautions and notices for anyone planning on going. First, definitely spend the extra money and go during the festival.

When you arrive to the parking lot you'll be utterly confused where to go and everyone we asked wasn't quite sure either. So, park close to the festival ticket booth. We entered through the EXIT - I'm not sure if that's how its like every year but keep that in mind.

Next, WEAR A HAT! I read that on the website but thought it wasn't really necessary. ITS FREAKING NECESSARY!!!

If you want pictures pack wide, long and TRAVEL SIZE. They DO NOT allow you to take bags up with you, you leave them behind on the ground. All in the air images were on my 5d2 + 16-35 and fisheye. I wish I could have taken up my 70-200.

Also, if you think you can get those cool ground shots looking up with a ton of balloons - you'll be in for quite a task. It's hard to be in the air and on the ground at the same time. After you check in you'll need to stay around your pilot so that when everyone (8 passengers on our flight) show up you immediately go to your balloon and they start inflating it. Hopefully you get luck and are able to get lots of cool ground shots, but I wasn't really.

Here's our take off video. Moving around is VERY little when you're inside the basket. Thank goodness my girlfriend is a twig and I was able to turn sort of easily.

It REALLY is floating on air! Once you take off you just float, its amazing.

We got up to around 2,500'. Below is what 2,500' and a fisheye look like. Pretty fucking awesome.

To wrap up, its definitely something I'd like to do again, but with a hat and a long lens. I leave you with a few stills captured with my wide angles.

The Lab + Crystal Cove + Grand Tradition Estate

2010-05-28T02:03:00.000-07:00

This is a continuation of the weekend, Sundays wedding.

I frequent The Lab in Costa Mesa now and then and knew it was a great spot for photos. I was lucky enough that my couple also agreed it was a great spot and also wanted to shoot at Crystal Cove beach.

They celebrated their wedding this past weekend at Grand Tradition Estate in Fallbrook. This place was awesome; the staff was superb, location was great and we had great light. More importantly the couple was awesome.

The photo below needs some explanation. At first glance you'd think its someone crying for happiness but instead its for sadness.

After the wedding I was walking to grab my stuff and I overhead the lady (pictured) ask a worker if the wedding had started, she replied with "its already over". I knew it was game time for me so I observed what was happening and shot.

I don't recall ever being sad at a wedding, but this was the first time. I really empathized with the lady, but thankfully I covered the wedding well and my photo's should do the story justice.

I overshot my 5D classic so I was forced to buy a 5d2. I won't go into what I think about it, but I do like the video although its a pain to focus manually. Here's a short clip I took at the reception.

Dodger Stadium + Castle Green

2010-05-28T02:00:00.000-07:00

Its been quite a while since I've blogged, but not quite a while since I've been shooting. Even though the economy still hasn't recovered, I've managed to stay busy.

Here are some excellent photo's I took over the weekend (esession was months ago).

I've lived in So Cal my entire life and have never set foot in Dodger Stadium until this day (of the esession).

This place is great! I'm thankful the groom is a HUUUGE Dodgers fan! We headed to downtown afterwards to find some cool locations.

Their wedding was also this past weekend, yes a double header for me! Awesome if you ask me, even better when its a trippple.

I was really fortunate last weekend to have awesome couples and awesome locations. Castle Green is a real castle! It's freaking awesome in there, but a bit spooky if you head to the mens restroom in the basement area.

Year in Photos: 2009 (part 1 of ∞)

2009-12-31T01:42:00.000-08:00

2009 was an excellent year and will end excellently because in a about 12 hours I will driving to my last wedding of 2009 where I'll be shooting with my friend Brian Kent. Those will come at a later time, but for now I'll share with you some of my favorite and most meaningful photos I captured. After seeing how many fav's I have I've parted it into sections and not sure how many there will be, hence the ∞.

I was honored to have been able to document two funerals this year. I wont be posting the photos directly on my blog, but they can each be viewed here (viewing - funeral) and here.

Onto what will be posting, in no particular order but scenes will be kept together.

Over the summer my girlfriend and I went kayaking in La Jolla, tons of fun!!

During the 2009 IBJJ tournement I saw Mike Colon!

I'll wrap things up in the new year. Right now I must prep for tomorrow!

Hope you have a Happy New Year!

Merry Holidays & (almost) Happy New Year

2009-12-29T00:47:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone is having merry holidays and is enjoying themselves as this year winds down to the last three full days.

I'll be wrapping up the year shooting a wedding with my friend on New Years Eve and hopefully finishing in time to spend the countdown with my girlfriend - even if its in the car driving.

I celebrated Christmas in Vegas, it was super crowded and the house won! But I did see KÀ and that was well worth everything. Below is a time lapse from my house to the valet at MGM. Enjoy!

I'll be posting a Year in Pictures soon so stay tuned. In the mean time have a look at some of my recent work.

Vendor: Modern Chair Rental

2009-11-12T03:45:00.000-08:00

Building relationships with vendors is super important in this industry and furthermore referring them is key for a lasting relationship.

Todays second blog post is a plug for my friends business, Modern Chair Rental located in La Habra.

They specialize in, you guessed it, modern chairs & furniture.

I helped my friend out by doing product photography for all his cool looking furniture. Here are just a few items he has available.

Check out Modern Chair Rental online or walk into their warehouse and see the furniture yourself =) Ask for Cesar and tell him Robert sent you!

Bun in the Oven & A Fresh Bun

2009-11-12T03:28:00.000-08:00

About five months ago I was privileged to do a maternity session. I typically recommend having this session a month before the due date that way you look nice and big =).

These sessions are great, the mother to be loves these photos, but the consensus amongst the fathers to be is they think these photos weird. Not at all! Pregnancy's only happen a couple of times in a lifetime so you have to capture them while you can!

Bun in the Oven:

A 4 month old Bun:

Feel free to give me a ring if you'd like to schedule a session =)

Take Ivy: Desert Shoot & La Venta Inn

2009-11-01T03:57:00.000-08:00

After a successful show of my friends band, Take Ivy, asked me if I could shoot them in the desert.

We discussed idea's and what not and the final decision was to shoot at El Mirage with a couch as a prop. El Mirage is awesome, its a dry lake bed in the middle of the desert - great for off roading and photo shoots! The last time I was at El Mirage was during high school. This was the place where I first learned how to operate a manual transmission - on an ATV!

Most photographers know when the best light occurs which is our "golden hour". Since there was no way we would make it to El Mirage during that hour I had to do the next best thing, rent a generator and blast them with 2000watts.

The gear:
- Honda gas powered generator (rental from Home Depot)
- Two Speedotron Force 10 monolights (1000watts each)
- Two Speedotron 22" beauty dishes (thanks to J. Ho for one of them)
- Two C-stands and one sand bag (thanks again to J. Ho for the sand bag)
- Canon 1D3, 5D, 70-200 2.8IS, 16-35
- Creative Vado HD (I'll post video once I figure how to edit)
- One Sun (used as key and rim/back light)
- One band (thanks to Take Ivy)
- Mary (band members sister)
- Me =)

Onto the goods:

That day was super hot in OC but really cool winds in the desert with the exception of the strong sun and lack of shade - except for Adam holding the umbrella!. IT WAS SUPER BRIGHT in every direction which made it tough for the band's eyes. What I did was have them close their eyes, count to three, open and I click.

Here is a sneak peak for a wedding I was privileged to document. It was held at La Venta Inn in Palos Verdes Estates.

Lots more to blog later!

Take Ivy

2009-10-12T02:45:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago my friend, and lead singer, asked me if I could shoot his band's first gig playing at Chain Reaction. It's been years since I last stepped foot inside the venue so I felt really dated when I walked inside =(

The band is named after a popular photography book by T. Hayashida that documented the style of era at Ivy League schools.

Check out some of the book here

If you ask me how they sounded all I can say is from whatever I heard its pretty good. I only say that since I was shooting most of the time and I was concentrating on photography more than the music. Kind of weird since the venue is extremely loud but shows how our brains work when their in concentration mode.

Support my friends band by visiting their MySpace and seeing them live! Check out their MySpace Take Ivy

Walt Disney Music Hall, Fresno Puja & San Diego Wedding

2009-10-11T23:26:00.000-07:00

I've been told I don't blog enough and I read on CNN that consistent blog updates lead to 10-15% increase in business, so here we go!

A while ago I did an engagement session at Walt Disney Music Hall. Great couple, awesome architecture and pretty good light.

So what is a puja? Wiki defines it as "a ceremony of gratitude or a religious ritual performed as an offering to various deities, distinguished persons, or special guests". I received a phone call from the groom (as seen from the photos above) if I could come out to Fresno to document his two day puja before his wedding.

I definitively wanted to, but there were a few issues. One of them is Fresno is ~240 miles away from where I live and ~340 from San Diego where I had to be Sunday for a wedding.

Solution: Fly from LAX to FAT (Fresno's airport) on Friday, fly back to LAX on Saturday and drive to San Diego that night for a wedding at Little Chapel of the Roses on Sunday.

Complicating but it turned out excellent!

I'm scared of flying and going on an Embraer 120 didn't make things better. You feel absolutely everything, pitch, yaw, roll and all the other little bumps!

Photo courtesy of my BlackBerry Storm

I also shot some video while coming back to LAX, awesome sunset!

Onto the puja - Day 1:

Day 2:

The puja went great, the flight went well and onto my 2 hour drive to San Diego was excellent because of a pit stop at San Juan Capistrano for a little Jack In The Box =)

The Little Chapel of the Roses is an awesome place to have a wedding!

Until next time, happy shooting!

Project Wedding, Google Voice & Busyness

2009-08-20T03:04:00.000-07:00

I received an email from Project Wedding earlier today about having a perfect 5 star rating and I got so excited I had to blog about it!

Check it out for yourself and feel free to click on it and view my other reviews left by happy couples =) I'd like to thank all of those couples who took a moment and left me a review.

See more reviews of Robert Yee Photography on Project Wedding.

Onto Google Voice. For anyone who hasn't heard or tried Google Voice yet, its amazing. It makes life a little easier and helps cut back on expenses. Free texting, free phone calls and AWESOME features! Check it out for yourself and create an account www.google.com/voice

Feel free to call anytime by clicking the icon below or actually dialing my number, 714-868-6321.

And finally, busyness. It's been a real busy month for me and its about to get busier this Friday. I'm flying to Fresno (yes its only a ~3.5 hr drive, but time is money) Friday morning to shoot an Indian ceremony (Puja) on Saturday. I fly home right after the ceremony to LAX and immediately start my drive back to San Diego (I was there last week) for a wedding Sunday. At least everything is in the same time zone and I have a place to stay at =)

1930-2009

2009-08-15T01:15:00.000-07:00

The day was March 3, 1930 in Vietnam where my friends grandpa was born. His life journey brought him to California where he had a fruitful life and then entered into rest on August 4, 2009. He was 79 years, 5 months and 1 day old.

I received a phone call from my friend on a Wednesday asking if I can document the funeral the next two days. I don't think anyone gets happy about funerals, but I was happy about the photojournalism that came about and felt fortunate that he asked me.

This funeral was a little different than the previous one I documented because he was buried; previously she was placed in a tomb.

As the workers began to lower the casket into the grave and proceeded to shovel dirt into the grave this is when I realized how real death is and how our time here is a journey. I quickly had to clear my mind and continue to do what I was asked to do; document the event.

I won't post any of the photo's on my blog, but will give you the choice of seeing them by clicking this link.

I promise my next post will be fun! =)

Chicago photos - finally!

2009-08-07T02:40:00.000-07:00

Time passes by way too quick. It's been almost two months since I was in Chicago! I miss it so much I'm going back AGAIN in September. This time it'll be for Anand's sisters baby shower which I'll be documenting. I really fell in love with the suburbs, really peaceful, green and plenty of photo-ops. See below to see what I'm talking about!

Between NY (can be seen here) and IL, I think they are about tied for places I would live at.

Onto the photos!

Stepping outside of ORD I was welcomed by awesome California weather! This is also where I saw in disbelief that motorcyclists weren't required to wear helmets!

This is a lot of what you see while driving thru the suburbs; GREEN!

Behind the scene's of a mall where Anand's Subway is located

I'm so hungry for Chicago pizza right now. I can't wait to go back!!!

So what do backyards in the suburbs typically look like? Fence-less and green...

And whats the view like in a multi-million dollar condo in a high rise?

I took this photo at Lincoln Park. Do you notice something that doesn't belong? If you said the CRT monitor you're half right.

If you also said a glazed donut tied to a string your correct! (cropped from above photo)

My gf having fun with my digital body while I shoot on my Yashica. Scanned images will come at a later date.

Attention ladies, he's looking for a special someone to tie the knot with! Inquire within!

I'm really excited to go back! Except I'm taking a red eye =( But delicious pizza will make it better!

Home

2009-06-19T23:28:00.000-07:00

I'm finally back home and about to sleep in my comfortable bed!

I'm super tired after waiting 8 hours for a flight because of thunder storm and weather delays. For anyone flying out of ORD keep in mind you might be delayed, this is what several people have told me AFTER I had already booked my flight. It was pretty neat seeing half size golf ball hail land everywhere at the airport and then not being able to see 20' because of the crazy down pour of rain.

My trip was great and my shoot was awesome. I have no idea when I'll post photos because we're in the middle of the season - meaning I'm flooded with work. In the mean time here's some video of my landing at ORD =)

Flying to Chicago

2009-06-13T21:41:00.000-07:00

In a while I'll be waking up, taking a drive to LAX and flying to Chicago for an engagement session and visit a friend. I'm pretty excited about the entire trip and I hope to document it well so all of you can see what I saw =)

I'll be doing this in two different ways. One with my still camera and two with my pocket video camera; a Creative Labs Vado HD. I'll be posting photos and videos when I get back.

My biggest concern is flying with all my gear. A few months ago I purchased a Pelican 1510 because it meets the requirements for a carry-on so hopefully I don't have any issues.

Anyways, some of you may be wondering what exactly I'm bringing. Here is exactly what I'm bringing:

• Canon 1D3
• Canon 5D
• Yashica D & plenty of film =)
• Canon 16-35
• Canon 24 1.4
• Canon 50 1.4
• Canon 85 1.2
• Canon 70-200 2.8
• Sigma 15 fisheye
• Tamron 28-75, great travel lens
• Kenko extension tubes
• Canon 580 flash
• Elinchrom Skyports
• Nexto Ultra ND-2525
• Creative Labs Vado HD + bracket
• Chargers, batteries, cables and misc items

Enough with the list, lets see what it looks like inside the Pelican 1510! Photo taken with my Blackberry Storm:

You can see my cat's head at the top right corner. Too bad he doesn't fit =(

My 5D + 16-35 will be in my personal carry on and in its place will be my Yaschica D.

Here's today's sunset taken with my 1D3 while driving:

See you guys in a week!

IBJJF World Championship 2009

2009-06-12T01:59:00.000-07:00

I attended the IBJJF world championships last week to watch my good friend get it on. He fights for Check Mat BJJ and it was his first time competing. He won second place in the world championships!

I've been pretty crunched for time, but here's the video to keep you busy =) I mounted my pocket cam onto my 1D3 for your enjoyment.

Fight 1:

After his victory:

Fight 2:

Fight 3:

I'll be posting the pictures after I get back from Chicago. See you then!

Sunday: Palos Verdes

2009-06-01T13:50:00.000-07:00

This is a follow up from my 'Saturday: Palos Verdes' posting. We'll start with their really fun esession I shot at the Santa Monica Pier. I also used my medium format 6x6 Yashica D =)

A note for anyone who wants to shoot inside the amusement park area, you might get harassed like I did (even thought I've shot there many times) for a permit. It's quick and easy to get it though.

Their wedding took place at Malaga Cove Library in Palos Verdes with the reception at the Cheesecake Factory in Redondo Beach.

His reaction in the next few photo's is just incredible and makes me feel great I was able to document it.

This past weekend I was at Francesca Garden in San Juan Capistrano, check back later this week for an update!

Seal Beach & Santa Barbara

2009-05-28T22:03:00.000-07:00

Last last Saturday I was shooting in Seal Beach for a on the sand wedding. Very awesome and great photos! I was also fortunate enough to photograph their engagement session at Crescent Bay in Laguna Beach

This last one was great because he was a little hesitant about the water being really cold. Love the OH CRAP expression.

Onto their wedding photos!

So right after the wedding I grabbed Jack In The Box to eat while driving to Santa Barbara where I stayed a Motel 6. Everything would have gone great except the couple next door was having loud sex and kept me up until around 3am! =)~

The wedding went great and was held the Gordic Grove at Elings Park in Santa Barbara. The food was EXCELLENT! Tri-tip prepared on site by Cliff's & Co..

Saturday: Palos Verdes

2009-05-25T01:08:00.000-07:00

I was in Palos Verdes Satuday and Sunday for weddings! Both weddings were beautiful and went great. Thank you to both my couples and everyone who attended. I'll post Sundays wedding soon. In the mean time enjoy Saturdays wedding.

Saturday's wedding was held at the Point Vicente Interpretive Center. Engagement photo's first =)

Onto their wedding photos...

Sneak peak to Sunday's wedding

Disneyland engagement session, Santa Barbara, Chicago

2009-05-11T04:38:00.000-07:00

I have fun surprises for all of you in the form of videos and photos all shot inside Disneyland! Watch a little bit of how I function and what is produced =)

The clip below is us on Big Thunder Mountain!

Here I'm working at the fire station near the entrance of Disneyland.

And some more good stuff throughout the park!

I also took the time to shoot medium format film because film is GREAT!

I'll be posting a few more things in about week I promise! This Sunday I'll be in Santa Barbara for a wedding for the couple you see below.

I'm also flying to Chicago for an engagement session in June! I'll have lots of photos and video footage =)

If anyone knows of any must things to do in Chicago drop me an email rob@yeerphoto.com

I shoot film

2009-04-02T02:36:00.000-07:00

What's film? People still use that? Of course we do! See below.

More to come soon!

I present you Mr. and Mrs.

2009-03-23T00:30:00.000-07:00

I present you Mr. and Mrs. _________. Yes they have a last name! I've decided not to disclose names because of the things called internet and Google.

Sneak peak to the wedding:

Yes only one so far! I promise you more, but in the mean time sit back and scroll down for their engagement photos we took in South Pasadena.

I promise more in due time =)

1910-2009

2009-03-16T15:40:00.000-07:00

On August 3, 1910 my friends Grandma was born. On March 3, 2009 she passed away.

My friend asked me to document this event and I was honored to share the event with his family and be able to capture it. Not many photographers have the opportunity to document a funeral nor would many want to.

There are many mixed opinions when it comes to photographing a funeral and many choose not to, my opinion is if there is something to document then it shall.

My objective was to document a story and anytime I felt my emotions coming I reminded myself of the objective.

I have decided not to post the pictures on my blog, but instead giving you the choice to view them. Below are the links:

The Viewing
The Funeral

For the sake of privacy there are few photo's of faces.

On a lighter note I've been super busy with weddings and engagement sessions and I promise you great stuff to come!

San Francisco

2009-02-11T01:27:00.000-08:00

Day 1:
Its 6:19am and I've been awake for a good hour by now. Time to drive!

I took the 101 scenic route - a definite must and it only adds about 1.5 hours.

First stop is the Monterey Bay Aquarium. A great place to spend a few hours to view our sea animal friends.

A couple hundred more miles and I approach a sea of red brake lights. I thought I had left traffic jams but it turns our SF has some serious congestion as well (I think we have it worse though).

We arrived late into the evening and decided just to rest in our comfy room.

We stayed at the Adante Hotel. Nice place to stay for the money and its walking distance to Union Square.

Day 2:
It was forecasted to rain so we had to do all the must-see stuff today before it got wet.

First stop is the Golden Gate Bridge. Enough typing, more pictures:

Ok so this photo needs some explanation. A fellow photog asked me to take a picture of him and his family, but why do I have the image? Well I tried to use his camera and it kept reading ERR CF. I definitely couldn't let a family go pictureless so I took it with mine. I gave the photog a business card and I have yet to hear from him so if you know this family have them contact me =) www.yeerphoto.com

More photos..

And my car! My car is awesome, its a 2009 Honda Fit Sport with Navi in manual transmission and it gets around 40mpg =)

After walking around the bridge we drove to San Mateo for some really really delicious cup cakes at Sweet Breams. No that's not a typo it is Breams because one of there fillings is a Japanese red bean. It was so good it didn't have a chance to make it onto my camera, but I was able to snap a shot with my phone!

We arrived back into town late and walked around Union Square. SF is really cold at night! We didn't stay out too late because we still had a lot to do tomorrow.

Day 3:
Piers + Fisherman's Wharf!

Lots more walking:

Someone was having there wedding photos that day:

Super steep hills =(

And finally, probably one of my distant relatives restaurant

Day 4:
I didn't look forward to the long drive home, especially since it started to rain. In the morning we stopped by for some more clam chowder and then started our journey back home.

Overall, San Francisco is a really laid back place with really good food and great views. I think its totally different than New York, but both cities are awesome and I would definitely visit again.

San Francisco Road Trip

2008-12-15T20:47:00.000-08:00

The furthest north I've ever been in California is Camarillo, that is until I took this road trip.

Four days and three nights later I arrive home with lots of photos and a hunger for a bread bowl of clam chowder. Even though I was there for 4 days / 3 nights it was more like 2.5 days and 3 nights. I checked into my hotel really late and checked out early.

I drove up the 101 which has AMAZING views, but I didn't pull over =( So that's an excuse for going again! SF has amazing views too so I'm not too disappointed.

Here's a quick picture of my car, more pics to come once I'm done processing and a more thorough write up later!

Where have I been?!

2008-11-25T23:52:00.001-08:00

Hello All,

No I have not fallen off the face of the Earth; I’ve just been super busy updating my site, finishing up the 2008 wedding season and buying new gear!

If you’re reading this you’ve probably already visited my website www.yeerphoto.com if you haven’t well click on any of the links below.

So what do all of these domains have in common?

www.oc-weddingphotographer.com

www.ocweddingphotography.net

www.orange-county-wedding-photographer.net

www.socalweddingphotographer.com

www.socalweddingphotography.net

If you clicked on them you’d see they all redirect back to www.yeerphoto.com. So what’s that mean? I own them all =) and hopefully they’ll generate more clicks and more inquiries.

One of the thing’s I didn’t learn in school was marketing and having a finance degree in these recessionary times really isn’t helping me, so the goal in 2009 is marketing =)

I hope everyone has a Great Turkey Day! I shall be posting new material after T-Day, so please stay tuned... I PROMISE!

Thanks for visiting,
Robert Yee

E+W, C&C T

2008-08-01T00:55:00.001-07:00

I haven’t lost my marbles yet.

Engagement + Wedding, Crystal & Chris Ticknor. Enjoy =)

The day before yesterday was my Birthday

2008-07-10T00:42:00.000-07:00

I finally hit the quarter century mark =(

My girlfriend took my out for dinner at Greenfields in Long Beach. I thought it was going to be dinner for two then I saw my friends and thought what the hell are they doing there. Surprised I Was that they all kept it from me for over a week!

But this post isn't about my birthday, its about what I did yesterday.

I went to Burro Canyon! An outdoor gun range where I shot my buddies AR15, WWII rifle, 1911 and my XD 45.

I'm still editing video but here are the pictures.

Me:

A note to EVERYONE. WEAR EAR PROTECTION! I decided to shoot my XD 45 with no protection to see how it was.... horrible mistake. My ears were ringing and I was slightly off balance with no clue what had happened.

I will be posting wedding photos in due time so stay tuned!

Shooting with Matt

2008-06-09T02:43:00.000-07:00

Last week I bought a new tool and by tool mean baby and by baby I mean 5D. The price was tooo good to pass up. $2,475 for the kit minus $890 (net) equals $1,585 for a brand new spankin 5D. I could not wait for the replacement, but when that comes I'll be sure to buy it once the price drops.

I had to test this baby out so I asked Matt if I could second shoot, of course he said yes (who doesn’t want free labor?)

My baby is awesome!

NY Pano's

2008-06-02T01:07:00.000-07:00

Long time no blog, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been busy! We’re well into wedding season and its been pretty busy so far. Yesterday I helped my friend Matt. No cakes were harmed during our goofiness... No cake was consumed either =( More pics will be up later in the week.

In the meantime I haven’t forgotten about my NY pano’s so here they are hot off of Photoshop!

Laura & Isidro eSession

2008-05-08T01:12:00.000-07:00

Great couple to work with! Thanks so much!

I love esessions because it really helps all of us bond and get to know each other especially since we're jointly working to create great images come the Big Day.

Fresh out of Lightroom and Photoshop.

On a side note I just had back to back weddings this past weekend, one of them was on Catalina Island =)

I'm still working on my NY pano's, I haven't forgotten!

NYC Part 3 of 4 & I got a cool new shirt

2008-05-02T02:08:00.000-07:00

Day 4 (Sunday):
I’m really hung over and my head is still spinning, but Anand tells me New York is known for there brunch. I’m definitely not really hungry and feel like I need to visit Mr. Porcelain again, but we end up at Eatery. After literally an hour wait we finally get seated. THE FOOD WAS AMAZZZZING I wish I was felt well enough to have taken pictures, but EVERYTHING we ordered was delicious.

I felt like a champ after eating so we took the sub down to World Trade Center. Oh, I mentioned in my previous blog about Sundays in New York. Sundays are like days in California. Really relaxed, slow paced and not many people out. It was a great day cause we weren’t caught in the crowds and got to do things a little slower.

We stopped by Union Square where people were prostesting the Chinese Olympics and continued our way to WTC.

On 9-11-01 I was in bed sleeping and listening to Howard Stern when I heard some yelling and commotion about planes going into buildings. I immediately got up and turned on the TV and watched what changed our entire world. Howard was saying people were jumping out of buildings and I don’t recall seeing it on TV and it was just really hard to imagine that… but when I finally came across real images I was lost with words and emotions… I decided to give you the option of browsing thru the pictures of people jumping http://www.tonyrogers.com/images/wtc/index.htm

WTC was quite an experience and will always be reminded of it forever with how our world is and will always be. I do have more photos in Day 6 and a couple panos that I’ll post later

Battery Park was COMPLETELY empty. This is why I mention if you go to NY try to have a Sunday in your itinerary so you can just hang out and relax.

Day 5:
I covered north and south today. From Bronx Zoo down to Brooklyn Bridge, Seaport and Wall St, it was quite a day with lots of napping on the subway. The days were getting a lot nicer and really similar to California. I’m a big fan of using clouds in photos to create more texture so if I see clouds I’m gonna shoot something.

I also visited B&H! You HAVE TO GO just for the experience. It’s amazing how things function in there. They have this cart system that runs around the entire store where anything you want to buy gets put into a cart and is sent to the pick up destination. When you buy something you pay at the cashier and then pick up your stuff at the pick up station.

Day 6:
I had to visit WTC because I felt there was still more to be seen like the church across the street that didn’t get damaged. I also went to China town where I had $1 chow mein and .85 cent rice cake… soooo delicious.

Day 7: My final full day.
I was pretty sad that today was gonna be my last full day and wanted to be sure I got all the photography I wanted; which meant it was going to be one of the longest days of my trip (I took 2,434 photos this day).

By 9am I was waiting in line to get on a boat to be shipped to the Statue of Liberty. Around afternoonish I was walking around Brooklyn Bridge, lots of in between stops and by 11pm I was in Time Square finishing my week long stay in what I consider one of the best cities I’ve ever been in.

I really wanted to get in a lot of night photography especially since I didn’t do much during my trip (mostly due to me being scared of getting mugged, but considering I was in TS I felt pretty safe).

Day 8 (Thursday):
Today I was saddened by the reality that my fun and enjoyment had ended, but I did have my final chicken and rice plate from the best cart guy located at 73rd St and Broadway in Jackson Heights.

Thank you Anand for putting up with me for a week; without you I would have never gone to New York. If you’re reading this please support Patel Brother stores if there’s one near you.

Next stop: Anywhere Anand lives.

My next post will be of all my NY panoramas so stayed tuned.

Oh yes I totally forgot, I have a COOL NEW SHIRT!

Order yours here

NYC Part 2 of x

2008-04-25T12:21:00.000-07:00

Seven days in New York. Seven days of eating the most delicious food and riding one of the best public transports. This is day one, two and three.

Farewell California, I will miss your sunsets. Or will I?

Day 0-1:
So I decide to take the red eye thinking I can get an early start to my day once I arrive. I sort of did, but didn’t realize I wouldn’t be able to sleep on the plane and by the time we made our connection in TN that I would see the sun rise. Oh and our flight was delayed for an hour because of the MD80’s wiring problems!

But at least I had a nice view of the clouds after we took off.

So I finally land in NY after thinking we were going to crash. Ever land in LaGuardia? I swear we were so low to the buildings and we were turning while we were landing. Not a good feeling. My friend Anand picks us up in a stolen X5. Just kidding it was “borrowed” until the owner …. nevermind.

$1,500 gets you a one bedroom apartment in Jackson Heights. Pretty decent if you ask me.

Awww yes, at last my first real meal. Mmmmmm white pizza!!!!

IT GETS BETTER!! The ice cream men here are INSANELY GOOD. All they serve is SOFT SERVE! But its better than regular old soft serve, its like a mix between soft server and cool whip…… soooo freakin good.

Yes New York really is crowded (except Sundays, see my next post).

Time for less narration and more photos.

Day 2:
Plan for the day is to visit Central Park and its surroundings. I wake up and see its cloudy and forecast says it’d rain. This is my friends view from his apartment. My camera also get a new friend, a freaking dust bunny. This will plague me for a few days until I get over to B&H for a blower.

Please please please, eat HOT NUTS in New York. Not in that way, but the cart food kind. Not sure where you get real hot nuts, but I know where to get the opposite. Head to 8th Ave at 42nd St.

Anyways, more photos for you.

Day 3:
So by now I’m getting the subway system down pretty well. The only confusing part is finding the actual entrance and sometimes when you enter on one side it will go north and not connect to the south bound so you have to go back up and over, if that makes any sense…

We check out the Museum of Modern Art. Cool stuff and its modern so I was pretty excited. For anyone planning on going to NY, bring a STUDENT ID if you have one. It’ll save you about half when going to museums.

GRAY’S PAPAYA!!!! $3.50 will get you 2 hotdogs and a drink, THAT INCLUDES TAX! I’m getting hungry.

Onwards…

So now I’m back to Anand’s apartment and this guy is getting ready at 3:00 to go drinking tonight. In the meantime I’ll be charging my body for what I know will be a long night out. New York parties ALLLL night.

I’m pretty wasted in the following photos thanks to Anand. But how could I have said no to drinks especially since I’m his guest. We didn’t stop drinking until 3am, sometime between 12 and 3 I stopped remembering what was going on. I do remember some portions of taking the cab home but no clue how we made it into the elevator or into his apartment. I do remember is yacking in the toilet for an hour. I’m glad tomorrow was going to be Sunday and not much was going on.

NYC Part 1 of x

2008-04-19T00:42:00.000-07:00

New York is AMAZING. I'm still processing tons of images but theres a teaser below. I say Part 1 of x because I was there for seven days and I want to spread out the images into multiple blogs.

So I kept taking photos of myself at places and I kept thinking it was quite boring to snap my mug. So I got creative and spun! I was in Time Square and I'm pretty sure people were thinking what the hell is this guy doing, but it was fun and it turns out awesome.

More to come soon.

I'm going to NY

2008-04-07T02:44:00.000-07:00

I'll be going to New York for a week on Wednesday! The last time I was there was for my Jr. High's history trip or something, but that doesn't count because I wasn't able to party. This time around is going to be awesome and I can't wait to show you all the photo's! I'll be back April 17, see you then!

Devina & Eric Park

2008-04-02T17:23:00.000-07:00

Congrats to Devina and Eric! I've known Eric since high school and we also crossed paths in college. I'm really happy he found Devina and hope nothing but the best for them!

It was suppos to be an outdoor wedding at the Westin Hotel in Costa Mesa, but God decided to bless their day even more by having it rain! They say its good luck when it rains on your wedding day!

April, Ron & Water

2008-03-27T01:22:00.000-07:00

The past few times I've shot at Laguna I've always worn shorts and I've always gotten cold towards the end of the session. So this day I decided to wear jeans... Wrong choice!

April and Ron were a BLAST to work with! So much energy, so much love, so much enthusiasm! So much that I ended up in the water too! So much for trying to keep warm!

WPPI + eSessions

2008-03-26T01:19:00.000-07:00

It's been about a week since I've been back from WPPI and I'm still feeling super enthusiastic!

Maybe it’s cause I’ve been sick since I got back, but WPPI really inspired me in so many ways. One of them being for me to start blogging again.

So onto the photos! (by capture time)

Driving to Vegas with Lawrence and his bro Ray. I'm a sucker for many things in life, chocolate and clouds.

I got you Lawrence!

He got me too!

Saturday night panorama

Mike Colón and I

Say yes to David Jay!

Yervant is a bad MFer

Photographers need to eat too!

Elevators are more than people movers

I'll definitely see you next year...

WPPI really woke up my inner passion for photography. I wish I had a rock around me so I can engrave it with Wedding Photographer. I learned so much, networked with tons of people and made many friends. YOU HAVE TO GO NEXT YEAR!

So it's now Wedsneday and I have an engagement shoot in Laguna Beach at 6pm. I flew cause there was no way I'd make it back in time. Good thing I flew or else I wouldn't have captured these panos.

Onto the eSession photos...

Avedon Inspired

2007-09-05T23:35:00.000-07:00

I shot these photo's a few months back for a portrait class. You're probably wondering why they look like mug shots, but if you look a little closer you'll see more than a mug. You'll see real faces. Blemishes, wrinkles, scars, crevises, experience and character.

They are simplistic; white background, no props, only the face of the subject. Inspiration came from the work of the late Richard Avedon.

Photos were shot using a Yashica D on 120 Ilford Delta 400 and HP5 400 film.

If you still think they're mug shots buy youself Richard Avedon's DVD. Don't pay $300 at Amazon, I'll send you a copy.