Underwood Farms
July 28th, 2006
Happy Friday! I am finally caught up in my posts. This past Saturday some of the “adults” took our youth group (I’m with the church kids every Saturday evening, trying to keep them out of trouble) raspberry/blackberry picking.
I was going to take them strawberry picking, but I was two days too late. Since it has been so hot in LA a kind lady in Carlsbad informed me that the strawberries were beginning to melt so they had to pick the rest. So I found Underwood farms (it was that or another place that offered to take you around the farm on a “wagon tour” and then they let you pick 1 watermelon, so I decided to place my bets with this place)
I think I was more excited than all of the guys, but you can pick vegetables too! The consensus for us city folk: raspberries are fun to pick, blackberries hurt a bit more and stain. We were supposed to give the fruit we picked to the convalescent home, but the raspberries were a bit sour and we didn’t want to shock the old folks or have them remember us for sour fruit.
All in all, it was a really fun day. Oh yeah, and for the first time in my life I saw an Alpaca! That’s all.
3 seasons in 3 weeks
July 27th, 2006
As explained previously, we are shooting three seasons of floral arrangements in three weeks. Last week was Halloween, and this week it’s Thanksgiving floral arrangements. The word cornucopia comes to mind, and with 90+ degree weather out in the valley, all of us hoped that the Thanksgiving theme would make us think “cooler” thoughts.
But first, a long overdue introduction, here is El Dutcho (or Dutch Myers), who is the principal photographer for this entire gig, and my mentor. If I have ever shot a wedding for you Dutch is an integral person to thank, he always makes time to critique my photos and I always shoot better the next time around when I use his suggestions. To the left is Emma, who is very witty, reminds me of Uma Thurman, is British and calls me “love”. The three of us are “team Dutch”, and our love of photography is what binds us, along with a sense of humor, which is very mandatory for the sometimes harrowing and trepid (yet exciting and passionate…is that enough adjectives for ya?) world of photography.
Here’s the setup for the floral arrangements. The leaves were my favorite part of the setup.
Notice the leaves in the backdrop, they fall nicely like vines.
…and the Thanksgiving gourd family. That’s about where we placed the flower arrangements. You won’t see flower arrangments here because it’s sensitive material…but come Thanksgiving time if you see this setup you’ll know where it’s from.
Alex and Ashley, July 15, 2006
July 25th, 2006
Alex and Ashley had a very special wedding, and this is one of the most unique weddings I have been to. A bit of explanation, though Alex and Ashley are Americans, ethnically they are Mien. The Mien is a subgroup of China (as in the Cantonese, Shanghainese, etc.). Mien people are also in Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries, and most of them dwell in rural areas such as deep in the jungle or the mountains. They speak Mien, and it was only this century that a written language was created for them with Roman characters.
Since my in-laws were in town the previous week, I had to leave Saturday morning at 3am to drive to Merced for the wedding; special thanks to my husband who decided to take a load off of my back and drive me to and from the wedding; this gave me enough sleep and energy to shoot such an elaborate wedding.
It was a very festive celebration…just the colors and the elaborate traditional wear were enough to satisfy the documentarian in me; we were in the city of Merced and on that day it was over a hundred degrees; Ashley’s traditional gown was about 4 thick layers, plus she had enough weight in silver, I don’t think she would have gotten by security at the airport with that outfit.
She got into traditional wear for the tea ceremony; this involved the guests giving some money to wish the couple well; one man even offered a song for the couple. Half of the wedding was western and half was Mien. It’s always encouraging to see a young generation pay respect to their ancestry; seeing the blending of two cultures encourages a creation of the best of both worlds.
What I see in every wedding are very tangible signs of love, and this wedding was no exception. For the banquet the groom’s side of the family got together and cooked the entire reception meal, and there was a 10 course meal that was absolutely delicious. At the end of the wedding I was just sitting there eating and eating and eating.
What a great job I have!
Candy Corn
July 20th, 2006
Everything has been busy, but I wanted to update nevertheless. Since Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas seasons are coming up in terms of flowers, we’re shooting all three seasons of flower arrangements this month and next month. Yesterday we did Halloween arrangements, and if any of you question whether candy corn is sold year round, Target sells them. In addition to shooting I had the pleasure of sorting out two bags of candy corns for the photogenic ones. I tossed the ones that didn’t have all three colors and some of them were broken and quite mangled. It’s a pretty peaceful thing to do, you should try it. Although maybe some of you shouldn’t, I know my husband would go crazy if he had to sort candy corn.
On another note, this past weekend my husband and I went to Merced for Ashley and Alex’s wedding. Since this wedding was quite unique and very cutural, here’s two preview pictures…I’ll post more later.
Shoot First, Eat Later
July 14th, 2006
This article from August’s issue of Food and Wine caught my eye. I know alot of you out there love taking food pics. I don’t know if all of you have noticed, but alot of travel photography involves food, even amongst the professionals; almost always food is an inbred definition of a culture. Here are some tips from Food and Wine’s pros. Enjoy!
1. Never use a flash
-If you’re in a restaurant, choose a table near a window. “The flash flattens everything out,” says photographer John Kernick. When that’s not possible, choose one of the camera’s “white balance” settings; for example, the setting indicated by a light bulb compensates for the yellow tint indoor lights can cast.
2. Get in close.
-”If you fill the frame with the dish, it can make the food look heroic,” says photographer James Baigrie. Use a camera’s macro setting to bring a part of the dish into sharper focus. Or widen the aperture to reduce the depth of field, which allows you to focus on foreground details-say, the crusty corner on a dish of macaroni and cheese–and keep the background soft.
3. Wipe glasses and plate edges.
Be sure surfaces are free of smudges and greasy fingerprints. In good light, they really stand out
4. Work quickly.
The longer it takes to set up a shot, the more salads wilt, sauces congeal.
5. Keep hands steady.
In low-light conditions, even the slightest tremor can produce a blurry photograph. Bace your elbows against the table to keep the table steady. Or try Josh friedland’s trick: He often uses the top of a water glass as a makeshift tripod.
6. Shoot a lot.
A photo may seem okay on the camera’s tiny screen, but blown up it might be out of focus or too bright. So shoot alot of the same picture, adjusting the conditions.
7. Shoot food as it’s being prepared.
“There are all sorts of great details that emterge throughout the cooking process”
8. Know what not to shoot.
The notoriously unphotogenic: a meal that’s all one color or dishes with brown sauces.
9. Do your homework.
Skim the food-photo discussion boards at flickr.com.
–Rob Willey
I had a great week!
July 10th, 2006
I’m back from Sacramento, and all I can say is that youth camp was great! I didn’t get a chance to take pictures because I was so busy having fun with the kids. This time for camp I had college students and I was very impressed by their maturity and their faith.
I also wanted to take this opportunity to thank many of you for your support and encouragement. Often people talk about their kids, and I know this is kind of weird, but I can’t help but think that my photography is my kid. It’s something that came into my world and has only brought me alot of rewarding hard work and joy. I’ve been getting great feedback about my work, as well as a lot of constructive criticism on how I can improve, which I really appreciate. For example, I got a call from a Ayman (a potential client who is getting married in Michigan), saying that they found someone else, but I was at the top of their list if not for a couple shooting their wedding. So it looks like I got beat by a husband and wife team, and when I learned of this I just started laughing, because that was something out of my control; I’m a one person team. Thanks to Ayman for the encouragement and congratulations on your upcoming celebration!
Another note: On the day of the wedding, per request of the couple, I usually show a same-day slideshow of the getting ready pics and ceremony pictures. I have this really neato program that processes my images and times it to a song of choice. Anyhow, here’s the slide show that was shown at Jeff and Ying’s wedding
http://www.christinechangphotography.com/beta/portfolio/jeff_ying/