Welcome to the new website
September 29th, 2006
The website is done. I remember when it was only wishful thinking, but finally, here it is.
About a year ago in October I was still thinking about a website and a business, but I told myself it would probably be a few years before I started everything. I was engaged, living from paycheck to paycheck, and paying my graduate school loans back (still am!). I looked at prices to build websites and they were off the wall. After church one evening I was walking to the parking lot and Andrew Lin (he’s my web guy now) and I got to talking about our jobs and our dreams. Andrew loves his job but deep down inside he wanted to do something else involving graphic design. I loved what I was doing at the time too, but I knew that somewhere along the line photography is supposed to be a bigger part of my life.
Andrew and I are about the same age, I’m 27. Dreams come in a different package at this age. If I were 19 and out of high school, or still in college, I would just go for it. Earn $11 an hour at a grocery store and work very hard, go to school all the way and focus solely on achieving my goal. I did do this in the past to write the first draft of my book, and at that age, I wouldn’t have done it any other way. Not to say that I am old now, but now I have different priorities, and we both talked about this and how now’s the time to think faster and smarter. Dreams are achievable at every age, but methods to reaching your goal become different.
Andrew out of the blue says that that he can design a basic website for me, and I made him repeat himself several times because he wanted to do it for me for free, and I couldn’t believe him at first. Yes, free! It’s simple, he says at 11pm in the church parking lot. I can help you do this. Eventually I had enough money to pay him, and my friend Ethan helped me all the way from Alberquerque by scripting the website for me and finding programs to showcase my pictures. So with the help of my friends, here it is. With my husband and my family and all of my friends listening to me talk about beginning this business and supporting me, here it is.
Just the beginning.
Water Polo
September 28th, 2006
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Furniture Frenzy
September 26th, 2006
Last week was a three day extravaganza of furniture in Long Beach, as I was back in the studio with Dutch for a photo shoot. This time it was for a huge furniture rental store, and they needed shots of their furniture for their website and catalog.
This is furniture rental on a large scale: so think Oscars or trendy nightclub. Some of the furniture reminded me of music videos; so I am imagining ballers sitting on the furniture drinking Cristal.
I’ve never shot furniture before but I can attest that this is alot more complicated than flowers, or bottled water. In the picture above, we (an assistant and myself) are combing the suede/microfiber couch. If you notice the cushions you’ll see that the coloring is uneven due to handprints and the material going all sorts of directions. When you brush suede you get this unilateral effect, and that in turn evens out the couch in terms of lighting and color. I’m barefoot because I want to prevent my sandals from staining that grayish background is really a large piece of paper (formally termed a “seamless”) hung and extended from behind us.
Not only did we brush alot of chairs and couches, but the other challenge we had were shooting furniture covers. Those had to be steamed and straightened and clipped and coaxed and wheedled into submission, because any bump or looseness would make the furniture look cheap or lopsided. Any leather furniture had to be cleaned thoroughly, and thankfully the company provided two assistants of their own to further care for the furniture.
Angeles Brush Fires
September 19th, 2006
For those of you not living in Southern California, today is Day 15 of the brush fires located near Castaic Lake. Friday morning I packed my bags and decided to cover the fires for the back page of the paper. I had an initial appointment with the air force base for the back page initially, but they asked many questions so in the end I hadn’t been security-cleared by the time Friday rolled around. Plus the military is very strict when it comes to articles written about them, they have an image that they have to preserve.
In any case, here are some pictures I took; my credentials are still in the process of being designed and stamped so I couldn’t get to the actual fires, but I did get to take pictures of the camp near Lake Hughes, where around 1700 firemen are stationed, some inmates: inmates are called in for backup whenever necessary, so I couldn’t take a picture of them.
Lots of smoke and ashes cover the blue sky. Residents near this area have been warned to stay indoors, and none have been evacuated. After this scene I saw my first confederate flag flying in Southern California. I’ve seen’em in Texas, but the sight was quite a displacement in So Cal.
The medical unit near Lake Hughes was well stocked. The most requested medicine? Gold Bond Medicated Powder.
Firemen sleep outside for a change instead of inside their tents after their 12 hour shift. The PIO (public information officer) told me that this summer has been quite severe in terms of fires; many firemen do their two week duty just to take a weekend off with their families and return to another shift. This fire is so bad that some firemen don’t return to camp but instead they sleep in the brush closer to the fire, and food and supplies are delivered in.
I guess this fireman wanted a view of the playground. Maybe it reminds him of his kids.
The firemen have portable showers, and the shower company provides a towel folder. The fireman taking me around explained to me that every time they take a shower they are greeted by her; often it is in the morning. She usually gives a “hello” and hands the man a towel. The disposable towels are not made of cloth but each one looks like you pressed about 10 bathroom paper towels together.
Here’s the GISS lady computerizing the map; every day the fire changes somewhat so she has to digitize the map drawn above her.
ABP: Always be prepared
September 14th, 2006
When I was a kid, my mom and dad would always lecture me about having everything prepared, whether it’s for school or even in cold weather. Bring a jacket. Did you study for your test? Did you bring your glasses?
I heard it all the time because I am scatterbrained. By the time I was at UCLA I lost my fifth jacket because I left it somewhere and I can’t really count how many umbrellas I’ve donated to the general public.
Time has passed and I’ve had a chance to hone my skills in keeping my belongings. I’m a little bit better, though now most of the time I prefer to be cold instead of wearing a jacket. In any case, my point is that in news photography often misplacing something or forgetting can be the difference between a telling picture of a car accident or a picture of pavement and a few pieces of broken glass. Bad direction sense, like me, also takes a toll on you, but The Thomas Guide is slowly becoming my friend. I used to hate reading maps, but now I have to learn for the job, as well as lift heavier weights at the gym so I can carry all of my equipment and run at the same time.
Once we receive a call in the office (this morning it’s a bus accident), a photographer takes five seconds to locate his equipment and run. That’s how fast this line of work is, so hopefully the only thing I’ll forget when I shoot is my jacket, which would be the least of my worries.
Newspaper photos
September 8th, 2006
…is my new category on wordpress because I’m shooting editorials this semester. It’s really fun getting out there, and I get a kick out of interacting with people. This week I photographed 2 events:
1) Boardfest 2006. A snowboard, surfing and skateboarding event with lessons and competition, just for girls. It was interesting seeing so much snow imported into Huntington Beach (it was around 75-80 degrees that weekend). I did some profile shots of Laurie Currier, a 22 year old snowboarding pro from Lake Tahoe, CA. She was very photogenic and passionate about snowboarding. A photo professor of mine always tells me to be around people who are passionate about what they do, and on Sunday morning being with Laurie and all the girls made me think about this piece of advice.
2) My second assignment was for the Santa Monica Corsair and it was a soccer match between Santa Monica College and Long Beach City College. They ended up tying, 0-0. I used the 200mm lens and it was already a bit difficult using it at the last wedding I shot, but at the soccer game I had to run around with it, so at the end my arms were really sore. But all in all it was a good experience, I am finding that I really like photographing sports because the action intrigues me; next time though I would add an extender or use a longer lens for more close-ups, since the soccer field is quite big. My co-photographers also advise getting a monopod, since I’ve complained that tripods are too bulky and heavy for soccer.
Since most people don’t know who I am except by my camera, it was interesting to hear some guys call me “camera chick”. In any case, SMC soccer gals and the coaches were really appreciative of me driving all the way to Long Beach, and their personal thanks meant alot to me too.
My Wedding
September 6th, 2006
Here’s my post as a customer. I finally received my wedding albums in the mail (I got married this year, in March), and they’re really professional and lovely. Queensberry did an excellent job, their albums are hand assembled in New Zealand, and though I paid an arm and a leg for the albums, they’re definitely worth it.
The thing about my wedding is that I thought it was one of the most stressful things I have ever gone through in my life. A lot of people wish they could get married all over again and go through all of the excitement, but for me it was really nerve-racking, and usually when people ask me how it was I say that it was the most stressful thing in my life, and thank God I am only planning to get married once. We were on a budget, I couldn’t get days off at work, and most of all, I felt like everything was compressed and sometimes I felt like I was missing the point of it all but there were so many things I had to get done.
Though I couldn’t shoot my own wedding, we found someone who did: Darcy Padilla, and when I saw her credentials and her pictures, my husband and I knew she was the one. By hiring her to shoot our wedding, she taught me much about what it means to be a wedding photographer, and it’s more than the pictures. it’s how you interact with people, it means being supportive, and it means taking on the full responsibility of capturing a couple’s milestone.
Now that I think about it, we spent about a third of our wedding budget on photography, but it’s all worth it. Now when I look at my album (she took the pictures, I designed the album), I get to relive my wedding, without all of the stress and the fuss. I get to dwell on colors, and people, and when I see the album I see the main point of the wedding and the important things, like friends and family and a lifetime promise. Even the pictures on the beach are stunning, and I only remember slightly that I was in a strapless dress and it was 40 degrees and a thunderstorm seemed imminent.
Check out Darcy’s website www.weddingsbydarcy.com. She was a great deal when she shot our wedding, though I’m not sure if she raised her prices. I know that part of my business is shooting weddings, and if I shoot your wedding I’ll do my best, but if you can afford Darcy, I would recommend her, she’s really good. If you do consider her tell her I said hi.
The other thing that I realized is that alot of you don’t know what I look like. I know that for many of you the blog is the only thing you know of me in this Internet era, so if you go to www.weddingsbydarcy.com, and click on “my wedding portfolio”, my own wedding pictures will be in her portfolio, under Carmel.