San Fransisco

I came back from San Fransisco on Thursday.

It was suppose to be a 2 days 1 night trip, but got extended to 3 days because I was having so much fun and I was pretty tired~ ^^;;;

The first day, I stopped by Santa Rosa, where I stayed at, and left for Downtown San Fransisco right after.

We had a tight schedule~

We went to MOMA to see a great exhibition of Lee Friedlander.

Then we shopped around for couple hours.

It has been awhile since I went shopping so it was really fun eventhough I didn't buy anything.

And we had dinner at this small Thai food place.

It was pretty good and I just loved the lighting in there~ hehehe

The second day was set for shooting.

We just drove around everywhere to find nice places to shoot~

We went to Sonoma, St. Helena, and then shot at this creek behind the place I was staying at in Santa Rosa.

The third day, I woke up at 5am and headed home~

Overall... it was a short, but awesome trip!!!!

Photoshoot 3

Photoshoot 2

Photoshoot 1

BRB

I'm going to San Fran for 2 days...
Be back soon~ ^^v

Good Times

EunNam noona is back in the states for a short while, so we got to hang out for a couple of hours.
I get to see her once a year, it seems like, but it's not enough! ^^
But, it's been so long since all 3 of us hung out.
I don't even get to see YeeSun noona too much because of her work and my school~ T.T
We didn't have much time, but we just got some drinks at Cha for Tea, walked around UCI campus, and took some pictures.
Until next time...
Maybe tomorrow???? hehehe

Warner Springs

Spent the weekend at Warner Springs and came back today.

It's a very nice and peaceful place...

and the hot springs was fabulous~ ^^

For breakfast this morning, we had scrambled emu eggs.

At first, I was kind of disgusted, but still willing to try it out.

It turned out to be really good!

Unlike regular chicken eggs we eat, it didn't have a smell to it.

Overall, tasted great scrambled with spam and onions! hehehe

CD cover

The image of the bamboo trees was selected for my 1 black n white print.

And we actually had to make a cd cover in a cd case so the color images are the ones I used.

The first is the cover pamphlet.

The second is the inside back and the third one is the back of the case.

I got a lot of good critiques so I'm happy!!! :) hehehe

Yay!!!!!

I was one of the chosen students to receive a scholarship for next fall semester~!!!!!!
There were couple different kinds, but I don't know which one I'm getting...
Yeah baby~~~~~~~~~
Thank you Lord!!!!! ^____________^
I really really needed it~ hehehe

Eye Level

I've been shooting a Hasselblad these days and I noticed that just using the Hasselblad makes an image look better...
It's because you are shooting at waist level.
In our everyday images, it is shot at eye level.
Just changing your POV/ perspective/ angle helps improve your image.
In the beginning, it was hard adjusting to a squared format.
But I feel like, since it is even on all 4 sides, you can concentrate more on your composition because you don't have to worry about it being vertical or horizontal.

Lively Decay

This assignment is a cd cover~

We had 3 choices of band names: Pungent Breed, Lively Decay, and Honorable Garden.

My idea was to go more towards the design aspect since we can't use people and we're not allowed to create an image which is a direct translation of the name.

To me, Lively Decay sounds like an oxymoron, contradictory.

So... these are some images I came up with.

When I was thinking of concepts for the name, I wanted a clean, minimalistic approach for Lively Decay.

Tungsten Lighting

My first studio shots with tungsten lighting.

I had no idea what the heck I was doing.

I felt bad for the model...

Thank you so much Mia!!!!!

You're a great photographer AND a great model~ :)

Also, it was a real workout!!!!

Now I know why photographers have assistants~ hehe

Happy Early Easter

obsessed much??? ^^

The Cross

Even in the darkness, He is there.

Green

As many of you know, I love to drive!
So, as I drove around from Los Angeles to Laguna to Pomona to San Diego (not in one trip :]), I realized that the trees and grass were very green.
Has it always been like that?
Living in Southern California, I remember it being brownish and ugly. Hehehe.
Anyways, it's very beautiful now!
It just saddens me a bit that the nice green plains will soon be turned into a community of track homes~ :(

Abundance of Color

Abundance of Color
California Flowers in Art

March 22- August 23, 2008

The Irvine Museum

These days I'm really into color for some reason.

The vibrancy gives me the chills~

20080308

Parrot

Color Polaroids

Got to rent the Hasselblad for the weekend.

These are the first medium format color polaroids that I've taken in my life...

Very Very EXCITING!!!

Beauty

Dictionary.com defines beauty as "the quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, whether arising from sensory manifestations (as shape, color, sound, etc.), a meaningful design or pattern, or something else (as a personality in which high spiritual qualities are manifest)."
This meaning is very true, but everyone does not share the same definition.
I've been thinking about this subject for awhile now and I still haven't figured it out.
Maybe there is no absolute, universal "beauty".
Maybe itt's one of those things that does not have an answer.
Something that I find beautiful may not be beautiful to someone else.
Then, who has the correct point of view? -.-;;;
Who defines art/fashion/looks/body/etc.?

Homeless

A couple of us went to grab something to eat during our little break between class and today's topic was homeless people. Since I grew up in L.A., I grew up with seeing a lot of homeless people on the streets. They were telling me how there are homeless in the O.C., EVEN in Laguna. It's weird cuz I never saw any~
Anyways, I always thought about how homeless people became homeless. And the first thing that would come to mind is drugs. That's usaully the case. But, one of my friends was sharing how she became friends with this one homeless person and told us how he had come to that point. He gave up on his life once his wife passed away. As soon as I heard that, the first thought was that he must've really really loved his wife. He lost all his strength to live. He didn't care for anything and slowly but surely, he ended up on the streets.
I don't know how he feels right now, but it's still pretty sad~ And I know some might think that it's a bit dramatic, but I believe that this could happen to some people. My friend was saying that there are those people with a strong mentality that could overcome hardships. But also, there are those who are weak cuz there are two sides to everything. Good/Bad, Right/Wrong, Strong/Weak, Tall/Short...

Btw, is it politically incorrect to say "homeless people"?

Blood Type

Being Korean, I heard a lot of things about blood types determining your characteristic/personality, which I believe some of it. But, I think it's very general, so who knows if it's true or not.
Anyways, couple of us were just talking about food and how it's really hard to have a healthy diet in America compared to other countries. And somehow we got into the topic of vegetarians. And one of my friends said that for certain blood types, it's unhealthy to be a vegetarian. Everyone I know who are vegetarians are vegetarians by choice and not because they can't eat meat even if they want to. So, when I heard this I got confused. I'm getting confused just writing about it...
Sorry, but I think I'm going to end it here because I'm losing my train of thought~ T.T

I think I'm just tired.... Yesterday, I spent 8 hours in the photo lab and didn't get much sleep AND I was at school from 10am to 8pm today...
So sad~
I need to sleep early today!

Childhood

I couldn't sleep last night, so I woke up at 3am and laid in bed until 4ish and decided to go to the gym. These days, I really enjoy going to the gym. Not because I want to be muscular or want to lose weight, but because it's really refreshing. There is nothing like getting up early, inhaling the cold, crisp, slightly moist, air oustide, driving with the heater on with some oldies music, running, exercising whatever body part of that day, steam sauna, swimming, shower, and starting your day.

Another week is starting... I wonder what is in store for me this week... hmmmm... Probably some printing. hehehe

Assignment 2

Here are two before/after 4x5 polaroids of what we are currently working on.
These are just test shots we made before we actually shot it.
The assignment is about correcting architectural shots with the large format camera.
What do you think?
Can you tell the difference?
I hope so~ ^^

Hope

Hope, like the gleaming taper’s light,

Adorns and cheers our way;

And still, as darker grows the night,

Emits a brighter ray.

-Oliver Goldsmith