Wednesday, December 31, 2008

New Blog Address!

I've moved.

Please visit my new blog at http://www.sonialena.com/blog/

Thanks!

Friday, December 26, 2008

Happy Holidays!


I went to the Mission Inn in Riverside with a friend to view their Festival of Lights. It was the perfect way to spend the day after Christmas.

Here's wishing everyone a great new year!

Friday, December 19, 2008

Portraits: Jen and Richard Maternity Photos


I met Richard at AFI - the American Film Institute - back when I was an aspiring screenwriter. I was honored that Richard asked me to take maternity portraits of him and his wife, Jen. Jen was about eight months pregnant when we took these photos; since then Jen and Richard have welcomed a healthy baby boy into the world. These photos were taken at Jen and Richard's home in Los Angeles.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Tips: Pogue on Photography

David Pogue is the technology columnist for The New York Times, and one of my favorite geek guys. I have a few books from his Missing Manual series and am a great fan of the way he makes technology accessible to the technologically challenged.

His latest post is about digital photography, and it has some helpful tips for anyone that wants to take better pictures. Tip #5 was news to me!

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Portraits: Blended #17


I met Annemarie through Mike and Candice, another couple that I photographed for my multiracial portrait project. Annemarie and her husband, Adam, live in Sherman Oaks with their two very adorable sons. We took these pictures in Oxnard, California.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Portraits: Blended #16


Tanya is another friend from UCLA. She currently lives with Jacob in Berkeley, California. We took these pictures four months ago (yes, I am very behind in my blogging) when Tanya was about six months pregnant. She and Jacob have recently welcomed their new son into the world.

We took these pictures in the SOMA district of San Francisco.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

New Logo - Third Time's a Charm?

I would make a terrible interior designer - first painting the walls white, then dark gray, then bright yellow. But it's so much fun changing the colors of my website!

I have experimented with different looks and color combinations, but I know this one is going to be it for a while. I love yellow and I love warm colors; they make me happy, happy, happy.

I'm in the process of completely redesigning the website. It will not be an all-Flash site. I have grumbled before about my ambivalence towards Flash sites. They are beautiful with everything glowing and blinking and sliding around, but I find them difficult to navigate. You can't use your back or forward buttons, you can't bookmark anything, and sometimes they're agonizingly slow.

I will still have Flash slideshows, but they will be embedded in an HTML site. And this site is going to be simple, which I think better suits my aesthetic. Look for the new site later this month.