Sonialena Photography

New Blog Address!

2008-12-31T14:46:00.000-08:00

I've moved.

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

Thanks!

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-26T23:21:00.001-08:00

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!

Portraits: Jen and Richard Maternity Photos

2008-12-19T14:11:00.000-08:00

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.

Tips: Pogue on Photography

2008-12-18T13:46:00.000-08:00

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!

Portraits: Blended #17

2008-12-17T09:21:00.000-08:00

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.

Portraits: Blended #16

2008-12-16T09:04:00.000-08:00

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.

New Logo - Third Time's a Charm?

2008-12-07T23:49:00.000-08:00

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.

Portraits: Blended #15

2008-11-28T17:00:00.000-08:00

I took photos of Andrea and Linh while I was in the bay area. Linh and I went to UCLA together many years ago - more than I care to say! Linh was born in Vietnam and grew up in Orange county. Andrea is of Japanese descent; she grew up in Richmond California. Her father's family is from Peru and she is fluent in Spanish. We took these pictures in San Francisco.

Political Pilgrimage

2008-11-13T12:10:00.000-08:00

I'm headed to Washington D.C. for Barack Obama's inauguration in January. I have no idea whether I'll get a ticket or not; it goes without saying that demand for tickets is through the roof. But I'm excited to travel to another part of the country and take pictures!

I'm already planning which lenses I want to bring with me. While I would love to take my 70-200mm f/2.8 beast, I do not want to be lugging that around with me all day. As of now I'm going with my 10.5mm fisheye and my 50mm f/1.4, both of which are quite compact.

And I'm finally going to get Nikon's 18-200mm VR II lens. This lens was all the rage when it first came out. It was sold out for months. It's not a professional lens, so it isn't really suited for portrait or wedding work. But from what I hear it's a great walking-around lens.

I can't wait to walk around DC with it!

Portraits: Robert and Neil

2008-11-12T12:05:00.000-08:00

I took a few pictures of Robert and Neil together. These were taken at the Presidio in San Francisco.

Portraits: Blended #14

2008-11-11T09:46:00.000-08:00

Neil is the third person in my bay area trifecta: as with Regine and Robert, I met him through my aunt Pamela. They all went to Stanford together.

Neil is of Barbadian and Polish descent. His grandparents on his father's side are from Barbados, and his mother's grandparents are from Poland. He currently lives in Vallejo, which is northeast of San Francisco. We took these photos at the Presidio in San Francisco.

Photo on Parents.com

2008-10-27T15:36:00.000-07:00

A big thank you to Kelly, who submitted this photo to Parents.com. The photo is from the maternity session I did with Kelly and Scott over the summer. It is now part of an article on how to take pregnant belly photos.

P.S. Kelly and Scott had a healthy baby girl in September.

Portraits: Blended #13

2008-10-22T11:05:00.000-07:00

Robert is another subject that I met through Pamela - he's her husband! And my uncle. Pamela and Robert live in Ohio with their three wonderful children. Robert gew up in Dayton and is half black and half white. We took these pictures at the Presidio in San Francisco, CA.

Lightroom-licious

2008-10-21T14:51:00.000-07:00

I finally broke down and bought Lightroom. I decided to give it a try because the workflow I had with Aperture was not working. I only used Aperture to organize images, so I'll be the first to admit that I was not using Apeture to it's full potential.

With Aperture, I was importing my images, exporting them to another folder on my computer, opening them in Photoshop's version of Camera Raw, saving them as PSD files, then re-importing them back into Aperture. And while Aperture has the ability to send files directly over to Photoshop, I couldn't figure out how to open them in ACR, which resulted in my import/export dance.

With Lightroom this is greatly simplified. I can use ACR to edit the photos directly in Lightroom, and when I need to open anything in Photoshop I can open it as a Smart Object. Smart Objects have become my preferred way of working in Photoshop, because at any time I can double click on the photo and it will open in ACR.

Lightroom also has some wonderful slideshow and web gallery options, which reminded me that one of these days I'm going to redesign my website. I'll probably plunk down the money for SlideShow Pro, but for personal projects and photos for friends, the options in Lightroom will be all that I need.

I feel like an Apple traitor. And who knows - maybe Aperture will woo me back. But for now, Lightroom is my new BFF.

Portraits: Blended #12

2008-10-20T13:08:00.000-07:00

I met Regine through my aunt, who also introduced me to Alan, an earlier participant in my mixed race portrait project. Regine is of Haitian and Irish ancestry, and her first language is French. She currently lives in Berkeley, CA. We took these pictures at Dimond Park in Oakland, CA.

Wedding: Michelle and Jonathan

2008-10-19T08:06:00.000-07:00

This was a beautiful wedding. The ceremony and reception were at the Mission Inn in Riverside, CA. I was an assistant shooter with AAcreation Photography.

Wedding: Juliet and Deedrick

2008-10-18T14:11:00.000-07:00

So I'm a wee bit behind in updating my blog. These photos are from Juliet and Deedrick's summer wedding, where I was assistant shooting with AAcreation Photography. The ceremony was at the Benedict Castle in Riverside, CA. The reception was held at the Guasti Villa in Ontario, CA.

LA Marathon, Here I Come!

2008-09-29T23:09:00.000-07:00

I signed up to run the LA Marathon, which takes place March 1 of next year. This is tangentally related to photography because, when I began training this month, my first thought was to carry my camera with me.

Now, even a camera as light and fun as the Nikon D40 is not so easy to go jogging with. While I'm debating whether to go with a Canon or Sony little pocket camera, I'm making do with my camera phone.

And the junky little camera is all right - the digital equivalent of a plastic toy camera. A little toying around with Aperture yields passable results. The following two pictures were taken just walking around my neighborhood.

And the following two pictures were taken along the equestrian trails in Walnut, CA. This was the first time I have ever gone running on those trails, and they are a really wonderful place to walk or jog. The wide dirt path is much better than concrete, and there is a good amount of shade thanks to the very fragrant pine trees. Check out the trail map here.

Portraits: All Together Now

2008-09-14T20:22:00.000-07:00

My couples for Blended #10 and #11, in Barstow, CA.

Portraits: Blended #11

2008-09-14T20:13:00.000-07:00

I met Jamie at Cal Poly and have known her for nearly three years now. In addition to taking classes together, we also taught English in China during the summer of 2006. Her boyfriend Ryohei is from Japan and has been in the US for two years now. We took these pictures in Barstow, CA.

Portraits: Blended #10

2008-09-14T19:09:00.000-07:00

My portrait project is in double digits now! I got a twofer with this portrait session. I initially drove out to Barstow to meet my friend Jamie, who I know from Cal Poly. As it turns out, her brother Kalan and his girlfriend, Sylvia, were in town as well.

Kalan and Sylvia are in and of themselves a twofer - in addition to being an interracial couple, Sylvia is multiracial. She's Korean and Latina. These pictures were taken in Barstow, CA.

Lightroom vs. Aperture: The Saga Continues

2008-08-30T21:40:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, I waxed philosophical over whether to stick with Aperture or switch to Lightroom. At the time, Apple had just released Aperture 2.0. I read really wonderful things about it. And I was not up to the task of trying to convert my Aperture library into one that would be accessible to Lightroom. So I purchased the new Aperture.

And now . . . Lightroom 2.0 is out! The debate continues. Converting my library might be worth the trouble after all.

Wedding: Milia and Arfan

2008-08-29T13:36:00.000-07:00

I was an assistant shooter with AAcreation for this reception; the wedding took place the day before. These pictures were taken at the Hyatt in Garden Grove.

New Blog Look!

2008-08-17T18:20:00.000-07:00

So dreary. So gray. Maybe I saw The Dark Knight too many times. And I'm still thinking of catching it on IMAX.

In any case, here is the new look!

New Site Colors and Logo

2008-08-17T12:03:00.001-07:00

I played around with the colors on my photography site and created a new logo. And no, my blog doesn't match my website yet. One day I will take the plunge and get WordPress up and running, but I haven't quite wrapped my head around it.

I am still working on redesigning my website so that I can ditch my template by the beginning of 2009. I'm a big fan of sites such as this one for Peter Yang. I like that you can view all the gallery images on one page, unlike many Flash websites.

I don't find Flash to be very user friendly. Flash can definitely create some beautiful sites, but often they're slow to load, can be difficult to navigate, and don't allow any bookmarking of specific images.

But Flash is definitely the flavor of the day when it comes to photographer websites. I might not ditch it completely, but I will definitely not have an all-Flash site.

Portraits: Blended #9

2008-08-16T15:46:00.000-07:00

I met Alyssa and Jonathan through Nancy, another participant in Project Blended. Alyssa is of mixed heritage; her mother is from Hong Kong and her father is American. Jonathan, her fiancé, is of German descent. We took these pictures at Orange Terrace Park in Riverside, CA.

Wedding: Tasneem and Asif

2008-08-10T14:18:00.000-07:00

I was an assistant shooter for Tasneem and Asif's wedding with AAcreation. This was the first Muslim wedding I have attended. The ceremony took place in Garden Grove, CA.

Portraits: Kelly and Scott Maternity Photos

2008-08-06T10:02:00.000-07:00

Kelly and Scott were the very first people I photographed for Project Blended back in April. Kelly had a little bump when we took those photos - now her due date is only a few weeks away.

These pictures are from two different sessions, one in late June and one in late July. The photos were taken at Kelly and Scott's home in Los Angeles.

Wedding: Emma and Alex

2008-07-19T09:13:00.000-07:00

These are some pictures from another wedding that I was second shooting with AAcreation. This was a really fun wedding - with a couple that met while swing dancing, you know the party's got to be good! It was at the Christmas House in Rancho Cucamonga, and it was a nice, small gathering. About 50 guests, tops.

Portraits: Blended #8

2008-07-17T15:29:00.000-07:00

Here are the pictures of Nancy, as promised. Nancy describes herself as half Lebanese and half Texan. We took these pictures at her home in Riverside.

Portraits: Patty and Nancy

2008-07-11T09:20:00.000-07:00

I met Patty in grad school; we had several classes together and helped each other study for our big, bad, comprehensive exams. She now lives in Riverside with Nancy. We took these pictures in the botanical gardens at UC Riverside.

Look for more pictures of Nancy coming soon - as we were strolling through the gardens and I was nattering on about my mixed race photography project, Nancy told me that she was half Lebanese! Which means she's a perfect candidate for Project Blended.

Aperture Plug-Ins

2008-07-07T14:10:00.000-07:00

I only have two plug-ins for Aperture 2.0: one that exports images directly to SmugMug, and one that exports images directly to Flickr. Man, have they made things easier. Since Aperture collapses everything into one library that cannot be accessed by other programs (at least I haven't figured it out), I used to have to export files as JPEGs to another folder on my hard drive, then use a different program to upload them to my website of choice. Now I can do everything from within Aperture, which is just easy, easy, easy.

I haven't explored other options for Aperture plug-ins because, frankly, I am addicted to Photoshop. I mostly use Aperture for as an organizational tool, and Camera Raw and Photoshop for editing. But I might play around with Aperture's editing options and see what they have to offer.

Wedding: Marisa and Oscar

2008-07-06T23:18:00.000-07:00

I've decided that wedding photography is the next frontier, and I found a wonderful photographer - AAcreation Photography - who lets me tag along on his wedding assignments. The first wedding I helped photograph was Marisa and Oscar. I don't know how the bride managed to stay so beautiful because it was meltingly hot that day.

It goes without saying that shooting weddings is a lot harder than it looks. But I think with some more practice and experience, I can swing it. These photos were taken at a church in Pomona and at the reception in Bloomington.

Portraits: Blended #7

2008-07-01T14:40:00.000-07:00

Alan is the first individual I've photographed for my project - all the other sessions have been couples and families. When I decided to do this project, I initially wanted to just photograph mixed race individuals but figured I would include couples as well, since they're all pieces of the same pie. And now couples are the dominant aspect. But I have plenty of time to balance it out!

I met Alan through my aunt. He's an actor and model living in Santa Monica. His father is French and German, and his mother is African American and Native American.

Portraits: Blended #6

2008-06-25T00:08:00.000-07:00

I don't know how Ed heard about my mixed race project, but I'm sure glad he did. Ed and Rebecca are a great couple who recently became engaged and are planning their November wedding. We took these pictures at Lacy Park in San Marino.

Site Design

2008-06-16T10:57:00.000-07:00

As I continue to plow through my Project Blended website, struggling with every little detail, I'm finally beginning to understand why people hire professionals to do this kind of thing.

I know - duh.

The main reasons I keep going are that I just want to prove to myself I can do it, and I want something that I can control. So if I need to add a new gallery, or change some text, I don't need to hound someone else to do it. I only need to hound myself - which is already hard enough.

The next hurdle is WordPress - I installed it and am somewhat hypnotized with all this PHP stuff. It's hard to believe that all those weird words and symbols actually mean something, and that there are people who understand it.

And here I am, still fumbling through CSS.

Clearly there are plenty of people who have figured out all this stuff, and I like to think that I'm reasonably intelligent. The goal is to get this thing up in July. And if I haven't hurled my computer out the window by then, I will move on to re-energizing my personal website, and finally - the Big Kahuna - redesigning my photography site.

The Murky World of Web Design

2008-06-09T00:10:00.000-07:00

When I first came up with the idea of a mixed race portrait project, I had no idea that in a couple month's time I would be puzzling my way through CSS, XHTML, XML, and Flash. I thought that I would go around taking pictures, dump them on my current website, and maybe design a postcard using Illustrator or Photoshop.

But the idea of a website just for this project seems like such a good idea. I could have the portraits. Then I could add essays. A section of resources. A blog that deals exclusively with mixed-race issues.

And a movie section - which I admit seems kind of random. But the idea of writing critical essays about the ways in which mixed racialness is portrayed in cinema has been bouncing around my head since I was film school student at UCLA.

So I'll put up with the headaches in order to get the site just how I want it. And I'll pray that the Flash fairy visits me and helps me build a slideshow based on an XML file that allows for visitor interactivity so that they can click on a photo and be whisked away to the relevant photo gallery.

Ugh. I get sick just writing that.

Portraits: Blended #5

2008-06-08T10:31:00.000-07:00

Pheng and Jon were recommended to me by Kristie, who I photographed earlier for my mixed race project. Pheng and Jon have three beautiful - and quite energetic - children. We took these pictures at their home in Pacific Palisades.

Yet Another Logo

2008-06-06T01:20:00.000-07:00

On to Project Blended logo number three . . . .

First is was the flower, then the rings. Now it's these circle people. I made this illustration to use as the banner for my website, and I have to say, I'm really digging it. It looks exactly how I envisioned it. I might toy with the colors, make the rays a little wider, but overall I'm happy with the look.

I'm starting to get the hang of this Illustrator thing. It's still a struggle, and things like this take me a long time. But all I can say is that layers and clipping masks are wonderful things.

One banner down, a whole website left to go!

Corn

2008-06-01T22:07:00.001-07:00

I'm always intrigued with what people can turn into a book.

Like photos of corn.

A Year of Corn. Yeah, it sounds weird. But the images are really beautiful.

Ixnay on the Owerflay

2008-05-30T11:32:00.000-07:00

I've decided to nix the flower in my Project Blended logo. It's pretty, and it will always hold a special place in my heart as the first decent thing I was able to make in Illustrator. But it doesn't really say anything about the project - if anything, I look at it and think "Hawaii."

So I'm experimenting with different ideas for the logo. Right now I'm keen on circles. I was thinking of doing three circles coming together to make different colors - like when you see explanations of the RGB color model, and the three red, green, and blue circles overlap to make cyan, yellow, magenta, and white.

But it doesn't look so hot when you substitute various shades of brown, since I've decided to use a skin-toned color palette. So I came up with these five rings, which I like. For now.

MSNBC Multiracial Article

2008-05-28T10:14:00.000-07:00

MSNBC has an article about the growing multiracial population in the United States. There is also a really cool interactive feature that has pictures of mixed race individuals, couples, and families along with a few words sharing their experiences.

I want to grab all these people and photograph them!

Project Blended is chugging along; I photographed another couple over the weekend and will post those pictures soon. The big goal now is to get a website up, so that I have an easy place to direct people towards.

CSS Zen Garden

2008-05-27T13:35:00.000-07:00

CSS Zen Garden is a fun site. Different programmers/designers take the same website and give it their own design. The following images all contain the same text, but radically different designs.

You can browse through all the designs here. You can also look at designs that have been rejected. Both sections provide plenty of lessons in good and bad design.

Little Flowers

2008-05-25T20:16:00.000-07:00

I've spent the better part of the weekend playing around with Adobe Illustrator, and this is what I was able to come up with. A flower and some text. And it took uh-looong time.

I've been using The Adobe Illustrator CS3 Wow! Book, and just making it through the first couple chapters has made me look at illustration in a whole new way. Rather than seeing things in terms of complicated lines and patterns, I am learning to see things as a combination of shapes. (Don't laugh at me, all you art majors!)

For example, the flower in my Project Blended logo is made of only two shapes that are copied and combined to form a flower. After some gradient fill and different layering styles - voilà! A nice, geometric flower.

I'm not sure if I'm going to stick with the flower, but for now it's good enough to go on the promotional postcard I want to make for this project.

I've also started reading my 1000 page Dreamweaver book so that I can at least get a basic web page up. I see things like XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, FTP, PHP, ASP, XML, ActionScript, Spry . . . and I feel my stomach turning. Maybe I'm too old to learn how to design websites.

But I trust in the good people who published this book and I'm determined to plow through it. And after Dreamweaver, it's on to Flash!

The Migrant Project

2008-05-25T09:25:00.000-07:00

I listen to KCRW's Good Food weekly, and while the focus of the show is (obviously) food, they also run interesting stories on the way food intersects with different areas of our personal lives, culture, and society.

Last week the host, Evan Kleiman, interviewed photographer Rick Nahmias, who spent time traveling with migrant workers in California. His work, called The Migrant Project, has now been published in book form. The interview is really interesting, if you have time to take a listen. (Scroll down if you only want to hear the interview with Rick Nahmias.)

This episode also has a story on colonics, which - after making your stomach turn - will make you want to go eat a salad.

Portraits: Rickert Family BBQ

2008-05-23T18:46:00.000-07:00

I took some portraits for a large family gathering on Mother's Day Weekend. The weather couldn't have been better, the family couldn't have been friendlier, and the kids . . . very adorable!

I Say Letter, You Say Parcel

2008-05-23T11:07:00.001-07:00

I always thought that if something was in an envelope, it was a letter. If it was in a box, it was a parcel.

But no . . . apparently that's not the case.

I mail CD's of photographs to my clients. I place the CD in a cardboard sleeve, write a letter full of pleasantries, and place everything in a 6 x 9 envelope. And it usually costs about 60¢. But the other day when I went into the post office, the clerk charged me $1.35 - more than twice as much money!

I asked her why, and she explained that if the envelope is not bendable, then it's a parcel, even though it's an envelope. And how it has to do with the machinery used to process letters, and they've been enforcing this for a year, and it's so confusing for everyone, etc. etc.

Hmmm. So the next time I go into the same post office to mail CD's, a different clerk charges me . . . 60¢. Apparently it is confusing for their own employees.

So I found this little pop-up on the USPS website. Yes, envelopes that do not bend easily incur an extra charge, as do square envelopes or envelopes that contain pens (?). But I don't know why that clerk charged me the parcel price, instead of the extra 20¢.

Not that I usually get bent out of shape over 75¢, but who wants to pay more money when they don't have to?

Self-Published Photography Books

2008-05-19T12:31:00.000-07:00

I've been hunting around the internet looking for companies that produce albums for photographers. So far I've looked at materials from AsukaBook, Zookbinders, and Renaissance. All look promising. I'm mostly interested in albums that are like books, rather than more traditional matted or mounted styles, where actual prints are in the album.

Which is why I was especially interested to read "Turn Those Bytes into Books" in the New York Times. The article focuses on Blurb.com, but lists several other related websites, such as companies that sell templates and illustrations, or those that offer design services.

Price-wise, Blurb.com is very affordable. They also offer an on-line bookstore where you can sell your creations at whatever price you wish. All very intriguing.

Of course, my first thought with all of this is self-publishing my Project Blended book - once I have enough portraits to fill a book. But I also want to have album options for clients. I'm sure that for weddings, people will spring more for AsukaBook or Zookbinders. For more casual occasions, however, such as birthday parties or family portraits in the park, a Blurb book may better suit the occasion.

Illustrator and the Mighty Pen (Tool)

2008-05-16T09:09:00.000-07:00

When I bought Adobe's Design Premium Suite, I was mostly interested in Photoshop. Of course the products are packaged so that it's cheaper to buy a whole slew of software rather than just two or three program. So I'm finally getting around to learning the other programs.

I want to learn Illustrator so that I can design promotional materials. I managed to design my business card by just playing around with the program and looking stuff up on Google. And this simple design - a symbol and some text - took forever.

So I finally bought a book on Illustrator, and after just a few pages I've had this huge "a-ha" moment: Bézier Curves. I had no idea how the pen tool worked. When I played around with it I just got these random curvy lines that seemed to go all over the place.

But now . . . now I think that with practice, I can become more creative with my designs. My immediate goal with Illustrator and Dreamweaver is to design a website for my mixed race photography project. If I can pull that off, then eventually I would like to move away from the template that I have now for my main photography website.

I purchased my site from BluDomain. And while you can find plenty of people on the internet who curse BluDomain up and down, my experience with them has been good. It just irks me that so many other people out there have the same website that I do. So I really would like to have something unique and that is a better expression of my personality and style.

First I gotta hit those books!

Portraits: Blended #4

2008-05-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

I photographed Mike, Candice, and their son Blake at their home in Los Angeles. As you can see by the pictures, they will soon be welcoming a new member to the family! I met Candice through a friend from Cal Poly Pomona, and took photos at Blake's first birthday party.

The Power of Images

2008-05-13T10:02:00.000-07:00

I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts the other day - Slate's Political Gabfest - and they were talking about the lack of images coming out of Myanmar in the wake of the cyclone disaster, and how that contributes to the fact that the story really isn't on Americans' minds. Above is satellite imagery showing Myanmar before and after Cyclone Nargis.

It's really horrifying how high the death toll could be. The Los Angeles Times has an article stating that 1.5 million people are in danger of dying due to food and drinking water shortages and from disease, as bodies lay decomposing instead of being cremated.

But the government won't let aid in. Why? Because they don't want to be shown up by other countries. They want to save face no matter the cost. Which is why state-run media shows pictures of soldiers delivering aid, rather than of dead floating bodies. The Associated Press has an article on how difficult it is for media and aid workers in Myanmar.

Another reminder of how powerful images - and the lack of images - can be.

Portraits: Blended #3

2008-05-12T12:12:00.000-07:00

Annie and Adam are the third installment in my Blended photography project. I met Annie through a friend several years ago; Annie and I were both in the drumline at UCLA. Her first year was just after my last year, so we never played in the line together but had friends in common and eventually became friends in our own right.

We took these pictures at Annie and Adam's home in Los Angeles and at the Los Angeles California Mormon Temple.And their dog, Bella.

To Kubota or Not to Kubota?

2008-05-12T11:29:00.000-07:00

I recently received some promotional materials from AsukaBook, and included was some information about Kubota Image Tools. Of course the images look beautiful, and the website has many more examples - with before and after pictures - of various actions.

But all these action packs get me to thinking - how many do I need? I really do love Nik Color Efex Pro 3.0 and Alien Skin Exposure 2.0. They allow me to make quick adjustments to a photo, I can edit each individual filter for more control, and I can combine various filters on one image to get very cool, unique effects. So how different could I make my images look with yet another set of actions/filters? And should I just spend time with Photoshop creating my own actions rather than money on more and more software?

The professor who taught my Photoshop class used his own laptop with the overhead projector, and he had a million plug-ins. He said that we could play around with Photoshop and try to figure out the effects ourselves, but he would much rather pay the money for a "quick fix" and spend more time and energy shooting.

Of course, either route requires "playing around" - even armed with tons of filters and actions, it takes time to figure out which combinations look good with which images. And in the end, most people don't want cookie-cutter images that look like everyone else's. So as I toy with the idea of Kubota, I'm still dedicated to learning a little something new about Photoshop every day.

Master of Disaster

2008-05-05T23:24:00.001-07:00

As in Photoshop Disasters. A must read!

The African Presence in Mexico

2008-05-05T09:35:00.000-07:00

I went to the California African American Museum on Sunday to view their exhibit, "The African Presence in Mexico: From Yanga to the Present." Definitely worth checking out because a) it's free, and b) the topic is fascinating.

The exhibit is a mix of painting, photography, and sculpture; of course I was drawn to the photography, but there are some amazing paintings as well. Back in my college days, I took a course on interracial matters, and the professor discussed these parts of Mexico where clearly the people had African ancestry. But Mexicans don't want to acknowledge it because they have this view of la raza cosmica, that they are all just one race. So it's something that most people don't know about, inside and outside of Mexico. The exhibit also touches on how race has been dealt with differently in the United States versus Latin America. Very interesting stuff.

The exhibit will be up until June 1.

Portraits: Blended #2

2008-05-03T10:17:00.000-07:00

I've finished editing the pictures I took at my second Blended photo session. Kristie and George were so much fun to work with. They were very comfortable in front of the camera, did a few costume changes, and were even willing to lie down on the grass for me! We took these pictures at their home in Los Angeles.

Filter Frenzy

2008-04-28T15:55:00.000-07:00

I remember when I thought Photoshop was the be all, end all. I was ecstatic when I finally wrangled and finagled the money to buy it. At last! The promised land!

And then I discovered plug-ins.

A lot of plug-ins. Apparently Photoshop was not the be all, end all. It was just the beginning, the first step in a long journey of third-party software that promises to make images better, faster.

The two that I plan to purchase are Color Efex Pro 3.0 and Exposure 2.0. Both programs have massive amounts of filters and presets to play with. I know that someone with real chops can get the same effects using Photoshop alone, without purchasing additional software.

But not everyone has those chops. And even if you do have the chops, it takes a lot of time. Time that could be better spent in other ways. Time, money . . . you get the idea.

Color Efex Pro offers a free 15 day trial, and Exposure offers a 30 day trial. Both demos are fully functional. I find the software to be a little bit on the pricey side, but if you (or someone you know) is a student or educator, both programs can be purchased through the Academic Superstore at a considerable discount. The value of education!

Sigma 10-20mm

2008-04-23T09:50:00.000-07:00

I love this lens. I've been wanting one for a long time but was not sure how practical it would be. It doesn't stop down to 2.8. But then, it's wider than the Nikon, Tokina, and Tamron zoom lenses in the same category.

So I decided to go with a wider lens that was a tad bit slower. And it's a lot of fun! The above picture was taken at the Long Beach Grand Prix. They had an exhibit on green cars inside the convention center. I'm not sure if you can tell by the picture, but it's a Lexus sedan with a matte black finish. It looks very, very cool.

And it looks even cooler shot at 10mm; instead of looking like a regular car, it looks like the Batmobile. I was practically leaning right over the hood, and the car still looks like it's a few feet away.

I can't wait to try some portraits with this lens. They may not be flattering, but they'll definitely be interesting.

The Need for Speed

2008-04-20T19:55:00.001-07:00

I went to the Long Beach Grand Prix today. I've never been to a racing event before and didn't know what to expect. I don't even watch it on TV because, frankly, I don't really get it. Cars driving fast? In a circle? That's it?

Well, now I can say that cars driving fast in a circle is actually kind of cool. They are incredibly loud - I had to buy earplugs after I got there. And they go really fast (duh). The above shot was taken at a shutter speed of 1/100. I still need to edit the pictures I took, but so far this one is my favorite.

Yeah, it's a blurry mess. But it's one of the few pictures that I didn't have to try to shoot through a fence. I could have bought a Super Photo Pass for $250 (!) and stood in special bleachers that were above the race track and fences, or bribed one of the press photographers to let me wear their silly blue vest for 20 minutes.

No, instead my brother and I wandered around the track, trying to get views of what we could. We ended up near the hairpin turn, which was the place to be when they had the drifting competition. I held my camera up above my head for this picture, meaning I only had to shoot through one fence instead of two.

Portraits: Blended #1

2008-04-17T09:28:00.001-07:00

Kelly and Scott were the first people I photographed for my interracial project, which for now is called Blended. We took the pictures at their new home last Saturday. I've known Kelly for, oh, going on 14 years now. Kelly and Scott are expecting their first child, so it's a very exciting time for them!

Here are a few more pictures from the afternoon.

To Lightroom or Not to Lightroom

2008-04-16T09:00:00.000-07:00

I use Aperture to organize my photos. I bought the program when it first came out, so Lightroom was not on the scene. Now it is. And I'm debating whether to switch to Adobe's photo management software or plunk down the money for Aperture 2.0.

I know that more people use Lightroom, but the idea of trying to migrate my entire Aperture library into Lightroom is less than appealing. Not to mention having to learn another program. From what I can gather, people who prefer Lightroom like the better integration that Lightroom has with Photoshop. Aperture can connect to Photoshop or any external editor you like. My only problem with the version I have (Aperture 1.5) is that when I send RAW files over to Photoshop, they don't open in Camera Raw. I don't know if Aperture 2.0 fixes this, but if it does then I'm sold.

What's In a Face?

2008-04-09T22:54:00.000-07:00

I'm sure that at one point or another, if not always, we wonder what we "look like" to other people. Some people wonder if they look pretty enough, thin enough, rich enough, smart enough.

I always wonder what ethnicity I look to people. I'm mixed - my mother is African-American and my father is Mexican-American. Most people think I'm black. Some people ask if I'm Puerto Rican or Cuban. I've also been asked if I'm Brazilian, Ethiopian, Somalian, or Filipino. Strangers on the street have started speaking to me in Amharic and I'm like, "whuuuuuh?"

And frankly, I'm kind of obsessed with all things mixed race, cross-cultural, and interracial. So I've decided to channel all this obsession into a photography project: portraits of mixed heritage people and of interracial/cross-cultural couples and families.

If you or anyone you know fits the bill, send them my way! Currently I'm working my California contacts but eventually want to find people all over the country. Once I get going I'm going to create a special gallery on my website for the portraits.

Stay tuned!

Canon's New Beast

2008-04-05T21:47:00.000-07:00

I'm a Nikon person. Why? Because when I took my very first photography class, my professor used Nikon. She recommended that we use Nikon. So, I went out and bought a Nikon FM10 and a few lenses to go with it. When I bought my first digital SLR I contemplated buying a Canon, but Nikon had their hooks in me and I didn't feel like making the switch.

And after that I didn't give Canon equipment much thought, until I chanced upon a review of their newest camera, the EOS-1Ds Mark III (man, that's a long name). What caught my eye wasn't any cool features or interesting specs, but the price tag - $8,000. That's a good $3,000 more expensive than Nikon's top-of-the-line camera, the D3.

Not that it matters, since I can't afford either camera anyway. But it's nice to think that Nikon's best is more affordable than Canon's best. And when I really start raking in the big bucks, I'll lay out for a Hasselbad H3DII-39: a nifty $33,995. Just to show I've earned it.

The Moment It Clicks

2008-04-04T15:48:00.000-07:00

I've seen this book recommended in various places, so I finally picked up a copy. It's definitely interesting; there are a lot of great images and, for most of them, McNally gives a brief rundown of how it was lit and shot.

But that's just what makes this book a little intimidating. Some techniques are good ideas that anyone can do. And others take a small army and a truck load of grip and lighting equipment to accomplish.

The most fascinating pages are the two shots that show all of the camera gear and lighting equipment that McNally uses. It's quite impressive. I don't even know what a lot of that stuff is, let alone what to do with it. Right now I'm just trying to conquer off-camera flash.

This is a fun book, great to flip through and fascinating to read. I'll have plenty of ideas to add to my to-try list.

Play With Your Toys

2008-04-01T22:43:00.001-07:00

I'm the first to admit that I often suffer from gear lust - I have a a mile-long list of all the lenses, lights, camera bodies, studio gear, and miscellaneous gadgetry that I know will make my photography infinitely better.

And I'm the first to admit that it's a ridiculous theory.

People are quite capable of using the finest, most expensive camera equipment on the planet and producing nothing but garbage. And people can take a cardboard box with a hole punched in it and make amazing images.

So it's nice to take a cheap plastic camera, throw some film in there, and see what happens. No exposure meters, no LCD monitors. That excitement when you pick up your film from the lab and see what you ended up getting. It's definitely a change of pace.

I received a Diana camera as a gift, along with 10 rolls of film. I just developed the first roll; the above image was shot on Fuji Velvia 100. It was taken in San Pedro, overlooking the harbor. The unpredictable aspects - the lens flare, the vignetting - is what makes this kind of photography so much fun.

Back That Thang Up

2008-04-01T09:35:00.000-07:00

There are two kinds of people in this world: those who divide the world into two kinds of people, and those who . . . wait, scratch that.

There are two kinds of people in this world: those who back up and those who will. I am sad to say that I had to learn the hard way. Several years ago my new laptop, only a few months old, had to have it's hard drive reformatted. I think it was some goofy program that I downloaded from the internet. Luckily I had not had the computer very long and still had a lot of files on my old computer. But boy, did I learn.

I know that you can purchase software for backing up your files; for a long time I used Backup, software that comes when you purchase a .Mac account. But now Apple's OS 10.5 comes with Time Machine, and this thing is amazing. It makes backups of my computer every hour to an external hard drive.

Of course, just as internal hard drives will fail (not if - when), so do external hard drives. Chances are they will not fail at the same time, but . . . I also want to put my files on DVDs. Two sets of DVDs: master and disaster, as my brother would call it. One set stored at my home, the other set stored someplace else and hopefully safe from any disasters that may strike my place of residence.

Backing up of computer files is important for everyone, and especially important for people with photos and other irreplaceable files. Don't learn the hard way!

I Should Post More Than Once a Month

2008-03-29T10:26:00.000-07:00

Yes, I realize that my blog is quite sad. One pitiful little post over a month ago. But I am resolved to post at least three to four times a week. Starting now.

The Los Angeles Times has had several articles about the wildflower season, now in full swing. The one they published last weekend just has me dying to go out there.

I went to Joshua Tree last month and saw quite a few blooms. I have more pictures here.

Art Show

2008-02-18T19:26:00.001-08:00

I am participating in an art show at Greenleaf Yoga Studio in Whittier, CA. I plan on showing some landscape and macro photography. Artists working in a variety of media will be participating as well, so it should be a fun night!

The reception is Friday, March 7, from 7-10 pm. Please check Greenleaf Yoga's website for more information.