One of my Princess Nieces . . .

I was in the process of shooting my Sister's family holiday pictures for their Christmas cards and of course my sister wanted my niece to model for the camera. I just recently bought a relatively cheap background stand from Savage and some black muslin cotton sheet from Joann's Fabrics and here's a couple of the results. I might have a Gap ad in the making! Wanna pay me Gap? ;)

Both of these were taken with the black muslin with two strobes fired through two shoot through white umbrellas. One camera right and one camera left. Camera left was in a little closer.

My niece in her "Gap ad." [ ISO 200 - f/4.5 @ 43mm - 1/200s ]


The princess dress. [ ISO 200 - f/4.5 @ 28mm - 1/200s ]

Jimmy's Place . . .

Food to die for. I took some photos of food to be used for printing on the back of the business cards for Jimmy's Place, a cozy Mom & Pop diner style restaurant that is open for breakfast & lunch. Check it out sometime if you're ever in Union City, CA. The Mom & Pop (my Mom & Pop to be exact) would love to serve you some delicious home cooking!

Broke out the Cactus wireless triggers, light stands and umbrellas to help out with the lighting during the photo session.

A unique breakfast experience, Jimmy's skillet. Linguica, mushrooms, bell peppers and onions served on top of potatoes or rice with three eggs and yummy goodness.



No point avoiding it, you know you want a side of Beignets with you breakfast. A southern style doughnut topped with powdered sugar and a sweet vanilla sauce.



If you love burgers, try the Deluxe Burger. It's a double patty cheeseburger with lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, pickles & a secret sauce. Best burger you'll have, promise.



For all your kids, try the homemade Fish and Chips, battered and fried to order.



What are you waiting for? Go try it out!

Back from the photo posting hiatus . . .

My time has been filled with travel, work and general laziness. ;) I've been slacking on the photo posts and taking pictures in general (oh no!), but on my travels to Paris & Amsterdam for a half-vacation/half-work trip, I did manage to take a few shots that I ended up liking.

Paris is gorgeous. I love the laid back atmosphere. The food....to die for. I swear the secret is in France's butter.

The Paris skyline from the top of Notre Dame. Holy cow, why couldn't elevators been invented in the year 1100? So many steps on a hot day in a narrow and windy passageway, not good! Still, it was worth it for the views. [ ISO 100 - f/9.0 @ 40mm - 1/250s ]


There were a couple of non-working fountains that made great for getting reflections of the Eiffel Tower. [ ISO 200 - f/2.8 @ 33mm - 6s ]


Another picture with the reflection with the full Eiffel Tower in the image [ ISO 250 - f/2.8 @ 24mm - 0.6s ] and a shot from a corridor leading to the entrance of the Louvre [ ISO 200 - f/4.0 @ 55mm - 1/250s ]

      

I don't know why I love this picture. Maybe it just says a little something about Paris life on the weekend. So many people come out and walk, run, play tennis, float there remote control boats or just to soak up the sun during the summer at the Jardin du Luxembourg, it's just a great place to people watch and take in a few candid photos. [ ISO 200 - f/2.8 @ 17mm - 1/4000s ]


I didn't get as much time to visit the sites in Amsterdam, unfortunately. Something they call work got in the way of that. I did manage to see a few things. Went to the Van Gogh Museum, the Heineken Brewery tour, some little thing they call the Red Light District and some of the most amazing graffiti I have ever seen.

I'm telling you, a photographer could spend days just taking pictures of the graffiti in Amsterdam. So colorful and artistic and just prime for the picking for awesomely color saturated photos. [ ISO 640 - f/3.5 @ 20mm - 1/40s ]


Old spigots that were used for testing beer during the brewing process in the olden days at the Heineken brewery tour. I was only supposed to be allowed 2 ice cold Heinekens on the tour, but somehow I managed to drink 5. Oops. [ ISO 1000 - f/2.8 @ 35 mm - 1/40s ]

Wedding at Seascape . . .

Had a great time spending the weekend in the Monterey Bay area to attend a friend's wedding. Managed to fit in a wedding, the aquarium and part of the 17 Mile Drive.


Mmmm....luscious bokeh. Who can deny giving some love to the bokeh? [ ISO 200 - 95mm @ f/2.8 - 1/6400s ]


None other than a sea shell cake at the Seascape resort. [ ISO 1600 - 55mm @ f/2.8 - 1/200s ]


My attempt at a vintage looking shot. This was a tough shot to grab, it was a very bright day with haze hanging over the ocean side and had to shoot at the sun. Had no fill flash as I was too far away for flash so exposure was tough to nail, but I managed to grab one without the faces completely under exposed. [ ISO 160 - 185mm @ f/3.5 - 1/400s ]


The lovely couple showing off their moves. [ ISO 1600 - 55mm @ f/3.5 - 1/60s ]

The Lions are Dancing . . .

A buddy and his brother had a photo gig taking pictures of the 38th anniversary celebration of the Leung's White Crane Dragon and Lion Dance Association and I tagged along for a portion of it to help out. Amazing how many people are part of the association just in San Francisco. I think it's over 300+ people that are active in the association.

Lion's head through the crowd. The streets were packed waiting for the dragons and lions to come out. [ISO 100 - 200mm @ f/2.8 - 1/1600]


Eye of the lion. [ISO 100 - 200mm @ f/2.8 - 1/2000]


The Dragon hissing. [ISO 100 - 75mm @ f/2.8 - 1/3200]

Tomales Bay Oysters For All......Yum!

Had a great time with friends at Tomales Bay pigging out on Oysters & beer in celebration of summer and a friend's birthday. Damn good time....It's late, I'm sleepy so I'm just gonna leave you with some images (that you'll hopefully enjoy) that I was able to grab during the pig-out feast. Oddly enough, none of them include pictures of oysters, but I'd probably get killed showing pictures my friend's pigging out in public...

Go try out Tomales Bay Oyster Company if you have some time and take along some good company. It'll be a fun experience, promise! :D

      

Soup for all . . .

My nephews & nieces LOVE drinking the chinese soups that my Mom makes. They can't get enough and run down the stairs to get it. Here's my niece Kailey slurping it down with a straw as fast as she possibly can. [ISO 250 - 160mm @ f/2.8 - 1/100]

New York Instance . . .

Took a few days off from work to enjoy New York City and had a blast. Some of the things I did in no particular order:

* I ate a lot . .
* Was surprised that Paul McCartney was performing live on Letterman's studio balcony right after getting off the E train from JFK on Broadway & 53rd
* Saw puppets singing about the internet & porn
* Ate some more . . .
* Got a view of Central Park that I've never seen before
* Saw a princess and an orge "butt kiss with a fart" and sing about happily ever after
* And I ate a little more . . .


This shot is surprisingly taken at Central Park. I never knew that it had a waterfall! [ISO 100 - f/22.0 - 1s]



So much to see in Central Park. A view of a pond through the railings of a bridge. [ISO 100 - f/4.5 - 1/125]




A window to "The Loch." [ISO 100 - f/7.1 - 1/60]



A night shot of the Rockefeller tower before a security guard yelled at me to close up my tripod at midnight. There were only 10 people or so in the whole courtyard. Who was gonna trip? Boooooooo! Oh.....note to self, "Need wider lens, 17mm on a crop sensor isn't enough!" [ISO 100 - f/9.0 - 1.3s]



A couple of shots in the West 4th Street Station of my girlfriend, of which, I can't decide which one I like better. You tell me. [ISO 400 - f/2.8 - 1/15]

Fourth of July. . .

Happy Fourth of July weekend everyone! Hope everyone had a fun filled weekend. I know I did...I ATE A LOT! :) It's my all time favorite thing to do wherever it is I am. Had my first fried Twinkie at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and ate a bunch of ribs, salsa, hot dogs, lettuce wraps and pie at my friend's place......oh and had some Japanese ramen and a Jamba Juice to top it off today. Did I mention I love to eat?

Got a shot of my friend's awesome Shiba Inu. Apparently she does this all the time and loves staring out the window and checking out the neighborhood.

My New "Baby"

Some may say I've gone overboard, some may say I'm crazy, but dammit, I wanted this lens. I debated it for about 2 months, then left it in my B&H Photo Shopping Cart for about a month.....then finally pulled the trigger. So here it is, my new 7.8", 3.24lb baby.

Well, at least I made a lesson out of this night after a night of drooling over my new arrival. I started playing around with a DIY snoot I made, a la DIY photography, for the first time ever. Simple and very economical to make, I used one of those foam sheets you can get at Michael's or Target and some electrical tape.

The lesson I learned: Distance and directed/measured light are your friends. No need for black backdrops or screens to get rid of the background.

For those interested, this picture was taken with an off camera Speedlite 430EX triggered with my modified poverty wizards (a.k.a Cactus Wireless triggers) above camera left at 1/8 power. [ISO 200 - f/7.1 - 1/200]

Photography really is subjective . . . . .

Had an absolutely great time last week at my friends' wedding in Sausalito and Tiburon. Bummer I had to catch a red-eye to Taiwan for work that evening/morning at 1am.

I don't know why, but I love this picture I took at the reception. There are so many reasons why most people won't like it....it's grainy, its focus is soft, it's got plenty of blown highlights, but yet, I can't help myself from liking it...so "BOOOOO" to all you naysayers. ;)

Fish, Fish & More Fishies . . .

Went to Monterrey Bay Aquarium during the Memorial Day weekend to check out the new Seahorse exhibit and thought it was pretty darn cool; a little small, but hey, you can't go wrong if you have a leafy sea dragon, no?

Two of my nieces . . .

Note to self: Must stop using such a large aperture when taking portraits of two people up close. I ruined a good shot AGAIN! :( MUST.....GET......EYES.....TACK SHARP!

All my babies are back!

Finally, my first day back with my full arsenal of gear. My EF 50mm f/1.4 USM (my fault) and my EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM (not my fault, bad electronics!) are back in my hands after two months in the shop.

Took a few shots out at Lake Chabot on the way home from work and I think all's in working order. Yay!

I do not shoot enough . . . . . .

To learn the craft of photography, you have to shoot and shoot and shoot......I'm not doing enough! Must shoot more.

I was able to manage to grab a couple of decent shots of my nieces, nephews and their friends at their Easter Day Egg hunt. The day was hideously bright making every shot difficult to get (yes, too much light is a bad thing for photographers). Fill flash was used most of the day and shade was my friend. I'm still not so hot with manual controls so over exposed shots and high key shots were abound.

Reflections of a windy & rainy day...

My first blog post ever. Why blog now? I have a reason that I think is worth while (finally). This blog isn't to detail the days of my life, but to detail the journey of me becoming a better photographer. I thought it would be interesting one day to look back at the days of my hobby starting out and seeing how I progressed from the beginning to whatever point I get to.

Without further adieu, the first image.

I grabbed this shot on the way to lunch at Pier 23 while walking through a puddle filled parking lot on a muggy SF Sunday after a night's worth of rain.

About Me . . .

I have a hobby that lets me capture light in a meaningful way. Photography! This blog is all about my journey in learning how to capture light in the most perfect of ways. I picked up my first real camera (read: DSLR) back in September 2007 and haven't been able to put it down since.

I'm definitely looking to expand my portfolio in any way possible, so if you have any anything you want photographed be it a portrait, your kids, an event, assist shooter for a wedding, I'm definitely interested. Shoot me a email: randychanphotography@gmail.com.

You can also check out some of my stuff at http://www.flickr.com/chanr777.