Author: vivian

Volvo car meet

Carlson Volvo in Palo Alto was hosting a Volvo car meet on Saturday, August 8th. My boyfriend heard about the meet on Swedespeed, a forum for Volvo lovers. I went along with him because I finally had a break from the fashion shoots and brought along my camera just for fun – Glad I did since there were some interesting cars there and I played around along with different picture perspectives and compositions. For those who know their Volvos, “there were over 80 volvos, including a lot of [S60] Rs and some cool P1800s” (as noted in my boyfriend’s post – he brought his S60 R). There was a Volvo R there with blue stripes which was probably my favorite. My boyfriend posted the photos on the swedespeed forum. Here were some comments my boyfriend got from swedespeed users for the post:

“I love the photograph of the nose of that S60R, something about the composure, absolutely great!”
– m.olennick

“The Carlsen show was cool, nice pics thanks for sharing. Your lady takes some cool images, she must have her PP (post processing) down.”
– 850arrrsaylikepirate

It’s always nice getting feedback from others – it puts a smile on my face to know that people like my photos and reminds me why I love photography so much! Yay! Below were the photos I gave my bf to post:
classic red volvo
blue stripes

Iluna Basque

Mattin Noblia
Koji

Mattin Noblia is a restaurant owner and model, who impressively started his own tapas restaurant called Iluna Basque, set in the heart of North Beach in San Francisco, at the age of 23. I shot with Mattin Noblia almost 2 years ago when I enlisted him to do a shoot along with model Radilina, for a Koji Sake Lounge (San Jose, CA) print advertisement project. Anyway, long story short, I recently found out that he had made it to the Top Chef competition on BravoTV for the upcoming season, set to air on August 26th at 9pm! Congratulations Mattin! I encourage everyone to drop by Iluna Basque – the food is absolutely delightful!

Bobo for mama

The morning of the Dang family and maternity portraits started off with cinnamon buns and some white bedsheets – courtesy of Michelle 🙂 – add a sprinkle of bubbles and you have got one happy baby… A baby who will ask you politely to blow “mo bubbahs peas” and give mama’s belly a bobo (“kiss” in korean).
Dang Family
baby blue

Baby Love

Maternity portraits should generally be taken around the 7th or 8th month. During this time, the belly is at its optimum size and prime for portrait purposes. The belly may be too small earlier than 7-8 months.

Preparing for the Shoot:
1. Several hours before your pregnancy or maternity photo shoot, you should take off anything that has tight elastic like slacks with tight waistbands and undergarments or bras, or even socks, in order to make sure elastic or strap marks are not left on your skin. Do not use lotion on your belly, especially the kind to help reduce stretch marks on the day of your session. Lotion will make your belly shiny and will not photograph well.

2. Tops should be form fitting, especially around the bustline. Oversized shirts will not show the form of your belly and will defeat the whole purpose of the portraits. Bring something to cover the breasts, but expose the belly. You will probably want to bring a pair of heels even though most images will be barefoot. It is a good idea to bring a pretty undergarments, even if your photographer is planning to use fabric to wrap you. Bringing a robe is a good idea to throw on in between poses. If you have large breasts, make sure you bring a skin colored bra, (nude or peach or cocoa depending), that preferably is either strapless or has removable straps. You’ll be wearing the bra underneath the fabric draping and this will help give you the best sillouette.

3. Hands will most likely show, so don’t forget to have a manicure and a pedicure too. Face powder is always a good idea to eliminate shiny spots. Face blotters work well to absorb facial oil without messing up your makeup. You can get face blotters at the beauty supply, your makeup counter or even Victoria’s Secret. Moisturize your elbows and knees otherwise they’ll often show lighter colored because of rough dry flakey skin in those areas but please don’t use glittery lotion, it doesn’t photograph well. Don’t wear makeup with SPF because SPF has a reflective quality when photographed.

4. Limit jewelry to essential pieces – too much jewelry can be distracting and may dominate the portrait.

5. Manicure – the hands are very important in maternity photos as they may convey feelings of embrace

6. Props – props like baby shoes, alphabet blocks, etc. add a little fun and variety to the shoot.

blonde redhead @ the independent

Kazu Makino mentioned, with regard to bicycles, that “In Paris, they have public bicycles that you can use anywhere in the city and leave at your destination. It’s great, but there are a few hills in Paris, too. In the morning, the bikes are distributed evenly, but at the end of the day, all of the bikes are at the bottom of the hill because everyone is too lazy to go up hill.”
– Interview with Matt Crawford of SFSTATION

Thursday night. Got my photo pass and Tyrannosaurus Rex stamp ready to go. Blonde Redhead was there 14-15 July 2009 for the SF Bike Film Festival at The Independent with Thee Oh Sees opening. I was all of a sudden nostalgic for all those years in college when all the songs on “Misery is a Butterfly” would lull me to sleep…
we like bike
Brendt Barbur, founder of the Bike Film Festival (BFF).
Brendt Barbur
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Thee Oh Sees
Thee Oh Sees
Blonde Redhead - Simone
Blonde Redhead - Kazu
Blonde Redhead - Amedeo
Many thanks to Sarah for yet another great photo opportunity 🙂

byxbee

Back to current time… decided to check out Byxbee Park today in preparation for a shoot with Melisha. I was a little disappointed the grass was not green. There was an airport nearby so planes kept flying overhead every few minutes.
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Heading back home, I decided to finally take a photo of the statues randomly sitting in the parking garage that were waiting to be placed and the dangling exit sign I see every morning and evening.
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Meeting Markus Klinko

My blog is relatively new and is in need of update from past events, starting first with my trip to New York with Mark Sebastian, Simpson Yiu and Jackie Martinez back in September 2007. Long story short, the four of us headed to grand old New York City on business to meet celebrity photographer Markus Klinko. We had the honor of staying at the Tribeca Grand Hotel for a weekend. Our itinerary included dinner plans with Markus Klinko at EN Japanese Brasserie, random street shoots with Jackie, a happenstance meeting with a timid greyhound that had once modeled in Elle magazine, and random excursions around the big city. It definitely was a memorable adventure filled with interesting characters and humorous stories. You can view the slideshow with more photos below:

The gang with Markus Klinko
Mini photoshoot with Markus Klinko after having dinner at his favorite sushi restaurant that he frequents.
Times Square
Mark, Simpson and I decided to start shooting Jackie in the middle of Times Square and all of a sudden a crowd of people start forming a line to take pictures with Jackie. A phrase from a side conversation I overheard between a girlfriend and her boyfriend: “She ain’t no model! She just look GOOD!” says girlfriend. Boyfriend lines up to take a photo with Jackie regardless of girlfriend’s comment. Photo by Simpson Yiu.

Improv Shoot at South Stree Pier
Improv Shoot at South Stree Pier

Improv photoshoot: Jackie and I had just bought hooded sweatshirts at the mall on South Street Pier – mine being my first tourist kid size New York hoody. Photo by Mark Sebastian.
Taxi ride back to hotel
Taxi ride back to hotel

The ride back home from South Street Pier. Photo by Simpson Yiu.

cool domes

It would be great to shoot here one day – The Eden Project in Cornwall, UK:

edenphoto credit: unknown

These biodomes showcase global bio-diversity and is one of the most innovative and high profile projects. The biomes are the largest plant enclosures in the world and are built in the lightest and most ecological way possible. They are a sequences of honey-comb shaped spheres that encapsulate humid tropic and warm temperate regions.