Category Archives: update
Yvonne and Michael’s engagement – Central Park, New York

Before heading to Montreal to shoot Yvonne and Michael’s wedding, I had a chance to grab both of them after work in New York on a Friday afternoon to take some engagement session photos. We decided to walk around what is probably one of the most photographed areas of the city, Central Park. But since I started my photography professionally after my move from New York, I never really had a chance to properly photograph it. So I was particularly excited to get some pre-wedding portraits with the green foliage background and various architecture that is much harder to find in Hong Kong.
We hung out around the Bethesda Fountain area, where Yvonne and Michael showed off their ballroom dance skills (I later found out that the waltz was rehearsal for their first dance)!
More to come from the wedding day shortly…
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Also posted in wedding
Tagged Bethesda Fountain, Bethesda Terrace, Central Park, engagement, HK, new york, NY, pre-wedding, update, wedding, Yvonne
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photographer burnout.

Since my last trip home, there has been lots of business development and late night weekend shooting. The motivational push to do more and more is still there, but despite that it has all been very tiring. I don’t know if I would consider myself a workaholic, but I do find it a bit strange how those that fit in that category end up looking out for projects’ or clients’ interests first before their own. Recently, I have found that balance tougher and tougher to manage. I’m hoping to rectify that somewhat in the next few weeks by eating better, drinking more water and getting back into a running routine as the Hong Kong weather gets better. Its hard to believe that it has only been a few years since I used to run half-marathons the morning after late night drinking in K-town. Nowadays I don’t even know if I can hack the 8K on Bowen Road anymore. Body just ain’t what it used to be.
Anyways, enjoy some of the snapshots from my trip.
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Simpsons ride at Universal Studios! Wahoo!

Brandon found an unwanted inhabitant in his chicken sandwich and here was our bill. Pretty much sums it up!

iPhone shot of the Kogi truck. Changing locations is pretentious but my word this was tasty.

More food pr0n: donut and pancake with bacon bits ice cream. Thank you Moye for grabbing these shots.

iPhone shot of Camille’s dart-into-dart throw. Holy crap she is consistent!

Tagged Bowen Road, darts, High Line, HK, K-town, Kogi truck, LA, Lake Street Creamery, NY, Simpsons, US, workaholic
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Lisa and Rey’s wedding in Santa Ana
Earlier in August, I flew to the US to visit home and to photograph two weddings. My first stop was Los Angeles, California where my long time friend Rey was getting married in his hometown. Rey and I were housemates in college and I had always admired him for pursuing his passion for teaching early on. In fact, it lead him to eventually falling in love with another teacher at his school, Lisa. I was honored to be helping him and his bride document memories of their big day.
The wedding took place at The Hacienda, a historic ranch estate in Santa Ana. The venue was perfect for the bride and groom’s relatively large families. Before the reception, we shot a few family formals and a quick portrait session with the bride and groom. At night, the dance floor opened up with plenty of classics from Sir Mix-A-Lot to Neil Diamond. I had a great time shooting the day and being able to catch up with a few friends from school. Here are some of my favorite shots from the wedding day.
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Bridal prep



Groom’s prep (photos by 2nd photographer Brian Li)



Ceremony

Both high school teachers, Rey and Lisa had two of their students sing at their ceremony.

The reception kicked off with the wedding party walking in to the Chicago Bulls intro music. Brilliant idea!



Ting and Martin’s wedding in Tai Tam
Last month I shot at a beautiful outdoor wedding in Tai Tam for the marriage of Ting and Martin with HK photographer Joyce Yung. This is what all weddings should be made of…
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1st RAW Photo Lab
February 5th marked the very first Photo Lab session (original blog post here) at the Random Art Workshop in Causeway Bay. The goal of the meetup was for photographers of all levels to share our work and ideas, get feedback and learn.
Thanks to everyone for sharing some really cool images (not easy to put work out there, I know!) and really interesting insight and feedback. And of course thank you to Joyce Yung for providing a great venue and grabbing this snapshot.
In the session we discussed how to:
- shoot from inside shade with very bright outside sunlight
- choose focus depth of field in different situations
- frame different landscapes? When to shoot wide versus focusing on details
- maximize background motion blur, use ‘panning’
- capture sun rays peeking out of clouds
We also debated the pros and cons of shooting:
- landscape vs. portrait orientation
- dead on straight (Joe made an awesome reference to Andreas Gursky’s style) vs. at an angle
- with post-processing vs. out of camera
- simply! Sometimes it’s best to just focus on one simple subject.
Next session’s theme will be “Food and Family” – however you want to interpret it. All are welcome to follow the theme, or share any other photos of your choice.
Date: Mar 2nd Tues 7:30-9:30PM
RSVP: info@randomartworkshop.com
(open to those who have taken a photography class or any other RAW class before)
Also posted in workshop
Tagged essentials, hong kong, inspiration, photography, RAW, RAW Photo Lab, workshop
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