Monthly Archives: May 2009

Brian+Duong | Wedding | Buddhist Church of San Francisco | Crustacean Restaurant

Brian and Duong had a small wedding. But even small wedding can reflect their big love. If love could somehow materialize, it would probably flood the entire city… at least I felt this way.
Small weddings are easy to photograph if you just want to document what happens. How much efforts needed to photograph two dozens of guests? Well, that’s what keeps me worried.
I can’t just document the wedding… I have to try to make the photos look… well… different….

It was a freezing day. I was cold, but I can’t imagine how Duong felt in her wedding gown with open shoulders… But I guess people ready to suffer to have great photos!
So we visited five places around the City driving in a limo.

All I have to do after the photoshoot is to photograph a little ceremony and intimate reception at the Crustacean… easy…

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Shanti and Vikram Traditional Indian Wedding at Palm Event Center

Another amazing Indian wedding I’ve shot last weekend… Details coming soon… Location: Palm Event Center in Livermore.

My other Indian wedding photos

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Can you believe it is NOT a Photoshop?

I was invited to photograph a make-up training event a Sephora. Another photographers’ dream come true!

What a great opportunity this was to show what a difference professional make-up, together with carefully chosen angles as well as taking advantage of natural light can make.

The images on the left were taken before make-up was applied. In order show what a difference shooting at the best angle can make, I purposely shot the before photos without taking advantage of the best possible angle and I didn’t shoot to improve the available light. There was no professional lighting at the training session.

The photos on the right are the after photos, with make-up and with my choice of the best angle and working with the not-so-great lighting. I didn’t retouch these photos in Photoshop other than very simple tweaks to sharpness and contrast.

So what accounts for the dramatic difference in the before and after photos? Is it the:

1. the make-up
2. the photography
3. or is it both?

Your comments are welcome! Let me know what you think!

P.S. Girls are models and photos posted with their permission.

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Inga and Stas | JCCSF | Wedding Photos

Stas and Inga really made a typical Jewish wedding look unique, emotional and exciting… I need to talk to them before I start blogging about it…. For now, enjoy the photos…

whow!

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Baby Chloe Photo-Session

I was fortunate to have photographed Nicole and Ryan’s wedding in April 2006, and now it was time to photograph their beautiful baby, Chloe.

Oh, Chloe! You were so delightful to photograph. You looked pensive, inquisitive, sweet—oh so sweet! You fit like a tea cup in your daddy’s hand. When I photographed you sleeping, I wondered if you were dreaming. So soft and perfect are you. How remarkable you are! Welcome to your family, welcome to the world.

Thank you, Chloe, and special thanks to your proud parents, Nicole and Ryan, for inviting me. What a wonderful way to spend a few precious hours!

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