Thu + Justin’s Engagement

Thu and Justin came all the way from Little Rock, AR for this Sunday’s morning shoot.  The reason why I like to shoot on Sunday’s morning is b/c most people are either still asleep or at church, so most places will be deserted and you won’t have people walking into your background.  Now, I’m not saying that you should ditched church for me… but I thought that’s why they have Confession .  Thu and Justin were just so fun and their energy level didn’t fade one bit, which just encourages me to think of new idea to shoot.  I ended up with around 800 shots, normally I average around 300-500 for an engagement session.  I still go through and study each shot, especially all the bad one, to find ways for improvement. 

Dee+Dylan’s Engagement shoot

Dee and Dylan just looks so darn cute together.  Dee told me during our initial meeting that she hated taking photos.  Great!  No pressure right?  The location was a last minute change so I had to rework some of my idea during the drive over there.  At least they were fun and were really easy to work with, as a result I tried out some new ideas and they seem to work pretty well.  I still can’t believe she doesn’t like taking picture.  If I were half as good looking as they are, I’ll have my picture taken all the time. 

We did this shoot last weekend and I’m just now getting around to posting them.  It will seem a bit weird b/c their wedding will be this Saturday (tomorrow).  Oh well, sometime everyone schedule is so hectic that you just have to shoot it whenever you can, even if it mean waiting till the last weekend.  

See if you can guess which picture they choose as their 20×30 Gallery Wrap to display at their reception.  I’ll try and work the answer into their slideshow after the wedding.

    

       

    

First off, I would like to give a BIG “Thank You” to Scott Robert Lim and Dawn Shields for “showing me the light” and instilled in me the fundamental of composition this past week.  The many lessons that I learned from each of you have and will continue to strenghten me personally and professionally.  I just hoped that both of you are proud of the little monster that you helped created !

Also, I wanted to say “Hi!” to all the new friends that I made.  I really enjoyed looking at all your work and know that you will be successful in each of your career.  For a few of you, and you know who you are, I’ll be checking up on you.  [inside joke begin] So don’t make me come over there and kick your *ss! [inside joke end]. 

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Did anyone noticed my new headshot?  It was shot by hero, Scott Robert.  I never told him this, but that was one of my goal.  So when he offered to shoot it, I was like “heck Yeah!” and was the first in line.  Now i can finally crossed that off my Life List. 

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Interesting notes:  both photos were shots in a small bathroom and almost at the same identical spot.  Yes, I was sitting on my thrown shooting across to the bench, right of the mirror [see unedited photo below].

Ly + Mark Preview

I got up at 5:30am and got to bed at 1am to shoot this weeding… I was tired but had a blast shooting it.  The main reason was Ly and Mark was so much fun and everything was actually well planned.  An example was the formal, we knocked out 30+ must have shots of different combination of families/ people in about 20mins, and they have a huge family.  Another example is greeting each table at the reception.  I didn’t check the clock but I estimate that it took about an hour to greet all 65-70 tables… the fastest time I’ve seen so far.

To top it off, Nhu Loan was there to rock the house!

I’ll be in Missouri hanging out w/ Scott Robert for the week and in Houston for my first bridal show on the weekend.  I’ll work on the rest of those 3000+ images when i get back.  Ok, I need to go pack and catch my plane in about 2 hours.

Take the chance to be Champion!

that was what my high school tennis coach used to say. 

after a long summer, fall is approaching, and that can only mean one thing… college football!  at the beginning of each season, every team has the same chance of being champion.  of course, some will improved their odds by recruiting talented students; after all, they are there for an education. 

this year, i’m going to predict that my beloved Sooners will be in the national championship game.  why?  because they usually perform best when they are the underdog.  i’ll admit that there are many teams with more talents then the Sooners.  the Sooners will have a tough year with a new quarterback (who i like better than the previous) and an offense that wasn’t designed around one player.  all this plus a good recruiting class make for an exciting season.  currently, they ranked around #8, which i think is a little high.  i would like to see them open around #15 – #20 in the hope that everyone will overlook them.  i know this might cost them their chance at the national championship by ranking too low, but i think if they just take care of their games, the ranking will take care of itself.  plus there is no better feeling than knowing that you just open a can of whoop*$$ on a higher ranked team. this is the satisfaction of being the underdog. 

i was on the B team and played one match that whole season (our A team was stacked).  as a reward for practicing the whole season, coach put me up against a fourth ranked opponent from their A team.  after a couple of losing sets, i knew i couldn’t rally against this guy so i had to come up with a new strategy.  i started to rush the net and try and end the point as quickly as possible.  the strategy worked and i went on to win my match.  i didn’t think anyone noticed but when we got back to our bus, coach used my game as an example to remind us that we can’t be champion unless we believed that we are champion! 

Great Friends

I was able to get away for the weekend recently and spent it in my hometown of Tulsa,
OK.  It was a much needed mini vacation, plus I haven’t
been back there in almost two years.  It was
great seeing some of my school friends.

It’s great to be back shooting again

Ly + Mark’s Engagement

Ly & Mark is such a great couple to hang out with, they were open to all my suggestions.  It was a hot day, but they were such troopers for enduring the heat and walking all over downtown.   

I’m Published!  … well, sort of…. lol

this was brought to my attention by another photographer.  click here to read the Full Article.  i guess i better post more before and after pics.   

Father’s Day

To all fathers out there and to my own father.  For always being there whenever we need them.  Thank you!

Here’s my father helping my brother, Michael, replaced the weather seal on his door.

NEW WEBSITE

Ok… it’s been awhile since my last blog.  I spent the
last five to six weeks working on my new website along with shooting 
three more weddings.  I’m really excited about the new looks of my
website.  It’s got a complete overhaul with new images from this year
weddings along with some of my favorite from last year. 

Why the new change?  Changes are always good.  I love to experiment with new ideas and techniques and changes promote that personal growth. 

If you’re just curious you can check out the new website and
let me know what you think.  I’m such a goofball
that I’m still tweaking the layout and images even though the site is already
live.  I guess that’s good b/c I like for
it to be as current as possible.  So don’t
be surprise if you see an image today and it’s gone tomorrow.