8 posts tagged “photography”

This is what I've been slaving over all week. :) Archana's ideas, brought to life by skillful models, captured by me. I also did all the photoshopping, etc. Whoo!! We set up the majority of these shots, but we used some of my old photos for the rest because we didn't have enough time to do 'em all.

If the titles and taglines don't make sense... click on the images to see the Web sites they were designed to represent. Each of the sites has a "theme" and a tagline, which we copied as closely as we could. =]

If these are funky colored on your screen, sorry - I processed them on the calibrated monitors in the photojournalism lab.

I feel proud. They look so nice in print. XD

Models: Cate Smithson and Lene Lay


Model: Cate Smithson


Models: Ivan Svrcek and Elizabeth Westenhover


Model: Lene Lay


Model: Lene Lay

Model: Oriana Wong

Models: Alyssa and Brighton Welch

Models: Alice Chung and Perry

Model: Lene Lay

Model: Lene Lay

Models: Bethany Tsui, Emily Yang, Alice Chung, Helen Wang, and Jennifer Huang

Models: Robert and Alyssa Welch

There's no Web site for BridalSugar just yet... Archana's hoping to pitch it to Sugar Inc. over spring break! =]

Here, have a picture I shot. UGL. Fluorescent lighting. Library chair. I like how Asian-studio it looks. I was doing headshots for TiSA - nothing special.

Here's an intermediate save:

Here's the finished product without acid wash. Doesn't it look cool with that clean background? It's like... pseudo-studio lights!

P.S. Sorry. I couldn't help it. Too funny. What other song could possibly go with this pic? So here's more attempts on my part to emulate those esteemed Taiwanese studios. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, check this out)

Here's how I did it

Click for entertainment.

Dude, I don't know what I do with my days (I need to work a lot harder, that's for sure) but I haven't put actual content in here in a while. It's really weird. I'm afraid I'll lose my thoughts. Hah.

Today I randomly decided that given all my upcoming photo gigs, I needed to get back in touch with what I'm telling people to do when I pose them. Also, I'm every bit as narcissistic as other people are but nobody ever takes my pictures. At the same time, I'm too lazy to play with tripods. The ugly truth is out.

So Sam was gracious enough to hit up the Drag and Laguna with me for some practice. I guess he got some more recent portraiture under his belt and I got some really fun, pretty photos out of it. :) Thanks a lot, guh.

I paid him in Jamba Juice before and Tap House after, and whatever random photography/modeling/posing tips I have picked up in various magazines. (My feeble justification for my insatiable curiosity)

First, the ones I took:

"Sam needs a girl to ...be his wife..."

Angry model. Testing this out to see if it's a pose that'll work for headshots. Hah. Cropped, tweaked with acid action, vignetted corners.

Typical Kat, typical post-processing

Sulky brat. Acid wash

Too much sugar. Normal pp

Detached tourist. This was a super-blown-out shot. I tweaked the curves way down, processed the colors in the acid action and then muted the saturation

Ever since Oliver made a snarky comment years ago about how narcissistic I am, I haven't posted many pictures of just myself on this blog (you jerk). So here or here are the rest. I like them lots, and you'll probably see them cycling around as profile pictures for a long while.

In similarly related news, I bought a 30D today. It'll be coming soooooon, I hope. Then I'll be so awesome. I haven't decided what to do with the 20D yet, but it'll be around for at least, at least another week.

Real post later.

I got my eyebrows waxed for the first time on Thursday. It was a very intense experience. I kind of liked it. It feels like tape.

Yesterday was a really fun day, one I've been looking forward to since Monday (or okay, two months ago). Sam and I went thrifting in the South Lamar area in the morning, and we picked up many wondrous hauls. I got these plaidy flats for yesterday's photo shoot. They're quite cute. Sam got awesome 80s records. Hey, you should try going to Best Buy for a record player if you're not crazy about getting a vintage one. :D I came out with yards of fabric, dressy elbow-length gloves and a really cool vintage necklace. Thank you, guh! It was fun hanging out with you.

My new gal pal Debbie and I ran off to Sephora before lunch with our boys, then went to Laguna Gloria and the Drag to shoot 'em up. Too bad we didn't get a picture of the four of us, eh?

Debbie has amazing eyes, and Sephora has fun things to play around with. I layered gold and bronze eyeshadow on her lids, then topped them with pink on the outer corners and green on the inside corners with a dab of gold in the middle and under the eyes. Too bad it was hot, and eyeshadow kinda melted after a few minutes in the sun. Ah well! It was really fun doing eye makeup for someone who actually has long lashes and lid creases (I have neither). It's like... paint by numbers! So easy. ^^

We had an entire backseatful of changes of clothing and props and accessories and whatnot, but we actually ended up with just two outfits. Hah. Once she got into the modeling (after two margaritas!) she was a natural. :D

I love how summery this picture looks. There's a new cheapy store (Forever 21/Papaya-type) in Highland, which is where I got the earrings. Aren't those shades divine?

I found this Urban Acid action online somewhere and I love it. You'll be seeing a lot of it in the next few weeks.

I like how sweet this picture looks

Laguna bathroom ;)

Yes, you're gonna see that umbrella a lot.

Lash envy, anyone?

I gave her the XT to play with so she would relax

I like how these turned out with the acid action in the corners of the room

I bought some digital scrapbooking kits a week or two ago and layered the elements/textures into this pic. I found the Bermudas on sale at Aero for $7. The flats are the ones I bought at the thrift store. 

On the Drag

Her skin looks perfect in this picture

Debbie is on a mission to bring suspenders back!
This is apparently her trademark facial expression

Border texture

Tourist

I like her face in this shot, and the teddy bear texture

Totally surprised

Candid

Well, after the Crossings drama this past week I for some reason started feeling convicted about how I was behaving. I know everyone was in the wrong, and I feel bad every time I scrabble with Heather, but I do know better, even if EVERYONE else is being stupid. I don't think I was wrong for what I said, but I was definitely holding a bad attitude in how I said it. True, I was provoked, but when does that excuse anything?

I called her yesterday and we talked for a while... I think I genuinely *like* her now, which is def an answer to prayer because I never wanted to before. I got her a gift, and it's really true that my heart follows my treasures. Haha. Ice cream bowl with sprinkles... "Have some girly time on me." :) Is that cute? Thanks, O, for praying for me.

I got to go to Olive Garden with my girlies on Thursday night, and we had a great time as always. I'm gonna miss them all a lot when they go to Dallas. Stupids. Friday Steph had her ERK surgery, and I had training at BV. I hopefully start tonight - that should be exciting. Money! I bought a swimsuit and two pairs of board shorts this week. I hope to put them to use at some point... Went downtown with Olivia for Garrick's birthday on Friday night. It was fun. I had a Mind Eraser and a tequila shot and a bunch of whatever other things Garrick made me drink. I still prefer partying with TiSA people.

ACC is pwning me. As is Daily Texan. But I like it. I just sort of need to find time to clean up.

Yesterday afternoon I did a shoot for the daughter of one of Oliver's coworkers. It was really fun, and I got to play around with all those girly things I've got at home. Well, not really, 'cuz the only one I can think of is my new umbrella from Taiwan. Anyway, thanks, O, for the hookup and also for the great help. :)

My flip-flops died! Sigh... I will miss them.

Professor Dahlby said something in class yesterday that made me think... He was saying something to the effect of how Bush was eager to pay his respects at the VT memorial service, yet there have been dozens of soldier funerals without a peep from the Commander in Chief, who arguably gave their lives because of a decision he made.

I don't think that Bush should be criticized for doing something that will mean a lot to VT victims' families, but that's a good point.

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Random "photography signature" ideas...

K-Dot Photography. Obviously would be a K and a dot. Like "K."
    Pros: Sounds catchy. Could make a cute logo.
    Cons: k-dot.com would make it kay-dot-dot-com, unless I did k.com, which... I dunno, is that doable?

Less Than Three Photography. Like this: "<3"
    Pros: It's hip! It's with the times! People getting married would like it! It's cute and rhyme-y!
    Cons: Those people would have to be, like, 25 and younger. Also, it sounds gimmicky.

Freeze the Frame Photography. Boring?
    Pros: I like the words and the alliteration. Catchy phrase with double meaning for pictures.
    Cons: Kinda too grown-up, y'think? Although I'm not that into whimsical stuffs... I want something that's versatile. Also, how would this translate into a distinct logo?

Bright Heart Photography or Ming-Shing or something...
    Pros: People like Asian words, so I'm told. It's my Chinese name. I could make a logo like a Chinese "chop" for more formal photos, and a cutesy one for whimsical pics or whatnot.
    Cons: I hate my Chinese name, so no. Also, I'd feel like I'm using my ethnicity to sell myself. Which I'm not. Yes, being an ethnic studies major has turned me into one of those people. Those uber-racially-sensitive people... Ah vell!

Ideas?

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Mentioning my Chinese name reminds me of something, which tells me that VT is in my thoughts even though I don't consciously keep it there.

I've always hated my Chinese name, especially spelled out in English. It's a pun in Chinese and it sounds like fodder for nursery school rhymes in English... which is exactly what I've gotten all my life. I don't blame anyone for it, 'cuz it's usually meant good-naturedly, but early childhood memories stick, and I've just never liked it.

Many ethnic parents give their children English names for the sake of assimilation, for the sake of making it easier on their future non-ethnic acquaintances, for the sake of whatever it is. Does that translate to "selling out?" Does it guarantee an easier life as a non-Anglo-Saxon American? What kind of ramifications does this simple action entail?

As a Taiwanese American, the moment I saw Cho's name in the paper I was instantly drawn to the obvious Asian name. Of course I want to know what he is! Because... well, I've been asking myself ever since... why? Because what? What does that mean to ME? What kind of curiosity does that raise within me? As a fellow Asian, do I have any more right to know?

If he had been Korean American, would people assume he was "not born here" because he didn't change his name? What if? If he had been here on a student visa, but instead went by Jimmy Cho, would that make people assume he was an American-born student?

Wait a second, nobody ever assumes anyone with an ethnic-sounding last name was born in the U.S. Obviously I'm making a sarcastic, broad generalization but I've heard "Where are you from?" and "Your English is so good!" so many more well-meaning and stupid times than I care to count.

I really want to know. I have so many questions.