Tag Archives: photography

with photography

for the past few months, i havent been able to capture anything significant or worthwhile

its always been like this for me, there will be a few weeks or months of pure energy, passion, and dedication

and then it dries up

like a rasin in the sun

i dont have any desire to take photos

and i lose it..or most of it anyways

ive always been a firm follower of technique and high-techniques

this goes for everything, im obsessive with being structurally adaquet and foundationally secure

i guess there are certain fears that restrain me from not worrying about it

but ive never minded that

until i felt like i had not much more to go

NOW! this is not a sign of ignorance or extreme confidence (cockiness)

it is a sign of worry..worry of plateuing

or even worse, a declination of skill

that fucking bothers me (some times to depression..i know, hella sad.)

but it happens

i forget how to draw or take photographs

not necessarily forget, but will undermine what ive learned

when i believe that my subconscious will be able to deal with the rest if my hands are unconsciously moving

and part of that is true for most of art making when youre “in the mode”

and this is where the best products usually comes from

a spontaneity in the course of your work

but there is also a level of awareness you must have in order to continue your pursuit

as artists, you must be aware..photographers especially

and an open receptivity to your surroundings that essentially “free” us from our binding presets

not aiming for a certain response or ambiguity

neither blocking or absorbing our environment, but simply responding to it

this is my personal cure to artists-block

(or photographers-block..i dont consider myself an artist yet..read the title, ARTIST IN TRANSITION ^_^)

i take my camera outside, without any preset, pre-imagined, pre-anything photograph in mind

simply outside interacting and responding to the environment through the viewfinder

and ive been getting some great photographs doing this

regretfully, when i do have a preset image, i rarely am able to capture it

unless all conditions are in my  favor (light, texture, figure, emotion, camera model*, lens, etc)

that wont be happening anytime soon :(

here are some images from today that i took with an open and clear mind

(i realize there is no solidified way in actually achieving an open mind or any of this, we are all individuals who prefer different methods)

but this works best for me

there is no real conceptual connection between these images (yet? (;)

contextually, they are all black and white and geographically identical in locale

final project 1

final project 1

final project 2

final project 2

final project 3

final project 3

final project 4

final project 4

final project 5

final project 5

final project 6

final project 6

final project 7

final project 7

***these photographs will be used in my foundations class freshman final project at cornish along with others, finished product will be done in 4 weeks along with artist statement***

**also, i never undermine actual technique, so as much as i like to say i have to be aware and receptive to spontaneity…i am also hoping for constant control of my technical skills**

spring is here! or is it? seattle always does this..but the forecast shows that it will be sunny all week

SEATTLE VS FORECAST

will the returning champ be able to outwit the forecast yet again?

im not sure

i dont feel like writing much either..

here are pics from today! (4/5/09)

(emphasis on spring time and cherry blossoms..last year, they bloomed too early and died from the funky winter)

cherry blossoms

cherry blossoms

danny woo community garden

danny woo community garden

danny  woo community garden

danny woo community garden

danny woo community garden

danny woo community garden

danny woo community garden

danny woo community garden

chinatown bulletin board

chinatown bulletin board

chinatown recycles

chinatown recycles

chinatown

chinatown

chinatown

chinatown

officially titled sakura hadouken

officially titled "sakura hadouken"

but  i got around something that i shouldve been doing years ago yesterday

I always went to bookstores to read while i was in the book store
because im cheap and not at all interested in reading at home

but due to extreme boredom
i bought three books yesterday

1) tao of photography
2) how to be a gentleman
3) art and artifice: japanese photographs of the meiji era

they arent considered the hardest or most intellectual read

but its a start right? :)

it feels like its going to develop into a good habit this summer

im even thinking about buying a book case

i also got the chance to meet mark dacascos and photograph him for an interview with the international examiner (or asian weekly?)

the current host and chairman of Iron Chef America and one of the best martial artist actors along with Jet Li (go ahead, type his name into youtube)

mark played in “Double Dragon”, “Legend of Bruce Lee”, “Only the Strong”,  “Cradle to the Grave”, and hella more

having the opportunity to meet and photograph him is still settling in

mark dacascos

mark dacascos

mark dacascos

mark dacascos

mark dacascos

mark dacascos

mark dacascos

mark dacascos

mark dacascos

mark dacascos

mark dacascos

mark dacascos

mark dacascos

mark dacascos

im sitting in the library with nothing to do

so i thought i should finally get back to this thing

ive been indifferent about things lately but that doesnt matter as of now

life drawing is fucking great
the first model was a lady, not too old, low 30s maybe
i wasnt as shocked as i had thought i would be (first time i had seen a nude person close-up)
and we were doing blind contour drawings (how intimate is that?)
and after the session she came up to me and complimented me on how well i did at not looking at my paper while drawing her
i responded to her by saying i was just an obedient student..
shortly after i had realized she just gave me a compliment of staring at her while she was naked
only in art school ^_^

the second man we drew had an uncircumcised penis, that is all.

i will post drawings of them later today
—————————————————
we also have a new president

but more importantly
we are a canon country now

because pete souza is the new white house photographer
who shoots with a canon 5d mk ii

and shot the presidential portrait with the canon 5d mk ii, the first presidential portrait shot with a digital camera

Presidential Portrait of Barack Obama

Presidential Portrait of Barack Obama

The settings: 1/125 exposure, F/10.0, 105mm focal length, ISO 100, no flash. You can download the full-sized photo here.

i will try to take more time and reflect on this situation, i feel a little different, a little warmer and slightly fuzzier..

—————————————————

ive been extra busy this month with photos, i made a new years resolution of making double what i made last year (barely anything ^_^)

so the goal this year is $8k from photography

ive booked about $2k(ish) so far, i’m feeling good about this

*queue music: rick ross – hustlin*

although my camera just broke

the ae sensor is malfunctioning so the camera is permanently reading every photo as if there is no light

on Av mode

ie: daylight, iso 100, f/1.4

camera compensates for the “lack” of light and adjusts the shutter for 15″

i can only bypass this by shooting exclusively on M but it is a guess and check game when adjusting the shutter speed and aperture to get the correct exposure with the final image

and i cant shoot candids unless i have a good amount of time to adjust for the shot

:(

ive been looking at upgrading to the 40d or the 5d mk i

sigh

here are some pics from a day before the camera ceased to function

greg, music department

greg, music department

alexx, art department

alexx, art department

the fog

the fog

here is the only snapshot i got of the week of extreme fog we had in seattle

—————————————————

here is a preview of the portraits ive been shooting this month

Nikola

Nikola

Nikola

Nikola

Denis

Denis

Denis

Denis

Anissa

Anissa

Anissa

Anissa

Zozan

Zozan

Zozan

Zozan

Troy

Troy

Troy

Troy

Eldina

Eldina

Eldina

Eldina

Eldina

Eldina

Sara

Sara

Allison

Allison

Allison

Allison

Need portraits? Help a student! Hire me!

Offering prints as well

—————————————————

Also had the opportunity to shoot Chief Sealth’s Winter Formal with Sabzi on the ones and twos

although i dont shoot “club/party” photos

i treated it as an event and tried to cover wide candids with some creative slow sync lightning

Winter Formal

Winter Formal

Winter Formal

Winter Formal

Winter Formal

Winter Formal

Winter Formal

Winter Formal

Winter Formal

Winter Formal

Winter Formal

Winter Formal

Winter Formal

Winter Formal

I tried to get some fine art in there as well..i dont know if you could call a high school dance fine art, but i like this image

the only guy who wore a white tux

after the dance, which was held at woodland park zoo

i exited the building only to get myself lost

..in the zoo

..pitch black

i was so bugged out i was hopping fences like no other

after finding the exit, i see sabzi trapped inside the zoo with his van

we were probably going to be fed alive to the animals

—————————————————

new project im working on

i havent been updating myself on the cluster assignments we’ve been having in foundations so ill back up a little after this

from line to mass

from line to mass

its almost done, dont know what it is? youll find out soon enough

constructed of 5 pieces of wire and 4 pieces of black thread

im staying home this year, although i could be out partying…im behind on getting my website up

looks like ive failed ><

its been a good year, though i shouldnt go into details..my new years resolution is to make double my “income” through photography

if i can do that, ill never work a 9-5! screw you working class!

although digging through my old photos hidden in my external hard drive, i found some buried treasure

Bokeh Painting of Barack Obama

Bokeh Painting of Barack Obama

looking back at 2006 when i started photography, i thought i was filthy at it but i sucked majorly

2 years down..i think i’m still filthy at it

i hope 2 years down the road, ill be able to say i sucked majorly now ^____^

back to my website! website up before school starts in a week! you can do it!!!

I love this place

it’s the first place i go to if i know im not doing anything, a thing ive been doing since the 7th grade..

Chinatown

Chinatown

Chinatown

Chinatown

Chinatown

Chinatown

Chinatown

Chinatown

After 8pm, $2.49 Sushi!

After 8pm, $2.49 Sushi!

Glowing Buddha

Glowing Buddha

Waji

Waji

Ichi the Killer

Ichi the Killer

Joy to the World

Joy to the World

Chinatown

Chinatown

The Purple Man

The Purple Man

Chinatown

Chinatown

What happens when Garbage trucks cant make it down King

What happens when Garbage trucks cant make it down King

Chinatown

Chinatown

Chinatown

Chinatown

Chinatown

Chinatown

Chinatown

Chinatown

Chinatown

Chinatown

Chinatown

Chinatown

Ohh man!! I havent seen snow like this in Seattle for about ten years! So you know I had to take it as a golden oppurtunity to do some urban snowboarding on Beacon Hill with Jelani..Drove up to Mclellan and ran into some friends who were already a step ahead of us along with the rest of the neighborhood. Gotta love the south end for that! People brought out their inner tubes, stole garbage can lids, and ripped up real estate signs to get their sled on

I cant believe how many people are dumb enough to be driving too! i mean when else are you really going to call in for a snow day? shit…

after that, met up with the homies on Graham and had a snowball fight for like three hours, then people had to get there daily dose of church..thats when me and conrado decided to cut out

i was stranded!!!! man jelani left me on graham and i thought someone else had driven their car to graham but everybody walked! wtf!!!! so we started walking back to conrados crib..which is like 2.5 miles away

yeah thats not so bad but its hella far in snowboard boots!! and hella bus’s were crapped out on the road, like 5 on the walk back..looked like a scene from I Am Legend or something

cut down columbia street and decided to get some pho (energy booster)

i hate pho (and im vietnamese)

finally got to conrados, watched some tv, drank some heineken, and ate some pancit!! (never too full for filipino food)

woke up..ate some more pancit and then headed out on our quest to salvation

waited at the bus stop on ranier, two bus’s passed because they were full, then finally got on the third bus, got off jackson and departed

ive been trying to get my ninja with taking purely candid photos of strangers, although i do try to balance what is moral and immoral about it..at the end of the day, im taking a picture they never knew had existed and most likely will never see..and hopefully when they do, theyll call me and hire me for a job

then kicked it solo in chinatown and finally caught the 150 back to my lair

i wish i had more interesting stuff to say but im just trying to enjoy the snow as much as possible right now

my hands were freezing their hairs off taking flicks so i stopped with that although im trying to take some more shots to mess with on photoshop over break

hope you’re enjoying the snow as much as i am

Metro Bus

Metro Bus

Metro Bus

Metro Bus

Following People

Following People

Following People

Following People

Chinatown

Chinatown

Chinatown

Chinatown

Chinatown

Chinatown

Ranier

Ranier

Conrado

Conrado

Snow Girl

Snow Girl

Guy

Guy

Ranier

Ranier

Ranier

Ranier

Happiness

Happiness

Fergison

Fergison

Pho!!

Pho!!

Ranier

Ranier

Metro

Metro

ive also gotten more into these motion pics

Trees

Trees

More at: www.flickr.com/canhsolo

lovin’ it

here are a few photos i re-tweeked through the new software

although i couldve done these with cs3 and lr1

the workflow is much faster and smoother with the upgrade

is it worth it?

well shit..from cs3, no..cs2..yes

i hear cs5 will be 64-bit for mac os x

that will be worth it

The Physics

The Physics

The Physics

The Physics

The Physics

The Physics

The Real Barneys

The Real Barneys

Writing Professor

Writing Professor

)

Book :)

)

Book :)

)

Book :)

Design

Design

my first book (;

hahahaha sike!!! this was an assignment for my foundations class over viewing the strategy of lines, mapping, collecting, and producing a “container of information”..its an actual book with actual stuff to look at and read inside so i was only lying about it being published..for now

i dare you to look inside..i double dog dare you

pretty good huh?

So my phone died yesterday, after a year of loyalty..my samsung blast gave out :(

here’s the bulletin i posted on myspace

it has to be a cool phone
and by cool i mean it has to function
and by function i mean it has to match with my coach bag (kidding)

im looking for anything!!! hit me up asap

ill trade you for a photoshoot (; or cash”

Thig from The Physics (check out the first set of photos i did for them) hit me up offering his blackberry curve, now im no tech-wiz (contrary to popular belief) so im still struggling to learn how to use this thing, but here is the short shoot i traded them for the phone

check out the physics music at www.myspace.com/realphysics

oh and my phone contract expires tomorrow ><

The Physics

The Physics

The Physics

The Physics

The Physics

The Physics

The Physics

The Physics

The Physics

The Physics

The Physics

The Physics

had sushi today with keo, ian, and jared…nothing new about that

kept it under the $10 mark

cuz im a starving artist (;

im just broke, not starving