Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Photo Collages

http://
I recently learned how to create photo collages with my images. I was inspired by my friend who liked creating them for her travel photos. Although I had to use a different photo editing software than my friend, I was able to find a tutorial video on how to create one. It was easy to follow and easy to create a photo collage. I was so excited when I finally learned and created one!

The first collage has images of my dog. Actually, this wasn't the first one that I made, however, the first one did have images of my dog and I thought that this one was better.
The second photo collage I made, I used images from when I visited Kogi BBQ food truck in Pomona while they were feeding their fans. I'm enjoying the fact that I can create photo collages now, but I hope the novelty doesn't wear off anytime soon.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Fireworks Fourth Of July 2011

I saw a firework show on Fourth Of July at Diamond Bar High School. I usually see the fireworks closer to home, but the city decided to make some budget cuts and the fireworks show wasn't in the budget. So I had to go to Diamond Bar just to see it.

The photo here isn't the finale of the show. In fact, the finale was really lame compared to other firework shows I had seen before. Click here for more photos from the show.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Battle Of The Bands - May 2011

I went to an event "Battle Of The Bands" yesterday afternoon in Covina, CA where five bands came together to battle it out with each other. I was only able to watch three bands perform because that was all the time that I had, but I didn't photograph one of the bands.

This was State The Obvious. The singer was also my friend, so I was naturally incline to be at the event to show support for his band. This was my second show that I went to where I got to see them perform. The first time was a few months ago at Chain Reaction. As usual, they put on a great performance with lots of energy and they got first place. Since this wasn't the first time that I saw State The Obvious perform, surely I will put up more photos from future shows/performances for them.


This was Dihverscity. I didn't know of them before, but they also put on a great performance with lots of energy. They also got second place in the battle!

Want to see more? Click here to view. All the bands at this event love to play music. They may not be national or world famous yet, but for now, they just enjoy playing for fun and for their local fans.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Friend's Birthday Dinner @ The Stinking Rose & Garlic Restaurant

I went to my friend's birthday dinner at The Stinking Rose & Garlic Restaurant  in Beverly Hills over the weekend. I had a good time at the dinner party and well, you know, I enjoyed taking photos of the food! Click on the restaurant name to see photos from the dinner.

I thought that it was cute that the birthday guest got a had to temporarily wear while being sang to.

Also on a very completely different note, I have done several charity photo sessions since March and I have one more session left to do. The total contributions donated to Red Cross to benefit the Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami Relief was $400. That doesn't sound very much, but hopefully, it's enough to help the Japanese people get back on their feet and rebuild Japan.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

365 Day Project

I attempted a 365 Day Project before. I didn't tell enough people about it, so I got bored and gave up. I'm attempting this project again in hopes that more people who will want to show support, encouragement and follow along. I created a fan page on facebook and another blog. I'm telling everyone this time and I have a few people following me now which is actually quite helpful. Please follow one or the other or both.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Charity Portrait Sessions

As we all know, Japan was recently hit by an 8.9 quake followed by several tsunamis and aftershocks. After the 8.9 quake, Northern Japan was hit by a 7.2 quake! This mkes me want to cry for them. It's very devastating and heartbreaking!

I got this idea from a photographer friend who said that charity work was worth copying. I'm offering 30 minute portrait sessions to those who donate $25 to Red Cross to benefit the Japan Earthquake Relief. Sessions include photo CD with 10 to 15 digital images and one 8x10 print. Must book by March 31, 2011 and sessions completed within 30 days. Date/time and location can be discussed between those interested and I based on availablility and you must be within 45 miles from 91789 zip code. Online donations will recieve first priority on dates/time for sessions. Please contact me to book a portrait session!

Friday, March 11, 2011

Street Photography - Tibetan Protest 2011

Yesterday afternoon, I joined the L.A. Street Photography meetup group to photograph the Tibetan Protest which was held at the Federal Building in Westwood, Ca. I really wanted to get into street photography for a long time, but I rarely ever go to protests of any kind or do any street photography in general because I didn't have anyone to go with me and I was concerned about my own safety. Being with a group of photographers made me feel better and it also helped that peaceful protesters, especially Tibetans, were generally ok with photography.

Basically the protest was about human rights for the Tibetans. China believed that Tibet was part of China to which it never was, so China invaded and brutally oppressed the people of Tibet. Between March 10 to March 19 in 1959 was when the Tibetans protested against China. The protest was held today, March 10, because it marked the 52nd anniversary of the Tibetan Uprising.

The Tibetan Association Of Southern California had been doing protests for 20 years. Sometimes they would hold protests at the Chinese Council to get their point across, but the location wasn't populated enough, so it was hard for them to bring awareness to the public. They usually held protests at the Federal Building in Westwood. The Federal Building and its employees had nothing to do with the conflict between Tibet and China, but it was a major location with high traffic. After the protest, they held a "candlelight vigil" where they did their prayers, and sang the Tibetan National Anthem. There are 200 Tibetans in Southern California. About forty members of the Tibetan Association of Southern California and Friends of Tibetans were at this protest.

Being at the protest with the meetup group, was a great oppportunity for me to work on my photojournalistic skills. If I continue going to a few more events with the group, I hope to improve. Click here to view more photos from the protest.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Monrovia Canyon Park - Ben Overturff Trail

This weekend, I went hiking in Monrovia Canyon Park with the L.A. Hiking meetup group. This was my first hike with any meetup group...or any group in general. We went on the scenic Ben Overturff Trail and we hiked seven miles round trip. We had a small group of people during this hike and I enjoyed it. The difficultly level of this hike was moderate 6/10. As you know, I am a runner who runs half marathons and just recently completed a 10K race just two weeks ago! While I'm in decent shape for running, walking and hiking were a totally different ball game! Luckily being a long distance runner has actually helped a lot! We had great weather (nice, cool, and sunny) and it was a great work out. In fact, I have sore leg muscles from this hike because of the level of difficulty! Did you know that going down steep declines is just as difficult as going up steep inclines? You need a lot of control so you don't trip on anything and fall. I had a great experience with the group and I hope to plan more hikes in the future.  Click here to view more photos.

While we're on the subject of photography, I recently attended a mini photography workshop at the Irvine Park in Orange, CA. It was quite nice. Click here to see an update with photos.

After the mini photography workshop, we immediately had an O.C. smug mug meeting in the Outdoor Education Center in Irvine Park. It was very, very educational and I was happy to leave the meeting, knowing that I learned something. Click here for an update.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Firecracker 10K Race - February 2011

This year, I decided that I wanted to run the Firecracker 10K race. I had only six weeks to train for it, but that was all I needed anyway. Whether I was ready (from training) for it or not, I planned on going because I wanted to take photos and have fun! I didn't make any time goals because I stopped caring how long it would take me to finish, but I certainly had fun. The photo on the left is the view of Downtown Los Angeles with the Dodger Stadium. To see more photos, click here and enjoy!

Monday, February 14, 2011

First Taiko Performance

Two weekends ago, I visited my friends' first taiko performance. They had been taking Taiko lessons for several months after they bit the bug from seeing a live performance in Little Tokyo-Downtown Los Angeles during Niesi Week. For their first performance in front of a live audience, they did a great job! Click here to see more photos.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Sightseeing With Out of Town Relatives

My cousin and aunt are visiting Southern California from Vancouver, Canada. I spent a full day with them and my grandma (who lives locally) sightseeing yesterday. We went to the Santa Monica pier, Pink's Hotdog (lunch), Olvera Street and the L.A. Union Station. It was a tiring, long day, but it was fun. Now I realize how much work it takes to entertain out of town guests.

To see more photos, click here!

L.A. Union Station has an architecture that I enjoy looking at. There were less people there yesterday compared to the last time that I was there. The main security officer warned me to keep my camera close and tight. While nothing had happened, it was better to be safe than lose something so expensive as there were always a lot of homeless people sleeping in the chairs in the main corridors.

While visiting Olvera Street, I found Pico House which was located very close by. I was excited to have finally found and seen this hotel in real life! It appeared on "Ghost Adventures" as one of the haunted locations. I wanted to go inside to see if it was really haunted, but since I didn't have permission to enter, I could only look from the outside. I took some pictures through the windows, just to see if anything would appear, but of course, nothing came up in the photos.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Bring In The New Year - 2011


Happy New Year! I started 2011 with a morning run in new running "gear". Wuzzah! I definitely started the new year on the "right foot"! Not only that, today marks the first official day of training for a 10K race! I will be doing a 10K race on Sunday, Feburary 13. I have six weeks to train for the race...even if I am undertrained/unprepared, I will still show up as a crazy runner/athelete/participant with a bulky, professional looking camera and take random photos during the race because I don't care what my finish time is and all I want to do is have fun!

Click here for more info if you want to participate in the 5K walk/run, 10K run (both on Feb 13) or 30-mile bike race (on Feb. 12) and use the discount code "fckrfan" when you register online (not sure if there is an expiration date to use the code?). Also, let's bring in the CHINESE New Year and celebrating it with fun races!