Hung Tran Photography

2011 Holiday Xmas card pics

2011-12-19T11:27:00.000-08:00

I've photographed many things including sports, wildlife, macro, weddings, and babies. However, the toughest thing by far for me to shoot has always been our annual Holiday Xmas card photos. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to get our kids to sit still, look at the camera and smile. Just getting them into their holiday clothes, I was already ready to pull my hair out. However I must say that the kids were troopers. I took the family out to Upper Newport Backbay to shoot right before sunset. It was chilly in the low 50s and the wind was blowing fierce. Poor Noah had a runny nose the whole time. I enlisted the help of my brother and his girlfriend, Yen to help shoot the family portrait shot. I did notice that as the kids are getting older, they are getting more cooperative with the photo shoot. Anyways, happy holidays everyone!

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OCO Madness

2011-12-19T10:17:00.000-08:00

Megan plays in a youth basketball league called Orange County Optimists (OCO). Many of the parents (including my wife Sandy) actually played in this league back when they were a little kids too. Megan's division is called Tinkos which is for the 5 year old kids. Watching these little rug rats run around the basketball court is ridiculously cute.

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On a technical side, shooting action sports in this gym is very challenging. The light quality is very poor. You are going to have to use a lens with the largest aperture possible. I had great success using a canon 85mm f1.8 lens. It is a fast low light lens with a good working distance. The ultrasonic motor definitely helped when it came to focusing on my targets as fast as possible. You might be able to get away using a f2.8 lens but you will have to crank the ISO way up to get enough light to freeze the shots. I was going for a shutter speed of at least 1/250th second.

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The other challenge is white balance. The artificial lights in the gym cast a very strong yellow color tone which looks awful. There are different ways to work around this. The best would be to shoot in RAW and white balance in post processing. I couldn't do this because for some reason, Adobe Photoshop CS2 does not support RAW files from the Canon 7D. You can also try to manually white balance while in jpg before shooting by using a grey card or a white piece of paper. I tried doing this but the results were still quite off. Their uniforms are light blue but with the lighting in the gym, they all came out purple in color. Ah, well at least they didn't have yellow skin tones.

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The last bit of advice is to get down low when shooting. These kids are short and you want to get down to their level to shoot them. I often will sit down right at court side when shooting them. There are even a few shots where I placed my camera down on the ground and took the shots. It helps to give a cleaner foreground like the shot below. Ok enough with the technical stuff, let's see some basketball action!

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Del Mar Race Track

2011-09-05T16:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Sandy and I were invited down to go see the Del Mar Race Track in San Diego thanks to Carly and Danny. It was a dizzying day of horse racing, cheering spectators, colorful jockeys and big hats! We won a few races and lost much more than I care to keep track of, but all in all we had a great time. Special thanks to my mom and dad for watching our kids so that we could get away for the day.

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Before each race begins, they would parade the horses and jockeys around this garden area for the spectators to inspect the horses.

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This fan got up and personal with one of the horses.

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I have a hard time taking seriously anyone who wears a hat with a fuzzy ball on top.

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They have these huge tractors which groom the field prior to the races.

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And we're off to the races!

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There is a tradition in horse racing for women to wear big hats. Sandy even got one.

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Some of the guests were quite dressed up. I felt like I was at Prince Williams and Kate Middleton's Royal wedding with all the fancy hats around.

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After every race, the spectators would migrate into this hall to collect their wins and place their next bets.

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My first 5K

2011-09-03T17:27:00.000-07:00

I have never been a runner. Even back in high school, when I played lacrosse, I hated running. I even switched from midfield to defense so I wouldn't have to run as much. In the past when I have tried running, it was always such a painful experience. I was just too out of shape to run. However after having completed P90X and the Insanity Asylum Fitness programs, they changed what I thought my body was capable of.

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I recently took up running a few months ago. I wanted to capitalize on the improved cardio that I got after The Insanity Asylum. This time around, running came more naturally and with much less strain on the body. I found that I actually enjoyed my runs. At that point, I decided to looking into racing.

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I was referred to the active.com website which lists all the local races. I wasn't sure which race to sign up for. I decided to play it safe and just start with a simple 5K. I heard that they were often quite fun and relaxed races. I thought that it would be a good way to test the waters. I was looking for a local race around town. My friend Janet Cheng, forwarded me an email about a local 5K in Irvine called the Kevin Cook 5K Spirit Run. I decided this was it.

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I was pleasantly surprise to find out that my family, mom, dad, brother, mother in law and brother in law wanted to come out and watch me run. I really appreciated their support. The race was held at The Great Park in Irvine, on the old El Toro Marine Base. The race course was around the tarmac on concrete. It was flat as can be. It was such a beautiful day to run. There were sunny blue skies but the temp was still in the low 70s. I got there early and watched the high school runners race. I was shocked at how fast their times were. Then it was time to line up at the start. This was a small local race so I estimate there were only a few hundred in the open division. We were all milling around when the race chairman said, "GO!!!" Then it was literally off to the races.

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Running in a crowd of people is quite an experience. I'm use to running by myself down a quiet bike path, only crossing paths with another runner on occassion. The beginning of the race is quite exhilirating. There is so much energy that you get caught up in it and want to floor it to the max. I had to constantly remind myself to slow down and pace myself. There was all sorts of runners around me: senior citizens; little kids; big people; skinny people; runners with strollers; and runners with dogs. It was quite the zoo.

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I had a preconceived plan on keeping a certain pace but that pretty much went out the door. I felt good and just went with it. I fell into a comfortable pace and was able to maintain it throughout the race. I even had enough saved in the tank for a strong kick to the finish line. My official finish time was 23 minutes and 16.1 seconds. My calculated average pace was 7 minutes 29.36 seconds per mile. I placed 94th overall out of 386 total in the open division. They did not break it down into age groups. I was very happy with my performance. I'm hoping to see what my ranking was. Unfortunately, since this was such a small race, they didn't use chip timers. They simply collected my tear away race bib stub and posted it on a race board. I forgot to go back and check the results. Hopefully they will post the results online later.

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I want to do a 10K race next but I can't commit to it just yet. I've decided to take a month off from running. Unfortunately, I have developed a problem with my right hip. At first, I thought it was just sore from the running but it continued to get worse with each subsequent run and would stay around longer. I held off on running the 2 weeks prior to my 5K to rest it up and it did get better. My hip felt great during my 5K but I started noticing the soreness coming back at the end of the race. By the time I got home, I was limping again. Not good. I think I either have tendonitis of my hip flexor or possibly a small stress fracture. I was pushing my pace too early in my training. Lessoned learned. It is frustrating to have to stop running when I have finally fallen in love with it, but I know the only way I can continue to pursue this sport, is to let my body heal up. It is my sincerest hope that after having taken a month off from running, I can start training again. I really want to run the Dana Point 10K Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving with some friends of mine who are interested.

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Super big thanks to my brother who took most of these pics for me. I only took a few with my iphone (which are the square pics). Also big thanks to all of my family and in laws who came out to share in the experience with me. It really meant so much to me!

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The kids got to enjoy the Merry Go Round at the Great Park afterwards.

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I did it!

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Here's my very first running race medal! More to come!

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Before I end this post, I want to leave you guys with this great video. Makes me want to lace up my running shoes and go for a run everytime I watch it.

OCO annual summer camp out at O'neill Park

2011-08-31T16:54:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, we packed up the camping gear and journeyed a whole 30 minutes to O'neill Park in Trabuco Canyon. OCO was having it's annual summer camp out. It was great seeing everybody again and hello to all the new faces. The kids had a great time running around, playing with glowsticks and making smores. Here are some quick snapshots from the evening.

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OC Fair 2011 shot with my iphone 4 and Instagram app

2011-08-13T19:12:00.000-07:00

1) We took the kids to the OC Fair on it's last weekend. I played the squirt the water at the target game and won this Despicable Me plush toy for Megan. Ethan would not leave until we got him one too. $20 later, Sandy was able to win him one. The kids call these Despicable Me Minions, "corn pop people." LOL.

2) This year Ethan was tall enough to ride on the dragon roller coaster without an adult.

3) That goes for bumper cars too!

4) This was one of the few rides that Noah could go on that did not involve spinning around in circles. He got to ride it once with Sandy and once with me. He was a happy camper.

5) Can't leave the fair without the token ping pong ball in the goldfish bowl prize. Megan and Ethan both got a goldfish.

Hiking in Bommer's Canyon

2011-08-07T07:08:00.000-07:00

1) Met up with my brother, Yen, Bang, Ford, David and Mayumi for a nice late afternoon hike at Bommer's Canyon in Irvine. They recently opened up this trail back in the spring.

2) I took Ethan and Megan too. This was their first true hike. I was worried that half way through they would poop out and get all whiny, but they were troopers and did great. I even think they quite enjoyed it.

3) I covered them up with sunblock, got their little hats out of the closet, filled up my camelbak and off we went looking for adventure!

4) Here is the gang as we trudged our way through the winding trail.

5) My brother Bi playing with his 70-300 telephoto lens.

6) David and Mayumi double chimpin!

7) Ethan picked up a walking stick to protect himself from snakes and stink bugs. We had some amazing golden light this afternoon to shoot with.

8) Say hello to my cousin Bang. Here he is getting ready to plow a field and milk some cows.

9) My cousin in law, Mayumi.

10) Check out Megan's water bottle. She got it as a present from an ex-classmate from preschool. She has been quite eager to try it out on a hike.

11) David bustin out the tilt shift action.

12) We ran into 2 snakes crossing the trail. This one was a California King Snake.

13) Ford getting ready for his rodeo.

14) I caught a glimpse of this White Tailed Kite. I use to see them more often, but now a days with suburban development and the loss of wild land, they are a rare sight.

15) There is a family of California Quails in Bommer's Canyon. I actually took this photo on a prior hike when I was by myself and could sneak up close.

16) This was the other snake that we ran into. It's a Pacific Rattlesnake. It was HUGE and all stretched out across the width of the trail, sunning itself. When it spotted us. It coiled up and made it's distinctive rattling noise. It was a good reminder to keep Megan and Ethan close to me on the trail and to stay out of the bushes! Scary stuff.

17) I took this pic of the fledgling Red Tailed Hawks on the prior hike. When I visited the nest again today, they were gone.

18) Another shot of the quail. The males of the pack would sit on a fence post and watch out for danger while the females and little ones would scavenge for food on the ground. When the male spotted danger, he would make a noise to warn everybody.

Who needs a dslr camera anymore?!

2011-07-12T22:17:00.000-07:00

The following pics were all taken with my iphone4. I even have an app called Instagram (thanks Ken) which lets me edit the pics on my camera with preset filters. I didn't even have to use photoshop on any of these pics other than to put my copyright on them. My iphone4 has now replaced my dslr as my walk around go to camera. Now of course, it doesn't have the autofocus speed of a dslr or the high ISO capabilities of a dslr but for a camera phone and an app which I purchased for 99 cents, it does a pretty freakin good job. It also shoots HD video just like my Canon 7D. Actually I find shooting quick video of my kids much easier to use with my iphone4 as compared to shooting video with my Canon 7D because it's just so much simpler. And as a bonus, I can make phone calls with my iphone4. Isn't technology just amazing? =P

1) My new running shoes.

2) Koba Tofu

3) Artic Zero ice cream

4) Timex Ironman Heart Rate Monitor

5) Tomatoes from my backyard garden

NYMC roomates annual BBQ get together

2011-06-06T08:44:00.000-07:00

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This past weekend, we had our annual NYMC roomates get together. Sandy and Charles were gracious enough to host the event. It was Hawaiian themed. We had a new guest this time. Jennifer Hanh (previously Juhn) and her family also joined us to catch up on old times. The last time I saw her was at my wedding 7 years ago. Time flies so fast and we all have little kids running around now. We had a ton of delicious food and the kids had a great time playing with each other in the backyard. It seems our get together grows in number each time. Tom and Kimmy are expecting their 2nd child soon. By the next time we have a get together, there will be a new addition to our growing extended family.

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On a side note, I had beautiful natural light to shoot with (which I love!!!). I had forgotten my canon 70-200mm f4 IS lens at home but my canon 85mm f1.8 lens worked out great in the backyard. I mainly used my canon 35mm f1.4 while indoors. For the group shot, I used my tamron 17-50mm f2.8 set on a tripod with a bounce flash. Thanks Tom for letting me use your IR remote control. I need to get me one of those! All technical details aside, the reason why I put so much effort into improving my photography is so that I can capture beautiful moments like this day forever.

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6) There was a lot of meat to be BBQ'ed. Yummy yummy yummy!

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8) Jenny always buys 2 of everything for her twins.

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10) Tom packing some heat with his new canon 70-300mm lens.

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12) Sandy and Sandy.

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20) The kids had such a great time taking turns pulling themselves in this cart.

21) Summery backyard decorations makes for great photos.

22) The twins enjoying some ice cream.

23) Which fruit drink to get. Decisions, decisions...

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25) Sandy and Charles even got a snow cone machine. The kids were so spoiled!

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31) All Aboard the Byang express!!!

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37) The girls squealed with delight as they raced around the backyard in the cart.

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39) Our awesome hosts, Charles and Sandy. You guys have a beautiful house!

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41) Smile for the camera. Ok maybe not.

42) The ladies staying cool on a summer day.

43) Ok everyone, look at the camera... for the 10th time.

44) "Son, what ever you do, don't roll a seven!"

45) Jenny teaches her daughter how to build the longest road.

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48) "Hrm. Who should I put this robber on?"

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Hung's Journey Back to Fitness. A review of P90X with pics and tips.

2011-05-01T07:58:00.000-07:00

What is P90X?
If you have ever flipped TV channels late at night, I'm sure you guys have seen infomercials for P90X. It is an extreme home fitness program designed by Tony Horton. It is basically an exercise boot camp that you can do in your own home. It claims that it will get you ripped and fit in 90 days. Too good to be true, right? Well I put it to the test and I will share with you my results. Basically, the work outs are 1 -1.5 hours in length which are done 6 days a week for 13 weeks. There are 3 phases (3 months) to the program. The first 2 months have 3 weeks of tough workouts followed by a recovery week. This allows your body to rest and grow before you take it up a notch the following month. The last phase of P90X is 4 weeks of tough workouts and then a final recovery week. Since, you are doing this program in the privacy of your own home who cares if you are out of shape, uncoordinated, and self conscious of the way you look. All you need is to put the DVD in, push play, and Bring IT!

Why did I do it?
Before we get to how it works, I just want to talk about why I did it. This journey started back in May 2010. I was in Maui attending my sister-in-law's wedding. One morning, I was walking down the beach to go snorkeling. Walking around in public without my shirt on, I became quite self-conscious of how much my belly and spare tire jiggled. Needless to say, I had gotten terribly out of shape and had put on a lot of weight since getting married and having 3 kids. For example, I was so out of shape that I would be sore the day after I did any light gardening in the backyard. I was also tired all the time. I thought it was due to having 3 kids to take care of. I wrong was. It was because I had a poor diet and didn't exercise regularly. So sad.

I was talking with my brother-in-law about the fact and he mentioned that he was getting the P90X extreme home training system. I was curious about it and wanted to try it out. We both made a promise that we were going to do this program. My mistake at that point was that I never set a date of when I was going to start it. I'm a terrible procrastinator at times.

Fast forward to January 2011. I was at work when I heard some of my fellow co-workers talking about starting a Biggest Loser competition to motivate people to lose weight and get back into shape after the holidays. Right at that point, my belly had gotten so big that I was on my last notch of my belt. As embarrassing as it may sound, I was afraid to wash my work pants. After getting them out of the dryer, they would be so tight and uncomfortable. I thought back to that promise I made while on the beach in Maui to do P90X. The time had come for me to honor that promise to myself. I signed up for the competition and later that night I ordered the P90X program.

Why P90X?
The reason why P90X was so perfect for me was that I could do it at home. The hardest part about working out at a gym is just getting my butt to the gym. I have a job and 3 kids to take care of. I do not have much free time. With P90X, since I can work out at home, it is easier for me to squeeze in my daily workouts and stay on schedule. Do you have time to go to the gym 6 days a week? The other important reason was simply because it works. I have friends and knew of people who had done the program and had gotten great results. If it worked for them then it's gotta work for me too! P90X is like having your own personal trainer come over to your house 6 days a week to work out with you. There is a science to exercise and a methodology in order to get the most efficient results. You can have a membership at a fancy gym with a huge selection of shiny workout equipment, but if you don't know how to exercise, know when to exercise, how many reps to do, how much weight to use, I doubt you will get the same results in the same amount of time. Most likely you will either plateau or get bored of doing the same thing. Even worse, you may end up hurting yourself by doing too much of one thing and not enough of another.

P90X is simple. There is nothing to figure out. You just follow what Tony says and do your best to keep up. The program is designed to prevent you from hitting a plateau. Often times, even if you work out regularly, you reach a point where your body adapts and gets more efficient. At that point, you don't get as much out of the work out as you use to. You basically stop losing weight. P90X is designed around a concept of Muscle Confusion. It's nothing special. It's just another term for variety. There are so many different exercises that you put your body through, that it is always being challenged. It is a comprehensive overall fitness program that hits everything and I do really mean everything. It's very good at finding your weak points and improving those areas. I was sore in places I didn't even know I had!

What do I need?
Here is a picture of my state of the art, high tech, home work out facilities. That's right folks, I spared no expense. Hahaha.

- The P90X Extreme Training System (13 work out DVDs, a workout Booklet and Nutrition Booklet) = $119.85 + shipping and handling. (It's cheapest if you buy directly from Beachbody.com. I had ordered mine from Amazon.com and for some reason it was about 10 bucks more, wtf?!)
- Pull up bar ($40).
- A pair of 20 lb dumbbells ($60 total),
- A pair of 12 lb dumbbells ($30 total).
- 2 sets of foam exercise mats ($50 total).

The P90X program recommends a yoga matt too. I bought one but hated it. It always bunches up and moves around. Since I work out on a hardwood floor, I opted to get 2 sets of foam exercise mats. If you plan on working out on hardwood floors, I would highly recommend getting some. Your tail bone, hips and wrists will thank you later. The P90X booklet also recommends a heart monitor. Will it help? Yes. Is it absolutely essential? No. For P90X, you can either use dumbbells or elastic bands. I only used weights. Supposedly you can get as good a work out with the bands and Tony shows you how to use them. The advantage of the bands is that as you get stronger, you can still use the same band. You just shorten the length. With weights you have to buy a heavier dumbbell. If you go with dumbbells then you will definitely want to get 2 weights. There are a lot of shoulder and tricep exercises that I couldn't do with the 20 lb weight. When picking which weight to buy, they recommend getting one that you can do at least 20 bicep curl reps with. For me that was 20 lbs. Yup. That's it! Please note the absence of any large obnoxious looking exercise machine in this picture.

Do I have to follow the diet?
The short answer is YES. They say that 80% of the results that you get from the program are actually due to the nutritional component of this program and I believe it. If you only work out and do not follow a diet, you will get fit but probably not lose much weight and not look much different. Throughout this journey I have learned of many peoples' experiences going through the P90X program. There are varying results. Some people lose a ton of weight and get ripped. Other's lose a little bit of weight or none. How can that be since they are all doing the same type of exercise. The variable here is their diet.

I will admit that I did not exactly follow the specific diet that P90X recommended. I did read through the nutrition booklet and use it as a guide and ideas for recipes. Here are some principles that I followed and worked for me.

1) You need to eat every 2.5-3 hours. That means small snacks throughout the day. If you keep your body fueled with a constant supply of food, it will stop holding onto calories and start burning fat to build muscle in response to the exercise that you are doing. You do need to create a calorie deficit, but if you starve yourself all day long, you will lose some weight at first, but that will soon stop and you may gain more fat and lose muscle. Be careful when you are eating frequent meals because it is easy to go overboard on your total daily calories if you are not careful with your portion sizes. A great and easy way to track your calories is with an online site called. I use one called www.Livestrong.com/myplate. Here is an EXAMPLE of what I eat on a daily basis. This site is great because not only does it track your calories, but also gives you a pie graph of your %fat, %carb and %protein. I don't log my diet daily but I do use this site to play around with hypothetical menu ideas.

2) Stay away from sugar, in particular high fructose corn syrup. Sugar causes you to gain weight. Refined carbohydrates rich foods (white rice, white bread, pasta, soda, bakery good, etc) is basically loaded with sugar. If you want to get ripped, you need to read food labels and do your best to stay away from sugar. Do yourself a favor and watch this lecture about the dangers of sugar.

3) Spend more time buying food in the fresh produce section of the supermarket.

4) Modify recipes to replace carbs. Whenever I make spaghetti, I will replace pasta with one of the following: cubes of tofu, boiled cauliflower/broccoli, lettuce cut into thin strips, canned bamboo shoots or a can of beans (red, black or garbanzo). Beans are great because they are mainly just fiber and protein. If you are going to eat canned beans I would warn you that most canned beans are very high in sodium. One can can actually have over a 1,365mg of sodium which will definitely raise your blood pressure. Look for canned beans with No Salt Added.

5) Cook big batches of food ahead of time and put it in a Tupperware in the fridge so that you can just microwave and eat throughout the week. I like to make a big batch of vegetable soup on the weekend. Take your favorite vegetables (Napa cabbage, tomatoes, chopped celery, etc) and boil it in chicken broth. Then on a weekday I just need to heat up some protein (chicken, tilapia or salmon which you can buy frozen in bulk at Costco) and then eat it with my vegetable soup. Again, be careful of the sodium content which may affect your blood pressure. I also like to cook a big batch of Mabo Tofu or my Eggplant Goolash. Having premade food in the fridge is going to keep you from going out and getting fast food when you come home hungry from work.

6) If you go out to eat with your family, use the calorie content of each item in the menu to make your decision. I try to shoot for a meal that has about 600 or less calories total. You would be surprised at how many "healthy salads" have more than 1,000 calories. Also stay away from condiments like ketchup which are just loaded with sugar. If your meal comes with a side of fries then ask to switch it to steamed vegetables. Skip the dessert and have a piece of fresh fruit.

7) If I don't have any prepared food at home then I will pick up 2 chicken breasts from El Pollo Loco and eat it with salsa. I also like the 6 inch Turkey Breast on whole wheat sandwich from Subway. On the way home from work, I'll buy a foot long, eat half for dinner and bring the other half to work for tomorrow's lunch.

8) Pack a lunch. You should be packing food to work for snacks anyways. Again if you have food that is already prepared, you are more likely to be able to eat every 2.5-3 hours and less likely to get hungry and go grab some junk food.

9) I am constantly searching for new recipes and foods to eat. If you eat the same thing day in and day out, no matter how great it is working to help you lose weight, you will grow bored of eating it and go back to your old bad eating habits. Variety is the spice of life as they say.

10) I am constantly snacking in order to keep my body fueled. The key is to eat the right type of snacks and to control the portions. My snacks consist of: almonds, edemame, beef jerky, and fresh fruit. Keep your portions small. I basically take a left over Gerber baby food plastic container and fill it with 16 almonds. Yes I actually will count out the almonds. Almonds are a great source of good fats which will raise your HDL good cholesterol but again they are calorie packed so you have to keep your portion under control. If you snack on them all day long, I guarantee you will GAIN weight. Be careful of dried fruit. Many are coated in tons of sugar. They are already sugary to begin with and are more calorie dense since they are dehydrated. The only dried fruit I eat is tiny packets of Sunmaid raisins. I add one to my morning oatmeal and add another to my almonds for my afternoon snack.

11) Eat a snack before leaving work. I make it a rule that I must complete my work out before eating dinner. Unfortunately most of us are starving by the time we get home from a long day of work and cannot control our cravings. Thus I eat a small snack like an apple before leaving work. By the time I get home, I already have something in my belly. My cravings are held at bay for a bit and I get a boost of energy to get me through my workouts.

12) Do not finish your kid's leftover. That's one of the reason why I got overweight in the first place. My kids can be picky eaters at times. They sometimes will not finish their plate and I feel like it is such a waste of good food. So I scrape it onto my plate and finish it off. That's a lot of extra calories that I do not need. Get in the habit of only eating your food.

13) I like to keep a box of Pure Protein Bars at work. You can get them at Costco or your local grocery store. It only has 2-3g of sugar and I can eat it for a mid morning or mid afternoon snack. If you spend some time looking at ingredient labels, a lot of "protein or energy bars" are just loaded with sugar, some over 19g. Stay away from that stuff. It's like eating a candy bar.

14) Load up on fiber. Fiber is considered by many health experts an essential nutrient. Fiber is important because it speeds up the transit time of your food as it moves through your intestines. It will actually REDUCE the amount of carbohydrates that are absorbed through your intestines. It also will give you a sense of being full faster. Those are all good things!

Tips to make it through the 90 day work out program.
I will not kid you. The workouts are tough and often intense. 6 days a week is an arduous pace to keep. You will be sore, get use to it. I think I was always sore somewhere on my body throughout most of the 90 days. During the first two weeks of the program, people questioned why I was walking funny. It was because my legs and hips were sore. Don't let the intensity scare you off. This is exactly what you need to get the results you want. On average, people who end up quitting P90X, usually do it after the first month. So how do you keep motivated to keep pushing play each day and get through the entire 90 day program? Here are some tips that helped me.

1) Watch youtube videos. Just type P90X into the search bar in youtube and you will find tons of people who post their personal transformations. Many are quite inspiring. I watch them all the time and they get me pumped and excited about my workouts. Here are some of my favorites including mine.

Hung's P90X Transformation from Hung Tran on Vimeo.

Vin's P90x Transformation from David Frady on Vimeo.

2) Start a biggest loser program with friends or coworkers. Sign up for a race or athletic event. Having a goal and competition are great motivators. Plus there is a lot of camaraderie and support to be gained when people are working together to improve their health.

3) Use the worksheets. You can download them HERE for free. They help you keep track of your reps and weight for each exercise. This is very important. Each workout I try to improve and outdo my last workout even if it is just 1 more rep than last week. Having a reference point will help you to keep pushing harder each workout. This is important because as you grow in strength and stamina the exercises will get easier and you will not get the same benefit as before. To compensate, you can increase the weight that you are lifting, increase the rep count or modify the exercise routine to make it more challenging.

4) Take before and after pics. As you can see, I was very methodical about taking my pics on Day 0, 30, 60 and 90. The purpose of this was not for bragging rights. The purpose was to prove to me that my efforts were working. On day 30 when I saw that my once bulging belly was flatter and that I was getting more lines of definition in my abs, and arms, I was so proud. They were small gains but it proves to you that this program is working and it reinforces your motivation to continue. Whether or not you share your pics with other people is totally up to you.

5) Tell other people that you are doing P90X. Again this is not for the purpose of bragging rights. One of my personal motivating factors is to avoid public embarrassment. I hate it. I don't want to be known as a quitter. To hold myself accountable, I want my family, my friends and my coworkers to know about what I am trying to do. How embarrassing would it be for me , if one day they ask me how my fitness journey was going and I told them I had quit and not lost any weight? I use the public knowledge of my efforts and the risk of personal embarrassment as a leverage against my desire to quit. If you start P90X and do not tell anyone, then it is much easier to just quit one day and no one will be the wiser or care.

6) Pace yourself. The work outs are long and you often repeat specific exercises. If you blow your wad at the beginning of the workout then you might have trouble finishing the entire work out. For instance there is a work out day where pretty much all you do are various forms of pushups and pull ups. If you try to max out on your first push up or pull up, how are you going to continue for the entire 55 minute workout. Also keep in mind that even if you pushed it hard and completed that day's workout, you have another workout that is just as hard tomorrow and the rest of the week. Pace yourself in the 1st 2 months. Your body needs time to grow stronger.

7) Modify! Modify! Modify! Tony harps on this all the time. Every exercise has a way to modify it to make it more difficult or easier. For instance, I suck at pull ups. When I did my fitness test, I could only do 3. So you can modify this by using a chair and resting 1 leg on the chair. This takes off some of your body weight, but you still get an upper body work out. I used a chair for my pull ups for at least the 1st 2 months. During the last month, I would start out without using a chair but when I was exhausted I would use a chair again to get in at least 10 reps. Same goes with pushups. I couldn't do 1 handed pushups. So I just did them on my knees. Or if I was too exhausted towards the end of the workout and could only do a few pushups, I would then just finish the set on my knees.

8) Focus on your form. Tony harps on this too. Form is absolutely important. It prevents you from getting hurt and also maximizes the benefit you get from a particular exercise. Working out 6 days a week for 90 days straight can potentially put you at risk for injuries such as strains, tendonitis, bursitis or worse depending on how out of shape you are. The last thing you want is to get hurt and have to take a break from your workout schedule. Luckily, P90X was designed very intelligently and was refined through many test groups to avoid injuries. Listen to Tony and do exactly what he tells you.

9) Do yoga. Yah. I wasn't big on Yoga in the beginning. It's weird and actually quite painful at times. Instead of jumping around and working up a sweat, you are holding difficult positions for extended periods of time and working up a sweat. It will strengthen your core and back and make your muscles and joints more flexible and pliable. This in turn will protect you from injury. Whether or not you reach nirvana depends on if your children are fighting over a toy or trashing your house while you are doing yoga.

10) Get more sleep. Not that you need any encouragement to go to bed. You will be dog gone tired after your work outs. I don't think I have slept as well as I have since I started this program. Remember, you do not build muscle while you are working out. You build muscle and repair your body when you are resting and sleeping. Plus if you stay up late, you are more likely to get hungry and sneak in a late night snack. Very bad! Do yourself a favor and go to bed early if you can.

11) Avoid weighing yourself daily. Your weight fluctuates based upon many variables including hydration status. If you weigh yourself daily, you might have some days where your weight went up. Motivation can be a very fragile thing. Seeing your weight go up after watching your diet and working your butt off can be very self defeating. Instead focus on more concrete things like the fact that your pants and clothes are getting looser. Ideally, I would recommend that you weigh yourself once a month. However if you can't wait that long then do it ONLY once a week, the same day of the week, first thing in the morning before eating breakfast.

12) Get a coach. Beachbody offers free coaching. Yup, free. A lot of people who have gone through the program sign up to be coaches and are willing to help you get through the program. You will often see a message at the end of their youtube video showing a link to their personal website. Not every Beachbody coach will be helpful. Choose wisely. In my last month of P90X, I came across Coach Wayne Wyatt. He had an awesome transformation and he has a great website with lots of good info and motivation to keep you going. I signed him up to be my coach and joined his group on facebook. There are a lot of other members on that facebook page and we constantly keep each other motivated and they are a good resource for questions.

13) Do yourself a favor and stay on your diet. What is the point of working out if you are just going to put all the calories back and more with junk food. If you are trying to change your body into a high performance race car, why would you put cheap gas in it. Plus if you don't keep to your diet, I doubt that you will see much change physically after the first month. Then you are more likely to give up and quit. Again, motivation is a very fragile thing. On the other hand if you do follow your diet, you will see changes which in turn motivates you to continue. Don't sabotage your own efforts. What really determines your end result and how quickly you get it, is how good you are with your diet. That's the simple truth.

14) Educate yourself on nutrition and fitness. This journey really is a journey. You need to re-educate yourself and replace bad habits with healthier ones. It can be quite a confusing search. There is a lot of info out there, some good, some worthless and some who just want your money. I suggest your start HERE. It's a link to Beachbody's vast library of articles on fitness and nutrition. Good stuff and it's free! I read through them on my lunch break.

Supplements and Recovery drinks
The Beachbody company has a line of supplements, recovery drink and Shakeology drink that they promote. Some people use them, some don't. I can't comment on them since I never tried them personally. During my 90 days, I kept things as simple as possible. The only supplement that I took was Airborne when I felt like I was getting sick or when other family members were sick. I do believe in recovery drinks though. A recovery drink is something that you drink after a hard workout. It replenishes your energy quickly, gives your muscle the nutrients needed to heal and grow. It reduces how sore you are the next day. If you are going to do P90X 6 days a week, a recovery drink is absolutely essential. Again, I did not use the P90X brand recovery drink. I made my own. I used 1/2 a packet of carnation instant breakfast essentials chocolate flavor. Blend that up with 1 cup of soy milk, 1 cup of ice water. It really hits the spot after a hard work out. Don't believe me? Just google "chocolate milk recovery drink." There are a lot of other more expensive options out there, but again I wanted to keep things simple and affordable.

Results
So after all this talk, you guys want to know what results I got. I think the pictures I have posted can already attest to the fact that P90X works. How about some more details. Btw, those cargo pants were tight on me before starting P90X.

- It took me a total of 100 days to complete the program. I had to take a day off here and there due to being too sore to continue.

- Total weight lost = 26 lbs.

- I lost an average of 2-3 lbs each week. But there were some weeks during the 2nd month that I didn't lose any weight. I think it may have been due to me reintroducing brown rice into my diet.

- I started at 18.8% body fat which was measured by a BIA (Bio Impedance Analysis) machine at work. At the end of the 2nd month, I was down to 10.2% body fat. After I completed my 3rd month, the machine said that I was at 13.5 % body fat despite the fact that I had lost another 4 lbs during that last month. My conclusion is that machines that measure body fat % by using an electric current are inconsistent and not worth your time. I have read that your skin moisture content can affect your results. I ended up buying a body fat caliper and measured my final body fat to be at 10.5%.

- I took a fit test before starting P90X. I could only do 25 pushups and 3 pull ups. After P90X, I could do 48 pushups and 14 pull ups.

- My resting heart rate before starting P90X was 92. That just shows you how out of shape I was! After P90X, it was 60.

- My current cholesterol levels are as follows: Total cholesterol = 146, HDL = 49, Trig = 60, LDL = 85. Unfortunately I did not check my cholesterol levels prior to starting P90X. The last time I checked them was back in 2007. At that time I had the following numbers. Total cholesterol = 187, HDL = 35, Trig = 150, LDL = 122. I think it is safe to conclude that P90X definitely improved my cholesterol numbers.

So now what?
Having gone through and successfully completed such an arduous program, what do I do now? Do I plant my flag on top of the mountain and then just sit back and let my body go back to its naturally flabby self? Hell no! It would be a shame to lose what I have worked so hard to gain. One thing to keep in mind is that I do not need to lose any more weight. In fact, I would be fine with gaining a few pounds actually. But I want to gain pounds of muscle, not fat. In cycling, after you have conquered one hill, you go out and find a bigger hill to climb. I did just that. I signed up for an Insanity Asylum workout challenge and guess what? It starts today. Here's a sneak peak.

Yup I'm crazy, hence the Asylum. Haha. It's only a month long workout program (which is also sold by Beachbody.com). I found out about it through my coach's website. His team is competing against another team and you know how I love competition. Ideally I would have liked 2 weeks off before starting another workout program, but this competition just happened to start right when I came off P90X so the timing was perfect. I'll let you guys know how Insanity Asylum goes. See you all in a month. Stay tuned!

I'm too out of shape to do this workout.

Remember this guy? He had a resting heart rate of 92 before he started the program. Talk about being in terrible shape. Yikes. But, if he could do it then so can you. Remember Rome wasn't built in a day. Just take it one day at a time, one exercise at a time. Just like Tony says, "Do your best and forget the rest!" Now stop staring at my nipples and go get some exercise.

Chelsi's Sweet 16 Birthday Party

2011-02-28T21:48:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday night, I found myself surrounded by of a bunch of giggly teenagers bouncing around on a dance floor. No, I was not reliving the glory days of my youth. I was hired to shoot a Sweet 16 Birthday Party. As I carefully made my way across the dance floor, I took a moment to reflect on all the interesting places my photography hobby has taken me. Ive spent mornings way out in the deserted brush lands of Hemet following a group of Falconers on the hunt. I've crawled around on stage photographing the band, Last One Done while they performed. I've even flew out to the exotic island of Maui to photograph a beach side wedding. However, photographing this Sweet 16 Birthday Party has to take the cake, literally!

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Bac Xuan Funeral Services

2011-02-05T19:11:00.000-08:00

My uncle Bac Xuan passed away recently. We had the funeral services this past Tuesday. My parents asked me to photograph the event for posterity. It was quite a difficult "assignment." It is not easy to photograph your loved ones during their most vulnerable moments grieving. Usually as a photographer you have a sense of detachment to the scene unfolding through your view finder. However since this was my family, their emotions were my emotions. Even though I did not have the enthusiasm and excitement of shooting a wedding or birthday party, I wanted to make sure that I honored my uncle's passing and captured the sanctity of this moment as best as I could. The funeral services were held in a small dimly lit chapel. There were tungsten lights which gave off a yellow color cast. Even the walls and stained glass windows had a yellow hue which made white balancing in post processing impossible. Anyways, I did my best and here are the shot. Rest in peace Bac Xuan.

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Tubing in Big Bear

2011-02-03T23:51:00.000-08:00

1) The kids have never seen snow, so yesterday we let them ditch school to take a trip up to the mountains. We drove up to Big Bear Snow Play which is a Tubing park. It took us over 2 hours to get there from Irvine. It took about 1 hour to drive up the winding mountain roads. There were high winds and icy patches on the side of the road which made for white knuckle driving, especially around turns and switch backs. Oh btw, we got the kids' snow suits at The Children's Orchard which is a fantastic used clothing store only for kids. Their snow suits were like $20 each. Why pay full price for something that they are only going to wear once or twice and then outgrow. At the tubing park we only had to pay $25 for each adult. The kids were free. Parking was free too. They do have a rule of 1 child per adult in the park. Also kids have to be older than 2. We ended up leaving Noah with my parents. Sorry dude. We will bring you next year. Basically the kids had to ride on one of our laps in the tube. They also have an escalator which brings you to the top of the hill so you don't have to huff and puff it up the hill yourself.

2) The kids and adults had a great time. Definitely go during the week if you can. It was quite empty and there were no lines at all to get up the hill. Also another cool thing was that you could play as long as you want. Some of the other tubing parks we checked had a 2 hour limit per ticket.

3) The weather at the top of Big Bear was a nippy 28 degrees and windy. Having snowboarding gear was a plus.

4) Here's a cool sequence series of Sandy and Megan zipping down the hill.

5) See how much fun they were having!

6) It's all fun and games until a little kid eats it. Fail!

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8) Sandy dressed them in layers and that kept them warm and toasty. Our only problem was Ethan's gloves which kept on falling off all day long.

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12) Here you can see all 7 lanes of the tubing park. They vary in steepness and number of bumps. It was quite empty and there were only a handful of other families there with us, which was awesome. No lines! It looks like all of the snow was man made though with snow blowers.

13) Megan tried to make a snow angel.

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16) We warmed the kids up with a cup of hot chocolate in the snack shop. This whole place only takes cash by the way.

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18) Here is a little video I made of what its like going down the hill. I held Ethan with my left arm and my camera with my right hand while going down the hill. Not too shabby. You can get a sense of the speed which is quite exhilarating.

Megan's 5th birthday

2011-01-23T19:24:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Megan's 5th birthday today at Pump It Up. Megan invited a bunch of her girlfriends from school, as well as family and other friends. They had a great time bouncing around the jumpy houses and zipping down the inflatable slides. Megan was quite shy at first with all the people around but she slowly warmed up and started enjoying herself. Thanks to all for coming out and sharing this special day with us.

1) Megan blows out her birthday cake.

2) Paradise cake from King's Hawaiian Bakery. This is the only cake Sandy will eat. It is so light and the frosty is not overly sweet, just perfect.

3) The staff at Pump It Up open the doors to the first room. Megan was quite shy when first arriving there and would not cooperate for the photos.

4) Noah slams dunk.

5) Ethan gives it a go.

6) Ethan and Auntie Janet go down the slide.

7) I love this shot. A truly candid moment.

8) Not sure who was having more fun on the slide, my dad or Noah.

9) Kayla.

10) Noah had so much fun sliding with my dad.

11) Father and son.

12) Jay and Kenji enjoy the slide.

13) Another great candid moment.

14) Sheri and Amy.

15) Group shot. I tried to get them all to look at the camera. Who am I kidding. I can't even get my own kids to look at the camera let alone a room full of them. Hah!

16) Ethan enjoying his pizza and chips.

17) Hello kitty for the girls and Mickey mouse for the boys.

18) Cousin Kai and Ethan sit on the throne.

19) Grandpa Ted and Noah having fun on the slide.

20) Ethan playing air Hockey.

21) Danny slam dunking bouncy house style.

22) Kristen zipping down the slide.

23) My brother Richard and his girlfriend Yen.

24) Our across the street neighbors, Ernie and Ashley.

Sandy and Megan get haircuts

2010-12-29T13:59:00.000-08:00

I always tell Sandy that she looks cuter with short shoulder length hair. It has been a long time since her last haircut so she finally got it chopped. Megan came along as well for her very 1st hair cut too. Megan was not born with much hair as a baby, so Sandy has always been very protective of it. Up until now she would only cut the bangs, but the length on the back was the original. Anyways, a couple of quick snapshots in the backyard.

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Sandy's Shutterfly Photo Album

2010-12-29T13:34:00.000-08:00

I had a tough time figuring out what to get Sandy for Christmas. She said that there wasn't anything that she really needed or wanted at the moment. I was planning on getting her a gift card for a massage at Burke Williams, but that's what I do every special occasion. I decided at the last minute to make her a photo album. This photo album would span our entire lives together starting back when we were dating, through all of the pregnancies and kids and up to now. It was quite a monumental project actually. I had to get by on 5 hours of sleep a night for about a week because the only free time I had was after the kids had gone to bed at night. I had to go back and find the original pics and re-edit them all to be printable quality. The collection of photos were captured by 5 different cameras that I have owned starting with a humble 3 megapixel Kodak point and shoot. It was quite nostalgic going back through these moments in our life. The completed album came out to be 101 pages long (that was the max Shutterfly would allow), with 1-6 pics per page. I quite enjoyed the project and was very happy that Sandy loved her gift. She actually got teary eyed when she looked through it. Anyways, here's a sampling of images that I may not have posted before. The last 2 pics were not take by me of course. Click here to view the photo book on Shutterfly.

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Christmas day 2010

2010-12-29T13:12:00.000-08:00

1) Megan checks out the presents under the Christmas tree.

2) Noah sits in Sandy's lap and checks out his present.

3) Ethan shows off his Toy Story PJs.

4) Noah picks up Ethan's Thomas the Train.

5) Megan is going to practice telling time with this Hello Kitty Clock.

6) Ethan and Emi climb onto Donna.

7) Noah plays with Ethan's gift while sitting in Ted's lap.

8) Noah tears into his gift.

9) Emi tries on her new princess dress.

Holiday photos

2010-12-24T10:36:00.000-08:00

Here are this Xmas season's holiday photos. The weekend we took these photos, all of the maple leaves around here turned amazingly bright orange and red. We drove around Irvine looking for a park where we could get some fall seasonal photos but alas, I could not find any. Most of the colorful maples leaves are found lining the roads around Irvine and the center dividers. We ended up going to Aldrich park in the center of UC Irvine and taking these photos. Noah was very difficult and would not sit with the other kids to take a photo. We had to put snacks in front of him to munch on and the 2 other kids had to hold him down. This was the best shot I could get of them. Perhaps next year he will be more cooperative. Season's greetings from the Tran Family to yours. Merry Xmas all.

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Random family pics

2010-11-28T17:59:00.000-08:00

1) Here are some recent random pics. I took this first shot of my brother at San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary. We got out there a bit late and the light was already getting too low for shooting wildlife. So I took a pic of Bi instead. Shooting a portrait shot with a 400mm lens is not ideal, but it does give creamy bokeh. Here he is with his new telephoto lens.

2) Christmas came early for the kids. We've been wanting to get Megan and Ethan bigger bikes to ride since they have outgrown their tricycles. They are still in training wheels though. Sandy and I are big on safety so you will notice the knee pads, elbow pads and gloves along with the bike helmets.

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Wildlife photography with my brother.

2010-11-16T10:40:00.000-08:00

My brother recently bought a telephoto lens, so I took him out to try some wildlife photography. It was a bit slow for bird activity that morning but we still came home with some keepers. Pics taken a Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve and San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary.

1) A Monarch butterfly on a lantana flower.

2) Snowy Egret flying low over the waters of Bolsa Chica.

3) California Gnatcatcher.

4) Brown Pelican takes flight.

5) A pair of American Widgeons.

Colin

2010-11-14T21:22:00.000-08:00

1) I had the pleasure of doing a photo shoot with Colin and his loving family this past weekend. We spent the afternoon playing at the park. We ran through the grass, played with the fountain and zipped down the slide. He even brought along his dog named Derby, who is a Saint Bernard. I could barely keep up with the little guy. He's an amazing kid and I look forward to our next play date.

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Mater Dei JV Football vs Santa Margarita

2010-11-11T22:29:00.000-08:00

1) A coworker of mine has a son named David who plays football for Mater Dei High School. He plays on their JV team on the defensive line and on special teams. Today was their last game of the season. She has been asking me to come out and photograph her son, but I always had to work on the days of their games. As luck would have it, I got out of work early today (thanks Johnna) and finally got to see him play.

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A day out with Thomas

2010-11-10T20:42:00.000-08:00

1) Last weekend, we took the family to meet Thomas the Train. As you know Ethan, loves Thomas. They actually have a full scale working Thomas the Train that tours around the country to meet kids and of course to sell lots of merchandise. This event took place at the Orange Empire Railway Museum in Perris.

2) Ethan comes face to face with his hero. He was awestruck and speechless to say the least. He couldn't stop staring.

3) A quick photo with his buddy.

4) Thomas was more than happy to pose for pictures with the kids.

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7) Ethan and Megan also got to meet Sir Topham Hatt.

8) Megan and Noah play in the little trolley car.

9) We wait for our turn to board Thomas to go for a ride.

10) Noah was also star struck by Thomas. He kept on staring at Thomas and would not look at the camera for me.

11) All aboard! Megan and Ethan share a seat on the train. Here we go! The train chugged down the railroad for about a mile and then came back to the station.

12) Ethan says goodbye to his buddy. We will come and visit you again next year when you are back in town.

Tricks & Treats

2010-11-01T21:33:00.000-07:00

1) We make it an annual event to go visit Tanaka Farms during the Halloween season to check out their pumpkin patch festivities.

2) The kids run around looking for just the right pumpkin.

3) Megan finds one she can carry.

4) Look a big green one!

5) Baby pumpkins.

6) Sandy and Noah hitch a ride on the wagon.

7) Ethan and Megan try to feed the goats at the petting zoo.

8) The kids pile into the wheelbarrow.

9) Ethan and Megan use team work to lift the heavy pumpkin.

10) Noah shows the way to the pumpkin patch.

11) Give us all your candy and sweets!!!!

12) Noah contemplates all the candy that he is not going to get to eat.

13) We head over to Sandy's brother's house to go trick or treat. Danny readies Emi's Snow White costume.

14) Carly and Danny.

15) Noah and grandpa Ted.

16) Ethan in his Thomas the Train costume.

17) Once a princess always a princess.

18) Ethan and Emi are ready to hit the streets.

19) Group shot before we head out.

20) Emi stuffs some candy into her bag. Score!

Awaya-Kai Koto Concert 2010

2010-10-24T21:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Sandy, Megan and Ethan took part in the 35th Anniversary Awaya-Kai Koto Charity Concert. It is a celebration honoring the beautiful music, song and dance of traditional Japanese culture. Sandy belongs to the Awaya-Kai Koto Conservatory and has been playing the koto since she was 5 years old. This year was the first time that our kids, Megan and Ethan got to participate in the concert. Needless to say, we were all quite excited. The concert was held at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center.

1) Chloe, Kenji, Ethan and Megan would be performing a song together.

2) It takes Sandy 45 minutes to get dressed in her traditional kimono and that's with the help of an assistant.

3) Sandy tunes her koto.

4) Ethan watches the rehearsal from the auditorium.

5) Chloe and Megan are now bff, but Chloe doesn't know it yet...

6) Awaya Sensei runs the ladies through a last minute rehearsal.

7) There's my Sandy.

8) Megan and Ethan put on their concert outfits.

9) Kenji is so cute with his captain hat.

10) Megan has started hanging out with sailors. Not sure if daddy approves of this...

11) Megan has her Ponyo plush toy.

12) Chloe will be the main singer for the kids' performance.

13) Ethan tries on his hat.

14) Patti mugs with the kiddies and Ponyo.

15) Jim Thompson plays the shakuhachi.

16) Ken Dekitani and Christopher Oba play the sangen.

17) Awaya sensei tunes her koto.

18) The concert begins!

19) The kids sing the theme song from Hayao Miyazaki's Film, Ponyo. I apologize for the shaky video. I shot this hand held with my camera while sitting in the audience.

20) Sandy performs A Maiden's Prayer.

21) Sandy performs Csikos Post.

22) Janet gets ready to perform her piece.

23) Bando Hidesomi performs a beautiful dance.

24) A traditional Japanese dance performance by the Bando Hidesomi Dance Group.

25) The Okinawa Dance by the Yonamine Keiko Dance Group.

26) Awaya Sensei leads her group in this piece.

27) Bill Crowley is the Master of Ceremony and also performs his own Rakugo which is the traditional art of Japanese comic storytelling.

28) Miyoko Hataye is the conductor of the Sakura Chorus.

29) The koto music and the Sakura Chorus perform beautifully together.

30) Ethan steps out on stage to present a bouquet to an honored guest musician.

31) Ethan makes the crowd laugh as he repeatedly bows to the honored guest musician and forgets to walk off the stage.

32) Megan presents Miyoko Hataye with a bouquet.

32) Cute little Kenji presents his grandmother (Awaya sensei) with a bouquet.

33) Finale!

34) Sandy mugs with her coworkers.

35) There's my little boy.

36) Sandy's friend Charmaine flew in from a business trip just that morning to catch the performance.

37) Janet greets friends and family backstage.

38) Ethan charms the ladies.

39) Sandy and Maria.

40) Janet and Ed.

41) The beautiful ladies.

42) Sandy and her mom.

43) My beautiful family. Daddy was so proud of you all today.

Madison goes swimming.

2010-10-02T20:40:00.001-07:00

Remember the ever so cute Madison? Mom and daddy were happy with the shots and so asked me back to do another photo shoot. This time we were gonna hit the pool. Madison has been taking a swimming class and Keith wanted me to get some shots of all the fun they were having at the pool.

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2) Kids love water.

3) Madison holds on to daddy.

4) There was a lot of splishing and splashing going on.

5) Surfs up!

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7) Refreshing!

8) Look at me practicing my kicks.

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11) Madison loves her swim buddy.

12) Awwwww.

Last One Done

2010-09-18T00:15:00.001-07:00

1) I recently met Isaiah on a camping trip. He's an amazing singer and part of a band called Last One Done. Sample his music here! Anyways after the trip, we got to chatting over facebook and he hired me to shoot his band. We met up on a thursday night at Bella Terra in Huntington Beach. His band was performing and it was a great opportunity to grab some shots of them in action.

2) This is mild mannered Reza on the guitar. He has a very peaceful expression when performing.

3) This is Damian on the drums. Their music is very catchy and up beat. Some have described it as California pop. Others make comparisons to Dave Mathews Band. I'm not sure how to categorize their style but I'll tell ya one thing, I like it! Isaiah gave me his CD and I've been listening to it ever since in my car.

4) I got to Bella Terra at 7pm. The sun was just setting. The first thing I checked out after getting there was what light I would have to work with. I quickly found out there were no lights. Hah! I was hoping for at least some stage lights but no such luck. There were only a few street lights around the amphitheater area and a bit of random light from the neighboring shops. I came prepared for this possibility. I strapped on my canon 35mm f1.4 to my 20D and the canon 85mm f1.8 to my 7D and ditched the rest of my gear in my car. I shot wide open and cranked up the ISO. A lot of these shots were done at ISO 5000. Not too shabby.

5) My brother wondered why I didn't use flash. Flash is a big NO NO when photographing performers. Number 1, you are gonna blind them if you keep on blasting flashes at them for 2 hours. Number 2, using flash is gonna give you shots that look like they came from a point and shoot camera. Number 3, some venues simply won't allow flash photography. I wisely decided to leave my speedlight in my car. I did this entire photoshoot with just ambient light. It actually worked out well. The colorful signs from the surrounding shops added some nice color and bokeh to the backgrounds of these shots.

6) For the next 2 hours, I shot them from every angle imaginable. Luckily the band and the crowds didn't mind me shooting up close and moving around at the front of the amphitheater. I would have also liked to have gotten shots of the crowds enjoying the show and the little kids dancing around but there just wasn't enough light.

7) I had a lot of fun with this photoshoot. It was challenging and I definitely pushed my equipment and skills to beyond my usual comfort zone considering what little light I had to work with. I hope the band likes the shots and I hope to work with you guys again on future projects.

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Ethan's 1st day at Preschool

2010-09-08T14:14:00.001-07:00

1) Ethan started preschool today. He has been looking forward to it ever since his older sister started going to school. She would bring home wonderful stories of friends she made and fun activities she got to enjoy.

2) We gave him a goal to shoot for. If he would learn how to pee pee in the toilet, then he would get to go to school. After quite a few "accidents," the little bugger has now gotten the hang of it.

3) We got him a backpack of his favorite show, Thomas the Train. He's so tiny compared to it. I think that if it was actually filled with books, little Ethan would topple over. LOL.

4) Megan was also excited to have Ethan at school with her. Even though they would be in different classrooms, she promised to look after her little bro.

5) Our first day with Megan at preschool was the typical crying and tearful goodbyes. However, for Ethan it was quite pleasant. For those of you who do not know Ethan, he is quite outgoing. Plus he has been to Megan's school to pick and drop her off so he has met many of the teachers there. A few actually know him by name and will give him hugs. So his first day was quite easy actually. As soon as he saw the toys in the classroom, he was like...see ya later!

6) Miss Fatima gives Ethan a warm "1st day at school" welcome hug. She was also Megan's first teacher and specifically wanted Ethan in her class. He took to her right away. Sandy and I slipped out of the classroom after wards. This time around there was no crying or struggle.

7) To celebrate this momentous occasion, we went to IHOP for breakfast. Look how happy Noah is. He gets both parents all to himself. Noah, how old are you?

8) His facial eczema has practically gone. It only flares up when he is sleepy or upset and rubs his face.

9) It was nice to be out and about with just 1 baby. What a difference.

10) Noah celebrates the occasion with a scoop of whip cream from Sandy's Rooty Tooty Fresh and Fruity!

11) Kids grow up so fast... On a random note, my photographer friend Ken Pfeifer just launched his own photography website. Check it out!

O'neil Park Camp Out

2010-08-16T10:45:00.000-07:00

We had a lot of fun camping out at O'neil Park this weekend. It is located in Trabuco Canyon near the base of the Saddleback Mountains. It was only 30 minutes from our house in Irvine which made for a quick and easy camping trip. We met up with some of Sandy's childhood friends for a reunion. Back when they were kids, they all belonged to an organization called the OCO (Orange County Optimists) which was a youth sports/social group. The common thread was that they all played basketball.

1) Here's a group shot. There was a total of 6 families.

2) My lovely wife. Sandy has this habit of tilting her head to the side when I take a pic of her. I have no idea why.

3) "Daddy why are you taking my picture when I'm trying to eat?"

4) Isaiah and Janet work on the bbq.

5) Kids always make the funniest expressions.

6) The kids sit and eat, while the hungry parents stand around and watch.

7) Janet grabs some pics of the kids.

8) No worries. The broccoli balances out the nutritional value of this meal.

9) I had asked Ethan what he was eating.

10) A group shot of the kids lounging by the fire pit.

11) Look! I found a stick.

12) Caden points at the moon or maybe he had a booger on his finger. I forget which.

13) Future pharmacist extraordinaire.

14) Joe's face turned surprisingly red from that "coffee".

15) Julian ponders adding more lighter fluid to the growing fire.

16) Hark who goes there? I am Ethan, keeper of the light!

17) Jordan plays with his Cars light fan. Evidently he has a collection of over 100 Cars from the Pixar movie. Impressive!

18) Kevin, Makenna and Kayla get a taste of pyromania as they throw combustible objects into the fire.

19) Lyric plays with her flash light.

20) Melissa rocks Caden to sleep.

21) Shannon gets her flash lights ready.

22) Ethan is fascinated by Jordan's toy. Be careful Jordan, you might not get this toy back.

23) Julian enjoys the warmth of the fire while drinking his "coffee".

24) The kids spot a bug crawling around in the dirt.

25) Jordan does not seem to like bugs.

26) The laddies chatting it up by the fire.

27) Risa looks quite comfy in her picnic chair by the fire.

28) The kids had a lot of fun running around in the dark with their flash lights and lanterns reenacting the Blair witch project.

29) Just because the sun went down doesn't mean we can't still play in the dirt...

30) We were treated to live music when Isaiah brought out his guitar. Sitting by the fire side and listening to his music under the stars was simply awesome. He's really an amazing singer. You can sample his music HERE.

31) Makenna evidently inherited her father's vocal skills too. She joined him to sing as well.

32) Like father like daughter.

33) One of the few moments when they are quiet and can get along perfectly together.

34) After a night of roughing it in the wilderness of orange county, a cup of hot coffee goes a long way.

35) Risa watches the kids from the cool shade.

36) The kids line up on a log.

37) Lyric joins in on the game of collecting rocks.

38) Makenna, Ally and Lyric are having fun.

39) It's amazing how kids can sometimes be easier to manage when they are in a big group because of the "herd mentality."

40) School is in session.

41) Makenna enjoys a warm hug with her daddy.

42) Ethan, Megan and Ally have fun running through the bushes.

43) Jordan joins in the fun.

44) Ethan looks for bugs in the bushes.

45) Caden picks flowers for his mommy.

Morishita Backyard Camp Out

2010-07-20T14:11:00.001-07:00

We went to our first ever backyard camp out yesterday. Big thanks to Janet and Mark for hosting the super fun event. The kids had such a great time running around your big backyard. Sandy and I had originally bought our camping gear to be used for earthquake/disaster supplies. It was nice to be able to break it out for a test run. We are definitely on for the O'Neil park camp out next month!

1) Milk and beer. Good times.

2) He's got his baby and his beer. He's good to go!

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11) Woah... hey easy there buddy.

12) Ok fine; I'll give you a kiss.

13) They like to travel in packs.

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26) Ally makes it especially challenging for the contestants.

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30) All ahead full power.

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The 4th

2010-07-05T14:28:00.000-07:00

1) We went to Sandy's brother house for a 4th of July, BBQ. It's a tradition now that we have been doing for the past few years. They allow personal fireworks in his city and so the kids (and adults) have a lot of fun. They don't allow personal fireworks in Irvine so getting to play with them again brings back fun memories of my childhood. This will also make for great memories for our kids too. Btw, I took all of these shots hand held without any image stabilization.

2) Here is Satoe and Donna with their party hats on getting ready to whoop it up!

3) After the yummy belly busting dinner, we went for a walk out at the park. I personally ate 3 hot dogs, 1 hamburger, 1 corn on the cob and a side of beans...*burp*. Conney island hot dog eating contest here I come! Here is Auntie Sandy and Emi.

4) Gotta love those curls.

5) Off to the races.

6) Danny cruising through the neighborhood.

7) Emi balances on the sidewalk border.

8) Donna sits on the bench while watching the kids play.

9) Such a cutie patootie.

10) Kai and Megan at the playground.

11) Ethan at the playground.

12) Megan playing it up for the camera.

13) Walking back home from the park. Did someone say something about a cake for dessert...?

14) Kai bums a ride from Danny.

15) We set up some picnic chairs on the sidewalk out front. Megan is afraid of the loud fireworks.

16) Sandy and Noah are all snuggled up and ready to see the show.

17) Up and down the street, many neighbors were camped out in front of their houses to watch their own little firework show.

18) Here's a nice green fountain.

19) And a blue one...

20) We all had our cameras out trying to take some firework pics.

21) This one was called the Lightning Blast or something like that. It would explode and then the little flying parts would explode again. Very loud and flashy.

22) I lit this flash bomb and threw it out into the street. For a second, I thought that it was going to roll underneath this shiny Mercedez. That would not have been good.

23) Danny and Kai light some Fire Snakes. It basically looks like a joint and after it burns, this ash snake comes out of the ground. To me, it looks like burning dog poo. This shot was taken at ISO 3200. How do ya like dem apples!

24) Danny the pyro tries to take a meme shot. "Look maw, I'm on fire!"

25) Sandy gets into the swing of things with a sparkler. Did you know that they changed the sparklers. They don't sizzle and spark as they used to. I guess too many kids got burned.

26) Carly busts out a Rave scene out in the middle of the street.

27) I think the adults had more fun than the kiddies. Good times...

Black Skimmers

2010-06-25T19:40:00.000-07:00

1) Black Skimmers are one of my favorite birds to photograph. They have a very unique technique by which they catch fish. They have very long beaks and literally skim the surface of the water with their beaks open. When they come upon a fish, the beak snaps down and its dinner time.

2) I've been dreaming about getting shots like this for the past few years. Black skimmers are migratory birds and are only found here certain times of the year. I tried to get some shots of them last year but I could not get close enough for decent shots. A photographer friend of mine named Thang had posted on the fredmiranda nature and wildlife forum that he had spotted some recently at San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary. I was psyched.

3) San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary is one of the best places to shoot them for a couple of reasons. The ponds there are relatively small and so this lets you get close up shots of the skimmers. Also you can get down to the water line and shoot low angle shots. Getting low angle shots is really key. It helps to create a cleaner background. Also in the late evening close to sunset, the golden light reflects off the water and makes for some really beautiful compositions.

4) Double head on shot.

5) I really can't describe how graceful they are to watch. They glide over the surface of the water so beautifully and remind me of olympic speed skaters as they whip around a corner. One of the things I tried to do with these shots is to capture a sense of motion in a still picture. The water wake adds a nice element of movement to these compositions.

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7) Dinner time.

8) Sometimes you don't need to go for the super close up shots. By opening up the frame its gives the subject more room to breath sorta speak. Also it gives you room to place the subject in the frame which makes a huge difference in the final composition. I always try to avoid putting the subject dead center. I often will leave some room in front of the subject to give it a sense of space to move into. However in this shot, I left more room behind it because of the water wake which illustrates where the subject came from and the speed by which it is traveling across the frame.

Noah's 1st birthday

2010-06-14T11:49:00.000-07:00

1) Noah had his 1st birthday this past week. For the record he actually doesn't turn one until the 16th which is in 2 days, but what the hey. I don't think he minded.

2) I shot the whole party with my 35mm f1.4 and used my speedlite for fill flash. It worked out great. I even used flash outdoors which is is unheard of for me since I'm always blabbering on and on about he beauty of natural ambient light. However with the ever changing light conditions between the indoors shooting and the harsh mid day light outdoors, the fill flash helped to even out the exposure. Here is a shot of Khang (my cousin) and Tom ( my old roomate from med school).

3) Here's the little birthday boy with his own cupcake. I thought he would eat least put some of it in his mouth but he was content just to mush the frosting with his fingers.

4) The two grandpas, Ted and Ai.

5) Michael is now on a swim team, hence the tan.

6) My brother Richard, sniping away with his new lens.

7) Megan and her BFF Kristen. They are classmates from preschool.

8) Catherine was a roomate of Sandy's from college.

9) Maria, Charmaine and Heidi are Sandy's coworkers.

10) James, Sandy's cousin.

11) James and Cindy.

12) Special cupcakes with theme rings from King's Hawaiian bakery.

13) Paradise cake from King's Hawaiian bakery.

14) Megan with her cupcake frosting mustache.

15) Ethan with his cupcake frosting mustache.

16) Kids love their cupcakes.

17) Can you tell that this is an asian house?

18) Denise is Sandy's friend from college.

19) Cathy, Sandy's cousin.

20) Grandpa Ai and Noah.

21) Kayla enjoying some paradise cake.

22) Donna, Carly and Emi.

23) Sandy's aunts.

24) Sandy chatting it up with Jie and her husband Dale.

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26) Following the traditional Japanese customs, we got Noah a pinata for his 1st birthday. =P

27) Kayla gives it a good wack.

28) Nicholas gives it a go.

29) Lynn shows that pinata who's boss.

30) Ethan gives it a go.

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32) Waiting for their turn. Little kids first, big kids last.

33) Kai takes a big swing.

34) Ryan waits for his turn. I really like the effect of the fill flash on this shot considering the harsh mid day lighting.

35) The kids have their goodie bags ready to scoop up the candy.

36) Audrey and Micheal joke around.

37) Nicholas grabs a handful of candy.

38) Michael blings out with his cool spiderman ring.

39) Kevin scooping up the loot.

40) Lynn tries to put her candy in her goodie bag.

41) Janet and Catherine chatting while watching the kids in the bouncy house.

42) Megan and Kayla make a dash for the bouncy house.

43) Grandpa Ted hanging out with Noah in the garage. I really like the natural light on this shot. No fill flash used.

44) Audrey and Megan making a dash for the bouncy house. They kept on going in and out of the bouncy house all day long.

45) Ethan sliding out of the bouncy house.

46) Caitlyn sliding out of the bouncy house.

47) Mathew and kids bouncing around.

48) More bouncy house action.

49) Nicholas bounces up and almost into me. Entering the bouncy house is like entering the octagon in the ufc.

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52) Yes, big trouble does come in small packages.

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55) You are never too old to enjoy a bouncy house.

Aloha from Maui

2010-05-29T21:50:00.000-07:00

Here is the rest of my random touristy vacation pics. I stuck with the canon 35mm f1.4 lens for my general walk around shots.

1) As we were packing for our Maui trip, I came across some stowaways in my luggage. Sorry kids. Maybe in a few years.

2) This is my favorite shot from this series.

3) We flew out Thursday morning. We ended up taking different flights because I booked mine later. Due to a connecting flight cancellation in San Fransisco, Sandy and her family did not get to Maui until about 4pm. We went directly from the airport to the Luau. Luckily it was right behind the Marriot which was where we were staying.

4) After the sunset, the Hawaiian fire dancers came out. I shot this entirely without any flash since it was not allowed. Having a f1.4 lens really helped to capture these low light moments.

5) This is Ifi Soo. He is a three time Fire Knife world champion. It was quite exciting to see him light up the stage.

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7) Touristy group shot on the front lawn of the Marriot. I used a tripod and timer for this shot.

8) On Friday, Sandy's parents wanted to check out the Lahaina Jodo Mission.

9) Ted really wanted to ring that bell.

10) There is a Buddha statue at the temple. Satoe wanted to get a shot with the Buddha. Say cheese! Darn it, the Buddha statue blinked. Ah well...

11) Here's a pic of Danny taking a pic.

12) There is a plaque commemorating the first Japanese immigrants to come to Maui.

13) Satoe and Ted, my in laws. I tried to get Ted to put his arm around her for the shot, but Satoe pushed his arm away. "Don't get fresh with me mister!"

14) I forgot. Which hotel were we staying at again... oh yes, the Wai Marriott.

15) We strolled down the streets of Lahaina and did some shopping.

16) Ted was quite hungry after our stroll and treated us to an ice cream cone.

17) Danny enjoying a cold beer on a hot day.

18) While Janet read the menu, it reflected a bit of light onto her face which made for a nice shot. When Megan saw this pic she asked, "why is auntie Janet naked at the restaurant?" Sandy laughed and responded, "No she was wearing a strapless dress."

19) Hanging out in front of the snorkel shop.

20) I like to shoot candid photos of people. Sometimes when I point my camera at Ed, he likes to make a scowl. However if I wait for the right moment, then I can get a more natural expression.

21) Danny tries on some snorkel gear. The shop owner told him to put the mask on and breath in with his nose to see if the mask made a tight seal.

22) That must have been a refreshing ice cream cone.

23) We met up with Janet, Ed and their friends Susan and Derek at the Mixed Plate restaurant. Group shot out behind the restaurant. I used a bit of onboard fill flash to brighten up the harsh shadows.

24) On my last day in Maui, I drove all over looking for surfers to photograph. Everywhere I went, the waves were about 1 foot high. I was told that the summer swells have not arrived yet. I was quite disappointed. Luckily at the very end of the day, I came across a beach where they were kite surfing.

25) I would described the sport of kite surfing as a mix of snowboarding combined with para sailing. You don't need any waves to have a good time, just a lot of wind.

26) It was fun to watch them catch a gust of wind and fly 10-15 feet up into the air. Some of these guys were quite acrobatic in their jumps and performed flips in mid air.

27) How bad would you guys like to be sitting here on this beach right now with a cold drink.

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30) Sandy sitting in the open air lobby of our hotel. There is such a refreshing breeze that blows through this area.

31) You can't go to Hawaii and not come home with some sunset shots.

32) Here is a view from where we ate breakfast everyday. Not a bad way to start the day. That's West Maui in the distance.

33) A beautiful water lily in the hotel garden. They all close up at night and open up again after the sun comes out.

34) Ted looks at the little fishies in the tide pool.

35) On Sunday, Sandy and her family flew over to Honolulu while I stayed in Maui for the rest of the day to take the red eye flight back home that night. With a whole day to myself, I first visited Iao Valley State Park. I got there at about 9am and it was deserted. With the cloud covered mountain tops and the light drizzle of rain, it was a bit eerie being there by myself. You can actually see the raindrops on the front of my lens in this shot.

36) I busted out the tripod and polarizing filter for these shots.

37) Polarizing filters help to block out the extra glare. It is very useful in landscape photography. It makes a huge difference and gives colors a deeper tone. Now a days, I only buy sunglasses that have a polarizing feature.

38) Here is the Iao Needle. You can take a short hike up the steps to a look out point to view the needle.

39) There is a nice long boardwalk that spans up and down Wailea and connects all of the hotels. It is a great place to go for a walk early in the morning or late in the evening. In the morning you will see joggers running up and down the path. Who goes jogging while on vacation?? Forget that! Show me where the buffet line starts.

40) We were waiting to be seated at a restaurant at the Shops of Wailea. I like the little bokeh balls floating above Sandy's head.

41) On the morning of the wedding day, we went to go check out the beach where the ceremony was going to take place.

42) A lone tree reaching out towards the ocean.

43) This a Myna bird. They are as common as crows and I saw them all over the island. They are quite musical, giving a tropical atmosphere to the ambient sounds around the hotel grounds.

44) Greetings from Maui!

45) Not sure where this touristy paddle surfer was going. He seemed a bit lost.

46) Satoe and Sandy all dressed up for the wedding.

47) Kamikihara family group shot take before the wedding.

48) On a photographer's side note, packing for this trip was challenging in and of itself. I am a big believer in packing light and keeping gear to an absolute minimum when traveling. However, for this trip there were so many different things that I wanted to photograph plus there was the added responsibility of photographing Janet's wedding. I decided to limit myself to whatever I could fit in 1 backpack. Tom suggested this Canon backpack. I bought it from Calumet for $39. It worked out just perfect for my needs.

49) I've heard a lot of horror stories when it comes to checking in camera gear onto a flight. You always hear about airlines losing luggage. Well how about the story about the luggage inspector who would steal camera gear and sell them on ebay. I also read about another photographer who checked in his gear and when he picked it up afterward, all of his camera gear was wet. He speculated that the cargo hold inside the plane was not temperature controlled and it got so cold during the flight that water actually condensed inside of his gear and ruined the electronics. Anyways, I didn't want to check in my camera gear and so I decided to bring it as a carry on backpack. The only piece of camera gear that I checked it was my tripod which I placed in my luggage. It was not an essential piece of gear anyways.

50) This little Canon backpack holds an amazing amount of gear for it's size. It was also comfortable to wear as I made my way through airports. I was able to fit all of the following inside it:
- Canon 7D camera body
- Canon 20D backup camera body
- Canon 400mm f5.6 lens
- Canon 35mm f1.4 lens + 72mm UV filter
- Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 lens + 67mm polarizing filter
- Canon 580EX II Speedlite + Sto-fen Omnibounce flash diffuser
- Rocket sensor dust blower
- Compact flash memory cards: 4 gig, 8 gig, 16 gig
- Black Rapids shoulder strap
- A very light wind breaker
- Camera battery recharger for both the 7D and 20D
- Instruction books for both the 7D and the 580EX II Speedlite.

Not too shabby. It worked out great and I definitely had everything I needed for this trip. However, next time I go on vacation, I will definitely bring way less gear. Hahahahaha.

My second wedding photoshoot.

2010-05-22T20:32:00.000-07:00

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Canon 35mm f1.4 test pics - Part II

2010-05-09T21:40:00.000-07:00

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There is always a learning curve when it comes to using a new lens. My favorite lens is my beloved canon 400mm f5.6. The irony was that when I first rented the lens and tried it out, I hated it. Hiking around Bolsa Chica, I felt that it was too heavy a lens. Also tracking a flying bird with a 400mm prime lens was very frustrating. I questioned whether this lens was worth the investment. That is until I got home and viewed the pics.

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The same goes with this new Canon 35mm f1.4 lens. I'm not normally a wide angle shooter. I like sniping with my telephoto lenses. I find that I can get cleaner backgrounds that way. Shooting with this 35mm lens, I would get all sorts of random stuff in the background. Also when you have a f1.4 lens, you want to use it at f1.4 to get the most bang out of your buck. Shooting at f1.4 is tricky due to the super shallow dof. Plus with this lens, I can't zoom in and out to adjust my composition.

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After spending a weekend playing around with this lens, I am starting to see the beauty of this L glass. I got this lens mainly to shoot indoors with natural light. Unfortunately all of my kids came down with a cold this weekend. This meant that they all had runny, snotty noses. Noah has been quite cranky which makes him constantly rub his face which flares up his eczema. All of this makes for not so pretty pics.

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But there is something special about the optics and glass in this lens. The contrast is really beautiful and it makes my subjects really stand out from the background nicely. Even though it doesn't have image stabilization, it is very easy to handhold in low light and still get sharp pics.

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Even though it is not a telephoto lens, you can still isolate your subjects well due to the large aperture. I had bought Sandy some bright orange tulips for mother's day. I played around with them shooting with natural window light, front lit and back lit. I also hiked up the Quail Hill Trail right at sunset to try some landscape shots. Out of all the different fields of photography, I shoot landscapes the least. I recently bought a manfrotto tripod, ball head and a polarizing filter to shoot more low light landscapes. However, for that 1st shot, I actually hand held it.

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This Thursday, I will be headed off to Maui for a very short vacation. I get back next Monday morning. I'm gonna try to get in as much shooting as possible. Obviously there is Janet's wedding to shoot. I'm also hoping to get some after sunset, beach landscapes, night scape and surfing pics. On Sunday (the day after Janet's wedding), Sandy and her family will be flying to Oahu for a couple of days. Since I have to go back to work on Tuesday, I will stay in Maui by myself on Sunday and then catch a red eye flight out that night back to California. That gives me pretty much all Sunday to go out and shoot by myself. Wish me luck!

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Canon 35mm f1.4 test pics - Part I

2010-05-07T23:25:00.000-07:00

1)

Just got my canon 35mm f1.4 lens. I wanted to see how it performed with indoor lighting and bounce flash. All of the following shots were taken in "P mode," ISO 800. I set the flash to 0 EV. The camera set the Av = 4.0.

2)

Hrm. I need to work on my white balance...

3)

4)

This last shot with the chocolate covered strawberries did not have any flash. It's pretty dang sharp consider I handheld at 1/80th of a second. Then again shooting with a 35mm lens makes it much easier hand held than shooting with a longer telephoto lens. More pics to come tomorrow...

Spring Wildlife Part II

2010-05-04T20:16:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend, when my brother and I biked around Irvine looking for flowers to photograph, we discovered the Quail Hill Preserve. I came back with my canon 400mm f5.6 telephoto lens and tamron 90mm f2.8 macro lens to grab some wildlife shots.

1)

How cute is this little fellah?! He is a Western Toad. It is about the size of a quarter. There is a small pond in the Preserve where he must have hatched. I found him hopping across the trail as I was walking along. I picked him up and tried my best to photograph him one handed. Easier said that done! He kept on trying to hop away. Btw, when was the last time you have ever come across a wild toad or frog here in orange county? Last time I have personally seen one was over 20 years ago.

2)

He fits on my thumbnail. When it comes to macro photography, its always nice to put a reference object in the shot. It helps to give the viewer a sense of scale. Sitting on my thumbnail, you can really appreciate how tiny he is. Another important point, is the power of using a true macro lens. Macro dedicated lenses have special optics which allow them to magnify images close up with amazing sharpness and clarity.

3)

For this shot, since I had plenty of light to work with, so I stopped down my aperture to f8. Macro lenses have a very shallow depth of field when focusing close up. Stopping down your aperture helps to give you more depth of field to work with. For this shot, I wanted to get as much of the toad in focus as possible. This is one way to use a macro lens. You can also shoot wide open at f2.8. This gives a very shallow depth of field. Shooting like this can give a cleaner out of focus background and lends itself to more creative and artistic shots by playing around with the depth of field.

4)

After awhile, he grew tired of being my photography subject and bounced outa here! Cya later alligator!

5)

Here is a Western Meadowlark. I have seen them before but I have not gotten any decent shots...until today. I spotted him in the shade and I got down low to take this shot.

6)

This is a Blue Grosbeak. I've never seen one before let alone photograph one. It is quite a rare bird to come across these days here in orange county. They like to nest in overgrown fields and thickets next to streams. With the ever expanding suburban sprawl here in orange county, there are not many wild open fields left for them to make home.

7)

A Western Kingbird doing a fly over.

8 )

A female Red Winged Blackbird perched on mustard plants.

Spring Wildlife Part I

2010-05-03T00:18:00.000-07:00

1)

With all the rain and cooler weather we've had in the last few months, the spring bloom has been quite beautiful here in Irvine. However all things must come to an end and now that the warmer weather has arrived, the spring bloom is starting to fade. My brother and I set out on our bikes with our cameras to capture as much of the floral beauty before they all turned brown. Here is a shot of the Mustard flower which turns the hillsides yellow,

2)

California is usually a dry desert landscape except for a short time after the spring rains. The usual brown hills turn a lush green and yellow as wild flowers bloom with a burst of color. One of my favorite wild flowers is the Lupine. I often see it growing on hillsides. It is actually a member of the legume family and grows pea pods. There are many other flowers that I photographed here, but I do not know the names of.

3)

4)

5)

6)

7)

8 ) Allen's Hummingbird.

9) A Western Fence Lizard. During mating season it will stand up on his legs and expand it's throat area to flash some color to attract a female.

10 )

11)

12) Monarch butterfly.

13) Along our bike ride, we ran across a few of these Stink Bugs as they scampered across the road. When disturbed, they stick their faces into the dirt and point their bottoms up in the air as a warning. If they are continued to be harassed then they will release a noxious chemical spray from their rear ends. This little fellah was not happy about me trying to take its photo.

14) My little bro, Richard. He's getting into photography now and so it's fun going shooting with him.

15)

Canon 35mm f1.4

2010-04-28T21:31:00.001-07:00

I've been mulling over the idea of getting a new lens for this upcoming maui trip/wedding shoot. I looked over my lens collection to see what I was deficient in. I have the following lenses:

- Tamron 17-50mm f2.8
- Canon 50mm f1.8
- Tamron 90mm f2.8 macro
- Canon 70-200mm f4 IS "L"
- Canon 400mm f5.6 "L"

You know how I love to shoot with natural light. This presents a problem when shooting indoors. Your best bet is to get a prime lens with a fast aperture (less than f2.8). My very first canon lens was the 50mm f1.8. Yes the "plastic fantastic." For a $90 lens, it has given me great images and I have gotten much mileage out of it. However lately I have been feeling the need to upgrade it. I could always get the canon 50mm f1.4 or f1.2 lens. I'm not sure if going from 1.8 to 1.4 is going to make that much difference. The f1.2 lens is a whole different ball game. It is very expensive. It is a huge and heavy lens for its size. Also at f1.2 wide open the dof is super shallow. It is very easy to get out of focus shots just because you miss aimed the focal point. Or you will get 1 eye in focus and the other will be out of focus. Danny's work uses that lens, and he was kind enough to borrow one for me to play with for a weekend a couple of years ago. Here is the set if you want to see. All in all I was not that impressed given the high cost of the lens.

I been thinking about getting a wider angle fast prime for indoor photography. Now for the maui wedding, Janet's main job for me is to shoot the pre-wedding. Obviously it will be in her hotel room with natural light from the windows. In my mind, I think the shots would look best if done with a moderate wide angle fast prime. I could use my plastic fantastic 50mm f1.8 lens, but this was a special occasion and I really wanted to give her high quality photos. I did a bit of research and came across the canon 35mm f1.4 "L" lens. It is a very highly regarded lens but at a ridiculously high cost ($1400). At first I thought, no way am I going to pay that much for a lens. I kicked the thought back and forth until I got sick of thinking about. I had Wednesday off and so I was going to go rent it from Sammys and see if the hype about this lens was actually valid. The problem is that I really would only have about 6 hours to test it since I could not return it the next day. Yes I could have waited for the weekend but I don't have a lot of time left before I leave for the wedding and so if I do end up buying a lens then I would need time for the shipment to get here before I fly out.

Did you guys know that Sammys raised their rental fee? On their online catalog, the canon 35mm f1.4 lens was $25 per day. When I talked to the rental guy on the phone, he said that they raised it to $40 per day. So $40 just to play with it for 6 hours... Again I thought, what a waste of money. But my curiosity about the lens would not leave me alone. I would rather pay $40 to test it out rather than pay $1400 and end up not liking it. So off I went.

The first thing I noticed was that even though it is a relatively small lens, it has a good amount of weight to it due to all the glass of the large aperture. Not as big and heavy as the 50mm f1.2 but definitely bigger and heavier than my 50mm f1.8. My 50mm f1.8 lens uses the camera's motor to autofocus which can be slow or inaccurate at times. The 35mm f1.4 lens has USM (ultrasonic motor) which makes for super fast, accurate and quiet focussing. I love it so much on my canon 400mm f5.6 and canon 70-200mm f4 IS lenses that I vowed to only get lenses with USM from now on.

I shot most of the indoor pics wide open at f1.4. Man this lens is so freakin sharp wide open. In the second to last shot with the tricycle, when I zoomed in 200% of the original image, I can read the warning sticker on the back of that tricycle. Most of the time when you zoom in even 100%, the image quality goes to crap. Not this lens. I think the outdoor shots were set at f2 mainly because I had too much light. We went to a park at about 2pm and the light was super harsh and bright. With such a large aperture, I was getting shutter speeds maxing out at 1/8000 sec wide open. I had to stop down. One bad thing that I did notice was some chromatic aberration in the wide open shots with a bright background.

The other thing that I notice when shooting with high quality lenses, is that when it comes to post processing, I have less to do. The contrast, color and sharpness are quite excellent straight out of the camera and so I find myself making very little adjustments in photoshop. The bokeh is oooh sooo buttery smooth. Overall I was very impressed with the image quality from this lens. Whether or not it's worth the $1400 price tag, I'm still debating over. I didn't get any objections from Sandy so the decision is up to me. Now there are 2 more options. Canon also has a 35mm f2 lens which is older and does not have USM. Some say the quality is no where near that of the f1.4. Others say that it is a little gem considering the low price ($329). Another option is the Sigma 30mm f1.4 lens. It has a strong fan following but there are mixed reviews concerning front/back focussing. *shrug* Danny's work also uses that lens and he told me that he would try to borrow one for me to play with. That would be awesome. That lens sells for $439 which is much much more affordable and it has USM. The question is how does the image quality stack up against the canon 35mm f1.4. Is there really a $1000 difference in image quality between the 2? Time will tell...

One last thing to consider. Here is a recent shot I took with my 50mm f1.8 ($90 lens). Compare this last shot with all of the above. Now since I took and edited all of these pics, I will tell you that yes there is a difference in image quality favoring the 35mm f1.4 lens. BUT...is the difference enough to justify the $1300 price difference?? I guess that depends on how much of a pixel peeping, bokeh whoreing, fast prime lens freak you are...