Evan and Jenn's Engagement at Governor's Island

I have known both Evan and Jenn for many years now.  Moreso Evan who I have known his entire life, and also a good family friend.  We have been through many family vacations, video games, dumb jokes, the same job, the same college and many other things that I don't have the space to fit on this blog.  Needless to say we have known each other for a while.  They also asked me to be in their wedding party so I only get to shoot their engagement.  That is until I find a way to shoot a wedding as a groomsman.

We all had a fun time shooting at Governor's Island.  We had a later start so we didn't get to do fun stuff like ride tandem bikes, although Jenn would have had to find a partner for that.  The weather was great, the island was empty and great for pictures.  On top of that, it was fun as usual doing a shoot with friends.  At first its always awkward for a couple's first shoot but our previous friendship made it easier on them and they warmed up quickly.  Eventually we were all having fun and laughing during our shoot!  It definitely shows in the pictures with their natural emotions of laughter which makes for better photos overall.

Two more months until the wedding!

Merry Christmas!

Yes I know its not Christmas, its not even winter.  It doesn't even feel like spring, it feels like we're in summer in April.  So why am I saying Merry Christmas?  Because I suck at remembering things.  Did you know its only been a week since Easter and Good Friday?  Possibly the two most significant days of the year to a Christian?  I forgot until I was reminded this past Sunday.  Then I realized something again, which I also forget often....I always forget significant holidays within a few days after they pass.  Even the so called significant Christian holidays that are supposed to be meaningful and hopefully have a lasting effect on a person.  Thus, I forgot it was Easter and Good Friday last week, and every year I soon forget Christmas after it passes.

Not only did I already forget about Easter, last year I took a significant photo that represents Good Friday.  I am referring to this post here.  Actually I meant to do something like that for a few years but I kept forgetting every year until last year.  I was so happy I remembered and felt it was a task that was well done and with significance.  I promised myself I would do something like that for future Christmas' and future Good Fridays/Easters....I forgot both.  Then I started to think how most people probably feel the same way I do, on those days.  You spend time with your families, some have a grand Easter ham and dress up all nice for your family dinner.  If you go to church then that's the one day you see strangers attend because its Easter, or it could even be the one day a year you do go to church.  The next day you're back at work and continuing on with your busy life soon forgetting what you did a few days ago like myself.  We probably should be remembering these holidays and their significance all year.  I took a fitting Easter picture to go with last year's Good Friday post mentioned above.  But its a week after Easter so I contemplated not posting this at all.  But just because its a week after Easter and I already forgot, doesn't mean we can try to correct that and strive to change.  So here's to that, striving to change for the better.  Merry Christmas, Happy Easter, Happy Merry Good Friday all year!  Or at least not trying to forget.

Matthew 26:40-45

New International Version (NIV)

 ⁴⁰ Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. ⁴¹ “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
 ⁴² He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”
 ⁴³ When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. ⁴⁴ So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
 ⁴⁵ Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners.

Studio Shoot - Part 2

Back in March of last year I did a collaborative studio shoot with fellow photographer Edmond Lee and jewelry designer Krystal Rae.  I met Krystal through a mutual friend and she suggested the idea of a collaborative project, that's when I asked Edmond to work with me on this project.  Krystal was open to any ideas we had and gave us the freedom to direct the shoot in any direction we choose.  Edmond and I spent months planning everything from picking models, wardrobe, props, makeup/hair artists, creating a shot list and any equipment for the shoot.  Later I learned most of these tasks are done by dedicated people but since we're a small team we did this all by ourselves.  I learned alot about the detail that goes into picking women's dresses, accessories and shoes.  Its definitely not an area I'm familiar with but I feel I'm more educated in these areas than the average guy now, for better or worse.  My model, Joy, did help me alot with it since I trust a women's opinion much more than my own.

The shots in this post is the second set from the day.  The first post is really secondary to this post but I decided to edit and put those up first since it was easier and I wasn't delivering them to anyone.  I spent more time editing these since Krystal wanted to use these too.  Although in my opinion the pictures in the other post have much better lighting, they are all from natural lighting in the hallway that one of our assistants noticed while going to the bathroom!

During the planning of the shot list, Edmond and I decided we wanted to take a different approach than just take typical fashion or glamour shots.  There were some requirements that we gave ourselves in the planning.  First of all we had to make sure to show Krystal's jewelry in our shots.  Secondly we wanted to tell some sort of story with the jewelry in any way possible.  Edmond came up with an idea of possibly personifying the jewelry in our shots.  On the plane ride back from San Francisco last year I was scribbling down ideas and sketches in my notebook.  Finally I came up with the following pictures.  Hopefully I did a good job of telling the story.  If not, then forget everything you just read and just enjoy the pics!

A side note on the props: most were picked from whatever we could find in the studio the day of.  Except for my blanket in the first two shots!  I literally woke up in the morning and rolled up my blanket into the back seat of my car!  Washed when I got home of course.



Hair and Makeup by Mable Pang
http://www.mablepang.com/

Jewelry by Krystal Rae
http://krystalrae.com/

Link to the other pics from the day:
http://blog.jongphoto.com/2011/07/studio-shoot-part-1.html

Puerto Rico and Thailand Part 1 - Back to Basics

Right now I'm in between wedding seasons.  This means some free time to do some personal things that I neglected for the past few months, for instance ironing the pile of shirts sitting in the corner or giving my apt a deep dive cleaning.  I was able to finish editing last year's weddings in mid February right before my work trip to Orlando.  Now I have some time until my next wedding, and most importantly go back to my personal photos that I have put on hold until I finished last year's weddings.

Going back to the almost forgotten project, my Back to Basics project I started at the beginning of 2011.  Technically the project ended for me in 2011 but the editing is almost done.  Back in March of 2011 I took a trip to Puerto Rico.  Interestingly enough I ended up to be a third wheel on the trip, and I swear it was not intentional.  Just a series of events that left me in the situation.  During the trip we met up with a mutual friend whom I haven't met until arriving.  It turns out that it was another couple which ended up with me being the fifth wheel!  Since this trip was a year ago, both couples are now engaged and one of the guys asked me to capture the proposal!  Don't worry, it already happened so no spoiled surprises here.


Honestly I feel that the pictures I took of Puerto Rico hardly do it any justice.  In reality I was in the water or relaxing most of the time.  The pictures I took were from the few times we went off resort to go sight seeing.  If the trip was focused more on exploring then I'm sure some better pictures would have come out of it, but this will have to do.

The second destination of this post is in Thailand where I got to travel to Bangkok and Ko Samui.  So much happened on the trip that I decided to put some of them here combined with Puerto Rico and have another dedicated post in the future.  For now these are just some pictures I took while going to a Muay Thai boxing match.  Straight out of a scene from Bloodsport or Street Fighter, I have never seen so many guys get knee'ed in the face without falling down.  With each person in the stadium cheering in unison at each kick to the head or knee to the ribcage, it was well worth the price we paid for our ringside seats!

San Francisco

Pennsylvania

Los Angeles

Puerto Rico

Turks and Caicos

Hawaii

Thailand!

The first three shots were taken with a 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5, second three shots with a 50mm f/1.4.




















































































The shots taken from the boxing match definitely aren't my best.  But they are alot of fun.  I have never seen a match before so I didn't know what to expect.  I learned some things about the match as it went on that I could have used at the beginning.  For instance in between rounds the boxers are sponged with water over the head.  This created a more dramatic effect when a fighter is hit and water droplets are knocked off of their head.  As each round goes on their heads dry off so that effect wears off.  That means the best shots are captured in the first minute of the round, unfortunately I didn't realize this until the match was almost over.  Oh well, it was still fun to watch and shoot even if they are out of focus or not composed properly.


All shots taken with a 85mm f/1.8