Who Invited the Furry Ones?

When I asked Will whose idea was to bring in the alpacas, his eyes moved slowly towards his bride. The presence of two furry creatures was no coincidence because Angela is Peruvian. And Peruvians know furry!

I love capturing moments like these, when Angela's mom is looking at her all grown up daughter, knowing she will soon have to let her go.

Angela and Will opted in for the first look. They wanted to savor their first moments together and not see them fly by at the beginning of the ceremony. They enjoyed this intimate moment on the bench in front of the Dunsmuir Mansion.

And now onto the alpacas! Furry, cuddly, photogenic, and last but not least... extremely bublibicious!

Right before we tucked the bride away, we took few more shots inside the mansion.

The air is filled with anticipation, the guests are restless, and the ceremony begins.

Angela's bouquet was quite heavy. She was worried it might knock down couple of her bridesmaids if she threw it wrong.

Let me tell you what Peruvians do at weddings. They call it the "Alcatraz" dance. They attach paper tails on their rear ends, and chase each other with candles, trying to catch the tails on fire. Now that might be the funniest thing I've ever seen!

At our Slovak wedding, my husband and I had to sweep chips of a broken plate while friends kept kicking them away. To our friends amusement, we also had to eat soup from a perforated spoon and try not to loose all the liquid.

Angela was glowing all day. She was relaxed, which might or might not have something to do with "pisco sour", a special drink they served at the cocktail hour.

My crew was amazed by the level of dancing we've seen. Angela and Will are huge fans of salsa, and it was only expected to see them show their best.

Slideshows

After an adrenaline Hurricane Irene wedding I shot all by myself in Boston, I had to make sure I will have a backup. This time, I arrived with the whole crew. The below slideshows include photos from all four photographers (Marcie Lynn, Anthony Quesada, Cristal Veronica, and myself). It's pretty amazing to see the various points of view and how it changes the perception of a moment.

You can see Angela's and Will's engagement photos here.

Angela, Will, congratulations! Wishing you many happy decades ahead! I hope that one day you will be that old couple walking in the park hand-in-hand. :)

Marcie, Anthony, and Cristal... thank you so much for being such a fun crew!

Is This the Same Girl?

I bumped into this shot as I was browsing through a gallery of animated gifs created by the very talented NYC photographer Jamie Beck.

 

The model immediately caught my attention because she looks very much like a model I shot at a party at The Barber Lounge. Is it the same lady in both photos?

Vegas

Three girls in Vegas. What else to add? Perhaps... that we went a little crazy with the wigs and hit Marquee nightclub at The Cosmopolitan. The club was opnened three months ago and is currently the most popular club on the Strip (more than half of the people in the line never get in). Luckily, we had a promoter get us in without any wait. I mean, who wouldn't want a Pakistani, a Hungarian, and a Slovak chick at their party?

Abraham (a random dude from LA) was dying to try on the wig. He then wore it all night.

Our Vdara hotel elevator rides always included a mandatory ceiling photo.

This is a fifteen second view from the fifteenth floor of Vdara.

Going out the next day was a strange experience. I got a lot of stares on the way to the Bank (a nightclub) because I was wearing a black mini dress with a hood. People were doing double-takes, whispering things to one another, and some would talk directly to me. Puzzled by my blue eyes and freckles, they would ask whether I am Arab. Some would yell compliments from meters away. I was walking in the sea of sexy leggy ladies that wore close to nothing, and yet, the veil of mystery drew people in. 

This is the back of Aria as seen from Vdara lobby.

Little relax after a day of shopping.

This is a crop of a multi-story chandellier at The Cosmopolitan casino:

And these two retards are Anett and me, sitting in Jean Philippe Patisserie.

Hanging out by the pool at Vdara was the best part of the trip (which has probably something to do with the two pitchers of blackberry mojito we drank). Taking a shot of my webbed toes was a must.

I met Lisa, a photographer slash cocktail waitress. While we chatted about photography, I couldn't help but snap a picture of myself in her awesome mirror suglasses. I know it's vain, but those glasses were begging me to take photos.

The trip was a success and I learned that I can go to Vegas over and over, and never feel like I've seen it all. Everytime I go to Vegas, I find a new great place I want to go back to. So far, my "must go" list contains: 

• Jean Philippe Patisserie (Aria, Bellagio)
• Bouchon (French) at the Venetian
• tapas at Jaleo (The Cosmopolitan)
• popovers at the Neiman Marcus Cafe (Fashion Show Mall)
• casual lunch at the Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill (MGM Grand) 

What are your favorite things to do in Vegas?

Bublibicious BubbleButt

Chris of FluffyButts Rescue Resort saw how bublibicious Fluffy was and decided to send her a bublibicious gift -- a super soft BubbleButt bed. Well, Fluffy finally had a chance to climb onto this giant fluffy bed and she immediately fell asleep. That's a sign of approval.

The Real Housewives of San Francisco

A blue wig from Hong Kong, a cherry Mac lipstick from USA, two crazy Europeans, and a San Francisco loft -- the perfect ingredients for hookering up with my friend Nat (a.k.a. Gaga) and shooting each other a la Miles Aldridge.

My husband can only wish I strutted around the house in this outfit every day. Polishing the glasses, putting stuff into the dishwasher, taking stuff out of the dishwassher, putting stuff into the oven, taking stuff out of the oven. You get the picture. But instead, I go to Google every day, nerd out with other nerds and write computer software. And that cake... I bought at Whole Foods. You didn't think I made it, did you?

I had a little melancholy moment by the fridge.

Tired of standing on a chair and shooting me, Nat put on her lace robe and decided to take a rest in my bathtub. I was like "this girl is crazy", but I kept my mouth shut and let her do her thing.

The phone rings, and she pulls out this... this big ass red phone.

Based on her expression, who do you think called her and what did they want from her?

Behind the scenes

It's always fun to see how things are made, right? Here is a peek into how we did it:

I wish I could list a long list of names of make-up artists, stylists, lighting assistants, and producers. But... we did our own make-up, used our own wardrobe, drank our own wine, and l was my own lighting assistant. The photos of me were taken by the very talented Natalie Rooke. The photos of Nat were taken by the very talented me. Can you tell us apart?

Here is a little step-by-step explanation of how I lit the fridge shot. The photos below are straight out of the camera, with no light adjustment. I only converted them to B/W to make it easier for you to see the amount and direction of light hitting the subject.

Suggestion: Open the above photo in a different browser window for easier side-by-side viewing.

Shot 1:

• I set up two remote flashes (a.k.a. strobes). They are remote because they are not attached to my camera (duh). A pair of remote receivers listens to the signal from the transmitter attached to my camera. Two strobes are then attached to the two receivers. One strobe (with no light modifier) is in the fridge. The other strobe is on a lightstand about two feet camera left. As a light modifier, I used a silver reflective umbrella which created a wide soft light source.
• If you had problems parsing the previous paragraph, read this "photo terminology for dummies" article before you continue reading the rest of this post.
• What's wrong with this picture: It's a typically bad first shot for someone who did not think twice before firing. :) The black stripe at the bottom of the frame is telling me that my shutter speed is faster than flash sync speed. Also notice the extra bright lemon in Nat's hands. The fridge strobe is pointed at the damn lemon instead of Nat's face. Not what we want.
• A solution: To fix the black stripe, I slowed down my shutter speed from 1/320 to 1/200 of a second. I then repointed the fridge strobe towards Nat's face.

Shot 2:

• What is fixed in this picture: The strobe in the fridge is now pointing at Nat's face.
• What's wrong with this picture: There is not enough light on the right side of Nat's face because the strobe to camera left misfired (did not fire). That's what happens when you buy a cheap ass remote triggers like those I got. They sometimes misfire and one or more strobes don't go off.
• A solution: I did another shot and hoped that both strobes will fire. 

Shot 3:

• What is fixed in this picture: The good news is that both strobes fired.
• What's wrong with this picture: Even though the strobe in the fridge does light the subject's face, it also lights the white wall inside of the fridge. The wall now is too bright, taking the focus away from the subject. I don't like that. Also, I didn't like the angle I shot my subject from. Shooting at eye-level is boring.
• A solution: I put a grid on the strobe in the fridge. A grid points all light in one direction, like a narrow beam. I made sure to point it only at my subject, not at the fridge wall. You can make your own grid by putting together a bunch of straws. Or you save yourself a hassle and buy one. I also decided to stand on a chair to shoot Natalie from above. It's one of the well known tricks that almost always flatter the subject and prevent seeing the double chin (not that Nat has one).

Shot 4:

• What is fixed in this picture: The fridge wall is not lit. Also, the subject is now shot from a more flattering angle.
• What's wrong with this picture: Putting the grid on the strobe and redirecting all light at my subject made the subject's face get too much light.
• A solution: Lower the intensity of the flash in the fridge by about two stops.

Shot 5:

• What is fixed in this picture: The strobe in the fridge is not overexposing (lighting too much) the subject.
• What's wrong with this picture: Only the bottom part of the subject's hair is lit by the strobe in the fridge.
• A solution: I asked Nat to lower her body and lean into the fridge.

Shot 6:

• What is fixed in this picture: The whole left side of Nat's hair is lit from the strobe in the fridge.
• What's wrong with this picture: Her hair is throwing shadows on her left cheek.
• A solution: Move the face towards the strobe in the fridge.

Shot 7:

• Since I was happy with the light setup, I hookered up and asked Nat to start shooting me.
• What is fixed in this picture: Everything I cared about. The light is right, and I am facing the stronger light source (the strobe in the fridge). The other light (fill light) is filling up the areas that would have too dark of a shadow.
• What's wrong with this picture: You don't see my right arm.
• A solution: Grab the cake with both hands.

Shot 8:

• What is fixed in this picture: Both my hands are visible.
• What's wrong with this picture: The second strobe (fill light) misfired.
• A solution: The good thing is that there is still a little bit of ambient (non-flash) light coming from a lamp in the living room. This photo can be salvaged. It can still make a decent black/white photo if curves are adjusted. The lack of the additional fill light makes the photo more contrasty, which is perfect for black/white photos. You can see this photo (processed and adjusted) earlier in this post.

Shot 9:

• What is fixed in this picture: Nothing got fixed and a living room light was turned off.
• What's wrong with this picture: The second strobe (fill light) misfired again. But this time, since the living room light was off, we don't have any ambient light to fill in the rest of the face.
• A solution: This photo can be turned into a silhouette photo. You can see the actual processed photo earlier in this post.

Alright, this post is getting a bit too long. I will write about how I lit the bathtub shot in another post. Happy Labor Day weekend everyone!

PS: For the record, I do know how to bake. Here is my most recent one.