Project365: January

This is a mosaic of my January Project365, a photo a day.
So far so good, although it is definitely hard to find time to shoot everyday. However, I think forcing myself to shoot everyday not only gives me time to reflect and makes a great journal of 2009, I've also gotten better at shooting and framing and all that too. So, I think it's a win-win! Now let's just hope that the rest of the months will come as easily as January did.

1. January 1, 2009, 2. January 2, 2009, 3. January 3, 2009, 4. January 4, 2009, 5. January 5, 2009, 6. January 6, 2009, 7. January 7, 2009, 8. January 8, 2009, 9. January 9, 2009, 10. January 10, 2009, 11. January 11, 2009, 12. January 12, 2009, 13. January 13, 2009, 14. January 14, 2009, 15. January 15, 2009, 16. January 16, 2009, 17. January 17, 2009, 18. January 18, 2009, 19. January 19, 2009, 20. January 20, 2009, 21. January 21, 2009, 22. January 22, 2009, 23. January 23, 2009, 24. January 24, 2009, 25. January 25, 2009, 26. January 26, 2009, 27. January 27, 2009, 28. January 28, 2009, 29. January 29, 2009, 30. January 30, 2009, 31. January 31, 2009

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

BART

January 6, 2009
Originally uploaded by hoppibunny

I really like how this photo turned out... I took this photo on one of those days, when I was all grumpy and just wanted to go home.

The photo was made with a point and shoot as my train was arriving the BART station.

I love the grainy results.

~STATIC SHOCK~

~STATIC SHOCK~
Originally uploaded by hoppibunny

This picture is hilarious. Mimi was itching her head on a blanket that was very statically charged, and then she turned out like this!

January 2, 2009

January 2, 2009
Originally uploaded by hoppibunny

For the last couple of years, Huxley's parents and Mimi's parents always get together for a holiday meal, either right before or right after Christmas. This year, with our travels and some family matters on their side, we just didn't have the time to ourselves to celebrate the holidays properly until the evening of January 2nd.

I'm glad we finally managed to have our holiday meal together, clams, rice cakes (good for the new year) and lots of left-overs (ham and other stuff from NYE).

Boy was it yummy. :P

January 1, 2009

January 1, 2009
Originally uploaded by hoppibunny

Ok, so, I started a Project365 for 2009. Since I'll be taking a photo a day, I'll post them here too for my blog readers to enjoy.

Got a plastic lens Lensbaby for Christmas. So here's a "defocused" shot for the first day of the New Year. Hopefully I'll get to use this lens for more neat effect shots soon. :)

Sweet Peanut

Sweet Peanut
Originally uploaded by hoppibunny

Haven't blogged in a long while, so a little embarrassed to "re-start", but gotta do it right?

Anyway, we were in LA for the Christmas holidays and also for a wedding and that was when I captured this "grown up" photo of Peanut. She looks so mature! Except, her book is up-side-down... :)

Will try to blog more, since blogging from Flickr is so easy!

No Excuse!

There's really no excuse for not blogging for as long as I have... So hopefully a blog tonight will at least make it up a little to all my readers (hope you guys are still out there). :)

Let's see, first of all, I just uploaded a few photos from my Napa trip way back in the first half of September:



Check out the whole series by clicking on the photo.

I've been doing a lot of weddings lately... Mostly second shooting for a pretty awesome photography studio that won't let me post the photos... A little bummed that I can't share the photos with you, but they are pretty awesome and I am really enjoying it. The next couple of weeks I'll be shooting with some other photographers who will let me post the photos so I am looking forward to sharing then.

On the real work front, I know I say I don't want to blog about it, but I've been traveling a bunch and it's been really fun and tiring at the same time. The most recent trip I went on it was a conference where the theme was "productivity". Although it sounded corny, the conference was really good and totally made me walk away refreshed! I think it's showing in my work and life, which is pretty neat. An example... Be effective, not just efficient. How often do you think you are being super efficient by getting through a bunch of menial tasks only to realize at the end of the day you didn't get any of your big TO DOs done?

My husband went to the city for Fleet Week today. I wasn't invited and am feeling all grumpy for having been left behind. I know his friend planned it and it's not like he didn't try to get me a ticket too, but deep down inside I kinda wish he didn't go! I mean, if _I_ had bought tickets or suggested we go to Fleet Week the DH would have simply said it'd be too crowded and he rather stay home. :(

Alright, I hope everyone actually made it through to the end of this long blabbering. Testing out a few new series - Sanctuary, Fringe, etc... So far, not sure about either.

Sandisk Rebate

Wow, I haven't blogged in ages.

But, I've been busy. I am shooting a lot of weddings. I am traveling a lot for work. I was just in Santa Barbara and will be in Chicago next Wed-Fri. Busy at work. Busy at home. Yes, at the detriment of my blog. :(

Ok, so I'm blogging today because I just received a really great deal from Adorama on Sandisk CF (and SD) cards with mail in rebate. So great, I may actually be getting a few Extreme III and IVs myself.

Anyway, without further ado, here are the links. Check them out!
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Honorable Mention!

Yay! I got "recognized"!

Hmm, I was listed first in a group of honorable mentions, so does that make me the #1 loser? :D Still, while Scott Kelby's Worldwide Photo Walk last Saturday was all about having fun and not about competition, it is awesome to have your name/photos mentioned and recognized. ;)

And it was totally fun.

No Time!

I feel like I never have enough time in a day, to work, to commute, to cook, to play with the doggie, to hang out with DH, to watch TV and unwind, to clean, to surf the web, to play with the camera, to sleep and to BLOG! Geez, how do people find time to juggle everything? :D

Well, case in point, I _was_ trying to publish this blog sometime this past week, to talk about the past weekend's activities, but before I even get a chance to blink, the "past weekend" is now almost two weekends ago! Well, that weekend was super duper busy once again (and so is this current one, since it's already Sunday... hmm, are you following me still?).

Anyway, there was another wedding where I did some shooting and lots of assisting with lights ~ I learned a lot about strobe and fill lighting for sure! The little flower girl, Zoe, is gorgeous:



So is the bride:



And the ceremony:



And then last weekend was also San Mateo County Fair:



Ok, enough about last weekend. On Saturday we went to Scott Kelby's worldwide photo walk in the city. Pictures are up! I'll post just one here for you to get started (click on it to see the rest)



We also ate at Pampas that evening. Wow, I haven't had that kind of tummy workout in a while. :P

(note: this post got started Monday the 18th but didn't get finished/published until Sunday the 24th.)

Past Weekend

Wow, this past weekend was full of photos, some amazing Peking duck, and so much fun!

Saturday I got the opportunity to second shoot again! Wow, it was a truly beautiful wedding. Sorry guys, I don't have any pictures to share (part of the contract).

Sunday we (Henry, Carol, Jessica, Laurie, Hung, Victor, Ryan and I) went to Berkeley and did a photo walk followed by some delicious Peking duck at our favorite Great China. Yum!

Oh, here is a picture from Sunday. As usual, click on it to see the rest in my flickr portfolio!

Fun!

This past weekend was so much fun. I went to Napa with Jessica and her friends, and got some really cool pictures:













Including one of me, courtesy of Jessica. :D


Then on Sunday we went to a bbq at my college friend Marlene's house ~ I haven't seen her since college! Her daughter is adorable:



Click on any of the pictures to see the rest of the weekend's highlights!

2nd Shoot

So this past Sunday I did my very first second shooting wedding assignment with Cate Corbitt . It was a lot of fun and although I was really sore when I got home (talk about being super out of shape!), I can't wait until the next time I get to shoot another wedding. Now I've got one real second photog and one real primary photog weddings under my belt. Woo hoo, watch out world, here I come! :D



Luckily I won't have to itch to shoot for too long... I am going to Napa this Saturday with some friends and will definitely be bringing my camera!

Connecting the Dots

Is it really a good idea? So that everything is out there and I'm fully transparent? Not that hoppibunny is all that great of an anonymous pseudonym, since I use it everywhere...

Anyway, here goes... Connecting my blog readers to my Facebook profile. I'm embracing technology, plus, my badge is hella cute. :D

Amy & Randy, etc. :D

OMG I have not blogged in forever. Well, I've been busy. Even now, I only have a few minutes and then I have to start getting dinner on the table... I'm hoping that tonight I'll start building my webpage. :D

Anyway, finally got some of Amy and Randy's photos on Flickr. Please check them out (Along with Dawn and Sam's wedding photos and my baby niece Peanut's photo shoot). Click on any of the 3 beautiful girls and you'll get to see the rest of the photos I've uploaded so far for her! Enjoy!


Amy


Dawn


Peanut

Swamped

I am so busy these days it is simply impossible to balance squeezing in a little good blogging and sleep, or eat, or clean, or, well, you get the point. For example, I am right now foregoing 5 extra minutes of sleep to blog. I know, it isn't much, but I really need my 6-8 hours nightly and any little bit that I give up I am paying back with yawns the next day.

So, this past weekend was jam packed. We flew into Seattle on the first flight out of SFO at 6 am... Yes, you read that right, 6 am. That meant we got home the night before, ate dinner, packed, packed some more, walked dogs, and went to bed at 12 ish only to wake at 3:45 to leave the house by 4:30. Anyway, enough complaining. The flight was painless and I pretty much slept thru the whole thing, so I caught up a bit.

The ensuing two days in Seattle were a blast. We saw friends and family. I had a little photo shoot with little Peanut which was so much fun and turned out great. She loved the camera, even at a mere 6 mos old. Still processing, but will post soon. We also attended our friends Sam and Dawn's amazingly touching "2nd" wedding (the reason we went to Seattle, actually) :D Congrats Dawn and Sam!!

Sunday morning first thing we flew back. The reason was we were also slated to attend my friend Amy and her now husband Randy's wedding in San Francisco. It was beautiful! We were responsible for primary shooting and capturing the memories of the day and I thought it was extremely tiring (especially without a good night's sleep) but also an amazing experience. I can't thank Amy enough for giving me the opportunity to shoot her day! I'm processing now (every evening!) so hopefully photos will be ready soon.

Ok, my 5 minutes is up. Time for my beauty sleep.

Good night!

Promise

I know it's been a few days since I last blogged... I promise I'll get back on the train again soon.

Things have been super duper crazy busy at work and at home. This week we are dogsitting the adorable Huxley and then jetting off to Seattle on Friday for a wedding and then coming back Sunday for another wedding. Tis the season!

When I am home I have very little free time. Between cooking dinner, cleaning house, hanging with dogs and DH and catching up on TV and editing more photos on Lightroom/PhotoShop there's just no time left to write about it all. I suppose I can give up sleep like I am doing now but that's not smart. So, going to bed now. :D

I know, none of this is good excuse. Like I said, I'll try to blog more soon.

Shoreline Park, Mountain View, CA

So Jessica C. and I went to the park next to Google for a quick photoshoot yesterday. I am still post processing (learning Lightroom), but definitely getting them up one at a time.

I really enjoyed shooting the people, as you can see in my first few uploads to flickr. Here are a few:

Relatives

Oh my gosh, I can't believe I haven't blogged for more than a week. Well, things have been crazy lately. I went to NYC for a short 3 day business trip (including travel days) Mon - Wed, no time for blogging then!

And then last night I went to a kick ass happy hour with a bunch of awesome local wedding photographers and one very famous Becker. Check out his [b] school blog for some cool PS tools of the trade and other neat learnings! I also had the opportunity to hang with the very fun Mammoth Men.

But that's not what this blog is about... I am blogging about my nieces and nephews. Well, sort of. Here are two pictures of my adorable relatives taken the night before Mindy's wedding:





I finally got around to cleaning up my Yosemite trip photos so figure I'd share these with y'all blog readers tonight.

Good night!

Dinner at Jin Sho

Last night's dinner was beautiful.

The appetizer, "Jalapeno Dressing with Salmon - Served with mizuna green & garlic chips", was really pretty and rather tasty. It was by far the highlight of the evening. Flavorful, unique, had all the bells you would expect from an ex-Nobu chef. But the garlic chips were too burnt and bitter and didn't add to the dish besides making it pretty.



I ordered the really gorgeously presented sashimi dinner. The fish was fresh and delicious, the only negative I can think of (if you can count that a negative) was that all the fish pieces were really fatty which made it hard to finish. I would have liked more refreshing pieces mixed in, I guess. But overall, no complaints!



Henry got the "Angus Beef Tobanyaki - Cooked on a hot “Toban” plate with garlic sauce" was not as flavorful as it was beautiful. I would say it was my least favorite dish of the evening although he finished everything so he must have liked it. There were a lot of carrots ~ perhaps that was a reason I didn't like it right off the bat.



Overall we had a great time. And the prices were ok for a special occasion. Just not overwhelmed with amazement like we were when we went to Nobu.