I did my first beauty shoot yesterday on the beach. The model was Grace Chung, my friend's sister. While shooting on the beach, the sun was slow to drop, but I didn't anticipate the sun to go down that fast at the end (which brought up a problem as our model didn't know what poses I want). Note to self: always talk to models beforehand and let them know the style you are going for. I caught some close ups with my 50mm and switched to my 18-200mm for wide angle. This is one of those times when I wish I really have a super wide (ie. 14-24mmm). The sky, although it didn't live up to my expectation, wasn't all that bad. What's worse is the "pile" of ships (freight vessels, private sail boats, etc) on the ocean; once I arrived, I knew there would be lots of post-processing cloning to...

After two month of camera repair hiatus, I can finally shoot with my D200 again. This time, I decided to do another crime scene-delinquent theme oriented shoot. The model, like last time, is Kevin Lee. This time, however, I finally get the chance to test out two strobe set up as well as the SU-800 to eliminate the onboard preflash. We shot in a garage-like location. Everything was done on the go since I wanted to be creative on the spot. All three photos has a rim light using a snooted flash (no I don't use any fancy snoot - just few thick paper and a rubber band). The other flash is used as a fill on the left hand side. Again, I used the Nikon 50mm f/1.8 (you may recall my rave about this lens back in the first crime scene shoot). You gotta love the accidental dust particles (it's...

Today was the big day. It was the most anticipated Muse concert. Say what you want, but I've not been to a proper rock concert before, so I was looking forward to it. It was at Pacific Coliseum. David had to buy the tickets right before from someone whom he had arranged previously. Of course, none of us knew the tickets were labeled with "no camera" until it's too late. I carried my gigantic D200 thinking I could probably get some good shots. However, when we entered through security, they told me check in my bag during the concert. So I did. I dropped it at the service center within the stadium. When David and I were just leaving the counter, the security woman accidentally pushed my camera bag forward. It dropped like a rock, and this is what happened. The top LED screen is totally borked and the side of...

5:00AM - Woke up 6:00AM - Arrived at Edwin, my friend's place. Off to Burnaby Lake 7:00AM - Shoot! No sunrise, what a waste of time (not)! It was another assignment from my photo class. However, this time, it's in film. Of course, if I'm going, I would bring my dSLR with me. So off we go, thinking we could catch the sunrise... except there isn't any. Although Edwin and I were disappointed, it wasn't all that bad considering that the weather report says it will be raining. The day became even better when a couple came by to feed the geese/birds. Note to self for next time: bring bread crumbs for birds if shooting in the wilderness. Anyhow, it was more or less a casual shoot and it didn't last long before both of us were hungry. This was the first shot when I arrived on the deck. Pretty neat considering there was...

Few days before the end of term two for my photography class, I was told that if I don't hand my assignment in, it will never be marked. Although a lot of people skipped this assignment, I thought it'd be fun to do. It was a shoot for a setup crime scene. After buying some yellow crime tape from the nearby dollar store, I called up two of my buddies, David Kim and Kevin Lee, to help me out. To make matters simple, I decided to shoot near my place around a "loading bay" (I don't even know what to make of it.) Since crimes usually happen at night, I also had to mimic the night effect by using a faster than usual shutter speed. Couple that with a snooted Nikon SB800 flash, and I got myself a pretty darn good setup for doing dramatic mood shoots. Kevin, to my...