Jennifer L | Blue Wave Studio

It will be yummy and a place I suspect no one has been……..curious?

That’s what the email said last August.

Back in 2004, some of my friends and I used to get together randomly and spend time with each other whenever we were free. Simply spontaneous and unplanned. Hours would turn into whole day affairs. It was as if we had nowhere to be and had all the time in the world to just hang out. Sometimes we ended up going into dinner time and cooking together. And if we had things to do, we would just do them… together because doing things together no matter how mundane is always better with friends… like grocery shopping, errand shopping, studying or working remotely, and even taxes (yes, tax calculating and filing… we were so wild). There even used to be a time when the guys (mostly) would go golfing and the girls would hit a few balls at the driving range, and then join the guys to watch them play the rest of their 18 holes… and golf is definitely not a short game!

But as the years have gone by, we’ve gotten more busy with work, home ownership, relationships and marriages, and just life in general. And those days became less frequent. Before they disappeared completely, we resolved to make an effort to see each other more regularly than special occasions or parties… and our (roughly) monthly dinners were born so that we could all catch up on each others’ lives like we used to.

I was not part of the original discussion, so my impression of how it works may be flawed. As I understand it, each person takes turns organizing the dinner (significant others are not exempt from rotation) – finding a best date and time for most, picking restaurants that most of us have never been to before. And I think we’re supposed to have it on an evening during the week (Monday through Thursday).

Last August, our monthly dinner was held at the Basque Cultural Center Restaurant in South San Francisco since the organizer had seen this restaurant featured on Check Please! with favorable reviews. It’s definitely one of those unexpected kind of places at a random location (a cultural center!) where you wonder how everyone eating there knows about it. It reminded me of the Garden Club (an Italian restaurant in the back of a dive bar where early bird specials are the norm, also in South San Francisco). But the Basque restaurant felt more like going over to a relative’s house for dinner.

Dinner started with complimentary soup and salad and one of us ordered Prosciutto of Parma with Melons:

And the entrees were hearty especially the Pepper Steak and the Fresh Seafood of the Day:

We couldn’t turn down dessert, but having had too much food, we all split a few… spoons for everyone!

And an Italian version of neopolitan — spumoni. I’ve always thought chocolate, pistachio, and cherry was an odd combination, though:

I usually focus on taking photos of just the food and might ask someone to take a group photo for us, but this time, I decided to take some candids of my friends. They were great and mostly pretended the camera wasn’t there… which is how I like it!

At the time, I was right in the middle of the creativeLive online photography master course on wedding photography with Jasmine Star and Jasmine Star’s favorites includes many prime lenses like the 50mm.

I had actually bought a 50mm f/1.8 4+ years ago since it was cheap and good (I heard it was a very good value at around $100), but didn’t really use it much over my 18-55mm kit zoom lens. But Jasmine Star and a few other people were saying how they loooove it and the co-instructor for the photography workshop I had taken also liked his 50mm and was reminiscing about how back in the day (he learned on film photography), people used prime lenses and if you wanted to zoom in or out, you actually walked closer or backed up; his pre-digital remark was in a “they don’t do it like they used to” kind of way. I almost forgot, too, that I also learned film photography on a 50mm… and had to walk to get the picture since I didn’t have zoom lenses (or as Jasmine Star likes to call them, a “lazy girl lens”).

So during our dinner, I thought I’d give my 50 a more fair chance. And I must admit that it grew on me more and more. Even if these pictures were taken on my very old Canon Rebel XT. (I have replaced the XT since, but still testing which one will be the winner.)

Since a few friends have asked me about getting into photography and I’ve noticed more and more people carrying DSLRs now and posting their photos on Facebook, I thought that it might be a good assumption that the general public has become more interested in photography. I had only been through a semester long photography course, so I wanted to explore a photography workshop not only in what they teach, but how they teach it to potentially incorporate it into our services in my day job. So last August, I found a workshop on making Images with Impact by Marc Silber (who studied at the SF Art Institute around the same time as Annie Leibovitz). Images with Impact seemed like a fitting topic with other academic applications such as copyright and presentations.

We talked about the presentation of photographs and how online sites like Flickr aren’t exactly the best way to share photos not only because of uncalibrated monitors and different lighting, but because the commenters don’t necessarily provide constructive feedback, the kind of critique that would help photographers grow.

We also discussed the type of photographs that we normally take and then Marc challenged us to shoot the kind of photos we don’t normally take. For me it would have been photographs of people. To be honest, I wasn’t exactly looking forward to that. When we went out on the street, however, there weren’t too many people, so I worked on textures and shapes instead with my mind on Ansel Adams’ notion of pre-visualization (or visualization as he later called it).

Some of the shots I took:

When we talked about pre-visualization, I was also reminded of pre-visualizing a photo I took with my point and shoot camera in St. Peter’s Cathedral in Vatican City, Italy back in 2003:

So with the photography workshop… I didn’t exactly anticipate being reminded of my love of photography, but that’s what it did. And coincidentally, shortly after the workshop, I saw a post by Chase Jarvis on For The Love of Photography, that summed it up for me:

But where is your love of pictures? Where are your actions that back this up?
Can you pick up a book of photographs and get lost in it?
Can you walk around with your iPhone or Android or your point and shoot or whatever and take 100 pictures knowing that they’ll never be for a client or a portfolio?
Do you love hunting for pictures?
Will you stay up late or get up early for pictures?
Do you sometimes ‘see’ life as a photograph?

I thought about it and thought, oh yes, I have stayed up late or gotten up early for pictures! And then I remembered this photo:

My friends and I were visiting the Kyoto Imperial Palace in 2006. It had starting raining (maybe it was even hailing). I was trying to take a picture and when it started pouring, my friends took cover under some trees with their umbrellas, I stayed put, with my camera in my hands and holding my umbrella awkwardly with my neck with both my hands super crazy freezing just so that I could take the photo. Although now I think it’s just an OK photo, I didn’t want to regret not taking the photo and I’m glad I don’t.

Reading Chase Jarvis’ post, I felt relieved. That it was okay that I’ve taken photos that I haven’t shared. And that I have hundreds of personal photo albums I haven’t processed or posted. And despite that, I still keep making photographs and keep shooting, and now even the kind of photos I don’t usually take, expanding my skill and experience as each provides different sets of challenges.

And as I mentioned in a previous post, I hope to be posting more frequently now that I’ve figured out a workflow so you’ll probably see some photos “From The Files”.

To see a slideshow of my photos from Japan or Europe from the files, please visit my Japan and Europe albums.

When we were kids, we were encouraged to be creative. Drawing, coloring, and creating were part of the norm. Art was such a big part of our lives and even celebrated like trophys (kid’s drawings and creations and all). And making music was encouraged.

We also had to learn the rules, though. Stay in between the lines. Those two colors don’t go together. That should be played this way. 

Once we learned the rules and when we grew older, we were told that art is a waste of time and to focus on studying and books; creative professions aren’t money makers and part of our future. Personally, I will admit that I lost my connection to creative pursuits probably in college, when I stopped playing music regularly.  I used to spend a pretty penny on creative supplies, but since then my embroidery string for friendship bracelets, plastic lanyards for keychains, rubber stamps, embossing powder, markers, watercolor pencils and paint, beads and jewelry making supplies, piano, and violin has collected dust.

When I was younger, I started with music in elementary school and in middle school, I participated in a Summer Music Workshop with the San Francisco Unified School District and took a summer art class at the same time.  The first summer I took the art class, we spent the entire summer on origami and I loved it.  When I signed up for the same art class again the next summer hoping to cover origami again, we learned watercolor, drawing, and even papermaking. I was disappointed because I didn’t enjoy those areas especially since I didn’t consider myself an artistic person by any means. I was able to dig up the homemade papers I made in that class, though:

I was recently thinking about my childhood experience because 2010 for me will be the year I will remember for rediscovering my creative spirit.  My chosen avenue for expression is one that I’ve never really stopped doing since I was young… photography. This past year, I have been taking every chance possible to learn more about photography which started with CreativeLive free workshops on Wedding Photography and Children’s Photography (also I ended up paying for the downloads) and more and more, I am finding that there’s so much more to learn… and to practice.  Each time I gain more knowledge about the craft, I feel I set the bar higher for myself and I am trying to catch up to an ever rising bar.  I have no idea where I am with Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 Hour Rule, but even Chase Jarvis advises to just go out there and shoot and keep shooting. So that’s what I’ve been doing for the last couple of months of 2010; as many of my friends have probably noticed that I am rarely without a camera these days.  For 2011, I plan to do more of it, but also to share it.

It is my belief that creativity and art has an important place in our lives, not only as children, but as adults.  Not only is it a great avenue for relief and expression, but I believe such creativity influences other parts of our lives, professionally and personally. It exercises our minds to be innovative and to think differently.

And as for the rules…

I’ve always loved the quote:

Love is like playing the piano. First you must learn to play by the rules, then you must forget the rules and play from your heart. —Anonymous

And Vincent Laforet said it best when he said:

“Learn all these rules… and break every single one of them. That’s how you’re gonna make great photographs.” —Vincent Laforet

And if there’s no time for creativity, consider this story about how a well educated parent who has currently seen high tech jobs farmed out to places like India, believes “the winners in tomorrow’s American business world [are] the creatives”.

Have a Happy and Creative New Year!

P.S. Check out CreativeLive and their future free workshops or paid downloads of previous workshops. It’s a great creative education. If you’re interested in photography, they have a collection of 6 master photography workshops on sale until today.

The last time I had my photo professionally taken was in my senior year of high school. If we wanted to be in the yearbook, we had to pay a specific photography company $10 to have our picture taken that was then forwarded to the school’s yearbook staff. The photos weren’t exactly the best quality and we had to put on a fake top that made it look like we were wearing a black dress; many people ended up booking photo sessions with another company so that they could have better photographs to trade with their friends.

As for family portraits, my family didn’t have a professional photo taken until we went on our very first cruise trip 5 years ago. I’m glad we did especially since we’ll never be able to do that again.

For me, photography is more than just taking photographs or selling them. I’ve always wanted to do something beyond that. A few months ago, I learned about a portrait photography effort called Help-Portrait, a “global movement of photographers using their time, gear, and expertise to give back to those in need.” I wanted to get involved especially after having been inspired by Raul Touzon’s work. So earlier this month, I volunteered for the local Help-Portrait event in San Francisco and recruited some of my friends as part of the worldwide effort. It was a wonderful experience.

I had a great time with fellow photographers and friends. The event was the day after I returned from Asia, so while on vacation, I prepared by viewing a workshop on Children’s Portrait Photography with Tamara Lackey and reading up on family portraiture and posing techniques. Although I had signed up to be a photographer and to work on Lightroom, I ended up working at the Lightroom stations almost the entire time. Not having much experience with studio lighting or posing since I mostly shoot with available light and candids, I was more comfortable with Lightroom anyway even though the challenge would have been fine.

I also had a chance to bust out my Cantonese to speak to some of the families. I talked with little kids, parents, and grandmothers who were long time friends. One man who was a new immigrant was encouraged by his relative to have his portrait taken. On top of that, people had a chance to have their hair and makeup done for the photo session if they wanted and they got to take home prints afterwards.
» Read the rest of this entry …

When I was in high school, I volunteered quite a bit.  I volunteered because that was a common thing to do with friends especially through after-school clubs and of course, trying to fill up that transcript for college applications to convince the admissions committees that you were a well-rounded student worthy of being accepted.

Now that I’m out of college, I still have a desire to “do good”, but not in the same way. It’s one of the reasons why I choose to work for a non-profit and in education. I also try to find ways to volunteer in my free time here and there, although I wish I’m able to do more of it than I do now.

Three months ago, I attended a lecture given by National Geographic photographer, Raul Touzon, about his photography work in the Sudan. He was starting a 4 day photography workshop with the talk and I went because it touched upon two of the things I love – photography and travel.

I was moved by what he was doing with his photography and armed with one flash, he was able to capture such images that tells the story of its people and the Sudan, which has been assembled into a powerfully titled book called The Price of Peace, The Price of War.  He told stories about how he went with only one assistant and was able to get certain shots especially in a country where the people have not seen a camera before and also about having bodyguards hover over him. His work was for the UN and the following video is a gathering of his images:

Someone had continually asked him about gear and the technicals about lenses and his only reply was that he doesn’t pay attention to that kind of stuff. He shoots in JPEG, not RAW, and just takes the photographs. I’ve started to notice JPEG shooting as a pattern with some top quality photographers and how it tends to blow other photographers’ minds.

He will be returning to Sudan in the next years doing more photography work for the UN. Inspiring.

It got me thinking about photography as a platform to do good in the world and I started to wonder what kind of good I could do with my camera.

My first visit to Vietnam was with my father 11 years ago. It was his first time returning to the country since war drove him and my mother away from their own home.

I was shocked at the streets of Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) because it was extremely crowded with motorbikes and cars with no real sense of order including lack of traffic lights and crosswalks. You wouldn’t be able to cross the street if you don’t trust the drivers on the road nor have the confidence to get to the other side of the street, slowly moving forward and never backwards through cross traffic. I was frozen with fear of getting hit, but eventually learned to cross the street.

The craziness that is the streets of HCMC (from 2007):

If you look closely, you can see a man carrying tires on his motorbike wave at the camera.

Three years ago, it was my second visit to Vietnam, but that time, with my mother. I will always remember the time I saw a little girl crossing the street as it will remain etched in my memory forever. Seeing that she was about to do such an impressive feat which to her
was probably routine, I got my camera ready:

I then realized that she was headed for me and our taxi, her eyes asking for money with her open palm. That’s when I saw me.

I’ve always wondered what my life would be like if my parents had never made it to the US. What if I had been born in Vietnam and grew up there instead? What if I had different parents? What kind of things would I not have the privilege of seeing, tasting, smelling, touching, or
doing? How much of my life would be similar to this little girl? They say that favorable social circumstances has more to do with your opportunities and future and I believe that notion more and more. They also say that you don’t know what you’re missing until it’s gone so maybe for the little girl, that was just life as she knew it.

I wanted to give the little girl some money, but I was taken aback by what had happened that by the time I had a chance to absorb it all to react, the taxi driver had whisked us away.

I think about the girl and wonder where she is now. The optimistic side of me wants to believe she’s on the way to do great things.

This year, I am spending my birthday in Vietnam. And no doubt I’ll get a new perspective on life and myself (one of the reasons why I love to travel the world). Vietnam, I’m looking forward to what you have to show and teach me.

When I was younger and skeptical about my dad’s suggestions, he would always say to me Trust me.

The year was 1999. It was the first time I had traveled internationally that I could remember (I had traveled once before, but I was too young to recall). This time, my family was on a crazy 9 city in 18 days tour of China and had already gone through Shanghai, Beijing, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Suzhou, and Xian.

We were in Guilin and on a boat. A river cruise along the Li River to be exact.

The Li River is well-known to have beautiful scenery. Endless beautiful tall mountains and peaceful waters everywhere that typically grace chinese brush paintings. I took pictures to capture this art in real life. It was so beautiful that I kept on taking pictures.

By the end of the boat ride which was a few hours long, my dad turned to me and scolded, You just wasted a whole roll of film taking pictures of the scenery. He even added that I wasted money, too. This was the film days of 12, 24, or 36 exposures per roll which were a few dollars and then also having to pay for the developing to actually see the pictures.

He continued to argue his case that day: pictures with people are better and because it shows that you were there, too.

When I started to learn more about photography and shoot more seriously, my primary focus was landscapes and still life (mainly food). People photos weren’t my thing I would tell myself and occasionally others. And it’s probably this very river cruise that sparked my beginnings in landscape photography. I suppose I felt that photos of landscapes and still life were more universal.

It turns out I took 19 scenic photos on that cruise and here’s a photograph of the prints:

Photographs of the Li River Boat Ride -- Guilin, China

This is a scan of my favorite one and I’m actually pleasantly surprised that I was able to find one that is decent considering I had no idea what I was doing back then (note that embedding the date onto the picture was all the rage.)

Scenic view from boat

In more recent years, I’ve started to realize that my father was right and that photographs with people are interesting. The emotional eyes, facial expressions, and body language just add so much more to the story captured in the photograph. Add in background and lighting and you’ve got an anthology.

Over a decade later, I can’t help but wonder how much I would have changed artistically had I followed more of my father’s photography advice.

Having been to many weddings over the last few years and taking photos with my digital SLR camera, I’m starting to realize it now.

When I was younger, my aunt and uncle had art hanging on their walls at their house and one of them was of fruit. I can only remember pears.

It was still life, but delicious still life. I never really thought much of it until recently.

Before leaving on my November international trip, I was excited to find a package FedEx’d to me. An advanced signed copy of the new South Beach Wine & Food Festival Cookbook (to be released on November 16) and two complimentary tickets to the 2011 Food Festival’s Grand Tasting Village this coming February in Miami Beach, Florida. I can’t wait!

I had won the cookbook and tickets from a Foodspotting photography contest. I had signed up for the site when it was in beta and the contest encouraged me to finally try the site out which involved finding and submitting 3 photos that represented each category chapter from the South Beach Wine & Food Festival Cookbook. As I went through my photo collection for 21 photos, I wished I had cataloged them better. What I found is that I don’t eat BBQ and comfort food out at restaurants much. Unfortunately, this contest wasn’t about how good the photos were artistically, but about speed, but I’ll take it. (I almost wasn’t a winner in the contest because of a bug in the foodspotting site which affected the actual results, but I was able to work it out with foodspotting to clear things up.)

I started taking digital color photos of food shortly after I took a black & white film darkroom photography course back in 2002. At the time, no one else was taking photos of food during meals since journaling and sharing such photos on social networks weren’t a big thing yet. My reason for taking them were to practice the photography concepts I had learned in the course like composition, framing, and depth of field; food was an easy subject and readily available.

After all these years of taking photos of food, it’s satisfying to know that even though I didn’t have a goal at the time except to simply take photos that I’m able to turn the effort into something more. I’m grateful for my patient friends and family who have supported my effort especially when they were hungry and waited for me to finish taking photos of the food at our table, including this one:

Hungry

The funny thing is that when I found out I won, the first thought that came to my head was… I get to take more photos of food! Maybe that makes me more of a photographer than a food enthusiast.

Because I would go hungry for a good shot (photography, that is).