MCP Photography PhotoLife Blog

JT in da house!

2009-06-23T10:57:00.000-07:00

My cousins Tod and Johanna have been trying to "book" me for quite some time now, and we finally got a chance to get together to do an afternoon of portrait stuff for them. Mainly for Johanna, cause she's a lot prettier than Tod is (a little family humor there). Great session, and an equally great model! Take a look!

Also, I know that in my last post I said that my new blog is about a week or two away, but as luck would have it, we had to push it back a little, but it's going to be up soon! Serious! I'm so excited about it and can't wait to start posting on it. I'll let you know. Probably another week or two (wait, didn't I say that before?)

Have a great day everyone!

New things to come!

2009-06-09T10:54:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, I've actually lagged in getting some new posts up on my blog, but with good reason! As mentioned before, I am in process of getting a new blog custom designed, and I'm happy to say that it is within a week or two of finally launching! Woo hoo!!! I'll post the link when the time comes. Needless to say, I'm excited to get it up and running, cause it's looking great!

Along the same lines of me re-branding the entire business, I finally also received my new business cards! I opted to go for something a bit more unique, and more to my style, so it's different from what you're used to in terms of biz cards, but still totally cool! Check this photo out!

Thanks to the folks at Rabbit Lithographics here in L.A. for all the help in putting these together, and a big shout out to my graphic designer Carrie of Modaforma.net. These look great!

I'll have other stuff coming up to blog about and soon! So stay tuned!

Thanks everyone, and have a terrific day!

The Amazing Amelia and a NEW brand!

2009-05-05T11:03:00.000-07:00

Okay, I know. It's been a while since my last entry. Who knew that taking so many photographs would take up so much time?! (Uh, I did, duh). Since my last entry, I've shot everything from family portrait sessions, the 18 MMW, the East West Players dinner gala, and our belated closing party for Cold Tofu's most recent sketch show, Tofu Exposed! Plus, I'm still working on and finishing up some albums for some of my wedding clients (they look great BTW!). To top it all off, my new logo (brand) is finally up and ready for its close-up. Here it is!

(For some weirdo reason, the "m" in the logo is coming out blue on my screen when it's supposed to be yellow. I think it's this crappy monitor I have here at work - sorry. You'll see the real, yellow version in the photos below.)

A new blog site will be up shortly as well that will completely highlight my new brand logo and consolidate the whole "M Palma Photography" business. I couldn't be more excited. Many thanks go out to Carrie at Modaforma.net for her awesome work in helping develop my new logo and brand. Should you guys be looking for a great graphic designer, check her out. Plus, she's great to work with :) Thanks Carrie!

Now I could post a photo from each of the projects I've been working on lately, but that would take way too much time! So here are a few from this past weekend's closing party. The little cutie you will see in the photos is no other than one of my favorite little peeps, Amelia. Enjoy!

Look at this face!

Yes, that IS drool hanging from her chin.

Amelia with her Auntie Helen.

I love their expressions! Especially the little one!

Have a nice day everyone!

I've converted!

2009-04-14T11:12:00.000-07:00

It's official! I am now a MAC. No not a "mack" daddy (although debatable), nor Mac cosmetics (definitely NOT), but an Apple Mac Book Pro owner and user! Hooray! I'm joining the dark side (and that's as far as it goes in terms of photography, as I'm not giving up my Nikons!)

Long story short, my mom picked up a Mac book last week, and in the process of helping her set it up, I decided I wanted one. What an easy switch! I orginally learned how to use a computer on a Mac back in college, but once I got to the "real" world, everyone was using a PC. So my aspirations of purchasing a Mac went down the drain, especially since they cost so much!

Needless to say, I'm very happy with the purchase, and after having posted it on Facebook the other day, and getting about 30 replies, I know I've made the right decision.

So here's to my new MBP!!! Woo hoo!!!

Ahh... the Theater

2009-03-24T12:40:00.000-07:00

A few photos from our rehearsals for our upcoming show "Tofu Exposed".

John doing his best "Randy 'Macho Man' Savage" pose.

This kinda reminds me of the movie poster from"Platoon".

My favorite shot of the evening. Steve under the lights.

Our terrific lighting guy Chris, and uber-stage manager Kurt, looking out from a "hole" in the sky

Check out our website for more details on our show. We open this Friday, March 27, 2009 at the Avery Schreiber theater.

The Amazing Amelia Heisman Photo Redux!

2009-03-23T11:18:00.000-07:00

Remember this photo?

Here she is today!
What's weird is I think John is wearing that same blue shirt from the first time we shot this photo. Must be his "daddy" shirt.

Not only has the "football" grown, but John's hair as well!!!

Landlords of the Ocean

2009-03-17T08:53:00.000-07:00

Okay, now we all know that Sharks are by far the scariest thing to worry about while swimming in the ocean, second to drowning of course. And we all know that they RULE the seas, hence the name, Landlords of the Ocean.

As a long time triathlete, and ocean swimmer, I've been hearing too many of these stories lately, and this one made me want to share it with all of you. I've done numerous ocean races, and swims throughout my life, and I've even joked about not worrying about sharks when I'm out there with other swimmers (heck, if there's two of us, my chances of getting eaten are cut in half, if you think about it!). But it looks like Sharks are even more curious then before, and are probably looking for more variety by poking their noses in these large swim events! Yikes!

Will this stop me from doing ocean swim triathlons? Nah. I figure if it's my time to go, it's my time to go. I just hope it isn't from a "friendly" shark mistaking me for a turtle or seal. But then again, in a wetsuit and at the slow rate of speed I swim, I guess he'll think that I'm exactly what I look like - LUNCH!!!

Check it out!

Walking among the fishes!

2009-03-16T12:51:00.000-07:00

Yup, as the subject heading reads, Sunday was spent walking amongst the fishes at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach with a few of our Cold Tofu'ers. I couldn't even start to tell you how many "Otter" jokes were made, so I'll just show you some photos:

Helen, basking in the sunlight. We are at the "beach" after all. Well, kinda.

Part of our gang, post aquarium visit, right outside the entrance. Note the big guy in the middle holding his tiny leafy sea dragon stuffed animal in his hands.

The gang in front of the sea otter tank. I think they were more interesting to watch.

An actual sea horse! Our friend Steve wants to start betting on these.

Saw this kid up against one of the tanks and had to photograph him.

Steve and Wanru inside the Lorikeet exhibit.

Wanru with a new friend.

Wanru doing her best lorikeet impression.

Aaron and Steve feeding the lorikeets. Steve (on the right) is really happy.

Check out the colors!

All that bird did was eat!

Helen posing.

The first tank you see when you walk in.

Thanks to Denise for the invite and tickets! Great times y'all!!!

Theara & Gail got married!

2009-03-16T11:46:00.000-07:00

Yes! The big day has finally come and went, and what a spectacular day it was! Theara and Gail got married at the fabulous French Estate in Orange, Calif. A quaint, French styled bed and breakfast with a beautiful backyard used for weddings. The owner, Sarah, was a cool person to work with, and even gave me a step ladder to shoot from after the wedding. It's the small things that count :)

To make the day go seamlessly as usual, was the incomparable Amafel Andaya from Signature Event Agency, who helped me with Kevin and Tina's wedding back in August of last year! If you need a GREAT wedding planner, coordinator, decorator, shoulder to cry on, or cheer leader to help motivate you through the wedding planning, etc. Amafel's your gal! Thanks Amafel for everything :)

Needless to say, Theara and Gail were AWESOME! And their bridal party was a definite blast to work with all day, saying yes to all my requests, and looking fabulous throughout. A big shout out to both the guys and gals for being troopers all day, and for giving me their best "Zoolander" poses, and "Vogue" looks. All too sexy!!!

Have a great time in Jamaica you two :) And thanks for letting me be a part of your day.

Now on to some photos!

Note to self (and all grooms to be) - THIS is the way to wear shoes on your wedding day. Gail's Nikes. Sweet!

I love this photo of Theara's boquet :)

The groomsmen looking tough holding the bridesmaids' flowers.
Seriously guys, you still look masculine. Seriously.

The beautiful bride :)

Gail doing his best (and even better!) Michael Jordan impression.
Check out those hops!

Can I be so lucky to work with such a beautiful set of bridesmaids for a day?!!

The entourage. Enough said!

My favorite shot of the day :)

Congratulations again you two! Thanks for a terrific day :)

Sneak peak at Theara and Gale's E-session

2009-03-02T11:58:00.000-08:00

Had the awesome opportunity to photograph my latest wedding couple, Theara and Gale yesterday at the Queen Mary in Long Beach. Here's a sneak peak at one of the images, with more to come soon!

Have a terrific day everyone!

Another Tour of Cali for me!

2009-02-23T20:37:00.000-08:00

Stage 7 of the Tour of California. Pasadena Rose Bowl finish. Enjoy!

Not sure who this is, but by the looks on his face, he put in one heck of an effort!
(Post finish photo)

This is my favorite shot of the day.
The rider to the immediate right of the flyer is Lance Armstrong.

The man himself. Kinda hard to catch a speeding bullet!

Lance's Astana cycling team controlling the last few laps of the race.

Let's see, nice bike = pretty girls, right?

I'm not sure if you heard all the hubbub about Lance's bike getting stolen, but this is the actual bike everyone was talking about after it had been recovered. It doesn't show in this photo, but as the day went on, throngs of people were talking photos of this bike!

The same bike, with a special inscription made for Lance by the designers.
Kinda IRONIC don't you think?

I've got an engagement shoot this upcoming weekend for some new clients of mine that I am looking so forward to! We're shooting at the Queen Mary - woo hoo!!! More photos to come from that shoot next week. Have a great week everyone, and thanks for stopping by!

More Super Bowl photos

2009-02-03T20:54:00.000-08:00

I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

I guess this is how it was during the 40's when 3D glasses were "cool".

Chef Boy-pat-ties.

The all American Super Bowl menu. Jason G. digging in!

Meat. And lots of it.

Our "losers" bracket competitors right before their game. We totally rooted for Tamlyn for this!

Tamlyn getting into it. Pete won unfortunately. You'll see why later.

Our commissioner, Vic with the final brackets of our tourney.

This is Jennie, right before she closed the door on her pantry re-organization project.

Tamlyn wearing the headgear to the losers' prize.

Now if a hot "chick" like this wanted to wrestle you, would you?!!!
The ultimate loser of the losers' bracket had to wear this wrestling singlet, along with the afro. Hence we wanted Pete to lose, and not Tamlyn. Oh well, eye candy is, EYE CANDY!

The Winners' bracket, David and Laura duking it out.

Once again, the Commish with our winners bracket contestants.

Photo op!

CJ, Pete and Jay astounded by the game play they're watching!

And finally, this is Berlin. How cute is this!
That's Lily on the right trying to get B's graham cracker.

Have a great week everyone :)

3D? Seriously?

2009-02-02T17:44:00.000-08:00

More to come from Super Sunday in the life of Mike Palma. But here's a sneak peak. Yikes.

3D supposedly really works according to this group.

Weekend shooting! I mean, photography :)

2009-01-25T19:02:00.000-08:00

Happy Sunday everyone! Just wanted to share with you all some shots from this weekend. I've been trying some new things with strobes and what not a better group of people to try them out on than the members of Cold Tofu! Check it out!

Alden V. - He NEVER takes a bad photo. NEVER.

Aaron, doing his best "Che" pose. Kinda works doesn't it?

Denise. I like it, do you think she will?

Jully, trying to bone up on her improv right before our show last night. Yeah right!

Robert. Roberto. Covey. Bobby Covey.

This is Lindy. Had a terrific headshot sitting with her today. Look for her soon on the big and small screens!

Gotta love the rain puddles :)

Okay folks! Hope you all had a terrific weekend! Please leave a comment if liked what you saw. Thanks to everyone for letting me shoot them :)

One month to the day!

2009-01-23T21:46:00.000-08:00

Okay, I admit it, I've lagged over the past month with my posts, what with the holidays (and over abundance of food!), the horrible cough/cold/flu I caught, and the awesome new era with Obama as our president (woo hoo!). Suffice it to say, I'm back! And if you're reading this, thanks for checking back to see if I'm still around :)

Since my last (non-photo) post, I've been shooting, as usual. Doing a lot of family photos, headshot sessions, a Disneyland trip, day to day stuff and most recently, an impromptu session with a good friend of mine, Denise. Denise was nice enough to take me along to the "Vanity Fair Portraits" exhibit at LACMA last friday, and with all those wonderful photos hanging around, how could one NOT be inspired to shoot! Of course I had my camera with me, so with what light I found, she and I turned a few moments into a shooting session. Take a look:

Probably on the phone with her agent. So L.A.

Our parking garage studio session.

You didn't really think that there was just one Denise did you?

Last but not least, my buddy Aaron T. You may have seen him recently in Jim Carey's "Yes Man".

Alrightee then! What a start. I've got a lot of portrait sessions coming up, and a wedding! Woo hoo! Can't wait :)

Until next time, Happy New Year (23 days late), and happy Obamanation!

Happy Holidays Everyone

2008-12-23T21:39:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to drop everyone a line and wish you all a safe and happy holidays from M Palma Photography. Thanks for tuning in all year, and watch out for more great photos next year!

All the best,

Mike

Clubbin' at 33!!! (Photo Heavy Post)

2008-11-24T10:21:00.000-08:00

"It's a small world after all..."

Yes, for most, if not all of us, the lyrics to that famous song is one that we have all experienced at one time or another in our lives, at the happiest place on earth, Disneyland!

This past Saturday, Helen, Aaron and myself were invited by our good friend Jim, to go to Disneyland's uber-exclusive Club 33, located in New Orleans square. It was my second time there, but each time is such a treat! (Click on the link to find out more about why it is so exclusive!)

There's too much for me to say about the evening, so I'll let the photos themselves do the talking for me.

(Note: all images have been downsized and reduced in quality for internet purposes. I've had some "photo theft" happen to me lately, so I'm not putting up high quality versions - sorry!)

Aaron in the Trophy Room dining area.

Legend has it that the vulture on the right was supposed to be an audio-animatronic version where Walt Disney himself would talk through to entertain his VIP guests. (Located in the Trophy Room)

Entrance into the Trophy Room area

Aaron and Helen in front of Club 33 and Helen doing her best "33" gang signing.

The display cabinet filled with Club 33 goodies you can buy (and sell on e-bay!)

Allastair - our waiter and LEGEND at the Club. If you ever get to go, he's the best! Seriously!

The hallway leading to the main dining room.

Aaron holding our uber-expensive bill. Yikes!

Aaron striking a GQ pose at the fireplace next to our table. Note the "hey ladies, I'm at Club 33" expression on his face.

The Main Dining room area. This is where you want to eat cause it overlooks New Orleans square and the Rivers of America. Hard to get a reservation here, but we did! Thanks Jim!

Helen and I with the Club 33 menu.

Aaron and I contemplating "borrowing" these items for use on e-bay.

After having spent the evening with great friends and food (as we all should do!), we were treated to the rare opportunity of walking back to the entrance of DL with the park empty, save for a few security guards and other late stragglers. I had never experienced this before in all my years at the park, and it was an awesome thing to do. Strolling down main street with no one around you. You bet I took pictures, but I am only posting this one.

When have you ever seen Main street this empty?

I'm still recovering from the great food we had saturday, but in the mean time, I'm in a show! Check out Goldstar.com for "Holiday Fever" in it's 4th year. It's happening at the Secret Rose theater in North Hollywood and we run from Nov. 28 till Dec. 20, 2008, Thursday through Saturday at 8:00pm. It's a fun show, great acting and singing, and you get to see me in a unitard. Yikes.

Have a great Thanksgiving holiday everyone if I don't talk to you till then.

A New World

2008-11-05T09:02:00.000-08:00

YEAH BOY!

As you know, today is the day after the US Presidential elections, and thank God Barack Obama won! I'm not one for politics really, nor am I someone who would push my views upon others, but hey, the BEST candidate one, and we can all believe and hope again for a better future! Nuff said! Hopefully, you all had a chance to see the following photo firsthand yesterday, and if you didn't, don't complain if things don't work out the way you figured it should!

Okay, I know it has been a solid month since my last entry (which was one of my favorites BTW, for that one swelled with Filipino pride, as the above swells with USA pride.) Since then I've finished building up my new speed-weapon, the Cervelo P2C (she's a beaut!), attended a photo-workshop (images to come), and witnessed history! That's a pretty good number of things to have done! Oh, not to mention having dressed up as Billy Idol for my buddy's "Rock Band" Halloween party last week, rebel yell baby! I'm behind on all the posts, but I'll try to finish strong for the rest of the year.

Anyway, here's a photo of my new baby (in the most figurative sense possible!)

She's not for rent BTW. Looks fast though doesn't she?

Before I leave, just wanted to let everyone know to check out a few things happening this month.

Thursday, November 6, 2008 - Cold Tofu presents "Edamame Lounge" at the Japanese American National Museum's Democracy center in Little Tokyo (Please check ColdTofu.com for details)

Saturday, November 15, 2008 - Cold Tofu's monthly improv show at the Maryknoll Catholic Center (Please see website)

VOTE AGAIN for Cold Tofu for "Best comedy improv troop" in MYFox LA's on-line survey.

Lastly, the new show I'm in, "Holiday Fever" open November 28th at the Secret Rose theater in North Hollywood. Check out GoldStar events for more info!

That's it for now folks, and here's to a new president!

The Pride of two nations

2008-10-08T09:33:00.000-07:00

Okay, first off, I have to apologize for lagging a bit in terms of having some new entries. As we all know, life has a way of getting in the way (as does laziness!). Rest assured though, after a long absence from the blogosphere, you can expect a huge photo post of my recent happenings! And there have been a few.

Let's see, since the last post, I finished another short film with Cold Tofu called "Frothy Sea-Men", which is soon to be released on CTV. I'll leave the explanation to the final product. Good times though, funny stuff.

I "climbed" our local Mt. Wilson, via Angeles Crest on my bicycle. 20 miles one way, uphill ALL THE WAY. Took me two hours to go up, and 45 minutes to go down. Gotta love that gravity!

And then, yesterday, I had the rare opportunity to cover a press conference. Not just any press conference, but for you boxing fans, it was for the big Oscar de la Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao fight happening in Vegas on Dec. 6, 2008. What a cool gig! My good friend Jenni (of Eventworks fame) asked me to cover the event for her company, and what a treat it was. Smack dab in the middle of East L.A., home to Oscar de la Hoya, and the throngs of de la Hoya boxing fans. Needless to say, I definitely was in the minority of those rooting for the Philippines' national hero, Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao, so much so, that I took a photo of all of us, which I believe could be counted on one hand. The de la Hoya fans were cool about it though, and both countries' flags waved side by side (Mexico and the Philippines, and an American flag too).

Throughout the 2 hour press conference, it was interesting to see the pride that the de la Hoya fans had (or East L.A.'ers), for here was their hometown boy, who literally grew up on their streets, went to their schools, ate at their restaurants, who made a name for himself world-wide as one of the most famous boxers of all time. Oscar was definitely proud of his East L.A. heritage, giving "shout-outs" when he could, and even exclaiming how he would "take East L.A. to [his] grave". Now that's loyalty. And to top it all off, when all was said and done, he treated his old neighborhood to free tacos for two hours at a local taco shop called "Porky's". What a guy!

On the other hand, there was the pride of the Philippines, Manny Pacquiao, who, like de la Hoya, came from ultra-modest means, perhaps even living in squalor in the Philippines, to also become a national and international hero. I couldn't help but feel the pride of having a filipino icon in front of me representing the land of my forefathers. Plus, he too was an all around nice guy! Very respectful of the Oscar (and vice-versa) and to the crowd as well. You gotta give it up to my peeps! Besides, he's going to kick Oscar's @$$ come December 6, so too bad de la Hoya fans! Ha!

Okay, so here are a few photos from the event. I've shot more recently, but I thought that these were cool.

There weren't many of us, but my peeps sure do know how to show their pride, even in "hostile" neighborhoods! (Note the non-smiling East L.A.'ers)

This kinda reminded me of one of the "Rocky" movies, where Rocky was full of himself, and totally underestimated his opponent (I think it was "Clubber Lang" - Mr. T. back then)
Manny was respectful and friendly to Oscar, but by the expression on his face here, he AIN'T having it!

The Golden Boy working his hometown crowd. Ah, how sweet!

Some guy named George Lopez MC'd the event.
Note again how Pacquiao's face is "all business". Yeah boy!

I didn't get this gentleman's name, but after speaking with a few of Pacquiao's fans, it turns out that he's Pacquiao's adopted father. You can see the pride in his face as he watches Manny speak. I like the patriotism in this shot too.

The pride of the Philippines, Manny Pacquiao.

East Los Angeles. 'Nuff said!

I like to use the term "Rock Stars" alot cause it's one of the highest compliments I can give a person, and Jenni (left) and Michelle (right) are definitely that - Rock Stars!!! Thanks Jenni for the opportunity to photograph for you. And hey, all of you who need a BIG time event coordinator, contact Eventworks for the hook up! Aren't these two hot?!

After all was said and done, and I made my way back to my car, I couldn't help but notice this left-over Birthday sign auspiciously greeting me over a concrete wall. Sometimes, you just have to keep your eyes open for the signs that life gives you.

Last but not least, my new piece of speed weaponry, the 2008 Cervelo P2 Carbon - woo hoo!!!
Happy Birthday to me, happy birthday to me...!

"Great show tonight kid, you really pack in a crowd."

2008-09-22T10:43:00.000-07:00

Ah yes, Film Noir. That oh so short lived era of film where deception, deceit, seduction, murder and death were relative topics when combined with some pretty fierce sexual undertones. (Wait a second, wasn't that just on a recent episode of "Gossip Girl" or something?!)

This past weekend I had the great opportunity to work on a sketch written by our own Corinne Chooey for Cold Tofu's "CTV" channel debuting on YouTube right now. (The title of this post is a line from our script). Our sketch, entitled "Forbidden City Rhapsody" is the story of starlet Lorna Tong (skillfully played by our good friend Contrary Mary, Denise), who un-be knowing to her husband, is having an affair with club owner Barkley Lau, played by moi. The short scene takes place in Lorna's dressing room right after her show. It plays out as Barkley's attempt to get Lorna back into his arms despite the fact that she's married and has subsequently moved on (kinda).

I've never done a film noir "film" before, and I have to say that this was fun! Not only was I able to dress up in period costume (a tux, a white scarf AND greased down hair!), I was able to use film noir-ish dialog to convey sexual undertones so prevalent of the era. It was awesome! And to top it all off, my co-star, Denise had the incredible opportunity to kiss ME on screen and on film! How cool is that for her?! Superb I say! Superb!

Great times everyone! I'd like to thank Dom our director for choosing me to play the role of Barkley Lau, Corinne for writing the piece, Johann for shooting it, Aaron for holding up the mic pole for us, Sachiko for helping us out with costumes, Kennedy for being a terrific PA, and Wanru for being our script supervisor. Did I miss anyone? I hope not! If I did, thank you for all your help with the production!

The raw footage is being edited right now, but once it's out, I'll definitely put a post out on where to view it. Actually you'll find it right here. Do check out our other two videos posted up on it already. I have a quick postman cameo in one of them.

And now, on with the photos from the shoot!

Denise, as the "strikingly beautiful" Lorna Tong.

Trust me, it takes muscles to hold up a boom mic like this. Way to go Aaron.

Dom directing the eccentrically hot Wanru for her scene in Forbidden City.

After all that kissing, Denise definitely had to re-apply more lipstick.

Writer Corinne and director Dom (seated) looking at their monitor during filming.

Another shot of Denise prepping for the camera.

My favorite shot of the day, Wanru about to make her entrance into the scene.
I just love her expression and the lighting on her!

Camera man extraordinaire, Johann Diel.

Finally, I'd like to give a HUGE shout out to ONE month old Amelia, who had her 1 month celebration yesterday. I posted about her a month ago and boy has she grown! Thanks for the invite John & Stef :)

Despite the love, adoration and gifts bestowed upon Amelia yesterday, I have a feeling
she was thinking more about getting some good sleep! You rock kiddo!

Thanks for stopping by today gang, and please do leave a comment if you liked the photos or post!

I'll Explain this photo tomorow

2008-09-21T21:11:00.000-07:00

The Artist's Life

2008-09-11T10:31:00.000-07:00

Whew! What a past couple of weeks it has been! Not only did I shoot two weddings (with one more on the way this upcoming weekend), I've been trying to catch up with a lot of post-production stuff affiliated with all this shooting! Needless to say, I'm busy. Then again, it's better than not being busy.

For those of you who know me, not only am I a photographer, but I've been a professional actor now for a large part of my life, and I attribute that experience and training to the images I capture as a photographer. I believe that in order to be a well rounded person (not the "I ate too much" variety) one should experience as much as possible in this life. I say this cause with my improv group, Cold Tofu, I'm able to explore different beings, scenarios, relationships, etc. and have too much fun in the process! I've blogged about this before, and I blog about it again, cause last night concluded our session with the incomparable Tracy Burns (not to be mistaken with this Tracy Burns, but a hottie nonetheless). Tracy has worked with us in the past, and with this session she worked with our A-Team on some super-secret-government-only improv training that was not only fun, but super hilarious! I could describe what we learned to you right here, but it's better seen than read (plus, I'd have to kill you anyway).

I think I may have posted past sessions with Tracy before, but this time, I wanted to try something different with our last class photo, so I set these shots up. Thanks to Tracy and the guys in class for going along with me. I think it turned out great!

Despite Tracy's expert teaching, some of the guys STILL don't get it.

In the end though, we all love us some T.B.!

A special thanks goes out to Tracy for spending 8 weeks with us! You rock! We'll do "Corn" with you anytime!

That's it for now folks. I'll try to get up some more images from my last two weddings, particularly from Saki & Taka's wedding two weeks ago - I love these two! They're Golf Rock Stars! Plus, I had a great time at their wedding. Thanks again you two!

Till next time! Enjoy!

Kevin and Tina got married :)

2008-08-19T11:44:00.000-07:00

Yes folks, it's official - Kevin and Tina got married this past Saturday to the throngs of their many admirers both family and friends alike. And what a terrific day it was to boot!

The day started early for these two (as all weddings do, REGARDLESS of start time). Despite getting only about 3 hours of sleep, Tina and her lovely bridesmaids were ready, getting dolled up for their big day (well, Tina's big day that is).

As for the groomsmen, well, they were nowhere to be found, but I was told that they were doing what they were supposed to be doing, what, I'm not sure. Thankfully though, they all showed up at the church on time, and Kevin was there ready for his big moment as well.

Needless to say, the ceremony, photos and reception were terrific! So much emotion, color, action, etc. more so than what you'll find in the Olympics! (okay, that was a big comparison, but hey, we're in the midst of Beijing 2008 right now, so why not?) Overall, as with all weddings, it was AWESOME!

Before you get down to some of the photos of the day, HUGE shouts out go to Kevin and Tina for allowing me to be part of their day - I am so honored to have been chosen by you guys to document your wedding - thank you thank you thank you!; to the bridal party, for going along with whatever we had in store for you guys- muchas gracias; To Keri, for helping me out all day - Thank you! To Amafel, Jen, and Connie of Signature Event Agency, for making the day go by so smoothly - you guys ROCK, no, seriously, you guys ROCK!!!

And now, on with the photos!

I'm pretty sure Tina is going to hate me for posting this photo, but I thought it was cute.

Tina and her mom, putting on the finishing touches.

One of my favorites from the day. On her way to the church.

"I do."

I love these guys. We went to the Griffith Park Observatory after the ceremony for some
photographs, and decided to get this funny, set up shot of the two "waiting" in line to see the telescope.

I want an iPhone just so I can do this with my photos!

What makes this photo great is the little niece towards the bottom right.
I LOVE her expression.

The Ocampo boys (L-R: Kevin, Keith, and Kiernan) doing their best
"Cheese-zu" pose!

Trust me, the cake looked this delicious!

See, told you so.

Women who ROCK! The wonderful ladies of the Signature Event Agency
(L-R) Connie, Amafel, and Jen.
(Brides, and brides-to-be, trust me, hire these guys, it'll make your big day
go so much smoother!)

Ah, Amore!

Congratulations guys! Thanks for letting me be a part of your day :)

A Baby Blog Post

2008-08-12T09:33:00.000-07:00

It's an election year, so why not have a few photos of cute babies around?! Here's a post about our new friend Amelia :)

This past weekend, we were treated to a special meeting with one of the cutest girls you will ever meet! Our good friends John and Stefanie welcomed their daughter Amelia to the world last week, on July 31st, and boy is she a cutie! It's so amazing that all of us were her size at one time! Ah, memories...

The one thing I did notice was how much "daddy" time Amelia had with John, as he carried her most of the time. Then again, I don't blame him, since Stef had her for a whole 9 months! With all this fatherly affection, I definitely feel sorry for the would-be boyfriends who are going to show up at their door step some 18 years from now. Oh, did I mention that John is a master at using a knife since he's a certified chef? Hmmm...

Okay, now on with the photos!

I'm certain Amelia was sticking her tongue out at me cause
she knows I'll be photographing her every opportunity I get.

This is a third of what new borns do - EAT, sleep, and poo.

Amelia with her dad John.

Okay, now I thought this was funny, especially if you're a college football fan (Heisman).
However, I'm sure to hear it from the (female) non-college football fans.
Nice form there John, and way to go little football Amelia!

The happy family :) You ever notice how it's the moms who are usually the
most friendly looking when it comes to parents who have daughters? I guess the dads have to put
on the game face to ward off all the "Not good enough for my daughter!" would be suitors!

Everyone loves a newborn, especially when that somebody is your grandmother (holding Amelia)

Can you spell "S-P-O-I-L-E-D"?

Congrats to Stef and John and thank you for introducing us to your new bundle of joy! And welcome to the family Amelia!

Marquee today, billboards tomorrow?

2008-08-05T10:41:00.000-07:00

Last Friday night, my pals the 18MMW opened up their new show entitled "Just Like White People!" here in L.A. to a sold out opening night crowd on theater row. The sketches were hilarious, the laughs horrendous, and the acting, superb. Those guys did a fantastic job, and should you be in the L.A. area, definitely check their website for details on their show.

If you're wondering what the title means, well, I ask that you go and watch the show. If you're unable to, let me tell you that the 18MMW are an Asian-American Sketch Comedy group. You can deduce from there.

Nonetheless, I was quite honored and surprised to see on of my photos of them on the marquee outside the theater! It's the largest photo I've ever had enlarged, and it kinda brought a tear to my eye. Photos are just like children, you create them, you nurture them (via photoshop), you let them go, and they go on to live large lives somewhere, whether on a mantle, shelf, or perhaps on the outside of a small theater for the world to see. Ah, sigh...

(My apologies to all my readers who have children, as I do not. Plus, I'm pretty sure most kids never end up living on a mantle or shelf)

So here it is, my "baby", all growns up.

Sniff, sniff...

In closing, do check out the Warriors' website, and go and see their show. They're funny.

Oh, and in one more month, Cold Tofu will be back to their regularly scheduled shows in Little Tokyo as well! Check us out too!!!

I GOT KISSED!!!

2008-07-31T20:58:00.000-07:00

Ah yes, it was back in the 7th grade, spring. "Like" was in the air, and the lucky girl was... WHOA! Wait, wrong story! Sorry!

What I mean to say is that I received my first Kiss wedding book! Hooray!!! It's my first album, and I'm so impressed by the quality and build of it. Kudos go out to the gang at Kiss Wedding Albums for doing such a fantastic job. You guys ARE rock stars!

This album is for Michelle and Rene, and I am so eager to get it to them for them to keep and share with future generations, particularly since Michelle is due pretty soon! I am honored to have been that person who photographed their wedding for their offspring to experience and enjoy. Thanks again guys.

Okay, and now for the Kiss Album!!!

You can tell I'm a geek cause I actually photographed the entire box opening.
Here it is after the bubble wrap and foam pop-corn.

It has that new leather scent and is so elegantly made!

Nice thick pages make for heirloom quality!

Seamless center folds make for nice transitions from spread to spread.
Oh, and this spread of Rene and his best buddy Jake is one of my all time favorites
(Jake is the four legged guy in the photo)

Ah, sweet, luscious, Italian Leather. Awesome. It's... Incredible.

I am so happy with Kiss that I'm certain to be using them again for my future albums. What's cool is that they also come in different colors! Not just black! Red, lime, etc. I'll post my sample albums in the future.

Now go get kissed!

Man, I GREW UP in the 80's!!!

2008-07-29T09:59:00.000-07:00

Yes, as the title of this post implies, I was a child of the 80's. The 1980's. It was a decade of the Los Angeles Olympic games, my first real girlfriend, graduating from high school, getting a scooter to get around L.A. with, and heck, even starting college happened in the 80's for me. It was an era of Michael Jackson, MTV's birth, and Reaganomics. Ah, what a decade... I do miss those days. Gas was under a dollar, and my family and I were driving around in this cool orange Toyota Corolla. Memories, like the corners of my mind.

Okay, enough reminiscing for now.

The reason I bring all this up is because I was asked to photograph for my friend Jenny these past two days for the company she works for - Eventworks. They do major event planning, and they needed coverage of their events happening at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel. These guys are top notch and spare no expense when it comes to events. Plus, not having worked with Jenny before, it was great to see her "large and in charge" - seriously! She was awesome to work for/with! You rock Jenny! And thanks for inviting me to the events :)

Here are three photos from Sunday and Monday's events. You'll see why I reminisced about the 80's in the second photo:

Living in L.A., we always get to see Marilyn Monroe and Charlie Chaplin hanging around at events. Don't these guys ever age?!!!

It's not even funny how big of a Prince fan I am, but to have him stand next to Cyndi Lauper and Boy George in full 80's gear?!!! That's BITCHIN' DUDE!!!

And as for Eventworks? This is how they ROLL!!!

Oh, and if the decorations weren't enough for Monday's event (not pictured) they even had Hall & Oates perform for the guests! I should have stayed and got my Hall and Oates on! Sadly I had to leave though cause I was hungry :(

Alrightee then. That was my weekend. You gotta love L.A. Now the countdown begins to Kevin and Tina's wedding on the 16th of August - woo hoo!!! Can you believe it's almost August already?

Have a great day everyone!

There's Disney, Lego, and NOW YOGURTLAND!

2008-07-25T09:50:00.001-07:00

Okay, so you're thinking, "What does Disneyland, and Legoland have to do with Yogurtland?" Well, it is now one of my favorite, all time (nutritional) amusement places to visit! Last week, my friend Denise introduced me to Yogurtland, which basically is a yogurt shop where YOU get to fill these tiny buckets up with different flavors of yogurt. Everything from Taro, peach, Cookies and Cream, Peanut Butter, Blueberry, Mango, etc.! Talk about sweet tooth overload! Then after filling your little bucket up, you head over to the condiment bar where you pile on the nuts, toppings, fruit, etc. to you heart's content! From there, they weigh your new found creation, and after damages (about 4 bucks), you sit down and enjoy your heavenly yogurt bliss. And OH YES, it IS heavenly! Dare I say, I'm an addict? Thank goodness I went for that two hour bike ride yesterday afternoon, whew!

This all came about because our good friend Pam (my cover girl on my wedding website splash page) was in town visiting from Las Vegas. It was so nice to see her again and her little bun in the oven (yes, she's half way through her gestation - that sounds weird to me). We had dinner at one of our favorite Little Tokyo haunts, Mr. Ramen (SUPERB food BTW, plus the owner is one cool guy who loves reggae, so he has it in the background while you enjoy your meal). Joining us was our friends Lane and Akiko, and later in the evening, Contrary Mary herself, gearing up for yet another night of Karaoke with Helen (Some things never change).

So here's a few photos from last night, sans moi cause I'm always taking the photographs:

The Yogurtland Gang - (L-R) Akiko, Lane, Helen, and Contrary Mary, Denise.
See the buckets?

Helen and Denise in front of yogurt utopia - Yogurtland!
I love Helen's "cheese" expression

This is our friend Lane. I know he'll hate me for this, BUT, ladies, he's single, he CAN dance (quite well), is a budding chef, and has a steady job. Did I mention he's single? Plus, despite being Japanese-American, he looks Filipino (like moi) which is another plus!
He gets the paparazzi in his face a lot, hence the "please, no photos" expression and hand gestures.

So that's it for last night's outing! Well, that and a few hundred more unneeded calories, but I'm working out today, so hopefully, it'll be gone (yeah right).

I'm shooting tons this weekend BTW, just got hired by Eventworks.com to do a two day stint at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown L.A., along with a reception I'm shooting tomorrow! Good times!!!

Have a great weekend!

A Few More From Kevin and Tina's E-Session

2008-07-24T12:26:00.000-07:00

Before you scroll down to see the photos, I have to say that I've been shooting like a madman lately! Had an E-session shoot with Liz & Ed my favorite Trojan Alumni couple, shot at no other than the universe's greatest college ever built by man kind, the University of Southern California. These guys came prepared with props and ideas! What a couple!!! Good times indeed!

This upcoming weekend I'm shooting a post wedding reception in the valley. Northridge. The HOT valley. Just ask Contrary Mary. She knows. Should be fun.

Lastly, is it just me or do people NOT adhere to laws? I'm still seeing a whole bunch of people holding their cell phones to their ears while driving! Sucks!

Okay, on with the photos:

Didn't I tell you before that I think my brides are hot?

And when you combine them with the groom, they get even hotter?

Lastly, I attended a wedding recently of some good friends of ours, and noticed their photographers working the ceremony. There were ONLY two of them. As a photographer myself, we make it a point to find new and interesting angles to shoot, preferably, DIFFERENT angles to shoot from. I thought that this photo was kinda funny considering that they are both standing in the SAME place.

Hmm...

Okay, that was cruel. These guys did have some great images though. For the sake of protecting the innocent, I'm not mentioning their names nor my friends who got married and photographed by them. Sorry!

Have a SWELL Thursday everyone, and shouts out to Liz & Ed, Kevin & Tina, and just for the heck of it, Contrary Mary.

The A-Team

2008-07-17T11:25:00.000-07:00

For those of you "old" enough to have watched the popular 80's show "A-Team", this post isn't about that. It's about Cold Tofu's Advanced Team members who are our "development" squad, or perhaps even considered the"farm team" of improvisers still learning the tricks o' the trade. Confident and capable of course, but are still in the "A-Team" to help their progression to the core/associate group - the regular performing cast.

Last night I sat in with them to work on my fundamentals as well, plus, we had the ever so spectacular Tracy Burns guiding the class! She rocks! Seriously!!!

Before class, as always, I had my camera with me and decided to do a few shots of some of the members of the class. It's great having "acting" friends, cause they're not camera shy, plus, they live to be in front of the camera!

Here's the gang hanging out before class - (L-R) Jason, Mike, Shanon, Carin

Jason and Shannon (rear) getting their spook on with Carin (front)

This is Carin. And behind her is Shannon.

Jason.

Mike V.
(We have two three Mike's in Cold Tofu, and this is the only one with the last letter of the last name being "V")

I'll be attending the A-Team classes regularly, so I'll try and get some portraits of the other members so you guys can see them. Till then, go A-Team!!!

Kevin and Tina E-Session and no less than FIVE wed photogs!

2008-07-14T20:23:00.000-07:00

I had an amazing time this past sunday photographing Kevin and Tina for their upcoming August wedding! Time literally flew by as we spent the afternoon in downtown L.A. getting these fun, cool images! By the time we looked at our watches, we had already spent three fun filled hours shooting in some of L.A.'s cool downtown spots. Below are a sampling of some of the day's "work" (not work really, but FUN!)

I absolutely LOVE this photo of Kev and Tina.

I wonder what kind of "work" Kevin does?

A "stolen" moment.

Gotta dig those stainless steel walls! Another stolen moment.

These two are really going places!

The sign says it all.

I think all my brides are HOT!

And my grooms aren't too shabby either!

Once again, the sign says it all. These guys are great!

This being L.A. and all, plus having some of the coolest buildings on the west coast, we literally ran into four other wedding photographers at some of the locations we shot at. They were all doing their thing, creating some pretty cool looking images. But then, while in the Little Tokyo area of downtown, low and behold, I ran into Joe Photo! How cool was that! He was shooting in downtown for the first time and enjoying the many unique places to shoot. Here's a photo of Joe, his couple, with Kevin and Tina. A shout out goes to Joe, great meeting you and your couple! You rock!

Joe's in the middle!

I really can't wait for their wedding in August. I'm certain it's going to be a blast! Thanks guys for the great time on sunday, and here's to you!

This is what it's all about isn't it?

Our Happy July 4th Eat-a-thon and other stuff

2008-07-07T18:17:00.000-07:00

It's Monday and I've since recouperated from the nutritional debauchery that was July 4th. Ah, holiday food, isn't it great?

We spent the day at our friend Denise's house and "celebrated" with some of her friends. We didn't really celebrate the 4th per say, heck, we didn't even see any fireworks, but we gathered for this momentous day in U.S. history to eat and relax by her pool, just like any other American would.

I was even able to photograph Denise in her garden. Yes, the same garden she blogs about on her site. You have got to check out the photos below to see her in action.

And what's the fourth without a baby? Denise's friends Heather and Christopher brought their cute little baby Nathan to the party and I went snap happy with him. Who could resist!

After all the eating, and pool time (none for me thank you, I'm dark enough!), we hit her TV room and watched the olympic swimming trials and a 20/20 feature about how to be safe this summer. The one thing I really got from it was to wear sunscreen! One that covers both UVA and UVB rays, and has some zinc oxide in it. I wish I could link the program, but I can't. Basically just wear sunblock! I wore some today before going to the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center pool, and I looked scary! But then again, it'll keep me looking non-leather faced when I'm 93. Go figure.

And now, on with the photos!

Here's "Contrary Mary" in her blog famous garden giving Helen and me a tour!

Here's Denise with one of her non-deformed vegetables. Oh, and the dress she's wearing?
That's her special "gardening" outfit. It makes her blend in with her vegetables so she can kill off
any threatening insects. Hmm...

The eggplant on our left is from Denise's all organic garden. The one on our right is from her friend Rhonda's non-organic garden.
We enjoyed eating the one on the right.

Even when these two songbirds aren't out singing, they still EAT karaoke!
(click on the photo and read the label on the ice-cream)

Ah, this is what July 4th is all about...
(Note Rhonda's large egg plants in the upper right)

Helen trying to get some sun.

Why not end with this adorable photo of baby Nathan.
Aren't babies cute?

Well, it's back to no more holidays until Labor day. Hope you all enjoyed your three day weekend.

I'm shooting a lot in the upcoming weeks! Beginning with some movie unit stills for a project for IKEA, then two engagement sessions, and a reception! I can't wait! I'll post them up when I get a chance.

Till next time!

Another round of photographic stuff!

2008-06-30T10:49:00.000-07:00

Whew! What a whirlwind of the past two weeks! I was able to photograph our friend Stef's baby shower, along with a few shots from my cousin's wedding AND to top it off, I had to MC two events in between all this fun!

I was also able to watch a preview screening of "The Dark Knight" with my friend Denise, and I have to say, it was amazing! When it comes out, I definitely recommend it to everyone, Batman fan or not! Heath Ledger's performance was beyond awesome as the Joker, it was downright terrific! And I'm NOT even a Batman fan! Needless to say, check it out.

So here are a few images from the past two weeks! Enjoy!

Here's my nephew Gregory at my cousin's wedding. Isn't he cute?

My cousin Ailene and my new cousin Robert!
Their wedding was held at the San Fernando Mission. Nice place!

The beaming mom to be, Stef, sportin' the baby bump!

As nice as this looks, I wouldn't eat it if I were you.

But I would definitely eat this one!

Finally, this is a photo of my Grandmother's house that sadly burned down last year in July. Thankfully, it is near completion, and will once again live up to it's glory as it did for so many years.
Even though my Grandmother won't be around to see it completed, I know that somewhere, she's happy that it'll continue to be part of our family. I definitely miss her a lot.

Have a great week everyone! And Happy Fourth of July!!! Be safe!

Not Sure Why...

2008-06-23T06:56:00.000-07:00

... but my last post didn't let me enable the comments section! Let me know what you think of it with this post.

Thanks for viewing!

MP

M Constantine Palma, ADVENTURER

2008-06-21T17:12:00.000-07:00

I recently uncovered an old photographic journal that belonged to famed adventurer/anthropologist M. Constantine Palma, about a little known "lost" tribe called the 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors. The journal and photos, which seemed to have been written many years ago, chronicles Mr. Palma's journey and discovery of the tribe. A very interesting read!

I figured I'd digitize it and share it all with you.

Let me know what you think of it!

Painted with light!

2008-06-20T09:26:00.001-07:00

With the help of my improv comedy cohorts, I was able to experiment last night using the "painting with light" technique I learned when I was studying with the Bodhisattva in Nepal last year. (Okay, so I didn't study with the bodhisattva, but it sounded cool!). I did learn this technique at the Anti-Workshop I took earlier in the year with the awesome Boutwell's and John Michael Cooper. It's still something of a "work in progress" but I think we got some good stuff last night.

Thanks to the gang for putting up with me, and for being my human mannequins. Enjoy!

J-Lau, Rob-Cove, Hota, and Jul-Lee getting their "still" on!
Check out their eyes! I had them hold their positions for about 22 seconds!
Nice work guys!

I call this one "The many faces of John Lau" with special guest A-Tak.
Came out pretty cool!

Finally, I want to announce that I've been given the privilege to shoot Kevin and Tina's wedding in August! I am super excited for these guys and am honored to have been chosen by them. Can't wait guys! Congrats.

It's been a while AGAIN!

2008-06-17T10:52:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to post for the past few weeks, but life, and a lot of photo shoots lately have had me busy. No fear, cause I've finally found some time to post some images from the past few weeks! Thank goodness!!! Before I do, some news and updates:

- Cold Tofu's last show before our summer "break" will be this saturday, June 21, 2008 at the Maryknoll Catholic Center in Little Tokyo. For those of you who have never been out to one of our shows, here's your chance! We'll be back to our regular monthly show schedule in September, so get your improv fix before then! Check out the website!

- I recently purchased the Boutwell's TRA2 actions for photoshop and they are awesome!!! Check them out!!!

- My cousin Ailene and her fiance Robert are getting married in 2 weeks. I shot a portrait session with them last weekend for their table give-aways. Congrats you two!!! (photo below)

- Check out my friend Denise's Garden Blog - "How Does My Garden Grow?" and give her some green- thumb- botanical- love while you're at it!

- I am so happy to announce that I will be shooting my good friends Liz and Ed's wedding in September!!! Woo Hoo!!! Happy days!!

- We recently purchased a Crate and Barrel Loop 6 drawer dresser. Took a while, but we finally got it. Just so you know. Oh, and thanks to our friends Stef and Steve for the great gift cards we used to buy it! We'll think of you both when we get our clothes out.

Okay, I think that's it for now. I'm sure I'm leaving a heck of lot out, but hey, that's life. Enjoy the photos!

This is Kevin. He's funny.

My cousin Ailene and fiance Robert.

"The 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors" photo shoot for their upcoming show.
They're funny too.

There are more photos, but I only had time to post these. BTW, they were all "massaged" in photoshop with the Boutwell's TRA2 actions! Cool huh? More SOONER than later!

The Elliiot Smith Wall

2008-05-29T20:34:00.000-07:00

For years I have been driving by this wall located on Sunset Blvd. here in Silverlake, never thinking much of it, other than why was there so much graffiti on it? Plus, it was located on a wall for a speaker repair service shop (not that that matters).

It wasn't until my sister Sarah finally told me what the significance of the wall was. It was a wall used on an album cover by an indie-rocker by the name of Elliot Smith, who sadly committed suicide at the young age of 34. Since then, his fans have used that wall as a memorial to his memory and music. On it, they have written notes of admiration and thanks, and have even placed candles and flowers in front of it in his memory.

For the longest time, my sister has wanted me to photograph her in front of this wall, and we finally had the opportunity to. So here's the Elliot Smith wall, with my sister Sarah in front it. This one's for you sis!

This last shot was done right next to the wall in front of some brush.
I just like it.

A Walk Down Eucalyptus Lane (for Naomi and Larry!)

2008-05-27T12:51:00.000-07:00

Ah, springtime weddings, aren't they great? Our good friends Naomi and Larry got married this past weekend at Eucalyptus Lane in Ventura, Calif., a cool little spot complete with an awesome barn for receptions, beautifully manicured lawns and gardens for weddings, and an old, southern "feel" to it, like a lazy summer breeze. It was a small(ish) wedding, with about 100 or so guests, and I think that is what made it so memorable. It was supremely planned and coordinated by our friends at DNT event planning (website pending), and they put their magic on display with all the great little details all over the place, including table settings, a candy bar, etc. It was a sight to see!

As a guest at a wedding (which I was), I love being able to walk around and shoot without anyone really looking at me cause everyone, (and I do mean EVERYONE) had a camera, big and small! Here are a few of my favorites from the day:

The ceremony area

Naomi and Larry, exchanging vows. Note how happy she is :)

Naomi hugging her Dad. I love this moment.

I love this look on Naomi's face :)

Rock on Larry!!!

Our table "cards".
The jam in these jars were made with love by Naomi's sister (and father too!)
I totally opened these up and had them with some dinner rolls - SWEET!!!

Naomi and Larry's table setting by DNT event planning.

Finally, our new friend at Cheesyphotobooths, had his Cheesy Photo Booth there and it was a hit!
Heck, we went in more than 4 times to get some really silly photos; this was our first. I'll post more in the upcoming days, it was so much fun and hilarious!!!

Congrats on your wedding Naomi and Larry! What a great time!!!

A Few from Suzanne & Ty's Wedding

2008-05-22T10:52:00.000-07:00

I know, it's been a few weeks since my last post, but needless to say, I've been doing a lot of shooting since then! I wanted to break the 3 week silence by posting up a few shots from Suzanne and Ty's wedding. It was such a gorgeous day, with a great venue (the Pelican Inn) and 26 of Ty & Suzanne's closest family and friends. I was definitely honored to be there to capture the entire occassion. I'll try and post more in the next few days, weeks, months, but until then, do enjoy these!

Suzanne and Ty a la "American Gothic"

The GQ boys - Ty, Derrick, Todd
(I really loved the row of mailboxes there!)

Suzanne's bouquet.

I'll have more to show you all soon. Until next time - have a great Thursday!

Saki & Taka's E-session

2008-05-02T13:12:00.001-07:00

Here's the link to Saki and Taka's engagement session this past weekend! Can't wait for their big day :)

Enjoy!

Saki & Taka E-Session Slideshow

I'm off to San Francisco this weekend to shoot Suzanne and Ty's wedding in Mill Valley. Should be awesome!

I'll post photos next week. Till then, have a great weekend everyone!

So I got to shoot this little shindig last night...

2008-04-29T07:59:00.000-07:00

After a busy weekend of shooting two fabulous couples, I was invited to shoot the annual East West Players dinner/fundraising gala last night at the Universal Studios Hilton. As always, it was a night of celebrating some of the Asian/Pacific-Islanders' best performers, humanitarians and volunteers among others. Here's a shot of me stepping outside of my photographic duties, along side two famous faces:

Russell Wong, ME, Carrie-Ann Inaba

Then there was this group of dancers that caused quite a ruckus both on and off the stage, along with some music producer on some singing show, who just happened to show up in front of my lens...

The Jabbawockeez and American Idol's Randy Jackson

Aside from the hubbub of all the celebrities and honorees, it was cool to see all my acting friends last night as well. Shout out to all the "homies" in attendance last night! (I'm trying to be "street" with that, cause that's how I roll!).

More to come! Have a great Tuesday everyone!

Hanging with the Pros!

2008-04-27T21:44:00.000-07:00

I had the utmost privlege of shooting Saki and Taka's E-session today! The former pro-tour golfers were a joy to work with, and so very fun to shoot! I'll have more from this session in the upcoming days, but enjoy this "save the date" shot.

Thanks for a fun day guys!

My Two Favorite Triathletes!

2008-04-27T01:30:00.000-07:00

One of the great things about living in southern California is the awesome weather we have almost year round, and today was definitely a "chamber of commerce" day! And what not a better way to spend this beautiful day then to shoot my good friends Suzanne and Ty's engagement photos.

The weather was perfect as we made our way around one of the many small parks located at our favorite training grounds - Griffith Park, home of the world famous Griffith Observatory and just a literal stone's throw away from the Hollywood sign.

Not only were we able to get some great shots at that little park area, these two active triatheletes took to their bikes and made some awesome action shots just up the roads on some steep hills! These guys are in great shape! (Then again, they need to be as their wedding is next weekend, plus, why not work out to get your stamina up for your big day?!)

Here's a preview of some of the shots we got today - enjoy!

I've got another E-session scheduled for tomorrow with another terrific and active couple, Saki and Taka, so be on the lookout for my post on them.

Have a great day everyone!

Michelle and Rene got married!

2008-04-22T10:52:00.000-07:00

Okay, it's been too long since my last post, and quite frankly, I'm tired of the previous post, and of that ridiculous photo of me. (Well, just a little). So much has happened since that last entry!

First off, I shot my first wedding of the year for Michelle and Rene. It was gorgeous (and hot!) day out in Palos Verdes at the Wayfarers Chapel. The day started early for all of us (4:00am for me) and went by rather quick! Here's one of my favorite photos of the early morning "getting ready" shots:

The lovely Michelle getting her make-up done

I love this one of Michelle's niece :)

Here's Rene (the Groom) and his best "man" Jake - note the cool black tie Jake has on!

Here's one of my favorites from the day :)

I'll post more soon! I've got tons to show you all!

2008-04-11T10:29:00.000-07:00

I must admit that for the most part, you'll seldomly see any photos of me on this site. It's not really by choice per say, but after a lifetime of performing and acting, and being the "center" of attention, I really don't have to see myself on my own blog every entry (with the exception of the blog header photo of course, and that's only so people can put a face on to my random scribblings here!).

I bring this point up because whenever I visit other photographers' sites, they too don't really "show" themselves, but rather the wonderful photos of their clients, families, friends, etc. Sure, they may have a shot here and there, but for the most part, we don't see them.

Well, last night, during my improv group's regular thursday night workshop, we had the wonderful Tracy Burns teaching us some of her super-secret, high-tech, I'd tell-you-but-would-have-to-kill-you stuff that I photographed. Now of course, I can't really show you all the photos, but here's one of yours truly in this highly classified teaching style!

Personally, I'm not really a big fan of this photo, but if kinda shows my Danny Kaye-esque posing style. Besides, gotta dig the Atari shirt!!!

Okay, now that I'm looking over this photo, I know why we photographers as a whole don't really post pictures of ourselves! Our job is to make YOU look terrific. (Besides, I get enough of face time in front of the mirror every morning - yikes!)

Alright, enough of me already! Anyhoo, tomorrow is a big day, for the wedding of Michelle and Rene is finally here! Hooray!!! I am very excited to shoot their big day, so much so that I did a reconaissance mission over to their wedding site yesterday, the Wayfarer's Chapel in Palos Verdes. Check out this photo:

This is the front entrant to the glass ceiling and walled chapel.
What a beautiful place to get married!

Okay gang, that's it for today. I have to get up early tomorrow morning at about 4:00am to photograph the big day. I'll definitely have some stuff up for you all on Sunday.

Have a great day!

Two Recent Photos

2008-04-05T23:21:00.000-07:00

Howdy everyone. Just wanted to post these two photos from the past two days. Enjoy!

Shot this at Disneyland yesterday. Cool huh?

Had dinner with our good friends Marc and MJ. Aren't these guys cute?!

Hip Hop and Debbie Reynolds

2008-04-02T12:16:00.000-07:00

In my ongoing effort to be a well rounded artist, last night I attended one of the many cool Hip-Hop classes at the world famous Debbie Reynold's dance studios in Studio City. There amongst the hallowed halls were posters from Hollywood's golden era, which included many that were actually signed by the stars themselves, including a vintage "Singing in the Rain" poster (with Gene Kelly's autograph!) and a more recent photo of Johnny Depp (with signature) in full Captain Jack Sparrow costume. How cool is that!

Oddly enough, despite all the movie achievements that Debbie Reynolds herself has accomplished, most of the students at her studio were more than likely unaware of who she is, and what films she has been in, let alone all the Hollywood greats that have stepped through the doors of the studio, that is, anyone pre-Johnny Depp that is! The reason being is that her studio has become a mecca for Hip-Hop classes. Can you believe that? Sure, they still provide jazz and ballet classes, and are even well known in L.A. for their tap dancing classes, but ask anyone who dances seriously, and they'll tell you that DR studios is one of the best places in town to do your THANG! So much so that they get an international clientele of students, mainly Japanese nationals (mostly women) who religiously take classes there. (I know this because they speak Japanese, and have that cool Harajuku Hip Hop style about them).

I've been taking dance classes for some time now, and used to go to DR studios quite often until I found the Edge PAC where I now am a regular. What's cool about DR's is the history of the lady herself and the studio itself. (Debbie is a huge collector of Hollywood memorabilla). I find it funny that most people don't even remember who she is! Trust me on this, as the average age of the students there are probably 20-23 years old, which is about a year or two younger than I am (yeah right!).

Nonetheless, it was a great class! I was getting my street cred' for the entire hour (being the ONLY asian/pacific islander guy in class, surrounded by Japanese nationals, and true hip-hop brothers). I held my own. It was fun, challenging and exciting through and through.

For all the artists reading this post, I strongly suggest trying something like this. It doesn't have to be Hip-hop, but perhaps something that'll bring a new level of creativity to your work. And if you're a photographer, these classes and moves will help you get those cool angles cause you can contort yourself into new shooting positions - righteous!

On a technical note, I'm lovin' my new D300! I really need to take it out on a real spin, and will be doing so at next Saturday's wedding gig I have for Michelle and Rene - I can't wait for their big day!

The front entrance to the studio. Note the two symmetrical statues that bookend the front stair - they are from a movie; I'm just not sure which one!

These are old movie model ships. Don't know from which movies, but you can tell that they had been used in film due to their scale and type. Neat huh?

Have a great day everyone, and thanks for reading, and do leave a comment if you have one!

Gold Boxes!

2008-03-28T18:38:00.000-07:00

Today, the wonderful Gold Boxes from Nikon arrived and just in time for wedding season! I'm so excited to use my new D300! As you can see from the photo, these things literally "walk on water" so to speak! (Okay, so I'm going a little too far with the biblical analogy, and please, I am NOT intentionally disrespecting Catholicism by using that phrase, so if I have offended anyone, please forgive me). I just love this new camera!!! Plus, I can't wait to use it on all the couples I'll be shooting this season - woo hoo!!!

Now for those of you who are not photographers, remember, cameras are just tools. They won't take pretty pictures for you, YOU have to MAKE those "pretty" pictures yourself (almost like the "guns don't kill people, people kill people" analogy. Gosh, I think I may be getting myself into hot water here again! Remember, I'm just quoting, and NOT make any political or religious belief statements!)

But if you are fortunate enough to have nice "tools" definitely use them. They make life easier and give you more options.

I'm stoked! Now all I have to do is go out and SHOOT!!!

More later as I put this piece of art through its paces this weekend!

Adios!

"I'm Too Sexy For This Shirt..."

2008-03-24T14:42:00.001-07:00

Yes, how many of you remember the song for which this blog post is named after? "I'm too sexy!"? I think it was Right Said Fred who sang it, and it became THE theme song for most runway models during the 90's. Heck, it still haunts me when ever I put on a loud shirt and strut back and forth from my full length mirror. (Okay, everything about that last sentence is true except for the loud shirt part- I gave those away back in the mid 90's after Structure closed).

The reason why I bring it up is because yesterday, during my buddy David's annual adult Easter egg hunt and party, my good friends Aaron and Jully just so happened to win these shirts. They liked them so much that they essentially wore them for the rest of the day and night. So I figured, why not use them as models and shoot them in their hard earned prizes.

The first shot above is both of them giving me their best super model poses. Note Aaron's "Zoolander-esqe door lean with glasses in mouth technique". Superb. Absolutely superb. Not to mention Jully's "suck in the cheeks to get that lithe anorexic model look" pose. Splendid, I say, splendid!

This shot is the perennial, "please look at me you sexy beast" pose. Definitely Jully's idea.

Finally, here's a shot I massaged in photoshop that makes it look like it came straight from a magazine. I kinda like it.

"I'm pretty sure there's a lot more to life than being really, really, ridiculously good looking."

In all seriousness, it was nice to hang out with my friends again after a pretty rough couple of weeks. We laughed and played, and laughed some more, and it was worth going out for. I'm glad I have such great friends in my life to get me through the hard times, even if they know it or not.

Hope everyone had a great Easter. Have a great day and check back soon for more photos from my life!

New Logo and Blog header

2008-03-22T23:14:00.000-07:00

Yup, it's official, I have a new blog header and logo! Hooray!

Just for kicks, here's my old header:

Although I still like the multiple photo looks, I figured I'd go minimalist with the new header.

Here's to the new header!

Happy Easter everyone :)

Le Grande Damme

2008-03-21T11:05:00.000-07:00

(First off, my apologies to my French reading audience for the (more than likely) wrong spelling of my subject heading - do correct me if it is wrong!)

Yesterday, I had an impromptu modeling shoot with the oldest "woman" in my life now, our beloved dog "Cutie".

It's been a month now since she's moved in, and it's been great having her in the house. Because of her age (15 Dog years, 105 human years if you go by the 1 year = 7 human years theory), she tends to be "clingy" (is that really a word?), constantly following us around the apartment, and attaching herself to our legs as we stand cooking or doing the dishes. Not that we're complaining, but she literally is acting like a cat (mostly sleeping, and then craving for attention that we constantly give her). It's nice to have another "heartbeat" in the house, especially when either Helen or I are alone. Although Cutie doesn't bark, let alone hear (she's pretty much deaf), it's nice to know that she's there to keep us company. (I really should buy one of those fake dog barking machines to ward off intruders, making them think that Cutie is this humongous dog).

So here's to our "Grande Damme" Cutie! She sure does photograph well, don't you think?

You've got to love that sweet old face :) A little snooty, but hey, she's 105!
Plus check out her rockin' bandana - how cool is that?!

It's tough being a model.

For those of you who have pets, go out and give them a hug, or a treat, or better yet, take them outside for a walk, anything! Let them know how much you appreciate their sweet little hearts that so unconditionally loves us so much :)

Have a great Good Friday everyone :)

More Anti-workshop photos

2008-03-19T09:19:00.000-07:00

Okay, first off, before I post the other photos I have from the Anti-workshop, I'd like to give a big shout out to Josh Solar of Josh Solar Photography. He correctly figured out the EASY abstract photo I posted yesterday (perhaps it is because of his keen eagle, photographic eye. Probably!) Do check out his site cause Josh is a master photographer and a swell guy to boot. Thanks for the comment Josh!

As said, here's another one of my favorites from last week's Anti-Workshop. It's of our lovely model/bride Rhiannon at the tatoo parlor. I dig the expression!

Just for the heck of it, another abstract shot. But this time, there's no need to figure out what it is. It's the building in which my "side" job is located.

Well folks, that's it for now. Thanks for reading and I'll "blog" you soon!

An Abstract

2008-03-18T19:57:00.000-07:00

In keeping up with my "picture a day" photo project, today's photo comes from my voice teacher's house (yes, I take voice lessons to better my photographic eye! LOL!). Seriously though, I saw this scene before me and I was taking your regular, run of the mill shots until I accidentally did this with my focusing. Taking a mistake and running with it, I created this abstract shot. Can you guess what it is?

(This is your opportunity all you blog stalkers to FINALLY leave a comment for me to read! Just so I know that somewhere in cyber space, someone is actually reading these entries. And even if no one is reading this, and the proverbial tree falls in the wood and NOBODY hears it (or is it chicken before the egg? who knows), that's okay. I'm writing to fill up cyber space and unintentionally clogging up the internet. Oh well. At least in 100 years, maybe somebody will stumble upon this blog and actually read it. Okay, my venting is done) Now go and guess what this image is!

Lastly, my new logo came in the "mail" last week and I've added it to the bottom right of the photo - SCHE-WEET! Let me know what you think of it. I'll be adding it to my blog header soon!

Have a great day everyone :)

What DOES a photography workshop look like?

2008-03-17T15:00:00.000-07:00

I'm sure all of you have asked yourself this same exact question countless times in your life right? What does a photography workshop look like? It's EXACTLY what you imagine it to be - a whole bunch of photographers looking into a scene, or model, graciously being taught by some (great, awesome, terrific) instructor. It's almost paparazzi-ish. In a good way.

Our last day at the Anti-Workshop had us shooting at the neon boneyard, which is a lot smaller than I imagined. All this time I thought it was as large as a couple of football fields! But no, it's just two sectioned off lots about the size of a mini-mall parking lot. What's cool about this place is the history of the signs that now lie in their own desert graveyard. You can actually see some of the old signs of hotels that have long since been demolished, or renovated. Artwork and architecture of a forgotten past. It's neat to see these old signs and to think that at one point in their lives, they lit up the night sky beckoning passerbyers to come on in and spend some money! (Isn't that why they're built?).

To shoot with these fabulous signs as backgrounds is awesome! Of course, in order to do so, you have to fill out a release form stating that you won't use the images commercially, etc. due to the fact that some of the signs are from companies that are still doing business today. A lot of leagalese sad to say. If you ever get a chance though, go visit them. You won't regret it.

With that said, here are a few photos of the "workshop" going on at the Neon Boneyard. Good stuff!

Here's a photo of John teaching us how to use "hard light".
There's another row of photographers to the right just off the photo

The "man" himself, John Michael Cooper - this brutha's got skilz!

In the middle here is Chenin Boutwell showing us her laid back, one knee on the ground, back bend, arm-raised photo technique!

Here's the dynamic duo of Mr. and Mrs. Doug Boutwell using studio lights to illuminate this scene.
Note the Anti-workshop paparazzi all over the place.

A close up of the Boutwells in action.

If any of you reading this is a photographer, with wedding photography in mind, I highly, and I mean HIGHLY recommend going to the Anti-workshop! Not only will you learn some great stuff, but you'll get to meet some of the nicest people in the Boutwells and Coopers. These guys exemplify what we should aspire to as professional photographers. Seriously!

So there you have it, the answer to this entry's question. Maybe next time I'll answer (and show) you what a anteater sees from the end of its snout. You never know!

THE ANTI-WORKSHOP IS DEAD. LONG LIVE THE ANTI-WORKSHOP

2008-03-15T15:08:00.000-07:00

Yes folks, the long anticipated Anti-Workshop for wedding photographers is done, and sadly, I'm on my way back to L.A. What a terrific time!

For those of you who don't know I'm talking about, it was a workshop that breaks the "normal" rules or photographic workshops. We got to shoot, hang out, drink, eat, shoot, critique, photoshop, drink, and oh yeah, did I say "drink" already? (I know, kinda ironic cause you guys know that I don't drink, but hey, everyone else did, PLUS when we posted a photo for critique and the instructors liked it, they gave us free drink cards to redeem at the adjacent bar!) How cool is that?

The workshop was taught by four fantastic instructors - Doug and Chenin Boutwell, and Dalisa and John Michael Cooper. These guys rocked and were some of the nicest people you will ever meet. Sadly, I missed the first full day of the workshop, but was easily enthralled by the rest of the days' schedule.

My first full day at the AW had us split in to random groups of 3-4 people to do a totally rad photo scavenger hunt using wedding couple models. I was teamed up with Toni, a super talented photog from Australia (I have to look through my stack of biz cards to find her site and link it) and Claire, a family photog all the way from Ireland (have to look for her card as well). For three hours we had the lovely and super cool couple of Derick and Rhiannon of Digital Studios in Las Vegas as our models. These guys rocked too! They were up to any of our suggestions and antics, and it made for some incredible photos. Here's a few of my shots from the day:

This was shot for the "with flash" portion of the scavenger hunt. I have to give credit to Toni for the concept, cause it was a team effort. I got a free drink card for this, but I gave it to her for the help. I really like the off camera flash work on this photo!

Our team won a few free drink cards for this shot of Derick and Rhiann0n in a tatoo parlor we paid to shoot in! No, that's not a real tatoo, but these two were so cool that if we had asked them to do it for real, I think they would have! Sweet!

Here's our "urban" shot. The two construction workers in the back were nice enough to let us use their sign. Plus, what a trooper Rhiannon was for going along with us!

This was shot on our last day, shot at the famous Neon Boneyard (where all the old Vegas neon signs now lay in pieces)

Okay, I definitely have more photos to post from this wonderful time, but, it looks like it's almost time for me to board good 'ol Southwest Airlines back to L.A. I just want to say thank you to everyone at the workshop, to all the other fantastic photogs that attended, to the Boutwells and Coopers. You guys are all awesome, and thanks for a terrific time!

Lastly, I'd like to especially thank John and Stef, Amy D., Michelle and Todd, the gang at the DWP and everyone else for their kind thoughts and generosity over the past week. My family and I really appreciate your kindness and friendship and would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts during this time. You guys are the best, and I am blessed to have you all in my life :)

More to come, trust me! Peace out!

My Grandma

2008-03-05T19:07:00.001-08:00

I think that the hardest thing to do in this life is to say "goodbye" to someone you love.

Today, after 91 beautiful years on the planet, my Grandmother passed away peacefully at my mom's house in Riverside. Unexpected, unwanted by those of us left behind, but altogether understandable and fitting for such a strong, sweet, beautiful woman who in my life I had never seen angry or sad, jealous or hurtful, but just always smiling, super-friendly, and always loving to whomever she may meet.

It was just a few days ago when I walked her over to my mom's car before they left to go home. What's sad about this life is that we never know when the "last" time will be for anything. At least in those few moments when she held my hand as I walked her to the car, we both knew how much we loved each other without ever having said it. And in her sweet, loving way, just as I closed the door, she said "Be good", something she always said to all of us before she left. And as I write this now, her caring voice lingers in my mind with those same words, "Be Good". If you think of it, it encompasses everything we should be, or do in this life, whether it be towards others, or for something you are working towards. "Be good" at whatever you do, life or otherwise. Such a simple phrase, from an enormous woman of 4'0.

I always believed or thought that my Grandmother would be around forever, as all grandchildren do. I was just telling her last week how easy it would be for her to reach 100 due to her vibrancy and strength. I'm pretty sure she could have. Yet it was her time to go, her time to meet up with my Grandfather again after so many years, to once again hold hands and take care of each other in a place where they won't feel pain, or have any more worry. As with all family members who pass away before us, I'm certain they don't want us to grieve for them, but to always remember them lovingly and fondly. It's always so difficult because we get so used to having them around us throughout our entire lives; selfish because we don't want them to ever leave. Yet in the end, it's not us who decides when.

I will always love and miss my grandmother. For all the wonderful things she shared with me in this life, for all the smiles, and warm embraces, the loving gestures and especially for helping me be who I am today. It's never easy saying goodbye to a loved one, whether young or old, expected or not. I have been blessed to have her as my grandmother in this life, and I know that someday, I will see her again, smiling and asking me if I was "good". I'm certain I'll tell her "yes" and thank her for instilling that in me.

Thank you everyone for your kind thoughts and prayers. As they say, she's in a better place, and that the living should grieve for the living not the dead. I grieve for myself and my family, yet am so very thankful that I had this wonderful lady my entire life.

Fast Wheeling!

2008-03-05T08:09:00.000-08:00

(Denise, this one is for you.)

From the Tour of California. In the front of this peloton is the Astana team, and just off the back of this four man group is Levi Leipheimer, the eventual winner. Note the rain and the water spray off the backs of the wheels! Cool!

Here's a photo of one of the Astana riders. I'm not sure who it is, but it was taken right after the race finished. All the riders were headed back to their team buses to get out of their wet gear. Shoot, I wish I were able to do the same! I was drenched!

And for all the cycling ladies out there, here he is, out of retirement, the 40 year Italian sprinting god, Mario Cipollini, racing again with the Rock Racing Team. This guy is a rock star in the cycling world, even after having retired!

Also in attendance that day was Floyd Landis. For those of you who don't follow cycling, he was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title last year for alleged performance enhancing drugs. Oh well. Hey, but he still a guy who has "won" a TdF, so why not photograph him?

There are tons of other photos I took that day which include bikes (a whole lot of them), team cars, and other misc. stuff. Perhaps I'll post them in the future, but this last image sums it up for me:

Now if I can only get myself back out onto the roads...

Thanks for reading everyone! And if you can, go out and bike! It'll save gas, and get you fit! 'Nuff said!

A Table of Life

2008-03-04T16:28:00.000-08:00

Yes, it has been a few weeks since my last entry, and as always, so many things have happened to me. The photo you see here is our Noguchi coffee table, (not an original, so don't get too crazy if you click on the link). On it, you'll see an array of things that may seem like a messy pile of stuff, but if you really look at it, this is what my last few weeks have been comprised of.

One of the first things you will see is the MyPublisher.com book. I finally received the photo albums for my friend Carry's parent's 50th anniversary I shot last December. They came out great except for a typo on their part. You can see the album under the headphones.

Next to that, on the left are my new used Xbox 360 games, FIFA Soccer '08, and Madden '08. I had Madden '08 earlier, but my Xbox ate it up, so I had to get a new one. The FIFA game is awesome. Why not play "Football" both nationally and internationally at home on your Xbox? I do!

Next to that is my most recent issue of Cycle Sport, which covers all the upcoming season's races. Two weeks ago I stood in the rain watching the final stage of the Tour of California. It was worth it. I got to see some of the most famous European pros cycle around the Rosebowl, a place I run around a lot. Wow. Tour de France Riders following the same path I run on. Out of this world!

Finally, to the right of the table is Cutie's bed. She's been great with us here. Helen brought her to work last friday and won the hearts of everyone she met. She's really becoming a big part of our life here, and to be honest, it's great. I love the fact that however long she lives, she'll do so with much attention and love. I took down the original post about her being brought to the animal shelter a week ago, but for those of you new to this part of the "story" Cutie is 15 years old (in dog years, 105 years in human years! Now that's old!).

I'm headed out to Vegas next week for the Anti-Workshop. It's this awesome wedding photographer workshop where we'll be working on our shooting skills, meeting new people, and taking some awesome shots! I can't wait. I'll try and blog while I'm there, and not wait so long to do so like I did here. I'm excited to go!

That's it for now. Thanks for reading, and have an awesome day!

Twists and Turns

2008-02-23T20:56:00.000-08:00

For the past few weeks, I've been trying to blog about the stuff that's been happening in my life. And boy have things happened. To name a few, I was able to meet the VP of casting at NBC, I did a "photowalk" of Chinatown to test out a new lens, I did some voice-over work for a local Japanese Confectionary, AND I almost lost my dog of 15 years! Needless to say, it has been one heck of a roller-coaster of emotions the past few weeks, and I think things are finally settling down. Whew.

I originally had a post up the other day about my dog "Cutie", about how we almost lost her, but the good news is, she is coming to live with Helen and I, and live out the rest of her days pampered and spoiled as all great family members should :) I'll post up some photos of her when the time comes.

Today is Saturday, and I'm spending it at home. A nice quiet evening just "being". We should all have more days like this.

Oh, and I was able to meet again with Saki and Taka to take a look at their wedding site. It is going to be awesome! They're having it at Taka's parent's home and I think it is going to be a terrific day. Those two are a great couple!

So without saying anything else, here's a photo I took yesterday. Aren't sunsets nice?

Till my next blog entry :) Have a great day and stay up :)

Too Much Fun!!!

2008-02-06T11:23:00.000-08:00

Once again, for the second straight weekend, my life has been turned up-side-down with too much fun! Of course, the term "fun" is relative, but for me, this past weekend was definitely filled with it!

First off, because it was Super Bowl weekend, our pals from up north and Texas came into town to spend the weekend over at David's, which, I knew from past events, would be spent playing video games, and eating obnoxious amounts of great food. Friday night started off with a trip to a local wine bar, where my good friend Mike R. gave me a lesson on wine tasting. (As most of you may not know, I don't drink alcohol, so this was HUGE for me) Oh, and I have now learned that I like dry, red wines. Who knew?! That lasted till about midnight, and afterwards, it was off to Casa d' Ono for the video game debauchery that was to consume my life for the weekend!

We all had a Madden '08 football tournament scheduled for the weekend, so friday's games consisted of "practicing" against one another using our "favorite" teams. I say "favorite" cause I really don't have one, but I used the San Diego Chargers cause they were rated at 98/100 and that's pretty darn good! After a few hours of that, we played Halo, and then, low and behold, ROCK BAND!!! Awesome game! Here's a photo of the "all girl band" which starred Tamlyn, Rhoda, and Jennie - Rock on ladies!!!

Note the "Rock Star" lighting scheme I gave them. Plus, see the guys over to the far left?
They're all wishing they can play as well as the ladies!

Here's our high tech tourney board. Not only did we have a winner's bracket, but a loser's one as well.

The ultimate winner Cee Jay (in brown) won a nice bottle of whiskey from our "Commisioner" Vic.

And of course, our Loser's bracket winner Kevin, with his "Prize" - he had to wear it all day and all night during the super bowl!!! And yes, that IS a women's flourescent PINK shirt!!!
He was a good sport about it nonetheless.

Here's Kevin and the Dallas CowGIRLS.
I'm such a Dallas hater!!!
Oh, and all these guys (minus Kevin) are all from Texas, hence the shirts.

No, this isn't a new Lucho Libre wrestling character, it's our good buddy Paul who lost a Dallas Cowboys bet for the second straight year to Tamlyn (on the right). This year, his punishment was to adorn some nipple pasties, and a blue thong (which he put over his face instead). I know you can't see it, but the score of Dallas' last game was also written into the thong, just to rub it in. Aw well, some guys never learn.

There are definitely other photos from the weekend, but I think I may have caused some enemies with this entry, so I'll stop here!

Lastly, and most importantly, it was my beautiful grandmother's 91st birthday party this past Saturday, and we celebrated it at the Golden Dragon Restaurant in Chinatown. Here's to Grandma!

Isn't she cute?!

It's Wednesday, and I'm still reeling from this weekend. Plus, I think I got about 8 hours of sleep total! Ah well, family, good friends, good times. What more can you ask for? Have a great day everyone!

Another Round of Things To Talk About!

2008-01-30T21:17:00.000-08:00

Wow, what a week it has been! Where do I start?!

Monday began with rehearsals for the NBC Nationwide Sketch Comedy Showcase, in rehearsal hall 1, literally steps away from Studio 1A on the NBC lot. For those of you who aren't familiar with Studio 1A, it's Jay Leno's set (formerly Johnny Carson's and I believe Bob Hope's). It was awesome! There we were in a large rehearsal hall with worn hardwood floors, gymnasium height ceilings surrounded by props from the Tonight Show (well, they were outside the door, but still!) Basically, Cold Tofu was asked to take part in this showcase to perform in front of their producers, casting directors and agents! How cool was that! The actual showcase happened last night, Tuesday at the Ivar Theater in Hollywood. Great times as we were surrounded by some pretty talented groups, including Loose Screws from Hawaii, KevINda, Mike Rose and friends, Claudia (something) and the SC All-starts, and a group from NY named Derrick. Boy, when you get 6 comedy groups together, things can get pretty funny!

(On a side note, not only did we see Jay Leno's set, I also saw that one guy "Ross the Intern" who frequents his show, and on Tuesday, while getting coffee, Stephen Baldwin, near the Ivar. Yup, it's Hollywood alright.)

Who knows who else has been in this rehearsal hall

Here's Denise, Aaron, and Helen in front of the different NBC logos throughout the years. Jay Leno's studio is to the right.

The Ivar Theater - site of the "Showdown"

Room full of sketch groups.

Loose Screws from Hawaii, in full Kubuki costume, getting ready to perform their patented "Screw-buki" improvised show. These guys are awesome (and funny!)

Needless to say, it was an awesome evening of sketch comedy with a great audience of industry folk! So much so, we are invited back to meet with their casting department in the upcoming days. How cool is that?! Great times indeed!

Lastly for this post, I am so honored to have been chosen by Saki and Taka to photograph their wedding in August. It's going to be a terrific wedding that is going to be held at Taka's parent's house. I can't wait to photograph their big day! A huge and heartfelt thanks go out to this super couple for choosing me to capture their wedding day - I KNOW we're going to get some great images! More to come in the months leading to their big day!

The lovely couple Taka and Saki.
Did you know that Saki played on the Professional Golf Tour for 2 years and prior to that, won a national collegiate golf championship with UCLA?!
Taka is also an avid golfer with a course record at his nearby golf course - how cool is that?!

That's it for now. I have more photos to share from the sketch show, but I'll post those later. Hope you all are having a great week!

So Much to Talk About!

2008-01-22T13:15:00.000-08:00

What a weekend! First off, whenever there's a long weekend, it's great! But when you add activities, and meeting people, and doing absolutely NOTHING, it's even better!

The weekend started off for me rather stressful, on friday afternoon, cause I had some work stuff to get done, seriously, number crunching! I hate number crunching! But thanks to my good friend Mariko and the wonders of Excel, I was able to get a whole year's worth of numbers down to 1,214. Long story, so don't ask. Let's just say it was time consuming!

The real fun started when I left my "day" job for the awesome long weekend. From work, I went home and worked on an album for another client, then logged on to Xbox Live for some Halo 3 fun with the guys! Woo hoo!!! Nothing like wearing futuristic space armor and going after all your buddies with lazer guns (and that's before logging in!)

Saturday was even better as I was able to meet with my "first" wedding couple. Michelle and Rene, two of the coolest people you will ever meet! Plus, they are great together, seriously! Very fun and outgoing, and just the nicest of people. Oddly enough, it wasn't a "cold" call for Michelle to hire me as their wedding photographer, cause back in high school I dated her aunt, but hey, a referral is a referral right? Thank goodness I don't burn bridges!!! Here's a photo of the soon-to-be- wed:

Aren't they cute?!

Hopefully, those of you who read this blog often, have already checked out the Cold Tofu link, as saturday was our first show of 2008! What a great way to start off another year of performances and just plain having fun! Despite having a great show all around, the highlight of the night was when we were all introduced to the newest member of the Cold Tofu family, Zachary, 3 mos out of the womb and already attending a Cold Tofu show! (His mom is a member, so he kinda has to). Here's the little bundle of joy:

A literal "bundle" of joy!

Afterwards we all headed out to eat in Little Tokyo near downtown L.A. for all you non L.A.-ites. You have to check out Suihiro Restaurant if you get the chance - great food, very reasonable prices for that any-time-of-day craving of Japanese food. Can't be beat!

Then, after all the eating, then came the video game debauchery! Xbox 360 at David's house for literally the rest of the night and early morning! Playing Halo 3, CofD 4, and a small bit of Madden '08. This then repeated on sunday throughout the day and night, until monday morning at 4:10am! Can you believe it? And I still suck! Well, I don't suck, but I'm not always the high scorer. Oh well. I guess I have to practice! What am I, CRAZY?!

Monday was spent shooting my buddy Alden. Here's one of the session's photos:

Top this off with doing laundry and finally getting to watch Johnny Depp in "Sweeny Todd" and you get an awesome weekend to recover from during the week! Whew!

Thanks for reading as always, and if you get a chance, do leave a message :) Happy Tuesday everyone!

M Palma Photography

2008-01-15T17:25:00.000-08:00

Hooray! Just a day after I announced it, my new wedding photography website is up! You can check it out at:

www.mpalmaphotography.com

I'm so proud cause it's my first REAL site dedicated to my photography, and my pursuit of capturing the best wedding images I can create!

So if you are reading this blog, and perhaps live in the L.A. area and need to refer a wedding photographer to someone, please don't hesitate to forward them my website.

Lastly, just like with this site, do check my main site often for new photos! I can't wait to post all the exciting images, couples, families, etc. that I will be photographing in the near future!

Thanks everyone, and enjoy!

New Website Almost Up!

2008-01-14T18:16:00.000-08:00

Yes! As the subject heading reads, my wedding photography website is almost up! I recently signed with Bludomain for their terrific work with photographers' websites, and I'm anxious to finally put it up live! (Hence, all the exclamation points)

As you will also notice, I also changed the blog header here. I figured it should reflect more of who I am and what I really look like! I know, it sounds weird, but I recently read this great article by another wedding photographer, Jasmine Star, on how to market yourself to your clients. It's almost like being a realtor, and putting your photo on your business cards. This way, not only can you read what's on my mind, but you can "see" me too!

What else, what else...? Oh, the second round of NFL playoffs were on this past weekend, and I'm glad that the CowGIRLS lost to the Giants.

Okay, that's it. I'll post the link once it's up.

Till then, have a great day and week!

A New Year's post!

2008-01-12T11:45:00.000-08:00

Okay, in all honesty, I tried to post earlier than this, but for some weird reason, Blogspot was acting up with my photo uploads! So, with my new year's resolution of continuing my procrastination, I figure I'd wait until now to finally get around to posting (Note the new thing that the kids are doing nowadays, it's called SARCASM).

Before I can get to posting new stuff, I'd like to post a few photos from the holidays.

This is my good buddy Aaron T and I at the Rosebowl game watching the greatest college football team beat the hell out of another "Small" 10 team, Illonois.
Final score 52-17. Oh yeah, it was a close game - NOT!

Christmas day with the Del Rosario clan. This is what holidays are all about, family and great food!

This is me with Helen's nephews and niece who were visiting from Hawaii. I know you can't tell, but we're on the parking tram at Disneyland the day before they left. That little cutie shying away from the camera is Hailee. The other two boys are Justin (middle) and Casey (right).

Here's Hailee in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle - what a little sweetie!

Okay, so this is far from being really up-to-date, but I really wanted to post some photos from the last few weeks. I'm going to make it a point to blog more often this year, what with a few weddings coming up, and of course, a lot of great "life" stuff!

Hope you guys are all doing well and stick to those resolutions!

50 plus 50 equals an Awesome time!

2007-12-30T13:01:00.001-08:00

For the second straight weekend, I was privileged again to be asked to photograph another 50th wedding anniversary, this time for my friend Kerry's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Frank and Kimiko Kawahara at the Redondo Beach Cheesecake Factory. What a spectacular evening it was!

What was unique about this event compared to last week's (which was equally awesome BTW) was that the children displayed photographs from the couple's original wedding ceremony and reception 50 years ago. And here they were, 50 years later, celebrating that same love that brought them together. And I was there,asked to add to their family photo history book. How can I not love this job?!

The night also included a terrific slideshow presentation made my Kerry for Frank and Kimiko which included photos from both their childhoods, growing up, when they met, their travels, etc. All the pertinent memories that one would want to share on a momentous 50th anniversary. It was so touching to watch Frank and Kimiko's memories displayed on a big screen for everyone in attendance to see. I truly was honored to be there, and to have the opportunity to add to their life slideshow.

Enjoy the slideshow of some of the images I photographed last night. And wish that if you are with someone, or when you find someone, that you too can live such a glorious, love filled life like Frank and Kimiko :)

Click on this link to see the night's photos.

A 50th Slideshow Presentation

2007-12-27T11:31:00.000-08:00

Yes, the holidays have been pretty hectic for me lately, plus, I got SICK again with a pretty stubborn head cold! Nonetheless, I wanted to post something up just to be sure you all know that I'm still around and ALIVE for that matter.

This past weekend before Christmas, I was honored to have been invited to photograph the 50th wedding anniversary of my friend Denise's parents, Roy and Nancee Iketani in Las Vegas! (How cool is that?!) They are such a close knit, and loving family! The night began in the parents' suite at the California Hotel in Downtown Vegas, where the kids (all 7 of them, including spouses and grand-children (2 of them)) presented a slideshow of photos from the distant and not so distant past. A visual walk down memory lane. From there the party moved over to Vic and Anthony's Restaurant located in the Golden Nugget Casino for some awesome steakhouse kind of food! (I was lucky enough to have been fed, and boy did I EAT!)

It was such a great time, watching and listening to their family rant and rave about their parents and their siblings. It almost brought a tear to my eye :)

So a big thank you goes out to Denise for asking me to photograph this momentous occasion, and here's to Roy and Nancee! Check out the slideshow!

My First Triptych!

2007-12-10T15:45:00.000-08:00

Yes, as my subject heading reads, I have created my first triptych (trio) and have used Denise as my first victim, I mean, subject.

I actually created this a while ago, but had not used it till today.

This series was shot during one of our Cold Tofu rehearsals. The legs off to the side are Zakiah's.

Let me know what you think!

This should be frickin' cool!

2007-12-04T13:09:00.000-08:00

Okay, I admit it, I'm a big Johnny Depp fan, but have only become one since "Edward Scissorhands" and not during his "21 Jump Street" days. I've always admired the roles that he has chosen to play. Avant guard, risky, and downright awesome. Naturally when I heard he was doing "Sweeney Todd", I found it interesting that they would choose him, but teamed up with Tim Burton, it has to be a hit! After watching the trailer (below), I am convinced it should be awesome!

Now, I say this after having watched the original Broadway production with Angela Lansbury (on DVD, I was too young when it initially opened), and the East West Players' version of it as well (TWICE!). Seeing this trailer is convincing me that this should be a great film, although probably not a blockbuster, unless you are in to stage musicals or perhaps Sondheim, as I am.

Enjoy the trailer, and let me know what you think.

Sweeney Todd Website and trailer links

I Haven't Posted Since Hawaii

2007-12-03T17:46:00.000-08:00

Coming back from Hawaii was tough! Not only was I a bit melancholy coming back to the daily grind of life in L.A., but that same week, I caught the flu which took me out for a solid week and a half! A lot of stuff happened after that, photography wise, including a video shoot with Cold Tofu, and a cool gig with Nathan Wang for his upcoming musical "Denis the Menace" (yes, THAT Dennis the Menace!).

Now that I'm "back" physically and mentally, I'll be posting more often. But here are a few images from the past month.

We did a birthday gig for a terrific group of 16 year olds in Torrance!

This shot is from an upcoming Cold Tofu "commercial" we did for our upcoming sketch show.
It's kinda like "Wife in the Box". I'll post it up when it's ready.

This is Steve in another Cold Tofu "commercial".
Scary.

This is what a professional reading looks like. Cold, dark rooms with chairs, with producers/directors on one side, actors, etc. on the other. This was for the upcoming musical
"Dennis the Menace".

Hope you all are getting your Christmas shopping done. Happy Holidays!

Final "Aloha" blog entry

2007-11-10T18:21:00.000-08:00

Well, as the subject heading reads, the vacation is over and I’m already back in L.A. It was so nice to be back in the islands after two long years away, and even though it rained our first two days there, and although it was only for a week, I once again realize why I love Hawaii so much. It’s everything I can think of. All my trips there have always been with people I love and adore, mostly my family, and what makes these trips so awesome is the fact that we are able to spend time with oneanother, away from the daily grind that is our lives in L.A. You’re able to relax, and literally not think about the stuff you “have to do”, but stuff that you “want to do”. For me it was just being there that was so rewarding and memorable. For this trip, to once again travel with my Mom and Grandmother, cousin and nephew, to do nothing but shop, eat, and sightsee. To go to places that we’ve been to before but never get enough of. Each time we go, one week is never enough as the allure of “aloha” keeps us wanting to go back for more, and soon.

Things I’ll take away from this trip:

- Some of the best photography I’ve done in Hawaii to date

- Leonard’s Malasadas

- Zippy’s as usual

- The Rain! And lots of it.

- Going to the Aquarium for the first time ever

- Surfing at the “Wall” after almost a decade

- Visiting Alice and the kids, and my friend Eve

- As with every trip, all the great new t-shirts from HIC, T&C, and of course swap meet

- Visiting Auntie Enang

- That the Waikiki Banyan sucks (despite this being my 3^rd time there!)

- Getting a little bit sunburned on my forehead!

- Driving by a surf competition on the North Shore – finally!

- The Ocean. Always, the Ocean. The water is what I’ll always miss.

There are more memories that I’m certain I’m forgetting, but as of this writing, these are the things that come to mind. I’ll always have the photos to look back upon, and the thought that I was able to share them with you all.

For those of you who have followed me on this week long vacation, thank you. It was great sharing our daily outings with everyone.

So enjoy these photos from yesterday, and some from other days as well. Thanks again for reading and following along with me.

Until next time, Aloha and Mahalo.

Clown Fish at the Waikiki Aquarium

The "L & L" we ate at in Haleiwa, North Shore

The Kualoa mountain range where they film "Lost" presently

President Clinton once visited this little mini-market in 1996

The Haleiwa sign at the North Shore

Can you believe that this is a McDonald's?! Cool!

My mom and grandma at the Dole Plantation

Helen's new nephew Bryce - what a cutie!

Finally, what Hawaii is all about:
The Aloha spirit :)

Day Five's Photos

2007-11-09T01:47:00.001-08:00

Today we were able to venture out of town for a bit as we drove off towards the windward side of Oahu. To think that that side of the island has its own weather system compared to the Waikiki side is awesome! It was pretty sunny and balmy as we left town, but once we got over the mountain range, it got gloomy and rainy at times. But with this wetter climate on that side of the island comes lush green landscapes and fauna. It was pretty cool. We made it all the way to this one macademia nut farm my mom wanted to go to before heading back into Waikiki. On the way, we stopped by Sandy Beach and the adjacent blow hole overlook. Here are a few photos from today. Enjoy!

I went to the beach again this morning, but this time armed with my big camera to take this shot

Even the Burger Kings here have their own island style!

I had lunch with my pal Eve previously from the mainland at a local spot called "Ono Hawaiian Food"

On the walls are photos of VIPs, etc., and look who I found on the wall near our table!
(Hint: She is that gorgeous gal in the middle)

Here's the "wait" sign outside the restaurant - "No Get Mad!"

Next stop - Sandy Beach and the Blow Hole!
(My cousin Rondee, Connor and my mom)

Here's the four of them watching the water spout through the holes in the rock face

In 1996 when President Clinton was still in office, he visited this little McDonald's in Waimanalo that we happen to stop by at. There was this article about the visit on the wall complete with photos, and when my mom read it, she wanted to have her photo taken the same way Pres. Clinton did. Is it a match or what?!

Flower lei on a truck at the macademia nut farm we visited.

This and the lei above are all what Hawaii is about.

I do have more photos to post, but it was getting late here in paradise. I have one more full day here, and tomorrow is going to be packed with activities again so I have to get some sleep! Hope you all enjoyed the photos :)

Aloha and Mahalo!

Day Four's Photos

2007-11-08T13:12:00.000-08:00

Okay, yesterday was actually filled with photos from the Swap Meet, and the Matsumoto Shave Ice store on the North Shore. Sadly, we got there kinda late so all I was able to shoot was the store and me with two shaved ice treats (shaved ice, vanilla ice cream, Azuki beans). So, not much to say but a lot to look at! Enjoy!

Two Fisted Shaved Ice-er! Woo Hoo!!!

Blue Hawaii

2007-11-06T21:44:00.001-08:00

(This was taken yesterday by me, but since I don't have many photos up of myself, I figured I'd add one!)

Day three of the Hawaii trip began with a trip to the fruit stand located next to our hotel here. Turns out that a local Senior Citizen center has a weekly fruit stand they put up for the locals and tourists alike. Nothing fancy just the staples like bananas, mangos, and pineapples. It was all for their center to stay afloat for all their senior programs like line dancing classes, and get this, tap dancing! How cool is that!

After our visit to the fruit stand, our next stop was the Waikiki Aquarium. This was my first time visiting the Aquarium, and it was cool. It's a rather small place, but it does it job. It's literally right on the shore on Waikiki, so it's like having a museum about snow in the Antarctic, so that's why I think it's rather small. It had it's share of indigenous Hawaiian fishes including a Black Tipped Shark, which was cool, as well as two seals in their one outdoor tank. Here's a photo of a Seahorse and a tank window. Cool!

Oh, and here a few photos outside the Aquarium, kinda cool I think!

What's great about aquariums and museums, etc. is the learning that takes place. There were kids groups all over the place led by volunteer docents teaching them all about the different kinds of sea life. This next photo shows that anyone can be bewildered at learning about new things (it's also my favorite of the "Aquarium" set of shots):

My Mom and Grandma at an exhibit.

Here's a photo of the beautiful palm trees that surround the island.

Okay, so that's day three. Tomorrow, it's back to the swap meet and to the North Shore! Woo hoo!

A shout out goes out to my cousins Joe, Tod, and Alex, as we all once surfed the same break I did today - great times!

Aloha!

Paradise is returning!

2007-11-05T22:38:00.000-08:00

Okay, as the days go by, the weather gets better, and today was just that, with of course, the occasional (and HEAVY) liquid sunshine that dares to visit the islands during tourist season (which is basically every day).

It did still put a bit of a damper on our activities today, but at least we were able to see the sun for a while in between down pours. Here's the shot from the balcony this morning. See the difference from yesterday? (The BW shot is from yesterday).

However, about an hour after I shot this photo, clouds came in and out, making the day spotty at best. Oh well.

After the morning realization that the weather wasn't going to stick, my mom, cousin and I decided to go out for a morning walk. For the first time this trip, I was finally able to see my favorite part of Hawaii, the beach:

When I was "younger", each time we would come to Hawaii, I would surf right off this point. It was cool cause my mom and grandama would walk to the end of this short pier to watch me and tell me that it was time to come in. Ah, the good 'ol days.

A shot from the edge of the pier towards the world famous Waikiki Beach, ah...

My mom next to the Duke Kahanomoku statue on Waiks.

Center Stage at Ala Moana Mall. Many "famous" celebrities have graced this stage.

And finally, the object of my gastrointestinal desires while in the islands, the Zippy's Mixed Plate (Chicken Katsu, Beef, Mac Salad, Zippy's Chili, and Rice)

More tomorrow! Till then, enjoy today :)

Liquid Sunshine - NOT!

2007-11-05T00:33:00.000-08:00

Day two of the this Hawaiian adventure was filled with water, and sadly, not the kind that you would hope for in terms of the beach and ocean, but literally torrential downpours with 1-2 inches of rain per hour! The second morning started off with a gloomy outlook on the day from our balcony:

Sadly, the rest of the day looked exactly like this, with on and off rains, each varying in intensity and downpour.

However, being in "paradise" doesn't mean that you stay in your hotel room cause of a little rain! No, you go out anyway! So where do you go? You go to Leonard's!

Despite having visited Hawaii for more times than I can remember, I have never, ever gone to Leonard's until now! For those of you who are unfamiliar with Leonard's, they are a portugese Malasada bakery that has been a staple here on Oahu for decades! Their pastries are simply delicious Portugese creations! I've never had them any where else before. The above photo is of my mom and holding our first ever box of delicious Leonard's malsadas (gee, how many times can I say "Leonard's" anyway?)

Just think, inside each of these lightly sugared malasadas are sweet creamed filled centers! Haupia, chocolate, and for November, Pumpkin! Ah, sweets, yum!

After the nutritional debauchery that took place at Leonard's, we were off to see if the local Swap Meet was still going on. Despite the weather, there were vendors, but not as many as usual. Here's a few photos:

We pretty much tried to stay indoors for the rest of the day, including a trip to our newest favorite hole in the wall restaurant - "Dirty Lickens", buffalo wings in paradise.

Okay, sadly I was having internet problems last night, probably due to the weather, but hopefully you enjoyed day two's happenings. More to come!

Aloha!

Back in Paradise!

2007-11-04T00:46:00.001-07:00

Yes, as the subject heading reads, I am back in Paradise! Oahu, Hawaii that is! After a two year "hiatus", I'm finally back in the land of fruit punch, Zippy's plate lunches, and of course, the awesome beaches!

Day one was of course filled with traveling and getting settled in. My 5 hour flight from LA felt long. At one point, a little kid near me threw up and added to the plane's air effervescence! But, even a little vomit can't spoil the fact that I was on my way to Hawaii!!!

Paradise is also well marketed as this photo shows:

I was in charge of getting our car rental - our "G" ride for the entire week. Check out our wheels!

And what has now become a tradition, we stopped by Zippy's before heading over to our hotel. How I love their Mixed Plate Lunches! I'll be sure to take a photo of the dish later.

Okay, that's it for now. Do check back for other photos to come. I have to go to the "Kane's" room now!

And a huge shout-out goes out to my cousin Junior and his wife. I wish I were there to celebrate with you all.

Till tomorrow - ALOHA!!!

A "Ghoul" Evening

2007-11-01T13:35:00.001-07:00

Do you recognize these rather "famous" hitch-hikers? They were taking a little leave of absence from their regular gig at Disneyland for Halloween last night in Toluca Lake. Looks like they need a ride back to the park ;p

Yes, last night was Halloween, the one night of the year where kids can actually ask strangers for candy without their parents worrying about it. And boy did we give out a lot! The night was spent at David's house passing out full sized Kit-Kat, Hershey, Reese's PBC bars to any a Halloween ghoul. We all dressed up for the occasion to greet the happy haunts appropriately. I was dressed as a Knight, Tamlyn as a Sorceress, Tara as Victoria Beckham (which was quite a popular costume BTW), Daniel as some sort of purple hat wearing ghoul, David as a Cowboy (how creative!), and Mike as a Geek (which really wasn't really a stretch for him).

Because Tamlyn and I are actors, Daniel too, we totally played our parts while passing out the candy. Me with my Medieval euphemisms and phrases, and Tamlyn scaring kids by asking them the Halloween password of "Trick or Treat". It was fun to see the kids come over to the porch and see what awesome costumes they had on. BTW, "High School Musical" costumes were also quite popular as well.

In between passing out the treats, we walked over to David's neighbor's house which was fully decked out in Halloween paraphernalia, including full sized coffins, Leather Face, Predator/Alien, and a mini Haunted hallway. Heck, there was even a full sized werewolf. Can you guess which one is "real"?

In the end, we passed out 1950 candy bars over the course of 2 hours. Wow. That's a lot of cavaties!

Ah, Halloween. What a night! Oh, and a huge happy birthday goes out to my mom whose birthday is on Halloween. Happy Birthday mom!

P Monte Got Married

2007-10-27T18:54:00.000-07:00

After eight years, yes EIGHT years of being boy-friend and girl-friend, my buddy Pablo and his new wife Gladys got married today. I'm sure you're wondering why the subject heading says "P Monte Got Married" right? Well, back when Pablo and I were working together, his computer log in name was "P Monte" cause someone else had his sign in name. It stuck with me, and since then I've called him P-Monte along with other guy-ism nick names, mostly in the Latino homeboy sense.

It was great to see Pablo today, on his big day, a day that has been in the works for a long time now. Through the years, I got to know Gladys as well, and they both make a terrific couple, and will certainly have a great life together. Plus, if anyone ever gets in their way, Gladys is a lawyer, so I think they will be alright!

As I mentioned yesterday, here are a few photos I shot today at the wedding ceremony. Sadly I wasn't able to attend the reception, but I figure the actual nuptials are more important.

Here's a shot of some friends adjusting P Monte's collar before the ceremony. He was actually very relaxed all throughout the day.

The dapper don himself

Greeting guests in the foyer of the church

Pablo and Elene

I really like this shot of the bridesmaids boquets

Gladys after the ceremony thanking her family and friends

P Monte's former co-workers Mary, George and Mary Ann

Group shot of more friends
(L to R)
Elene, Adam, Kay, Mary, George, and Mary Ann

Congrats to the newlyweds, and may their lives be long, happy and prosper :)

A quick two from last night

2007-10-26T09:24:00.001-07:00

In my quest to provide for you, my reading audience, a photo or two for you to peruse, I decided to post these photographs from last night. It's from our Cold Tofu workshop. I thought they were kinda neat, with Jully (pictured below) looking pensive, and Kevin, looking rather mischievious. Oh, and for the photo of Kevin, I added a texture layer to it to give it a gritty look, just in case you camera-philes were wondering.

I'm sure to have more from this upcoming weekend, some from a good friend's wedding, and a headshot session on sunday, so be sure to check back for more! Until, enjoy your day :)

A Few More from the Weekend

2007-10-22T17:11:00.000-07:00

I couldn't get enough of this past weekend's photos, so decided to post just a few more up. Who the heck ever decided that weekends should only last two days anyway?! No worries, just looking forward towards the next one! Here you go!

Wanru and Steve - I kinda gave it a 70's processing vibe.

What's Tina looking for/at?

Looks like someone wants to hitch a ride!

Mark, Helen and Marcie

This is Golda - she played my "wife" in Imelda: A New Musical a few years back. She still can't get over the fact that the play is done, and we are no longer "married".

A Night Out at the Miyako

2007-10-21T04:02:00.001-07:00

Yes, as the subject heading reads, the improv group I belong to (Cold Tofu; did you guys VOTE yet?) had a show tonight at the Maryknoll Catholic Center in Little Tokyo. It's part of our monthly improv shows we do there each year. After a great show by everyone, we all headed over to the Miyako hotel to go to their terrific little karaoke lounge and sing the night away! Literally till it closed! A great time time was had by everyone.

And for those of you reading this that were there,
great times!!! Here are a few photos from the vocal debauchery:

Wanru as Jack Sparrow - it is close to Halloween ;p

Steve and Helen singing some tunes

Rob and his freak spank posse!

Helen and me singing a duet
(Yes, I can SING! Just ask my mom!)

So all in all, it was a great time. It's always fun hanging out with creative and uninhibited people/friends. Too bad I wasn't able to video tape some of the goings-on. Had I done so, this blog would've gone from rated "G" to "R" just like that! Then again, that's what made for a good night.

Till next time (which will be soon), enjoy and be safe, and do leave a comment if you have anything to say, particularly if you are in these photos!

"Drink up me harties yo ho!"
(Come on, who doesn't want to be Jack Sparrow?!)

Some photos I dug up and do please VOTE!

2007-10-16T21:18:00.000-07:00

Some photos I found recently while going through my hard drive. I especially like the 18 MMW photo of the three guys up top - cool!

Also, Cold Tofu, the (BEST) improv group I belong to is up for best Improv troupe in LA. So I urge everyone reading this to go and vote for us at My Fox LA's Hot List, and make sure you choose us! Even if you haven't seen our shows, you won't regret voting, plus, it'll MAKE you want to come out to see and reiterate why you chose us as LA's best improv group! So go, NOW, VOTE!!!

Another year older a week and half removed

2007-10-16T09:01:00.001-07:00

As the subject heading reads, yes, once again, I have turned another year older. It's been about a week and half since that day, and I've been busy with stuff like house sitting, events, etc. So I finally get a chance to post some photos from the past week.

In this life, it's rare that you get to meet, let alone have a good friend who shares the same exact birthday with you. I am fortunate to have that in my buddy Johann pictured above. He and I are born on the exact month, day and year! We always joke around that we were seperated at birth. He's a great guy BTW for all you single ladies out there! Oh, the other single gal in the middle of Johann and I pictured above is my good friend Blythe. She's single too BTW. For our birthday, Johann and I decided to celebrate it with our friends at Saladang Thai in Pasadena. Great food, and great athmosphere. You should check it out. Birthdays and other events like it are terrific cause you get to spend it with those you love. Thanks to everyone that was there, and to those who wished a happy born day!

On the actual day of my birthday, I was honored to attend an awards dinner for a really good friend of ours, Rodney Kageyama.

He was being honored by the Asian Pacific Rehabilitation Center for all his volunteer work with their organization. They are an organization that helps physically and mentally challenged people with services and needs. Rodney donates a lot of his time to worthy causes like this, and he's one of the few people who, when he asks for a favor, I will definitely jump on board to help. Plus, he's a great all around guy nonetheless!!! And who else would be fitting to MC that night for Rodney, but our friend Tamlyn Tomita, who as you can see here, is dressed as "Sandy" from "Grease" cause the theme of the evening was "The 50's", so everyone had to come dressed up as such. I didn't have that kind of shirt, but I did wear something reminiscent. Here's a photo of Helen and I with the lovely Ms. T.

The next day was a holiday for me, Columbus day, and I was able to spend it with my family for a "real" birthday outing. So we decided to go to Bob's Big Boy in Toluca Lake. Great times!

I was house sitting for a friend of mine the whole week, and had access to his car:

His is the most expensive car I've ever driven, and to be honest, it drives like a dream! Then again, at $110,000 it had better! The down side of it all was the $63.00 full tank gas bill I got when I filled it up the day before he got back from his trip. Ah well, the price of performance. But hey, I sure did look good in it! ha ha ha!!!

Lastly, this past weekend we went to the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena for an exhibit they had there, and had lunch at a place called Pie and burger. But the building next to it had this sign up:

Am I the only one slightly offended by this?!!! I know, it's a salon and all, but still! OK, I'm off my soap box now. I did think it was funny, hence the photo.

Alrightee then. Thanks for reading, and sharing this moment with me. More to come soon!

Chekhov-Mania

2007-10-06T08:59:00.001-07:00

As I mentioned in my last post, I attended a play my buddy Mike was in last night called "Chekhov-Mania" at the Attic Theater in LA,which basically partnered few of Anton Chekhov's plays in a Vaudeville format. Good work Mike! Here are two photos (the one above and the one below) from the production:

This one is of my friend Jully. She really needs to wake up.

True chops!

2007-10-05T16:23:00.000-07:00

Having been an actor now for about a decade, I've had the sincerest honors of working with some great thespians/peers. I once did a commercial with Nicholas Cage, a cheesy comedy action film with Pat Morita, met an old teen-aged movie star crush of mine (who oddly enough is a friend of mine now), and of course met or worked with some really, super talented people who sadly aren't as famous as those just mentioned (although they should be!)

I bring this up cause last night I was honored to have been asked to shoot some production stills for "Innocent When You Dream" a new play written by Ken Narasaki (which he also stars in) along with some of the Asian acting community's most talented veteran actors - Sab Shimono, Emily Kuroda, Sharon Omi, Mike Hagiwara, and John Miyasaki. Now, I say veteran cause they've been in the business for quite some time now and have had some great successes. And here they are, away from the Hollywood limelight continually working on their craft, and showing their chops. An amazing group of actors - trust me! Be sure to click on the link to get more info on their shows.

Nonetheless, here are a few photos from last night's shoot:

And keeping with my "Picture a day", here's a shot I took on Wednesday of my humble steed!

That's it for now, I'm headed off to watch a friend of mine in a play tonight - should be good.

Till next time!

Another eventful weekend

2007-10-01T18:02:00.001-07:00

Yes, that is a pinata my newly turned 3 nephew is trying to whack.

A great birthday dinner for Deanna (in the middle in red) at Pizaccato in Brentwood. Great times!

My beautiful Grandmother and I at my newphew's birthday.

My cousin Jennifer and her son Gregory - what a cutie!

My buddy Aaron and I shot a short film for another friend of ours yesterday, playing cops. Interesting...

A variety of stuff from this past week

2007-09-28T21:31:00.000-07:00

As my smiling face can attest, last sunday was a pretty cool day. Helen and I were asked to MC the LA 18 Harvest Moon festival again, after a year's hiatus. Over 30,000 people came to celebrate the day and visit the different booths available as well as watch the terrific entertainment that we helped to usher all day long on the mainstage (pictured above). Not only was this a great event, and a fun gig, we had some fantastic "helpers" in Jennifer and Emiko, both of whom work for LA 18. They helped us keep within the program and time constraints, and made sure that we were well taken care of. Without them, I'm' sure it would not have been as successful as it was. So kudos and thanks to these two.

Helen and I were also interviewed on LA 18's "Kababayan LA" by Janelle So, pictured below second from left. I forget who the anchor is next to Helen (far right) but I believe she does their weather forecasts in chinese.

You can view our interview here:

http://www.la18.tv/Video.aspx?vid=719bf602-d81b-4b61-b24d-fe12cdcfeed8

and here

http://www.la18.tv/Video.aspx?vid=716628d7-979f-4e67-a68c-c4c5a447f19d

There are 2 segments that we are featured in under "Cold Tofu 1" and "Cold Tofu 2".

Needless to say it was fun, and cool to have been a part of this whole Harvest Moon experience. LA 18 is great!

Tuesday found us at the Dodger game vs. the Rockies. Sadly the Dodgers lost, but it's always great to be at the stadium eating Dodger dogs, and taking in the athmosphere. Heck, I was even hoping to catch a foul ball (considering we were sitting 10 feet away from the 3rd base foul pole). Sadly, none ever came our way. Oh well. Below is a cheesy photo of me at the stadium:

Lastly, Cold Tofu and I were able to check out "Sondheim Unscripted" at Theater Theater. It was literally an all-star cast of the best improvisers in LA. Their shows run for another two Thursdays before they close, but if you are interested, check out their website:

http://www.improtheatre.com/section/shows/unscripted-repertory-co/

Here's a photo I took of the lobby headshots of the cast:

Alrightee then, that's but a few of the things I did this week. This weekend is supposed to also be busy, so I'm sure I'll be posting more soon. Till then, have a great end of the week!

New Wedding and Portrait Header

2007-09-26T20:14:00.000-07:00

Yup, as you can see, I've added a new collage of wedding portraits I did recently of some friends of mine, and as you may have guessed, I'm gunnin' for the wedding photography world! Small steps, but I'm slowly on my way, devising my plan of action, putting things together, etc. I'm so looking forward to it! Let me know what you think if you have any suggestions.

Thanks!

Last Tri of the season

2007-09-17T16:40:00.000-07:00

Yup, just as the subject heading reads, yesterday was my last triathlon of the season, which was held at Malibu. The weather was perfect as were the conditions, and overall my race went pretty well. This particular race is rather LARGE in that there were 3,000 competitors there vying for their day in the triathlon sun (Just multiply the above picture by 10 and you'll have some idea as to how many people were there!). Among those were your regular "Joes", pro and elite athletes, and of course some of Hollywood's notable names, in this case, David Duchovny, John Cryer, that guy they called "The Bachelor" (who won the celebrity division), and other celebs famous and not so famous. It made for a good day and a great way to end this long season of swimming, biking and running. Here are some photos from the race:

The "yes I was here photo" that I took myself

My favorite of the day. This is me with soon to be World Ironman Champion Chris McCormack (www.chrismccormack.com). This dude is FAST! Check out his website and his accomplishments. Check back at the end of October to see my prediction come true!

And of course, yet another three amigos photo.

This was a long weekend for me, but fun. One more photo to brighten up anyone's day

Some Recent Photos

2007-09-12T21:24:00.000-07:00

Cheese boy

D and M at the grill

Disneyland 1/2 Marathon medal 2007

Tam can cook!