I couldn’t resist, even without words (you know how wordy I can be… oh yes me)
More will be posted soon.
For now, as my grandpa would say, “I speak lil but good”
I just fell in love with her eyes and I had to get these up.
Tag Archives: natural light
There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond, and to know one’s self.
–Benjamin Franklin
Three is the magic number that it takes for the human mind to establish a pattern. In science, DNA has a triplet codon system. In geology we have the 3 basic planes: Above- Surfaced- Beneath. In astronomy we find the 3 types of galaxies: ellipticals – spirals – irregulars. Freud proposed that the psyche was divided into three parts: Ego- Superego – Id. In Christianity there is the trinity. In Taoism, the Three Pure Ones. There are three main Abrahamic religions: Islam, Christianity and Judaism.
Some three’s are not so great: 3 strikes and you’re out; In Vietnam, it is bad luck to take a photo with three people in it; Luck, especially bad luck, is often said to “come in threes”; It’s been 3 weeks since my last blog (bad bad bad)
Some three’s just are: The Three Stooges & not to be forgotten The 3 Amigos; Three dimensions to an object: height, width & depth; In Bowling, 3 strikes in a row = a turkey; Life is in three, past-present-future.
Some three’s are good: 3 scoops of ice cream; it’s 3pm and I’m in my pajamas (I’m kidding, maybe); 3 is a magic number; Steve just finished cycle 3 of chemo, off to 4, 5 & 6.
Now you may ask yourself, why I am talking about 3′s (mostly it’s because I like to talk)
I’m sure most of you have heard of Jasmine Star. Well if not, you have now. She recently put on her 3rd workshop (yes i used the number three again). And yes, I tried THREE times to get in. And, as luck would have it, the 3rd time was a charm. And, let me tell you it WAS a charm. But, if I’m being honest (uh oh you say, here she goes…), I was a bit torn about attending due to recent events and my lackluster for pretending to be happy. Consequently, I was scared. Yes, me, I was scared. The Chicken in me knew that Jasmine had such an upbeat personality and massive amounts of energy. How was I going to put a happy face on ALL day. (Luckily she doesn’t offer refunds for wimps.) I woke up that morning, slapped myself in the face a few times and Wahla/Viola, I made that mental flip in my head. I promised myself to practice my own words of seize the day. It helped when I remembered that I’m not the only one. Who better to have as a mentor than someone that has been through a similar (hers definitely a different degree of scary) obstacle.
Even though I only have a couple of workshops to compare, I have to say the Jasmine Star Workshop was worth the wait, the time, the money and the mental energy. It was an all encompassing day, taught by an all encompassing woman. We covered branding and blogging, shooting and processing, client relations and networking. Professionally, I was, yet again, inspired by her work. Personally, I was inspired by just the very presence of her mother (thanks “mom” – you said I could call you that). Romantically, I was inspired by the way she and J.D. care for each other – he constantly made sure she was hydrated. Nothing says true love like hydration. (J.D. thank you for lunch, ice cold water and your kind smile).
I was inspired. I am motivated. (I swear there are photos on this post somewhere, not just ramblings). I am thankful that there are those who not only teach for financial reward, but they pay it forward with 100% of their heart and soul. And even though it was hard for me to get up and go, I think I left knowing a little more of myself.
The Teacher: Jasmine Star
Venue: The Club at Woodbury
The Models: Melinda & Vern
The Flowers: Carissa of JL Designs – seriously see for yourself…
The Beauty: Vivian Tran of All Made Up – i have never seen anything like this before & she gave the girls a lil makeup gift!!!
The Dress: Monique Lhuillier
Seriously, Jasmine has a way of motivating the masses, all the while maintaining a wicked fashion sensibility.
Melinda and Vern. Yep you can see they are still in love after almost 2 years of marriage. (and they are hot hot hot)
She graciously shared her settings while shooting, nurturing “the talent” and motivating the masses. I’d say easy contender for top 10 multi-tasker.
Between the moustache and the sunglasses, need I say more about S*T*Y*L*E*
I don’t think I have even seen a dress this stunning. Yikes!
Melinda (who came to us via my ever so awesome friend Carlie, Go tell Carlie how beautiful she is) was stunning
I really don’t know how to express the simple elegance and amazingness (yes i made that word up) of both the flowers (check out the matching boutonniere) and hair (Vivian, can you come over everyday please and make me look whimsical!??!). I truly and honestly have Never seen such creativity. If you are a bride, these 2 ladies are your golden ticket. If you are a photographer, surround your clients and yourself with greatness, like these…
Jasmine, J.D. & Mom thank you again. Even though I was quiet, I had much contemplation, joy and gratitude.
My mom is an immigrant, obviously making my grandma an immigrant. As much as they cherish their native country and miss their family, they made a sacrifice by leaving being behind loved ones and familiarity. They made their way to the United States with a dream. To many foreigners, the United States is considered the land of great opportunity, financial growth, political and social freedoms, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, diversity of lifestyle and peace. A prosperous and forgiving place of opportunity.
Now whether you’re Christian, Agnostic, Muslim or Jewish; capitalist or socialist, conservative or moderate, we live in a country that theoretically tolerates. We are fortunate that roadside bombs aren’t a daily way of life. We are fortunate to be able to love who we choose and wake up in the morning to a plethora of options. Many people have fought and sacrificed for today.
So celebrate those who have helped us get here today. Make a choice from your many options and enjoy the freedom of decision making. It’s fine if you decide to eat 4 hot dogs and 2 hamburgers and chips and dip and more chips and more dip and veggies (w/dip) – can you tell i like dip (the cheapy green onion powder dip with sour cream) – and then some strawberry shortcake. But, remember that we are fortunate because we just happen to be born at a certain time in a certain place in this big world that we all share. Don’t get me wrong, life in other countries is not all bad, we have our positives and negatives, as does everywhere. I’m just choosing to celebrate how fortunate I feel for my life and my freedoms.
Who doesn’t like peace and sparklers
http://www.flickr.com/photos/17538542@N00/2190916327/
and the steve and jen montage. one of us is camera shy and one of us well, is a lil bit of a camera hoard.
While at trader’s joes, I thought to myself should I buy 1 white and 2 red, but I already have about 28 of the red at home. Maybe I should buy 3 white, no red. But really what does it matter. I’m the only one that drinks it. And, by drinking it, I mean 1/2 bottle over 7 days. So I thought to myself, why do I hoard the bottles.
In the past, when we would head out to a party, Steve could be known to casually mentioned, “grab a bottle of wine for the party”. “What?!?! (I would often casually blurted out). You want me to bring a bottle of the wine I’ve been saving for an incredible special spectacular phenomenal day. It’s just a regular party. There’s no way. Let’s go buy a bottle.” Cut to a cabinet of lonely full bottles, never to be ‘wasted’.
Then when Steve was hospitalized, I met a young man whose mother was battling cancer. This woman’s journey was like acclimating to Mount Everest’s peak in one day . Breathing, not breathing, frostbite, clean scans, surgeries, you name it. The young man and I talked about life, cancer, love, children and of high importance, wine. As I was beginning my climb of mount cancer, he was already past the acclimation point. He had learned how to breathe at the higher altitudes, but this education was not without a price. There were many moments of low oxygen and fears of not surviving. Many moments of turning around and descending. Of course, I immediately thought he’ll know the way. He can be my sherpa. But, I soon learned that each journey is different. Some people train their whole lives with altitude adjustments, while others live on flat ground (happily and rightfully so). Regardless of the path, there is an underlying theme. When I asked him for his ‘theme’, his big words of encouragement, his method for surviving under blizzard conditions, I thought I would hear an amazing quote similar to the words JFK, Martin Luther King or Ghandi. But, what I got was, “I never save that bottle of wine for ‘one day’ important”.
“Never save for one day important.”
Hum. At first, I though, “That goes against everything I’ve trained for in my life.” You have to save everything. Backups of paper towels, soap, toothpaste. Lists to organize every little task (don’t assume I’m throwing away my lists or backups). Withholding things til the moment is perfect. But when the moment flipped to the polar opposite of perfect, I realized that nothing is perfect. And, nothing is predictable. In any second, everything can change. I know we all hear this and it lingers in the back of our minds, but it’s something we never truly understand until it is clear that those anticipated moments can be stripped away in a second. His simple words had so much meaning to them.
So, I don’t want this blog to only be about cancer and illness (or really about drinking wine). No one wants to hear a constant stream of sadness and descent. This is to be about the climb. The milestones of reaching base camp one, acclimating and enjoying the ease of breathing, then off to tackling another part of the climb. I realized that I have been holding on to my blogs for an important event. Something interpreted as seemingly profound by society or my perception of what others deem blogworthy. But really, everyday is important and sometimes the mundane triggers a familiarity within another. Or the air is thin and someone needs to share your oxygen. There is something so to cherish in the everyday. Something important in the calm and ordinary.
So from now on I promise to barrage you with nonsense, self deprecation and fun things i find at the grocery store. Sounds exciting, right?!?!
Because this is a photography blog and a blog about living, here’s a picture from my new precious lil 3gs iPhone. In an attempt to live the day and not stare at our computers, we ventured to the Getty today. Steve got the big camera and I happily snapped away with my new lil toy…
Avoiding people. Hum, probably not the easiest or smartest thing to do when you actually need people to photograph them. Unfortunately, as of late, we’ve been on lock down; a bit of hiding whilst awaiting the sneak attack of germs (steve’s story here in case you’re wondering what the heck I’m talking about and if I’ve lost my mind… which i have). I’ve been a little frozen on picture taking, overcome with stupor and lassitude. I hear a tiny voice of me attempting to break free and pick up my camera once again.
This little silent nagging popped out of hiding today. And, as all proper optimists and supportive lil wives say, “there’s always a silver lining in every cloud”. Due to current, totally messed up circumstances, I’ve actually started to notice little things around the house that fell into the dark abyss that fermented during our “normal” lives. Little things that I passed by without even a first glance. Today I picked up the camera and went on a little hunt. I found this on my balcony.
