Big Thompson River Framed by Pine Tree While Flowing Through Moraine Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

After the sunrise photo shoot in Boulder, I went up to Rocky Mountain National Park which is about an hour drive. Since it was early November (2006), it had already snowed so most of the park roads were closed but I was able to get to Bear Lake which was completely frozen over. This scene of the Big Thompson River was what interested me most during the short amount of time I spent in the park. Though I didn’t see much of Rocky Mountain NP, I was impressed and would like to go back again in the future. The people in Boulder have got it made! And not just for the close proximity to the national park, but because it is a very pedestrian-friendly city and even has a creek flowing through downtown that people can whitewater kayak down during the spring.

Baby Mei Holding a Toy Ice Cream Cone

My cousin Jackie is in town visiting from Iowa along with her now 15 month old baby girl, Mei-Yu, so we took the opportunity to do a baby photo shoot during Christmas weekend. I have never done formal portraiture and since my style of photography is primarily photojournalism, this was a loose and fun photo shoot. I saw Mei on Christmas Day but the previous time before that was last year’s holiday season so I really didn’t know how she would react to having her picture taken.

Initially I had my 35mm f2 prime lens and off-camera flash thinking that I was going to get static posed baby photos. I quickly found out that it was going to be very difficult to get Mei to pose for pictures or even stay in one place for more than a few seconds at a time so I had to ditch my flash and swapped out my lens for the 24-70mm zoom lens for versatility. Chasing the baby around was just going to make her more nervous so with the zoom at least I could sit in one place and get more pictures until her comfort level would allow me to use the wider focal lengths.

Jackie and Mei

Mei loosened up eventually and really enjoyed the ice cream truck riding toy that my mom had bought her for Christmas. (There is a family story as to why my mom bought this for her.) In this photo, Mei was jumping up and down on the toy laughing with joy.

Grandma Lucy, Aunt Irene and Cousin Jackie Sharing a Laugh

We are fortunate that my grandma is still able to get around at age 82 so Jackie had wanted a photo of great-grandmother, grandmother, mother and daughter all together – knowing that since baby Mei wasn’t able to sit still for very long, I had my grandma, aunt and cousin set up in position for the posed family portraits while my mom was trying to catch Mei and hand her to my cousin so I could take the posed photos as quickly as possible.

When I was in grad school, there was a highly-regarded commercial portrait photographer that gave me some insight about portraiture saying that the hands should tell a story about the subject. With that in mind, I wanted to see if I could get a photo of them holding hands. Tracking down Mei took a little longer than expected so I had an opportunity to make some “test exposures” against the bright wall. I ended up really liking the result with all of them sharing a genuine moment of laughter with the camera being merely a passive observer of family life.

Baby Mei and Jackie Posing for a Portrait

Baby Mei-Yu Dancing in the Street

This moment was perhaps my favorite. Mei ran from halfway down the street and paused in front of me to do a frenetic dance. It was pretty wild!

Baby Mei-Yu Pushing Ice Cream Truck Riding Toy

Photo of Four Generations of Women in Family on Park Swings

This was the “four generations of family women” that I had envisioned several days before the photo shoot with my grandma, aunt, cousin and the baby on swings in successive order all looking at the baby. The concept was a modern twist to the nativity scene where all of the elders are looking at baby Jesus.

I frequently follow a few wedding and commercial photographer blogs including Jessica Claire, David Jay, Nick Onken, etc… so I had this high-key fashion / commercial photography look in mind for this composition and post-processing. I took a number of frames and this was the only one that worked out the way I wanted it to. For the post-processing, I ran a few stylized Lightroom 2 presets then modified the image with the goal of having extremely bright highlights on the background with perfectly exposed family members.

Jackie and Baby Mei on a Park Slide

In my opinion, the key to people photography is to capture raw emotion. It is very difficult to achieve unless the subjects have a comfort level with the camera. Basically you want to be a fly on the wall and make them almost not even be aware that you as the photographer are even there. So I waited at the bottom of each of the three slides photographing Jackie and Mei’s ride down from beginning to end. A few images near the top of the slides showed fear in both of their eyes as the speed picked up but in the end, they both had a lot of fun.

Baby Mei Standing on a Park Slide

Baby Mei Screaming With Excitement at Park Playground

Baby Mei-Yu Playing Spin Racer at Park Playground

The colorful play equipment at this park were perfectly suited for shooting baby photos. The overcast lighting conditions provided a nice diffused studio quality light on the vibrant colored park equipment.

Baby Mei-Yu Sitting on a Blue Park Bench

Overall, I really enjoyed this baby photo shoot with Mei and Jackie. This is not something I had considered before but since this experience was a good one, I would definitely be interested in doing more of this for other families if the opportunity comes up.

If you want to see full-screen images here is the baby photo slideshow.

Photographer, Richard Wong at Granville Island, Vancouver, Canada

After two months worth of blog posts, I have finally finished processing my photos from Canada and added them to my website. Feel free to take a look at my Canada pictures gallery which includes sub-galleries for Vancouver and Victoria as well. I will also eventually be adding a few of my mom’s pictures when I get to processing them. She isn’t a photographer so I was pleasantly surprised that she managed to get some pretty good publishable images. Every little bit helps.

I might go back to Vancouver next summer for a wedding at Granville Island so we will see. Even after two weeks, there are still places we didn’t get around to visiting such as the Vancouver Lookout, Lynn Canyon and UBC Arboretum so I would definitely try to visit them next time. It would also be fun to take a six-mile bike ride around Stanley Park.

Yellow Poppy, Fullerton Arboretum

I just took my new Canon 70-200mm f4 lens out for a local test run at the Arboretum at Cal State Fullerton. I bought it for landscapes and downtown skyline photography but I am really liking the texture of the backgrounds for the flower photos. That leads me to think that the lens would probably be good for outdoor portraiture as well not that I have any intention of trying that…

Golden Poppy, Fullerton Arboretum

I have a feeling that this lens will get a lot of use this summer when I go to Vancouver and Victoria, B.C. Not only are there beautiful scenic photo opportunities up there but there are some world-class gardens such as the Butchart Gardens, Minter Gardens, and Queen Elizabeth Park. I visited those amazing places as a kid and have waited 20+ years to go back there so I am very anxious to photograph them.

See more of my flower and garden pictures on my site.

Man in Wheelchair Watching the Louisville Bats versus Norfolk Tides at Louisville Slugger Field, Kentucky

It’s not often that I go back and post older photos on my blog but I haven’t been able to get this photo off my mind. The funny thing is that when I lived in Kentucky, this photo really didn’t strike me as being one of my better photos from my time there. However I did feel a connection with this disabled senior citizen when I saw him because he reminded me of my grandfather who was disabled for the last decade or so of his life due to strokes. No matter his condition, he tried to live life like any other normal person, and not always for his own good but you know what I mean. This moment also reminded me of my own dad who has been afflicted with Parkinson’s Disease since I was in high school. My dad hasn’t fared as well so the contrast struck a nerve with me.

So I see this guy at the minor league baseball game in his wheelchair just watching intently the game like any other hardcore fan. From the way he was sitting it was obvious that he was really excited to be there even in the 90 degree humid heat of the southern summer. I knew I had to take a picture and hoped I would get some shadow details to at least show a hint of his wheelchair. It’s hard to see on the web but it did work out. Technical details aside…

My initial thoughts was that this was a suitable “stock photo”. In other words an image that gets processed then submitted but otherwise just kind of tucked away in the archives. Then a weird thing happened. When I think of my time in Kentucky, my mind keeps going back to this guy in his wheelchair at the Louisville Bats game. Then photo was licensed for a textbook last month and has been growing on me since. I know the buyer probably couldn’t care less about the meaning of the photo but the sale sort of validated in my mind that maybe there was something special about this photo that I captured that I didn’t grasp initially.

Here are more of my Kentucky pictures.

City Buried Under Mud, Bombay Beach, California

There are parts of Bombay Beach that are completed buried under a few feet of mud. That bench for example is buried all the way up to the seat! There are some street signs in the middle of the mud field also.

If this were a school field trip I would probably get extra credit for trying but in the lowly field of photography what I get are a pair of ruined shoes and a picture.

If you recall a couple blog posts ago, I wrote about South Hills development issues. Well I met up with the local environmental activists this morning at the Glendora Christmas Parade. The lady on the right is Kristin Parisi, who is running for one of two vacant city council member seats. She is here to give voice to those of us who appreciate our local natural resources and want to keep it that way.

We discussed doing an interview on my blog for her to give a little more background on The South Hills. Hopefully I will have this for you in the near future. All in all, it was a pretty fun parade.

Save the South Hills Twins, Glendora Christmas Parade, California

See more Glendora pictures.

I heard today that “developers” are planning on developing over my favorite exercise hiking trail in the Glendora South Hills with homes and a road.

This really makes me angry because there are already a few extremely large mansions near the end of these hills along with no trespassing signs. But the part I hike is purely wild. I see jackrabbits, skunk, red ants, and a tarantula almost every single time I have been up there. The area doesn’t look spectacular but it is special to me.

I prefer not to get into politics on this blog but environmental issues are something that is very important to me so I can’t keep this to myself. I realize that David Dreier is my local congressman and one of the worst members of the Congress when it comes to LCV score. I think at one point, he had a zero out of 100. One person’s complaints might fall on deaf ears but if enough people speak he has no choice but to listen. The whole development-first mindset has got to go.

Southern California is already a cesspool of overdevelopment and outdoor recreation lovers can’t even enjoy our little island in a sea of civilization anymore. I lost ten pounds hiking this trail 3 – 4 times a week. No matter how bad of day I might have had, everything in my life disappears as I’m hiking the trail. It clears my mind and makes me feel good. I can only hope that more people can experience the positive things that I have here.

Here are more pictures from my website:

South Hills Alosta Canyon Trail
He Loved Her, San Gabriel Valley
San Gabriel Valley Sunset, Glendora

YouTube Video
Save the Glendora South Hills

Glendora City Council and Community Redevelopment Meeting Agenda

Update 11/10/08: I received a response from the City Manager, “In answer to your question, we do not know of any housing or other development that would occur in the Wilderness Park. As you may know, the Park covers several hundred acres and is zoned as open space and thus cannot be developed with houses or any commercial buildings. I know the City Council has taken many steps to make sure the park remains in its current open space state and has applauded the Trails Committee for its fine work in maintaining the trail system that you referred to in the email.”

I hope that this really is the case and stays this way.

Update 11/30/08:
Lupine and Mustard Wildflowers

“Zoning” – This wholesale nursery occupies a pretty big chunk of the hills.

Some pictures from my cell phone -

Wholesale Nursery Development in Glendora South Hills

Leased Private Property in South Hills

Road Closure

I wrote to Mr. Dreier’s office also and their response was that land-use issues were out of his jurisdiction. Despite that, I think it is always a good idea to write to your local members of Congress to make your opinions known. Developers might have money but we the people have our rights too and together we can fight greed.

Update 1/4/09: I interviewed Kristin Parisi, a local environmental activist and Glendora City Council Candidate. She is quite knowledgeable about the land use issues.

See more of my environmental pictures.

Last Saturday, La Jolla-based photographer Brian Auer and I went to photograph the U.S. border. Neither of us knew what to expect and turned out to be quite a surreal experience even while driving in.

Frustrated Mexican Man Grabbing Tijuana Mexico International Boundary Fence, Border Field State Park, California, USA

I said hello to this guy as I was standing next to the border fence then he started asking me how far San Diego was from there and then about Imperial Beach which was across the Tijuana Estuary. After I pointed out that San Diego was about 20 miles north of here, I asked him if I could take pictures of him. He agreed then instantly his previously upbeat demeanor transformed to what you see here. I wished him good luck once I finished taking my photos.

See more of my San Diego pictures.

I have a bit of a schizophrenic style of shooting pictures. Here is a good example of this. I got to Santa Monica Pier around 6:15 and was feeling weak from hunger. I walked up and down the pier twice shooting photos while looking to grab a bite before sunset at 7 p.m. By the time I got my burrito at the food stand on the bottom left corner of this picture, the sun was getting close to the horizon. I finished eating within ten minutes and ran back to my car (passing it twice because I forgot where it was) to grab a tripod. Then made it back up to the pier in time to get my sunset pictures right as the sun was setting.

See more of my Santa Monica pictures.

Yup. This is the world-famous Santa Monica Pier sign. I’d never had a chance to photograph this SoCal iconic landmark before while the neon lights were on so I took the opportunity to do so the other night since I was in Santa Monica for personal business. I have to admit that being the only photographer at such a well-worn tripod hole felt pretty satisfying.

The hard part about getting traffic light blurs was that cars would slow down for me not wanting to “ruin” my picture when in reality I wanted them to drive by really quick so I could create a sense of energy within the scene.

Santa Monica Pier was actually the furthest thing from my mind until I exhausted my other options. My intention was to shoot some more big waves at Leo Carrillo and do some sound gathering there. The tides weren’t in my favor for that to happen however so not wanting to settle for pretty but run-of-the-mill seascapes, I stopped by Surfrider Beach to take a look at the Malibu Pier. I got the sense that locals were looking at me in the parking lot suspiciously (without a camera I might add) so I just went for a quick look at the beach before deciding that it wasn’t worth the hassle (getting tossed into the surf by drunken celebrity-loving groupies and getting my gear smashed…) so I took off for the Santa Monica Pier just in time for a quick bite, the sunset, and to photograph an iconic landmark without any hassles.

See more of my Santa Monica pictures.

An impressive display of U.S. flags in tribute to those lost in the bombing of the Twin Towers. I caught this display on the front lawn of Pepperdine University as I was driving north on PCH so I had to stop and get my photos. I probably spent at least an hour here taking pictures.

See more of my Malibu pictures.

Oak Tree Forest, Big Dalton Canyon Wilderness Park, California – July 9, 2008

I stopped by the local wilderness park on Monday night about twenty minutes before closing time just to try some sound gathering in the woods. I was pleasantly surprised to see some fall color developing. See the two pictures above for a comparison.

I was hoping to hear some animal calls because on a previous visit I saw my first black bear. I caught a glimpse of it darting across the road into the foliage as I drove by. I was also told by the ranger that someone reported a mountain lion sighting the day before that.

See more of my San Gabriel Mountains pictures.

I went to Venice Beach again on Sunday to record some sound. The drum circle attracts a diverse group of people looking to have a good time. The two girls in the foreground were initially just dancing and playing around with the sand. Then they decided to get wild and starting putting it down each other’s top.

This is what Venice Beach is really about. Not worrying about what anyone else thinks and just doing whatever the heck makes you feel good. To me this is what photography should be about.

28mm, f4.5, ISO 800, 1/50 sec.

See more of my Venice Beach pictures.

After last week’s photo shoot at the Pasadena City Hall, I realized that words can only describe so much to the viewer. So in an effort to add to the viewer-experience on this website, I’m going to try adding ambient sound to my posts whenever possible. I picked up an Olympus DS-30 digital recorder from Radio Shack and briefly tested it at home before heading to the Griffith Observatory on Saturday night for the Los Angeles Astronomical Society Public Star Party.

I’m still experimenting to see which recording settings work best for different situations, but I got some good moments of dialogue with this astronomer explaining to me why half moon light is better for viewing details through a telescope than a full moon. The actual recording of this particular segment was nearly eight minutes long and I ended up with about six different sections that are usable. Perhaps I’ll find a use for those other clips eventually.

See more of my Los Angeles pictures.

I spent a lot of time in Pasadena when I was a kid because my grandparents raised my cousins and I while our parents were working. My mom and aunt worked for the city so I saw City Hall frequently. It is one of the most beautiful buildings in this country in my opinion. Judging from the amount of tourists that stop by here to take photos, I’m probably not the only one who believes this.

I’ve never seen it more beautiful than this past Saturday night. Since re-opening a year ago from the seismic retrofitting job, City Hall has been lit this way every night. Complimenting the scene, I could hear live salsa music playing at the Paseo Colorado outdoor mall, where they were giving the final free salsa dance lessons for the summer. Pasadena is definitely a happening place.

See more of my Pasadena pictures.

Water is the one subject that I never tire of photographing. It was a struggle to get sharp pictures of this scene because it was really windy combined with the long exposures. Since I don’t have a cable release my options were to use my usual 10 second timer which wouldn’t have worked in a situation like this were I needed precise timing, or to trip the shutter with my hands. Opting for the latter, I used “burst mode” at 0.8 sec to ensure that I got some usable frames. This was my favorite frame from this sequence and sharp I might add. My 2nd favorite was slightly blurry however.

See more of my Malibu pictures.

My first visit to Leo Carrillo State Beach was a memorable one. I had never seen waves hit the shoreline with such ferocity before. I don’t know how high this splash was but I would estimate that it was well over 50 feet! There were some crazy people down in the tide pools (the upper left rocky area) during high tide and I saw one wave fly over them. I’m not suicidal though so I stayed up on the coastal bluffs and studied the wave motion to make sure that I wouldn’t get blasted. Good thing for me that from this vantage point, the waves flew outward.

Just around the corner, there was a major film production going on. At one point, the movie crew started generating a heavy amount of fake rain that ended up flying my direction and got my lens all wet. I wasn’t too pleased with that. Besides, the waves I got to see were way more exciting than their fake rain. Nature puts on an act too and it’s 100% real.

I’m also proud to announce that I made it out of Malibu without being mistaken for paparazzi and didn’t get beaten down by drunken members of the Matthew McConaughey Fan Club. Probably because I enjoyed his movie with Kate Hudson, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Anyways…

See more of my Southern California coast pictures.

I’ve been like a kid in a candy store the past few days while using the actions to process my photos.

By the way, it’s almost that time of year again for the L.A. County Fair. This year features a photo contest called, “Paw Prints”. Maybe someday I’ll get a ribbon myself.

See more of my LA County Fair photos.