alicetrieu PHOTOGRAPHY

Damon & Marcus

2009-11-06T09:01:00.000-08:00

{Keep your eye on the ball!}

2009-02-18T10:58:00.000-08:00

It's rainny season here in California, and we have been having rain for the past 2 - 3 days. Saturday morning, we are up early, finished breakfast and play a little bit of baseball with Damon. We've been practicing with him for a while, he even knows the phrase keep your eye on the ball! I think kids at his age suppose to play with a t-ball setup; but this kid is determine to hit the ball from a pitch. He even finish the whole hitting-running the bases sequence; hilariously funny and amazing to watch.

Gong Hey Fat Choy - Year of the Ox

2009-01-27T16:12:00.000-08:00

Year of the Ox is here! I am attempting to teach Damon my native tongue, Chinese - specifically Cantonese. It's fun and challenging; but Damon's language skills are just growing so fast. Speaking English is so natural for him; is fun watching him trying to learn new words... particularly "hospital", aka "hos-ta-ble", he would keep practicing until he figures out how to say it correctly. Every night, when I put him to bed, we would hang out and I would throw out some new language things at him, to see if he can repeat what I say; after 10 minutes...this is what we have for Gong Hey Fat Choy, where's is my red pocket?!

This is for Auntie Connie & Uncle Joey in Hong Kong.

{ Happy Holidays! }

2008-12-22T17:06:00.000-08:00

There's nothing like a real Christmas tree to bring in the holiday spirit in a home. When I was growing up in Hong Kong, we used to have a fake plastic tree. My parents are very practical people, don't get into the holiday spirits too much. Not 'til Paul and I have our own home, getting a real Christmas tree is part of our holiday tradition. For this Christmas, Damon went with his dad to pick out our tree. He was so excited that he took part in picking out the tree. He even got his share of decorating the tree with red beads. I called them red berries, he was so into it, throwing them on, taking them off, throwing them back on and say "I did it!" It's super fun to see him going to town with them.

{ Baking cookies }

2008-12-22T16:47:00.000-08:00

Today, I baked my first batch of chocolate chip cookies from scratch. I always appreciate bake goods that are made from scratch. For most people, holidays is a good time to be in the kitchen and bake. I cook, but am not a baker. I don't even own a cookie cooling rack! Today, I went to C&B and equipped myself a cooling rack and a baking sheet, then to Safeway for my cookie dough ingredients. I was pretty excited to use my new baking sheet, little do I know there is a difference between a cookie sheet vs. a baking sheet! Hahaha, wrong equipment, cookies turn out looking a little funky, not with the thicker edge, but more like a crispy snaps. Thank god I do own a regualr cookie sheet!

(result of cookies baked on a baking sheet...)

(thin edge like crispy snaps.)

(looks good when they all stacked together.)

{ Christmas presents }

2008-12-22T10:06:00.000-08:00

Man, I am so in trouble, is not even X'mas yet...Damon is starting to get presents at daycare and has been asking to open presents the entire weekend; and I don't even have any wrapped presents under the tree! Yes, next year, I need to hide everything in the closet, even the wrapping papers. Saturday morning, first thing he discovered....his Thomas the Train rainboots. He was screaming and just so super excited. Now, I guess I won't need to wrap this gift.

{ Baby Trevor }

2008-12-22T08:56:00.000-08:00

This is baby Trevor, he's my dear friend Julie's first born. Julie and I have been friends since high school. Julie and I have a lot of silly stories together. Over the years, we've become really good friends. Our friendship really stand the test of time, as we parted to separate colleges for 4 years, her travelling around the world with b-school, or even relocating to NYC to be with her now husband, somehow we managed to stay in touch and have become even better friends. We can always pick up where we left off and talk about anything. She is...one of my BFF, awwww....super cheesy! (she's going to laugh at me with this one!)
This weekend, we got together and did a little photo shoot for her son, in time for the holidays!

{Go Kid, Go!}

2008-12-05T12:46:00.000-08:00

Go by foot, or go by bike. Another proud moment for Mom! Damon is finally free to roam around with his tricycle! How cool is that?! Maybe is the pink bunny helmet that gave him the encouragement to take on this tricycle all by himself. (Don't laugh! That's the only toddler style helmet they had in the store, and he's attached to it!) I usually don't get a lot of stuff for Damon until he proves to me that he can handle it...and boy, when he got on this little tricycle in the store, he started to pedal away; maybe it's the German engineering, it's a pretty smooth ride. I was amazed at how well this kid handled turning left and right down the aisles without bumping into things. Of course, we need to get a cool bell to go with this new experience!

{ Thomas the Train }

2008-12-05T09:29:00.000-08:00

I can't believe...how lucky Damon is when it comes to the toy department. Recently, he inherited a whole set of Thomas the train from his cousins. This truly is a family heirloom, almost 10 years making, to become what it is today! It's been pass on twice..and each time the train set goes to the next kid in the family...they add a little bit more to it. The set even comes with 2 battery-operated engines, so we get to watch the trains go around the tracks without pushing. Damon loves the sound of the train running around the track; with that it comes with the lessons of "no wasting battery" and "how to build a fancy train tracks" with all the pieces. And believe me, is not easy to build a sophisticated train tracks that includes loops, splits, uphill, round-abouts, and cargo stations.

{ Damon @ 27 months }

2008-11-17T11:00:00.000-08:00

Man, I guess you stop counting the growing months once your kid turns 2, at least I do, and start to get off track on the milestones that your growing child is achieving. Seriously, there's no better way to document your child's life with pictures! We moms or moms-to-be, tends to only count the critical months, the number of weeks till the first trimester, the number of weeks till birth, the number of weeks since birth, the number of months till the 1st birthday. Some moms are really good at counting beyond the 26 months of things. How old is your child?! Oh...he's 32 months...and I would need to break out my math conversion chart to bring it back to the "almost 3-year old" thing for myself. It's a lot of math work. Enough said...

Well, Damon is a few days shy of 27 months. He is growing and learning a lot of things; sometimes I am surprised at how well he comprehends instructions and directions from me. Our first effort at introducing big-boy underpants to him...and he wants to wear absolutely nothing with it but my swim goggles; hence his latest super hero persona, Aquaman.

{ Round and round }

2008-11-17T10:19:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting a new set of washer and dryer since last year, why?! not sure...maybe being a mom?! Our old dryer finally call it quits after 10 years with us. Wohoo!!! Forget about fixing it or calling for replacement parts. It's time to out with the old and in with the new! Everything on the washer and dryer is electronic and digitalized; even the turn dial rings a nice tune of some sort. This set is all about high-efficient cleaning...from detergent to drying time. We watched the first load of our clothes spinning in the washer and is 5 minutes into the washing cycle, and my jeans still looks dry....I guess that's the wonderful features of low water usage features with all these front-loaders.

{Pumpkin Patch}

2008-10-28T17:44:00.000-07:00

Oh my! It's the end of October already! I have never stepped a foot into any pumpkin patch till now! I once read an article which listed some good things being a parent, one of them is that your kid will take you into new experiences; for me, that would be pumpkin patch and getting excited about dressing up for halloween! Things we parents do for our kids; even if the pumpkin patch is an hour away, I am there because Damon is showing interest. The pumpkin patch by our house is just an empty lot set up with jump houses, and he asks to go everytime we drove by the lot; and I would say that is closed and hoping he doesn't know better....WRONG!!! His response would be, "I see people." This past weekend, we made our way to G&M Farm in Livermore. Tons of fun things for the little people: face paint, farm animals, pony ride, and miniature maze. Now, that's an awesome pumpkin patch experience!

{ Summer Vacation - Oahu }

2008-10-03T09:22:00.000-07:00

This is our 3rd time vacationing with another group of people. We've tried vacationing with another couple to Europe; vacationing with another couple with a small baby; or even vacationing/travelling with paul's own family entourage. From our experience, the key when vacationing with another group or family is to set no expectation, get your own transportation, and be upfront about the fact that "if we somehow can't stand each other, just break away and regroup later, no bad feelings."
With that said, our trip to Oahu with my sister and her family was so much fun! As soon as we situated ourselves at the hotel, we went for a sunset swim at the hotel's lagoon; Hmmmm....salty water... We hit some touristy spot, like Dole Plantation and the famous Matsumoto at North Shore for some melt-in-your-mouth shaved ice. This place is PACKED with bus-load of Japanese tourists. One evening, we made our way into Waikiki for some shopping, another place packed with Japanese tourists and ABC stores; the main strip is like Vegas in Hawaii, but I think is much nicer here; very kid friendly!

{Damon's 2nd Birthday}

2008-09-12T10:56:00.000-07:00

As promised from my previous post....a chocolate cake for Damon's 2nd Birthday. We celebrated his birthday with our big family. Hopefully, I will get this kid party thing right by his next birthday; note to self: no 10-course chinese dinner. They can't last past nine, and we had to cut in with the cake while waiting for the rest of the dishes. At 2 years old, I am amazed how much Damon has grown and becoming a little person with likes and dislikes. His latest faves, Dragon...from watching an Olympic commercial with a dragon blowing fire fueling a water well in rural china countryside, so the kids can enjoy a warm bath. Ever since then, his nightime story is a boy and his friend Dragon with different adventures. We started off his day with a trip to ToysRUs, and found some dragons. Cool... The dragons were a big hit with his cousins too! Ok, back to the cake, I don't need to say much here; as you can see, little fingers get really busy once the candles are blown out. First are the cherries, then the shaved chocolates, and before you know it - half the cake has gone bye-bye.

"Happy Birthday Sweetheart!" Love -Mom.

{and we saw Mr. Jerry Rice...}

2008-08-21T14:22:00.000-07:00

or should I say...we went golfing with Mr. Jerry Rice?! No, we saw him at the rehearsal. He was cool enough to take a few shots with us. Paul couldn't contain himself!!! He was eyeing Jerry Rice's gigantic SuperBowl ring! Rehearsal day was hot, bright and sunny even at 5pm in the evening. Perfect! perfect for me to work on backlighting subject technique. Thanks to my nieces from SD, whom love to take pictures and have the patience sitting in front of the camera for me to get some nice pics!

{family wedding}

2008-08-20T13:02:00.000-07:00

The last big family wedding was Paul and mine back in year 2000. Fast forward to 2008, it's Marisa's & Howie's turn. Mind...time flies and everyone is growing up...I guess I can't say...I am not getting old. The wedding was perfect, Marisa planned to every single details for this special day. 11 years and 7 months, Howie, you've made us proud..and we are very happy that you guys finally tie the knot! Here are some pictures to share...

{working on my craft}

2008-08-07T16:57:00.000-07:00

A day without the internet at home is like having a cold turkey withdraw symptoms on any kind of addiction. I didn't know what to do with myself; so I watched the latest Harold and Kumar movie...super hilarious! Then I just sat in front of my computer and did a ton of post processing. While there's no perfect formula for color drama; I often fear that I might be doing too much to the images...too dark, too much saturation, too much of this or too much of that. I am just totally afraid to F-UP the image and all goes down to the toilet. The best way is to really see it in print, that helps me to figure out what magic potion to add. I took these 3 pictures with the Canon 40D + 50mm prime lens on the fly at Damon's daycare. I didn't even bother reading the manual and understand all the settings of the camera, but I just wanted to see the effects of the 50mm prime lens. Wow, beautiful DOF...I like...no, I love! Also, I am checking out new ways to post my images.

{just another shot of you know who}

2008-07-30T15:58:00.000-07:00

Man, my mind is so blank when it comes to titling my post. We've been busy, birthday parties, and many more birthday parties, and we are having a family wedding in 2 weeks. Damon's been slated to be the ring bearer. Hopefully, he will perform on the day of as we've been practicing his "slow" walk, and having him try on his little tux, even got his converse for his cousin's special day. Now, if only he can stop tripping himself and stop getting bumps, bruises, and scratches on his face, he would make a handsome looking ring bearer.

{babealicious and inspirational}

2008-07-30T15:37:00.000-07:00

Eight more days till Summer Olympic 2008. I am starting to see a lot of inspirational stories, commercials on t.v. featuring the athletes. Have you seen the latest cover of TIME magazine?! Who is this swimmer with an awesome looking bod?! "Faster than ever at 41"! 41?! damn....serious?! Visit the nytime blog to see more of this featured athlete. Now, definitely...no excuse to NOT hit the gym today.

{One man's junk is another man's treasure}

2008-07-25T15:18:00.000-07:00

Everytime I do something fun with my photography skills, I think of my teacher, Augie. This time, I am selling my old furniture pieces off on Craig's list. This is a wonderful online market place for anyone who wants to sell or buy anything. There's always an interested buyer on used furnitures. But online shopping is really difficult, especially when buying someone else's junk. I am a visual person, so if the sale item pictures look slightly disgusting, I am not buying it! So, then I realized...hey...I can really put my photography skills at used here! The limitation on Craig's list is 4 pictures to sell off my item. I have just sold my storage chest, and already having an interested buyer for my coffee tables. All within a few days of posting!

{Summer fun}

2008-07-17T16:40:00.000-07:00

Summer fun with my arm candy - Canon Elph. Every where you look these days, everyone is equipped with some sort of DSLR. I owned one myself. Most of us, like to believe by having a big DSLR means having good pictures. We secretly get gear-envy with each other; I am no exception. What is the latest lens my sister is lugging around her camera bag?! While the big fancy camera can give you the perfect DOF effect, I like to think my 3" x 2" Canon Elph can be equally effective at capturing good images. With a 5' 3" frame at 105 lbs., I like to travel light, especially when I have to lugged a 20 lbs. toddler on demand; plus a diaper bag, and a stroller...you get the picture. That extra camera bag is not very enticing for me to deal with at this stage of my life. Taking pictures with my little Elph helps me to focus on image composition, and applying all the techniques I use when I shoot with my DSLR. Here are some of my favorites taken with my arm candy, Canon Elph.

{self}

2008-06-26T08:52:00.000-07:00

I have been on facebook too much these days, hovering around the site, drawing on my friends' walls and reconnecting with some old classmates from high school. Despite how cute my little Damon is or how ugly my toes are...I think my profile picture should have some part of my face in it, so if people can't recognize the name, at least they can recognize the face. And so, the challenge of self portrait. What is the best angle?! My arm is only so long for the lens to focus at the correct length; oh, maybe I can shoot against the mirror. The most challenging part of photographing yourself is figuring out where to look... directly at the camera?! Or the artistic, daydreaming look into space?! I have no clue. The regular "cheese" sure does not WORK at all when doing self portrait, is almost too posey! I might as well, just keep talking and have my finger clicking away to see which frame catches my best expression...Aiya!! Parents, moms especially, you are just as an important subject to photograph as your little darlings! Don't loose sight of that!

{approaching the terrible 2}

2008-06-20T08:42:00.000-07:00

Coming August, Damon gets to join the ranks of the "terrible 2's". This is what some of our wise-parent friends have warned us about. Have I already starting to see the signs?! You bet! But I guess this is a way for him to test the world and try to understand what it is all about! Of course, some of the behaviors are not what we parents want in our little angels, like....wanting to have potatoe chips for breakfast or asking for chocolate milk the moment he awakes. All of that goes against our senses of nutrientional belief for our growing child! What about McDonalds?! How can any child resist McDonald fries?!?!! McDonald used to be a treat when I was a kid, I can never forget how my sister and I used to recite the McDonald menu in timed-speed to win a meal. The good o' days. As I am becoming aware of the "processed food" jargon in my food diet vocabulary, I am banning these foods out of the fear of bad eating habit for Damon. But occasionally, I have to stop myself and let the kid loose and just be a kid. I wouldn't want him growing up knowing only water and green beans are the only beverage and food choice on planet earth. Imagine how boring life would be without all these extra foods that spark your taste buds?! Hmmmmm.... Ok, enough of this... definitely a chocolate cake for his 2nd birthday! Ha!

{here's to your health!}

2008-06-16T11:50:00.000-07:00

Happy father's day! For this father's day, my present for Paul and myself is a gym membership. We've been wanting to get into a gym as part of our routine, but the usual "no time", "work is too busy" has been our excuses for the past couple of years. More so, to find a gym that fits our needs as well. Last weekend, we officially got off the "lazy" wagon and joined a gym. The biggest selling point for me was the steam room and a heated indoor pool! Wohoo! It's an awesome place, as I was touring the facility; I couldn't help but wonder why would anyone want to leave this place?! It has EVERYTHING! From Wi-Fi, to excercise machines with personal T.V. to make your cardio machine workout less boring; and on top of that...a little fan...that starts to blow air just as you start to feel a little bit warm. Many of us work out for different reasons, but I have noticed that my strength and endurance is not where it used to be!! Case in point, after 2 labs in the pool, I was ready to call it quits; or in one of the pilate class, this older lady was kicking my butt with her abs strengths. Then I realized, it's very important to stay active regardless what age you are... Cheers!

{swim for your life}

2008-06-04T09:42:00.000-07:00

Two more lessons till the end of Damon's first swim session. After many reiteration of "swim, swim, swim, kick, kick, kick, GRAB THE WALL!!!" from the swim teacher, the kiddies in the class are getting the idea! Toddler swim class at AVAC is not about sitting on inflated rubber boat sipping cool-aid, nor is about who can swim, but more importantly, is about teaching water safety. Each kid is unique with his own ability to adjust to the water. There was one kid who gave his parents the "are you kidding me?!" look, hung on to his mom's leg for dear life and never came back. Another kid is at absolute delight to lay on his back and enjoy the way his body floats. Another one drank pool water like it was juice, poor kid. Eventually, they all progress and get the idea of moving their little arms and legs, holding their breath, and swim to the wall and get out of the pool safely. Each time I see Damon climbing out of the pool. I couldn't stop laughing because it reminds me the scene of the sinking "Titanic". It is absolutely amazing to see what all these little kiddies can do on their own.

How about a mini slideshow to see these kids in action?!

{it's a pj party}

2008-05-05T16:15:00.000-07:00

It's awesome to see my sister's kids and my kid grow! They are just a bunch of awesome funny kids. Aislinn, who just turned 5, been thru it all in front of the cameras, no more grouchy faces from her, she has perfected her camera face! Next, Declan, who will soon turn 3, is a goof ball...We keep saying how he always have a serious "don't bother me" look on his face...but check out his silly face when the camera is pointed at him! Last but not least...my little Damon..who will soon hit the terrible 2, knows the power of "cheese" that would make Mom dropped when I try to take pictures of him. This past Saturday, we had a bbq, as the evening progress, all the kids couldn't wait to get into their pj, especially Aislinn, with the Hannah Montana pj outfit.... I am trying to catch them goofy around, as you can see towards the end, it's just all down hill with the smiling thing...

{warrior's half time show}

2008-04-15T15:59:00.000-07:00

Learning by osmosis is one phrase I strongly believe in. Paul has accomplished this quite well with Damon on basketball. Anyone who knows Paul, knows that basketball runs in his veins: he played varsity all 4 years in high school and was on the team at UCDavis for a couple of years. He also loves teaching the game too. Damon is well aware that t.v. = basketball. This little guy subconsciously picks up the moves from all the possible basketball games on t.v. and process them in his brain while he eats, poops and sleeps. He has become a serious shooter, a force to be reckon with; check out Damon's shooting percentage!

{nail art}

2008-04-08T18:00:00.000-07:00

As I am getting older, I find beautifying myself is more fun than shopping for random junks...pedicure is definitely on top of that list. I like to stick to the basic colors; but today, I decided to do silver with a flower, pretty... The nail salon girl is awesome when it comes to making flower art on nails by dotting paint and glitter on the nail. I personally do not like my toes, I blame it on my mom for giving me finger-like toes..GRRRR! All that fancy peep-toe shoes I can't wear! But pedicure makes them look a little less alien like. As I am trying to take some decent shots of the nail art, my toes were in the way, then I thought of my dear teacher - Augie's comment, "try to make something ugly, look beautiful." aka - my toes. Well, I think I found some forgiving angles.

{easter egg hunt}

2008-04-08T09:16:00.000-07:00

{Big arms and big kicks}

2008-04-08T08:29:00.000-07:00

It's early April and the weather is still in unpredictable pattern of warm, cold, cloudy, windy and warm again. We are blessed with an indoor pool facility which keeps the swimming pool at a comfortable 70-somethin' degree for Damon's swim class, lucky babies! I remember my swimming class back in HK, it's outdoor, cloudy or sunny, that's the only pool you get to swim in, and with my skinny little bod, I would shiver the entire lesson till my fingers turn blue. Indoor swimming pool with huge skylight definitely makes swimming much more enjoyable. Damon trying to master the big kicks and big arms technique here.

{adding more punch to my photos}

2008-03-27T10:58:00.000-07:00

Work has been really stressful lately, and it has put this big cloud over the fun stuff I do outside of work. Whew! Finally, I am feeling some sunlight after my training last week! And I am in the mood to see what I captured last month; majority of them was for a wedding, and only a few of Damon. Boy! He's grown so much! I make a point to take pictures of him every 22nd of the month to document his growth. It has been a year since my first photo workshop with Augie, and I have learned so much on the art of taking pictures since... This morning, while I was putting together another Damon photo collage with some pictures from Augie, I noticed my image colors are not up to par! Totally lacking of the "punch, bam" effect! So after I fixed this images again, I now know not to be afraid to add more color drama to my pictures! Here are some shots of Damon at 19 months, the bottom two are from this morning. Enjoy!

{Good Friday Morning}

2008-03-21T06:30:00.000-07:00

Blogging Live! from Downers Grove, IL. I am in Chicago this week for a training class. The weather here sucks, but overall interesting; 2 days with clouds, 2 days with sun, and today, I woke up seeing snow. This winter storm has been talked about for the past 2 days and everyone who are not Chicago natives were/are freakin' out about their outbound flight, something very baffling to a west coast girl. The only thing that worries me is driving my little itty-bity Ford Focus rental on icy roads. The snow storm supposed to be at peak during noon time, and that's when I have to drive to the airport!!! We'll see how that will go! I've already got a preview earlier driving from the hotel to the training facility. Just don't drive too close to a snow plow if you don't want dirty snow splattering on the windshield, sooo not pretty! Well, at least my rental came with a snow scrapper and brush which I was not sure what these items are for when I first hop into my rental at 5am Monday morning. Now I know, is for this Good Friday snow storm. Too funny! Ok, class is starting and I will load up some pictures later when I get home!

{damon @ 18 months}

2008-02-24T12:03:00.000-08:00

It's raining cats and dogs outside and this is how we spend our rainy Sunday morning.

Damon is 18 months old, and he's been practicing shooting basketball since X'mas. He finally figure out the "release and shoot" concept ; here, he's demonstrating the assist sequence with his Dad.

It's happy birthday and blowing candle practice for Damon, I think he has master the art for his up coming birthday #2.

{take a pill and call it a day!}

2008-02-19T15:15:00.000-08:00

I've been having photog-snob syndrome since last December, both Paul and myself have noticed this syndrome ever since I've discovered taking pictures in raw format. I refuse to take random pictures anymore for a variety reasons but one particular is that I simply do not want to stuck in post processing hell with random images! When did posting pictures become such a dreadful task?! I used to just take pictures and dump the files onto my computer and called it a day! The pictures would then be nicely organized in my catalogue without a huge amount of fuss over them. These days, I have given myself this strict task of processing them before they pass my final QA! It is simply too much to do! Aahhhh.... Since I called out my stupid syndrome, I've made a point to just take pictures and not worry about the post processing too much! I just don't have enough time in the day to make every single one of my pictures Type-A personality quality!!! There has to be simpler ways to do this! Check out my latest discovery, Action Packs! Ok, I think this could work. I just need to pick a few favorites as my quick tool to jazz up my jpeg images without inundating myself with 100+ actions in my safe! With that said, the first image took a vitamin from my action pack, check out the nice color!

{biking at Monterey}

2008-02-19T08:57:00.000-08:00

Ouch, my rear is sore from sitting on stiff, gel-less rental bike for too many hours. Yesterday, we headed up to Monterey for a day of biking with the family. Other than the freezing cold weather, it was SUPER FUN! When was the last time I was on a real bike that takes me from point A to point B? It's been awhile! Good thing, the riding and balancing skills require to steer a bike is store somewhere in my long-term memory, and I was able to hop on the bike and start pedaling away. Of course, the most fun part was to see Paul towing Damon in the trailer; if he was a little bit older, he would've been sipping hot chocolate while watching his Dad ride. What an awesome ride for the kid! I wish I was a kid again!!! We pedal along the coast and did some uphill trails, with some gear shifting and tricks I learn from spinning...I didn't have to walk my bike up the hill! Wohoo!!!

{if you don't look good, we don't look good.}

2008-02-11T12:13:00.000-08:00

Rember the old slogan for Vidal Sasson?! For the sake of beauty, my friends and I arrived at Vidal Sasson in San Francisco early Saturday morning ready to beautify ourselves with hair coloring and cutting. It's 9am, the salon is already busy with clients. This was my first visit to VS; after the standard meet and greet; we changed into the standard salon black robe and got our seat assignments, we then were greeted with a team of stylists; the appointment girl, the colorist, the haircut stylist, and eventually, the extended team that includes shampoo girl #1, shampoo/water-or-tea girl #2, and finally a blow-drying girl. Good thing, or maybe not so good thing, hair coloring takes forever; so I got some time to figure out how to distribute my 20% tip to a team of 5 people.

My colorist, Fraser from Scotland; explaining how he's going to get rid of the reds in my hair.

My friend Julie, getting a full head highlighted, her colorist was in highlighting hell with Julie's hair! I've never seen a highlighting job takes that long!

It's almost 2pm, and we've been in the salon since 9am, we were ready to eat a cow! I mean, some authentic Japanese Ramen. Spicy tofu ramen! Yum!

{a picture with us three!}

2008-01-28T13:36:00.000-08:00

Today, I received this pictures from my brother-in-law from our Vegas trip back in Decemeber. Pretty cool, all 3 of us are in the pictures. Before Damon came along, our vacation pictures are either just Paul with background, Paul with a statue, or Alice, Alice with a latte shot. Then to only rely on a perfect stranger to get a picture of us two together. Most people are happy to snap a shot with what I called a "mickey mouse" camera (aka. point and shoot). Now a days, whenever I hand over my non-mickey camera; they almost want nothing to do with taking a shot for us! Thank God for point and shoot!

{raindrops falling on my deck}

2008-01-25T14:12:00.000-08:00

We've been having a series of rain storms and I thought it would be only fitting to do a blog for this January rain. This morning, after I drop Damon off to daycare, I came home and wanted to capture the 20-hour rain effect. I never thought rainboots could be part of Californian's gear, I thought they are only good for cute pictures with little kids playing in the rain, but boy...after last night's rainstorm and this morning's craziness on the road with my wiper going at top speed, I feel the need to get a pair for myself. Here are some shots of the January rain.

{happiness}

2008-01-11T22:48:00.000-08:00

Just watched 20/20, and the topic of the show is HAPPINESS. Did you know, happiness is a choice?! Science has it that 50% of human happiness is control by our genes, 10% is control thru the life circumstances, and the remaining 40% is control by ourselves! Denmark turns out to be the #1 happiest country, with America trailing at #23 spot. Happiness is having set goals and an optismitic outlook in life. Happiness comes within ourselves, having compassion and gratitude in our lives. Be grateful of all the things around us. While money and wealth certainly contributes to our happiness to some degree, having meaningful relationship is where most people find happiness. So what makes you happy?!

{happy 2008!}

2008-01-10T07:51:00.001-08:00

Back to work, thank goodness for the shutdown week at work. The holiday break was much needed. It gave me a chance to clear my head; get some R&R time in Vegas with Paul and Damon. We hung out, ate good food and did absolutely nothing. I also wrapped up the year with an exciting wedding shoot with Augie. Never in a million years, I would think I get to shoot at a 400 people wedding. What a treat! For Michelle & Bryan's wedding we tag team with 3 shooters. My sister and I had such a blast shooting with Augie, and he's is kind enough to let us post some of our own images. Here's a mini-slideshow with some of my favorites.

{rocking out on christmas eve}

2007-12-25T00:42:00.000-08:00

Rocking out with our family on Christmas Eve! All the new electronic gadgets..the Wii, Playstation, Xbox and all. This year, we got a hold of the RockBand by Playstation 3; everyone gets a taste on being a rock star! You can try out to be the drummer, guitarist, or the lead singer...if any of your band member fails to keep up with the beat...you do not get to finish your performance!

{happy holidays!}

2007-12-18T21:59:00.000-08:00

Wow, I can't believe it's only 7 more shopping days left for year 2007. We've been so busy! Or at least Mom's been. My mind is not kick into X'mas gear yet! Or not till last night at 9pm, Paul, Damon and myself are trying to get a decent family shot, so we can ordered our X'mas cards! There's not a single refusal to say cheese with Damon, what a trooper! Maybe it was the applesauce for dinner that kept him going! This year is also the first year I have a little helper decorating the tree with me! It's absolutely a joy to see Damon at 15 months, meticulously trying to put the beads onto the X'mas tree. This is also the first year I broke a few ornaments, they look very much like his favorite thing, ball! Believe it or not, Damon's first 3-syllabel word...ba-che-ball. Happy Holidays!

{got grace}

2007-12-07T22:17:00.001-08:00

I could've name this blog {dancing baby}, but when I review this series of fun shots of Damon in my racer-back tank top, I thought he got grace! Leave it to your kids to give you a good laugh to dissolve all the day's worth of stress from the office. They are the most precious little human beings! I hope you find these images just as delightful. I can't stop laughing!

{the office}

2007-12-06T20:12:00.000-08:00

Boy, as soon as I type in the title of this blog, I am looking for my camera to get a shot of me busy hacking away at my office at 9pm Thursday night. I am missing my show-Survivor! Oh, lookie, lookie, my canon elph in my purse. I am web surfing my way and found Jules Bianchi, I love her stuff! She looks like a cool chic and her works are awesome! Ok, I am going to take some shots of my office and see if I can make something fun and creative out of it...stay tune!

{5:30PM blog}

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

It's another 5:30PM blog before I have to start dinner. Thank goodness for Korean markets and wonderful selection they have to make my home cooking nice and simple! December will be an activity jammed pack month! I am praying for a miracle this week with my project at work for a go-live weekend, so I can go play the following weekend, shooting at a 400 people chinese wedding. I wonder how that would be like?! Chinese weddings are chaotic! I remembered my own; 350 people. It was insane! Anyways, I am reading some books on photography and is quite helpful! And it made me realize that no matter how big or fancy my camera is at a wedding; if I don't know what to point at, it's totally useless! Another light bulb went off! Reading is a good thing! I also pull out my own wedding album to review my picutres. Wowsa, boring as hell! Group pics after group pics, zero creativity! This photography is taking over me, it speaks volume to me, when I am holding out on a pair of shoes to save money for my camera gears!

{baby Ella}

2007-11-29T16:30:00.000-08:00

I love the name Ella, it carries a classic cool vibe. Ella is 8 months old. Wow, check out her perfect round head, and perfect big round eyes! I love Caucasian babies, they are so easy to photograph because they have such prominent features even as an infant. Absolute darling!

{nate's big zero-one}

2007-11-19T18:04:00.000-08:00

November birthdays! This is Nate's first big one. He is such an adorable little boy! First birthday and a first fall to get a fat lip, thank goodness for the ice-cold teething butterfly to soothe the boo-boo, but little Nate is still trying to grab a bite of the home made carrot cake.

{our first ferry ride}

2007-11-13T21:45:00.000-08:00

Really...it's the first ferry ride; for Damon and his Mom and Dad. All these years we live in the BayArea and have never taken the ferry across the bay into Sausalito. What a beautiful day to head on out; and I am so glad I took my Nikon with me so I can practice my camera technique. This series of photos are "beyond the green box" mode! I always take living in the San Francisco area for granted, never care to take pictures of this area. Little did I know, there are lots of beautiful scenaries to conjure the mind of this photographer.

Scoma, where Paul pop the big question 7 years ago!!

And...7 years later...Da-mon.

Damon really enjoyed the flight of stairs!

{gettin' cozy with Conrad}

2007-11-13T17:45:00.000-08:00

Conrad at 7.5 months is a delight! His big eyes and baritone laugh is super cute. Conrad and his Mom were out to have lunch with me, then we took a few shots on University Ave. It's very hard for Moms to have good pictures with their little one; the snap shots at home with us wearing our pj's do absolutely nothing to show off the beauty and joy that a Mom exudes when she holds her little one and getting him laughing with her. One great way to get a reaction from a Ba--be. Tickle him! And check out his big smile! Priceless.

{2 thumbs, 10 words, 30 seconds}

2007-11-08T22:21:00.000-08:00

Who needs typing class when you can type with 2 thumbs! There's no need for proper hands and fingers position over the keyboard, just 2 thumbs and you can crank out paragraphs on this little device; is called texting, I mean...fast thumb-texting. Today, I finally decided to come out of the cave and got myself a PDA phone. I felt like a dinosaur with this new phone; my thumbs are stiff, where's the letter "a"?! I've seen my niece texting on her mobile, and she is fast! I am sure I will get to 10 words in 30 seconds pretty soon; or is that still consider slow?!

{halloween}

2007-11-05T16:26:00.000-08:00

Elmo for Damon, 3 cheers for Dad, Paul went to 3 different stores to get a Halloween custome for Damon. Talk about team work... Babe, if you are reading this blog..."I am so grateful to you right now :)" Halloween #2 for Damon, last year he was still in a bear suit, being lugged around in his carseat. This year, he's part of the trick-or-treat fun; able to venture off 30 yards in front of the house. As the night gets darker, he had fun watching all the trick-or-treaters come by for candies.

{photo collage}

2007-11-05T13:53:00.000-08:00

Oh my goodness...did not see Damon for 2 nights, and he had another leap of growing. More bath time photos of Damon and he totally turns it on in front of the camera! Tilting his head, busting out his laughs and being cute; this little guy is hilarious, I can't stop laughing!!! Every parent's dream. This photography hobby is super addicting, I am starting to put together a book of all my images, and am learning how to group images together to make a nice collage. Boy, do I have a lot of naked pictures of Damon! It's so going to be blackmail pictures when he turns 10!

{time wasted}

2007-11-02T18:25:00.000-07:00

OMG! Too much caffeine is not a good thing! It's Friday 2pm, and I am not thinking, want to make a trip to Babies r Us, but the traffic is terrible heading BRS' direction. Ok, detour, maybe I can just swing by to a local SuperBaby Store. What da heck?! But really, I wanted to say..."what da hell???" I can never get to this place without my GPS. Can someone be more creative by putting 2 streets that are very similar in name and make them run parallel?! - Moorepark vs. Parkmoor. I can never get it straight, just from my memory...so I wasted an hour on the road, accomplished nothing and came home, Grrrrr! My head is hurting from too much caffeine and no food in my stomach.

{lucy, the pug}

2007-10-30T14:27:00.000-07:00

I love dog portraits just as much. The owner from the B&B where the workshop was held has two dogs; lucy, the pug is one of them. She is the cutest little thing. After the first day of workshop, everyone was busy post processing their shots while waiting for dinner. I thought it would be nice to take some shots of the B&B owner's doggie. I love how lucy was so focus on the tennis ball, waiting for her owner to release it, so she can play with it.

{sample work II}

2007-10-30T10:14:00.000-07:00

As promised, more sample works from the workshop. This was such a treat; the couple came dressed in wedding attire so we can get a feel of shooting a wedding couple. The air was crisp during mid-morning; just enough sun lights breaking thru the trees in the garden.

{workshop weekend}

2007-10-29T17:05:00.000-07:00

What an awesome weekend I had in Seattle. I've learned so much this weekend; and have met so many inspiring woman photographers. I feel I have reach another level in my photography skills. My beginner workhop took me out of the green box mode, and this advance workshop allows me to venture off into manual mode. Very exciting! More sample works to follow, but here's a couple of silouette shots that are always super pretty to do with natural lights; but I was never able to because I did not have full control of my camera!!! Let just say many light bulbs went off this weekend and the workshop linked up a lot of different pieces of information for me to take better control of my camera! These images are straight out of the camera.

{blue, the black lab, aka my D.O.G.}

2007-10-24T21:37:00.000-07:00

Two posts in less than 24 hours; I am due for some creative photos on my blog. Some shots with the new lens would be nice. I have been wanting to do some professional shoot for Blue, but my friend convince me that I should give it a try myself; and my excuse was...I have no nice background, no correct lightings because Blue is just too "black" to photograph clearly. She suggested I go shoot outdoor. So I gave it a try with my new lens. Blue is too active, Grrrr! With patience and some creativity, I think I got myself some good portraits of my D.O.G. Time to make a trip to Ikea for some frames. We all love our dogs, if you want some portraits done for your 4-legged pet, you know who to call!

{looking glass}

2007-10-24T17:26:00.000-07:00

The friendly UPS guy just delivered another package for me! No, is not a pair of shoes, nor another special purse purchase. It's another lens to my colllection, I am in trouble! I need to be careful here. My lens collection is almost comparable to my purse collection! Where's my package opener!? I need to see this new baby! Ouuu, good weight and length and not heavy! I like....and it even comes with a hood! Ooopss..forgot to order the filter. As my sister said it, "you crazy!" That's the most important. Note to self, need to make a trip to a local camera shop. It's 5:30pm, I am racing against the clock to blog this quickly so I can start dinner! I need a subject; more shots of my shoes?! My readers are bored of looking at shoes. Oh yea, Blue! Wow, anohter light bulb went off; because this is a fix length lens, I really need to move my feet and that stupid crop factor is really obvious with this 85mm! I need to BACK AWAY from my subject. Blue is too low, I can't see from the view finder, so I am going to just shoot and see what I get.

{seattle, here I come.}

2007-10-20T20:14:00.000-07:00

It's Saturday night, and I just checked my email, and received an email about the upcoming workshop that I will be going with my sister. I just read the agenda and there will be a bride and groom models at the workshop for us to shoot! I can't wait to see what this is all about! Of course, I am very blessed that I can leave Damon with Paul and be gone for the weekend! I feel somewhat guilty leaving them, but I want to learn more about shooting! And I am sure I will get a lot of out of this workshop! I super excited!!! And can't wait!!!

{a lot of L.O.V.E.}

2007-10-16T10:22:00.000-07:00

Life is different when you lose someone you loved. It takes time to adjust, to heal, and to rethink what's important in your life. With my mother-in-law passing, our lives was on hold for a while; being late at paying bills...AT&T just called to remind us of an outstanding balance. I just downloaded my pictures from my camera, and review my most recent pictures; and I have a feeling of "blah...", feeling somewhat creatively challenged. What's going on?! I've never experience the mouring period of losing someone, maybe I am going thru it right now. Thank God for Damon, he really makes me smile from within. I wanted to post this picture of him and his cousins. Although he lost his Grandma at such a young age, he's also surrounded by a lot of L.O.V.E. It's so wonderful to know that his cousins just can't get enough of him!

{missing the way things are..}

2007-10-09T15:15:00.000-07:00

Autumn is here, our life was on hold for a month; to sort out all the things with my mother-in-law. Life is not the same without Paul's mom around. We miss her a lot; we miss her face, her voice, and her calling us, and hang up the phone without her "bye-bye" phrase. We know she's in a better place and resting in peace.
I haven't picked up my camera for a while...and I need to get back at it. Damon is growing fast and is on the go! It's amazing to see the two opposite spectrum of the human body; my mother-in-law passing with cancer and my Damon learning new skills every day.

{ in memory of...}

2007-09-22T20:26:00.000-07:00

Today is a strange and very sad day for me as a daughter-in-law, a mom, and a wife. Today, my mom-in-law finally lost her battle with her cancer. She was 75 years old. She was, hands down...the best mom-in-law that any daughter-in-law can ask for. She was an amazing woman and a grandma of nine grandchildren. My Damon is the youngest of the nine; and he's 13 months today, and I am sadden that he will not get to know his grandma on his own; but maybe only thru pictures of them together. This is a picture of them together at her last birthday dinner. I am going to miss her a lot.

{latte only}

2007-09-17T10:41:00.001-07:00

It's 10:40am Monday morning; and I just had my first sip of latte and 2 bite-size brownies. I am running on a 500 calories a day diet! Shame on me, yes...I know better. I should eat...I am on the tighest hole with my belt! It's not healthy! I know!!! Skinny doesn't mean healthy! So much is going on at the home front. Both of my in-laws are not well....Paul's been sad and stressing...and I am sad to see him like that. Thank God, Damon is thriving, busy mastering his walking skills. From 3 steps, to 7 steps, to 10 steps, pause, rebalance, and go again. It's amazing to see him on the move!

This past Saturday, I was out assisting my friend Augie shooting a wedding in the city! It was my 2nd wedding event with Augie. I love weddings, especially church weddings. I am not religious, but church weddings is very romantic and sacred. The readings and scriptures reminds me the great gift of love that we get to experience and how lucky I am to have Paul in my life. I had a great time; learning more tricks of the trade and hanging out. I truly appreciate Augie's generosity to allow me to explore this industry with him on his wedding shoot. It's so different from my line of work! I get to pick Augie's brain on different aspects of photography and the industry while we travel to the wedding location and in between shootings. The information that I walked away with after each wedding shoot is so valuable; I would take a couple of days to digest them and then put it to practice! Seek, process, and apply! This is how you get better.

{nate}

2007-09-06T22:03:00.000-07:00

Another first meet and greet with our friend's lil' boy, Nate! He's also no exception on the cute department! A cutie pie all the way!!! Love his big blue eyes! Super charming!

{raphael}

2007-09-05T23:11:00.000-07:00

Wowsa! What a sweet lil' boy! This is my first time meeting Raphael. He's 2 and a half years old. I knew Raphael's parents from my first job at IBM, and the last time I met up with Raphael's parents in Germany, he was still inside his Mama's belly! He's super adorable and a big giggling machine! I love it! And he really knows how to work the camera too!

{barry bonds day}

2007-08-24T17:35:00.000-07:00

We were there! And we also made it onto the SF Chronicle newspaper. More pictures to follow...but I just had to get this out like every hot press!

{cut it out!}

2007-08-21T22:40:00.000-07:00

It's almost 11pm and I've been waiting all day to sit at my computer to practice photo editing. Tonight, another "oh...I...got...it" moment. After reading many photo blogs about how I should just "crop away"! I am going cropping crazy. Maybe that's how the "cream of the crop" saying came about?! Yes, pretty much... I am getting "cream" vs. "blah". Wohoo! I heart Photoshop!

Damon's Birthday Picnic

2007-08-20T22:31:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday, we had a birthday picnic to celebrate Damon turning one! Here are some of my favorite shots...the camera was rotating around between myself, Paul and my sister; and we were able to capture some nice pictures! Enjoy!

Peachy

2007-08-20T21:47:00.000-07:00

These series of blogs are just about technical stuff on digital photo processing; and I am just a beginner! There's so much science behind the artistic feel of a photo, the message you try to convey with just a picture. From my first photo workshop, I've been told to train my eyes to see differently. It's not easy to do when I don't breath "photography" with my every breath. For the pros, is a 2nd nature skill...but for the average Moms, just give us our point and shoot and we will be snap happy! Good thing, my sister is a more photo geek than me, so we can inspire each other to do the right thing with our SLR and Photoshop! This time, is about "seeing things in frame". Someone suggested to play with cropping in Photoshop. Even when the original photo is just a "blah"; by cropping it the right way, (see it in frame...), I guess you can get something out of a just-so-so shot! Case in point, this picture below: Damon is gnawing at a whole peach all by himself; my Dad, a beer and whatever makes up the rest of this shot...(previously, this would be just another snap shot...)but I notice Damon's expression and hence, the cropping effect comes into play...and wowla! What do you think?!

Colors: Max, the yellow lab

2007-08-20T21:07:00.000-07:00

This photo blog is like my notebook for exploring my own digital photography skills and tricks. A lot of professional do 95% of post processing for all their photos, and I've always wonder what is that mean?! There are so many effect options in Photoshop, which one should I be using?! This weekend, the light bulb finally went off in my head about color adjustment for post processing on digital photos; and I am addicted! OMG!!! I have 7 years worth of digital photos I can give some color effects! Here's an example of my new skill...(the top one is the original shot.)

My own ISO assignment

2007-08-16T21:48:00.000-07:00

I am inspired again with MeRaKoh's blog. This woman is amazing, sharing A TON of valuable photography tricks from her blog. After my first photo workshop with Augie, I have been playing with my SLR quite a bit, but still can't figure out this ISO business! I am having issues with grainny pictures if I up the ISO number, so what is going on?! But after I read MRK's blog, it turns out, ISO has a lot to do with the color saturation of the photo. Low light doesn't mean you have to up the ISO number...so I came home today, and did a series of test shots with my Canon Elph; setting the ISO number to 100 vs. auto mode and here are the results. I guess for the untrained eye, they all look pretty much the same, except the blury one. But if you pay attention to color tone, the manual mode with ISO 100, auto flash is pretty nice! These are all from a point and shoot digital camera. Imagine what I can do with my SLR?!

#1. mode: auto for kids and pets, auto flash.

#2. mode: manual: ISO 100, no flash, slow release of shutter button.

#3. mode: manual: ISO 100, no flash, fast release of shutter button.

#4. mode: manual, ISO 100, auto flash.

#5. mode: auto, auto flash.

A Mouse

2007-08-15T11:26:00.001-07:00

What kind of mouse?! There is nothing more disturbing than knowing there's a tiny hairy 4-legged creature invading your living space! Only Disney knows how to make those little mouses look cute on the big silver screen. But in reality, those suckers are a nightmare! A photo won't be neccessary for this blog, I am getting icky-goose-bumps just writing about it. Our in-laws have spotted a mouse in their house since last week; the trap is set, the hole is plug, and the waiting game begins.... Three days and still no mouse! Then last night, as I was in their kitchen fixing something, I heard a rattling sound of the cereal bag that is sitting on the top shelf of the kitchen rack. I turned my head, check out the surrounding, no air vent blowing on the bag what-so-ever. Then instinctively, I knew the mouse is in the box! OMG!!!! %#*$&^@$! Paul is brave enough to take the whole cereal box outside and examined the whereabout of this mouse. Yuck! The mouse appears before us, happily eating in cereal heaven; I am sure the little mouse must be have thought to himself, "Great! I hit the Jackpot!" I can hibernate in here for the next 3 months. Anyways, to make the long story short...yes, literally, a long time for Paul and his Dad to figure out the fate of this mouse. What is the proper way to rid of a mouse?! Thank God for Minnie, Micky, and Mighty Mouse, after seeing their faces, I feel less icky about the whole ordeal.

Damon's first bike

2007-08-12T22:24:00.000-07:00

Damon's first birthday present from his cousin Aislinn and Declan has been sitting all nicely wrapped up in our house for about 2 weeks. This weekend, Damon finally took interested and piece by piece unwrapped his first bike! My lil' Damon is growing up quickly! Damon and Daddy put the bike together; did a test run in the house. His feet can't reach the pedal yet, but that doesn't stop us from taking this bike out for a spin.

Conrad's RedEgg & Ginger Party

2007-08-06T17:50:00.000-07:00

Our little friend Conrad finally made his debut at his Red Egg and Ginger Party this past weekend. Nothing draws a better crowd of ladies than a handsome little fella! C's mom is definitely head over heels for him!!! She'll do anything for this little guy, even if it takes him 2 hours to eat!

Ball and a minty toothbrush

2007-08-06T17:01:00.000-07:00

Nothing fascinates a 11-month old boy better than a balloon flowing in mid air. Damon's recent discovery... "balloon" as he refers to it as "ball". The first thing he wakes up..."ball"; as you can see from the first picture below, he's still is not fully awake, but "ball"! What about toothbrushes?! Equally fascinating, maybe is the left over minty taste. It's just too funny!

Parteeeee Weekend #3 and counting...

2007-06-25T10:30:00.000-07:00

It is official summer now, we've been busy going to all sorts of party with our lil' Damon. This weekend, Damon got a chance to take a dip in the big pool. We also had our own bbq for the family, and everyone got a chance to do some poker showdown after dinner.

Father's Day

2007-06-20T13:50:00.000-07:00

Paul's first Father's Day! We are so blessed with our lil' Damon. He's is becoming a little boy, mingling at family gatherings like a little person. I thought it would be fun to share some pictures of Damon other than his "mellow" facial expressions. Enjoy.

Matthew's Birthday at the Park

2007-06-10T21:07:00.000-07:00

I am so glad I brought my camera along to the birthday picnic. Today was so windy in the afternoon, we had a great time watching the kids playing catch, flying kites and riding bikes around the lake. Got some really good pictures to share!

Miss Lauren playing catch with her Dad.

Wow, it was soooo windy, we had a difficult time lighting the candles! Or have the birthday boy blow the candles before the wind does.

Silly faces...

Hailey and Ashley

2007-06-03T22:11:00.000-07:00

It's summer time, which is also graduation, birthday parties and more parties...we were at our friend Dee's big-4-oh party this saturday. Here are some pictures of Dee's twin girls. They are so active! and they were babies not too long ago!!!

I love Hailey's big smiley face!

Damon's trying to pull himself to a stand so he can check out this new toy! A helping hand from Ashley..cute...

Michael's Graduation

2007-06-03T21:57:00.000-07:00

My nephew Michael graduated from Mitty High School this past Saturday, and will be attending college this coming fall. Mind, how time flies, I met Michael when he was only 5 years old, he was so cute and his kiddish squeaky voice...just adorable. Now, he's a fine young man, can pass for a Korean movie star!! I really enjoyed his graduation ceremony. Michael's very lucky to have his families, grand parents, and aunts from out of states to celebrate this occasion with him. Which made me realize even high school graduation is an achievement itself and it should be celebrate just like any other special occasion in life!

Of all places in the house

2007-05-31T22:08:00.000-07:00

Yes, of all places in the house, the bathroom that we frequent every day turns out to be a pretty good location for some photo opportunities!

Monterey Bay Aquarium

2007-05-29T13:42:00.000-07:00

Memorial weekend, we decided to head out to Monterey for a little deep sea adventure for Damon. The last time I went to the aquarium was about 10 years ago. Paul and I were just as excited to watch Damon enjoying the fishes, sea otters, and watching little kids running around. This trip made me realize that I need to figure out extreme low light conditions without using the flash! I wanted to capture the under-the-sea-blue-tone atmosphere without having the flash go off. Time to play with the +/- exposure setting.

What a pretty little thing

2007-05-24T17:01:00.000-07:00

Photo blog is such an addictive hobby. I am finding all kinds of opportunity to blog about silly stuff so I can take pictures of them; training myself to see things differently thru my camera. This blog is no exception, a photo blog about underwear...specifically HankyPanky thongs. I have been thinking for a few days as to exactly how am I going to take pictures of thongs without making them look risque or racy, nor like garment samples from the factory. I am certainly not going to model these babies myself. This is when my Photo Workshop teacher would say, "think outside of the box, don't take it literally."
Once the domain of a daring few, thongs have gone mainstream. However, I am not too hot about that butt-floss feeling that comes with the territory. I have been hearing about HankyPanky for ages, but I've never care to try them out until this past weekend. I picked up a pair just to see what is all the hype about; after all, the sales girl in the lingerie department claims that's all she wears. Needless to say, they made it onto my blogroll; definitely pass the comfort meter test; sexy, cute, and one-size fits all, and they come in more than 20 different colors. Take your pick!

Modern or Nostalgia?

2007-05-21T16:04:00.000-07:00

Learning how to pick a picture for image manipulation in Photoshop is another uncharted territory for me. You can create a different image feel by enhancing the original pictures with different elements; I am learning to play with high contrast/high shadow adjustment. The effect can either be modern or nostalgic.

My nephew as the model in these pictures.

This picture is more nostalgic feel than the top one. Very 70's.

Shopping at Union Square, SF

2007-05-20T11:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I went to Union Sqaure with my friend Julie, her sister and their cousin. The shopping experience in Union Square is always 100 times more hip and ultra cool than anywhere else in the Bay Area. I took my little Canon Elph along for some fun pics.

If you don't shop at Union Square often, the place can feel like a maze. Fortunately, my dear friend Julie heads into the city quite often and she is the shopping tour guide; the driver, and knows which parking lot takes credit card autopay, so you don't have to stand in line to pay for parking before you exit the garage. I just notice from this picture, that Neiman is actually across from Saks and next to Macy's.

A brand new shopping center in Union Square, you can get there directly via BART. The food court is amazing! Endless options of food...(i.e. Peet's Coffee with a Pomelo?!)

Then we are off to Fresh - body care product store. The decor in the store is minimal and somewhat industrial looking, but the scent and products they carry are anything but industrial. I got myself a Sugar Blossom Body Treatment scrub, can't wait till my next shower.

Saks carries the most extensive jean selections. One of my favorite brand...there is something intriguing about their pocket design.

Then it's off to Neiman; check out this giant octopus hanging fixture.

The Kids

2007-05-17T16:22:00.000-07:00

Some pictures of the kids hanging out on Mother's Day. Aislinn is great with Damon. He's very lucky to have a big cousin who adores him.

It's not Fear Factor

2007-05-17T14:14:00.001-07:00

But it's the ancient Chinese secret recipe for nursing moms; papaya, peanut soup with chicken feet! I am drinking this gourmet concoction for breakfast and lunch; thanks to Damon's grandma, who cooked up a big pot for his mom every weekend.

Damon, the lil' explorer

2007-05-17T09:21:00.000-07:00

I thought my dog Blue was fast, but lately Damon has mastered his Army men crawl. He's on the move to check out all sorts of things around the house. i.e.)Remotes, wires, coffee table legs, and anything that are not "baby" related. We spread all kinds of toys in front of him, but he just doesn't care for them. Babies are great subjects for practice of erratic movements focusing. There is no time to think about how to setup the shot like a pair of shoes or the coffee mugs, they are on the go, and I better be fast with my fingers. Practice, practice, practice...

No more Wal-Mart Coffee Mugs

2007-05-16T13:29:00.000-07:00

Starbucks headquarter may be located in Seattle, but those of us live in California love Starbucks. There are about a dozen Starbucks within a 3-mile radius of my home. At $3.85 for a speicality drink; the same price as a gallon of gas at the pump, the line at Starbucks is still long each morning. Grande Ice-Mocha or gas, both are equally important; I guess I won't be driving 24 miles into the office today. Aside from coffee drinks, Starbucks also sell assortment of Starbucks merchandise in their stores; especially mugs...different kinds of mugs celebrating different occasions and seasons. The latest is for Father's Day. I have been eyeing these coffee mugs for my sister and they finally went on sale for $4.99!! Wohooo! Time to retire those Wal-Mart coffee mugs and enjoy these new mugs, with or without the "Starbucks" brew.

Link it up

2007-05-09T22:28:00.000-07:00

I am IM'ing with my UCLA buddy Ken (a.k.a. netbum) who's been hibernating in Daly City. I haven't seen Ken for a long time; we both are very good at being MIA, but IM allows us to catch up with each other. I am feeling the Six degree of separation phenomenon as Ken and I chatted. How does Ken know Augie? Oh, I forgot...Ken's brother, Francis is also a friend of Augie; Francis, Augie and my older sister Connie went to Davis together. I met Francis once briefly when I visited Connie at Davis. Then 4 years later when I went to UCLA, I met Ken...my first reaction was..."I know this guy!!!" The Tam brothers look very much alike. See the parallel?! Connie met Francis -UC Davis, then Alice met Ken - UCLA. Where's Augie? I kept hearing about him, but never met him once. My Augie link started last month with my younger sister Tammy. Tammy is a loyal VIP club member of Augie since 2003. She loves his photography work, and I am a recent believer. He did a wonderful shoot for my lil' Damon. Augie, I am advertising for you..(hint, hint..). Alright...I think a picture would better describe this six degree phenom.

Even a crying baby can be cute

2007-05-08T08:50:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to share some of Damon's pictures from AUGIE CHANG Photography, that I had to steal them from Augie's blog. Yesterday I took Damon for his first photo shoot with Augie. What a lucky baby, A professional photo shoot at only 8.5 months! We arrived at Augie's home studio in San Ramon in the morning. The shoot took about an hour, and Augie just kept on shooting. We got all kinds of expressions from Damon; from a little smiley face to the "get-me-outta-here" crying face! It was just hilarious to see his mood changes so fast! Augie was great, he had to be just as SILLY to get a smile from Damon!! hahaha! Thanks Augie! The pictures turned out GREAT!!! I love them! Augie is the master!

I like my eggs...

2007-05-04T08:59:00.000-07:00

Every morning when I have no idea what to eat for breakfast, I just pop 2 eggs into the pot and they are ready in 5 minutes. It's my lazy woman breakfast. This little lopsided food can be prepared in more ways than any food item.

Damon's first ride

2007-05-04T08:43:00.000-07:00

My lil' Damon turned 8 months and is very mobile already! He crawls like an Army man and sits well. I am amazed how well he handles himself at big parties, restaurants, and at the presence of a BIG CLOWN at his cousin Aislinn's birthday party. He loves to be with the crowd and watches everything intently. Some pictures of him trying out this rocket bike at his cousin's house.

Do you have a pen I can borrow?

2007-05-03T14:27:00.000-07:00

Master Augie would be proud of his pupil. I am doing homework with the tips and tricks I got from his photo class, he mentioned that I should learn to see things differently, so I can make better image composition with my pictures. Hence, the funny view I see on the kitchen table while I am having my 15 minute EM session.
Last night, Paul opened up this big FedEx box with all his conference materials; and out came magnets, stuff animals, a stress release ball, and MORE PENS!!! I don't remember the last time I spend money on pens. We have mugs full of pens, but I can never find A PENCIL! Only pens, they are every where.

I found a package of unopened pencils that my sisters and I used when we were kids in Hong Kong. I think these pencils would be considered vintage!
They are...(2007 minus 1986...wowsa! 21 years old!!!)

Shoe Girl

2007-05-03T09:43:00.000-07:00

Ironically, I feel the need to have a blog about my swanky shoe collection. Since one of my favorite pair didn't make it to the top banner; nor the black and white/sepia color tone do justice to the vibrant colors of these shoes. Did I mention... I - LOVE - SHOES?! Wow, I remember back in junior high, my shoes were from Payless! I was the proud owner of a pair of white high tops of some generic brand. I would keep them clean by washing them often. Then I got upgraded to Reebok white high tops with some blue trim bottom from Meryvn's. I think I wore them till the bottom sole gave out on me! The memories are slowly coming back; and before this blog, the Payless and Reebok high tops were totally blocked out from my brain! Through the years, I have collected many shoes; some I didn't care for after a few wear and some that I just can't part even if they are outdated because I am hoping they will make a come back someday! (ie. square toe with chunky heels...) Here are some of my favorites.

My coworker got these for me when she visited India 2 years ago. I love the ornate details of the embroidery.

What a creative way to brand the shoes with subtlety, the hardware and shoe tone-on-tone coloring, LOVE IT!

This pair speaks ou-la-la...I held my breath when I first saw them; and lucky me, they made it all the way onto the sale rack at Nordy's. Gotta Have it!

Lazy woman shoes! I have these for about 3 years...the color is still so vibrant! I can't find them anymore!!! I get a lot of compliments on these babies!

Close Ups of Damon

2007-05-01T09:20:00.000-07:00

Every move, every expression, and every little chubby toes; I just can't get enough of this little person. For an 8 month old baby, Damon has about 5000 pictures; that's A LOT of pictures!! Call me the new-parent-baby-picture-crazy-addict and with a new generation of digital photography, why not?! It's free, and there's always the friendly "trash can" button. I think it's also because Paul and I each had only one baby picture from when we were young.

Blue

2007-05-01T09:02:00.000-07:00

Blue's been sleeping all day in the house, waiting for us to get home. I am going snap-happy with my subject #2, Blue. He's a much better model than lil' baby Damon because he can sit still and stay in one spot for me to shoot. He always gives me this "dont' bother me" look. But I know he loves the attention! Blue is a great "dark" subject.

Damon and his Dad

2007-04-30T10:44:00.000-07:00

Every time Damon takes a bath is another opportunity for me to take more pictures to capture his chubbiness! More ways to practice my shooting; and since I am no longer shooting in "auto" mode, lighting is a big one for me to learn and adjust. Paul is great at giving Damon his bath, he really takes time to let Damon plays in the water.

Lunch with Mom

2007-04-27T15:15:00.000-07:00

Today I met up with Mom for lunch to catch up on her 2 week-long trip to Hong Kong. My mom rarely travels for fun; this time she decided to visit Hong Kong in such a short notice. My sister Connie and her husband play host for my Mom and Dad. My parents also went into China for some cheap facials, foot massages and body massages with their in-laws. I love hearing old people getting cheap facials together.
It was a gorgeous day out, time for me to practice more photo shooting skills. Here are some pictures from Pizza Antica restaurant at Santana Row. One of my favorite place to eat at the row because they change their menu often base on seasonal food items.

Asparagus salad with Prosciutto and Portobello mushroom.

I love anything Goat Cheese, doesn't matter what it comes with.

It's a hot day, this drink caught my attention while I was waiting for a table. It's Elderflower flavor soda with Lime, very refreshing!

No more "auto" mode

2007-04-26T11:56:00.000-07:00

Ok, I am officially a groupie. I am having a spin off blog from Damon's to share more of my favorite photos. Last Friday, I took a class with Augie from AUGIE CHANG Photography, I learned a ton of good stuff from him and we had a great time. It was such a fun day and Augie is a great teacher. The first thing I grabbed this morning was my camera, shooting some practice shots. I am a better photographer already.