Vivian & Benson Wedding

I think this is my first official wedding I've ever posted on my photo blog. Awesome!

Got a call from Corby to help out with a wedding client of his that booked him last minute. The wedding ceremony for Benson and Vivian would be held at City Hall in San Francisco and the reception would be at the R&G Lounge San Francisco. This is the second wedding I've shot at City Hall.

I started the day running back and forth from the car to the count clerk's office, grabbing cameras, lenses and Corby's glasses. Lol he shot a few photos being half blind. The awesome thing about shooting a wedding at City Hall is the grandeur of the building itself. There's a huge flight of stairs that leads up to the dome where you are married. Marble walls and features with gold fixtures. A good amount of lighting where you don't need a flash if you've got fast glass. I was taking the second shooter position for the day, grabbing candids and what not. For the City Hall photos, I shot with a Canon 5D Classic with the 24-70L and being a lense swapper for Corb.

After taking care of the City Hall photos, we took the wedding couple the Legion of Honor to get some after-wedding shots. I've never been inside or even past the gates, it was pretty cool running around the pillars. Shot the photos here with the Canon 5D Classic and the 85L. My GOD the 85L is one crazy lens. I have a 1.4 lens but 1.2 is just insane with that tiny and razor sharp depth of field. From there, we rushed over to R&G Lounge in Chinatown and got our reception shots. Shot that with the 24-70L set up and a 580ex flash. Standard Chinese wedding reception, ton of group and family shots and toasts. There was no wedding cake, but instead Benson and Vivian had an awesome line up of cupcakes for everyone. Didn't eat one but it sure looked good.

That's all for now. I'll be shooting a wedding for Kong's (our nightlife photog) sister, Shafeen and Liv. Pretty much will be going all out for these guys. Will keep you posted!

Shot with :
Canon 5D Classic
Canon 24-70L
Canon 85L
Canon 580ex

Yeah, yeah it's all Canon gear and I'm a Nikon shooter. I'm an equal opportunity employer!

First Magazine Feature

Finally got my first magazine feature ever. Well not technically a feature of me but my friend's car. If you remember from my previous posts, before I went to cover Formula Drift at Long Beach this year, I drove over to Riverside, CA to meet up with good friend Ian Linberg. He was contacted by MR2 Only Magazine to do a feature of his Lexus Blue Mr2 turbo and asked if I could shoot it for him. Hell yeah!

Didn't sleep at all that night, left Long Beach at 3am so I could get to Riverside by 5am. Grabbed all our gear, hopped in the Mr2 and headed up to the mountains towards Big Bear. I had no idea where I was going and only saw what Google Maps had given me the night before, so we decided to wing it. While driving up the mountain roads we saw a bunch of open space turn off areas and I said screw it, the sun is coming up and we gotta get the photos.

All the photos you see with a freeway behind or with mountains were shot on Highway 18 right before traffic rush hour hit. Was hoping to get some crazy shot with the sun rising over the mountain and reflecting off the car, didn't really get the image I wanted but pretty pleased with it overall.

Both Ian and I were hoping for any kind of feature, something small, but hey it's in a magazine. We checked out the website this month and saw that we'd gotten the front cover. Sweeeet! Check one of the things I want to accomplish in my lifetime. And now 10832984320 things left to do. Just dropped a butt load of money on new camera gear in preparation for a wedding in August. Shot a couple other weddings this month and I'll post those up soon.

Anyway, here's the photos of the magazine and the original images. Enjoy!

Shot with :
Nikon d200
Tokina 12-24 f/4
Nikon SB-600
Canon ex-580II
China poverty-wizards
Lots and lots and lots and lots of Starbucks energy drink
And a fatty breakfast burrito at some random spot in Riverside

Also if you're wondering, Mr2 Only Magazine is printed solely for single purchases and isn't sold in stores. Not a real 'circulation' magazine but hey, still a print magazine. Pick one up at www.mr2only.com

Mr2Only Magazine cover


2nd page with editor comments


Two page spread! (Double truck ftw!)


Another two page spread (yeeeee!)
Oh and that top left corner photo was shot at Moss Brothers Toyota. Those guys were cool, let us shoot the Mr2 in their showrooms and such.


Last page


And sent to us by Her Majesty's Royal Mail


Original photos

Shot facing south towards Riverside with the Nikon sb-600 flash on camera left and Canon ex-580 camera right. The ex-580II flash is f'ing ridiculous more powerful than the weak Nikon flash.


Single flash from above


The cover photo, you can see the ghetto strobe set up and the freeway behind


Canon flash to the left and nikon to the right


Somewhat successful attempt at getting some sun flare in the photo. Canon 580 flash on full blast on the right and nikon on the left. Didn't have a polarizer or anything, wish I did.


Interior shot with one flash to the left and the other strobed from the top. Both with shoot through umbrellas.






Inside Moss Brother's Toyota dealership. They had a bunch of balloon clusters I had to clone out, pretty crap job of photoshop but I am no pro.




Yay Moss Brothers Toyota. Flashes on camera left and right.


Single flash from above with shoot through umbrella








And that's all for now. Pretty proud of the feature, hopefully more magazine's to come.

a|traxx

The new Summer Sessions 2010 Mix by dj a|traxx

Download link : http://soundcloud.com/dj-a-traxx

Mark Arcenal with Fatlace

A few weeks, or maybe months, back I helped out my buddy Allen Chu (www.theallenchu.com, www.4rtofclean.com) with an interview for his new magazine Slick (http://www.slicklifestyle.com/). He would be interview Mark Arcenal and doing a feature on the store, clothing lines and lifestyle of Fatlace.

I wouldn't say I know much of the urban and lifestyle scene of the import automotive world, but Mark Arcenal (http://arcenal.com/mark/)is one of the pioneers of the game. Not only for the import scene but for, well, one of the biggest companies out there. From 2007 - 2009, Mark was the Global Digital Design Director for Nike and were the brains behind the 'Nike Sportswear' line. Yes, those Airmax 95's you rock? That's him.

Mark Arcenal and Fatlace started a revolution in the import automotive lifestyle scene, creating a new genre of automotive fashion with the Hella Flush mentality: basically slam the f*** out of your car and slap massive wheels in there until the body was flush with the rim. On top of this, the Fatlace line of clothing and accessories has grown to epic proportions, with the logo 'fatlace' pulling brand loyalty on its own. The newly introduced line of clothing and accessories named 'illest' is taking on its own movement as well.

Mark is one of the most down-to-earth guys you'll ever meet. He quit his job at Nike in Oregon to spend more time with his family in California and focus on the Fatlace line. He's business oriented but in a way that makes you feel like family, if he succeeds, you know he wants everyone out there to share in it too. Since it was a sunny day, he offered us a ride around town in the gangster VW bus, but we had to leave early and couldn't take him up on that offer. He says the bus isn't smog legal but everyone loves it; even cops give him the thumbs up. We'll be back for a cruise around town Mark.

Shot with :
Nikon D200
Sigma 30 f/1.4

Mark Arcenal of Fatlace


Hella Flush
















After doing a quick video short at the Fatlace store in Japantown San Francisco, where I was a 'customer' making my debut film apperance (w00t) we drove over to Fatlace's design studio in San Mateo. If I had my own home, it would pretty much be a replica of their design studio. DJ gear set up and ready to go, RC drift cars everywhere, a Honda Ruckus and CBR in the garage, you know the deal. Really friendly staff over at Fatlace, both at the store and in the studio. Hope to hang with them soon.











From there, we were invited to do a private interview at Mark's own home. We were amazed to see Mark's sunny day cruising toy, an old school VW Bus. Gangster. Restored and yes, slammed with rims, the bus pretty much represents Mark Arcenal. Old school ways mixed with new school style. Love it.

American LeMans Series 2010 at Mazda Raceway Laguna-Seca

This will be a longer post than usual so please bear with me as I ran, complain and just try to make sense of my passion for photography.

The American LeMans Series made its way to Mazda Raceway Laguna-Seca in Monterey, CA this past weekend. Usually they stop here towards the end of the year, usually October, and usually the race is a 4 hour fun run. For 2010, the race was pushed to the month of May and they would be running for 6 hours, starting at 230pm all the way through til 830pm as the sun was setting. I've attended ALMS races, both as a photographer and spectator but never stayed for the entire time. I was fortunate to receive a photo/media vest this year and for the few readers and followers I have to this blog, never take a photo vest for granted. You'll know when you get denied a vest that it messes with your head. I've been denied for an ALMS photo/vest at Laguna-Seca, so being approved for one this year, I decided to use it to its full advantage.

I covered the ALMS event on Thursday (the test sessions) and Saturday for the six hour endurance race. Both days arriving at the track by 7am and not leaving until past 9pm. Mazda Raceway takes incredible care of their media, providing lunch/dinner, internet, live video feed, etc. Big thank you to them.

As far as coverage for the event, I decided to push myself to see if I could handle the profession of a wire photographer, ie, shoot, upload, shoot, upload, non-stop. From the following photos you can see the mentality I had as far as covering the event. Try to get as many 'stock' photos of each team as possible, clean backgrounds (if possible), figure out who takes pole position, get a ton of photos of them, figure out who is leading, figure out who won and make sure you get clean of all of them. On top of that, try to make photos that would two page spreads, or take front page, or can be seen hanging on a wall, the 'wow' photos. So that was my challenge. After reading an article from seasoned motorsports photographer John Thawley, always keep moving. Shoot a few photos here, move to a next spot. Like Jay-Z says, on to the next one, on-on to the next one.

Other than that, I pushed myself physically to the limit.

My Nikon D200 shutter crapped out twice.
I nearly passed out driving home...both days.
Did live twitter photo updates on the Blackberry and iPhone.
Walked the entire Laguna-Seca course twice in a day.
Pushed 30+ hour days

Shot with :
Nikon D200
Sigma 100-300 f/4
Sigma 30 f/1.4

Here's what I got.


The American LeMans Series presented by Tequila Patron






Team Patron Highcroft Racing
Winner of this round's ALMS 6 hour race
The team, due to some mishaps, started at the back of the field when the green flag dropped, and within 4 laps, pushed their way past 30 cars into 4th position.

Simon Pagenaud of Highcroft Racing
























Dyson Racing and their Lola B09/86-Mazda MZR-R
They fought their way to pole position on Friday and battled hard through the 6 hour endurance. Within the closing hours of the race, an oil pump had failed causing the car to stall mid lap. From there, they would never regain the lead and were unable to finish the race. A truly heartbreaking end to the race for the team.











Drayson Racing and their Lola B09/60-Judd
In the third hour of the race, the gear box failed and the race car was declared out.













Muscle Milk Team Cytosport and their Porsche RS Spyder






Team Flying Lizard with their Porsche 911 GT3 RSR
Last year, Joerg Burgmeister and Jan Magnussen in the Corvette battled hard in the closing hours of the race, with a disasterous spin out on the front straight. This year, the battle was just as stiff, with the Corvette's, BMW's, Porsches and Ferraris going head to head all six hours. When the checkered flag dropped, Patrick Long and Joerge Burgmeister piloted the Flying Lizard #45 Porsche GT3 to a class win.









Team Falken
This is, I believe, Team Falken's third year in the American LeMans Series, running with the Porsche GT3 from last year. I've worked with these guys before, covering their new tire releases at SEMA and following them through the Formula Drift circuit.











BMW Rahal Letterman Racing











Corvette Racing







Piloti Racing (yes the racing shoe guys)







Team Risi Competizione










Jaguar Racing





And a couple randoms from the weekend















Fireworks when the checkered flag dropped



Congratulations to Patron Highcroft Racing




I'll leave you with my favorites from the weekend

First off, Patron Tequila's Ferrari duo at turn six


Flying Lizard Motorsports GT3 RSR at the top of the Corkscrew