Archive for May, 2009

Wedding Scrapbook/Guestbook

May 28, 2009 { Posted in: designs & crafts, photography | 3 Comments }

If you ask me I think the traditional sign-your-name-on-the-line guestbooks are really boring.  Unless you really don’t care at all then I suppose it serves its purpose.  Seriously, what are you going to do with it after the wedding?  Store it away in a box?  I’m also not a huge fan of those enlarged photo in a frame where guests can sign on the picture itself or along the borders.   Do people really hang that up in their homes?  Well, I guess some people do.  I know I wouldn’t, but that’s just me. An alternative to the traditional wedding guestbooks is a customized do-it-yourself  scrapbook.  Make it fun so you can enjoy looking through it from time to time.  I created a coffee table photobook as my guestbook and I still look through it from time to time, way more often than watching my wedding videos itself .  In fact, I haven’t even watched my wedding videos past the first DVD yet!  Anyway, I mentioned in a previous entry that I was helping my coworker with her wedding guestbook.  I found a really cute scrapbook album/case at Michael’s that was on sale.  It’s simple and elegant and can be stored on a bookshelf or under the coffee table.   It’s nice and easy access for yourself or when you have family and friends over to re-live the memories.

With the pictures I took of the couple, we premade all the scrapbook pages so that guests could sign on them at the wedding.  I’m so happy with how they turned out.  I was hoping that it wouldn’t look too tacky and cheap on the day of the wedding, but it was quite the opposite!  Some of the guests were overheard commenting on how the scrapbook was a great idea.  Success!  The fun you can have with this is endless.  Just don’t try to make 50+ pages all in one night though.  I’m glad the wedding party was there to help.

BTW, I have a few photos from Hanh + Wing’s wedding that I’ll post soon.  It was a beautiful wedding!

Kiddies + Kitties and the Nifty-Fifty

May 26, 2009 { Posted in: family, photography | 2 Comments }

Last Friday, I picked up the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 prime lens.  I had originally purchased the f/1.8 after getting recommended by my photographer friends as a “must have” starter prime lens and also after reading great reviews online.  I decided to return the f/1.8 though and eventually pick up on the f/1.4 later, but then I found a decent deal on Craigslist and knew I just had to get it.  I got to test it out over the wonderful Memorial Day weekend and I have to say that I’m loooving it so far!

Hanh + Wing

May 21, 2009 { Posted in: friends, fun things, love & relationship, photography | 2 Comments }

Last weekend was a prime example of a perfect Seattle weather weekend.  Just perfect for a photoshoot!  I found myself test subjects for my first ever practice/shoot with the 40D.  Hanh is a coworker of mine who’s getting married this Sunday.  Since they had very little time to plan their wedding they were on a time crunch and ran out of time to make a photobook guestbook similar to what I had.  I suggested a DIY scrapbook guestbook instead, which of course involves pictures.  I come to find that Hanh & Wing didn’t have engagement photos taken yet and they didn’t plan to due to time and budget.  I immediately jumped at the opportunity and offered to take pictures for them to use for the guestbook.  Another one of my coworkers (who’s a total scrapbook queen) and I are having a scrapbook party tomorrow at the couple’s home to put together the pages of the guestbook.  Yea, talk about last minute.  It should be fun though and I feel honored to be of any help to the bride and groom!  Been there, done that, and I know any help they can get will be appreciated.  Below are a couple of photos from the photoshoot taken at the Olympic Sculpture Park along the Seattle waterfront.   Told you it was a beautiful day =).

And a couple more photos here.

Tiny Toones US Tour – Seattle

May 10, 2009 { Posted in: events, photography | 1 Comment }

Earlier this month I had the opportunity to put my 40D to use.  The Tiny Toones were doing their first US tour and arrived in Seattle as the second to last city on their tour before returning back to Cambodia.  The other cities included Madison, New York, Philadelphia and Long Beach/Los Angeles.  The purpose of the tour was to raise money for the non-profit organization located in Phnom Penh.  To learn more about the organization please check out their website.  The story of its beginnings is very touching and inspirational, a perfect example of making positives out of the negatives.  The Seattle events were a huge success and I’m glad to have been able to witness such an amazing group of young people display their talent as well as exhibiting their drive and passion to make a difference in their community.  I volunteered to photograph the event to get in practice time with the 40D, which arrived just two days prior to the event (yea, just in time).  Little did I know, I was photographing the event alongside two other world famous and award winning photographers.  I was so nervous and intimated, but at the same time I felt honored for the opportunity.  Stuart Isett is a Seattle photographer known for his editorial work.  He has covered the Tiny Toones numerous times before as well as issues on deportation and Cambodian gangs in the US.  His friend Charles Peterson actually has a book out call Cypher that is a collection of break dancing photos.  I was so nervous that I didn’t even get to mingle and introduce myself.  That I sort of regret.  Well, below are a couple of pictures from the event.  You can also view the full set here.