Category: Behind the Scenes

What I have been up to lately in 2022?

Posted on by Anjanette

2022 got off to a bad start. I was sick during the holidays and as a result, I had breathing issues. The breathing issues were on and off during the first half of 2022. I took a few COVID tests during that period and all came out negative. Heavy winds and dust would exacerbate my breathing to the point where I was having shortness of breath during “easier” walks, such as walking from the parking lot to my work desk, walking from my work desk (which is at the back of the building) to the front desk, and going up the stairs in my house. I finally saw a doctor and was prescribed asthma medication.

As far as photography, I scaled back a little to mostly paid work and group shoots that would pique my interests. Unlike previous years where I would setup various TFP shoots with models, I only set up one. I would schedule others, but I would cancel them due to health problems.

I have also done a few shoots for UNLV, in which I started making the transition from Nikon to Canon.

Below is a gallery of the work I’ve done so far in 2022.

Bombay Beach: My New Favorite Place!

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There is something about the Bombay Beach and Salton Sea area (Salvation Mountain and East Jesus) that is very appealing. Coming from Nevada, which is the land of abandoned towns and quirky places, I felt right at home visiting these areas.

Between August 2020 and August 2021, I visited the area four times. The first time I visited the area, it was a quick and last-minute visit. The second time was with a group of photographers and models, which I enjoyed. I would like to have more shoots with models in the future, but it’s tough getting them to drive out!

Attempts to shoot with models failed during my third and fourth visits, so I mostly shot landscapes, astrophotography, and content for my YouTube page. During my fourth visit, I rented an AirBNB and stayed for two nights.

Facts About Me…as a Photographer

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My Beginnings

  • I received my first digital camera in 2003 for my birthday, a Canon PowerShot A60 point-and-shoot.
  • My love for photography started when I used that digital camera while studying abroad. I was attending the University of the Virgin Islands, St. Croix for a semester.
  • My poor Canon broke, as the lens would not retract and got stuck. Months later, my boyfriend (now husband) gave me a Fujifilm FinePix E550 point-and-shoot for Christmas.
  • My Fuji got stolen, so I purchased my first DSLR in 2006, the Nikon D50 and Tamron 18-200mm f/3.5-f/6.3 lens.
  • From 2003 until 2012, I was only interested in landscape and architectural photography.

My Start as a “Professional Photographer”

  • I’ve pawned my Nikon D50 many times. After getting it out of pawn and finding out the wheel to change the settings were broken, I had to get a new camera. In 2012, I ended up getting a Nikon D3000. Unfortunately, it did not autofocus with my Tamron 18-200, so I immediately also purchased a Nikon 35mm f/1.8 lens.
  • My first subjects were my husband, friends, and family members. Because my husband was camera shy, I had to find other people to practice with.
  • My first TFP (trade-for-print) shoot was for a model who was chosen to appear on a calendar for the lifestyle brand HauteButch. I did this shoot for her 2 years in a row.
  • I would initially find models through Craig’s List and Model Mayhem.
  • I started a 365 photography blog in September 2012 and finished in September 2013. After that achievement, I tried doing a 52-week project and then another 365 project for 2014-2015. Both were huge fails.
  • My first official wedding was in 2014. Prior to that, I was only accepting post-ceremony wedding portraits.
  • My first large wedding was in 2015. After that, I put myself out there as a wedding photographer, especially after purchasing a Nikon D750 full-frame.

Other Facts

  • I’ve owned the Nikon D300 twice:
    • In early 2015, I shot a paid boudoir party. My Nikon D7000 was malfunctioning during the party, so with the deposit I earned, I had to quickly take my “entry-level” Nikon D3000 out of the pawn shop and continued the shoot. Knowing that I needed a comparable body to my Nikon D7000 but couldn’t afford a second D7000 at the time, I bought the Nikon D300 on eBay. I then officially sold my D3000. Once I repaired my D7000 and got my D750, I sold my D300. In hindsight, that was a big mistake!
    • In 2017, due to financial hardships, I had to sell my D7000, only having my D750. Later on that year, I ended up buying a D300 through OfferUp because I needed a second camera for a wedding. This camera was not in good shape as my first D300, but it still did its job!
  • I would have continued to shoot with a crop-sensor camera if I wasn’t going into weddings.
  • Despite trying different editing styles, like moody/muted edits or the ever-popular orange and teal look, I prefer bold and bright colors.
  • I prefer to be a versatile photographer, trying to do well with both natural light and off-camera flash equally.
  • I’ve been using Yongnuo speedlights since 2013. I have no desire to switch to Godox/Flashpoint.
  • I have never shot at f/1.4 because I have never owned such a lens. Even with a f/1.8 lens, I hardly shoot at f/1.8, unless I’m in a low-lighting situation.
  • My go-to lens from 2015 through 2020 was the 24-120 f/4 lens, which was the kit lens that came with my Nikon D750. I finally purchased a 24-70 f/2.8 lens in July 2020, so that is now my go-to lens.
  • My work has been published in many magazines (e-magazines), but I still don’t call myself a “published photographer”. It doesn’t make sense to me for a “published photographer” to pay $25-$30 to get a printed copy of the magazine.
  • I’m a firm believer that “it’s the person behind the camera”, not the gear itself. The most expensive, high-end gear can only help make your job easier, but you can still get great results with whatever gear you’ve got.
    • The boudoir party I’ve shot in 2015 helped proved that theory. Even though I was shooting the party in the evening with no window light, my “entry-level” Nikon D3000 paired with OCF produced better results than my D7000, in my opinion. The colors were spot on and I only had to do minimal editing.

Photography Musings During a Pandemic

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(The featured image was the last shoot I’ve done before the lockdown. The lockdown actually happened the day after!)

Because photography was not considered an “essential” business, sadly many photographers had to shut down their businesses for two months. With social distancing rules still in place, wedding and event photographers still cannot work because of events being postponed or cancelled.

Since many photographers now had plenty time on their hands, it was a great time to take advantage to improve their craft or business, whether it was trying out new styles, learning different techniques, or learning about business. I, on the other hand, have used this time to take a break from photography. With the exception of trying out different editing styles, going through RAW files of weddings and events I’ve shot in the past as either an associate or second shooter, and FINALLY editing cell phone video footage from my South Dakota road trip, I haven’t done a shoot or even went outside to take pictures!

At the time of writing this blog, I don’t miss photography very much, especially the type of photography I’ve been doing prior to quarantine. There were times I wanted to visit The Strip and take advantage of its emptiness, but I haven’t gotten around to doing it. It was probably because all the parking garages were closed and I didn’t want to walk the entire Strip to shoot anything. I’ve also thought about learning how to do time-lapse photography on my “new” Nikon Z50, but I barely found my tripod about 2 weeks ago. Even when I found my tripod, the motivation still wasn’t there.

When Nevada’s “Phase 1” started on May 9, it allowed photography businesses to re-open. I had moments of wanting to find models and do shoots again, but sometimes the motivation came and went. Throughout this time, I was being so indecisive of what I really wanted to do that it became overwhelming.

Why is this back and forth happening? It’s because I lack empathy for photography. The goal, need, and want to become a working, professional photographer is barely there. Other than needing to fulfill contracts of two postponed weddings and one other obligation as an associate photographer, I’m not going to push it as much. It’s weakened the drive so much that I now blame the pandemic for “ruining my photography business.”

Before I left the casino industry in 2016, being a full-time photographer was my ultimate goal. Working in the casino industry for 10 years felt like being in a tumultuous relationship. After working as a paid, professional photographer for almost 8 years, I can say the same thing about photography!

One thing I know for sure – being a photographer would have affected my life in the worst way during this pandemic. It has not done any good for my life so far in 2020!

I haven’t fully given up on photography as a hobby though. I invested so much time, money, and energy on photography that I can’t give it up completely yet. The pandemic has put my mind in a funk, and hopefully as it eases, my mind will slowly get out of that funk!

Is it Natural Light or Flash?

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As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs and social media, I want to be a versatile photographer. I want my natural light work to be just as good as my off-camera flash / strobe work. Even though I started off with natural light, when I first learned and gained experience with off-camera flash, my natural light work was faltering. A photographer friend of mine even told me to stick to off-camera flash ONLY at one point!

In 2019, I was diagnosed with early stages of endometrial cancer, which greatly affected my health. Because I was getting tired during shoots and experiencing hot flashes, I knew I had to keep things simple during my shoots. I put away my wagon that carried my speedlights and strobe, and hardly took it out. I would only bring my camera and my old Nikon 80-200 f/2.8 tank of a lens.

During shoots, I had to thoroughly read the light and adjust my model accordingly in order to get the right composition in camera. During the editing process, I tried new Lightroom settings to give my photos the “pop” that OCF would normally give. I mostly played around with the curves tool and radial filter in Lightroom until I got the desired effect.

Who Would Have Thought?

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Although I’ve been living in Vegas for over 12 years (as of time of writing), Walnut, California has always been home. My parents are still living in the same house, and have been for almost 32 years. I’m very lucky I can always come visit them whenever I want to get away from Vegas.

One of my favorite spots in Walnut was Snow Creek Park. I would always visit this park whenever I wanted to get away from the house and go to a place to relax. I remembered it being a pretty small park with a baseball field taking up the majority of the park.

For the past few months, I was planning a rustic editorial shoot with an awesome designer. Originally, I was going to do the shoot either at Cal Poly Pomona or Lemon Creek Park, since I’ve shot at both places before. However, I threw in Snow Creek as a third option because I was very concerned with the harsh mid-day lighting of our shoot.

On the way to my parents house, I was able to quickly scout Cal Poly. With the construction and the fact it wasn’t “rustic” enough (even though we were going to shoot at some old horse stables), I quickly took that option off the table.

It was between Lemon Creek Park and Snow Creek Park. Because I never shot at Snow Creek Park and haven’t been there in awhile, I met up with an friend whom I’ve known since elementary school and did a quick shoot with her and her family. The minute I arrived, there were about 4 other photo sessions going on and learned that Snow Creek was a hot spot for photography!

With the creek, the bridge, and the horse trail, combined with plenty of shade to hide underneath in harsh mid-day lighting, I decided to do my epic editorial shoot at Snow Creek.

The day after my editorial shoot, I visited Snow Creek once again to do a shoot with another friend from my hometown. Since we were doing the shoot on Veteran’s Day (observed), once again, the park had a few photo sessions going on.

The lighting at Snow Creek, whether in the morning, mid-day, or close to sunset during golden hour, was absolutely gorgeous. Who would have thought such a wonderful place for photography would be in my hometown? Who would have thought that non-Walnut residents from nearby cities would have chosen this pretty small and obscure park for their sessions?

My Great Basin Weekend

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I’ve been living in Las Vegas since 2006 (12 years now). Prior to that when I was living in California, I have visited Vegas as a tourist. Because of this, all I knew about Nevada is Vegas.

Over the years, I’m been shocked to see there is more to Nevada than just Vegas, Reno, and Lake Tahoe. The little towns between these cities have some charm and history to them.

My friend and I made plans to do astrophography at the Great Basin National Park a couple months in advanced. When it came time for our trip, the skies were pretty hazy due to clouds and smoke from the wildfires of nearby states. Because this was a concern for us, we changed our plans and went to Pioche instead.

While driving on our way to Pioche, my friend (who is a country girl) saw a flyer advertising a rodeo. After having lunch at Pioche, we drove a few miles back to the town of Panaca to attend the Lincoln County Fair and Rodeo.

When we arrived at the fairgrounds, there were high winds and thunder. We had to wait in the car for about an hour because of the bad dust storm. When the winds died down, we watched the rodeo for a few hours. I attempted to try a technique called panning, where you give your pictures the feeling of motion. The outcome was pretty decent, but not the greatest.

The original plan was to camp at Cathedral Gorge in Panaca right after the rodeo, but it was still windy and cloudy. Since it was my turn to drive, I decided to drive another 100 miles more to the Great Basin like we’ve originally planned.

Because it was new moon, meaning the night skies are at its darkest, it was hard to find a spot at the Great Basin at night because it was so dark. However, the skies were clear and we were able to see the stars.

Because we arrived close to midnight, we did some astrophotography and light painting, but we were tired. While my friend went to sleep, I tried to take 30 shots of the stars and skies (to stack them into one star trails shot), but I was too tired to even do 8. After doing 8 shots, I stopped for the night.

The next morning, we made a detour to Ely (pronounced EEE-LEE, rhyming with freely). On the way, we ran into a field of wind turbines. Since I was driving, we went down an unmarked road to get a closer view of the wind turbines. I was able to get a sweet picture of my friend and her dog.

In Ely, we visited the Nevada Northern Railway Museum and the Ward Charcoal Ovens. Because we were back-tracking 10 miles to get to the Charcoal Ovens, at first, I thought about taking the same highway back to Vegas, which entailed going through Pioche and Panaca. However, we only had less than 100 miles left until empty, so I made the decision to go back to Ely to fill up on gas, and then take a different road to Vegas. According to the GPS, it was quicker to go on NV-318, so we drove on that highway. It was a nice drive, but very boring and flat. Luckily, the drive was more interesting once NV-318 ended at US-93 in Alamo.

You Work with What You’ve Got

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I visited my parents in Walnut during the first weekend of May. A few weeks before, I gave back my Dad’s Canon Rebel, but I forgot to return his spare battery. Because my parents were leaving for the UK a couple weeks later, I decided to pay them a visit.

As mentioned in previous blog posts, I try to setup at least one photo shoot whenever I’m in SoCal. Since I had one whole day free (after giving my parents a ride to their friends’ house in Anaheim), I scheduled a couple of photo shoots at my usual spot at Dana Point Harbor.

To practice with my new Orlit strobe, I purposely scheduled two mid-day shoots with harsh lighting to see how well it overpowers the sun. I have never used HSS with a wider aperture as well (like f/2.8), so this was a perfect place to try it.

Unfortunately, I had to change my plans when I arrived at the tide pool. It was a bit windy and the tide was slightly higher than expected. It didn’t feel safe to use my strobe without an assistant and the risk of having it fall in the water.

So I had to work with what I’ve got. I had to use natural light in harsh lighting with no shade. I had to read the light and had the model adjust accordingly.

The first shoot was at 11am with Ashley. The sun was in a better position. It was easier to position Ashley and have her turn her back to the sun. After getting in a few wardrobe modifications at the tide pool, I grabbed the strobe from my car and set it up on a dirt trail away from the water. I loved her rainbow aviators, and the strobe made the picture “pop”.

The second shoot was at 1pm with Patricia. Because the sun was right above her head, it was much more difficult to shoot with natural lighting. She had to do some adjustments in her posing, like putting her chin down so the light wouldn’t create a triangle on her nose.

We concluded the shoot at the harbor because her dresses matched the surroundings better. Also, shooting at the tide pool with natural lighting was so difficult, that I wanted to get out of there and go somewhere else!

My Strobe Dilemma

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Throughout my photography journey, I’ve had mixed feelings about owning a strobe. Was it necessary or not?

I have used off-camera flash (OCF) since 2013. Learning OCF did wonders for my photography and have brought my work to another level.

At first, I thought I would need to buy expensive Nikon speedlights at about over $400 per unit, and then buy a PocketWizard set for another $200 or over just to fire those speedlights.

Thank goodness for Yongnuo products. Over the years, I have accumulated about 8 Yongnuo speedlights. Each speedlight had a triggering system built-in. All I needed was something for the top of my camera to fire off all those speedlights. The cost of my whole entire Yongnuo setup was STILL cheaper than one Nikon speedlight and PocketWizard set. What was even more sweet was that my Yongnuo receiver allowed me to make adjustments from my camera, instead of going to each unit and making adjustments from there.

I didn’t have much space in my house to setup a studio. Multiple Yongnuo speedlights sufficed and did its job.

I was able to survive shooting in very harsh mid-day sun without shade and only 3 Yongnuo speedlights. If I wanted a more shallow depth of field, I would just put an ND filter on my 85mm lens.

I was happy with speedlights for years, but still wanted a strobe. Why? Well, these were my arguments for not getting one:

  • As mentioned above, I didn’t have much space in my house to setup a studio. I didn’t need all that power from a strobe.
  • If I were to use a strobe outdoors, I would have to buy a battery pack because the strobe had to be plugged in. What a pain in the ass to haul!
  • I would also have to buy a new wireless triggering system, but it wouldn’t have the same functionality as my Yongnuos.

So what drove me to get a strobe?

Back in late 2016, I was assisting a wedding photographer who just purchased the wonderful Profoto B1. Because there was no time to set up a light stand, I HAD to be the light stand. I held the B1 above my head with my arms stretched out, similar to John Cusack holding his boombox in the movie “Say Anything”.

I thought the B1 was a cool thing to have, but unfortunately, I didn’t have over $2000 to spend. However, I still wanted a strobe that was affordable AND have these features that the B1 has (in this order):

  1. High speed sync (HSS), so I can shoot faster than my camera’s flash sync speed (usually between 1/200-1/250 seconds) and be at a wider aperture (at least f/4 or wider). I wouldn’t need to use my 85mm lens with an ND filter on it.
  2. An onboard battery pack, so I don’t have to deal with wires or a stand-alone battery pack. This makes it more portable for outdoors shoots.
  3. Powerful enough to over-power the sun, especially with large modifiers. Using 3 speedlights was great and all, but because I wasn’t using any modifiers, lighting was a bit harsh.
  4. TTL (through-the-lens), so the strobe’s power can be adjusted automatically with objects that are constantly moving, especially ones that are moving forwards and backwards like children and dogs. Because I haven’t used TTL as much in the past, this feature wasn’t as high in priority than the others. It would have been nice to have, but it wasn’t really a deal-breaker.

I did a Google search and stumbled upon the Godox AD600 (or the Flashpoint XPLOR 600). Then, I also saw the Godox AD200 (or the Flashpoint eVOLV 200), which was more portable, but less powerful than the AD600. However, one AD200 unit had more power than my 3 Yongnuo speedlight setup.

When I finally had enough money to purchase a strobe, I was set on getting two AD200 units because they were way more affordable. However, during a photographer’s meetup at Floyd Lamb Park, I was introduced to the Orlit Rovelight RT 601 and was able to test it out. It was comparable to the AD600 and had all the features I wanted (except for TTL, which was fine with me).

The next day, I visited Adorama’s website and saw that the TTL version of the Orlit Rovelight with the receiver was much cheaper than getting two AD200’s, as well as half the price of getting the TTL version of the AD600. Needless to say, I ended up choosing the Orlit Rovelight 610!

Orlit RoveLight RT 610 with a 40-inch brolly box (umbrella softbox).

Below are the images from the Floyd Lamb meetup, using the Orlit Rovelight and a 48-inch octobox. I love the softness of the light!

So how does a strobe affect me moving forward? To be honest, not much. I just got cool new gear! And it gives me more and more opportunity to be versatile and practice more with studio lighting!

My Day of Versatility

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On Saturday, April 28, 2018, it was nothing but back-to-back shooting. It was also the MOST versatile day of shooting for me.

I started the morning shooting two gorgeous models at a house with a backyard pool. The owner of the house specifically decorated the entire house for photographers. I was so overwhelmed with all the possibilities this house had to offer, that I was embarrassed I wasn’t very prepared. Throughout the shoot, I used my new Orlit Rovelight strobe with my Nikon D300 and 18-55 kit lens. It brought back memories to “Pump My Portfolio” back in 2013, in a sense where I was still making great shots with inexpensive gear and great lighting. The 18-55 lens sufficed. I didn’t need any fancy lenses.

The next shoot was a portrait session with Staysi, a talented dress designer whom I’ve mentioned before, and her family. Her and her husband were renewing their vows, and because the chapel didn’t allow outside photographers, they wanted to do a quick shoot before the ceremony. Staysi created pink matching dresses for her and her daughter, and came up with a retro pink flamingo theme. To use these pictures for a possible bridal magazine submission, it had to feel like a natural wedding. Therefore, I did this shoot in all natural light with my Nikon D750 and 24-120 f/4 lens.

The last and final shoot was a wedding reception at Skyview Banquet Hall. I was asked to work this reception at the last minute so the owner, who is also a photographer, can put on her “event planning hat” and spend the whole night making sure everything ran smoothly. My favorite part of the night was a little dance by the groom before the garter toss. It was funny to watch! I shot this event with my Nikon D750, 24-120 f/4 lens, and a Yongnuo TTL flash on camera. The venue already had great up-lighting and low ceilings, so I was able to bounce the light from my flash.

The Back Story

Back in the summer of 2013, during the early stages of my photography journey, I attended a studio photography workshop called “Pump My Portfolio”. It was a great day of portfolio-building and learning about studio photography. Most of the photographers who attended the event were also early into their photography journey, while some were seasoned wedding and portrait photographers.

Since I was a naive aspiring photographer at the time, I was intimidated by the seasoned photographers at first because of their experience and high-end full-frame cameras and lenses. I was feeling inadequate with my lowly entry-level Nikon D3000 and 18-55 kit lens. I thought my 50mm f/1.8 lens would bring me into the “Cool Kids Club” with the seasoned photographers, especially during the boudoir portion where it was all natural window light.

To my surprise, the seasoned photographers were just as clueless as I was about studio photography.

I was also producing pretty kick-ass shots with my “lowly” entry-level gear, especially with the strobes that were provided. They were pretty much ready to go straight-out-of-camera. Everyone had awesome shots that day. Based on the portfolio sharing, it was hard to tell who were the seasoned photographers and who were the newbies.

As the months went by, I’ve noticed something about the photographers whose work I’ve been following. They mostly shoot with natural light during golden hour. I hardly see their shots taken any other time of the day or even at night.

In that same year, I attended another photography meetup and received a quick crash-course on off-camera flash. I remember taking a couple of shots with my newly learned skills and was amazed at the results.

By the end of 2013, I realized that I needed to stand out as a photographer and step up my skills by learning off-camera flash and shooting in the harshest lighting possible.

Over the years, I had a mantra that a photographer should be able to work in any lighting conditions given to them, whether it’s during golden hour or high noon with the sun above everyone. I would practice in areas that had no shade with the harshest lighting, so I would be forced to shoot with whatever I’m working with. I had the mindset that clients only cared about “their hour” and not “golden hour”, and needed to prepare for any lighting situation.

As I was utilizing off-camera flash more and more, I felt it was the greatest thing since slice bread. It made workflow much quicker and I was able to take portraits with pretty skies straight out-of-the-camera. Since I wasn’t using natural light, I didn’t have to worry about using Photoshop to create a sky overlay. I was wondering why hardly anyone was on board with OCF.

Okay…enough throwing shade to the “natural-light photographers”. Let’s start throwing shade to the “strobists” and “OCF-ers”!

Throughout my journey, I noticed strobists had awesome work with their strobes and lights, but when it came to natural light, it wasn’t as strong. As an “OCF-er” that didn’t own strobes, I was falling into that group. I remember posting some natural light stuff on my Facebook and a friend told me that she didn’t believe it was my work because it wasn’t as “constrast-y” as my usual work. She wasn’t putting down my natural light stuff, but she did say it wasn’t as strong as my usual OCF work. That conversation made me want to go back to shooting with natural light and be better at it.

It is 2018 now, and although I’ve had a great photography journey these past 5 years, unfortunately, it has not translated into a successful business. Do I want it to make it a business? I’m not sure at this point. I’m very happy with my employment at UNLV and I know it’s better in the long run. Maybe a side business perhaps?

However, I can safely say that my photography has shown versatility over the years. I may be better at a few of the many skills I’ve acquired, but I can at least produce adequate results. There is always room to grow in order to make something “adequate” extraordinary.

It’s hard to express how important it for me to be versatile without adding my own personal back story, so now that’s over, let’s move onto the present!

Locations in SoCal I Would Love to Revisit

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I usually get tired of the same locations in Vegas. Whenever I go to Cali to visit my parents or just to get away from Vegas, I always try to squeeze in a shoot with anyone who is willing to get in front of my camera (preferably an aspiring model).

Throughout my photography journey, I have done at least one shoot at these locations and I’m dying to do more, but I just haven’t gotten around to it.  I mostly blame traffic, distance, and simply just time. I can only spend weekends in Cali, so my time is limited.

Here are the locations I would love to revisit, in no particular order:

“Urban Light” at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)

“Urban Light” is pretty much considered LACMA’s landmark, located right on Wilshire Boulevard. It’s a very popular location for photographers and gets pretty crowded, especially on the weekends. The last time I visited LACMA, there were people in my shots, especially rude pre-teens trying to “photobomb” my shot.

I would love to revisit this location, but there are many reasons why I haven’t. First of all, I would love to do an epic high-fashion shoot with beautiful, flowing evening gowns, but it’s very tough to find the right people and wardrobe to pull off such a shoot. Also, I would have to do the shoot very late in the evening or early morning before dawn to avoid people in my shot. Second, the location, traffic, and parking make it cumbersome just to visit. It’s right in the heart of LA after all!

Hermosa Beach

Hermosa Beach is one of my favorite LA County beaches. It’s a clean beach and not overly crowded, unlike Venice Beach or Santa Monica. The pier is very nice too. It’s not as popular as the pier at Manhattan Beach, but it’s still nice.

Again, location, traffic, and parking are the biggest reasons why I haven’t revisited Hermosa Beach. It’s close to the LAX airport, which makes traffic even more annoying!

Disney Concert Hall

Disney Concert Hall is an amazing place to shoot. I love the architecture of the building, and you can do so many different things at this location. However, I haven’t revisited this location mostly because security told me to stop shooting towards the end, which put a damper on everything. They were okay with doing a shoot there, but tripods and stands were not allowed. I was using off-camera flash the last time I shot there. Next time, I will have to just shoot with natural light.

Disney Concert Hall shares the same characteristics as the other two locations. You have to deal with traffic and parking, especially since it’s located in Downtown LA.

Cal Poly Pomona

I may use location and traffic as my excuse for the other three locations, but I cannot use it as an excuse for Cal Poly Pomona, especially since it’s only five miles away from my parent’s house! I can only blame the “It’s always going to be there” attitude when it comes to locations nearby.

The last time I did a shoot at Cal Poly Pomona, it was dark and I didn’t really get to utilize the area very well. The shoot was at the Union Plaza, a beautiful courtyard area with Spanish-style horse stables and a fountain. However, these horse stables have been converted into offices for the various student clubs around the campus.

I have been wanting to do a shoot at “the stables” and the Japanese and rose gardens near the administration building (a.k.a. “the pointy building”), but I haven’t gotten around to doing it because I want to set up a styled shoot. Again, it’s tough to find the right people and wardrobe to pull off a shoot. Also, Sundays would be the best day because weddings are held on campus as well.

Honorable Mention – Dana Point Harbor

As mentioned in an earlier blog post, Dana Point Harbor is my go-to place because it’s peaceful and easy to access. Distance-wise, it’s just as far as Hermosa Beach, but I hardly run into traffic, so it’s not as annoying.

My Trip to the Philippines

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I’ve spent the first 2 weeks of 2018 in the Philippines. New Year’s Eve was spent in a plane with free champagne from the flight attendants. By the time my parents and I arrived, it was already the evening of New Year’s Day.

The last time I’ve visited the Philippines was during the holidays in 2001, arriving back to the States on New Year’s Day 2002. Things definitely changed 16 years later. The most notable changes were paved roads within the neighborhood (or “village” as they call it) of my Aunt’s house, working and flushable toilets 99% of the time, and my little nieces and nephews who were around 1-6 years of age in 2001 are now young adults. Unfortunately, what hasn’t changed is the major traffic around Metro Manila and the nearby provinces.

The first week in the Philippines was mostly spent with family, seeing relatives I haven’t seen in a very long time. The week ended with a beautiful outdoor wedding with the bride wearing a dress that would put Kate Middleton’s wedding dress to shame.

The second week was spent with more family, especially on my Dad’s side. We ended the week spending it at Boracay, which is a huge tourist destination.

I didn’t want to bring my bulky Nikon cameras that I normally use for paid work, so I used my Dad’s Canon Rebel T1i during this trip. It was a great camera to use, but also frustrating because this camera is entry level, and therefore had less features than my Nikon cameras. Some pictures were from my cell phone, a Samsung S7 Galaxy Edge.

Shooting on a Budget – Introduction

Posted on by Anjanette

I’m not sure what prompted me to join yet another Facebook photography group, especially targeted towards beginners, but I joined this specific one because a friend is a member. (Unfortunately, she’s not very active, LOL!) I’ve been trying to find ways to re-gain my passion for photography and I joined the group in hopes to get some inspiration. I also wanted pay it forward and help people with their own photography journey.

The most common questions posted are, “What camera should I buy?”, “What camera should I upgrade to?”, and “What lens should I get?”. Many people in the group are convinced that upgrading to a new camera (especially to a full-frame) will help make their pictures better, and that the “Nifty Fifty” (50mm f/1.8 lens) is the magical lens that gives you a blurred background in your pictures (known as shallow depth of field).

There’s this admin in the group (bless his heart), that is constantly telling people the best camera is the one you have in your hand and that you can achieve a blurred background with kit lenses (the lenses that comes with your new camera). Whenever someone posts about upgrading, he asks “Why?” Some people perceive him as rude because he is truthful and direct with his responses, but for the most part, him and I agree on almost everything. Also, when I try to play the voice of reason in the group, he always likes my posts, so I guess I’m not off the mark!

Since I joined around Halloween, I’ve been very active in this group. As I got more and more involved in the group, trying to help people out and answering questions, it made me think of a local Vegas photographer who created a blog about shooting with budget gear (Shooting on a Budget). Thanks to both the group and the blog, it inspired me to do a personal project where I only shoot with minimal gear.

I’m putting away my $5,000 gear! (Except the 50mm)

Gear List

Here is my list and how much I’ve spent out-of-pocket on each item:

  • Nikon D300 and 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 “kit” lens – $180 from OfferUp
  • Nikon 50mm f/1.8 lens – $150 from Craig’s List
  • Yongnuo YN-560III speedlight – $60 from Amazon
  • Yongnuo YN-560IV speedlight – $75 from Amazon
  • Yongnuo YN-560-TX receiver – $45 from YongnuoUSA.net
  • White shoot-through umbrella – $8.50 from eBay
  • Beauty dish with sock – $58 from eBay
  • Lightstand – $30 from Amazon
  • S-type Bowens mount – $17 from eBay
  • Flash bracket – $7.50 from eBay
  • Working on getting a Nikon D50 for under $100

Rules

  • The value of all equipment used must be $400 or lower COMBINED!
  • 3rd party equipment (external lighting and modifiers, light stands, tripods, etc.) are allowed just as long as it stays on budget.
  • Cannot pair Nikon D300 lens with 50mm f/1.8 lens unless it’s a low-lighting situation.
    (Even though I’ve spent only $180, the D300 is not considered an entry-level camera. Only the 18-55mm lens is entry-level. I feel using the Nikon D300 with the 50mm lens will not stay true to the project.)
  • 50mm lens can only be used on low-lighting shoots.

J Summer Fashion Show at the Hoover Dam

Posted on by Anjanette

The J Summer Fashion show was produced by model and “Queen of the Catwalk” Jessica Minh Anh. She’s had experience turning the world’s most iconic locations into her own personal fashion runway, including the Eiffel Tower, London’s Tower Bridge, One World Trade Center, and the Grand Canyon Skywalk. This summer, she added the Hoover Dam to her impressive resumé.

It was a privilege to accompany Victoria of Fashion One to this event. We arrived at the Hoover Dam a little bit after dawn and met at Hoover Dam’s event space, the Spillway House. After having breakfast and cooling off before heading outside in the heat for the fashion show, we took our seat right on top of the Hoover Dam.

The show lasted about an hour and featured designs by various designers all over the world. The models who walked in the show with Jessica were represented by LA Models and TNG Models. Despite sitting in the heat with the sun facing us, it was a enjoyable show.

After the show, we went back inside the Spillway House to meet with the designers and Jessica, as well as cooling off. The fashion show received a great amount of publicity with the local Vegas news, Telemundo, a Vietnamese news network, among others present.

This is the official video of the fashion show, recapping the event. It’s easy to spot me in the audience because I wasn’t using an umbrella for shade. It was hard to hold the umbrella and take pictures at the same time, so I had the sun blazing at me to the point where it almost overheated my camera.

Jeneration Apparel Mansion Shoot

Posted on by Anjanette

When I heard from a Facebook group about a fashion “shoot out” in a mansion, I jumped at the chance! I didn’t let a tiring and hot day of photographing soccer kids the morning before stop me from taking advantage of this event.

The location is in a quiet neighborhood near the Lone Mountain area of Las Vegas. It’s a spacious property that sits on about half an acre of land. There was a pool in the backyard, as well as a mini-tavern and gorgeous gates and doors with intricate designs. The biggest plus of the house was the clawfoot tub in one of the bathrooms, which is rare in many homes.

All the models wore dresses by Jeneration Apparel, a clothing company based out of Denver.

Staysi Lee Bridal Boutique – Designer Spotlight

Posted on by Anjanette

Staysi Lee is a very talented designer, whose designs embrace vintage and pin-up flare. She started off designing and selling her ever-popular infinity convertible dress, where you can wrap and twist the dress to create many designs. Taking inspiration from her own personal style, especially from her wedding, she expanded into creating customized wedding dresses.

Her wedding dress designs takes elements of both couture and vintage, with a nod to old Hollywood glamour. Want a dash of color to spice up your wedding dress? It’s customized, so why not?

She took notes from clients that would only like certain aspects of a dress, but not the whole thing. To solve that problem, she designed 2-piece wedding dresses where you can mix and match the top and the bottom. The greatest thing is that you can use an overlay or sash to make it look like one dress.

Staysi is also a collector of vintage dresses, where she buys many of them from an “undisclosed” location, fixes them up, and sells them again. If you truly want a vintage wedding with styles from the 1940’s through 1990’s, Staysi is your girl!

Visit Staysi’s online shops:

Custom couture wedding gowns – https://www.etsy.com/shop/StaysiLeeCouture
Infinity convertible dresses – https://www.etsy.com/shop/StaysiLee
Vintage dresses – https://www.etsy.com/shop/localovespirate

Sunset Portraits With Off-Camera Flash Meetup

Posted on by Anjanette

When I first started photography, taking pictures of the sunset AND the subject with the correct exposure was a huge struggle of mine. Because I started off as a landscape photographer, I always wanted a scenic background behind the subject.

The problem with using natural light is your backgrounds will be blown-out and white, especially if you’re trying to properly expose the subject. If you expose for the sky, your subject will be dark.

Whenever I see ads on Facebook that sell sky overlays for Photoshop, I always smirk because I know there is a way to achieve the same thing straight out of camera. The solution is learning off-camera flash.

My Aspiring Photographers meetup group and I spent a Wednesday afternoon at Wetlands Park. We did a short walk to a pond area where the backdrop is a beautiful sunset.

Photo by Ken Elsner
Photo by Ken Elsner
Photo by Ken Elsner

I did not take very many shots because I was helping others out. But when I had a chance to shoot, here were my results.

Analisa Fashion Shoot

Posted on by Anjanette

Analisa is a well-known fashion brand from Hungary. I had a wonderful time meeting Beáta (the designer), her husband, and friends. Beáta’s friend Charles, who is an American professional poker player, and his Hungarian wife Ilona were wonderful facilitators and translators.

Beáta chose to do the shoot at Eldorado Ghost Town in Nelson NV when she saw pictures I posted in a Facebook group. Nelson appears to be very American-looking and different from Hungary.

Credits:
Models: Taylor (Facebook) and Erica
Designer: Analisa (Website)
Behind the Scenes Photo Credits: From Analisa’s Facebook Page

Here are the final images: