Category: Editorials

What I have been up to lately in 2022?

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.

UNLV Bridal Shoots

People don’t think too much about the UNLV campus as a place for photo shoots because from the outside, it doesn’t look like it has much. However, once you walk around the campus, you suddenly realize how clean and well-maintained the campus is.

Spring is when the campus is at its most beautiful. All the flowers were in bloom, especially the small rose garden. The trees and grass were green and lush.

The UNLV campus also has an interesting desert garden near the library, with small bridges and a Spanish-style wall.

The most notable thing about both shoots with Savanah and Cristina (which were done on different days), was that I mostly shot with natural light (with the exception of a couple shots in this gallery). Because most of my better work in my portfolio has been shot with a strobe or off-camera flash, I wasn’t confident with my natural-light shooting skills until this shoot. In fact, it’s actually hard to tell if I used natural light or a strobe on some of these shots!

Credits:
Models: Savanah (Instagram) and Cristina (Instagram)
Savanah’s Hair/Makeup: Shawanda (Instagram)
Dresses: LV Bridal Boutique (Website | Instagram)
Bouquet: Jatcoia Floral Design (Website | Instagram)

Who Would Have Thought?

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?