Happy new year!

I know it’s a little bit late but I’ve been totally busy this month.  I haven’t updated my portfolio lately so what a better time to do it, right?  And as with updating a portfolio, you need new images…so that’s what I’ve been doing.

As I was looking over my online portfolio, I also decided to give my website a facelift.  So along with creating new images, I’ve also been redesigning and programming my new website which will be making its debut fairly soon! Stay tuned for that!

I will also be adjusting the design for this blog to match that of my website.

On the photography end, I’ve recently purchased some new equipment which have served me well so far. I’ll be posting images for that soon as well. I’ve also have a few projects I’ve been working on which I will share once the new website is launched.

So here’s a sneak peak at what the new website will look like:

Yay!  I got a chance to participate in Help-Portrait this year again…thought I missed out when I wasn’t available for the Dec. 4th event but another one was setup by Kenneth Wei to do one for the LA Dream Center.

The basic premise of Help-Portrait is finding people in need and taking their picture.  Sounds simple and non-eventful right?  But you’d be surprised by the positive reactions that people have from having a portrait taken of themselves.  There’s something about it that really empowers them and makes them feel special, if only for that day.

Needless to say, I had lots of fun and met some great people.  Here’s a little snippet of what happened…

If you would like to volunteer for the next one, sign up at the Help-Portrait LA Group Page.

There’s also a Twitter and a Facebook page.

Check out Help-Portrait’s YouTube channel for more information.

Often times, a word’s meaning will be taken for granted when it is used too often and lately that word has been “Gratitude”.  I have heard and said this word so many times that I’ve lost the feeling of  it’s true meaning, it’s true essence.  There’s something to be said for the power words play in the way it helps to manifest or detract certain energies and patterns in your life.  Couple this with actually feeling the meaning of the word itself and you’ve got yourself a double whammy.

So, I want to bring back the feeling of this word “Gratitude”.  The word “Gratitude” is a noun meaning “the quality or feeling of being grateful or thankful.”  To dig even further, the word “Grateful” is an adjective meaning “warmly or deeply appreciative of kindness or benefits received.”  For me, knowledge and experience is a major benefit that I can receive…I really don’t care for receiving material things.

This past year has brought to me tremendous knowledge of not only myself but of other people and the world we live in.  I believe life takes us on a journey that is intrinsically the correct one for us.   The mere coincidences, decisions, heartaches, and joys are all exactly laid out where they need to be.  What I’ve learned is to trust life, love, the universe, and myself.  You have been my biggest teacher.

So, tonight, I am very appreciative of this benefit that I have been receiving…am very grateful and thankful…and have and immensely deep Gratitude for you.  Thank you!

I just bought a used 24-120mm VR Lens from keh.com.  Was kind of nervous buying a used lens online (especially when they gave it a condition grade of ‘BARGAIN’ which was 70-79% of original condition) but I’ve been hearing good things about them and the price was only $200.  I was extremely surprised at it’s condition when it arrived yesterday…it was practically brand new!  Gotta say, I’m going to be buying some more lenses from them in the future.

Eager to try this lens out, I quickly set up a seamless backdrop and some lights in my living room and took a few test shots (note: I exported these images with 72 dpi hence the pixelation).

Noticed a bit of a vignetting going on in this photo which was taken at 120mm:

This next one was shot at 52mm:

Overall, not a bad lens for the price.  I will be shooting with it this weekend at the Help-Portrait event at L.A. Dream Center and will post some pics up.  It should handle well for portraits and event photography which is what I bought this lens for so it’ll be interesting to see how it holds up!