Pin-Up Portfolios Part 2- Abbey & Malila @ The Pin-Up Parlor – Berkeley, Ca
Almost immediately following one of the hottest shoots I’ve had this year with Pin-Up Portfolios , I was able to have another opportunity for a second hot session with them at The Pin-Up Parlor. This time, they invited only two beautiful women, Abbey and Malila, to be pinned up Pin-Up Portfolios style. Once again their crew did an amazing job setting up the shoot and making the pin-upee’s (is that a word?) bring out their inner pin-up model. They create these pin-ups with a sexy combination of professionalism, artistic skill, style, and swag. Props to Hair Stylist: @pinupportfolios , MUA: @projectface, & @artiffact. Well, enough talk, check out what I get to work with.
P.S. I really should show some before and afters of the models. I’ll see if I can dig some up and if not, I’ll remember to grab some for my next pin-up shoot with them.
On to the show:
Pin-Up Portfolios -The Pin-Up Parlor – Berkeley, Ca
After The Flash Bus Tour I was itching for a shoot. Luckily my friend Tiff of Pin-up Portfolios invited me to photograph some portfolio shots for them.
Pin-up Portfolios “capture that sexy feeling forever through a day of pin-up pampering and photography.” Pin-up portfolios consists of two Tiffany’s; Tiffany (@artiffact), Tiffany (@pinupportfolios), also the hair stylist and owner of Pin-Up Parlor , Reinee (@projectface) makeup-artist, Mike, and Eddy (photographer). For this session they had a white cloth back drop setup which I used a little with Tiffany (hairstylist – BTW shes dope and does all the pin-up hair):
, but the Pin-up Parlor I felt provided for even more interesting settings. I used their walls for a more typical pin-up headshot
then I played a little bit with their concept of house cleaning and used the shop and my lights to get the feel of after-hours cleanup at the shop.
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Comedian: Joey Guila, San Francisco
At our event shoot for AADP’s 2011 Laugh for Lives comedy benefit show I got a chance to squeeze in a mini potrait session in between acts with comedian Joey Guila. Joey is one hell of a comedian and he’s also a TV Host of Myx Rated on Myx. Hella cool right? I asked him if he would want to have a quickie portrait session after his set and he quickly agreed. That night his lovable and comedic persona carried on from the stage to this backstage photo shoot:
Children’s Concert at The Cathedral of Christ the Light – Oakland, California
Check out this church! I think I may go back there one day and take more photos. There are a lot of compelling patterns and lines throughout this whole church. Anyways, on to why I was taking photos there. My friend Will found, through his work, a posting for photographer volunteers for a childrens concert at a church and he asked me to photography the event with him. The concert consisted of a few different churches in the diocese showcasing their children’s choirs and music programs. 
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AADP’s 2011 Laugh for Lives Comedy Benefit Show – San Francisco, Palace of Fine Arts
Each year we (The PhotoBlock) shoot a few events with the Asian American Donor Program. One of which is the Laugh for Lives comedy benefit show, one of my most favorite events to cover. Comedians that night included: Kabir “Kabeezy” Singh, Paul Kim, Joey Guila (UPDATE: check out his mini portrait shoot here), and Steve Byrne. The energy and vibe at this year’s event was even more positive than it’s ever been. The comedians were incredible, the crowd was ROFL, and people were inspired to register for the national marrow registry! Learn even more about them and REGISTER yourself here: http://www.aadp.org/pages/register.php
Here are some of my event / photo booth photos from that night:
Las Vegas Engagement Photoshoot with Matt and Victoria
What to do in Vegas before that 3 o’clock check-in? Appropriate breakfast libations? Possibly 
. How bout engagement session at the sexy new Cosmopolitan Hotel? Yes please.
It started out as just being a friend’s 25th birthday celebration weekend in this notorious city, but last minute, an engagement shoot was added. Matt and Victoria’s session was nothing short of a great time with a fun loving couple. We started around the lobby of the Cosmopolitan for a few photos then headed to a couple other beautiful locations in the hotel.
Our 5 yr Anniversary @ Key West, Florida & Cozumel, Mexico & via Carnival Cruise Destiny Ship
Here are a few photos I took from my cruise with Abbey for our 5 year anniversary! W00t W00t! The photos start off at the Fort Lauderdale Airport at about 5am and 5 hours too early for a shuttle that heads to the Miami Port where we board the Carnival Destiny and head to Key West, Florida and Cozumel, Mexico. (check out a more in depth blog on our cruise plus a bit of a review on the cruise and the ship at my other blog)
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport,
Shuttle to the Miami port.
Miami, Fl sunrise blocked by clouds (more…)
Rockin For Profit
Last week in Oakland, I shot some photos with Aldrin & RJ for E-Team, an Oakland rap group consisting of HU, GQ, Lil’ Dame, Dirty Rel, Nardy F. Mack, Mbeez, $tix, Lil’ Lan, RO Tudda, and MeilTicket Greenbacks. Ok, well all of them weren’t there for the shoot, but we still had hella fun trying to capture their style and personality around their hometown. The next session I do with them should be with the whole crew once I get my scheduling figured out, so stay tuned. Till then check out the photos below and download their song Rockin 4 Profit here.
Aubrey London
This is my second pinup photo shoot with Aubrey London. Aubrey is, as she puts it, “…a TRUE LOVER of the PIN UP LIFESTYLE.” Check out her site http://aubreylondonpinup.com/
"The Riot for Oscar"
Last week the verdict for the Johannes Mehserle trial was announced — involuntary manslaughter. The decision, a slap on the wrist as most will say, was fuel for the rallying, protesting, and rioting later that evening in downtown Oakland. As a photographer and a curious cat, I decided to participate, experience, and document the event that unfolded. Here are some of the photos I captured:
The videos: (click to play videos)
Here are a few clips from the riots, some of them are point of view shots where I wedged my iphone in my jacket pocket and let it record while I took photos. Thats also why some of the footage is clipped and a bit in portrait mode.
Mini trip to Boston, Mass
Last month I spent about 2 days in Boston. It was my first time there, which means I took the tourist route. Here’s what I captured, oh and I gotta admit I do dig the historic feel of the town.
AADP Barry Foon Celebrity Golf Tournament 2009
(For those who attended the event you can purchase a quality print here.)
Last week I had the pleasure of being one of the photographers at the Asian American Donor Program’s Barry Foon Celebrity Golf Tournament at the Black Hawk Country Club in Danville, CA. I’m not much of a golf fanatic, but I had a tremendous amount of fun. Everyone who attended the event came for a great cause which entail provided for an awesome vibe.
AADP is a community non-profit organization that saves lives by registering potential marrow/ stem cell donors of multi-ethnic descent. They are in dire need of more potential donors. How dire ? Well, Asians have the least possibility of receiving a donor. With such a huge population I would think otherwise. If you’re interested in helping out please check out their site.
Now onto more of the golf tournament. Lets start with a list of celebrities who attended: Kristi Yamaguchi, Olympic Gold Medalist and winner of Dancing with the Stars and her husband, Bret Hedican, NHL Anaheim Duck, former MLB players Erik Johnson, Vida Blue, Darren Lewis and Fred Breining and Diane Dwyer, NBC Weekend Anchor. All of these celebs contributed a generous amount of time and effort to make this day fun and exciting. First off, Kristi was in stationed at the 4th hole. There she took pictures with the golfers, and helped raise even more money by selling Mulligan tape and/or pouring shots of Don Julio tequila. What more could you want at the 4th hole?
The celebrities who played included Bret, Erik, Fred, Vida and Darren. These guys were a real fun group. They did really well at the tournament, but I do know there was a group that beat them.
(From left to right: Vida Blue, Fred Breining, Erik Johnson, Darren Lews, Bret Hedican)
Later that night was the dinner and auction. The auction was hosted by Diane Dwyer who did a great job auctioning off the items.
This shoot was a blast, and I’m really looking forward to next year already.
If you want to check out more pictures you can visit my flickr set here, or if you’d like to see more photos including more of mine you can check out the AADP flickr site.
(For those who attended the event you can purchase a quality print here.)
Virgin America, Crab Cove, Muir Woods, & Muir Beach Oh My!
So a good chunk of events / photo opportunities have happened the past few weekends, and I have finally found the time to do some post-processing and a quick post.
In a nutshell (*full update to come):
- Abbey became an ITM for Virgin America, good job babe!:
- I took photos for my friend Neel & his sisters, they were all awesome and we had hella fun, not as much as Shyla though!:
- Me and a few friends went up to Muir Woods then to Muir Beach one sunny Saturday of June, our first “photowalk” good job guys! (where are YOUR pictures BTW!):
