Jules, my forever model

Yesterday was this girl's birthday. I was unfortunately running around like a headless chicken all day so couldn't post this on time...but you'll forgive me right? :) I've been holding onto these photos for a few months now, taken in New York when she came to visit during my birthday week.



We first met our freshman year of college. We hit it off right away and hung out for an entire day, talking about literally everything from our favorite food to boy dramas. If you've met Julie, you know how easy it is to talk to her, no matter who you are. She has this ability to make literally anyone feel comfortable.



She is also a health nut. She got me to try my first kale juice, which she personally made for me, way before it was even a thing. Shall we say a trendsetter?




We rode the water taxi from Queens to Brooklyn then to the financial district for the spectacular views. A little side note: I've officially decided that I hate boats that are not giant ferries. I get super sick.





Julie is also good at dealing with my dumb shit, like failing to notice that she had braces on for a year and posting a birthday post a day late. :)



But most of all I admire her because she is incredibly diligent, smart, strong and caring. Did you know she's teaching herself to code? That she's nonchalantly run a blog that racked up more than 140K followers? HER DOG IS INSTAGRAM FAMOUS. Whenever she puts her mind to something, she actually does it, quite flawlessly. Jules also helped me break up with dudes that weren't right for me. She deeply understands why I am the way I am about career and boys and stuff. We've bonded over our mutual passion for coffee and photography and football and honestly just spending time together. I'm incredibly lucky to call her one of my best friends.



So bon voyage, m'love. There is so much to look forward to, and this is only the beginning.



But before you do that, let's quickly walk down the memory lane:

06// W U J U

Last weekend, I met my cousin's baby boy in Atlanta. My cousin, the father of the baby, is the oldest cousin of all, and is the first to get married and have a baby, so this is kind of a big deal (we have a huge family on my mom's side, of two uncles and four aunts, plus twelve of us children!).

And here he is, Wuju Ryan So! Isn't that such a pretty name? Wuju means space in Korean. He is tiny. He is so soft. He poops really well. He eats well too. He's pretty calm for a baby I think (like I know anything about babies). I think he liked me. He threw up on my shoulder at one point (no no go ahead, it's not like it was my favorite shirt or anything), and even though I basically had no idea how to hold him properly, I managed to make him fall asleep in my arms (the best feeling ever). At the end of the trip, I concluded that babies are pretty freaking heavy. Kudos to all the moms out there!

We went to a park near my cousin's apartment for an impromptu photoshoot for the baby and the family. I must admit, I fell in love with Atlanta a bit this past weekend - it's calm and green, with rolling hills and attractive houses. It reminded me of Texas, but better.

shirlington bleachers

When I can't focus at work and need to let off some creative steam, make something, and just be out there doing something, I (apparently) force my friends (who all happen to be such babes) to model for me. Hehe. Also needed a reason to try out the 35mm lens. Never worked with this focal length before, especially with a full frame camera, and I gotta say I'm sort of obsessed with it already. It's in that snug zone between the 28mm and 50mm, absolutely perfect for portraits and getting wide shots with lots of details. We'll see how I feel about it after next week's assignment.

Anyway, here is Leah, always chic & stylish, even when I caught her casually strolling to CVS the other night in ripped boyfriend jeans I would never be able to pull off, like ever.

quick portraits: sarah

Let's talk about 10-minute portrait sessions. These are some digital shots from my quick portrait session with Sarah.

Little Sam, Informal Portrait Session

This is my cousin's baby, Sam. Sam was afraid of me from the get-go. But why?! (he probably smelled my baby fears from afar)

Anyway. Meeting Susan and her little cute family was definitely refreshing, even though we're distant cousins. They have a cute little townhouse in Palisades too - and I can't wait to watch Sam grow up to be a big boy!

Sarah pt. 2: Lomography Lady Grey

I am back after a pretty long break from this blog, with some more photos from the photo shoot with Sarah last month. I really should shoot more, but film photography indeed is such an expensive hobby. I really enjoy shooting with the Lomo lady grey though - the subtlety of everything is beautiful.

UT Grad 2013: Sarah Pt. 1

When Sarah came to me asking for a senior photoshoot, I told her it would have to be done completely on film. She agreed without a hesitation - so I applaud her bravery and the amount of trust she put in this. Here are a few shots of my dear friend Sarah. Congratulations, and welcome to the real world. ;)

Digging Deep in East Plano

Before I bombard this blog with lots and lots of film photos, I'd like to share some digital photos taken yesterday in the late afternoon just before the sun went down. This is one of my good friends, Julie, and we'd been wanting to go on a location scout and a photo shoot for a long time now. See? You can find decent places around Dallas too! It's all about getting up on my lazy butt and driving around until you find a decent place. We decided to go explore the historical downtown Plano yesterday (meaning one block of "historical" buildings") - not too shabby. 

All taken on the Nikon D90. 

Life of My Little R2D2

I just spend an absurd amount of money at the only photo lab in Dallas that still processes 120 and 110 format films and b&w 35mm films this past weekend. It also agitated me very much that I had to drive about 40 minutes into downtown area where I was challenged with weird road situations and inconsistent traffic lights. Then the price of the whole service! Ah. The absurdity of it all makes me so sad. Film might not be dead, but it might as well slowly starve me with how much everything's costing me. 

But anyways, enough about my geeky life - here is more of my geekiness. Yes, I shoot my little R2D2 I got as a gift at the Lucas Film headquarters when I run out of models. These are digital, by the way. Oh the glorious f/1.4! This shoot was inspired by THIS.

 The very costly film photos from medium format & other cameras coming soon!