Test Shots

Last weekend, Ria commissioned me to take her son Devon's 8-month pictures. If you recall, I was asked to take Devon's five-month pictures, the entry of which can be seen here. Back then, I thought that that would be the end of it, but I guess my work was so good that she brought me back three months later for round 2.

...Or maybe I was the only one that was willing to do it for a Sonic burger...

Either way, I had a job to do. So, I showed up at their house with my gear and my lovely assistant Meng. This time around, she had some idea of what she wanted out of this shoot, so I went ahead and created a set. When things were in place, I decided to take some test shots to make sure my lighting was decent. I asked my assistant to take a seat and this is what came out of my camera:





Really wish I didn't chop off her fingers here...




Inspiration can come when you would least expect it and Sunday was no exception. Is it too selfish to say that these shots were my favorite out of the whole shoot?

A Toast

Here's to the union of my good friends: Antonio and Sharon Espinoza. A match made in Heaven, if Heaven were only a quiet suburb on the outskirts of Chicago's metropolis. Here's to the fond memories you two have made and cheers to the memories to come. Here's to seven years of adolescent dating and to the years that lay ahead.

Here's to that old and broken road, the one with detours and pitfalls and false leads, that had brought together the two of you.



Here's to the intimacy you two will share.





Here's to the idea of two becoming one: of one mind, one body, one soul. Here's to the fulfillment of "bone of my bone, flesh from my flesh." where they shall leave their mother and father, to become one.





Here's to the secret knowledge known only to the two of you, and to the exploration of the sacred beneath the blessed canopy of marriage.



Here's to the laughter and the dance.





Here's to the moments of joy and the smiles that exists for all to see...



...as well as the ones that exist for just the two of you.



Here's to dancing to the song of life and never forgetting that the road you travel will always be wider with your friends, your family, and your God by your side.



So, congratulations to the two of you! May God pour out an overabundance of his blessing for you both and bless you richly as you begin your new life together.

Familia Asuncion

Last Saturday, my dad had the sudden urge to update our family portrait. This idea was actually thought up a while ago because, due to external circumstances, our family portrait suddenly came into high demand. Plus, the one hanging over our piano is almost seven years old, and of course, we're not getting any younger.

My dad and my sister collaborated with how and where the shoot should be. It was mid afternoon, with on and off patches of clouds and sun. My dad wanted to do a formal shot and and informal shot, and my sister suggested we do a white theme for the informal shot. My dad chose the campus of McDonalds University in Oak Brook for a location backdrop.

(what?!)

To my surprise, it was a pretty nice place. There was a little preserve there with stone-paved trails, lagoons, fountains and modern art. We only got to explore a small part of it, but it was enough to take some decent group shots and a few solos for my sister.

The shoot started off nice enough, but it quickly got overcast and the temperature dropped significantly for us to hurry it up. Also, we were not the only ones that had the idea of taking pictures that day. Along with the casual patron, the location also served as a reception hall for a wedding and some high schoolers decided to take their prom pictures there. Over all, it turned out to be a pretty nice shoot. I got to experiment with a little strobism and I actually got more time in front of the lens instead of behind it! Link to more pictures can be found here

GBE Prom 2008

A few weeks ago, I was asked by a couple of friends to shoot their prom pictures and last Saturday was the shoot. The location was Lilacia Park in Lombard and the time was late afternoon. This is really only the second time I have done a location shoot and, really, only the second time I had EVER done a shoot, so I was feeling pretty anxious to get it going. When I got there, apparently a lot of other people had the same idea. A LOT. Despite this, I knew that the only people I wanted to see through my view finder were my subjects for the day, Ralph and Janelle. They had chosen a very nice location for the shoot. The park itself had some very nice features. It had scattered groves of flora along with a fountain, green house, generous tree canopies, brick-paved trails and well maintained lawns. It was also right next to a train station and near the heart of downtown Lombard. Though, most of the flowers hadn't bloomed yet and the temperature didn't want to peak above the low fifties, we were still able to take advantage of the scenery of the park. I took pictures for about an hour using a Canon EOS 40D, Canon EF 70-200mm f4 L IS USM, Canon EF 50mm f1.8, and Canon Speedlite 580EX II. Post processing was done using Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop CS3. Here are a few pictures that came out of that afternoon. The rest of the set can be seen on my flickr by clicking here (look under "Shoots").


[Janelle]


[Ralph]





















Thank you again to Ralph and Janelle for asking me to do this and for putting up with my bossiness.