puerto rico | short leash

...for a kite.

puerto rico | culebra in tiles

after about 3.5 days in the condado area of puerto rico, i headed east to a small town, desert island called culebra. my adventure started as soon as i called for a cab.

1. isabella (van driver) hands me this lil box of chiclets. i say, "is this for my breath?" and she says, "no, it's for your nerves." we both laughed awkwardly out loud. (the mango was a gift from a vendor outside of the port because i told her i love fruit.)

2. i missed the ferry to culebra by about 3 minutes. they were sailing away as i was buying my ticket. (that's why isabella gave me the chiclets....because we were really late.) so i waited at the port for 4 hours for the next one.

3. met paola & luismi on the top floor on ferry ride over and decided to camp together. (they had never made a fire...it was a blazer!)

4. the next morning, i got to see everything in the light. speechless.

5. yeah, seriously.

6. we rented bikes from dick and roamed the entire island underneath a fierce sun.

7. and jumped in the water when we felt like it.

8. my favorite tree on the island. it made music with every breeze.

9. wild cotton.

10. roots.

11. the way to zoni beach was much longer than we anticipated, but we managed to have fun. my dream of a bathing in pina colada kept me going.

12. zoni beach has it's own 'wilson'

13. spontaneity. openness. trying everything.

14. happy toes.

15. contrast.

16. p&l said i must try alcapurria. so on the drive back from fajardo to san juan, we stopped by roadside food stalls and inhaled these deep fried heavenly goodness. i ate two, and we managed to finish off two already opened bottles of hot sauce.

{ . }

run a lil late. miss the boat.

wait.

a long time...

fall asleep,

order the canned mushrooms on your pizza slice.

scribble all those thoughts down.

look around. look around again.

give access to your soul by way of your eyes.

say hello.

because less than 24 hours later, you might just wonder how life could be the same without having smiled and uttered that simple greeting.

everything that happened on that island was a serendipitous gift.

...magic in the making.

surprisingly refreshing.

amid the stress i've been feeling recently, i've been surprised by the refreshing encounters i've had with people. let me clarify - i mean, random strangers.

my mind has been going from one thing to the next and my body is majorly sleep & exercise deprived. but these people have been nourishing to my heart. each of them have reminded me of what gives me life.

let's take A from champagne, illinois
+hilarious & fun
+spirited
+thoughtful & a good listener
+reminded me: that you gotta go deep, to keep it light. i need to take time to be still, reflect, ask, & laugh!

then there was M&D from orlando, florida
+celebrating 25 years of marriage this week
+clearly still deeply in love
+warm, genuine, kind, soft-hearted
+determined
+reminded me: that love comes in unexpected ways, and that traveling shouldn't be put on hold

and then there was N&S from san francisco, california
+thoughtful, kind, & generous
+playful, creative
+full of love for each other
+courageous
+reminded me: to make courageous decisions, regardless of what others might think

pauline+chi : part ii

i want you to first turn up your speakers.
then, click here.
then, click on "young friend"

now enjoy some of my favorite shots from p+c's wedding while listening to my new favorite artist. :) ok.thanks.






pauline's smile & laugh are contagious! she's one of those people where she lights up and lights up those around her with the authenticity of joy she exudes. what irresistible beauty! chi's a lucky guy. :)

i had so much fun using a macro and gettin' in there all up close and personal and trying to think of different ways to shoot the rings. i had a ton of fun with this!


congrats pauline & chi!

pauline+chi : part i

under the blazing santa clarita sun
with the farenheit creeping towards 105
i shot a wedding alongside lynn-kai this past saturday.

one of the best parts of the day was getting to know who pauline + chi are by what the people around them said and did. they are loved.

i have plenty more to share, but here's a couple to start.


to love.

cropping originals

i wrote a while back about extreme cropping and how sometimes we need to search for the image within an image.

well, i want to get your opinion. this is another picture of emily g. that i took, and for whatever reason my eye is very drawn to it. it's nothing fancy, but it's exactly what it is that i like.

but i also felt like something might have been a little off, so i tried cropping it differently and wondered what y'all thought. which do you prefer?

[a] original


[b] zoom


[c] zoom zoom

haven't seen this kind of beauty in a while.

emily g. & i met through a mutual friend. she & i recently had a photography/swim lesson exchange. last week, she gave me tips on how to swim freestyle more efficiently. today, we went out to the baylands during dusk to shoot around. honestly, i'm not sure how helpful i was, but one thing was for sure: i was inspired to capture the beauty that exudes from emily g.
she is captivatingly beautiful.

usually when i'm inspired, i become a machine. i just can't stop editing photos & get lost in my zone. although my butt goes numb, my eyes completely strained, and i usually lose significant amounts of sleep...the satisfaction outweighs it all.

here are some of my favorites from today's shoot. i'd love to hear your thoughts about what you think about the composition, post-processing, your fav & why, what they evoke, etc.
as an artist, it's helpful to hear feedback when i put my work (and therefore my heart) out there.

i need

to be reminded of my heart connection to muhammed.
he will never know the impact he's made on my life. he im-pressed upon my heart. my mind.
when you go on vacation, are you more open to learning, trying new things, exploring, &meeting people?

but when you get back into the daily grind, doesn't that spontaneity and happenstance take up residence next to non-existence? heads down, ear plugs in, mind in a 100 different locations...

it makes sense that we are lost.

lost to the beauty around us. not because it does not exist, but because we can not see it. we choose not to.

when i was in portland, i met a number of people that all had this "thing" about them. ... they were wide open &unassuming...sharing freely as i asked them questions. this type of person often photographs differently. no kidding. something about them gives me permission to "come on in." so i do. and in turn, they are also letting you in.

they are the opposite of guarded.
guarded.
guarded. ...

i want to carry that spirit of being wide open with me wherever i am. i don't want my heart to look like this. because behind these gates, there are more things dead than alive.
i wonder what it might be like to live in a place where there's just a little less guardedness in the world.

i want to be the opposite of guarded.

play. work. play.

friday was a unique day; it made me happy.
especially drinking a fine cup of cappuccino from cafe borrone.
breakfast with Sarita and Sachi, east bay for work, then roamed around berkeley.























i also tried something new. took a pic of me, and then added a texture to it. the texture is a picture of a tree i took on cal campus.












i was also inspired sunday morning and have pictures to post about what that inspiration was. it'll come later this week. as for this week, i'll be at the ypulse mashup conference, monday and tuesday. should be quite interesting.... i'll have my camera with me, so as to capture the MASH-up.

it's like a clicking exploration

That's exactly what it is. I click click click around and press fancy action buttons and see what everything does, and with this and that combination...I get -- whoa! Yeah, stuff like this:

















I'm starting to like post-processing more; but I can see it becoming an obsessive type of activity. I don't think my hands, eyes, back, (uh, whole body) can take that.

So the picture is of my colleague Terika, who let me practice photography on her. Posing, lighting, blahbity-blah. It was the day I had to improv that we walked around downtown Redwood City.

Let me get your opinion: What are your thoughts on photo editing?

practice practice practice & a bday

After Scott's workshop, I've been looking at everything differently. I've noticed catch lights in people's eyes, and will get mezmorized by the light and shadows on faces, walls, clothes, etc. (Forgive me if we're having a conversation, and I look like I'm not listening....I am, but I'm also probably thinking about how I could take a picture of you). :)

























































So, when I went to Robyn's bday bbq on Saturday, I couldn't help but notice some amazing light under the trees we were resting under. I even had Mary do the seemingly ridiculous pose (in front of everyone). It's interesting to analyze images now, and think...."man! if only I had them x, y, z!" or "I forgot to...!" or "where are the catch lights?!" I'm determined to nail the shot.

Pri and Mary doing the pose. Chanell just laughing while I was trying to get her to pose.

5 days apart

Bianca and I met one of the first days of college at ucsc. We were placed in the same "multicultural" hall at Porter College. Fall of 2000, our lives intersected and there began our story of friendship.

Bianca's a pretty amazing person, and I don't say that lightly. Her authenticity and genuine love for people struck me immediately. In fact, she's left a deep impression on me for the last 8 years.

Though we've been in and out of contact, I feel like a unique depth still resonates between us. (hahha, I hope she feels the same way). But honestly, I think it's just because of who she is. or maybe it's because we were born only 5 days apart.

Let me tell you a story:
I crashed Bianca's new car. Sophomore year, she let me borrow her Honda CRV so I could go visit my sister in Berkeley. I dented it pretty badly and I remember driving back to Santa Cruz feeling extremely bad about the situation. I would've rather just died than faced what I did.

*knock knock* Bianca wasn't in her room.

So, I sat in front of her door until she came back. And when she did, she found me sitting on the ground quiet and unable to confess what I did. She sat there patiently for me to be ready to talk for at least an hour! And finally, when I could muster the courage to tell her what happened and to ask for forgiveness, she graciously and lovingly forgave me. She loved on me, when I was the one that messed things up! I remember that day experiencing God's love for me in a profoundly deep way.


This picture was taken his past Friday during a walk at golden gate park in SF. The tree looked so interesting, we decided to climb it.

scott robert workshop, part VI

Meet Sona. She was one of the models that patiently let me pose her and tell her what I wanted her to do while struggling to figure out something - anything! Her and Adam (fiance) just finished med school and are getting married in a couple weeks. Congratulations!













Someone directed this shot, and I can't remember who it was!

2 strangers

Alemany Farmers Market is one of my favorite places to go on any given Saturday. You can find an eclectic mix of vendors, customers, and onlookers shuffling around between stalls.

While waiting to buy a chorizo huarache, I got into conversation with a guy that looked out-of-the-ordinary. Meet Brian, 29.




















And this is Daria from Russia. Her curiosity struck me while in brief conversation, but it was her openness that captured me while looking at her through the lens. It's in her eyes.

o LA: day 4

After good eats at Messob, Cindy and I met these guys on the way back to her car. We stood on the corner of Fairfax and Olympic and started chatting for a while. I found each of them to be fun(ny), full of life and character, and a ball to be with. Though it was short, my time with them was rich and I left with my curiousity piqued. Meet the guys:

George, 43 years old, self-employed traffic director at Starbucks parking lot














Kirk, 46 years old, full of questions














Marshall, 75 years old, bashful but bold



















Ronald, 43 years old, playful and poised