Vu Bui Blog » Photography

Japan Nite at The Viper Room | iPhone Photography

Vu Bui — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 05:02:31 +0000

When Joe Philipson asked me to accompany him to Japan Nite at The Viper Room over the phone from Austin while he was hanging out at the SXSW Music Festival I just said yes. I didn’t really even know what the heck he was talking about. Seriously… it sounded cool… but I still had no idea.

It wasn’t, in fact, until we actually got to The Viper Room on the night of ??the concert that I even found out exactly what was going on. A bunch of Japanese bands playing one after the other at a really cool LA venue. There was Chatmonchy, JinnyOops, Red Bacteria Vacuum, Omodaka and OKAMOTO’S. Ok, this I could dig… if I like the music.

I did.

My favorite band was JinnyOops, although the version I loved was not the full band… as they were missing their horn players… but I do still enjoy their recorded music very much!

I brought my iPhone and the Olympus E-P2 that I have on loan from Olympus… and was amazingly impressed with both cameras. I haven’t really used the iPhone for much, but recently downloaded Hipstamatic app and have been shooting some fun shots with it… and I used it on the crazily lit stage with some pretty cool results.

OKAMOTO’S via iPhone regular camera app:

OKAMOTO’S via iPhone Hipstamatic app:

chatmonchy via iPhone Hipstamatic app:

OKAMOTO’S via Olympus E-P2 :

JinnyOops via Olympus E-P2 :

You can see the entire set HERE.

I’m looking forward to shooting more with the iPhone and a LOT more with Hipstamatic. I didn’t do much with the Olympus this night… but it’s been amazing otherwise… so some great images should be forthcoming.

TiltShift iPhone App First Look | Mini Review

Vu Bui — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:55:52 +0000

Click to download TiltShift in iTunes

(see update at bottom of post, 11/24/2010)

I heard about this iPhone app called TiltShift this morning (though it’s been out for some time now)… and had to try it out for myself. From what I’ve seen there are a few of them out there… but this one looked to me to be the most interesting one. It’s $1.99 on the Apple app store… so you can see my first impressions here before taking the plunge. ;)

Tilt shift movements in photography were originally provided on large-format view cameras… then Nikon introduced a lens for 35mm cameras in the 60′s and Canon in the 70′s. It was originally used to correct perspective shifts in photography such as in architecture… but most recently tilt shift used much more often for creative effect. When used properly you can make real-life scenes look like miniatures or toys… which is fun.

Unfortunately tilt-shift lenses aren’t cheap. Canon’s tilt shift lenses are both over $1k and I’m sure Nikon’s are around the same. So… people usually resort to Photoshop. You usually can’t get the same effect out of your images… but if they are shot perfectly and Photoshopped perfectly… you can get the tilt shift look without having to actually buy the lens (and learn to use it properly).

Enter the iPhone and the billion apps for it. Now you can do tilt shift photography right on your phone… and it actually looks pretty neat. Not perfect, not professional… and certainly not like a real tilt-shift lens. It is, however, very cool for something that can take less than a minute from capture to Tweeting your latest faux tilt shift masterpiece… and all from your beloved iPhone.

Check out the TiltShift app on iTunes. For $1.99 it’s pretty darn cool.

These are images I shot today at Disneyland and edited directly in the TiltShift app.

Click to download TiltShift in iTunes

UPDATE

Michael Krause, author of Tiltshift app, emailed me to explain some things and let me know about the recent update!

“To clarify the erratic behavior of the save function and the missing want-half-size-dialog:

The dialog appears only for photos that take a long time to process (more that 20 seconds) for example. This only happens with high-resolution photos and lens blur. What probably happened to you was that you saved a high-resolution photo in half-size and you got the dialog. Later you loaded this saved half-sized photo and saved it again. Because the source was no longer high-resolution it was automatically saved as is without asking for resolution reduction again.

Regarding the Bokeh possibility this is not well documented but the three main points are:
1) Lens blur must be on.
2) Bokeh is best with night time images with isolated light points
3 )The blur level and blooming factor must be high enough that blooming kicks in.

A third issue you mentioned was that the parameters are not reset when loading a new image. You can reset all parameters at once with a tap-and-hold gesture on the button to the left of the slider.”

Version 2.1 was released on Oct 21, 2010.

Thanks for the answers and for the new software update, Michael!

DIY flash grid | Straws + Glue + Time = Cheapo Perfect Grids!

Vu Bui — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:56:13 +0000

In keeping with the low-budget nature of the Hawaii Trip, I decided to actually make some of my own gear. I didn’t get to do everything I had hoped (time has a way of slipping by quickly when you’re planning something big) but the flash grid project I was able to do the night before we left.

The grid actually worked out PERFECTLY. I was amazed at how great it was. I am making two more, one with longer straw pieces for a tighter beam, and one that’s a little wider as well. The one I made was right in the middle… and ended up being perfect for a general flash grid that lasted me the trip.

What you’ll need:

black drinking straws (I got mine from Panera Bread)
Quick Grip glue (I got it at Michael’s)
black duct tape (I bought black Duck Tape from Michael’s)
cardboard (I used thin product packaging cardboard
scissors
a ruler is good, but I didn’t use one
black marker (I was going to use it to black out the edges of the cardboard, but didn’t show that in the video)

The Quick Grip Glue was very key to the success. I’ve read a number of posts (the one I used to make mine was HERE) and a lot seem to have trouble with durability. The glue I used made this thing nearly indestructible, it’s holding up perfectly by being completely strong without being brittle… and using the duct tape around it makes the cardboard somewhat tear-proof.

This first example showed me that if you truly value your time and don’t have a lot to spare… this probably isn’t the most cost saving project. If you have a little time on your hands, however, you’re easily able to make 3 of these in less than a couple hours… saving about $70. To most amateurs and even quite a few professionals this is TOTALLY worth it.

You might also be worried that the final product will look too unprofessional… but if so… you’re likely worried about the wrong things. Cover it with black and it’s good enough, no one will look closely enough to see that it’s homemade… and if they do you tell them that you make your own because no one out there makes exactly what you need. If YOU are professional… and you deliver professional results… that’s truly all you need to worry about. Pros jimmy-rig things all the time, it’s a constant necessity.

Here is the glue I used (I get 4% of purchases if you buy):

Quick Grip Glue 2 Ounce

If you prefer purchasing grids and want the same results, I recommend HONL Photo’s grids. You can purchase them below through Amazon:

HonlPhoto Speed Strap for Shoe Mount Flashes – you need this to attach the grids to your flash
HonlPhoto 1/8 grid
HonlPhoto 1/4 grid

Stay tuned for actual results from the grid in Hawaii!

This post is part of the Hawaii Fusion Trip 2009.

This video is brought to you by:

Special thanks to Know How Cafe for providing accommodations and tech for the trip.

Ewa-marine Underwater Housing First Test | Mini Review

Vu Bui — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:29:04 +0000

Tracie and I took the Ewa-marine underwater housing out for a first test in the swimming pool in my apartment complex. The video above should show you everything you need to know to get started with it… and know if it will work for what you want it to do. We will have more examples of photos and videos in future posts, but this is a quick review to show you all the features and our first use of the bag.

We needed an affordable underwater housing for the Hawaii Fusion Trip, and although I considered purchasing a point-and-shoot underwater camera to accomplish this goal I wanted better quality video and more control over the photos I’d be taking. Shooting underwater will degrade the quality of what you are doing already… first of all because of debris and light-loss… but also because it is mainly blue light that is allowed to travel through water… blocking out the rest of the visible spectrum quickly as you get further from your subject. We wanted to have the highest quality capture possible, so we went with the full housing. The Ewa-marine is actually the most affordable by far, yet it still performs very well within its own limitations.

One of the biggest benefits of the Ewa-marine housing over others, besides the price tag (just $269!), is the fact that you can use it on multiple cameras. Especially if you don’t use it much… the housing will likely outlast the camera model you have… and all the hard plastic housings ($1,000 and up) are made with specific buttons to fit each individual camera model. The Ewa-marine is essentially a plastic bag, so as long as your new camera fits in it… you have full use of all the functions.

Pressing the buttons inside the bag proved to be a bit difficult, but with practice it ended up being just slightly slower than usual. Practice definitely improves your performance with this thing… and quickly. Underwater photography is difficult for a host of reasons, which I found out later during a snorkeling trip, but results can be amazing, especially when you have a fantastic video DSLR.

We made a few mistakes our first time out, and there are a few things to note:

You need googles if you plan on seeing the screen AT ALL. This might seem obvious… but I totally forgot to buy a pair.
Water magnifies everything… so if you have a plan to use a certain focal length, keep in mind that it will be “zoomed in” about 30%.
Keep the lens as CLOSE to the front glass of the housing as possible, or you can get reflections in your images of the lettering on the lens. Blacking this out with tape can definitely help.
If you have sunscreen on your face and chest… it’s going to get on the bag, and will make it really hard to see through it, because it won’t wipe off easily.
Light bends all over in water… mainly when coming through the surface of it, so direct sunlight will turn into lots of streamy bands of light all over.
Focusing isn’t easy to do, and isn’t easy to verify… but with practice autofocus still does a pretty good job if you can stay still long enough to lock
People like to breathe, and breathing causes bubbles, so coach your model in not exhaling while shooting, because bubbles coming out of their nose isn’t attractive, unless you’re going for that.

All-in-all I was extremely pleased with the initial results of the housing, and have a great full shoot to share with you soon!

Shortly after tweeting about the housing, where I actually mentioned the full name “ewa-marine underwater housing”, I got a reply message from a gentleman from Germany (I think) with the Twitter name @ewa_marine. It was a small exchange but very welcome and it shows that the company is looking at what people are doing and saying about their product, which is awesome. He even asked for me to send over a link to examples when I have them. How ’bout that?

NOTE: in the video I mentioned that I didn’t find the manual… it was actually in the front pocket of the case. I forgot to mention that I had found it!

You can purchase an Ewa-marine housing through the following links, the first is for smaller SLRs (fits Canon Rebel series or Nikon D40 or D90) and the second is for larger bodies (up to the 5DmkII size). If you buy it through this link I get a nice little 4%, and will love you for it.

Ewa-marine U-A Housing f/ small AF SLR Cameras w/ a built in Flash

Ewa-Marine Underwater Housing for Large DSLR Bodies like EOS 5DmkII, 7D; Nikon D1, D2X, D300

This post is part of the Hawaii Fusion Trip 2009.

This video is brought to you by:

Special thanks to Know How Cafe for providing accommodations and tech for the trip.

Hawaii Photo Fusion Gear Bag

Vu Bui — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 22:31:04 +0000

This video shows and explains all the gear I brought on the Hawaii Photo Fusion trip.

Everything was selected specifically for low-budget shooting. I was confident that even with the entry-level gear I was bringing that I’d be able to do everything I wanted to do as a professional.

Below is a list of all the items I describe in the video… with links where they can be purchased. The ones through Amazon will use my affiliate link and if you purchase I get like 4% (that’s my disclaimer).

Gear List

This post is part of the Hawaii Fusion Trip 2009.

This video is brought to you by:

Special thanks to Know How Cafe for providing accommodations and tech for the trip.

Sailing Lanikai | Photo Fusion Workshop Live Demo

Vu Bui — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 02:51:42 +0000

This video was edited (using iMovie), scored (using Magic Garageband) and uploaded (to SmugMug) during the Hawaii Photo Fusion Workshop in Honolulu in less than an hour!

The video and photos were shot with the Canon T1i and kit lens (18-55mm f/3.5-5.6IS) in an Ewa-marine underwater housing. It was my first attempt at shooting with the ewa-marine underwater housing, and it performed very well. I still need work in using it efficiently, but overall it was perfect for what I was trying to do.

More great video tutorials and fusion work coming in the following days!

This post is part of the Hawaii Fusion Trip 2009.

This video is brought to you by:

Special thanks to Know How Cafe for providing accommodations and tech for the trip.

DIY Dress Alteration | Wedding Dress for Hawaii Photo Fusion Shoot

Vu Bui — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 22:22:10 +0000

Tracie shot a nice, simple and quick tutorial on how she altered the wedding dress that we will be shooting during the Hawaii Photo Fusion trip. This is the first of almost 2 weeks worth of daily videos we’ll be posting. Enjoy!

Coming next, a first test of the Ewa-marine underwater housing in a regular pool.

This post is part of the Hawaii Fusion Trip 2009.

This video is brought to you by:

Fashion Photography | Tracie Cotta Photo Shoot One – part 2

Vu Bui — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 18:08:02 +0000

Video by Tracie Cotta

In part 1 of Shoot One we shot in Tracie’s front yard, her bedroom, downtown Fullerton, Disneyland and at a local park. That left 2 days… which took us to San Diego and back up to the OC Fair for part 2.

San Diego “secret” location

Years ago I saw some photos on flickr that were really cool… they had very dynamic lighting… and the location was outstanding. I’m not usually a big fan of girls in bikinis just for the sake of showing skin… but these were really good shots otherwise. I was about to do our first photo shoot of Paul Dateh and I wanted a really cool place to shoot… so I contacted the photographer and asked about the location.

“It’s a secret.”

Oh. Well that sucked. I sorta understood because if you have a cool location that you use often you may not want it to be swarming with every kid with a DSLR and a cute girl at his disposal… sooner or later that will cause problems with the owners/tenants/neighbors… someone. But I couldn’t just give up… so I plead my case a little harder… and he finally relented… but only after I promised not to share the locale with any other photographers. And I haven’t. So… don’t ask where these were done. I made a promise and I like to keep those. When I can.

We got to the location about an hour before sunset… we planned on getting through two outfits… I hadn’t even seen the first one, but LOVED it. Tracie knows how to put together an interesting ensemble, that’s for sure.

And she knows how to look fierce.

For the final shot, just after the sun dropped below the horizon, Tracie quickly changed and we took this final photograph… and then, like teeny tiny vampires… a flock (or is it swarm?) of blood-thirsty mosquitoes chased us back to the car.

The OC Fair

In the 16 or so years I’ve lived in Orange County… I think I’ve only actually been to the fair like 3 times. Once to shoot a Noodle Scar episode and twice just for fun.

This year Tracie and I decided to go on the last day it was open… and we ended up having a lot of fun and not shooting very many photos… but two stood out as ones I loved. The fair really is a good place to capture color and lights… kinda like Vegas. But with barn animals and carnies.

Holga Portrait Photography | Brigitte Dale

Vu Bui — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 18:18:22 +0000

The wonderfully funny and beautiful Brigitte Dale contacted us a few months ago to do shoot some professional headshots, so we met up and spent an afternoon shooting in Downtown Los Angeles. We ended the shoot at the Disney Concert Hall where we did some not-headshots as well. (these will all be published on The Bui Brothers Blog soon)

Not one to pass up an opportunity to try and shoot something a little different, I popped off a roll of Tri-X with the Holga… out of 11 shots these were the ones I liked.

I am currently shooting Tri-X in my Holga and having it developed at and scanned at a lab… but I’ll likely be transitioning to a home-based system. I used to develop and scan my own black and white film… and might get back into it. I suppose it depends a lot on how much I end up shooting with the Holga and whether or not I decide to pick up any other old film cameras.

One thing I really love about my Holga (well, the one I shot these with… I have another that is completely different) is the fact that it has a unique signature. Some of them really do… and this one’s is very strong. There are two main things I’ve noticed so far… they are imperfections in the manufacturing of the camera that make for a unique experience pretty much every time you pick up a different Holga camera.

If you look in the bottom right corner of the photos above you’ll notice that they have a slight double image… that’s not a double exposure but some trick of the cheap plastic lens. The other thing, which is VERY noticeable on some photos (the shot with the trees in the background) but not so much on the others is a huge light leak. It’s there in every photo… though it only matters in ones where the upper area is already dark.

I think everyone should try out a Holga at some point, it’ll give you tons of unexpected fun. There are still lots of labs that will develop the film and scan it for you… so just buy one. Do me a favor, though, and DON’T spend $45 on one at Urban Outfitters… go to Freestyle Camera and get one for $28 or click the photo below to buy from Amazon (it’s the same price as Freestyle but I’m gonna get like $1.20, which is cool) and have some FUN.

Fashion Photography | Tracie Cotta Photo Shoot One – part 1

Vu Bui — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 07:06:37 +0000

Tracie and I have been planning to shoot together for a couple months now… we were just waiting for the right project to start it for. We had decided to drive an RV across California for a week and shoot in various locations, and had 2 other people coming with us… one was an assistant and one was another model. Tracie, being a makeup artist and hair stylist as WELL as a model was going to do all the hair and makeup… and I’d have 2 models to shoot across California.

Unfortunately as the date approached the other two participants had to cancel… so we decided to change the scope of the project and relaunch it another day. Details about that will be coming… and there will be a cool one-on-one workshop opportunity for one person.

So… we decided to just stay home and shoot at a few local locations… and just try to keep it simple and get one photo done each day for the week. We ended up shooting for 7 days and came away with 20 photos that we liked… and here are the first 9 of them… shot between Sunday and Thursday. The video above has a TINY amount of behind the scenes footage… we actually did a terrible job of recording… but we are planning another shoot week coming soon and we will do a full behind-the-scenes-explain-everything “tutorial” series of videos then.

Sunday

Tracie actually needed a new headshot for something… and while the actual headshot is nice and normal and worked fine… this was our favorite of the 10 minute headshot session in front of her house.

Monday

On Monday we went to the Disneyland employee theater to watch Beauty and the Beast… so we didn’t actually have much time to shoot afterwards… we decided to set up a couple of small flashes and a ringflash for a vampirish shot in Tracie’s room. I’ve gotten some interesting/cool feedback on the backdrop so far… what do you think it looks like / reminds you of / actually is?

Tuesday

We wanted to do something with a slightly city feel to it so we decided to head to downtown Fullerton. There is a small street with some cool streetlamps that I thought would give the look I was going for… sorta city girl in the city at night. Then we walked to a little cement park with a bunch of benches for the next shot.

Wednesday

Having a Deluxe Disneyland pass means I can visit Disneyland almost any day of the year except Saturdays and holidays… which works out perfectly since I don’t actually WANT to be there on those crowded days.

We started out at The Grand Californian Hotel at an interesting fireplace that just sorta exists outside at a patio.

The we took off into the park with intentions of shooting at the big blue staircase… but also happened upon some gorgeous light on the wooden bridge near Big Thunder Mountain while on our way. We stopped just to look at the water really quick and Tracie said “oooh, sun” and she automatically started posing as I automatically backed off with the camera at my eye. It was actually really hilarious. But you’re probably not laughing. I guess you had to be there.

Thursday

Thursday was a bit of a letdown… we actually planned on shooting at the OC Fair but the parking was closed by the time we got there… so we just went to a park and took this. We also witnessed some people doing some sort of cultish idolish thing while wrapped in a blanket… and ended up ruining the fun of 3 guys and a girl on the other side of the park who were doing who knows what in the big rocketship on the playground but took off when we started shooting right outside of where they were… too bad for them (though it was unintentional)!

Friday we actually did our best work… so I decided to save that for the next post… coming Monday… and we revisited the fair after that for the final shots.

Micah Lee Photo Shoot

Vu Bui — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 14:03:36 +0000

Anyone who follows The Bui Brothers’ photography at all has probably noticed that we don’t really shoot many guys. We’ve done some headshots here and there and shot Schlomo earlier this year… but we’re REALLY lacking in guy photos outside of wedding/engagement shoots. Apparently we do fashion photography of women only.

Tracie not only pointed this out… but also offered a start to the solution. Micah is her friend and she set up a shoot for us and came up with the theme for the day as well… a silent film actor. Never much one for using a shoot day for only one look… I decided on 3 we all liked… and environmental portrait of Micah in his “element”, a fashion photography set, and the silent film set which was the point of the whole shoot.

The first was a simple environmental portrait. It shows Micah in his room… in front of a bookcase full of DVDs and small collectibles… and topped with a movie poster for Vertigo.

We then went out to the yard-ish area for a few “post-apocalyptic” (if the apocalypse destroyed everything but a nice stash of clean clothes and a garden gnome) fashion photography shots.

After this we hopped out front of the house for an shot lit from the front by a street light… with backlighting of the telephone pole, satellite dish and tree provided by the security lights of the restaurant out at the main street.

Then… for the main set… Micah changed into an interesting looking suit and Tracie applied a bit of makeup to create “creepy silent film Micah”. He was a lot like regular Micah except for the extreme creepiness and eye liner. We went down to Old Town Orange for these ones… the architecture there fit perfectly.

The video gives a small behind the scenes glance (literally just a glance) at the shoot. This is Tracie’s first video (she shot almost all of it AND edited the whole thing on her new MacBook Pro) and I think it does a good job (mostly due to the excellent choice of music) of properly creating a mood for the photos. Oh, and the video was shot entirely on the iPhone 3GS. Enjoy!

Holga Fashion Photography – Carlie Renee

Vu Bui — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 22:39:46 +0000

Amy, Ashley Rose, Ashley (not Rose) and Carlie asked me to come down and light a fun fashion photography shoot they wanted to do of Ashley Rose… with wonderful makeup and styling (as always) by Carlie.

I brought the Alien Bees down to Ladera Ranch, we climbed a hill… and photographic adventure ensued. I wasn’t really there to shoot, just sorta show them how I’d light the various things they wanted to shoot… since they are all wedding photographers they wanted to learn a little about fashion lighting when it’s dark. Lighting is just one of those things that isn’t the most obvious thing to figure out, and having a little guidance from someone who does photographic lighting often can make a big difference.

I brought my Holga which I had just cleaned out and loaded with film the day before… and decided to take a few shots of Carlie while we were all set up. I didn’t bother dialing in exposure or trying to get anything perfect… just had Carlie pose how she wanted and I snapped off 11 shots. These are the 5 I like. No PS, just Lightroom adjustments because the exposure was WAY off. I didn’t even remove the dust.

I see more Holga Fashion Photography in my future.

Holga photography is a lot of fun. You get unexpected results, not just from the camera but from yourself. Through the crappy little plastic viewfinder things look a little different, and so you look at things a little different. Also, looking through a square is a different experience as well, your cropping is completely new and fresh. Basically what I’m saying is that you should go and buy one. Just PLEASE don’t buy one from Urban Outfitters with their flashy colors and $45 price tag.

Go to Freestyle Camera and get one for $28 or click the photo below to buy from Amazon (it’s the same price as Freestyle but I get like $1.20, which is cool) and have some FUN.

365 Days of Natalie

Vu Bui — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 09:45:44 +0000

Over a year ago I came across Bill Wadman‘s 365 Portraits project. It was extremely inspiring. Bill shot a portrait of a new person every day for the year of 2007, and they were great. It seemed to me that sometimes he had to just pull people off the street, especially in the beginning, but the portraits were mostly great, and some were fantastic.

I had tried to think of a great 365 project that I could try myself, and after briefly contemplating a 365 iPhone portraits project then dismissing it (thankfully, because that would have sucked)… I decided instead to attempt a more common endeavor… 365 self portraits, but I really wanted them to be creative and interesting and not just a lame attempt at recording how bad my hair was on a daily basis. I started on January 1st, and ended 31 days later. The results are here.

So… as 2009 approached, I thought of something more challenging but also certainly more fun, and asked Natalie Williams if she would be willing to commit to 365 days of unique portraits of her. That meant that we would need to be able to meet up every single day of the year and shoot a new photo… all while being creative and unique… or at least trying to. To my surprise, on the night of December 31st, she said yes.

My absolute favorite so far is the 10th portrait of the year. It has a lot of meaning behind it, which you can read about on the original post. It is a dedication to Natalie’s grandmother whose funeral was on the day of the shoot.

Before that photo, my favorite was the first one we took, around 2am on the 1st of Jan, 2009, at Central Park in Huntington Beach, in the thick fog. It was a creepy night so we complemented it with a creepy photo.

Check out 365DaysofNatalie.com and subscribe to the feed. It’s a little screwed up because of the theme I chose for the site right now and doesn’t actually display the photo. which is stupid stupid stupid… but it will be fixed shortly. Also there is no archive page just yet, but that’s coming as well.

We also plan on doing behind the scenes videos of our bigger shoots with more elaborate lighting setups to share some of the lighting techniques I use that people have asked about. Those are coming… just as soon as we have time for a big production day!

I’m excited about what’s coming, especially some of the bigger shoots we’ve planned out, which will make the normal days pale in comparison. Natalie has been an awesome partner on this project and is thankfully at times much more creative than I am… so I have faith that the year is going to produce some amazing results.

Mark and Candice

Vu Bui — Fri, 30 May 2008 18:01:44 +0000

When Mark and Candice Brooke contacted Lan and I about shooting a promo video for their photography website we were totally stoked. Their photography is top notch and they are definitely a force to be reckoned with amongst the wedding photographers we know.

Part of our video called for some unique shots of them that we were going to incorporate into the intro… a way to quickly and without words show their personality and fun demeanor. Luckily we all chose an awesome spot to shoot the video… so we decided to do the photos right there as well.

Here are a few of my favorites from the shoot… you can see the rest when you watch their video (which Lan did an amazing editing job on) here!

Paul Dateh Live Streaming Concert

Vu Bui — Mon, 26 May 2008 21:28:29 +0000

Well, the concert went off without MUCH of a hitch. We ended up starting almost a half hour late due to audio issues, but once we got started the show was awesome… and both the live and the internet viewers had a blast. After the show we went out to the back balcony (Keats’ place is awesome!) and had snacks, pizza and conversation. All in all… awesome night.

I shot a few photos outside… love the metal siding background thing. Unfortunately it was only about 5′ tall so I had to sit people down… but it worked out. I’ll post more shots to Flickr tomorrow or so.