VEGGIE KIDS

I have an other job. That is for SaveNature.org - I bring live bugs to schools and teach kids simple biology concepts in adaptation and conservation biology in a program called Insect Discovery Lab. Well, SaveNature is putting together a new program (called Edible Edventures? or something) wherein we will bring produce to schools and teach kids about where food comes from. Well, fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, grains, legumes.... not the horrific truths about meat and meat products.

We're introducing this program at the Children's Harvest Festival, a self-hosted kids' event at the Aquarium of the Bay on Oct 10. In addition to a bug presentation, and a produce presentation (separate presentations) there will be liquid-nitrogen freezed ice cream demos, composting and beekeeping lessons and yes... a Food Sculpture table, with produce donated by WholeFoods.

SaveNature people asked me. Can you take some photos of kids making sculpture out of produce? We don't know of any kids, but if you do...

This is up there with photographing kids pretending to DJ. And do I know kids? I've certainly befriended some families through photography gigs, but I thought of some old friends that would love this project more than anyone, and it gave me an excuse to head over to East Bay to see them and hang out with their kids.

Should you find yourself invited to make produce sculpture, I highly recommend arming yourself with toothpicks. If it weren't for toothpicks, I'd be photographing salad. I participated in some of the sculpture making, and suddenly I understood the joy that Mr Potato Head's predecessors must have brought to kids, back in the days before plastic was invented.

Contemporary-ness or Timeless-ness

Better in color or black & white? B&W adds a timelessness element to photos. They're kids in the photo, but perhaps they're grown ups now? Where as in color, I think of the kids as kids now.

While I'm editing, chugging along through the photos which are by default, color, I come across photos that make me think: Ooh, this will look good in B&W. Probably all photo editing programs have B&W conversion buttons. So, I convert to B&W, but it doesn't end there. I do additional tweaking - whitening the white and blackening of blacks to make the photo more contrasty. Otherwise, unless the subject is wearing white against a black background or vice versa, one winds up with a drab medium-grays picture.

I prefer this set of photos in B&W, because the set is more cohesive in B&W. Perhaps if the photos were separate, they'd be better in color.

Pug

It's been too long since I posted dog photos. Pugs have a lot of personality packed into a solid little package. I've only spent time with 2 pugs in my life, and both knew what they wanted and were not about to be ignored. Also, I like that they belly crawl.

After observing the attention lavished on the baby that had previously occupied the center of the make-shift studio white backdrop, Hottie (who is bigger than the baby) hopped onto this place of honor and looked around expectingly. I indulged her and pointed the camera in her direction.

I am still figuring out my dog photography style. Of all photographed subjects in the whole world, I bet dogs and babies are the two most popular, followed by cats. On what research do I base my assertion that dogs are more frequently photographed than cats? I think of my Facebook friends, and think of how many of them use dog photos as their profile photo. And how many people use a cat photo. Dog photos win.

But as I was saying, concerning dog photo style - there are SO many photos taken of dogs, one would imagine that camera-happy dog owners will have covered every possible angle. However, I think most people will take centered-composition photos of their pet. I like asymmetry, cropping that directs your eye to the dog's eye, and making use of negative space.

Color Schemes

An aunt with FOUR nephews, all brothers. Can you imagine? The amazing thing was, all boys were the best kids you could ask to photograph: well behaved, patient and considerate, yet humorous and playful like a pack of rough n tumble puppies. None of them made any objection to having their photo taken, and my photography life for those hours were surprisingly easy. All comes down to great parenting!

The photo shoot included about 12 people, spanning 3 generations. The organizer had asked me what I thought everyone should wear. Here were my actual suggestions:
- Browns, blues, greens
- Beige, blue, light purple, yellow
- Khakis + white or gray top
- Jeans + solid brightly colored T-shirts
- Jeans + white tops (all different kinds: polos, shirts, blouses, tanks etc)
- Sundresses for ladies, khakis + light colored shirt for gentlemen (Just avoid really dark colors)

For smaller groups of people, I would have suggested red/orange tones too, but for a group of 12, if everyone showed up wearing red/orange, it would look too planned, not to mention, visually painful. Blues/greens work well for most people. I ask people not to wear black, unless we're intentionally going for a contrasty effect (e.g. a black flowy dress on a beach on a gray day looks great, or in studio on a white background). Black in a greenery background is too over powering.

Whites are OK. The thing with white is it will reflect the surrounding colors, so if everyone is wearing white in the shade, the resulting picture has a cool feel to it. In direct sunlight, white can be too bright. White is tricky.

Grassy Baby

It's hard to take a good portrait while covering events. People don't immediately settle into a natural pose when confronted with a large camera; that's why portrait sessions are an hour long. While covering events, there is no settling time. Thus I groan when a mere 15 minutes is allotted to bride/groom portraits at a wedding. The best photos of adults will be candid photos. But since babies don't know to be self conscious, they actually are the best candidates for portraiture (and thus an opportunity to apply some artsi-ness) at an event.

She sprawled backwards onto the grass, grasping a woman's heel with her right hand (cropped that out, it rather ruins the serenity of the photo) and made a range of expressions: bright eyed and bushy tailed, distaste, wide open baby mouth - but then she relaxed into this expression which is oddly grown-up looking. It's the Mona Lisa smile, and she's looking right at you.

One Hour Baby

This could be a diaper ad. Look at my diaper mama! No leaks! Or something.

I am starting to think that I am on my way to making baby portraits my specialty. Which is fine, as the wedding photography market is flooded with photographers, and besides - I have a surprisingly fun time with babies. I'm sure one hour is a very different experience from being around babies 24/7. But within that one hour - helping moms decide on little baby outfits and dressing babies (which reminds me of dressing dogs: have to reach through the armholes, grasp a paw/tiny hand and pull through the armhole while the attached body wiggles in protest), singing songs and lying on the grass for the best angles... I'm actually having a good time.

Meandering Thoughts on Pro vs Hobby

Every so often I take a photo, and edit it, and then think, Wow! That looks professional! and then: Wait, I am professional! It's a nice feeling, to re-surprise myself :)

I don't have a formal method to assess myself. No end of year reviews, no panel of fellow grad student critique-ers, no boss, no peers, no partners. Which means I have to keep an eye on myself, teach, discipline and improve myself.

As there are no such hurdles (such as challenges you must pass to become most everything else: Lawyer, Manager, Professor, Designer etc) lots of people call themselves a photographer, or professional photographer. It seems people claim to be a photographer more often than say: drawer, sewer, painter, ceramacist, print-maker, illustrator etc. I think it's because it's easy to pick up a DSLR and feel empowered. Because of this, I think, I am too often asked if I am a hobby photographer. It may have started out that way, but No, I am Not a hobby photographer.

How do I claim pro-photographer status? Well the easy answer is that I have a small biz license. Of course that says nothing of photo quality or photographer skill. The other easy answer is that I get paid for my work. Other less tangible indicators: knowing what I am doing and being confident that I will get really good pics for my clients. Prioritizing my life around getting those really good pics to my clients.

I photographed this baby girl about a half year ago. I love that I am getting repeat clients, and I get to document their babies growing up. These are the photos that they'll pull out to put in their kids' wedding slide show in a few decades. I get a huge satisfaction from contributing my art to preserve people's memories. I know that sounds cheesy.

P.S. My Yelp reviews might be back online. If you feel like it, check out GinkgoPhoto (in San Francisco) and let me know if my reviews show up for you...

Candid Portraiture

I am very pleased with how this photo turned out. First there's the simple geometry in the composition. Basically, we have a rectangle, a circle, and a triangle. These shapes remind me of kids' toys/puzzles, which is great because the photo subject is a kid. Then, there's the color palette, a retro tropical citrus. And finally, the boy has this nonchalant expression. I could have cropped this closer to his face, but I left it wide because the open whiteness of the background lends a calm, restful feel to the photo.

This photo is also centered on the subject. While I often am a big fan of asymmetrical composition, I think that in these cases, the solid colors (orange sofa, green curtain, yellow apron) provided enough asymmetrical interest in each composition that placing the kid in the middle balanced things out. Also, the simplicity of centered, flat horizoned compositions goes well with these seemingly contemplative moments.


A very different feeling from this last photo - close up, angled, face is more expressive. I think all of these are good examples of candid portraiture (if I may say so myself!) - they are not posed, and illustrate different personality aspects. It does take time to get shots like these - kids, babies and even grown ups have to warm up to me, and feel like they can be themselves.

Drown In Puppy Cuteness

None was more popular at the wedding than Lemony, the puppy beagle. I've never seen a beagle like her! At first I thought she was a weimaraner mix puppy. Ridiculously little and cute. That's all I've got for now. A wedding and three photo shoots this weekend, I am knackered.

Two Turntables and One DJ

I'm not posting as much as I'd like. To be honest, it's because it's been Ultimate league finals week, and I ran and yelled myself exhausted on 2 evenings.

I am still working on the Indian Wedding photos. Everyone at this point, is mingling and eating samosas and pakora out on the large patio area. I'd stashed my camera stuff behind the DJ booth inside the neighboring event room (yes, I'd acquainted myself with the DJ, as usual, and was amused to find that the videographer had also stashed her stuff back there too) and ducked in to get a sip of water and to sit for a moment.

I don't know about you, but two little girls pretending to DJ with turntables and headphones is something like a photography dream subject for me. I wish I had more time to take more photos, but I arrived at the tail end of their session, and they soon grew bored (well, there wasn't any music actually being played) and ran off.

Hands are Important

Hands have a part in western weddings. They get to wear rings, after all. There may be other traditions, such as the binding of bride & groom's hands together with ribbons. But I've never seen hands as involved in weddings as in an Indian wedding. They are constantly involved. From the very start, the groom is holding an egg shaped ornament, and he continues to hold it, as he is greeted by the bride's family and the whole dancing, cheering procession (a boisterous, colorful party consisting of groom friends and family, a large red decorative umbrella and boom box) makes their way to the ceremony site.

The ceremony is very active. Unlike western weddings, in which the bride and groom pretty much face each other and stand still, Indian brides and grooms drape garlands of flowers over each other, sprinkle various things into an open flame, hold symbolic objects, walk around the ceremonial fire... the list goes on. A traditional ceremony might take 3-4 hours. This abbreviated ceremony lasted about an hour.

The nice thing about Indian wedding ceremonies is that you're not expected to stay in your seat. If you feel like getting up close to the ceremony, walking around the side or back for a different angle, you can. For the most part, I sat in the aisle, directly in front of the B&G. Imagine me doing that at a western wedding.

Portraits of a Lighthouse

Yes, these are all bits and pieces of an old lighthouse operating station. It all reminded me very much of Myst - have you played Myst? There were lots of mechanical puzzles to figure out, switches and dials and knobs to tweak. This lighthouse is at Point Reyes. It sits on the end of a pointy piece of land, jutting out into the Pacific, the south-western-most point of Marin. On a clear day, the view would be undoubtedly breathtaking. But the day was dense was fog. We could barely make out the seal-strewn wave-smashed boulders in the ocean, 30 stories below. We could hear the the seals though, and the churning water. A very different life from those Fisherman's Wharf seals.

I have the fog to thank for these photos. Instead of attempting to take scenic photos, I took refuge from the wind chill in the shack next to the lighthouse. I was happy to find all sorts of photogenic subjects, in unusual colors. I took the photos in medium-resolution, which basically means I hadn't planned on photographing anything very exciting. A pleasant surprise. And fun to photograph non-people for a change, an exercise in composition.

Life Size Candyland Leaves Me Wanting More

The concept was irresistible. Turn Lombard street, the most zig-zaggy street in the US, into a giant Candyland game for the 40th anniversary of the invention of Candyland. They did a fantastic job of paving the whole street with rubber tiles, the kind that interconnect like puzzle pieces (you see them at pre-schools). And Lombard street was abloom with flowers. But I was actually disappointed. I'd envisioned at the very least, Giant Candy Canes. Surely one could easily purchase those cheaply at an Xmas Surplus Supply store. In the way of oversized fake candy, there were only 6 giant lollipops at each the start and finish of the game. And OK, one big candy cane sticker on the course (doesn't really count).

The game moved unbearably slowly. Just look at these kids to the left. We have one yawner, 2 sprawlers and another in a rather defensive posture. I think the organizers were trying to stretch the game out so that it covered more time, but all the kids really wanted to do was to hurtle/ roll/ slide down the street as quickly as possible. There was much antsy behavior, on the part of the contestants and spectators. Kind of ironic, that the game was originally designed to relieve polio-stricken kids from boredom.

Every ten minutes or so, a team got to move and everyone aimed their cameras toward the whirlwind of kids careening around the corners. 10 seconds later it was over, and we waited again.



Am I too critical? The path beautifully executed, the concept brilliant - but the entire package felt undercooked. Even the winners, which were promised to be doused in confetti, were merely sprinkled by 2 sandwich sized ziplocks worth (tossed by little kids amongst a throng of tall media people). I had expected, excuse the pun, more eye candy. Giant Candy Canes to start, but giant marshmallows, bonbons, chocolate pieces etc etc - I bet if there'd been a post for volunteer local crafters to donate giant homemade fake candy, there'd be a riotous turnout of oversized sweets to decorate the course. And music. Maybe something by the umpah-lumpahs. And free edible candy for all. Perhaps my expectations were skewed by a mental blurring of Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory with Halloween with Candyland.

The game of course, was best viewed from the air. From a helicopter's eye view, one could fully appreciate the colored pathway and the windy-ness. Anyways, the kids looked happy for the most part, and I guess that was the main point.

My First Quilt

I'm going to be an auntie. As of this Autumn sometime. What else do aunties do besides make cool stuff for their nephews/nieces? I made this crib-sized quilt last weekend, but didn't get to report on it until now, because it was a surprise present, and the recipient's mom reads my blog. She received it today (a day earlier than scheduled - well done UPS)

The nursery theme is Yellow Submarine. And so, I google Yellow Submarine fabric, and wouldja know it, there is a whole set of Yellow Sub theme fabric to choose from! If you click on the image to zoom in, you'll see the blue and orange panels have a scattering of characters from YS. I added in some plainer yellow and blue squares so that it wasn't so eye-boggling. The black and white animal squares - that's Ikea fabric (Ikea kids' section has awesome fabric!) and the blue cats on red? Well my in-laws have a cat. An orange cat, but I couldn't find cool orange cat fabric, so blue cats it was.

The big panel is one piece, like a fabric poster. I know, cool huh! So. I cut up a bunch of squares, 20cm x 20cm (I'm still much more accustomed to metric, thanks to British school upbringing). I cleared our large coffee table to lay out the squares (I could use the floor, but the squares would pick up dog fur) and arranging them so the colors formed a balanced composition. Then I machine sewed rows together, winding up with six strips of five squares. My husband actually helped and ironed the squares (round of applause! but I fear this bit domestic activity was overwhelming and he soon departed to home brew beer with friends). Then the six strips were sewn together to make a big rectangle - this is the fun part, watching it all come together.

The big poster panel and the rectangle consisting of many squares are then sewn together to make something like a pillow case, whereupon I spread a rectangular sheet of batting inside. Batting is the fluffy stuff. Close up the open end of the pillow case, and then comes the next fun part - sewing a free form curly pattern over the entire blanket, so that the thread pierces all three layers. This is what makes the quilt look puffy.

Given this was my first quilt, I steered away from more complicated designs, such as fitting hexagons together, or putting in circles, or anything other than standard squares (even they gave me a hard time lining up properly).

I've decided that I like quilt making. You could just buy a baby blanket. There are lots of cute ones out there. But the great thing about quilting is the personalization. Say you're hoping your baby will like: trumpets, robots, squirrels, cupcakes, hockey and hello kitty. All those things can be found printed on different fabrics, and one can make a completely personalized quilt.

How the Canon 70-200 f/2.8 L IS is much like a Chicken Head

I will take this opportunity to extol the amazingness of the Canon 70-200 f/2.8 L IS. First things first, I'm referring to a lens. Next I translate: 70-200 = pretty darn far zoom, but not far enough for say taking pics of hungry lions without them noticing you; f/2.8 = good for shooting in low light and for portraits, yes you know this already!; L = best Canon glass and IS = Image Stabilization.

IS is a mechanical thingy inside the lens that compensates for blur caused by holding a camera unsteadily (called Camera Shake), which is apt to happen with this lens because it weighs 3.2 pounds. The further you zoom, the bigger the effect of camera shake. It just seems to know where you originally focused, and gently jiggles the lens internally to hold it steady. I have no idea how it works, but I picture the mechanism to behave like a chicken head - if you hold a (live) chicken and move it around - left right, up down, forward backward, it will keep its head in the same spatial position relative to the room. There is a video demonstrating this, and it will all become clear: http://www.wikio.com/video/624234

That IS feature makes this lens a grand total of $4030.47 new from Amazon (I just checked), compared to $1199.99 without the IS. Wow. I had no idea the lens cost that much when I rented it for $35 for the weekend. Is this right? Other places sell it for closer to $2000. Anyways, it costs and weighs a LOT.

It takes beautiful photos. The above photo was taken from some distance away - if you look at the wide angle pic below, you'll see there's no way I could've been anywhere near the bride without being completely rude and standing on someone's lap, or running up and down the aisle. It is fun to use. I feel like a spy, getting up close shots without the subject knowing. For sure, this is the lens that high end private detectives use.

And here, you can compare the extremes of portrait (long) lens verses wide angle. Both have their place in weddings, though one really only needs a few wide angles to capture the environment, but lots of portrait zoomed in pics to catch expressions.

Group Photo, Two Ways

Two photos, same group of people. The stairs make the photo so much more interesting, don't they? I just wish the groomsmen were a little faster, so they could better fill out the composition to the right. I mean really, all wedding party members should at all times be thinking about how their positioning affects photo compositions. Everyone is actually pausing in their step in the top photo. If truly in motion, everyone would be looking down, especially the women who had heels, feet they could not see, bouquets and voluminous skirts to contend with. The boring standing pose - well, they are obligatory for weddings. Just gotta do'em.

This is the Berkeley campus, and I'm glad it was a cloudy day. I suppose people are confused when photographers are delighted at the prospect of a cloudy day. I did need to warm these photos up just a tad, since the dresses/ suits were all in a cool palette.

I finally put up my Facebook GinkgoPhoto Page, as some of you already know. I've decided to put Yelp aside for now. Most everyone under 40 is on FB, so potential clients can check out the reviews I have there, and see that I'm a real person, and that I have a real business - hopefully that will help with the Can I Trust This Random Photographer Person? feeling. Thank you for your FB support!

Now I have a blog, FB page & website portfolio to maintain (on an approximately daily, weekly and monthly basis respectively) as well as Craigslist posts and dog walking staggered through the day. No wonder people have employees.

I Also Move Furniture

Who needs a studio when you have a big black sheet and diffused window lighting? These are all lit by a window to the right, covered by that custard colored sheet I mentioned before. The 6' x 10' backdrop sheet was about $15. We supplemented by spreading a black robe on the floor. No artificial light. A natural lighting triumph, I say!

When I do a home photo shoot, families will give me a little tour of their home. Often, they think the best room for shooting is the living room, which while large and tidy, does not necessarily receive the best, or any natural light. I duck into rooms, and then have to make a quick decision - where will be spend the next hour(s) taking the best photos possible? Being able to judge light has come from experience. Before I knew about these things, I'd just go with where the client wanted to shoot; what ever was easiest and least intrusive. But now, as in this case, I stood in the Study and definitively declare: The Lighting Is Best In Here. Can we move the furniture around to make space?

People are happy to help achieve the best shooting space possible. Furniture moved in and out of rooms, sheets tacked to walls, cushions gathered and hidden under backdrops for support. There's definitely a production element to some shoots. And it works!

Disgruntled With Yelp (no nice photo to accompany rants)

Three generous people wrote reviews for me on Yelp, but they've been removed, because they are not "established users" - ie, a person that has written a lot of reviews. Somehow, having written many reviews makes you more legit and worth listening to. So, if you are like me and don't have time to write reviews for every business you patronize, and maybe only took the time to write heart felt and honest reviews for 2 businesses that you were exceptionally impressed by, well Too Bad because those reviews aren't going to show up on that business' profile page.

You'd THINK they'd tell you this upfront, when you're writing your first review. A note such as "By the way, if you're only going to review one or two places, please don't bother" would be helpful. This makes me very annoyed at Yelp, which markets itself as very people friendly site - a place for opinions to be shared, where decisions can be made based on what fellow SFers have experienced. Many voices are in fact being ignored.

Yelp does this "established user" thing because they say it helps to avoid people (like competitors and unhappy ex-employees) from posting an errant bad review. The whole thing just doesn't make sense. Unhappy Ex-Employees might be frequent yelpers already. Also, beside every reviewer, there is a little number that says how many reviews they've written. There's no need to remove the review.

Does Yelp have a review page for Yelp? Not that my review would show up, being the unestablished user that I am.

Peanut Headed Dog

With a wide angle lens, one can have fun making dogs have really big noses. Here you can see the difference between the wide angle and portrait lens. In the (above) wide angle pic, all of the dog is pretty much in focus, from nose to ears; ie large depth of field. Her nose is as big as her cranium, making for a peanut (with shell) shaped head. We know that dogs don't have peanut shaped heads; they're more like, hmm, shoes?

Anyways. Below in the portrait pics, I used shallow depth of field, focusing only on the eyes - everything else is fuzzy. At the same time in these portraits, the noses aren't as exaggeratedly huge; they are more normally proportioned, even though the nose is so much closer to the camera than the eyes. I used a 50mm lens for this pic. Besides depth of field, the further you are from your subject, the slimmer they appear. That's why fashion runway photographers use 200mm+ lenses.

They are all waiting for treats. Obviously.

I know I'm always pointing this out. Consider how the wide angle distorts dog faces, and now think about what this does to human faces. To YOUR face. Wide angle is cute for dogs, but not for grown up people.

In summary:
* Larger Aperture = Smaller F-stop number = Shallower Depth of Field = More Flattering Portrait
* Small Aperture = Higher F-stop number = Greater Depth of Field = Distorted Portrait and Good For Landscapes

Look!
http://www.yelp.com/biz/ginkgophoto---photography-by-jennifer-zee-san-francisco
My Yelp review page is up. If I've photographed you before, feel free to post a review. I would appreciate it.

Memories of Figure Drawing

This is when Back Lit is Good. The room had direct sunlight coming in the window, and I just happened to have a 2 yard length of custard colored satiny material. This was pinned over the window, and made the light lovely: diffused and warm.

The maternity shoot involved clothes and no clothes. For those who have been to art school, it pretty normal to be around nude models. In my first figure drawing class, in freshman year of undergrad, I got over seeing nude people pretty quick. When I start drawing, I forget about the social non-normal-ness of seeing a nude person, and that model becomes an object.

Years later in art grad school, I was the Figure Drawing Session Coordinator for three years. I hired models, I set up screens (so that random people in the hallway couldn't ogle), pushed wooden pedestals to the center of a studio and selectively turned on spot lights. Some 20 artists (students and Ann Arbor art community members) gathered weekly with everything from little sketch books to oversized drawing/painting pads. They situated themselves around the pedestal, and then the model would show up and shed his/her robe and step up on the pedestal. We started with quick sketches; 1 min, 2 min, 5 min poses, which I timed. Then we moved to long poses, lasting perhaps, 2 sets of 30 or 40 mins each. Typically these were reclining or sitting poses.

On the occasion that a model canceled at the last minute, I had to model. Clothed. I wore flowy clothes, so artists could practice their drape drawing. And having drawn so many models, I know what sorts of poses are interesting to draw. They are non-symmetrical, involving twists / bends to the body s that the head, torso and hips face different planes. These poses are good for interesting photos too. So yes, I've done the 2 sets of 30/40 min poses. What seems comfortable at first becomes extremely uncomfortable. Body parts go numb, or worse, ache, and I dream and long for a stretch. But managing to ignore the discomfort is a source of pride for figure models! It's their job to just deal with it.

An observation. Young college men tended to draw female genitalia in agonizing detail, whereas women artists situated themselves where they didn't have such a frontal view. When it came to male models, college women represented male genitalia with a quick scribble. As did the young male artists.