Kimmie's Bat Mitzvah at Temple Beth El, San Mateo

The most fun in a party is or event is capturing and blasting it back with music !!!

A Bat Mitzvah or a Bar Mitzvah is no different. Beyond excellent reading of the Torah, giving her personal bima speech, Kimmie, daughter of our most fearless director in Sun Microsystems, is resplendent in her white dress (and later apple green). She is the embodiment of the party itself !! Her ceremonious Bat Mitzvah was held in Temple Beth El of San Mateo, an elaborate temple with an Ark-like architecture. The evening fun took place in San Mateo Marriott in the evening and boy, was it a party. Every detail of the party was planned 8 months well in advance and you can see how well the themes work together in the movie above. Mazel Tov, Kimmie!! - Michael Soo

Yi Ching & John's Wedding, Palo Alto, California

"I am booked on 8/18 with a Bat Mitzvah", I told Yi Ching, the bride.

"I can't shoot your wedding," I continued. But she insisted on having me, even for a mere few hours of the ceremony. Yi Ching already had an engagement shoot back in Taiwan but after seeing my work in Cypress Hotel, Cupertino, I think we were just meant to work together. It was fate, what's meant to be! She is an artistic graphics designer and she seemed to know what she wanted. What the bride says, what the bride gets. ;-) The only issue is that I needed an assistant badly because most churches has severe restrictions on photography and boy, was I right. Patty, the director of First Methodist Church in Palo Alto listed the things I can't do. I was not allowed anywhere nearer to the bride & groom when the ceremony starts. I was, however, allowed another photographer behind the choir benches. He/she, must not even flinch during the ceremony. No flashes either. The list goes on. Yi Ching got the wedding dress from Taiwan. Very unique and different. Lots of sparklies that got me interested to take a closeup. She was having a sweet conversation about the ceremony with her mom when I shot this.

Blurry imaging

The ride on the tram is rough, the smell from the diesel engine of the green colored truck that is towing 50 of us made me cough. No, I'm not an illegal immigrant. I'm riding the tram that carries 50 visitors every hour in Yosemite National Park's Sequoia Big Trees. Therein lies one of the largest trees in the world. A heavy set gentleman sits a mere 2 feet across me. His double chin flabs back and forth, swaying to the dance of the tram, resonating the textures of the mulch and rocks of the forest floor. He holds a large Canon SLR camera; next to it, an expensive looking watch. "1ds Mark II" is marked on the camera with a worthy looking red line drawn around the outside perimeter of the large lens. He lays the camera down on his long brownish khaki photovest that looked rather professional. He then peers down at my small green camera bag, then at my camera, examining it for a good second. He descended a quick look upon me with a slight smug, adjusting the strap on his camera at the same time, and looked away. The tram moved faster and the ride got bumpier. We drew nearer to a dark area of the redwood forest that has an interesting dappled light dressing the redwoods and grass surrounding it. I love the light, the smell of pine cones, the busy background, grass and all. I picked up my camera and took one shot. The shutter clicked open for one-eighth of a second. My hands shook violently following the movement of the tram. After what seemed like eternity in the world of fast action photography, the shutter snapped shut loudly. The man across me snickers to himself softly, put his hands on his camera, his lens cap is still on. I took one more photograph. He then state in a matter-of-fact voice, "ya know, you won't get crap out of shooting in this situation". I understood what he meant and began to explain what I was doing when he interrupted me. "Light is bad and tram moving. Never shoot in a moving vehicle like that", he continued. Once more, I tried to tell him....when he cut me off once again, "all those pictures you just took will just be blurry." Hmmph... This smart Michellin man may be on to something !! - MS

Strength in Diversity

By now, you probably think I'm a nutty professional photographer, dipping my toes into such a wide variety of subjects, from product photography to food photography to fashion photography to glamour photography to landscape photography and fine art photography to gosh, portrait photography, wedding photography and what else, commercial photography. On top of all that, I'm also well versed with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Website Design!!. Still think I'm sane?! I think not. While 90% of professional photographers out there strive to specialize in one field of photography, I spread my wings and claim strength in all. Is my brain really that slow? Contrary to what you might think, I have good explanations on what I've done thus far.

1. Mastering different facets of photography has allowed me to apply my knowledge in one to another. For example, if I were to shoot an engagement session at a seemingly boring golf course, I can utilize my knowledge as a landscape photographer for composition; my discipline in fashion and glamour photography to pose my subject beautifully; my in depth experience with studio lighting to use bounce multiple light sources to the subjects to create a wonderful interplay of light and shadow.
2. It keeps me excited as a photographer and continually challenge my ability to improve. It is much more often to hear of, say a specialized wedding photographer to get bored of his craft due to lack of innovation, creativity and exciting work. He/She will tend to do the same style over and over again with overall little improvements. For me, however, I am never bored since I have been peaking my performance by learning everything I know from one area of photography to the next. What I thought about in one area of photography has constantly been applied to another.

However, in spite of the above, most clients tend to think of a photographer is best when he or she is specialized. Just think, a bride probably will be more apt to choose a photographer who is specialized in weddings versus one who does everything. How do you, as a photographer prove otherwise? Show them your portfolio. The images needs to speak and they will, if you are good.

- MS