Dan Hutchings, Vocalist | San Francisco Headshots Photographer
Dan Hutchings is a classical vocalist based in San Francisco now, but soon moving out of state. He's reserved, straightforward, and classically good looking too. The cool thing about this session is that it's the first one I did right here, at my new place in San Francisco. Looking forward to many more to come!
Susie Fong, Harpsichordist | San Francisco Headshots Photographer
Susie peered into the window like a child sneaking a peek at the Christmas presents long before it was time, and she gestured me over to show me. In one room, a harpsicord with light-colored wood ornately painted with floral designs. In another, a stark modernist piece with sleek curving lines and a bold red, black, and white color scheme. These were extraordinary, unique harpischords sitting in ordinary practice rooms, there at the SF Conservatory of Music just for a summer festival.
Susie swiped her card to let us in, and she sat down at the red harpsichord. I just have to try it out. And as she played the beautiful notes from a Bach prelude, her love for the instrument and for early music took the scene, and everything else faded into the background.
Krystle Tugadi, Musician | Los Angeles Headshots Photographer
She's got soul, she's got style, and it's no surprise that she's on the rise. While a lot of musicians these days are going all-virtual with their webcam performances, Krystle Tugadi has taken it back to the stage. She performs live shows several times a week around her Los Angeles/Orange County home base. Don't worry, she's got plenty of web presence too. Check below for the links.
More on Krystle Tugadi:
Listen in on Myspace
Stay tuned for the launch of KrystleTugadi.com in less than a week
And look forward to her video collaboration with Turtlist Media in the coming months.
David Duenas, Guitarist | Santa Clara Headshots Photographer
I first met David at the beginning of this year when I did group portraits of the San Francisco Guitar Quartet. This time, I met him down at the beautiful Santa Clara University campus for an individual headshot session. The Spanish style buildings, abundant greenery, and the beautiful Mission Church made for a wonderfully serene setting for the shoot.
Just looking at these images helps bring back the feeling of summer warmth. I can even hear the beautiful guitar rendition of Bach's Violin Partita that David effortlessly teased out while sitting on the Mission steps.
Enjoy!
Samsun van Loon | San Francisco Headshots Photographer
Sam is a cellist living in San Francisco. He plays recitals and chamber music not just as mode of performance, but as a social venture, performing with different friends and getting to know various musicians and audience members. Oh, but he's not just a cellist. He also recently dislocated his shoulder snowboarding (though it's getting much better), and he needs a daily walk in the park, so it's a good thing he lives right next to Golden Gate Park.
Just a couple shots from our headshot session:
Trio Jubilee | Palo Alto Headshots Photographer
Not five minutes into my first conversation with Claudia, the violinist of Trio Jubilee, I discovered she was born in Ann Arbor, grew up in the East Bay, and taught at Duke University as part of the Ciompi Quartet. No way! I was born in Ann Arbor, live in the East Bay now, and went to Duke, where I played violin and thus occasionally hung out with Ciompi Quartet members...
How I love those kinds of conversations, sprinkled with No way, me too! Do you know so and so? Who knew! They make me smile at how intertwined we are without us even knowing.
But I digress. Trio Jubilee is a piano trio with a special interest in performing unusual and lesser known classical music. I photographed them briefly at Sumi's home in Palo Alto. They were such wonderful people to work with; I just hope to see them actually perform some day, because this is really making me miss my days playing piano and violin and being a part of chamber groups.
Piano trio= violin + piano + cello.
Thomas Shoebotham, cello; Sumi Park, piano; Claudia Bloom, violin.
Sasha Launer, Flutist | San Francisco Headshots Photographer
It was still early morning when I drove in to the sunset district of San Francisco, thankful for my Fastrak as I whizzed by the traffic on the Bay Bridge. I found Sasha's apartment on a wide, busy street. Cars were flying by loudly, but inside, it was all peace and quiet. A beautiful space with clean walls, hardwood floors, and plenty of gorgeous window light.
Sasha is a flutist at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Beautiful and talented. Killer combination.
Behind the Scenes of Census 2010: Write in “Taiwanese” | Passion Project
It's been a week since the Census 2010: Write in "Taiwanese" video debuted on YouTube, and it's already garnered over 120,000 views. Produced by Slideshow Pictures in conjunction with at least seven Taiwanese American organizations, the public service announcement is part of a larger campaign to get Taiwanese Americans to self-identify on the US Census by checking "Other Asian" and writing in "Taiwanese."
If you know me well, you may know that I love being behind the scenes of all sorts of projects and productions. So I was very lucky to find myself a last-minute addition to this project. Five days beforehand, we worked it out for me to fly down to Los Angeles for a day and a half, just to help out a tiny bit. Let's be honest-- I basically had an very fun day just hanging out with the various cast and crew members, but my official capacity was to serve as the behind-the-scenes photographer on set of the video production. Later, I pulled my own weight by designing the accompanying website for the video campaign (http://taiwaneseamerican.org/census2010). But now I get to bring you behind the scenes with me!
We got an early start on the day, rolling out of bed around 6am and heading over to the studio in Alhambra.
Three Slideshow Pictures producers and a makeup artist relaxing a bit before shooting begins: Jon Lee (CEO, Slideshow Pictures), makeup artist Yuriko Bondies, Alex Yang (Slideshow Picture), and Howard Chen (Slideshow Pictures). Jon has been working in Hollywood for a couple years now. He was an associate producer on Formosa Betrayed. So between him and director Karen Lin, they were able to make this a first-class production with sound, photography, and editing professionals up and down the production chain.
Byron Werner and his crew sets up the backdrop, lighting, and camera.
They test the setup on Howard. Looking good in both frames.
Jon Lee with Alex Wen, owner of KCW studios.
The famous "Taiwanese" Census 2010 shirts. Order yours today from TACL!
Harrison and Haley are third generation hapa Taiwanese Americans. Adorable! Harrison just kept on munching away at his fruit while he was waiting, and Haley was a natural star, delivering lines flawlessly!
Love the giant pencil. Love.
Politician and lawyer Ted Lieu gets some pointers from director Karen Lin.
Two sets of sisters! We had a few really great families who came to the shoot. On the left are Japanese-Taiwanese American Muramoto sisters. On the right, Agnes Hsiao and Elena Ling.
If you've been following me or Taiwanese American news, you might recognize these two as the killers from Formosa Betrayed: actors Henry M. Chu and Adam Wang (links to previous shoots with me). Keep an eye out. You'll be seeing them more in the near future!
You may recognize actress Michelle Krusiec from Saving Face, amongst other projects. And on the right, a 96-year-old a-ma, Mrs. Ray-Yun Tsai Huang.
There were many, many more interesting people who participated in the video, but I don't have space to show all of them here, so head on over to the Census 2010: Write in "Taiwanese" website to meet all of the other cast and crew members.
Singer-songwriter Alice Tong fills out some information for me-- my other job that day was to collect bio information from everyone.
Director Karen Lin wraps the shoot at the end of the day-- 8am to 5pm. A full day's work.
Alex works on the giant pencil.
Breaking everything down-- the scene outside.
A wider view of KCW studio.
I don't know what they're thinking! You tell me.
Lastly, a word about the campaign-- I could launch into an argument about history and politics validating a Taiwanese identity. But for me, it's also about upholding the right to identify ourselves rather than be defined by others.
So share the YouTube video and the website. Tweet this. Go after one of the many other ways to take action. And tell every Taiwanese American person in the United States about the campaign.
But as Ho Chie says, no matter how you identify, whether Taiwanese or not, be sure to represent your own identity and community. This is important for all of us as Americans, and this is our only chance this decade.
Be Counted. Be Recognized.
Above, my latest web creation. Their bios display on hover! You can also learn more about the campaign and ways to help by visiting the website.
San Francisco Guitar Quartet | San Francisco Headshots Photographer
Western music very often comes in fours: 4/4 time, 4 strings on a violin, and all those beautiful 4-member groups: string quartets, barbershop quartets, brass quartets-- even the standard rock band is usually two guitars, a bass, and a drum kit. But a bit more uncommon is the guitar quartet. No, not a band with four guitars, but a classical ensemble: four classical guitarists who merge their playing into a beautifully blended mini-orchestra of sound. Only a handful of U.S. cities have these guitar quartets, but San Francisco is lucky enough to be counted among them.
Jon, Mark, Patrick, and David are the four men of the San Francisco Guitar Quartet. You might recognize Mark from his previous headshot session with me. They might look like laid back casual guys hanging out on the Laney College campus on a Friday morning (and they are,) but don't let that fool you. These are serious musicians with serious cred. Take Jon, for instance. Behind that bright blond mohawk and that crazy 11-string guitar is a guy who premiered at Carnegie Hall when he was 20. I even got serenaded briefly in the middle of our shoot, as the quartet spontaneously broke out into song. It was simultaneously enlivening and calming, and an absolute treat. To hear for yourself and to learn more, check out the SFGQ website. Their next album is coming out soon.
3 Shoots in 3 Cities in 3 Days | Bay Area, Los Angeles Photographer
Miles driven by others: 37
Miles flown: 390
Miles driven by myself: 150
____________________________________
=577 miles traveled, and that's just today.
Sometimes exhaustion is the most gratifying feeling in the world. In that moment when you finally sit down and have a chance to rest, you can feel the very essence of gravity as it pulls your every muscle down toward the Earth. The soreness in your bones and the slight dizzyness in your head are almost overwhelming, but somehow, none of it is worrisome. Instead, the feelings are reassuring. Because when you've put yourself that wholeheartedly and whole-bodily into your work, the tiredness is not a feeling of emptiness and depletion, but your body's evidence of what you've done and what you can do, and it's all the more encouragement to recharge yourself to do it again.
I couldn't think of a more gratifying way to close out January 2010.
Before I describe my weekend, I'll give the disclaimer that this might make my life seem much more glamorous and exciting than it really is. My life is not like this all the time. My bed is often my favorite place to be. But because I want to remember these adventures, I will capture what I can in a quick summary. Ready? Start.
Friday morning I had a great session with the members of the San Francisco Guitar Quartet. Right after work, I took off for the Oakland airport. After landing in Long Beach (thanks JetBlue!) I was driven back up to Los Angeles by my friend Vince. Saturday was the big film shoot-- the reason I flew down-- for the "Taiwanese American" 2010 Census Public Service Announcement. We arrived in the Alhambra studio by 7:30 am. Ten hours, several celebrities, an Olympic athlete, and a California State Assemblyman (amongst others) later, we wrapped on shooting, had a celebratory dinner, and eventually called it a day. By the next morning at 9am, I had gone back through Long Beach and arrived back home in Oakland, but only briefly, as I then drove up another 70 miles to Sebastopol for an engagement shoot at an amazingly cute family farm.
You'll have to come back and visit again to see the fruits of all these labors. But for now, I leave you with this picture:
Long Beach Airport, the tiniest airport I've ever flown through. This one building is the entire terminal, with four airlines from beginning to end. This came in handy when I almost missed my flight but discovered it only takes 5 minutes to get from front door to airplane seat and thus made it with time to spare.
And now, it's time to sleep.
Good night, world!