Anna Wu Photography » project

Inspiration | Shoot What You Love

Anna — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 09:30:31 +0000

Have you ever felt so passionate about something it makes your heart beat a little faster, turns interest into obsession? Have you ever been so excited to work on a project, it just feels like something deep within your soul is wanting to leap right out of you? If you’re a photographer, an artist, anyone who creates anything, chances are, you probably have. You may have since forgotten, but it’s what brought you to your craft to begin with. All too often, after that initial excitement of finding what we love, we start noticing the compliments we get, those paychecks we manage to receive, and we wander off. We start paying more attention to the whims of others than to that little heartbeat inside that drove us to create in the first place.

To all of us collectively, I say come back. Take some time and simply create something that is just for you. What is it that only you can create? What is it that you have always wanted to create? What would you absolutely put everything else aside to do?

Do it.

Personal projects are not just luxuries. They are your core, your heart. They allow you to discover and celebrate who you are. They feed your creative soul. One heartfelt personal project will give you more energy than five hundred well-executed but not very interesting gigs. Find what compels you. Shoot what you love.

I am so excited to share with you this sneak peek from a session today. This is my passion project right now: a personal endeavor photographing ballerinas. I am falling in love with photography all over again. I could not ask for anything more as we wrap up the year. And it makes me so excited to see what 2012 will bring.

Ballet dancer: Sharon Kung
Makeup: Pretty by Julianne
Assistant: Jonathan Lee

Matching Digital to Film | Richard Photo Lab | Shooting Film, Part 5 of 5

Anna — Wed, 25 May 2011 16:10:26 +0000

If you’ve been following my blog and the Shooting Film series, you may know that I’ve been documenting all sorts of unscientific experiments in my venture into film. Part 5 was originally going to be about getting started in film, but I figure you can just go to Jonathan Canlas for that. And instead, I’ll blog my next experiment, which combines digital and film– beautifully, I might add.

It’s my favorite experiment yet. Though I am most comfortable shooting digitally, I do love the look of film, so in my ideal world, I’d be able to shoot a mix of both film and digital and post-process them in a cohesive manner. Other photographers do this sort of hybrid shooting already, but I was having a hard time pulling it off convincingly.

While I was in Los Angeles last month, I had the opportunity to visit Richard Photo Lab in person and get a grand tour from Bill himself. We also chatted about this little experiment of mine, and he was absolutely on board. I pulled out some RAW digital files I had from the same session in which I also shot Kodak Portra 400 film, and Bill set me up completely with the RPL digital retouching services and instructions to match the digital to the film as best as they could.

Disclaimer: digital will never look exactly like film. That isn’t even the goal. I just wanted the two to look cohesive and consistent. True to form, RPL pulled through with awesome results. See for yourself.

Set #1. The first image below is the digital file processed by me as I would normally process it.

The second image below is also a digital file– processed by RPL to match the film image.

And the third image below is the film image processed and scanned by RPL.

Set #2. First, the digital image, processed as I would normally process it.

This second image is a digital file processed by RPL to match the film photo.

And below, the film image developed and scanned by RPL.

Set #3. The first two images below are digital files, processed through my normal processing.

The next two are digital images processed by RPL to match the film frames

And below, two film frames processed and scanned by RPL.

Set #4. Again, the first image is my digital file with regular processing.

This is the same digital file processed by RPL to match the film image below it.

And finally, the film image processed and scanned by RPL.

There’s no doubt about it; RPL folks know how to match colors far better than I do. And while I may have tweaked the final products a bit more from the images that I received (that middle photo in set #2 did look a bit jaundiced to me), I think this proves to me that what I imagined is certainly possible– shooting film and matching it digitally is definitely something that I could do. I would just have to learn how to adjust the colors properly or pay RPL to do it every time (currently priced at $.50/digital file, minimum $100 order).

At any rate, there are plenty more examples where the above four sets came from, so I will leave you with a plethora of other digital and film images below. All of these were processed by RPL, but I have not identified them as digital vs. film– see if you can tell the differences yourself! It is very difficult after a while; they all look incredibly consistent!

So what does this mean for me? I will continue to shoot most of my work digitally, but I will also begin to integrate film selectively. I am refining my aesthetic as always, but I am incredibly excited for the possibilities!

A big thank you to Evy & Joe for being the goregous guinea pigs for this experiment– Joe even had to run out and buy a camera battery for my Canon EOS3 which I’d previously never used. You can view the (all digital) blog post of their engagement shoot here. I’m looking forward to their wedding coming up very soon!

And thanks again to Richard Photo Lab for taking the time to work with me on this grand experiment. I hope this helps many other digital/film photographers who have been just as curious as I about these topics. I will continue to blog about my adventures in film here. If you like what you’ve seen here, please leave a comment below or come say hi on Facebook!

Sammie | San Francisco Photography Mentorship

Anna — Mon, 23 May 2011 22:29:21 +0000

Today I just wanted to give a shout out to my mentee Sammie. She found me through my friend Dianne Jago when she needed to do a mentorship for her senior year in high school. We met up at my home office for some lessons on photography, and Sammie helped out as my assistant at a couple different shoots including Cynthia & Nathan’s wedding last week. Sammie was a great student and an awesome assistant! If she weren’t going off to college next year I’d try to keep her forever. Thanks Sammie!

Below, couple frames from our first session together.

Debby & Justin | San Francisco Mission District | Couples Lifestyle Photography

Anna — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 20:11:48 +0000

The incredible story of how they met spans 2,650 miles from Mexico to Canada on foot. They had each embarked– separately, still strangers– on the Pacific Crest Trail at the California-Mexico border, Debby leading by two days without a clue that her future husband was trailing behind her. It wasn’t until three and a half months later in Bend, Oregon, that Justin caught up to Debby, and they met on the trail. The rest took off in rapid sequence from there. They hiked the rest of the 650 miles up to Canada together, took a road trip to meet Justin’s parents back in California, moved in together in Colorado, and a few months later, started talking about getting married.

Debby & Justin share an unabashed passion for life and a beautiful sense of adventure. They were married this past fall, but we got together for a great lifestyle shoot in San Francisco’s Mission District. Debby’s hair and makeup were beautifully done by Mina Tran of Bellamina Aesthetics.

We started off with the amazing graffiti murals of Clarion Alley in the Mission.

Gorrgeous!

Once Justin had the idea that he wanted to get on a motorcycle, there was no stopping him. And I’m quite glad he did.

We rounded off the session on the rooftop of Medjool, a popular restaurant/lounge in the Mission.

Thanks, Debby and Justin, for being such an awesome couple to work with and for sharing your inspirational story! Thanks also to my business partner Kevin Yau from Seaglass Cinema for filming this session for a promo video we have up our sleeves, and again to Mina & Van from A-List for contributing your services to the project. (Yes, we have video to look forward to!)

Behind the Scenes with Turtlist Media | Los Angeles, California

Anna — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 01:35:21 +0000

It’s incredibly inspiring to meet and work with people who are passionate and extremely good at what they do. I’ve spent this past week in Los Angeles shooting an engagement session and also helping Jason Lee of Turtlist Media with his film project– a short narrative film titled “Doughboy.” Here are some glimpses behind the scenes. Learn more about the film project and Jason’s work at TurtlistMedia.com.

Tuesday. I felt very Hollywood-ish having our lunch meeting with Actor Robert Ryu and director Jason Lee at Tender Greens, a trendy salad place.

Jon and Robert look over the scripts.

Max was our mascot for the week.

After lunch, a trip to the Army surplus store for some costuming pieces. Wayne and Diana accessorize.

Wednesday. Cast and crew meet at Far Bar in Little Tokyo. Here, Jason with actress Brittany Victoria Park.

Actor Kenneth Chang.

Far Bar, tucked away in an alley between two buildings.

Kev captures me handling client calls and emails, off in my own little iPad world.

Saturday. Second day of the shoot. Kev and Jason rig a crazy contraption while Robert, “Felix,” strikes a pose. Wat offers a sad looking funnelcake remnant.

Finally, a roundup of cast and crew (and friends) at the end of Saturday.

Follow TurtlistMedia.com or @turtlist on twitter to get the latest production updates and see the final film in the months to come!

TaiwaneseAmerican.org T-Shirts | San Francisco Portrait Photography

Anna — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 23:46:29 +0000

I meant to feature this a long time ago but kept saving it for another day. As some of you may know, in my “other” life, I am creative director and managing editor of TaiwaneseAmerican.org, which supports the Taiwanese American community. Back in August, we did some shoots for TaiwaneseAmerican.org‘s t-shirt line. We had our friends volunteer to model our shirts, and they definitely made them look good! Henry, RJ, Young, and Jessica were at our Mission Bay shoot and Linda and Marc were with us in the Mission District. Here are just a few images from the collection:

Are you Taiwanese American or know someone who is? Buy your own Taiwanese themed shirts at TaiwaneseAmerican.org’s online store. All proceeds go toward supporting or sponsoring Taiwanese American community organizations, projects, events, and conferences.

Rosie & Shang | Adventures in Film

Anna — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 18:38:01 +0000

Before I shipped off the Diana F+ lomography camera for my giveaway last month, I took her for one last spin. My good photographer friend Shang Chen was in town for the week, and so I tagged along to help out at one of her shoots. Shang does these amazing in(SCP)iration shoots (SCP = Shang Chen Photography) which are a mix of lifestyle portraiture and fashion photography and are really all about letting your personality shine. Her subject– her gorgeous friend Rosie. We started off at Alameda shoreline and then headed over to Oakland’s Jack London Square. You can view the inSCPiration shoot on Shang’s blog, complete with behind-the-scenes photos from me. And of course, I also snapped off one roll of 120mm film, which I am sharing below! I took some of the things I learned from my first Diana F+ shoot and decided to get a little more creative this time with multiple exposures and overlapping frames. I absolutely love the imperfection of it all.

First up, Rosie layered with some texture from the dock, and a seagull perfectly perched.

Some light definitely leaked through the film, since the lomo camera really does not roll the film tightly. But I suppose we can just call it “character.”

I photographed this multiple exposure frame on the left by standing in one spot and pivoting around, snapping about 4 or 5 shots without advancing my film.

Sorry, Shang. I don’t know what happened to your face! We definitely see that you’re a Nikon girl though.

This last pairing makes me very happy. Lovin’ Life!

Rosie & Shang- Thanks for letting me tag along! This was definitely a fun experiment. What a vastly different world from the SLR photos we took!

By the way, a shoutout to Oscar’s Photo Lab in SOMA (San Francisco) for developing my film and scanning it onto a disc for me. These are not straight out of camera. They definitely needed a curves bump or two in Photoshop. But having your film scanned is such a timesaver!

Seaglass Cinema | World Premiere

Anna — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 20:31:52 +0000

Back in August, Seaglass Cinema was just an idea. We wanted to take a cinematic approach to capturing weddings and create ‘real life movies’. Our idea spun very quickly from possibility into reality, and just a couple weeks later, we gathered an arsenal of DSLRs and lenses and shot our first wedding in Indianapolis. Now, months later, after much editing and polishing, we are finally ready to reveal our world debut piece– a short highlights film from Erin & Nick’s gorgeous Indianapolis Roof Ballroom wedding. We hope you love it as much as we do!

Erin & Nick | 09.18.10 from Seaglass Cinema on Vimeo.

About the video:

They met in law school. Erin has the biggest heart for animals and people alike, and Nick simply loves Erin. They were married on a gorgeous day in Indianapolis, Indiana. Their venue, the Indiana Roof Ballroom was absolutely stunning, and the entire day was filled with laughter and simple gestures of love. This video was shot by Steve Wang and Anna Wu, and we were assisted by Jon Lee. It was edited by Steve Wang. Also, many thanks go to Kina Grannis for allowing us to use her song “Valentine.”

Wedding Vendors:

Venue: Indiana Roof Ballroom, Indianapolis, Indiana
Planner: Darcie, Circle City Planners, Carmel, Indiana
Photographer: Anna Lee Photography, annaoglee@gmail.com
DJ: FMX DJ Brian, 317.223.9717
Cake: Sugar Mamas, Mooresville, Indiana
Transportation: DPS Charter, Indianapolis, Indiana
Flowers: Thistle and Moss, Indianapolis, Indiana

What is Seaglass Cinema?

Seaglass Cinema is a videography team specializing in weddings. We take a cinematic approach to capturing the moments and the stories of a wedding day. We’ve left the era of boring wedding videos where you leave a big videocamera on a tripod to simply capture 10 hours of uninterrupted footage that no one will watch again. We shoot with an editorial eye and create a tightly woven visual story, or as we like to call it, a “real life movie.” The core members of our team are Anna Wu, Steve Wang, and Kevin Yau. We all worked together on the media team at a summer camp in the Midwest, which is what inspired our leap together into wedding videography.

Why videography?

Most of you probably know me, Anna, from my still photography work at Anna Wu Photography. In some ways videography may seem like a natural extension of my photography work. But the skill sets involved in photography and videography are perhaps more divergent than you might expect. Great photographers often make for terrible videographers, and vice versa. I could talk a lot about how the two are and aren’t technically related, but we were also thinking about the bigger picture. In this digital age, the wedding photography market is easily oversaturated. We see videography as more of a developing market. It is becoming easier and easier to shoot video, just as it is to shoot photo, but there is still a slightly higher learning curve to videography, especially in shooting the way we do. It also requires a team and more gear, and definitely more effort in post-production. So we thought to ourselves, we have the amazing team of friends, the technical inclination, and the imagination. Videography is only going to become more and more salient, and we really believe we can contribute meaningfully to this medium!

Why “Seaglass”?

Sea glass is old glass that is polished and tumbled by the ocean. We love the notion of rough edges made smooth. It’s something that seems effortlessly pretty, and it’s not totally perfect, but it’s raw and beautiful.

Are you available?

Absolutely. We would love the opportunity to capture your wedding. We are very, very affordable, with commissions starting around $1000. If you are interested in learning more, please email us directly at seaglasscinema[at]gmail[dot]com for more information.

What’s next?

We are working on our website, which will be seaglasscinema.com. (Yes, we know it is ugly right now). You can “like” us on Facebook and follow us on twitter. We still need to do some graphic design and create a logo (if anyone out there would like to help us!). We are also editing our second project, Jenny & Kevin’s Aliso Viejo wedding. But mainly, we are eager to expand our portfolio and to book more weddings! Again, please email us if you are interested or want to help us out: seaglasscinema[at]gmail[dot]com.

Levi’s Community Workshop | Adventures in Film

Anna — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 14:55:32 +0000

A couple months ago, Levi’s (yes, as in the jeans) opened an amazing community resource in downtown, New York City. A free photography workshop. Free classes, free printing services, free computer labs, free studio space, and even an entire array of vintage cameras available for 24 hour rentals– for free! Yes, it’s real, and it’s amazing. The Levi’s Community Workshop. The only catch is that it’s only open until this Saturday, December 18. So New Yorkers, please do yourselves a favor and go right now.

When I visited New York for Thanksgiving, the Levi’s Workshop was obviously at the top of the destinations list. I went with my boyfriend Ernie, and after we wandered around a bit and played with the photobooth, we each took out one camera to play with. For Ernie, one Fujifilm Instax, Fuji’s answer to the discontinued Polaroid. It’s cute and white, and it takes little mini instant pictures. And for me, a FED– an old USSR 35mm manual camera that is weighted like a brick. This particular camera also had the unfortunate feature of a faulty viewfinder so that you were left shooting blindly. And it also had no light meter, which left me using my digital point and shoot as an approximation and also just wildly guessing at settings, with mixed effects.

I might post some of the Instax photos tomorrow, but for now, here are some samples of the good ole 35mm black and white film I shot! Shoutout to Oscar’s Photo Lab in SF for developing these images (and the 120mm ones as well), though they messed up my first order, they did fix it in the end!

Looking at these strips of film really brings me back to my high school darkroom photography days.

Museum of Chinese in America

Did I mention it was pouring rain that day? This looks very much like a cold, rainy New York day.

The garage door to the Levi’s Photo Workshop.

Inside, a whole wall of photobooth images and other photographs printed at the workshop.

And finally, Ernie…

…and me! Braving the cold rainy day.

Once again, I love embracing the uncertainty and imperfections of shooting with a film camera like this. I’m amazed any of these turned out with my blindly guessing at the focus and the exposure on every frame. And you can definitely bet that I’ve added a film camera to my ever expanding wishlist!

If you’re in New York, please go visit the Levi’s Workshop before it closes in 2 days! You’ll be so glad you did.

Diana F+ | Lomography | Adventures in Film

Anna — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 22:29:06 +0000

Have you met the Diana F+ and entered the giveaway? Now it’s time to see the camera in action. When you’ve become accustomed to technically perfect dSLRs, it’s both difficult and exciting to shoot film and not know what you’re going to get. So here they are– some frames and a glimpse behind the scenes with us on Talya’s Lincoln Center lifestyle shoot. I know these aren’t the most technically stellar images, so don’t judge! I’m putting these out there as they are and sharing some lessons learned as well.

Lesson 1: What you see is not what you get. Looking through the viewfinder gives you a much wider frame of view than what actually gets captured when you crop the film to 16 frames. Hence so many photos with all the heads cut off. After a while it looks intentional though.

Lesson 2: Accidents are happy. Forget to advance your film? You end up with great double exposures. Perhaps I should’ve done more of those intentionally. With how underexposed everything was, the double exposures came out better than everything else!

Lesson 3: Embrace imperfection. This is a good exercise for control freaks. It’s rather liberating to just have no expectations and accept whatever you get or don’t get.

And now for some great behind the scenes captures by Yifan (some of the above images are by her as well!). I’ll admit it’s still kind of reassuring to go back to the smooth, crisp beauty of these Canon 5D images.

Hiding my Shootsac under my coat! And peeking at Yifan through the glass.

How many of us even remember how to load film? I’m kind of glad I just got that part right.

Talya looks gorrgeous, yeah? Check out the digital images from our shoot here: Talya Lieberman, Vocalist | Lincoln Center.

So you’ve seen my first attempt with the Diana F+. Now that I’ve learned a couple things from the trial run, I plan to take her for another spin before I give her away. But I’m sure you can do even better with the camera! If you haven’t already, go enter here for my free giveaway.