Karla was one of our eighth grade students this year at United for Success. Back in May, by the light of the campfire on the last day of our school camping trip, Karla performed this poem. I was absolutely wowed, impressed, proud, inspired… The next week, back at school, I videotaped Karla doing her poem…
So much of our relationships depends upon context. I’m reminded of that moment in grade school when I first saw a teacher at the mall and was stunned to realize teachers went shopping just like normal people. Or this year, when we (as teachers) brought our 8th graders into the woods for a 3-day camping trip and we got…
This was an absolutely gorgeous engagement session with Erica, Robert, and Erica’s daughter up at the Kunde Estate Winery. Because Erica works at the winery, we had free reign to the 1,850-acre property after hours. We were surrounded by breathtaking views and a beautiful sunset. I’ve never liked lens flares more. Plus, I loved hearing…
Armed with flashlights, cell phones, tripod, and my camera, we headed up the hill for some light writing fun. These photos always turn out super impressive because the camera documents what we can’t see in front of us. But it’s just physics! And all it really takes is a very slow shutter (as long as…
Since I had a 4 days off for Memorial Day weekend, I talked Dan Garrison into booking tickets and flying over from Philly for some adventures from the Bay Area to Los Angeles. Pictures first. Then an overview of how our California road trip went down. Dan in front of Mann’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood…
Last night was an interesting experiment in convergences of threads of my life: photography meets teaching meets Duke meets TAF. A couple weeks ago, I brought some of my students to a Dinner with Scientists event hosted by our Oakland Unified School District science department. Of course, while we were there, I was snapping away…
San Francisco Bay Area. I am still endlessly amazed that I actually live here. Within the last week, several different friends have come and gone on their various Bay Area visits, and it’s been a great excuse for me to rediscover the sights that surround me. Berkeley. The view from Ho Chie’s roof deck at…
Wow. It’s been a year. At this time last year, I was visiting the Bay Area and interviewing with Oakland Teaching Fellows. It’s amazing to think how quickly life moves by. The week I was visiting also happened to be Taiwanese American heritage week, and I got to be here for part of the Taiwanese…
Sunsets are so obviously beautiful, every camera-wielding human being seems compelled to take a photo. Sunsets, flowers, cute babies… I guess I can’t stop myself either. This is a collection of sunset images from Pacific Grove when we went on a spontaneous weekend visit back in March. It was ridiculously cold and windy, but of…
Adam Wang is an actor based in Los Angeles. In fact, he’s the killer that James Van Der Beek is chasing down he whole time in Formosa Betrayed. And he delivers some great lines in flawless Mandarin at the end. While he was up here visiting the Bay Area, Adam wanted to do dramatic artsy…
Shawna Yang Ryan is a talented hapa Taiwanese American writer whose debut novel, Water Ghosts, was just released on Thursday. This week, I met up with Shawna for a late-afternoon shoot on the UC Berkeley campus. Read the spotlight article we just posted on TaiwaneseAmerican.org and visit Shawna’s website at shawnayangryan.com to learn more. Last,…