Yesterday was one of those days where everything falls into place effortlessly. We picked up Yim’s Dad’s ashes and laid him to rest under the shade of a tree, in a heart shaped cremation garden in a Queens cemetery. He was 62. We will miss him greatly, especially his cooking and his loud talking. He was an avid storyteller of Chinese tales and a Qi Gong practitioner. All those things are gone with him now. He was quick to anger, but also quick to forget. He was a kind man.  I regret that our soon to be born baby will not be able to witness his showmanship and the magic tricks he does for little kids.

Time has no promises and that’s why we keep our memories alive with photographs. Tamar, a young woman whose aspiration is to become a family doctor, contacted me the day before for a family portrait session. She resides in New Orleans and came back to visit her family in Brooklyn. Tamar will be going to Cuba to study family medicine, so she can come back to New Orleans to help the people in needs. Tamar told me she will be getting a free education there; therefore she can afford to study as a general practitioner without having to worry about paying back expensive loans.

I am touched by her idealism and honesty.

Before we drove to meet up with Tamar and her family, we stopped by Dosa Hutt in Flushing to clench our thirst with the most delicious mango lassi. Yim is a food fanatic. I have never seen anyone read every menu like it was on the New York Times best sellers list, but she does and there’s no doubt that she is a foodie. I’m the kind of guy that can eat the same dish over and over again. Yim loves variety and she has really broadened my horizon when it comes to food. And her father’s cooking was the best.

I love tropical fruits and on the day Yim introduced me to mango lassi, I died and went to heaven, but I have to come back to earth for more. Like a kid I drank all mine and part of Yim’s lassi while waiting for our lunch at the Hindu Temple around the corner.

I thought, “Nothing can top today’s mango lassi from Dosa Hutt.” Well, I was wrong! After lunch Yim introduced me to mango kulfi, and the only thing I can say is that I felt like squatting on the sidewalk and eat that ice cream like a real native. Hey, we Asians can squat and it makes us happy; there’s one exception, Yim can’t squat for the life of her. She really needs to learn how to squat before she gives birth to our baby.

The only thing I can dream of that can top the mango kulfi is to dip it in the mango lassi. Now that’s ecstasy! Can’t wait to try that soon one day.

Can this day get any better? Yes, it can!

While waiting for Tamar and family in Dumbo, we sauntered into a bookstore, powerHouse Books, at the corner of Main and Water Street.

To be inspired by photographers of the past is one thing. Time has the ability to add weight to event and people from the past. Nostalgia is an important and powerful factor in influencing us to fall in love with things and people from the past; e.g., our heroes are most of the time dead and our legends are from the past. My dead heroes and legends in photography are Eugene Smith, Dorothy Lange, Henri-Cartier Bresson, and David Douglas Duncan (oops, he’s 94 and still kicking!) just to name a few.

Recently, I have been touched by the works of living breathing photographers of the present and just yesterday, I found two! Kristen Ashburn and another photographer named Boogie. I bought Kristen Ashburn’s book, “I Am Because We Are”.   Her images of the orphans from Malawi are truly an in depth study of human character. You have to love people to capture their spirit and to turn a snapshot into an image that speaks to people for generations to come.

Boogie’s work is hauntingly beautiful and breaks all rules. In an interview Boogie reaffirms a belief of mine; he said, “…inspiration and good shots are all around. It’s up to you to see all that. You can make great shots right here. It’s not about where you are. It’s not about going to crazy, f*cked up places,  it’s everywhere”.

You don’t have to go to special places to make great photos. You can make great photos where you are. Don’t wait for beautiful things to happen, the moment and place you are in has all the beauty you need. Go shoot and be one with your camera, place and time.

Tamar tried very hard to get everyone (14 people) to show up on time in Dumbo. It was not an easy task. We were half an hour late from our appointed time, but no big deal. We cope with what we have at that moment in time. And what we had was a wonderful mix of 3 generations (toddlers, parents, and grandma). Tamar’s Dad was called away on an emergency and couldn’t join us.

We shot quickly and furiously before the sun sets. Only available natural light was used for this family portrait session. Nothing captures the soul naturally like nature’s own light.

To reward Yim and our little bun for being such a great help, we went to one of Yim’s favorite Taiwanese restaurant in Elmhurst. We ordered dried radish omelet and a very spicy shrimp dish (I felt the effect this morning).

We ended the day with 3 scoops of home made mango and green tea ice cream from a street vendor we stumbled upon after the delicious dinner. I was walking with 50 pounds of camera gear, but it was so worth it and most importantly, Yim was no longer cranky, but totally happy. You don’t want to cross a pregnant lady when she’s hungry after all; she has 2 mouths to feed.

Recently, a bride who loves my work decided to go with another photographer after reading my blog post on, “The Best locations for engagement photos in New York City”.  Her wedding will be at the Palm House in New York City’s renowned Brooklyn Botanical Garden.

I thought my readers will realize that the post was a tongue and cheek writing about personal preferences and why you should not have one as professional photographer. That’s why I intentionally did not give a long list of the best locations for engagement photos in NYC, because the best locations are where you end up at the moment. The best “landscapes” are the human faces. Without that there’s no meaning to the best locations.

I’m certain that I’ll write more future blog posts on the best locations for photography sessions. Hopefully, soon you’ll be able to see some incredible images taken in ordinary everyday locations.

I would like to  end this post and leave with you a thought about focus…if you focus on the finger pointing to the moon; you will miss all that heavenly glory. And if you focus on getting to that beautiful location, you will miss those gorgeous moments on the way. Seize the moment, which is here and now and right in front of you! Carpe diem!

How many brides have been serenaded by the groom on the wedding day?  Now, how many brides have a song or music written in your honor all dedicated to you?  The prelude from slide show below was composed by the groom, Eric, and it is called, “Fur Adina”.   What a romantic gesture!

Snow Doesn’t Stop A Wedding!

As theAssistant for Willi, theStoryteller, I have to arrange for most if not all of Willi’s transportation. On the day before and on the day of Adina and Eric’s wedding, there was a big snow storm. The driver that we have arranged to take Willi to the East Meadow Jewish Center in Long Island for the wedding called early in the morning on the day of the wedding to let us know that his car was buried in snow and that the streets in his neighbor was not yet plowed.

The East Meadow Jewish Center is about 30 miles from our studio in Manhattan and on a normal day with no traffic it shouldn’t take more than 40 minutes to get there. We figured that it’ll take us over 2 hours to get there on a bad weather day. We weren’t even sure if all the roads and highways were plowed, but our first concern was getting hold of a car. In our neighborhood there are a handful of car services. One after another we were told that they have no available drivers. Thank goodness to friends and referrals that we finally found a ride to Long Island.

We didn’t even bother calling the groom to confirm if the wedding was still going on despite the inclement weather conditions. Weather has never stopped Willi from photographing a wedding; therefore he didn’t think a bride and groom would call off their special day because of a little snow on the ground. The snow on the ground only made it look more like a winter wonderland.

Adina and Eric’s beautiful ketubah was custom made by Adina’s mom, Janice Cepler of Yaffa Studios. You can see more of Janice’s magnificent work of art and creativity on her website: http://sites.google.com/site/yaffastudiosjc/Home

Good Omens for a Happy Winter Wonderland Wedding Day:

Snow falling on the wedding day is a prophecy of great happiness.

Snow on the wedding day brings money.

When December snows fall fast, marry and true love will last.

Snow on your wedding day is a sign of fertility and prosperity.

If it snows on your wedding day, you will get a dollar for every flake that falls on you.

If snow falls on their wedding day, it means happiness for the bride and groom.

Paul and Katy, a couple overcoming tragedies, celebrates life and gives the ultimate gift of a traditional Chinese wedding to their family.  Paul and Katy’s wedding becomes more than just the union of two people in love.

Their love for one another is very apparent; from the way they hold hands to the way they feed each other food. I can’t believe my eyes that in this day and age of fast food, fast paced and fast everything that I can still witness such an old fashion gesture of TLC between a young couple. These two will grow old together and have many children and grandchildren along the way. I can feel in my heart that this is what Paul and Katy want.

We created a wedding guest sign in book from their engagement session in Central Park and from it you can see the love between Katy and Paul for yourself.

Katy and Paul had wanted a more westernized wedding and reception, since they are both ABC (American Born Chinese), but they conceded to their parents wishes and went with a traditional Chinese style wedding. Which means they will have to perform the traditional rituals of picking up the bride, paying respect to the ancestors and gods by offering incense and burning paper money, and paying respects to their parents and elders through a *tea ceremony.

A traditional Chinese wedding maybe a challenge to a photographer.  With most traditional Chinese style weddings, all the rituals are performed at home and most first generation Chinese immigrant homes are not clutter free (my parents are no exception, they give a new meaning to pack rat).   As a photographer my goal is to make my clients look terrific by capturing the emotional moment in the most natural and beautiful way.

My motto to myself is to always have an open mind in all situations, don’t judge and let the beauty of the moment reveal itself to me. When we judge with our own tinted vision, we can not see what’s naturally beautiful. As a storyteller, I am hired to not only document the day in the life of a couple, but also to make beautiful images to cherish for generations.

On Katy and Paul’s wedding day we were given rain, wind, and snow. When it was time for us to shoot some outdoor photographs, the rain and wind got together to test our ability to adapt. We had to change our plan because of the limitation of time and the inclement weather. Instead of going to Dumbo to shoot against the beautiful New York City skyline; we ended up at Brooklyn’s Eighth Avenue subway station. The Eighth Avenue station is a symbolic place for Katy and Paul. It’s where waves of Chinese American and other immigrants pass through daily. It’s also where Paul grew up and near where he and Katy celebrated their wedding that evening at the Pacificana Restaurant.

Once again we’ve found beauty in a less than expected beautiful setting; we embraced what was beautiful within all of us at that moment.

Katy and Paul’s unselfish and filial gift not only brought closure to the past, but brings with it hope for a beautiful and fruitful life ahead. With love, all is possible. Katy and Paul, I look forward to photographing your children and seeing the smiles on you and your family’s faces.

The fabulous Monika Broz, one of the most unbelievable and energetic photographer I have the pleasure of knowing, second shot with me that day.

Katy’s wedding day hair and make up  by Jina and Carol of JAC Beauty.

*Chinese Wedding Tea Ceremony
In Chinese culture, the younger generation always shows its respect to the older generation by offering a cup of tea. The tea ceremony is considered a significant event in a Chinese wedding. The groom and bride are formally introduced and welcomed into each other’s family through the tea ceremony. After the drinking of the tea, gifts are presented to the bride and groom. Gifts are usually in forms of “lucky” red envelopes that contain money or jewelry.

No matter how open minded I think I am; I am still a human being who has preferences. Even though I vowed for no preference as an artist and especially as a photographer on a wedding day with a mission to capture the best photos possible in any given situation, but during a moment of weakness I sometimes prefer certain locations over others.

Please forgive me for what I am about to say.   Flower lovers; especially the ones that prefer the manicured and well groomed variety ones like cherry blossoms and tulips neatly planted in a garden, etc.. I can’t stand these cherished, pampered, and privileged garden flowers, for they reeked of arrogance and wealth. Sorry, I was not born rich and never had the privilege of growing up with fresh cut flowers at home. I was so deprived of this that I used to sneak flowers home after a wedding and kept these symbols of wealth long after they have dried up. Excuse me, I have digressed.

Well, going back to the best locations for engagement photos. Now, let me say this if you have not figured out; I prefer wild flowers over manicured ones. Give me a wild daisy or dandelion anytime over a well groomed rose full of pesticides. On the same vibe, I prefer Central Park proper over the Conservatory; Prospect Park over the Brooklyn Botanical Garden; and the Kissena Park over the Queens Botanical Garden or any park that does not require payment or a permit is better than the ones that do.

There’s a reason for this madness, I meant passion.  It is freedom! You are always watched in the permit required places and they are also filled with rules and regulations of what you can or cannot do. For example, the Brooklyn Botanical Garden where Anna and Steve, who did not know of my peculiar attitude towards BBG (at the mention of this garden; my liver heat rises, therefore I need my dandelion drink to calm me down), have chosen to have their engagement photos taken. Yuck, I did not sleep the night before thinking about it. I have digressed again…

We were stopped by men in uniforms riding in their little green cars, now how is that going green? They should be walking instead of wasting energy. We were told to stop because we had professional equipment. Which meant we should have pay lots of $$$ for a permit.  When they were nice to let us off; they stop us from using our small reflector. Their reason: “It distracts people”. Bottom line, it’s the $250 fee that we did not pay.

Sorry, this sounds like ranting and raving, this is unlike me; but thanks to Anna and Steve for giving me the opportunity to learn once again to not judge.  A familiar phrase of Shakespeare rang in my head once again, “There’s nothing bad or good, but thinking makes it so”.

So what are the best places to take engagement photos again? You should know the answer, it’s inside you.

I want to thank Anna and Steve once again for enlightening my vision and also went along with me to satisfy my love for the wild at the end of the session. I had the chance to shoot in the wild of Prospect Park!