Liz Ashley

I had some time over the holidays to clean up some old pictures of Liz from about two years ago.   I am making it my new year’s resolution to create something epic with Liz this year.

Taipei – Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall

I had the chance to spend the weekend in Taipei last month; so I made sure that I packed my Benro tripod with me.  I chose CKS memorial since it was relatively close to my hotel, and easily accessible from the MRT.

Hannah

Shooting Hannah (and Wen) was quite a learning experience for me.  I had limited gear (speedlights, umbrellas, eBay softbox, and reflector) and tight space (my hotel room).  To be fair, I knew my challenges before I set out on my trip; but I didn’t realize how little I knew about lighting in small spaces.

Sea to Summit Workshop – Santa Cruz

I finally got around to join the Sea to Summit Workshops in Santa Cruz ran by Jim Patterson and Josh Cripps.  They hold landscape workshops up and down California coast; and every once in a while, they venture out to the sierras.  Boy, did I learn a lot.

Wen and Only Wen

About a month ago, I had the chance to spend a weekend in Taipei.  To kill time, I decided to scout for models via Modelmayhem.  Since I was traveling, I was only able to bring limited gear.  The other restriction was location;  the temperature outside was 90+degF with high humidity.  Given these two challenges, I decide to do a glamour set in my hotel room.  I chose Wen because her portfolio shows she is experienced with my theme;  sure enough, she did not disappoint me.  She is full of energy and always excited to improvise on my ideas no matter how dumb they were.  The excitement she brought made the shoot extra fun.

Liz Ashley – High Key

Well… let’s call it a high-key attempt; I didn’t over-expose it enough to fit the description of classic high-key.

Liz Ashley – Bedroom Set

I’ve wanted to do this for a long time; bedroom set with shallow DOF.  Focus on the eyes only;  bokeh cross the rest of the body.

Liz Ashley

“Wow…” That’s what I said every time Liz changes her pose.  It’s been about a year since I first saw her work; ever since then, I’ve been patiently waiting for her return to the bay area.  Well, she’s worth the wait.

Jen – Natural Light

No fancy lighting trick here.  Just beautiful Jen with her memorizing eyes.  I just love the highlights on her hair.  From this angle, she does have a slight resemblance to Jennifer Morrison (House MD).  I pre-processed the raw file with Capture NX2 – adjusted the black point to improve contrast (she was slightly back-lit); then just finish up with minor retouches in Photoshop.

Jen

Every once in a while I come across models that I knew I had to work with; Jen is a perfect example.