Heespharm's Blog

Paul and Angie Candy

2009-10-17T22:47:00.000-07:00

So it's been a while since i've posted... I've been backlogged on photoprojects ever since I got back from El Salvador... but some friends of mine asked me to take pictures so that they could use them at their wedding... It was total fun!!! Lesson learned... bring props!!!

How I spent the 4th: running behind on lots of photo projects

2009-07-05T22:13:00.000-07:00

So I'll have a wedding and another photoshoot to post up later but Since i'm almost done with this photo project I think i'll post it first...

So this is how I spent the fourth of july... spending time with my long long time friend Jay and his band Parts Per Million...

They were invited to play at Freedom over Texas on the Liberty Stage... It was hot as heck out there!!! We were all sweating our butts of and the drummer started throwing up water it was so hot... I was fine because I was used to the heat but the band, being from Chicago, were not happy with the heat!

So later that day we also had an opportunity to take some band shots for them... hopefully they'll use them in their upcoming album or their next promo flier...

I have soooo many more to edit but here is a little preview:

A million little pictures

2009-06-14T01:16:00.000-07:00

So I'm participating in a art project called "A Million Little Pictures" where the art house coop in atlanta georgia sent out DISPOSABLE film cameras and they will be shown in a gallery later...

So it got me thinking what are the settings of these cameras... I think I've found them... it's a 32mm lens equivalent, iso 400, shutter of 1/125, and at a aperture of f10

after comparing the opening to my lenses I also believe this to be true. Yes you do have more wiggle room with exposure on film compared to digital but I'd still like to nail my exposure.... The contest runs all summer long basically and I'm looking forward in participating!!!

Hope this helps anybody who wants to try this out!! Maybe use some slave flashes??

Catching up on photo projects

2009-06-09T01:00:00.000-07:00

So I haven't been really posting much lately but just wanted to update my blog on some photo stuff i've done...

First up: Baby Schaeffer pics

I was asked by one of my church members to take pics of their new son... They wanted a photojournalistic shoot... I wasn't quite sure where to go with this because it wasn't really something i've had much experience with it... But I gave it a go and ended up loving the product...

I really enjoy doing these projects for my church members... I've really gotten to know alot people I wouldn't have met otherwise... Just shows how great God is and how he uses our gifts to bring us closer to each other..

2nd: Terracota warriors

Truely an amazing exhibit... a bunch of photographers had an opportunity to view this exhibit and bring tripods in and take some amazing pictures....

I must admit... There was a sense of awe and wonder of seeing the great pieces of art/history ... to think they were buried in 200 BC and found 2000 years later in 1970 AD

They say it's one of the top 5 exhibits to see before you die

Lastly: Mary Maternity 3

So This is the last set before she has her baby in a couple of weeks.... We kinda went nuts this time and got alot of pictures... man she just a melon waiting to blow up now... So excited for her and Jason... can't wait to see Chloe O'brien... ha!

I'm coining two phrases

2009-04-14T12:37:00.000-07:00

1. Obamination/obamanation
2. obamanomics

note: these phrases in no way reflect my political views

First client engagement shoot... (as opposed for friends)

2009-04-08T21:07:00.000-07:00

Had the joy of shooting Phil and Yoorim's engagement pics ... Beautiful couple and lots of fun to chill with... I was really nervous to be honest because these are the first engagement pictures I've taken for clients and not my friends...

I took this time to experiment on my processing too... Some hits some misses... some do's and don'ts learned

Strawberry day!!

2009-04-05T22:44:00.000-07:00

So went strawberry picking for the first time since I was 8ish....

Picture Taking Carni/BFF

2009-03-19T01:28:00.000-07:00

So I FINALLY Got to go to the rodeo... First time I've been since I've moved here to Houston... mmm fried oreo's, ahhh fried cookie dough, ewww fried M &M's... I took my SLR with me and had a great time

Before we went I met up with some friends for some fun shots... totally BFF!!!

As I was taking this last picture, someone came up to me and asked "Oh! How much for the pictures" hahahah she thought I was a picture taking "Carni"... In retrospect, I should have said, "A mere 20 tickets!"

Jtfotos.com Houston wedding/event photography website Is up!!!!

2009-03-15T14:01:00.001-07:00

So JS finally got around to designing a website... and let me tell ya... I think it was worth the wait!!!

He also Redid our logo... which I love too... time to order new business cards hahahaha... Anyways Take a look at it and maybe JS will even upload some of his own pictures on there instead of only mine!!!

PS> I know the links do not work right now because we haven't designed the other pages yet... but it's better than a banner that read "COMING SOON!!" HAHA

WWW.JTFOTOS.COM

HMNS: Houston strobist meetup

2009-03-10T23:44:00.000-07:00

So this guy named Crossmage and this girl named Erinblatzer on flickr arranged it so a couple photographers could go to the houston museum of natural science after hours and do some photography... I had the Opportunity to go and aerovero showed up later... What a great opportunity!!

Thanks guys for setting this up!! Had a great time!!

Baby Rebekah Portraits

2009-03-10T21:47:00.001-07:00

So as a favor I was asked to take baby pictures/ family portraits of the Hong family and was more than happy to oblige. Had very limited time and resources to make my shots, so I threw up a black cloth and went to town with 2 strobes and a soft box

Ended up having alot of fun and became better acquainted with a super nice family at my church.

Good Photography weekend....

2009-02-12T17:19:00.000-08:00

So this weekend I had TWO photoshoots!!! yay!!

First, I was helping to cover for another photographer again to shoot a first birthday.. In Korean culture the first is always a big deal!!! anyways it was fun to do and different from the usual wedding photography I usually do. It was at the beautiful Hilton skyline restaurant....

Next, Mary maternity pics... She wants me to take pictures of each month of the pregnancy.. pretty exciting to see how they turn out and helps me practice my portrait and lighting work... She's only barely 3 months prego now so she's not showing that much... (as you can see)

Jtfotos slideshow

2009-02-01T23:49:00.001-08:00

Just playing around with slideshows

Thompson wedding

2009-01-28T21:39:00.000-08:00

Had the joy to shoot the Thompson wedding this weekend... Unfortunately I was still suffering from my "super flu" so I was still all feverish...

It was a at place in Houston called The Gallery... Great venue.. perfect for an intimate wedding!

It seemed like everything was confusing at first... I was doing this wedding as a second shooter... when we got there we found out that another photographer (brides friend) was coming too so we would have 3 shooters for a 70 person wedding....

So I'm up on the balcony shooting through the fence facing the hall... I stuck my 85mm lens with the lens hood through the uprights on the fence to get some interesting shots.... and as I was pulling back, my lens hood caught on the uprights and the hood went flying off!!! INTO THE CROWD!!!... I was so embarrassed... but I got a great candle lit shot as you will see below..

burgertex - best burgers in texas... it says so on the sign!!!

2009-01-15T22:52:00.000-08:00

So it seems like lately I've had alot of opportunities to use my photography for different purposes now... This time it was for a new pictures for a burgershop...

Burgertex is my favorite burgershop in Houston... Juicy burgers with fresh ingredients.... to take a line from papa john's "better ingredients, better burgers"...

Not to mention it's owned by my friends and their families...

mmm juicy burgers... sooo hungry now!

2009-01-05T00:31:00.000-08:00

Two Images from home... It was quite warm and murky the whole time I was home... these were taken in the car ride on the way out of Indiana (it was the only time that the skies cleared enough to shoot some pictures) I can see why the locals call it "God's Country"

"The Road Home"

"God's Country"

The xmas homecoming that almost wasn't....

2008-12-24T14:47:00.000-08:00

The xmas that wasn't... well it's been a month since my last update.... Since then nothing much has really happened but, with my new job, I have been allowed to actually go home for xmas. I was very excited as I haven't been home for xmas in 5 years!!!!

So I got off work and started cleaning and packing for the trip. I didn't sleep in fear that I would not make it to the 630am flight!! Eventually I did nap for 1 hour and was on my way... Got to the airport at 5am and after parking strolled up to redeem the tickets that I booked on expedia. I arrived at the NWA terminal to find out that my flight has been cancelled!!! Apparently my flight had been changed from NWA to continental because they are doing this work/cost sharing thing. I thought, "that's wierd why would I be going to another company". "Lord help me"

So I went to the train to go to the E terminal so I could check in with continental. The train took a long time to get to the E terminal (about 20 min). Eventually I arrived and by the time I made it through the long lines at continental it was 6AM... Freaken great, I have 3o minutes left... plenty of time... and that's when it all fell apart.

I swiped my card... NO itinerary found. Tried my other credit card, Nothing... Tried by confirmation number.. nothing... so I hailed the manager down (who was very rude and treated me like I was a retard) and gave her my license... she looked and said there was nothing for me that day!!!! At this point I was furious, frustrated, and almost in tears... I wouldn't be going home for xmas. "Why Lord Why??"

Out of desperation I called NWA customer service... and asked what the freak was going on... The woman was very nice despite getting a call 610AM on xmas eve... She said that she could see where they cancelled my flight ... she told me to hold... "in my mind i'm thinking I'm never going to make a 630AM flight at this point"... about 5 minutes later she came back and explained to me that they never re-enrolled me into the replacement flight... So I asked for a confirmation of the enrollment and marched back up to the same manager and asked them to look up the flight.... and she said.. "oh here you are, I guess I must have missed it the first time"... thanks but no thanks b****!!! So it turned out the flight I was put on was a continental flight that left at 708AM... by this time it was 645AM.. "thanks for the break Lord"

I rushed to the security check point and the line was hella long... It looked bleak, and the whole time I'm praying "Lord send me home if it be in your will".... just then 3 tsa workers walked up and helped check ID's so people can go through faster!!! What timing... I ran to the gate and caught the flight 5 minutes before take off!!!! "Thanks be to GOD!!"

Epilogue: So I flew to detroit for a layover to get off my continental flight and finish the rest of my journey on NWA. Got off my plane, looked for my gate, and found it... got a gourmet peanut butter and jelly sandwich (crunchy PB, easy on the jelly, heavy on the banana) and headed to my gate... and just as I rolled up to the gate, i looked up at the board to see where my second plane (the one that will take me home to indy) was coming from... and guess where... IT CAME FROM HOUSTON!!!! I could have ridden the same plane all the way from houston to detroit to Indy... I hate expedia and NWA now!!!

I'm home now and after two great korean meals with my folks and a 3 hour nap I'm happy to be back in the house I grew up in. The weather played a minimal roll today as it finaly let up LAST NIGHT!!! Thanks for all the prayers for better weather... I told my parents that I had the whole congregation praying for good weather... God is truely large and in charge...

ok peace ya'll... MERRY XMAS!!! God bless us every one!!

Sidewalk project!!

2008-11-23T22:16:00.000-08:00

A buddy of mine is really involved in arts and charitable giving. This weekend he had a great project where artists can put up their art and the procedes go to charity!! www.sidewalkproject.org

Anywho since my "art" was on display I thought I would take pictures there. Packed up some of my off camera lighting equipment (barebones: stand, flash, and pocketwizards) and was off. To my surprise there was an incredible singer there who was the "Headliner" of the show... Great stuff!! kinda sappy songs but very talented nonetheless!!! You can find him at: http://www.myspace.com/tjeaustin

here are some of the pics:

diy r-strap

2008-10-09T21:13:00.000-07:00

Just reposting the post i submitted on DIYphotography.net

Here is a quick R-Strap recipe by Hee Soo Shin:

1. Take a strap from a messenger bag. You can take one from a bag you no longer use, or buy a new one for close to nothing at goodwill.

2. For this hack, Hee Soo, took one of the quick connects by Bogen tripod, but you can also use a 3/4 bolt with an extension. Or,
you can use an L bracket from the bottom part of a cactus v2s receiver mount.

3. Use a buckle to fasten the two ends of the strap together...

4. For shoulder pad, you can use what ever came with the messenger bag strap, or use a shoulder strap pad from a guitar store(7 bucks))

Voila... DIY R-strap.. it's super comfortable and the great part is at weddings when you have to have 2 camera's with flashunit in the hotshoe it's totally out of your way and you don't have 2 flash units sticking up at you.

Bartlett Wedding

2008-08-12T23:14:00.000-07:00

What a pleasure it was to take pictures of such an animated family. Everyone was pretty chill and laid back and the venue was incredible!!! Here's some sneak peaks from my side of the wedding...

Congratulations guys!!! Thanks for letting us share this day with you!

2008-07-05T02:02:00.001-07:00

| View | Upload your own

Happy fourth!!!

2008-07-04T23:56:00.000-07:00

Happy fourth of July!!! More pics to follow

Wedding pictures

2008-06-23T20:54:00.000-07:00

Okay people, I have gotten permission to post all the photos... They can be found at:

http://albums.phanfare.com/heespharm

They turned out better than i thought they would.. But , always being hard on myself, I know I can do better... Gotta think more before I click the shutter... To my credit, however, these were all taken with my single back-up camera and ONE lens... Just shows that the gear doesn't matter... anyways here's some teasers!! (LMK if there are problems with the pictures displaying..)

Oh and if you want any pictures, I have allowed downloads on the site (check the right side of each picture)... Also check the slideshow... I love the song it's "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole

Oh and there are NO pictures of me so don't ask... hahaha

Congrats

2008-06-23T03:02:00.000-07:00

Congrats Billy and Mei Mei Kim....

Thanks for letting me take part in your special day!!!

Many more photos will be up soon once I get clearance from the happy couple!!

Haven't posted in almost a month!!!

2008-06-20T01:52:00.000-07:00

Damn haven't posted anything in about a month... Haven't been doing much photography!!!! I have recently been just gearing up and reading alot... I realized that although I have all the gear I need to go back and get much more training!!!

I've split my time reading books on technique and books on photoshop skills (essential for all photographers). Photoshop is no longer a tool to just splice yourself into a picture of you and george bush shaking hands... It's become a digital darkroom of sorts. Anything that was previously done by the developer now must be done at home!! So taking pictures has now become the beginning of the process not the end of the process.

JS booked another wedding that I'm gonna help him shoot but it's a 10 hour wedding ON MY BIRTHDAY!! umm working on gaining more knowledge to parlay this photog thing into a part time job.. I have a real passion for wedding photography for some reason... Maybe it's my need to capture Kodak moments.. I dunno but I'm drawn to those types of pictures for some reason.

Got some time to work with JS studio lights... Had lots of fun with them... Christine and her sister was nice enough to be our subjects... I dunno about you, but I hate having my picture taken (ironic huh??? I also don't like taking medication) Some turned out great but I'm very very critical of my work so of course I think they need alot of improvement!! But here are some pictures.

Also been working alot... in the past 21 days, I've worked 20 of them!!!! If any of you follow my facebook wall you'd see that I worked 55 hours one week 66 hours the next and 52 hours this week (and its only thursday!!!) Sounds crazy I know!! I would say the money is nice but FICA and my 401k took most of it... And the other half was spent on fathers day, my brothers bday, and an upcoming wedding I'm involved in.

I have highly considered changing jobs to free up more weekends. One job opportunity has become available that would allow me to do just that. The offer is still on the table and I am first on the list of names, but it would be a substantial paycut!! We're talking about the 5 figure paycut!!! The only reason I'm considering it is to free up more sundays for church. My biggest regret, I guess, since I've started my career is all the church I've been missing. Work is important but God made me... I mean what can I say to rebutle that!!! We'll see what happens. Only God can show me the way... Either way I hope he grants me the courage/wisdom to make the decision He wants me to make!

Other side notes... Went to Vegas= lost alot of money... that's all I'm gonna say about that...

Well thanks for taking the time to read hopefully I will post more frequently from now on!!!

Toys I want: Canon G9, Canon 580exII, Canon 20d backup camera

Upcoming photography opportunities: BK/MT wedding, CC karate shots, Wanting to go to San Antonio to shoot for some reason... Anybody going or wanna go with me??

Follow me at: albums.phanfare.com/heespharm ; www.flickr.com/albums/aznpharm79

Wedding shot day of earthquake

2008-05-22T12:22:00.000-07:00

Could you imagine it's your big day and then an earthquake strikes....

Check out this dude's Xanga page...

http://www.xanga.com/lelandwong/657607591/photographing-a-wedding-and-then-an-earthquake.html

HDR photography experiment

2008-05-20T23:20:00.000-07:00

Hdr is a generally new/ highly evolving style of photography....

Basically what it does it increases the dynamic range (hdr=high dynamic range)

What does that mean really??? basically when you take a picture, if it's too bright you lose the detail in the highlights (turns too white) and if it's too dark you lose the detail in the shadows (turns all black)

So why don't you correctly expose the picture correctly??? well even if it's exposed correctly, you lose some details in both the shadows and highlights...

So HDR is basically setting your camera to take multiple exposures (one dark, one light, and one normal or any number of exposures in between). Then you can combine those pics in photoshop or a program called photomatix and make an HDR. They've been doing this in movies for years.. so you get an eerie sky but the main character is still visible and bright...

Now what they've found is not only do you get the lights and darks correct, but you get a higher selection of light and dark colors... so the people at photomatix have found a way to boost these colors to get that illustrated feel but obviously still a picture... Some people dont' like this at all (**cough cough john** cough) but I think it looks like an oil painting but with more detail! Great stuff!!

Here's my example below:

More examples here

Visit my Phanfare site: http://albums.phanfare.com/heespharm

Flickr alternative

2008-05-20T02:23:00.000-07:00

Are you not happy with how flickr displays your pictures? Do you want a free alternative source???

www.phanfare.com is your answer....

It has a very organized and very user friendly structure for outside people to view your pictures. However, the user friendliness of the interface is not that great UNLESS you download the desktop program (which is free).

The real draw for me here is that the slideshows can have music to be added to it...

Check out the results here

albums.phanfare.com/heespharm

DIY: GF origami diffuser. 4 bucks!!!

2008-05-16T23:59:00.000-07:00

So after recieving the Origami Diffuser and playing around with it a while... one of the side arms broke off... I thought great... now I have to spend 30 bucks replacing it right??? wrong!!!!

It got me thinking... What is this thing made of anyways and how can i mimic it so I don't have to buy a new one???? So I made a new one out of simple cheap materials...

Materials:

- Sticky velcro (2 bucks)
- 32 ounce CVS rubbing 70% alcohol (1 or 2 bucks) (the large size... tall and cylindrical)
- one rubberband (wide)
- Cut out of JPG (enclosed) in this post)
- scissors
- Goo gone (or anything that can help remove a sticky label... like rubbing alcohol maybe????)

Steps

1. Drain the alcohol bottle out completely

2. cut the top and bottom off then cut a line down from the top of the bottle to the bottom of your bottle, so your left with a sheet of opaque plastic

3. Take the label off with goo gone

4. Download picture below (yes you have my full permission to use it) and cut it out
- you need to cut on the outside of the black lines not the inside of the black lines...
- Don't cut on the dotted lines... those are fold lines
- fold on fold lines... use a ruler to help you get a straight line
- Make sure that the picture is 6 and 3/8 inches from top to bottom when printed out

5. take the sticky velcro soft side and measure around your speedlight so that you know you have enough velcro....

6. Remove only the part of the velcro backing so it can cover the center piece of the diffuser (see pic below)

7. Cut out a 2 inch strip of the hook side of the velcro and take the backing off and stick it to the end of the back side of the soft velcro... (see pic below)

8. Wrap rubber band around the top of your speed light..

9. Wrap the velcro around you speed light flash end...

10. Take pictures

Taken with the Gary Fong Origami

Taken with the DIY Diffuser

Please pray for me

2008-05-15T23:49:00.000-07:00

Please pray for me as there may be many changes in my work. Pray that God's will for me may be done and that I will have the wisdom and knowledge to see what decisions He wants me to make.

Groomsmen Golf

2008-05-14T02:18:00.000-07:00

Well I hate to put posts back to back but it was a busy photography weekend...

Billy took us all out for golf for our groom's men gift...
Had lots of fun even tho I don't play golf...

Congrats to Chae for shooting the best game in his life (I think it was 13 over which is like an 85??? WOW!!)
1. Chinaman's Game

2. Off Roading in our Carts

3. Did I just hit that?

4. The Look of a Winner

5. The Mythical Hogan Ball

6. Focusing

7. GO TO YOUR HOME!!

8. En Garde

9. Nutmegged

10. Mid-Flight

11. Cruisin'

12. What???

13. Get There!

14. Silouhuette

15. Can we go home now??

Check out more pics at my Flickr

Photos from Christine's and Teresa"s B-day/Crawfish boil!

2008-05-13T01:05:00.000-07:00

So learned a couple of things:

- Never buy 104 lbs. of crawfish! People will ask "Why the four pounds??"
- 104 lbs. is WAYYYY too much crawfish for 20 odd people.
- Trivial pursuit pop edition is really hard to find!!
- If I ever had kids I would NEVER let them play GTA 4

So it was crawfish all day then Komodo's for drinks, then MaMa's Cafe for late night dinner...

Komodo's was my type of place! It's a house theme (so living room, Kitchen, patio, TV over fireplace... wonder where the bedroom went... hmmm) Good place to chill.. Nice pick Jo.

Here are the pics (more at my flickr)

Looking For Photography Podcasts

2008-05-05T12:16:00.000-07:00

My favorite two are

TWIP at www.twipphoto.com

the digital photography show

at www.thedigitalphotographyshow.com

Galveston 2008

2008-05-04T00:32:00.000-07:00

Galveston 2008

So back to the photography that I love... Landscapes...

JS and I have been jealous of everybody's beach/sunset shots... So this weekend we decided to change that!

So after working a 10 hour day at CVS with only 2 hours of sleep, John, Christine, and I went down to Galveston. A very ill planned trip, but once again made the best of it. After driving half an hour to Galveston beach, we made it!!! Unfortunately there are too many people on the beach and it faces east... Now as we know, the sun sets in the west! So armed with a GPS we decided to find somewhere where we could get the sunset. After driving around for another 20 min, we found a small boat dock which ended up being perfect!!!

BUT one more problem... because it was so windy, and the beach having lots of sand, I ended up getting alot of crud on my sensor which ruined about 2/3 of my shots!!! So once again I had to make apple pie from bad apples.... I think the six shots i was able to salvage turned out well... And with a little tweaking from CS3 made them even better!

Thanks Christine for dinner! and THANK YOU STROBIST!!!

So here they are... Submitted for your approval.

2008-05-01T02:54:00.000-07:00

Well xanga is getting pretty tiring so I decided to switch to google... So here is my last blog post from Xanga!!

Well I wasn't really expecting or prepared for taking pics of Billy and Mei Mei.. We got there so late that we had only 10-15 min of daylight left... so that meant high ISO, long exposure times (which blurred many of the pics to uselessness) and lots of fill flash... Gotta learn to dial down that flash more.. but anyways... i think it turned out well...

Despite all my excuses... couldn't have asked for a better photoshoot!!!!
Got to use my new lens which i have absolutely fallen in love with!!!!

So here it is... the soon to be married couple.. thanks for putting me in your wedding

(if you look at this pic, the constellation orion is in the background... boy was it dark outside!!!)

Left: This shot was so blurred it was unusable... or was it??? Right: (The correct sharper pic taken seconds later)

My Fav.. Took LOTS of work to get it right

Went for an antiqued look for this one.. like 1930's

Queen on her throne

Took 2 pics just for me... experimenting with HDR... Makes the capital and street look so eerie

More can be found at my flickr.. www.flickr.com/photos/aznpharm79