Kirsten Stade. She studied Earth Systems at Stanford and got her Master at Columbia. She interned with Park Service in southeast Utah and was a conservation biologist at WildEarth Guardians. She has a background that anyone would want to boast about, but she never mentioned any of the these when we met. She just thanked for my time, offered me a drink, and made me feel home at her house in Silver Spring.
Florian is her boyfriend. He is a dancer. He smiles like a shy little boy in front of Kirsten. I wasn't sure if he was shy because he was in front of a camera or because he was kissing Kirsten in front of his son, Quentin.
Quentin is an aspiring actor. Not like most of us, he doesn't have a fake smile. Or maybe his fake smile looks just so natural...
There are some photos of Kirsten, Florian and Quentin.
Kirsten+Florian+Quentin in Silver Spring
No Camera Day
I love to take photos. Taking pictures of someone's wedding never felt like work, and if I had to keep only one material thing for the rest of my life, I will definitely choose my little camera. Of course, my favorite 85 mm lens attached!
But recently, I've worked too much. I was always either taking photos, processing images or thinking about new ideas. So I decided to have 'No Camera Day' at least once a month. And last Saturday was the first one.
It was my first real day-off since I got my Canon 5D in December 2007. It was hard NOT to think about pictures, but my efforts to be away from anything photography paid me off. I was already in Virginia Beach - I had a photoshoot the next day - so I didn't have to go anywhere special to enjoy the 'No Camera Day'.
I went shopping and bought two beach towels, a pair of flip-flops, a bottle of tanning oil, and a book, 'Historian'. I love to read books and have bought and read lots of books from amazon recently. But they are all like...
Light
Fashion Photography
Minimalist Lighting
500 Poses for Photographing Women
...
Yes, I needed a break.
I also bought Starbucks Vanilla Bean Frappuccino. My favorite drink at Starbucks is Light-iced Triple Skim Latte with 2 Pumps of Sugar-free Vanilla Syrup. But, coffee drinks are for work. They are kind of boring... Vanilla Bean Frappuccino is white, and has lots of little grond vanilla bean pieces, making the person who drinks that look like an angel! :)
Oh, about the book 'Historian'. It seemed interesting... But, I fell asleep on the beach on my new flower-patterned towel after reading the page 7 of the book.
Obviously, I don't have a photo taken that day, so I'll include one I just took while blogging. This is my favorite hair pin that my mom bought me from Korea! And, yes, I meant South Korea.
Miroslava & Andrei : Engagement
We met at the Starbucks, the only Starbucks in Ocean city. It rained all week, but Saturday was sunny and beautiful. It was as if the rain washed the sky clean for Mira & Andrei's engagement session.
Mira has beautiful eyes and stunning smile. But she is not just one of those pretty girls. She loves to have fun. She is not shy to make funny faces. She is energetic. She ran, jumped and made poses in front of my little camera. She is very adorable.
Andrei is tall and lean. He surfs. He looks great in his shorts. But most importantly, he never takes his eyes off of Mira.
Here are some photos from last Saturday.
Baked Custard in Phylo @ Mezze
"Little Plates, Bold Flavors, Mediterranean Fun"
Mezze is my favorite restaurant in Baltimore. At Mezze, I become a vegetarian.
From Tabouli to Grape Leaves to Stuffed Peppers, Mezze offers a long list of vegetable menu. At Mezze, its amazing how something so tasty can also be so healthy. They use lemon juice and various herbs to taste. My favorite salad, Tabouli, is made of chopped bulgur wheat, parsley, capers, feta and balsamic vinaigrette. With every bite, I feel being pampered, organic, and healthy.
I haven't tried many deserts from Mezze yet. Every time I visit Mezze, I get too full with all those dishes and forget to leave a room for desert. But this time, I controlled myself! And here we go...
Baked Custard in Phylo & Cappuccino. So fresh, so light and yummy...!!!
Just to make it clear, Mezze offers lots of seafood and meat dishes as well. And, yes, they are great, too!
Colonial Williamsburg
I spent last weekend at the Colonial Williamsburg - the restored 18th-century capital of Britain’s largest, wealthiest, and most populous outpost of empire in the New World.
We stayed at a cute colonial house with a fireplace, walked around hidden little streets all day, and biked during sunset. It was a relaxing, peaceful weekend that I recommend to anyone looking for a little getaway.
But don't go alone. This place is a little too romantic for that...
Dinner table at the Governor's Palace
Found along one of the hidden alleys...
Chopped wood for heating, cooking and etc.
Governor's Palace Garden
100 years old ham... Umm... Yummy...
Dinner at the Randolph House
Found at the cellar of the Governor's Palace
Nothing special, but Pretty...
Portraits
People appear much more beautiful when they are just being themselves than when posing. The smile on a girl's face who is truly laughing and the curiosity on a boy's eyes when he is really intrigued are hard to be faked. I think a great model is someone who can re-create her natural expressions when she is asked.
Unfortunately, most of us are not trained as a model and not very good at re-creating the moments that make us beautiful. A lot of us are not even aware of how beautiful we are because the moments just come and go before we look ourselves in a mirror. As a photographer, my job is to capture the moments that would otherwise disappear before our eyes, and help us remember for a long time.
When it comes to portraits, my clients are aware of my camera, and the challenge is to make them feel comfortable and be themselves. Sometime I direct them what to do but I prefer to let them have fun with each other and just wait for the right moment. These are some portraits from recent weddings, an engagement session and etc.
