So.. I realize that I start my blog posts with “So” as an introduction :oP but that’s just me… so I apologize to my all my English teachers for this bad habit of mine.

I just wanted to post about my experience with using the Radiopopper last night.  It was my very first time using it for my off-camera flash and it worked out beautifully! I loved the way my off camera flash gave my photos a little more pop and more depth and now I’m really hooked and I am definitely going to do a lot more practice time doing night shots!

I also had an on camera flash and because we were searching online on how to attach the Radiopopper on to our on camera flash, and we couldn’t find anything, I thought it would be helpful to someone else by sharing how we attached it.  It worked perfectly for us.

Below is how we placed the velcro:

And although it looks kinda funny, it served it’s purpose.

Here are a few teaser shots from last night’s event using our on and off-camera flashes:

The off-camera flash for this photo was right behind her and the on-camera flash was pointing straight up.

We took this picture inside a white tent.  The off camera flash was pointed straight up to the ceiling and my on camera flash was pointed to my left side.

I hope this helps someone! And if anyone else has a better way, please feel free to share it with me too :o)

Almost two years ago, I was fortunate to have been the photographer for Lauralee and Steve. Two complete strangers who found my website, interviewed me at their home, and decided that they wanted me to do their wedding photos. I’m still in awe because I didn’t have much experience then as a wedding photographer, but they believed in me and hired me. For that, I am grateful.  It was also during their wedding preparations that they had told me of an idea for table numbers that they had seen somewhere and Lauralee wanted to do the same thing for her wedding. These table number were photos of the couple doing funny poses and holding numbers up.  I thought it was a genius of an idea!!!

Fast forward to this past Wednesday evening. I told Kristi about the idea and she said that she would be up to it! So, here are a couple of shots of her table numbers that she had displayed this evening during her debutante party.  I wanted to share it with whoever might want to do the same thing.  I think it’s wayyyyy better than the usual boring table numbers… and sooo much cooler too! What do you think?

Here are my favorites! These poses were for table 2 and table 5

Table 15 pose was one of my favorites and we put the S.C.A.N. brethren in table 16 ;o)

Ryan’s idea was to get his music recording equipment for Table 17 pose and another favorite of mine is Number 21

I’ve been getting bored lately. The kind of boredom that makes me want to start changing things around and do new things.  So, Ryan and decided to finally invest in Radiopoppers and a new lens!

We finally got our Radiopoppers yesterday and as soon as we got home from choir practice, we started playing around with our flashes and so far, I love it! I’ve never tried a Pocketwizard, and I know they’re more popular, but Ryan told me that this was just as good and we would get more for our money. I trust Ryan’s decisions on a lot of our equipment because he takes A LOT of time to research anything we plan to get for our business. Plus, he’s the head of the household and I must obey ;o)

We also recently purchased a Nikon 85mm f/1.4 D AF lens. Oh my goodness gracious.  I LOVE how the pictures come out from this lens! I wish I had it earlier and I can’t believe I’ve worked without it for sooo long!  Thanks Conrad M. for convincing me to get it!  I can understand why one photographer had said, “It’s not the camera or the photographer; It’s the lens!” but I still believe it’s the Photographer, the Camera, and the Lens working properly to capture a great photo!

Well, that’s pretty much it for now.  Here are two shots of my recent purchases for es-sense ;o) to add to our bags.

I’d like to think of myself as creative, crafty, and a pretty good cook, if I have to be. There are moments when I get so into learning new things that I have to keep doing it until I finally get it right.

These past few weeks, I’ve been trying to master the skill of baking pandesal. I don’t want to make this blog post any longer by explaining what pandesal is for those who don’t know, so please click here to view the wikipedia explanation of this popular bread from the Philippines. Although I still can’t get the bread to look like how it’s suppose to, I think my favorite part about baking pandesal is spending quality time with my mom and younger brother, Jordan.  Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Projects are definitely wonderful ways to spend quality time with your loved ones. This brings me to our blog contest!!!

THE CONTEST:
I’m giving away two (2 ) copies of this book to 2 es-sense fans. A HUGE THANK YOU goes to Khris Cochran, the author of The DIY Bride, who was kind enough to give me permission to give away her book, The DIY Bride – Crafty Countdown, as prizes for this blog contest!!! Be sure to visit her website at www.diybride.com. Also a special thank you goes to her publisher, The Taunton Press, for providing the books for this contest! (Thank you Janel!)

1. It’s the perfect gift for any bride who is about to or has been planning for her wedding.

Let me tell you a few things as to why this book is so awesome!!

2. It has 40 awesome DIY ideas that makes me wish I can get married all over again!

3. Who doesn’t love saving money?? OR are you on a budget? If so, this will totally help you out! The crafty calculator on each project shows you how much money you could save if you did these DIY projects. It even gives you a list of materials for each project.

4.  You can even set up your own photobooth for your wedding/event! It tells you how!

HOW TO ENTER:
1) Must be part of the es-sense community by becoming a fan on our facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Long-Beach-CA/es-sense/120695114014

2) To get double the chances in getting this book, follow me on twitter:

http://twitter.com/jvesolitario

3) We will collect all names and randomly select the winners on March 1, 2010 (MY BIRTHDAY!).

Good luck to all our fans/friends/family!! We truly do appreciate your support!!

I was suppose to give them their albums on Sunday, but Juliet wasn’t feeling so well and we didn’t get to meet up. So I had time to take a couple of shots of their album that I had ordered through Leather Craftsmen (LC).  Again, LC did a beautiful job! Every time I get a call from them telling me an album I ordered is complete, I just have to go to their office myself and pick up the album.  I don’t work to far from their Santa Ana office and I don’t want to wait another day for delivery, so picking it up is more practical to keep my sanity under control from the excitement of receiving an album for my couples!

Here are some photos I took of their 10×10 album with a Euro-Green leather cover. Their names are branded on the front as well as on the spine.

I love the thin white pages LC provides. Yes, it’s thinner, but as strong as the thicker pages.

Our logo is proudly branded on the back of each album we order from LC.

I can’t wait to hand this album to Mr. and Mrs. Patterson!