Blog x Reboot
Personal
From a recent trip to Chicago, Illinois.
I’ve neglected this blog for a bit too long. It’s not that I haven’t been shooting — I’ve actually been shooting a lot. I am just not the best at maintaining updates publicly. So here’s to my mid-year resolution: blog more!
Expect blog updates to come very soon!
-Liang
Behind the Scenes: Massive Shoot-out
Behind the ScenesWith a call time of 8 a.m. for the first model, till the last girl left my apartment/make-shift studio at about 8 p.m., it was a 12 hour day of shooting with 10 girls and 14 different looks.
It. Was. Crazy.
A collaboration between myself, Lana of 987 Beauty, Malissa Long clothing designs, DIJA Design swimwear, and hair by Holly. Plus 10 amazing girls who all came out for a crazy long, crazy fun day of shooting.
Behind the scenes:
Updates coming soon of edited photos from the shoot!
Sunday at the park
PortraitsI spent a gorgeous Sunday two weeks ago with Kim at the park and I couldn’t have asked for better weather. I can’t say the same for these past few days in Austin though, today in particular. I woke up to find it unusually warm (about 77ยบ F), and then it poured and turned excruciatingly chilly. Later in the day, I was being whipped around by the wind while trying to walk to my car, making it literally hard to breathe. Mr. Weather, please make up your mind already!
Anyways, here are some highlights.
Make-Up: Lana of 987 Beauty
Model: Kim Hernandez
Location: Austin, Texas
Jasmine turns 4
PortraitsA couple of weekends ago, I photographed my adorable niece who is turning 4! I have to admit, shooting children is probably the easiest thing and the hardest at the same time. There really are no bad angles for kids, they look good from any perspective, but getting them to do what you want (even if it’s just looking at the camera) takes some effort. Here are some highlights:
BRING ME YOUR CHILDREN! I will shoot them ;]
China through new eyes
China, TravelThis summer, I had the privilege of going on an expedition to China with a group of students from UT Austin to experience foreign correspondence hands on. Led by Tracy Dahlby, the director of the Journalism Department at UT and the former Tokyo bureau chief for Newsweek and The Washington Post — among many other accomplishments I can’t even begin to list — it was definitely a life changing experience that opened my eyes far deeper into China than I ever cared to.
Every former trip I took to China consisted of only Shanghai and a few neighboring cities. These trips were all for leisure and family visits. I spent most of my days wandering the endless shopping venues and eateries of the giant metropolis. Very little beyond what I was going to fill my tummy with and where I was going to spend my RMB impacted my mind on a day-to-day basis.
Fast forward to January 2009. There was a mandatory one-hour-a-week prep class we all took prior to departing for the trip. It consisted of in-depth readings on both the old dynasties of China and the new, as well as keeping up with a colossal list of RSS feeds of both U.S. media reporting on China and their own native ones. The whole purpose was so when we went to report, we could relate the small slice of life stories with the larger picture taking place.
I won’t go into detail about all my findings, but you can find a collection of my stories here, and if you click around, you can peruse the extensive archive of grassroots reporting from the rest of our team too. It’s really quite astonishing to think back and remember all those hectic weeks scouring the streets of of Beijing, Xi’an and Shanghai for any type of lead that could turn into a potential story. And to sit back now and reread the work that transpired from what half the time was just plain old fun and the other half consisting of researching, interviewing, filming, photographing and writing our stories inside the nearest Starbucks with wifi for hours at a time, it’s certainly a memory I’ll be calling on for years and years.
This is part one of my China posts, where I will share a select collection of images through my journey. Please enjoy.
Part One: Beijing
A random and very well hidden gem of a theater we found one day while exploring the hutongs. This was the lounge area and to the right was a small theater comprised very simply of black walls, stage lights and bleachers to serve as seats.
One of our first group dinners together, we learned to make dumplings [jiao zi]. Check out this guy’s thumb nail…
The artwork at the entrance of the previous restaurant.
I wrote an article about this particular food stand and it was regrettable that I discovered them only days before I was to leave Beijing. They were the perfect breakfast/lunch spot as it was only a couple of blocks from our hotel (and on the way to Starbucks). Plus the co-owners (pictured above) had such interesting stories to share, particularly the young Chinese man. He’s actually aspiring to become a musician while working at the crepe joint to pay for his living. By night, he dedicates almost all of his time to working on his craft.
The Forbidden Palace.
And what’s Beijing without the Great Wall? It was truly amazing to gaze at this thing in person. Everyone looked like ants.
Even army members vacation.
And for the lazy ones, there was a toboggan lift to take you up and down the Great Wall. It was very much appreciated by us.
Post numero uno
PersonalSo after months of planning, editing, delaying and whatever else that came along, I have finally created my photo blog! I hope to fill it with lots and lots and lots of photos (obviously) and update regularly. That’s my resolution!
And to you, thanks for reading my inaugural post. May you enjoy what’s to come :]
-Liang
