There's No Place Like Home

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LA in March. LA in April. Both on different occasions have taken me back home last month and in this month. Of all the countries I've visited, there still will never be any place like Southern California.

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Reason is that there is a little bit of everything: blue skies, great weather, beautiful sunsets, the beaches, the mountains, downtown, huge skateparks, good food, good people, laid back atmosphere and much more. Above photo was taken at Santa Monica Beach just as the sun set during my recent time back home. I used to hang out and skateboard in that area often, and it brought back lots of memorable time that will never become a blur.

A strange feeling hit me that it was not until this particular trip that it made me realize that I should be home more often with family (and friends). Time passes by so quickly for all of us that sometimes we forget to appreciate where we came from. As some would say, "every passing minute is another chance to turn it all around."

The Other Hundred

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I'm helping spread the word for these wonderful folks doing something for a good cause especially since the deadline has been extended. Read on... The Other Hundred is a counterpoint to the Forbes 100, Bloomberg Billionaires list and the countless other rich-lists that are constantly making headlines and filling newsstands. This global non-profit project will be a collection of photo essays from world-class photographers and photojournalists from across the globe highlighting the world’s Other Hundred – those people who aren’t among the world’s rich, but who lead lives of dignity, fulfillment and achievement. Their aim is to challenge people to rethink what it means to rich or poor and capture the reality of how the vast majority of the world’s population lives.

The competition is free to enter and entries will be judged by the project’s world-renowned jury composed of Ruth Eichhorn, Richard Hsu and Stephen Wilkes. Those selected will have their work published in a large-format, hard-cover book, in addition to receiving an honorarium of US$300. The submission deadline is April 7th and winners will be announced in May. Many of their current participants include such leading photographers as Benjamin Lowy, Khaled Hasan, Brent Stirton, Edwin Koo, Paolo Woods and Andrea Diefenbach. They are also pleased to announce that The New York Times / International Herald Tribune has agreed to be The Other Hundred’s official media sponsor.

Please see their website here for submission details. As they are looking to involve as many talented photographers as possible from all over the world, it would also be very grateful if you could share this information with anyone else you think might be interested in participating.

Lighting Nightmare

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IMGL1062 There will be times where you will get stuck on achieving a certain lighting technique especially when you don't have the right type of light shaping tools so you just have to bang it out the best you can by trial and error. Remember that photography is about problem solving, or for the working pros, that's solving problems under pressure.

This is Hayuki Hozumi Ishikawa

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Back in the studio to create some images of actress/model/singer Hayuki Hozumi Ishikawa. Couple outfit changes, one light, nothing complicated.

Hair and makeup done by Mina Takahashi.

These are my favorites.

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1/125 @ F11, ISO 100.

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1/125 @ F11, ISO 100.

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1/125 @ F11, ISO 100.