Vicki and Peter's Paper Anniversary!

A few days ago my sister wanted me to shoot family portraits for Peter, Vernon (their dog) and her. My sister Vicki and her husband Peter are celebrating their one year anniversary today! Hardly surprising they made it to a year (they are awesome together) but I am still damn happy for them!

Frankly, I was really scared about shooting pictures for my sister. My sister claims she was looking for just a single picture to be able to frame but I'm a professional damn it! I need to provide excellence! No seriously though, since she IS my eldest sibling, I felt like I had to do an especially amazing job for her because a) she's a genius and likes everything to be 100% awesome and b) it's my responsibility as her youngest brother! Adding to my fright was the fact that this is only my second portrait shoot ever. My first was for Nancy's graduation portraits and those actually came out nicer than I was expecting. Still, with no specific locations around her neighborhood in mind to shoot at and only 1 portrait shoot under my belt, I was going into this already self-prophesied lofty shoot pretty unprepared.

We literally walked around the blocks surrounding her neighborhood and I actually found some fantastic locations for photos. Unfortunately the setting sun was strong, which made looking into it for lighting difficult for them, and the surrounding tall buildings made for hard shadows galore. Still, I got some shots I really loved and hope they love too:

-This was my favorite shot from the shoot by far. We were walking around and in the beginning, I was pretty wary about barking directions to my sister and her husband because, well, she's my oldest sister! But we were walking around and I was sorta taking stalker walking pictures and I saw this alleyway and immediately barked "STOP! GET OVER THERE!" Peter was like "Oh you're doing professional style huh?" It was pretty empowering I admit but hey it made for a nice shot!

-This picture is taken on the center divider in the middle of the busy San Vicente Blvd in Westwood. At the time I thought nothing of how awkward a couple holding a dog for a cameraman in literally the middle of the road was but looking back on it... yeah it could have been awkward for them. Still, not as bad as the pictures we took on the haystack, which had them sitting on haystacks in the middle of the street while I was across the street barking directions! I was looking for some trees in full light that weren't shadowed by buildings and the only ones I found were in the middle of the street! The sunset was pretty bright though, which was unfortunate. PS, plus points for Vernon sticking out his tongue, shooting with a dog as subject is tough stuff.

-Ok so there's a whole set of pictures I took at this location, which is right outside of the Pinkberry in Westwood; I won't post them all because there's like 8 of them but this is my fav of them. The lighting and shadowing was perfect! The set of pictures I took here were pretty ideal: not too bright, not too dark, the lighting in the entire picture I thought was all even. I especially love how the yellowing leaves in the background are mirrored by my sister's yellow dress. Very summery, light and bright! I love this picture in particular because, well, Vernon is giving my sister a kiss, which is always cute.

-One more back at home of Vernon with his FAVORITE ring toy. This dog seriously does not stop once he thinks you want to play with him; he persists in making you play tug of war with him until your arm gets tired... then he just starts licking your face.

-One year ago, their wedding invites. Congratulations, Vicki and Peter!

Until next time, zai jian!

-Justin

Chasing That Elusive Dream.

Nearly two months later, I'm finally posting again in my little, unloved and unread blog. Trying to enjoy my last summer to the fullest often involves trying to post in the blog as little as possible, because posting in the blog often means I'm bored or studying, the two last states of mind I want to be in during my last summer ever.

I went to Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia from the middle of June to the middle of July. Given this is supposed to be a photo blog, I think I should post at least one or two of the 3200 pictures I took there. There may or may not be pictures at the end of this post... I'm still trying to decide as I type this out. I will say that the trip was tiring, intense, and a great, great deal of fun. It was a trip I didn't think I would ever or will ever go on again, and it was one of those experiences I will not forget for the rest of my life. From riding bikes across Vietnam, to getting into a taxi gang fight, to waking up at 4am in Angkor Wat, and everything in between, SE Asia was gorgeous and exciting.

So, I want to talk briefly about the subject matter of the title of this post. In the past month or so, I've noticed this really crazy phenomenon. Almost every single one of my girl/friends has seemed to find their perfect dude, or found happiness in their relationships, or something of that sort. When dealing with girl/friends, I'm usually accustomed to balancing out one girl's drama with another girl's happiness, or one girl's totally nauseating happiness with another girl's unwavering bitterness. I've never had to deal with total happiness and content from multiple, or almost every, girl before concerning their relationships and can I just say that as happy as I am for each and every single one of them, as a single guy failing miserably at "the game," it's really, really annoying.

I don't want to sound bitter or catty or anything because it's not their fault. I'm pretty sure it's mine. My inability to be content in a relationship or have enough balls to chase something I think would make me happy is not their fault and probably the focus point of my frustration. And it only gets exacerbated, like salt in the wound, by this recent phenomenon of, well, of happiness.

I keep on telling myself I'm really happy being single because I like the freedom being single affords, but given the latest string of events I think it's because I don't know what being content in a relationship really means anymore. I can't really chase that elusive dream if I don't know what that dream is, I guess, and I'm just too lazy and too scared to find out. It can't be that hard... it seems like all of my girl/friends have found it (even if none of my guy friends have.. hm.)

While I was typing that, I've decided I will post a few of my favorite pictures from each country I went to. This is nearly impossible as I like a LOT of the pictures I took, but oh well, here we go. Just making sure this photo blog doesn't turn completely into an emo blog, or something!

-Riding our motorbikes from Hue to Hoi An. This isn't an especially awesome picture or anything (I didn't even take it, our bike tour guide took it, but he was surprisingly good at taking group photos for us every single time!) but it really reminds me of that epic bike ride and puts a smile on my face every time. This was the start of one of the most amazing roads I've ever driven on ever, a cliff-side winding road overlooking the blue, blue Vietnam ocean. Spectacular.

-The floating market on the Mykong River in South Vietnam. I really love the lighting and coloring of this picture, and the woman overlooking the transferring of the goods. I conjured up a set of new Lightroom presets for my SE Asia pictures and I was going for a bright, lomo-ish look on this one with a little hint of gritty blues in the boat.

-A nice relaxing day at the beach on Phu Quoc island, Vietnam. People often think this is an HDR, complain about how the colors of the sky and water look fake, etc. etc., but it's not. Clearly this picture has been edited to bump up the contrast among other things (I got a cool lighting effect on the back of the seats and stuff, pretty excited about that) but this photo has a LOT LESS post production work done on it than it looks.

-The world-famous Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Now this is an HDR, and I hate overblown HDRs so you'll never see me doing an HDR that just looks crazy. Just really wanted to use to HDR to bring out Angkor Wat especially with the sun rising directly behind it. Gave it some pretty cool coloring in the sky too. I have maybe 10 versions of this iconic picture but in my opinion this is the most ~standard~ and easy to understand.

-Apparently these monkeys had rabies. They were just chillin on the steps outside of Angkor Wat and I really love how the composition of this picture came out, with a little bit of bokeh'd Angkor Wat in the background to give some context to the picture.

-Kuangsi waterfall in Luang Prabang, Laos. It was bright and I have still yet to get myself a filter so I could only afford at 1/3 exposure time. Still, I got the smooth waterfall look I was going for. This waterfall is pretty breathtaking in real life, very very large and powerful. It was tough not getting my camera wet for this shot but with some imaginative shielding I got it done.

-View of the sunset over Luang Prabang, Laos. This is an HDR shot and I wanted to see how a black and white HDR would look, using the HDR solely for lighting. I think it came out pretty well, gives it a very mystical, ye-olde-time look to it.

-One more from the same location, different post processing. The normal HDR for those pining to see how the picture looks with color. Looks pretty good to me.

Two more weeks.

Until next time, zai jian!

-Justin.

I Love You, Beach.

I have a very love/hate relationship with surfing but today I definitely fell right back in love with surfing. For me, it's not even about catching waves or anything because, let's be honest, I freaking suck at surfing. I just love sitting out there in the middle of the ocean taking in the vastness of the sea and the beautiful La Jolla sky. I love the seals that pop their heads out of the glassy water to say hi. I love watching birds skim across the water mid flight. Today I saw pelicans diving into the water to catch fish. I saw a stingray on the ocean floor. Pretty sweet.

The clouds were particularly fluffy and funny looking today. They were promising something pretty special. It was my first time walking down the hill to Black's Beach. We waded out there, me on Thomas' 9-foot long board. The fluffy clouds start getting darker and darker and before we knew it, it started raining.

I've never been to the beach while it's raining (I mean, who would?) but the sea during a heavy rainfall is seriously one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen in my life. The way all the rain makes the water look white and dynamic, and a mist starts rising in the distance from off the ocean surface... it's hard to explain what the ocean looks like while it's raining and you're sitting in the middle of it, but it's just awesome.

And then my board starting making *thwack thwack* noises. I looked at Nathan who was equally confused, and suddenly, hail started pelting us. HAIL! This dude who was surfing near us said he had been surfing in La Jolla for 40 years and had never seen anything like it. Hail hurts like a bitch when you're in the middle of the ocean with nothing to protect you but it's still fun.

The hail passed and we were surfing in the midst of the sounds of thunder. I caught a few good ones on my boat of a longboard, and we called it a day. Days like these make me remember how amazing getting out there on a surfboard can be. Love it.

I took some pictures of the sunset today. Pretty happy with how they came out. Crazy weather = crazy clouds.

Until next time, zai jian!

-Justin

Things That Make Me Broke.

Vegas. I love the Vegas. I adore the Vegas. I've gone almost every year with my parents and let me just say, going to Vegas without the parents is a completely different experience. I had probably one of the most fun-filled weekends of my life, at least what I can remember of it.

Day 1: Arrived at 2, settled into the hotel room at 4, drinking by 5. Bomb buffet at the PH, watched the Lakers clinch their Game 4 victory, walked around the strip in drunken revelry. Shots at PH, Bellagio and the huge Paris drink at Paris (note to self, 5 Paris towers for seven people is three too many). Walked home from McDonalds to Trump in record time. Epic.

Day 2: Chilled at the pool til 5. People were already drunk in the jacuzzi. Ate a slice of pizza, got dressed, went to Tryst at 9. Partied until 3:30 but only really remember about an hour of it. Good times.

I didnt' realize Vegas was one of the only places in America where you can walk around with alcoholic beverages outside, but it is and it makes Vegas 100% better than any other city in the world. Just sayin'.

Coilovers. I finally got them! Megans, yum yum. When I got them on they were at a pretty acceptable height but after driving on them for half a day, they just keep getting lower and lower! I'll have to adjust them upwards soon again. My car looks hot, though I'm scraping everywhere. And I've yet to encounter a particularly steep incline... fingers crossed!

Until next time, zai jian!

-Justin.

Vince Chan, M.D.

I am too lazy to develop any of the following thoughts into a full fledged blog post, so here is another list of random stuff I'm thinking about:

-I wonder how people used to keep in touch. You know, before there was Facebook, before there was AIM. I think people used to have better, more genuine friends before Facebook and AIM, because then you are forced to know someone well enough to have their number, and have a phone conversation with that person. I remember my sister used the phone constantly when she was in middle and high school, but now it's all about the internet. And as great and convenient the internet is, I can't help but think that it adds a layer of superficiality and non-genuine closeness to people you know and might call "friends."

- I do not remember how to work my game and pick up girls (though, to be fair, I never had game to begin with, so I dont' really have much game to remember anyway). How do you impress girls online anyway?

- I start these lists with the word (or letter) "I" too much, so in effort to change that...

- My brother graduated from medical school this past weekend. It was an incredibly cool moment to hear the official words "Dr. Vincent Chan" uttered from the medical school dean. And as cool as it was for me and my parents, I'm sure it was even cooler for Vince. I asked him about it later and he said the whole thing was sort of a blur for him; he couldn't remember much at all. I found that cute: my brother rarely gets super nervous to a point where things become a blur for him, so it was clearly a big point in his life. He still likes to brush it off like it ain't no thang though, in true Vince fashion.

I went to Cleveland this past weekend for my brother's graduation. I love the green in Cleveland, and I love the sort of European-eastern look of the towns and the houses. I've been there during the winter and it is pretty abysmal, and in the middle of summer when it was hot hot hot and hummid, but it was May this time and absolutely perfect! A little chilly but not too much, blue skies and light breeze. My brother took us around his 2nd home to show us what Cleveland was all about, and to say good bye to the place where he called home for seven years. There is a surprising amount of awesome, cheap restaurants and hotspots in Cleveland, and as a whole it's a pretty nice city, I just don't think I could live there for an extended period of time. I mean, there's no surf! :[

-Greenery, greenery, and more greenery. This is what Cleveland does best.

-Chagrin Falls.

-My bro is officially a doctor!!!!

Until next time, zai jian!

-Justin

"I found a fatal flaw in the logic of love."

Haven't been showing the ol' blog much love lately, so I figured I would say a hey and what's up with a few things swimming around in the good ol' noggin:

- I have a problem with spending money. I fully admit that I have a problem but I can't seem to stop. Not everyone drops 200 bucks on a camera flash just because. Or 800 dollars on a new suspension for his car. The problem is that I decide to surround myself with photographers with an obscene amount of expensive gear. They are very grounded and cool people, and they're in college. How do they afford to buy so much crap? I surround myself with people with cars that are obscenely modded, and they are also very grounded and cool people. It makes me fool myself into thinking that spending such large amounts of money on very ultimately useless things like a new flash or coilovers is normal, but it's not, really. But I still do it! I need someone to slap some sense into me.

- I am missing the last Sun God of my undergraduate career for my brother's med school graduation. Though I feel kind of stupid making a big deal out of it in front of my family, I don't think they really understand the whole mythos of Sun God to UCSD students. When I try to explain why I need a Saturday flight instead of a Friday flight, I can't really reply with anything other than, "A concert... lots of drinking..." Clearly not things a parent wants to hear. But how can you describe the ethereal vibe that springs forth from the UCSD campus on Sun God? How can you describe how much happier people and the campus is, and what a great experience it is to just be on campus as a student and revel with your traditionally quiet and subdued campus? Sun God is more than just a concert and drinking, it's the best day UCSD ever sees all year because it just makes everyone happy, and I'm really going to miss that. (Not that I don't want to go to my brother's med school graduation. But it's on Sunday... so why do I have to be missing something on Friday? Sadness.)

- My car is giving me a never-ending well of things to do. What should be a relaxing and completely bumming-out extended break has me waking up early and running around to fix my car. After I finally managed to get the wheels, brakes, fuel pipe, and 2 other recalls fixed, my car was ~perfect~ for about two days, when the subwoofer in the back decided to blow. Back to the dealer my car goes. Oh and the fog light is still broken. Drats.

- I'm way too overprotective over things I love. I seriously freak out over the smallest and stupidest things my dogs do; for example, I get super nervous when I drive them around because I'm afraid they will leap out so I have to hold on to them while I'm driving even though they're a) clearly attached to the seat and b) not stupid enough to jump out the window (I think). Not sure how overprotective I will be over my kids if and whenever I do have kids.

- I took about 700 pictures at Seoul and Beijing and felt like my photo skills improved quite a bit while I was there. However a pushy old Korean lady knocked me over resulting in me dropping my flash and breaking it to smithereens. And since old Korean ladies are freaking scary, I couldn't really do much about it besides bitch, moan, and become more poor.

- Usually I become really fixated on types of music which end up very strongly influencing the music I write. For the first CD it was Jason Mraz, Coldplay, and light Death Cab. For the second CD, it was almost exclusively darker Beatles material (like Eleanor Rigby, Day in the Life, etc.) I'm currently listening to obscene amounts of Beach Boys, Killers, Shins and Franz Ferdinand. (By the way, the Shins are AMAZING live) Should be interesting, should a third CD ever come into fruition. Marie where are you!

- I find myself questioning love or at least my ability to ever know what it really is.

Until next time, zai jian

-Justin

Infinite Headroom.

It takes one and a half hours on the I-5 North to get from San Diego to Los Angeles. It takes three hours taking the 101 North up til Oceanside to get from San Diego to Los Angeles. Yes, what usually is a 30 minute drive on the I-5 from San Diego to Oceanside takes up nearly two hours on the 101, but in a nice, spunky convertible with the top down, infinite headroom and blue skies, it's totally and completely worth it.

Hearing the engine rip through the trees zooming over your head, looking up with nothing but sky and sun around your head, very, very few things beat driving a convertible in sunny San Diego. My IS350 has been crippled with a broken wheel so I'm driving my mom's SLK350 around and am now pretty certain my next car will be a convertible.

I turned off the 101 at Carlsbad to take some photos. I found this great small turnoff that was literally a few feet from the water.





Hopefully I can do some more exploring with the large amounts of time I have now that I am a college graduate with nothing to do. It's nice not having anything to worry about from day to day, and filling up your time with things you want to do for yourself. Nothing on your shoulders or looming over head. More time to do things like random explorations on the 101, playing with the dogs, or random jaunts to San Diego for parties.

Last weekend was one of the best weekends of my life. It was 2nd look weekend for UCSD Medical School, so besides meeting a bunch of new people and dressing up as condoms for the Medical School party, me and my friends went to a bar on Thursday, had a house party Saturday, and hung out at the beach all day Sunday with fellow Med Scholars. Meeting new classmates at Med School second look was kind of scary (they all seem so serious and more ready for med school!) but they seem like a great group of people nonetheless. The weekend was the perfect blend of schooling, partying, and chilling. An absolutely sublime weekend with awesome people.

I leave you with a photo of my dog Didi sleeping:


Until next time, zai jian!

-Justin.

Never Too Early for Awesome Cars.

Man do I miss just doing simple shots of cars! I realized it has been a long time since I last took shots of cars that didn't involve darkness and long set-ups with flashes and multiple exposures, or trying to be all artsy-fartsy and artistic, so it was a joy and such a relief to walk around Cars and Coffee this morning and just point and shoot at cars that piqued my interest. Even though it was 7 in the morning (!), there were tons and tons of people at Cars and Coffee this morning as a beautiful and warm Saturday sky hovered over millions of dollars of exotics. Waiting for people to move out of your shot is always a hassle, but the people at Cars and Coffee are always patient and appreciative of photographers who go shutter-crazy over a car (especially if that car is their own!)

I took 46 pictures in total but here are just a few that I liked a lot. I do wish I could get rid of the people standing around in the shots completely, but that's just impossible in a packed venue like Cars and Coffee. One thing is for certain: it's definitely easier to take shots of cars that are ridiculously clean and look good from every angle!!!


-This was my favorite car at the show today. It was Brit Car theme this week, so a load of Jaguars, MGs, Triumphs, Minis, Aston Martins etc. made their way to the corral. This car really caught my eye though. The Jaguar E-type is always absolute sex but this car, in an extremely clean and glossy black, was just jaw dropping. The curves and the reflections and... oh my. Serious jizz-in-my-pants stuff. In most of these pictures I tried to make the car pop by bringing out the color saturation and vibrance of the car, and lowering both in the surroundings, so the surroundings would be less distracting. This picture has three bright red cars in the background pulling the eye away, so I went pretty nuts with the desaturation brush. I think it worked ok!


-From old Brit to new Brit, the Aston Martin DBS in a very curious, blue/purple/silver pearl color called "Lighting Silver." Again, really wish I could tell people to gtfo of my shots but that's just inappropriate and impossible in these settings. By the way, I'm using my SB-600 flash set to i-TTL on all of these shots, so as to add some fill-light to all the shadows that come with shooting in an outdoors setting (an idea I cribbed from the awesome shots over at the-perfect-exposure.blogspot.com, go check that site out!!!).


-My favorite shot from the morning, love how the red Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano offsets the red curb curving away. I loved the composition of this shot so much I went ahead and photoshopped a few people out from behind the car so it would look better. I actually photoshopped my dad out of the picture (he was standing right around the right headlamp) as well as another dude (standing around the right rear view mirror). Now if I could only get those two blokes on the right out of the picture too...


-A Ferrari 275 GTB. I think this is one of the most beautiful Ferraris of all time. Love the way this car looks roaring down the aisle and splitting the sea of people apart.


-My second favorite shot from the morning by a very close margin, of the Mercedes McLaren SLR 722. If the people weren't in the shot, it would be my favorite by FAR. This car just looks sinister from the front here. Love it.


-I love this shot of a Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R. Nice, wide and fat, really love the angle I got of this car, especially since I was chasing behind it with my eye on the viewfinder as it drove away haha

Until next time, zai jian!

-Justin

A Weekend in San Francisco.

I've always wanted to drive up to San Francisco. To me, it has always seemed like a road-trip route to a potentially large amount of good times and memories. Not to mention the fact that I have very few memories of San Francisco, as I've only been there twice and both for a very short period of time, but those memories are fond and positive. Thus I jumped at the chance to drive a few of my friends and myself up the 5 for our friend Laura Jen's 23rd birthday.

This being a photo blog of sorts, I won't spend too much time on what I did there and more time on a few choice shots I worked on up there. I will say that I had a blast in San Francisco and absolutely love the city. I love that it's urban and packed, but not too packed like New York. Everything is less spread out; you can walk to the market, or to a breakfast diner. Downtown is more.... downtown-y, unlike the slum ghettos of Downtown LA. When you think of "Downtown," SF matches that ideal more than LA does. And everything just seems more quaint. However, I probably can't get over how COLD it is in SF... I miss my SD warm weathers thank you very much! I didn't really get very many shots I liked during my time there; still have lots to learn!


This is probably my favorite shot from the whole weekend, and I took it an hour out of Los Angeles. At the time I thought this shot was boring but some post processing gave this shot some oil-painting-esque quality, and some serious sharpness and detail too.

I spent a lot of the time in San Francisco dodging rain (Friday and Saturday) and driving people around (Sunday and Monday) to really get good shots off but I still had fun. Clubbing at Boss, late night card games, hanging out in some small old town called Daly City, playing with cute dogs, etc. We had an intense pillow fight the first night that involved snakes, shoes and bruises...


We also walked around the city a little, around Union Square, Chinatown, and Pier 39, where we saw some seriously fat seals:

That bird is probably thinking, "What a lazy ass."

I was excited to get to the Golden Gate Bridge to try out some HDR. Unfortunately every HDR shot I tried at the Golden Gate turned out pretty ugly. You can judge for yourself:



I'm not a huge fan of either of these pictures, but I guess it's because neither of them really needed any HDR processing in the first place, maybe some simple dodging and burning. Maybe I will try to post-process these pictures again not using HDR in the future, just to see what the difference is. I really hate that "ghosting" effect that HDR causes around structures, especially in the first picture around the bridge and the cables. Muy ugly.

I did get a chance to use a new camera gadget I recently purchased: the Nikon ML-L3 remote. I was going to use this remote for setting off the camera while holding several off-camera flashes for multiple different exposures, but a prelim trial is quickly showing that overlapping too many exposures causes way too much noise (time to invest in more flashes). The remote IS still good, however, for awesome group jumping shots, which are never in abundance when hanging out with my friends from Taiwan:


Go useful technology!

Until next time, zai jian!

-Justin.

The Products of Finals Studying.

1) Cool stands for my laptop that not only give it a slant for easier typing but also and more importantly raise it off the desk so it doesn't get as hot thus doesn't have to turn on its loud, loud fan almost constantly. Made out of the tops of my wasted 30% Prismacolor cool gray marker taped onto a penny so it doesn't tip over as easily.

2) A few pictures from the confines of my room. When studying gets boring, out comes the camera for some seriously random shots of my surroundings. First, a kind-of cool shot using some off-camera flash of my blinds. Was trying to get the shutter to release and the flash to go off at the exact same time. Way harder than it sounds and a very good indicator of how bad studying for going for me at the time:

Second shot is right outside my room. It's a very, very foggy night tonight. Fog always puts me in a good mood because it reminds me of that one time at orchestra retreat in high school when it became so foggy we couldn't see literally a foot in front of us, so we decided to be nerds and make light sabers out of our flashlights. Basically the rest of that weekend was awesome, as all orchestra retreats are.

3) Of course, an inane SURVEY! This one is kind of boring, but I did it anyway. Procrastination ftw.

1. Last alcohol beverage→ Rum and coke
2. Last phone call→ Nancy Han
3. Last text message→ Jessica Dun
4. Last song you listened to→ M. Ward - Jailbird
5. Last time you cried→ I honestly do not remember, which I suppose is a good thing.

HAVE YOU EVER:
6. Dated someone twice → Nope
7. Been cheated on? → Nope
8. Kissed someone & regretted it? → Nope
9. Lost someone special?→ Yes
10. Been depressed?→ Everyone goes through teenage years
11. Been drunk and threw up? → Yup

LIST FOUR FAVORITE COLORS:
12. Blue
13. Gray
14. Green
15. Purple?

HAVE YOU:
16. Made new friends → A few here and there
17. Fallen out of love → Yes
18. Laughed until you cried → Far too seldomly
19. Met someone who changed you → Yup
20. Found out who your true friends were → I still need to figure out what it means to be a true friend.
21. Found out someone was talking behind your back → No, I guess I am slightly ignorant.
22. Kissed anyone on your friend’s list→ My Facebook friend's list? Yes
23. How many people on your friends list do you know in real life → Most of them. I've been trying to weed out the random friendage people lately.
24. How many kids do you want to have→ 2 or 3
25. Do you have any pets → Mini and Didi
26. Do you want to change your name→ Nah my name is ok.
27. What did you do for your last birthday→ Partied under the Taipei 101
28. What time did you wake up today → 10am
29. What were you doing at midnight last night → Definitely studying
30. Name something you CANNOT wait for → TO BE DUNZO WITH COLLEGE
31. Last time you saw your father→ Last weekend when he came down to SD with my stock wheels
32. What is one thing you wish you could change about your life → I would like to be taller plz
33. What are you listening to right now→ M. Ward - Fisher of Men. Just going through his "Hold Time" CD.
34. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom → Yes there was a Tom in my middle/high school
35. What’s getting on your nerves right now? → That I'm doing this 100 even though I find it completely boring and inane and I should be studying but hey, that's procrastination for you.
36. Most visited webpage → Probably Facebook, sadly. Or Autoblog.
37. What’s your name→ Um Justin Chan
38. Nicknames→ Chan, Jus, Hwa. Random permutations of my name.
39. Relationship Status → Single
40. Zodiac sign → Libra
41. Male or female or transgendered → Male but transgendered according to Annie.
42. Elementary–> Foothill Country Day for 1st and 2nd grade, Chandler for 3-5th.
43. Middle School → Polytechnic
44. High school → Polytechnic
45. Hair color → Really, really, really, really dark brown
46. Long or short - Outgrown short. I need a haircut.
47. Height → A measly 5'8".
48. Do you have a crush on someone? → Not at the moment
49: What do you like about yourself? → My friends.
50. Piercings → No ty.
51. Tattoos → Definitely no ty.
52. Righty or lefty → Righty, like normal people.

FIRSTS :
53. First surgery → Never had surgery.
54. First piercing → Never done that
55. First best friends → Probably Jonathan Peng and Jonathan Ong way back in 1st and 2nd grade lol
56. First sport you joined → Tennis
57. First pet → Um, a goldfish that remained nameless and shortlived
58. First vacation→ I don't remember. Have to flip through some photo albums.
59. First concert -> SHANIA TWAIN BITCHES. Thank you daddy for taking me to that concert so that my answer to this question will always be SHANIA.
60. First crush → This girl in preschool until she fed me mud.

RIGHT NOW:
61. Eating → Nothing
62. Drinking → Nothing
63. I’m about to → Take a shower
64. Listening to → M. Ward - To Go Home. Moved on to his "Post-War" CD.
65. Waiting for → Tomorrow night.

YOUR FUTURE :
66. Want kids? –> Not sure
67. Want to get married? → Yes
68. Careers in mind? → Something medical, or else my parents will kill me.

WHICH IS BETTER WITH THE OPPOSITE SEX?
69. Lips or eyes → Eyes
70. Hugs or kisses → Hugs
71. Shorter or taller → Shorter than me
72. Older or Younger → Younger
73. Romantic or spontaneous → Spontaneously romantic
74. Nice stomach or nice arms → Stomach
75. Sensitive or loud → Adaptable to moods
76. Hook-up or relationship → Relationships
77. Trouble maker or hesitant → Hesitant

HAVE YOU EVER :
78. Kissed a stranger → No
79. Drank hard liquor → Of course
80. Lost glasses/contacts → No but have been close to it
81. Sex on first date → No
82. Broken someone’s heart → Yes
83. Had your own heart broken → Maybe at the time but looking back, no.
85. Been arrested → No
86. Turned someone down → Yes
87. Cried when someone died → No
88. Liked a friend that is a girl? → This question confuses me.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:
89. Yourself → Yes
90. Miracles → No
91. Love at first sight → Not anymore
92. Heaven → No
93. Santa Clause → No
95. Kiss on the first date? → If the situation calls
96. Angels → No

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY:
97. Is there one person you want to be with right now?→ No, must concentrate on finals
98. Had more than one boyfriend/girlfriend at one time? → No
100. Posting this as 100 Truths? →No

I promise my next entry will be more entertaining.

Until next time, zai jian!

-Justin

Pothole 1, Justin 0.

Tonight I decided I had studied all day and deserved a little break. So I went to pick up Jessica to get some food. We started roaming because we didn't know where to eat, so I turned onto Nobel thinking we would figure out where to eat there. Then...

THUNK... fizzz... flop flop flop.



I hit the biggest pothole I've ever hit in my life. San Diego roads are NOTORIOUS for sucking so bad... seriously, there are potholes EVERYWHERE. And I've done my best to memorize where all of them are, and dodge as many as possible. But all it takes is one pothole to punch a dent into your wheel.

I could tell Jessica was pretty scared as the lights on my dashboard started flashing at me (yo homie, your TIRE IS FLAT!) and my steering wheel started shaking and pulling very hard to the left. It's like in those movies where you're flying and someone shoots off one of your wings, and you see all these lights light up in front of you while your flying stick starts shaking out of control and your plane starts nosediving. It was kind of like that... even the nose dive! I wasn't thinking very straight so I made several wrong turns and missed others. I called Tayzar to bring me my spare tire. In the end I was about 200 yards from my house when my steering wheel started shaking especially badly, so I pulled over to the side of the road. By the way it's around 8PM and very dark and cold.

I called Tayzar again:
T: Yeah dude Smallville is almost done... 5 minutes
J: I AM STUCK ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD WITH A FLAT, ARE YOU CRAZY
T: Oh shit I didn't know you were STUCK, ok I'm coming now -___-

Anyway after a long time of trying to fit the donut, realizing it didn't fit, and then trying to fit on my spare stock tires, I was good to go. I only have two rear tires in San Diego, which are larger than the front tires by nearly 40mm widthwise, and 5mm tall-wise. This means that with my rear tire now seeing duty up front, I can only turn my steering wheel 3/4 of a rotation before it starts gnawing off my wheel liner and every bump in the road is accompanied by a SCRUNCH. Fun.



On the plus side, Jessica bought me dinner and got me mildly drunk off sake, which took the edge off the whole situation. Thanks for being a trouper and sticking through the situation, Jessica! And big thanks to Bovey and Tayzar for coming to the rescue with my wheel and a jack!!! I would have been 100% screwed without you guys!

Until next time, zai jian!

-Justin.

Succumbing to the Dark Side...

...the side of HDR.

For those that don't know what HDR is, basically it involves taking the same photo at several different exposures. This is useful if the picture you're taking has an area of serious brightness and another area that is a lot darker. Taking exposures that give good contrast values to both the bright portion of the picture (very low exposure) and the dark portion of the picture (very high exposure) allows you to later combine the pictures in post processing for a photo that has fantastic constrast values everywhere.

Now HDR is considered by some photographers to be the coolest digital trick ever, and is considered by other photographers to be ugly, overdone and just plain cheesy. One thing is for certain, though: HDR makes what would be a normal, boring shot look absolutely otherworldly. I have always been a photographer that likes presenting realistic photos, that is, presenting photos that are true to life. Not too much camera manipulation, not too much post production. But I decided to try HDR for the first time in my life and... man is it fun.



These two pictures are taken from the cliffs above La Jolla Shores, showing largely the same view. Usually HDR can come out very cartoony and unrealistic but since I am a big fan of realism, I decided to keep the cartoonyness that comes from HDR to a minimum. There were taken on a very sunny day so a very high exposure was needed for the sea and the cliff while a low exposure needed for the bright clouds in the sky. Each of these photos are a composite of 5 exposures at f/13, ISO 100 with exposures ranging from -4 to +2.


From under the pier. Very dark, shadowed pier under a bright, bright sky made HDR a natural choice here to really get all the gritty details of the pier out. f/16, ISO 100, and I don't really remember the exposure details but I believe I went from -4 all the way to +4 to get every last shadow out of the pier.


This is a "fake" HDR. I only took this shot at one exposure and digitally altered the exposures from -4 to +2, and merged the digitally altered exposures together. This one came out a little more cartoony than I wanted and the placement of the camera is not ideal; truth be told this shot was kind of an afterthought, plus there were runners running towards me so I had to snap it off quick. I'll probably go back and take this photo again.

Coming back from the beach, i realized my camera had picked up a great deal of dust on the sensor. I left my blower back at home which means I'm stuck with a dirty sensor (or very large aperture shots) until I get back to LA. Also, more and more dirt keeps seeping into the view finder, need to find a way to get that stuff out too. Sigh!

Until next time, zai jian!

-Justin