"Rock the Runway"

On May 2, in Costa Mesa, The Art Institute of California of Orange County hosted an afternoon filled with art, music and fashion at an event called "Rock the Runway." Fashion students showed off their creations, scholarships were given out to incoming students, rock bands jammed, and culinary students cooked up gourmet hot dogs. Here are some photos of the runway show, the bands, and guests.

Ashley's Photo Shoot

Here are some photos of Ashley I took at my studio. She has such intensity in her eyes...

Clocktower view of Geneva

Here's a view of Geneva, Switzerland from an old, historic clock tower. Beautiful sight!

Zabrina's Photo Shoot

I had the opportunity a few weeks ago to do a photo shoot of the beautiful Zabrina for her portfolio. We did some shots near the Orange County Performing Arts Center. A stunningly natural and classy lady she is.

Cathedral in Lyon, France

Lyon is France's second largest city and is rich of religious and historical sites. We visited some churches and cathedrals in Lyon, and the architecture was unbelievable. Several were built even in the early 12th century. I can't imagine how much effort and how many years or decades it took to build these beautiful structures with all the intricacies and detailed craftsmanship.

The Color Purple

When I was visiting some of the grand Romanesque churches in Lyon, France, I met a young woman outside. She was intrigued that I was a photographer from the US and was gracious in helping me with directions to a nearby church. She was interested in having her picture taken, but became immediately shy as she looked at the camera. Even so, I liked this photograph very much, especially with her sitting against the vibrant purple wall.

Hong-Anh and Alan 01.16.09

I had the pleasure of photographing the wedding of Hong-Anh and Alan in Geneva, Switzerland. They'll also have another celebration in the summer in Scotland for the groom's family. At this celebration, guests of Hong-Anh and Alan experienced the Vietnamese traditions of the tea ceremony in the morning and then continued with the reception at a beautiful lakefront hotel in Geneva.

A pre-wedding cocktail...

 Here is one of Hong-Anh's friends whose beautiful dress brought out such bright colors against the background.

 

A stolen kiss...

When I saw this couple on the train platform, I knew I just had to take this photograph. This was taken at 2 a.m. while I was on the night train from Geneva to Venice. When the train made one of its stops, I looked out the window and saw this embracing couple. I quickly got out of my seat, stepped outside, photographed them, and rushed back into the train before the doors closed on me.
One of my favorite aspects of this photograph is the guy casually holding his cigarette. It adds such a romantic elegance. Amore!

A Wintery Lausanne (Switzerland)

While I was staying in Geneva to shoot a wedding, I took a short one-hour train ride to Lausanne, a gorgeous lakeside city with tree-lined promenades, steep hills, and Gothic monuments. On a clear day, one can see the views of the Savoy Alps. Too bad for the rainy weather.

A Living Death Valley

Death Valley is much alive with sand dunes that stretches for miles and the salt flats and valleys are endless. The landscape here is indescribable. There are so many photo opportunities here, especially when the sun is out, that I need to go on several trips to cover the vast beauty here. Our photography group left Orange County at 1 am and drove for 3 hours to Death Valley to catch the morning sunrise over the sand dunes. Death Valley is still living and breathing with wonder and beauty that left me breathless.

Here is one of the many ruins at Death Valley.The salt flats. I thought the placement of this rock was intriguing. I am curious as to how this rock was "dragged" across the salt flats.