Benjamin Chan

I am humbled again.

This time, from a photographer’s best friend:  natural light.

Well, after a crash and burn weekend, I’m grateful to be able to shoot an semi-outdoor wedding for a couple dear friends.  Here’s a sample of Colin and Carla’s wedding.  I just started picking through the pictures, and I figured I’d put a couple up for kicks.  The picture on the left is Colin from a couple years back, when the New Hope kids went to Yosemite together.

More after the jump…

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I just finished shooting a wedding with a friend. I am really tired, a bit humbled, and looking forward to one more day of shooting. I hope to apply what I’ve learned yesterday, to tommorow.

There isn’t more after the jump, but more to come.

Here’s more on this past weekend.  It is the first I’ve shot back to back weddings.  Granted, I’m doing it with Darryl, so that’s a big relief.  Still, I’m totally worn out by being on for two events in a row.  I’ve also struggled mightily with the low/no light conditions of indoor weddings.  It’s a whole-nother beast, and this time, I think I’m hiding out in the caves waiting for the dragon to fly away.

I’m not afraid to admit my shortcomings, and I think this weekend was a good test for met o see where I can grow.  I definitely learned a lot from shooting with Darrell, and I’m going to add that knowledge to my arsenal of tools.  I’m also getting some advice and help from Nancy Rothstein, who’s been helpful in expanding my scope of Photography knowledge.  She’s helping me with my flash questions on a photo-shoot we’ll be doing later in the week ( before Colin and Carla’s wedding ).

Well, that’s it for now.

Here are some random pictures from Angela and David’s wedding in Santa Cruz, California.  I wasn’t hired to take pictures ( thank goodness because I have a lot of work to come ), but I took some shots while there.  They’re pretty fun(ny). Read the rest of this entry »

Sometimes travel can be pretty erie and weary.

Just thought I’d share that thought with you.

Eddy Soon is a good friend of mine from college.  He’s engaged and asked me to take pictures of him and his fiancee for their engagement time.  So, we headed out all over San Diego to take pictures.

Click more for some more of my favorites…

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I was able to visit my good friend Mikey when I went down to San Diego.  It was really good to catch up, to see his family and to spend time together.  Mike is an avid martial arts instructor and student.  He leans towards the greatness of Bruce and others who follow the code.

I really like the raw and gritty feel of the high – grained black and white shots.  I black and white photography can be quite elegant and raw at the same time.  Click below for more pictures from the garage session. Read the rest of this entry »

Mountain View Cemetery is one of my favorite places in Oakland.  You’d think: you’re morbid, a cemetery?  But seriously, it’s a really cool place.  It’s a mix of death, life, beauty, rich people in fancy graves, poor people in simple graves, flowers, gravestones, grass and trees.  All that you could leave behind, and none that you can take with you.

It was designed to invoke a sense of man in his natural setting.  Thus, the cemetery is more of a park then of a death bed.  A place where a soul, in some ways, comes to rest.  It’s really romantic, not in the I’ll-buy-you-flowers sense, but more of an emotional way to connect man, life, and death.  An idealized sense that humans, at the end of their time, come to connect back in peace with the earth.

(more after the jump…)

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Yesterday, I began an apprenticeship at a letterpress shop in Oakland.  The shop is called Painted Tongue Press.  So far, it’s been a good experience.  People are nice, and the apprenticeship is really structured, so I appreciate that.  The commitment is once a week, for a whole year, so I’m going to use this space to try to remember what I’ve done, what I’ve been learning, and what’s stood out to me.

(more after the jump…)

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I’m also a teacher at an after school program at Sequoia Elementary School in Oakland.  It’s been my second year with this organization and I really love it.  The staff is great, kids are great, and it’s fun to make cool stuff with kids.  I kind of take that back, the kids aren’t always great, but most of the time, they’re really cool.  (It’s all part of being a kid)

Still, I really enjoy teaching at this school, and I really appreciate the community that I’m able to be part of.

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This year has been one of inspiration and determination. Dan and Melissa were getting married and they invited me to their wedding last September. I was to be their guest and photographer. It was a great experience. The photos turned out great, and I had a really fun time back in the South. Dan is connected to the lady at Mok Duk, who made these awesome invites. I got mine in the mail, and I was totally inspired, then determined.

Inspired by the sheer beauty of the printed invitation, and determined that this was what I was going to try to do.

Joy and Ray ( also friends with Mel and Dan ) asked me to shoot for their wedding, but that didn’t exactly work out, but I offered to do their invitations. Here’s some of my process.

I started by designing the invitation. I wanted to make something long, to fold and fit into the kraft envelopes. Their only stipulation was to use bright pink, yellow, and orange. We quickly agreed on a design and it was off to the print shop.

(more after the jump…)

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