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Likha Pasasalamat

Built-in Administration account — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 19:52:22 -0500

Flash photography is strictly prohibited during a theater performance. However, I look at low light photography as a welcome challenge. Good thing our light director, Jun Gomez knows how to light up a stage!
I used two cameras during this show. One set up remotely to photograph the entire stage and capture the choreography, the other to photograph the detailed close ups.

Pasasalamat

This photo represents the different aspects of Filipino Folk Dance.

Likha Pilipino Folk Ensemble

Built-in Administration account — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 16:21:00 -0500

With my background in dance and theater, it was relatively easy to put this photoshoot together. The dancers only had a few minutes to spare for the shoot, I didn't have much time to set up. Fortunately, the group had a list of shots they wanted to get and I was able to get them in the time allotted.

Likha Pilipino Folk Ensemble

This photo represents the different aspects of Filipino Folk Dance.

Malig Family Photos

Built-in Administration account — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 00:34:17 -0500

Family photos can be a challenge at times depending at what age the kids are. But regardless of age, these two kids were the most photogenic kids I have taken photos of! In fact, the session went so easily, that I was done in less than 45 minutes, which is a feat when involving kids in photography.

Happy Family

What a beautiful family! This was the photo that they chose for their Christmas holiday cards.

New offering: Pet Photography!

Built-in Administration account — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 00:48:50 -0500

A friend of mine asked if I could take photos of her dogs because she said it is difficult to find a good pet photographer. Since I have taken photographs for her family for special events, she knew that I could handle a camera and work with people, but could I extend those professional results to pet photography?

Dog photography, a natural extension for me

Newborn pups!

Baby: Jacob's first birthday

Built-in Administration account — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 12:47:50 -0500

This was an in-home session as most children are more comfortable and natural in a familiar environment. Jacob's parents wanted to capture this important milestone in a baby's life. His first birthday, around the time many babies take their first steps, but definitely enjoying their first cake.

Baby Jacob turns 1 year old!

Newborn: Madison

Built-in Administration account — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 12:48:46 -0500

This was an in-home session as most of my newborn sessions are. Madison was a treat to work with since she was asleep most of the time. The main benefit of taking photos of your newborn in your home is that I allow plenty of time for feedings and for your baby to sleep to get these timeless shots.

Baby Madison at 9 days

Headshots: Mariko Kobayashi

Built-in Administration account — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 12:49:36 -0500

As I focus more of my efforts towards studio photography, another area I'm expanding into is Fashion Photography. This was the first time I had an opportunity to use my Profoto Acute D4 Ringflash.

MK Session

Mariko was a pleasure to work with. As soon as we plugged in her iPod into my speakers, her personality started to shine through.

Alan and Olivia Maternity

Built-in Administration account — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 12:52:13 -0500

Pregnancy is a beautiful thing and I love when couples re-live these moments frozen in time -long after the baby was born. New life is a fleeting thing, and time seems to fly by. They can cherish these maternity photos for generations to come.

Olivia and Alan

Their baby girl, Eden, was born September 2, 2007! Congratulations you two!

Newborn: Lola Z

Built-in Administration account — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 12:53:04 -0500

"Babies are necessary to grown-ups. A new baby is like the beginning of all things - wonder, hope, a dream of possibilities.... Babies are almost the only remaining link with nature, with the natural world of living things from which we spring." - Eda Le Shan, Educator & author

Baby Lola - 6lbs 7oz

Newborn Session wtih Baby Ava

Built-in Administration account — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 12:56:53 -0500

Here are a few favorites from my recent newborn session with 10 day old baby Ava. This session was taken in their home in the East Bay.

Soft baby on tough daddy!

I had always wanted to get a contrasting shot like this. It was amazing to see her dad interact with her and to see how relaxed she was in his arms. I could tell he totally loved his newborn girl. As a new daddy myself, I have really come to understand this parental bond and do my best to capture it on camera.

Lucky Wedding 7/7/7

Built-in Administration account — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 12:54:34 -0500

In collaboration with Real-Exposure photography, I helped cover the Cardoza Bedega Wedding at Church of Notre Dame Des Victoires, San Francisco with a reception at the Westin downtown.

A day to remember 7/7/7

For this special day, Steve and Melissa had to plan well in advance. They contacted my friends at Real-Exposure photography and I assisted OJ in photographing their special event. The photos in my site were taken by me.

Drobo Review

Built-in Administration account — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 01:09:35 -0500

Finally, a sleek new storage device that has the reliability of RAID 5, without having to even know what RAID is. In fact, it doesn't even use RAID. This review is from a Mac User / Photographer's point of view. Overall, it is a nice concept, however the use of USB has some major limitations. I initially bought it to connect to my new Airport Extreme N router. But the noise was too overwhelming and the connectivity over the Airport wasn't reliable.

Pros

Use any size drive in any combination, no need to match drives
Nice clean design
No tools necessary
Hot swappable SATA drives (not included)

Cons

Use of USB2 vs Firewire
No built in networking (NAS - Network Attached Storage)
Mac sees the Drobo as two separate 2GB logical units instead of 1 large drive
When hooked up to Airport Extreme, it the fan runs at full blast
Fan is very noisy - it's like a hairdryer - update 8/20/07, I have sent my Drobo in and they fixed the noise! It seldom goes full blast and the fan has been reduced significantly.

It's a Boy!

Built-in Administration account — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 12:59:25 -0500

It is amazing how newborns grow so fast and it seems like I can't take enough photos to capture these fleeting moments. Words can't express how I feel about being a first time dad. In this post, I'll share my favorite photos of my son, and give a few tips on how you can take your own photos. In fact here are a few of my snapshots.

Welcome to the world Ayden B Cruz!

After my wife was pushing for two straight arduous hours, our son was born in San Francisco on June 26, 2007 at 8:50pm. He was a healthy 7lbs 14oz and 19.5 inches long! Like any expecting parent, I brought my camera. But being a photographer gives me a little edge when it comes to photography. But you don't have to have the most expensive gear to capture these moments frozen in time.

Newborn Photography

Built-in Administration account — Sun, 20 May 2007 16:52:45 -0500

Ideally, I would use natural light for newborn shots, in this case, I used two small Canon 580ex strobes fired from a Canon ST-E2 because it was late at night and the house lights were not bright enough to white out the background. Quick reflexes are key when it comes wide-awake newborns!

See my infant photos in my gallery.

The Setup

Location Lighting

Built-in Administration account — Sat, 05 May 2007 13:34:36 -0500

Sunrises fairly quickly in San Francisco, and with beautiful backdrop like the Palace of Fine Arts, there are no outlets to support a studio strobe. Since the couple wanted a few shots around the Palace, quick setup and breakdown was essential.

See my engagement photos in my gallery.

The Setup

Small Lights

Built-in Administration account — Thu, 03 May 2007 00:42:36 -0500

My friend, Grace, needed a quick portrait for one of her Scrapbook entries. Her requirements were easy, she needed a photo against a dark grey background. But I only have white or black. I also had a few minutes to take it. What was I to do?

Check out her site at www.momentarybliss.com.

The Setup

4 Bogen 3361QL - 8' Quick Lock Light Stands
2 99 cent clamps from Home Depot Pro
2 Canon CP-E3 Battery Packs
Canon Speedlite ST-E2
2 Photoflex Multiclamp with Shoe Mount for Umbrella or Softbox
Westcott Masterpiece Collapsible 2-in-1 Illuminator Muslin
Westcott Illuminator Reflector Kit 6-in-1
Photogenic Pneumatic Posing Stool

Anthony and Stephanie

Built-in Administration account — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 14:15:05 -0500

Update! Sophia was born April 15, 2007. Congratulations! At 38 weeks, Stephanie felt as she was going to burst, but we got through a fun photoshoot.

Stephanie was a great subject to photograph because she was so comfortable in front of the camera. They are expecting their baby in a week or two, so this was the perfect time to take their photos.

Today is Launch Day

Built-in Administration account — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 23:04:14 -0500

It's no April's fools! As much as I wanted to go through more photos to upload, I really needed to get my website live. I got around the minor display issues in Internet Explorer, so I figured I no longer needed to delay.

Getting Closer to Launch

Built-in Administration account — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 01:45:57 -0600

Now that I'm getting much closer to launch, I've been spending a lot of time reading the content on my site. There really isn't much to look at now because I took a lot of time deciding on the framework of my site first. Then I went through the tedious process of selecting photos for my portfolio.

Amaze Studios New Home

Gary Cruz — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 12:59:43 -0600

After a lot of research, I finally got around to designing a new website for Amaze Studios. I have visited several hundred sites to see what worked and what didn't work. Since my prior career was in User Interface design, I had a lot of experience with web development from hand coding my first website in 1996, to the first version of Flash in that same year.