Recent Food Photos

Maybe it's the season or the (semi-) cold air, but I've taken to baking and cooking lately. It's an excellent excuse to experiment with lighting for food photography.

And then there's the food I haven't so much cooked, but have definitely taken pleasure in:

Wobbly first steps

One could say that while the mind was willing, the body was unable to move forward with the upstartup project as I originally envisioned it: a blog about up-and-comingphotographers, their project and the issues thatcomeabout from being in that start-up stage in a stalled out economy. As it has played out so far, the economy has propelled me into a photography career I didn't know I wanted to do. And here I am almost a year later with stories to tell of life on the road and questions to ask about how all of you aspiring to full-time photographydom are doing.

Since we left off, I've been second shooter to Sonya Yruel as a wedding photographer a few times as well as first shooting a wedding with her on my team. I also started shoot interiors for real estate in the SF area before the housing market went down in flames. This path brought me to Vancouver in BC, where I am now contracted to a photo studio whose main clients are those in the hospitality industry. I cover Northern California but have spent the last several months in the midwest.

um, wow...

The Leica S2: a 35mm-sized digital SLR with medium format resolution!

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/find/newsLetter/LeicaS2.jsp

Hurry up and Wait!

Hi everyone. Sorry for the lapse in blogs - I seem to have been caught in some time-space non continuum sustained by 3-hour naps and loads of caffeine. It's a lot of hurry up and wait around these parts - and if you're a freelance photographer or assistant, I know you know that he and she know what I mean....

Thanks to all who responded to my request for bio info on emerging photographers! Due to the overwhelming response, and starting some new work, it's taking a while to wade through my interview notes and start posting. Have no fear, I am still planning on profiling all who responded. Thanks again for your patience.

So a quick update (and more later):

It's official: I've been published for the first time in San Francisco Magazine (Oct 2008 in the Click section up front)!! I went to the Borders yesterday and saw the new issue had come out, then flipped to the Click area and found my image. I just smiled dumbly at it for a while before buying 5 copies...er and gift wrapping them. For my mom. And dad. I swear!

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For anyone who wants to break into editorial work and is in SoCal, check out the lecture being held at Art Center in Pasadena next week. I've posted aPhotoEditor's post today below:

"A new Post "Shooting Editorial- Art Center Lecture Next Tuesday" was written on the September 26, 2008 at 5:20 pm on "A Photo Editor".
I've been invited by Everard Williams of Art Center College of Design to join Heidi Volpe, former Art Director at the LA Times Magazine for a lecture in LA next Tuesday evening called Shooting Editorial.

We're going to talk about shooting for magazines and spend the first part discussing what goes on inside a magazine, how stories are assigned, the dynamics between the different departments and in particular how Art Directors and Photo Editors work together...
including the ways in which I try and trick AD's into picking my photographer or my opener choice.

For the second part of the lecture we're going to talk about a photographers style and how we use it to make assignments and really try and show as many examples of portfolio images that convinced us to hire a photographer and then the published results from the assignment.
The event is free and open to the public and should be informative but also entertaining since Heidi and I aren't afraid to give each other a little shit. We will also try and tackle a few topics that have been in the news lately.
Shooting Editorial- Tuesday, September 30, 7:30pm-9:00pm in the Ahmanson Theater on Art Centers North campus. The address is 1700 Lida St. Pasadena, CA 91103.
http://aphotoeditor.com/2008/09/26/shooting-editorial-art-center-lecture-next-tuesday/

"

Getting Published (almost) and the 3 Ps

(click on thumbnails for to view images larger)

I recently read a post on www.naopa.org about a new magazine focusing on "refined living in the Peninsula" area of SF (or the area better known as "what's between SF and San Jose"). I was leery of the post since it mentioned "work for hire" as one of the stipulations for being the staff photographer. I was curious about the job and trying to break into editorial work, so forwarded a link to my portfolio.

About a day later, I got both an email and a phone call from the publisher. He gave me a very brief rundown on what he needed: shots for advertising and articles of local high-end eateries and bars, resorts, hotels and portraits of bartenders and people in the business or basically, a little bit of everything. We made an appointment to meet the next day for dinner. I met the publisher at a restaurant in my 'hood to investigate.

It turns out he's been in the promotion/publishing business for over 20 years with several other custom publications under his belt. Originally from San Francisco, he moved to the Peninsula several years ago after his kids grew up. While living there, he realized the need for a publication geared toward fine dining and nightlife. In SF, the equivalent would be something akin to San Francisco or 7x7, but focusing on the "Eat & Drink" and "Shop"aspects of those magazines.

After a lot of blood, sweat and tears, we're going to press with the second issue of the magazine. Check out the articles I shot on my website at
http://www.catherinenguyen.com/ in the Editorial section!
(If you happen to live in the Peninsula and would like to receive a free copy of the magazine when it comes out, please drop in at our under construction website, www.hillsandlagoons.com.) Re: the "work for hire" terms of our agreement, the publisher said, "while the pay for editorial shooting isn't high," he can offer exposure. The magazine retains the images shot for them in the archive for future publishing (with photo credit), but I am able to retain the copyright and resell my images after first publication. In addition, I am gaining contacts who may develop into future clients. Not a bad deal.

The blood and sweat has also paid off in an unexpected way: I've been named the magazine's new Creative Director.

The moral of the story is (does there always have to be a moral?) investigate; keep an open mind. You never know what opportunities may arise. It's hard to get a break and if some one's interested in your work and they can offer you one of the 3 P's (as Will Mosgrove, one of my photo instructors liked to say): Profit, Promotion or Portfolio it very well may be worth your while. In this case, as I've built my relationship with the publisher early on, I have creative freedom during my shoots. Of course, I always keep in mind who I am shooting for, but I have had carte blanche. The resulting images I've shot will definitely help with 2 of the 3 P's which I hope will lead to the third P in the near future.

National Geographic World in Focus Contest

From Natinal Geographic:

Final deadline Sept 8th
The deadline is drawing near and we don't want you to miss the chance to enter. The AMATEUR GRAND PRIZE is a 15-day trip for two to Antarctica aboard the National Geographic Endeavour. The PROFFESSIONAL GRAND PRIZE is free tuition for a 6-day professional photography workshop for one in Santa Fe, New Mexico and one Nikon D-80 Digital SLR (body only) or equivalent. The PROFFESSIONAL GRAND PRIZE also inclues: one Expedition Carbon Fiber Tripod NGET2, one Expedition Hydrostatic Head NGEH1, a PDN PhotoServe porfolio and a $500 B&H Gift Card.
Here are some of the World in Focus contest recent amateur and professional entries:http://www.worldinfocuscontest.com/amentries.shtmlhttp://www.worldinfocuscontest.com/proentries.shtml
Take advantage of this opportunity before the Sept 8th deadline!$12 per entry for amateurs$35 per entry for professionalsExtended deadline fees: $22 per entry for amateurs$45 per entry for professionals.
For more info and to enter online www.worldinfocuscontest.com

Victor 2, 2008 (Hasselblad Magazine)

A new issue of the magazine Victor by Hasselblad is out but if you're not a subscriber you can register for free and read archived issues at http://online.victorbyhasselblad.com/en/magazine-/22008.aspx .

Also of interest - the last page of the online magazine (page 72) shows that they are calling for submissions: "Send us five images that show us who you are. Inspire us and we'll offer you a unique platform to reach out to the world." http://www.victorbyhasselblad.com/en/portfolioverifyemail.aspx

Page 54 has an interesting interview with Christian Norgard, Hasselblad's new Photographer Relations Manager who is in part responsible for Hasselblad's "Masters" Contest. The contest now accepts all medium and large format images for submission - to truly determine the "Master" (rather than only accepting submissions shot on Hasselblad equipment). www.hasselblad.com/masters for the Master 2009 Awards contest (deadline December 31, 2008).

The Masters 2008 book includes a category for "Upcoming" awarded to August Bradley http://www.hasselblad.com/masters-2008/upcoming----august-bradley-.aspx (http://www.augustbradley.com/) . He has only been shooting since 2004 when he left a corporate job to become a photographer. This is of particular interest to me since I left the corporate world the same year to start studies in photography here in SF. I am going to see if I can't wrangle an interview with him for an upcoming post! Check out his images. He has definitely defined a "look" for himself - very illustrative photos that walk a fine line between photography and illustration. It's sort of like looking through a 3D graphic novel. Punchy colors, futuristic/bizarre locations with perfect/beautiful people. Definitely worth a look-see.