So yesterday morning I woke to find that I made an appearance in the Seattle Times..Look at the awesome pose!!

Ok, so the article was not a feature on me. It was actually a story on James Sun, now a local reality-TV legend. I was there that day to film James for "A Day in the Life" web feature and the Seattle Times reporter was also following James to do a story on him. Still, how many people can say that they got their picture taken while doing an awesome pose (notice the slight turn of the hips and the gentle bend in the knees) in the paper? I CAN!!!

You can also see yours truly at work in this short interview/behind-the-scenes video.

I got a call last week from my pastor who asked if I could film the city of Seattle, the good and the bad, in the streets, for a sermon series on prayer. He wanted to use the video to inspire people who call Seattle their home to pray for the city. So I got my handy-dandy GH1 and a 50mm lens and walked the mean streets of Seattle. As is the case in any major city, there is the beautiful (as seen in the timelapse footages) and the ugly (as seen in the homeless) all within a few blocks from each other.

The timelapse footage of the Seattle waterfront (1st clip and 2nd to last clip) as well as the timelapse clip of the clouds towards the end was provided by Ed Aites, a local photographer here in Seattle. Thanks for the use of your footage, Ed.

And a shout out to Pastor David for driving me around and trekking with me all afternoon!

Music: God of this City by Chris Tomlin

Have you guys ever wondered what happens to those reality TV show stars after their 15 minutes of fame are up? I mean, they're not really "stars" in the true sense of the word...they were regular people like you and me before they seized their "15 minutes of fame." So what do they do after their time is up?

James Sun, who was a finalist on Season 6 of Donald Trump's show, The Apprentice, answers that question by allowing us to see what he does now in a given day, several years after the show aired. If you ever saw that season of The Apprentice, you'll probably agree that James should have won as he clearly out-performed everyone on the show. However, in retrospect, it all worked out for James because he has been able to leverage his appearance on the show and the "fame" that followed to bigger and better opportunities. He not only runs his own internet company, Geopage.com, he is also currently hosting a new show to be aired on BBC and National Geographic called "Sun Tzu War on Business." Both in business and entertainment, I think it's safe to say that James is no longer an apprentice.

Here is a short trailer for "A Day in the Llife: James Sun". Main web feature is coming soon.

This summer, I had the opportunity to shoot a commercial for a Korean distributor of a nationwide wireless company. They hired Crown J, who is a pretty popular rap/hip hop artist in Korea. He is actually a pretty decent guy and is apparently trying to release an album here in the States.

I actually like his music and was a fan of his before he became really popular through a Korean reality TV show. So I was thrilled to be asked to be a part of the shoot. I did all of the camera work and some of the composition. It was my first real commercial shoot so I got to see how it all came together and all in all it was a great learning experience. I thought it would be cool to catch some behind-the-scenes footage so I handed my Lumix GH1 to a member of the crew. This is the first time I'm making an appearance in one of my own videos...but will it be the last??? Stay tuned..........

I shot with the Panasonic HMC150. I used the glidecam for all of the movement and low angle shots. Enjoy!

I didn't know dentists could have so much fun. :)

Rosana and Mike were married on 10/10/09 and I had the privilege of partaking in their joyous union and celebration. The day started off at the Bellevue Hyatt, where the bride and groom were getting ready separately. As I was visiting the bride and groom, it struck me how the environment of the guys' and gals' rooms were. The ladies room was filled with excitement and anticipation as the bride was preparing her hair, her make-up (waterproof mascara a must!), putting on the wedding dress and so forth. The guys's room, on the other hand, was a lot more relaxed as the groom was putting on his tux and the groomsmen were sprawled over the bed watching ESPN. But still, I could tell Mike was eager to see his beautiful bride as his hands were shuffling back and forth and his feet were pacing across the room.

The wedding was held at the beautiful St. James Cathedral near downtown Seattle and although they had to find a last second replacement for the cross bearer, all went well without a hitch. The reception was in the new Evergreen Ballroom of the Bellevue Hyatt. As the bride and groom walked into the reception alongside Egyption folkloric dancers and band, you could tell immediately it was going to be a fun night.

It was a pleasure to work with Craig of Chic Sound Productions and Jane Lee Photography. Thanks to George for helping with the shoot and most of all, thank to Rosana & Mike for a wonderful day. Congratulations to you both!!

So I had the opportunity to shoot a destination wedding in Ithaca, NY with the photography / cinema crew from Digs Studio. Jason, the cinematographer, was one of the people I had the chance to meet at the Stillmotion Evolution workshop I attended earlier this year. Digs Studio is a boutique wedding photography / cinema studio based in Las Vegas and is an industry leader in that area. I had a totally awesome time working with Digs and I cannot wait for the chance to work with them again in the future.

Rhiannon and Mike were the photographers and it was really cool to see professionals working at their trade. But not only were they good at their jobs, they are good people, too, and just fun to hang out. I could tell immediately Mike was a card when the first thing he asked me to do after I met him for the first time was hold his coffee. Rhiannon, Mike and Jason were all awesome and thanks to Digs for making my experience a good one that weekend.

But the wedding made it even better. The love Abby and DJ had for each other and the love they received from their family and friends were clearly evident in the speeches, hugs, smiles, laughter and warmth. Although the rain made things a bit inconvenient, it was not enough to bring down the mood of the day. And Abby's Italian heritage of celebration was on full display as everyone at the reception joined together in one voice and sang and danced to "That's Amore!" It was a sight to behold. A special performance by two of the bridesmaids and a duet sang by Abby and her Uncle Tony added more flair to the night. And speaking of Uncle Tony, I had the distinct privilege and pleasure of speaking with him at length the previous night at the rehearsal dinner. His stories of his childhood and his Italian father running a pizzeria in NY were totally hilarious and Seinfeld-esque. Straight out of a sit-com. Without a doubt, one of my highlights of the wedding was getting a burly hug and a big-'ol kiss on the cheek by Tony. I now have a place to stay in Ithaca anytime I visit.

Here is a quick highlight of the wedding day. I was the 2nd shooter and the footage is all handheld with the GH1. Enjoy.

This past August, I had the chance to cover an US Open Qualifier AVA beach volleyball tournament at Alki Beach. To probably everyone's surprise, I did play on my high school's JV and Varsity volleyball team for 2 years. Our varsity team actually made it to the LA County 3A Division Championships. I'm pretty positive that if I stayed with the sport, I would've been a gold medalist and beach volleyball superstar. Anyway, I digress. It was super hot on the beach that day and there was a lot of good beach volleyball action. People may not think Seattle when it comes to beach v-ball, but there are some playas on the rough beaches of W. Seattle.

This was the first time I shot any footage with a DSLR camera (Panasonic Lumix GH1). I got it the day before and decided to shoot with it for this event. Here is the quick highlight.

So I was asked by Jason Roberts of Digs Studio to come along and help shoot a wedding they had booked in Ithaca, New York. Without hesitation I accepted his invitation.

The wedding was held this past Sunday on 9/27. But I flew out to NY on a red-eye flight to arrive early Friday morning in NYC. From there, I hooked up with the other Digs crew including Jason, Rhiannon and Mike. We picked up the rental car, rented some gear and off we went on a road trip to Ithaca.

The drive was a long 4 1/2 hours but the company was great so it didn't seem that long. On the way, we stopped by a restaurant called Jubilee located in Pocono Pines, PA. Where the heck is that? Turns out, Mike and Jason (brothers) used to hang out there with their family when they were young. And they ate at that restaurant everyday when they visited. What a coincidence! It was fun to see these guys relive their childhood (albeit for an hour). That night, we ate at Lucatelli's restaurant, which is an Italian restaurant owned by the bride's father. A great time.

The next day before we headed off to the rehearsal, we decided to take in the local sights. Well, lo and behold, it was the time of the Apple Harvest Festival. There were apples and apple-related food everywhere. But we had pizza for lunch. :) This is a quick recap of the first two days of my trip. Wedding highlights and my experience working with Digs to come soon.

So one day I got this crazy idea of shooting a music video. Why? Because I never shot one before. Plus, I got a new camera, the Panasonic GH1 DSLR, and I wanted to try it out and do something creative. As I was conjuring up this idea in my head, I was listening to K-Pop (Korean music) and the song titled "I Don't Care" was playing. It's by a new young female group in Korea called 2NE1 (Koreans come up with the silliest names for music groups..like G.O.D which stands for Groove Over Dose and H.O.T which stands for High-five Of Teenagers..I mean, wth....but I digress). It was a very catchy tune and as I was shaking my head to the musical beats, eh-eh-eh-eh-eh-air, it struck me that this would be the perfect song for my video.

The song is basically about a guy who cheats and the girl finally decides she doesn't care anymore and leaves him. Very original. So I thought about what that would look like on screen, laid out the scenes on paper and decided to go with it. I enlisted the help of my friend, Sarah, and I think she was great in front of the camera. She was great! Thanks to Sarah and Ezra for participating! You guys were awesome!!

I had the pleasure of being a part of an uplifting love story of two people destined to be together. Their story is one of true love, adoration, patience, grace and encouragement. And they are a whole lot of fun! The impact they have on others was on full display as their family and friends witnessed and celebrated together in their joyous day.

It had rained the day before but the sun decided to come out from the clouds with all of its beaming glory this wonderful day. The wedding venue was at the Hollywood Schoolhouse in Woodinville. Emerald City Productions did a fantastic job of making sure the music and lights were set up and everyone had a good time. Heather Moore Colwill and David Frank were the photographers and they were so good to work with! Check them out! A special shout-out to George for helping with the shoot!

I enlisted the help of one of the bridesmaids to prepare a "secret" message video for the bride and groom. Tory & Phil had no clue this was coming and they were so pleasantly surprised when we showed the interview video. But they were even more surprised (as were the wedding party) when I showed the same-day edit immediately following the interviews. During the first scene I heard Tory yell out, "That was today!" Loved it. Enjoy this surprise same-day edit and congratulations again to Tory and Phil.