Family photos at the park

Thanks Chris, Sean and Nicole for a great photo session at the park today!

posted by Jing @ 8:32 PM 0 comments

so annoying

And even though it is so called recovered, I've noticed that I am missing some emails and websites updates from the weekend.

Apologies to everyone who is affected by this. I'll wait it out tonight and see if anything else gets restored, maybe they are using an older back up in the meantime.

Sheesh.

posted by Jing @ 12:02 AM 0 comments

bad internet day

If you can have a bad hair day can you have a bad internet day? My imajing.com server seems to be down, which means I have no email, no ftp, no website. I hope this doesn't last much longer!

I don't even know who would be reading this blog to know that, since this is linked from my main page, which for all purposes does not exist on the internet right now!

Anyhow.... last week was busy!

Together with our neighbours, we built a wooden fence. We now have some privacy, especially from the laneway at the back. I think Fred put it best when he said that 'we have a backyard now, and I no longer feel like I'm imposing on the people walking by in the alley'!

When the server's back up, go ahead and check out the photos of our adventure:
www.imajing.com/jing/fence.

===

I didn't think I would like taking photos of inanimate objects, but I've found that I really enjoy photographing food. Or maybe it's because I've been photographing food that is not only beautiful, but delicious. Here are some more food shots:
www.imajing.com/events/aphroditecooks/dinnerfor7
===

And finally, Sunday was rounded out with an engagement portrait session with Julie and Andrew -- who also conveniently live around the corner from us!

They're a lot of fun and look forward to shooting their wedding in August.

The photos below are a demo of what I do to photos during post processing. The first shot is pretty much straight out of camera. I shoot in RAW (instead of JPG) format so I'm able to bring out a lot of different effects by simply adjusting the exposure.


So here is a second version, slightly overexposed during RAW processing:

Here's where the fancy stuff begins. Using multiple layers and techniques, I have done a number of things to change up this photo, without, IMO, making it too 'dreamy' or overdone looking. The skin textures have been smoothed out, teeth whitened, and background darkened. I think I did something else too but I can't remember now. What I do to each photo is very much dependant on the image. Definitely not cookie cutter solutions.

posted by Jing @ 12:03 PM 0 comments

New photos from weekend

PHE grads from 2000-2002 got together on the weekend at Gypsy Coop on Queen West.

Here are the photos:
www.imajing.com/events/aphroditecooks/pheatgypsy/

(I should really write these blog posts when I am more awake!)

posted by Jing @ 3:10 AM 0 comments

Aphrodite Cooks a delight

Tonight was the first official event for catering and event planning company, "Aphrodite Cooks". Chef Vanessa Yeung served some truly inspired food while her business partner event planner Stephenie Summerhill, saw that all the guests had plenty to eat and drink.

My favourite of the evening is pictured above. The truffle honey made it really special. Come to think of it, the fava beans were also flavoured with truffle and it was topped with peccorino cheese.

More photos from the event can be found here: www.imajing.com/events/aphroditecooks/firstparty.

--

ABYBC and AAFABC

(Always bring your business card and Always ask for a business card)

One of the guests at tonight's party was photographer Clive Barber. It was great to chat with him. He has been in the business for over 20 years and specializes in creating high end images for golf resorts. Visit his webpage, www.clivebarber.com for some stunning images. I mean golf courses are usually pretty to begin with, but he makes them really special.

I met and chatted with another photographer on Thursday at the U of T convocation ceremony. I was there to get photos of the Phys Ed grads and the honourary degree recipient Dr. Roy Shephard. Lisa Sakulensky (www.lisasakulensky.com) was the official photographer U of T as a whole. She specializes in event and editorial photography for mostly corporate clients.

There is one more photographer I met at the golf championships last week, Greg Abel. But I can't seem to find his website, despite googling around... actually I just learned from Steph that I had his name wrong for the longest time (remembered it at Craig). So that's the moral of this blog post - AAFABC - Always ask for a business card!

--


The 1982-83 Men's Volleyball team is inducted into the U of T Sports Hall of Fame. Former head coach Orest Stanko accepts the award on behalf of the team.


Dr. Roy J. Shephard accepts his honorary doctor of laws degree from the University of Toronto. Remember those Canada Fitness badges you had to earn in grade school (red for excellence, gold, silver and down to bronze badges). You have Dr. Shephard and his research to thank for that!

posted by Jing @ 11:43 PM 0 comments

Googling around

Have you ever googled yourself?

I just did it for kicks (typed in "Jing-Ling Kao") and was happy to see that my own website, www.imajing.com, came up.... although it came up third instead of first! First and second were links to an online photography gallery formerly run by Beth Learn of the information systems department at U of T. Maybe because my full name shows up more often on those pages.

Now the crazy thing is, if I type in my name a few more times here (Jing-Ling Kao, Jing-Ling Kao) I might end up getting this exact blog entry when I google myself next time. Weird.

posted by Jing @ 1:43 AM 0 comments

What a week

Extreme heat, thunderstorms, great golf.

All photos from the week are now posted here:
www.imajing.com/ordergalleries/060529golf

posted by Jing @ 4:02 AM 0 comments

West coast repeat

University of British Columbia women win national championship for the fourth time in the row.

University of Victoria men win 2006 championship. This is the third time in four years that they have earned the title.

posted by Jing @ 8:26 PM 0 comments

Lovely day

New photos posted here:
www.imajing.com/ordergalleries/060529golf

posted by Jing @ 12:18 AM 0 comments