'Tis The Season to Attempt Wreath Making

It's been a long rainy day of indoor shoots, I don't feel like editing and my dog has wrapped her long body around my feet and desk chair, so I might as well get going with this lengthy wreath making discussion. Keep in mind there are probably an endless number of ways to make a wreath, but this is just a way I figured out, in an aesthetic I like.

Before we begin, as much as I'd like to say something idealistic like *Everyone Can Make a Wreath!*, that would be lying. I only recommend this activity if you have experience in crafting - ie, you are confident with making things with hands and have the patience to work with little bits of things. 

Raw Materials
One could buy plastic fake plant parts that reek of emporium craft store Cinnamon (does Michaels funnel Holiday Spice Scent through the vents?) or one could do the far more satisfying deed of foraging for real plant material (clandestinely) at the local park. So this might not work in San Diego. But in places where it gets cold, you'll find a selection of conifers that will do nicely. Here is what I look for in green stuff:

(A type) Tight Covering of Surface Area - this Fir (I think) has lots of branchings, which provides a good base cover.
(B type) Smaller Surface Covering for Tight Spaces - Juniper (I think) bends nicely to fit the inner edge of the wreath
(C type) Volume - this Mystery Shrubbery gives volume and width to the outer edge.
(D type) Decorative - Rosemary with flower buds adds color, scent and texture.
(E type) Spot Covering -Mossy moss will cover up gaps, as well as add visual interest and texture. If you don't have all types, no big deal. Work with what you've got.
(Other type) Berries, Flowers - If you have the time, dry flowers. Berries on my first wreath went dry and moldy, so use at your own risk.

When taking snippets off plants, I look for the youngest parts of the tree/ bush, as these will not yet be lignified (woody). They'll be nice and flexy to curve around your wreath base. I also select trees away from road/path ways; they'll be less dirty, and you can skip the extra step of rinsing them. Look out for slugs/caterpillars sitting on branches at the point you might snip. Moss I find under pine trees; it falls off in clumps after storms, or if you're lucky enough, a crow sitting in a pine tree might try to drop moss-covered twigs on your head as you circle the tree base like an indecisive dog.

Not Raw Materials - Shears for branch cutting, green foam wreath ($4.49 at Michael's for a little one), florists' wire, wire cutters, decorative ribbon. Yeah it would be nice to have a wreath base of bundled twigs. Oh well.






















Instructions
(1) Make Hanging Loop - it's tempting to jump right into attaching plant material, but save yourself trouble later and make a wreath hanging loop now. And, might as well snip a huge pile (like, 50) of 1 to 1.5 inch wire bits.

(2) Place your main Surface Covering A-type plant over the wreath base, to get an idea of placement and balance. Overlap ends. I like for all my bits to go  clockwise.

(3) Secure plant to base - make tight little U or hair pin shaped wire bits and "staple" the stems to the base. The wire should feel satisfyingly snug when pressed into the foam. I use maybe 2-3 per Fir piece. When Stapling, pin down only the stem and not the leaves, so the leaves can stay fluffy.

(4) Tuck the butt (cut) end of the stem under. It's fine to leave the head (uncut) end of the branch hanging off a bit.

(5) Secure all fir pieces, curving them. Stand back, and get a sense of what areas need more or less foliage to even the wreath out.

(6) Grab B-type plants and fit them into the inner edge of the wreath. I put bushier pieces where the wreath seems sparse, Secure with wire. Pin strategically, where the wire is hidden.

(7) Fill in entire inner edge so that foam base cannot be seen.

(8) Take C-type and fill in the outer edge. Generously overlap C-types, and allow branches to poke through A-types. Add more As and Bs as you see fit. Use small pieces to fine tune your coverage.

(9) D-type decorations - I add these over the A-type foliage, and intersperse with E-type Mossy Moss. The key is Balance, without looking planned or geometric. Cover any remaining visible foam base.

(10) Like when you get a haircut, the stylist will step back at the end and snip of missed strands. Same thing. Prune off anything that sticks out awkwardly.

(11) The wreath feels ungrounded. Needs a visually anchoring centerpiece, like a ribbon. I went with a modest red plaid ribbon,  and it took some five or more tries to get the bow just right. Have you ever tried to tie a bow on the back of someone's wedding dress? Well it's just like that. Don't want the bow to stick out weirdly, or be too droopy, or for the ends or loops to be too long, or for the loops to be twisted, or for the whole thing to look too tight, or like you tried real hard to get it right. Yeah, good luck.

Voila. Maybe it was bought it at Trader Joes. This is my third wreath; my first (featured previously) I now think is rather a mess, especially with the rotten berries. My second is OK. This one I knew what I was doing. Hopefully it will dry nicely. Already wreath 2, made less than a week ago has lost green vibrancy, and looks skinnier. So enjoy it while it's young!


Pirate Attack!


Armed with a sword and our wits, we deftly avoided capture by Captain Hook and his pirate posse, who were rapidly descending upon us. The best option was to hide amongst the boulders, which would be certain to provide camouflage and protection. And to further disguise ourselves, we best wear a conspicuous furry winter hat.

It was the only way to get him to be still for more than a second. And the only reasoning that convinced him to wear the hat. In an 100% candid  photo session during which I accrued more foot mileage than any other, it was all about getting in on the pirate story. Although I do think his stick wielding skills would make him an excellent wizard-in-training also. Confundus, you foe! Expelliarmus!

It's cold out, for California. I always hope that this doesn't deter parents from doing an outdoor shoot (unless we're talking little babies, in which case they'd just disappear into their bundled layers). I like photographing the textures of winter wear. I personally think that living in San Francisco, we should embrace the wet coldness, instead of avoid it, less we cloister ourselves indoors for most of the year. A good pair of rubber boots, that's all I've got to say.

Classic.



While I enjoy outdoor candids, indoor shoots, given good window light, can make for classic, elegantly simple photos. The ubiquitous San Francisco house sliding doors made for a great plain background, and we used basically no props aside from hands and blanket for the newborn portraits.

Wreath Time

I made a wreath. I got so carried away, I forgot to take in-progress photos to demonstrate the Making Of A Wreath. I'll try to remember to do so next time. Anyways, the base is a foam ring, and the folliage bits are secured by staple/ bobbypin shaped wire bits, pressed into the foam. All the greenery/ flowers' lives were flourishing a mere 2 days ago before I casually (why yes, I do carry gardening shears around with me on all dog walks) pruned them of their mother plant. I found all these bits along my usual dog walk route, alongside the Presidio and through a local park.

I really hadn't paid much attention to plant and tree life before, but now I scan the pathside flora for wreath potential. I looks for leaves that seem stiff without relying on turgidity from water. This of course includes evergreen trees - of which there are many around here, including Juniper (I learned this only upon googling "San Francisco Local Trees", but could not identify any other trees). There are red berry shrubs fruiting, which contribute greatly to the festive holiday look. Home front yard gardens are also full of tempting plant bits, and as I walk by I briefly fantasize about absconding with a snippet, but in real life I will resist.

Quite pleased with the results of my first wreath, I've bought a few more foam frames at Michael's craft store. I was sorely tempted to also buy a package of dried moss - lush green matted stuff, overpriced for something that falls off trees. Sure enough I found a moss-shrouded pine branch on my dog walk today.Now if only I didn't have so many edits to work on. More details on wreath foliage assemblage in a later post....

Winter Beach


Landscape Maternity at Ocean Beach, the best place for beach sunset photography in SF. Partly because the beach is so wide and gently sloping; the waves take a long time to come in and recede, leaving a decent window of time where the sand is wet and magically reflective. The light is like this for less than ten minutes. Oftentimes the people I take out here to photograph, will leisurely take their time and enjoy the scenery. Not allowed! I urgently herd them into photogenic compositions. And yes it was freezing cold, but how can one show off a maternity belly with a winter coat on? The sacrifices we make for good photos.

Retiring to my car post-shoot, I turned on my camera to check on the photos. The camera wouldn't turn on. Back home, new battery etc, tried everything - would not power on! Ack! I called Canon customer service, and fortunately my 5D, being 1.5 months old, is still under warranty, so I will send it to Irvine to get fixed. I will miss it very much... and must use my 40D in the meantime.

Now for the final stretch of another busy 2 weeks before things slow down for the holidays. I somehow made it through November, so 2 weeks should be easier!

Happy Thanksgivings Weekend To All


I just think this is such a cute picture.

In the throes of holiday season photo non-stop madness. At first I tried to take the next four days off, then decided to give up Sunday for shoots, then I leaked a shoot onto Saturday... edits are piling up so maybe I will squeeze in some editing Friday and Saturday - but definitely, Not Working Tomorrow! You'd better not work tomorrow either.

Happy Eating!

Post Storm Sunset


If more people took photos while driving, driving and photo taking - like cell phone talking and texting - would likely also be illegal. However it's not, when I'm on the road and there's an irresistible sunset, I point my camera in the general direction of sunset amazingness and hope for the best. Here I am cruising along the Bay Bridge, marveling at the total lack of inbound SF traffic, and the cityscape looms up, silhouetted against 4:45pm ish sky. There's the triangle building and radio tower and everything.

Fuzzy Family Members


Four out of my last ten shoots included the family dog. None of them pint sized dogs that are easily picked up and oriented to face the camera. All 50 lb+, and apt to face their human (ie, back to the camera) when told to Sit. This means that the human needs to stand with their back to me, tell the dog to sit, then hold the dog in place while pivoting 180 to crouch next to the dog. Then rest of the family gathers around the dog, as it's easier for humans to position themselves than it is to try to encourage a dog butt to sit on a specific spot.

Good Things That Come From Melt Downs



Wow. Beautiful autumn sunsets. In the recent weeks, I've been marveling at the bay area sunsets. Oftentimes, I'm on the highway, driving back from my afternoon shoot, and debating whether or not to pull off at the next exit. Then I remember my dog is waiting at home for her walk, and that I'm hungry, so I don't. But this time, thanks to a toddler melt down leading to an abbreviated shoot, I had time and stopped when I saw this ridiculous light coming through the trees at Baker Beach at around 5pm. Less than 10 minutes from home! San Francisco is great like that.

Friday Flashback


One and a quarter years later - he's far more mobile, but he's got the same mischievous glint and expression that says Whooooeeeeee! Life is Fun!

Like I said before. I've never photographed so many toddlers. Toddlers are by far the most challenging age group to photograph, mostly because of stubborn determination combined with new found running skills and well developed lungs. Fortunately they have not developed sneakiness yet, and so they are quite predictable. I can tell where they want to run and I am still faster than them so I can get ahead of the path and photograph them plunging their way towards say, a Bus, or Dog, or Some One Else's Trike.

Holiday Season Snuck Up Upon Me


Holiday photos! For my annual clients, it's the one time of year I'll see them, and marvel at how much their kids have grown. It's fun to see the festive outfits that the moms put together. I listen to holiday music (of the big band jazz sort) while I edit. Two weeks until Thanksgivings, sunsets at 5pm - wasn't it summer not that long ago?



Involved and Enthused Is The Best.


Cute Baby! As I've stressed before, the success of a photo shoot depends a lot on parental participation. Parents know how to get their baby to smile way better than I. When both parents, like this couple, are totally immersed and having fun at the shoot, it makes a huge difference. Way more baby smiles.
Oh! Is that that a Justin Bieber baby below?


I think participation is more often difficult for some fathers; men are less likely to feel at ease in front of a camera than women. Except - interestingly, men of Asian heritage - they all seem relatively comfortable with having their pic taken. Is it because people of Asian ethnicity are more likely to have had a lot of cameras around while growing up? Is it because I'm Asian American? What are my population sample sizes and how do I quantify discomfort? I don't know. This is just an observation.

Anyways, sometimes during the shoot, some fathers decide it's time to check their blackberry/iphone/mobile device. For extended periods. I'm not sure what they're doing - most likely this is a distraction behavior to make them forget that they are uncomfortable. Other common dad distraction behaviors: watching TV (at home shoots), complaining that the light is too bright, the spot they're sitting on is uncomfortable, the grass is damp; volunteering to watch the kid and following the kid 400 yards away from shoot site before making (weak) attempts to herd the kid back to home base; constantly asking their wife "How should we pose? What should we do next?" instead of asking me directly, or speaking as if I'm not actually there: "What does she want us to do?" Gosh, I'm just a human being - it's weird to feel that wielding a big camera makes me a scary person.

I do what I can to make people feel comfortable. Camera shy is one thing - I can encourage activities: put kid on shoulders! toss kid in air! chase kid around tree! and get good candid photos. Lack of enthusiasm - there's not much I can do. For some fathers, no matter what,  it seems that a family photoshoot is like enduring the opera (speaking stereotypically of course). I'd say about 10% of fathers are like this, which is a minority (whew).
Well, all this makes me really appreciate those couples were both parents are involved and enthused.

Autumn Update


How did Halloween pass me by without any cute kid in costume post?! Here you go, so as not to deprive you of your annual dose.

Fall is rapidly whizzing by. I have a record 38 shoots in November, far more than the 25 that I'd aimed for. Pretty much means working every day (including shoots every day except for 2 days) without breaks until Thanksgivings, but I knew going into November that I'd have to just take a deep breath, take the plunge, and Just Keep Swimming. I do thrive on the productivity.

21 of the 38 are repeat clients, which makes life easier: everyone knows what to expect - less explaining on my part, no awkwardness in getting to know each other, no need to develop trust bonds. The thing with repeat clients though, is that last year their kids were 1 yr olds. Now, the kids are all around 2 yrs old and extremely mobile, which means much more chasing on my part.

Must stay organized! Emailing reminders for sessions and Day Light Savings ending; planning Plan Bs in case of rain (and keeping a constant eye on weather reports); fitting in errands and dog walking between photoshoots; contacting venues for permission to do a shoot for those clients who want to do a session in fancy hotels or private gardens; keeping batteries charged, memory cards empty, all photos backed up on computer and two external hard drives; stocking the fridge with good food so that I don't resort to ramen and canned food. That on top of shoots and editing.

A Small Chunk of Portugal

 

Historically, Salvador ("Savior" in Portuguese) was the first capital of Brazil, back in the colonial days; 1500s to 1800s. As lots of places chose to name themselves Salvador, this Salvador distinguished itself with the name Salvador of Bahia, Bahia being the Brazilian State along the mid-east coast of the country. One can see why the Portuguese decided to stick around here. The coast line consists of 30+ miles of beach intermingled with rocky shore, astounding views of the Atlantic all around. This historic center, Pelourinho, is a recently renovated World Heritage Site. With balconied windows, cobblestone streets, facades and lamp posts, it's like a little chunk of Europe was deposited on this hilltop.


It felt a bit Disneylandish; the opposite of old European cities that feel truly lived in, with local bakeries and grocers and residents - and a sense of pride for dwelling in beautiful historic houses. Perhaps it's because Salvador's population now consists mostly of those of Afro-Brazilian heritage; ie, those whose ancestors were brought along via the Portuguese slave trade. Maybe they have a different attitude towards remnants of Portuguese colonialism, than say if those with European ancestry still lived in this city? Just guessing here.

Pelourinho felt completely set up for tourists - the ground floor of all buildings were shops or cafes geared towards tourists - so in an odd way, it lacked character. I like to visit places and see people getting on with their own lives, instead of catering everything to my wallet. However, I'd been hankering to see some colonial architecture, so I was happy to finally have some buildings to photograph.


There are historic colonial towns all over the coast of Brazil, and perhaps others are less commercialized. Pelourinho overlooks the modern city that has grown up around it at the foot of the hills. It's not pretty. I commented that in many other cities in the world, such scenic coastline would be lined by nice looking buildings, hotels and expensive homes etc. It was pointed out to me that Brazil has endless scenic coastline, and thus it wasn't a big deal to be near a white sand, azure watered beach.


Home Base Sao Paulo


Outside of Korea, the most Korean food I'd ever eaten was in Sao Paulo. Surprised? Well, there are some 50,000 Koreans or should I say, Korean Brazilians in Brazil, most of whom live in Sao Paulo. Much of the immigration happened in the 1950s, when Koreans wanted to escape the instability of their own country. Brazil at the time, was apparently encouraging foreigners to come on over, perhaps to stimulate population and economy. Can you imagine just picking up your family of 7 kids who'd never been out of Korea in their lives - in the 1950s PRE-internet when one couldn't google Sao Paulo and get a sense of what one was in for - and plopping everyone down in Sao Paulo? That's exactly what my husband's grandparents did.

Those Koreans that great up in SP say they feel much more Brazilian than Korean, and I could empathize, feeling much more American than Chinese. They speak Portuguese and Korean. Many of them work in the cloth/ clothing industry - design, manufacture, wholesale. The streets in the garment district are lined by fashion shop windows, all creatively decorated with lanky mannequins draped over ladders, lavish chandeliers, pink vintage wall papers, showers of origami cranes, bright splashes of fluorescent stripes. Style-wise, Think: hundreds of mini Forever-21s (that ubiquitous teenybopper mall shop which I admittedly frequent, well, frequently). Sao Paulo lacks tourists, and so I felt self conscious about taking of the camera around here, which would be the equivalent of a giant jewel-encrusted sandwich board sign announcing TOURIST!! Thus, no storefront photos.

Mixed in the maze of shops are Korean restaurants - lots of them. If all you've heard of is Korean BBQ, learn now that there is much more to Korean food. There are lots of soupy and rich dishes that come in oven-sizzling bowls. Above, a delicious mandu (ie wonton) soup. The gazillion little side dishes (kimchi, seasoned dried mini-fish, fried egg, gelatinous chunks of ?) help you to season your dish to your liking, or for you to snack on between bites of main course. But all is not business; within the family there are also connections to a Korean ceramics studio - in which we found a moment of tranquility in an otherwise gigantic buzzing city, plagued with endless traffic and confusing streets.


Cruising along on a multi-lane Sao Paulo freeway, we came to a Y-shaped division of lanes, with the right arm leading off onto a different freeway. We took the right arm instead of the left. About 30 yards into the wrong arm, the driver stopped - full on STOPPED in the fast lane (no blinkers or anything),  and other cars casually drove around us. Then he BACKED UP - in the fast lane on the freeway - until we sat in the island between the two arms. Finding a space in the left arm traffic, we rejoined the rush. No-one honked, the whole time. In fact, considering the crazy driving, disregard for lanes, cutting off, red light running - there was not much honking at all. It is as if there is a mutual agreement that driving is a challenge of obstacles and everyone just gets through it without complaint; none of this high-maintenance smooth driving American expectation.

Toucan Time

Aren't toucans wonderful? We met lots of them at the Bird Park in Iguacu, not far from the Falls. Free to interact with humans in aviaries, most toucans weren't scared and were quite alright with having their close up taken, and accepted gentle pets. A useful trivia tidbit: the toucan is Brazil's National Bird. The most commonly known toucan is the Toco Toucan, in all but the third pic. Not sure who the third toucan is, but you can see that his/her beak and body are smaller, and colorings are different. There are actually about 40 toucan species, including toucanettes, which are like mini-toucans.

What's with the huge beak? Toucans mostly eat fruit, and apparently the massive beak lets them sit in one place while chowing down on all fruit within beak radius - apparently beak mass outweighs the energy expenditure of having to move the body around. Of course it may have to do with intimidating other birds, or mating behavior.

In the afternoon sun, some toucans took on this posture of turning their head and resting the beak against whatever they were standing on. This is nap time posture - guess the beak is too heavy to hold up, and too large to tuck under a wing.



PVPC

In this case, I was glad to be toting my least expensive DSLR. A promenade along the boardwalk to the viewpoint along one tier of the fall resulted in a complete drenching. Fortunately it was a warm day and I quite enjoyed the shower, but my lens was water covered and resulted in many smeary photos such as that to the left.

The viewpoint boasts a 270 degree surround of waterfall, partially captured by the panoramic below (consisting of 3 photos stitched together). One wonders how they managed to build this boardwalk, and to securely anchor it, considering the massive volume and speed of water constantly hurtling by. I suppose they waited for dry season to do this. How non-permanent, compared to the eon enduringness of the waterfall; this little human construction is much a speck in the lifetime of Iguacu Falls.

Of course, I have whole bunches of Falls photos, but I've selected only a few from different angles that I think are useful for illustrating the experience. The task of Post-Vacation-Photo-Curating (PVPC) is one that many of us face. It is an important task - I want to share my pics and presumably y'all out there are interested in seeing them, but if I posted 50 Iguacu Falls photos, how bored would you be? We've all visited a friend's album with 10 shots of the same view (maybe with slight angle change or zoom/unzoom). Sure it was fun to take those photos but in my opinionated opinion, we gallery viewers don't need to see all attempts. Curating is as much a part of the photo album process as taking the photo (and editing, if you are an editing person). Yes it is time consuming, and perhaps the advantage of prompt posting is more important to some. I say it's worth the extra time; each chosen photo will be better appreciated.


 
Am I in this picture? Maybe.