Photo Shoot: Sveta & Matt Cardella Wedding

Matt & Sveta Wedding
Location: Pleasant Hill Community Center:
320 Civic Drive, Pleasant Hill Ca
Flickr Album Website: Matt @Sveta 11.29.09

Here is one of my Fav's. Please check out my Flickr site for more pics.

© Michael Lopez

On the Tee Box: Royal Links GC

Royal Links Golf Course

Las Vegas, NV

Random thoughts (6) "My Favorite Week THANKSGIVING"

One of my favorite weeks of the entire year! Depending on what day of the week Thanksgiving falls on, the celebration always starts with my younger brothers birthday. My younger brother by 4 years was born on 11/23 and even though I have other siblings, my younger brother is my one true blood brother. (My other siblings are ½ brothers/sisters) which makes his bday unique. Following my brother’s birthday is one of few people who have made me who I am today and that’s my Grandmother. My Grandmother’s birthday is on 11/25 and I’m proud to say that she is 95 this year and still going strong. The next important date is of course Thanksgiving. My Family and I have made a strong commitment to gather as a family and be thankful every year. Also, as I have developed great friendships it’s also fun to have two friends that one has a birthday the week before my brothers 11/18 and one a day after my grandmothers 11/26. Lets just say that my two friends love to play golf and with their birthdays surrounding my normal vacation days, I get a lot of golf in.

A little background on how my family and I spend the Thanksgiving week. Depending if my grandmother or my brother’s birthday doesn’t fall on thanksgiving, we probably have two gathering, one on their birthday with more immediate family and thanksgiving with the whole family and friends. During the Bday we have the general cake and singing, but always end up ordering a ton of food. We do this because we know that a lot of cooking has to be done for Thanksgiving and its nice to have convenient comfort food before the cooking begins. One tradition that started a couple of years ago and has taken off with my family is the family POKER game. We try to keep things small, not wagering more than $5, playing tournament style and making sure payouts a generous. Yet competition can get very intense, but the joy of family company always supersedes. On occasions like this year where my grandmothers bday came before Thanksgiving, it felt as thanksgiving came early and lasted for 2 days.

On thanksgiving, my close family and I start early and begin the day watching the NFL tradition game. Once a majority of the family and outside friends makes it in, and before the EATING begins, we always start with a prayer. I’ve been raised Catholic and have been to a ton of prayers and church sessions, but every year when my Auntie begins the prayer, it reminds me of everyone that is no longer with me, people who are less fortunate and to realize how lucky I am for the life I have.

When it comes to food, I love the food at my families Thanksgiving meal, we have all the traditional food: LARGE TURKEY, stuffing, potatoes and pumpkin pie. But with all that and being Filipino, my family adds our favorite homeland food: Lumpia, Crab, Tilapia and a lot of Filipino deserts.

But just like every family get together after the food, desert and the food coma resides: the POKER begins. Now to keep things in a family perspective we play one game as a family to have fun and get loose. Our second game is always for a little more money and a family bracelet that has engraved CHAMPION. This game has the feel of something you would see on ESPN or reruns of the WSOP. The fun thing about trying to be the winner is not the money or even the bracelet, but it’s the fact that the winner can brag about their victory for an entire year. 10-12 hours later after 3^rd and 4^th servings after the THANKSGIVING POKER CHAMPION has been announced, the sad part begins. Time is winding down and family who don’t live in the area knows that it might be a while before they see each other again. For me its extremely sad because it marks another moment where I’m getting older and my family is changing. Its extremely hard because I know that my grandmother is taking off to go back home to Las Vegas.

All in all, every year during my Thanksgiving week, I have friends bdays, golf, families bdays and of course Thanksgiving itself it makes me feel like this is what holidays and especially families should be about. As this Thanksgiving Holiday is celebrated by millions of Americans across the world, it has given me the opportunity to thank the people closest too me and show them how much I appreciate them.

-ML

Thru My Eyes: 4

Billboard of a Philippines Icon "Manny Pacquiao"
SF Union Square
© Michael Lopez

"Thru my eyes” is a series of random photographs taken with various cameras to capture the moment the way I see them. This series is a way for me to continue to grow as a photographer and share with the world my views “Thru my eyes.”

Random thoughts (5) "Bay Bridge Tragedy"

Today, I woke up watching the news as usually to hear the tragic incident on the new Bay Bridge S curve that claim its first life. At 3:30am a 56 years old Hayward truck drive delivering Pears to a local grocery store going a little over the speed limit crashed into the sidewall and his big rig fell over 200 feet to Yerba Buena Island.

Watching the news and looking at the carnage left from the crash, got me thinking about the work and the progress Caltrans has done to improve the bridge. I have read that their has been over 40 crashes in the short time the S curve has been put in. This does not include today’s incident or the incident that included a beam snapping off and crashing into 3 drivers. Its hard for me to believe that Caltrans or Bay bridge engineers were not aware of the problems the S design can cause. It makes me sick that Caltrans, the City of SF, or even the State of CA does not step in and take action in changing this section immediately or accelerating a new portion of the bridge to avoid more crashes and the loss of more lives. I understand that it takes time planning and money to rebuild a new bridge, but shouldn’t Caltrans and the engineers have planned better to replace a highly dysfunctional section of the bridge? Shouldn’t engineer’s plan/design a better section than a S curve that would lead to so many accidents? Shouldn’t they have planned for the human element? Human error may have been the cause of this incident or may be the cause of the 40 or so auto accidents, but shouldn’t these engineers and Bay Bridge officials done more research to see what a accident ratio or the possibilities of fatalities due to excessive speed? It’s hard for me to believe that these engineers and officials were naive to believe that everyone would abide by a 40mph speed limit when they’re use to driving 60mph during rush hour.

In today’s society of spending cash for absurd items, it amazes me that officials have not decided to speed up the process of completing the new bridge. It makes me wonder if we have put a dollar sign on the cost of life. How many more accidents will it cost, how many more lives must be lost, until Caltrans, the Cities of the Bay Area or the State of CA decide its time to make this bridge right!

-ML

Thru My Eyes: 3

"Old Connections"
One of few public Pay Phones still around.
Fisherman's Wharf, Monterey, CA
© Michael Lopez

"Thru my eyes” is a series of random photographs taken with my various cameras to capture the moment the way I see them. This series is a way for me to continue to grow as a photographer and share with the world my views “Thru my eyes.”

Reviews 2

If have updated my Yelp Reviews, Please feel free to read them:

Food/Store Reviews:

***BORROWLENSES.COM: San Mateo, CA***

Sam's Chowder House: Half Moon Bay, CA
Louie Linguini's Seafood Shack: Monterey, CA
Old Fisherman's Grotto: Monterey, CA

HAPPY HALLOWEEN 10/31/09

Photo Shoot: Jason & Aayasha Wedding

Jason & Aayasha Wedding
Location: Oakland Yacht Club: 1101 Pacific Marina, Alameda, CA 94501
Flickr Album Website: Jason/Aayasha 10.24.09

This is my second wedding shoot. This series of pics means a lot to me, as I’ve known Jason and his family for as long as I can remember. Jason and Aaysha have gone through a series of wedding ceremonies in their native land of Nepal. On this day they shared with their friends and family a beautiful reception for those who cannot be at their wedding.


Here is one of my Fav's. Please check out my Flickr site for more pics.

© Michael Lopez

Thru My Eyes: 2

EVERY PHOTOGRAPHERS NIGHTMARE

“Thru my eyes” is a series of random photographs taken with my various cameras to capture the moment the way I see them. This series is a way for me to continue to grow as a photographer and share with the world my views “Thru my eyes.”

Random thoughts (4) "Presidents Cup"

Last week the city of San Francisco was given a treat from the PGA and 24 of the top golfers in the world, as the Presidents Cup tournament was held at the public course of Harding Park. As a passionate golfer I was extremely excited for the Presidents Cup. The Presidents cup is a 4-day golf tournament that is held every two years, alternating locations from the US and places around the world other than Europe. The competitors are 12 of the top US golfers and 12 of the worlds best golfers excluding the US and Europe. Over 4 days these 24 golfers compete against each other representing their countries in 3 various match types. These types are 4-ball (each 2 man team takes turns hitting the ball), Best ball (each player plays their own ball, but only the top score from each hole from each team is recorded) and Single match play (1 on 1 best of 18, whoever has the best score per hole wins that hole). The winning team is not given any prize money as the winning side is give prize money to donate to their favorite charities.

My wife and I were one of the lucky 35,000 people to watch the sold out tournament. My wife and I came out to watch on Friday as the US team and International team were broken down to 6 matches of 4-ball with each winning team earning 1 point for their side, 17.5 points over 4 days declares the winning team.

On the Friday that we went, the first set of matches started at 10:55 am so we decided to get to the course at 9:30 so we can experience the ambiance of all the pre-game festivities, watching the players warm up, taking pictures from the vendors, hitting up the merchandise tent and watching the opening ceremonies for that day. As a golfer my favorite two golfers are Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods so I was extremely happy that the first match was with Phil and the Last match was with Tiger. These two matches were roughly about an hour and half apart so it gave me plenty of time to follow and watch Phil hit some great shots and give me enough time to head back to the first hole to watch Tiger start his day.

Throughout the day its amazing to hear the ROARS from the various sections of the course as these Pros gave Fans the show we’ve been waiting for. One moment I was watching Phil hit his shot from the Fairway and the next I’m turning my head as I can hear cheers from across the course wondering what was going on. I was also lucky to be a part of the Cheering side as a couple of amazing shots happen right in front of me and along with a hundred or so people yell in excitement. Being able to watch these players play for their country and the aura they bring as they walk on the course is something that’s hard to explain, the magical feeling knowing someone special and something special is about to happen give goose-bumps.

The long exciting day ended with the US team earning 3 ½ points to the International team earning 2 ½. My wife has never gone to watch a golf tournament so running from hole to hole watching some of the best golfers for 5+ hours was very tiring. Towards the end of the day we were lucky to find a great spot in the bleachers that surrounded 5 sections of the golf course and provided us with a screen showing action throughout the course. My wife was able to take some catnaps as we waited for golfers to get closer to finishing up their matches. At the end we jet across a couple more hole to watch matches finish up, before ending our day.

All in all the Golf world and the City of San Francisco was given an opportunity to watch an incredible tournament between two teams of players where every other week are alone in their sport where 99% of the time they loose. The Presidents cup is a unique tournament where individuals are given the opportunity to play for their country, come together as a unit and share with the world their God given skills in atmosphere where everyone wins.

-ML

Thru My Eyes: 1

"Boat over the Pacific"
Shot Taken on the Airplane over the Pacific Ocean
© Michael Lopez

“Thru my eyes” is a series of random photographs taken with my various cameras to capture the moment the way I see them. This series is a way for me to continue to grow as a photographer and share with the world my views “Thru my eyes.”

Thru My Eyes ; Intro

I got the idea “Thru my eyes” from one of my influence and teachers, Stella Kalaw. On Stella’s website/blog she has a running collection of Photographs she calls her “WANDERING” collection. Her Idea behind this wonderful collection is:

“Wandering is a collection of photographs from my occasional observations of everyday life. It is a means for me to reconnect to what drew me to the medium in the first place. And that's really all it is: my repeated attempts at recapturing that feeling which energizes me to continue taking pictures.

©Stella Kalaw

As I continue to learn I decided that I would follow suit and start my own running collection of Photographs that would show the world “Thru my eyes.” My intentions of this collection is to grow as a photographer by having a camera a part of me just like my keys, wallet and cell phone. I hope that these series of shots will add to my collection of interesting pictures.
I’m also hoping that this collection will help me take more controlled, precise shots as I intend to keep this collection post-process free and show my versatility in taking “true” shots. This collection has my attention of rivaling “THE COLLECTION” which is my series of Favorite Pictures that I “may” have post-processed or spent hours on in making sure they look their best.

I hope you enjoy this series, as I know I will when taking these shots.

Random thoughts (3) "Current Influences"

I just posted a bunch of pictures to my Flickr account and emailed my family and friends to take a look at them. I started to think to myself on how my own pictures look or how I felt the first time I saw them. It’s a special feeling that’s hard to describe putting out your work and knowing that you can be proud of what you have accomplished.

I’ve been studying the world of Photography for a little over a year (2008) and for the most part still feel new and overwhelmed to all the different aspects that I still haven’t learned. It’s nice to know that I’m starting to look at the world thru a “different perspective.”

A friend of mine was looking at my pictures and wanted to know who my influences were and what type of styles I like to shoot. I never really gave it much thought and now thinking about it, it’s kinda fun thinking about why I shoot the way I do.

I would like to say that I’ve always been interested in Photography, but never really thought it would be possible and economical in the film era. Now that there has been an explosion on the digital front it has open the world for amateurs like myself to learn Photography and find a new way to express themselves.

Currently, I like to shoot in two different types: one being “Still Life” and the other “Landscape.” I definitely try to take other types of shots, like “Macro” and “Portraits”, but I haven’t done the research or haven’t experimented enough to actually enjoy it.

In terms of influences, one of my big influences for “Still Life” shots is Stella Kalaw. I’ve been lucky to have her as a teacher and as a teacher she has shown me the basics and has been patient with me in my learning process as I annoy her with my daily photo questions. On top of being a tremendous help and a great teacher, Stella Kalaw’s website is a great website that has shown me that you don’t have to look too far to find great shots. A lot of her work captivates the simplicity of daily life and brings out beauty in places where you normally wouldn’t look.

For my “Landscape” shots my big influence is San Francisco’s own Ansel Adams. I’ve been interested in his pictures for as long as I can remember. I currently love going out to as many different locations as I can with a Wide-Angle and trying to create as many Landscape shots as I can. Even though I’m nowhere close, a lot of my landscape photos are trying to imitate some of the pictures that I have seen. I haven’t had a lot of success with black/white pictures, but looking at Ansel’s pictures always encourages me to use black/white filters and use them with different subjects.

Another influence in my world that I recommend to any photographer is to participate in buying photo magazines and showing pictures online. I love going into Borders or Barnes and Nobles and picking up the latest DSLR USER or DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHER magazines and reading through what other amateurs are doing and looking at their pictures with their settings. Unfortunately these two magazines are both UK based and cost $10 in the U.S., but I still believe that these magazines are well worth it and are perfect for amateurs trying to get ideas and info on how to shoot shots.

While living in the digital world, I feel that inspirations are always out there. Looking at places like magazines, books and exploring photos online is a great, but going out talking with other photographers and learning from others is the best inspiration an amateur can find.

As I expand on my abilities as a photographer, discover new artist and techniques, I won’t forget how I started, my inspirations and everyone that has encouraged me and teach me to become a better photographer today.

-ML

Random thoughts (2) "Percy Jackson Book Series"

A couple of months ago I was looking for a new book to read, when a good friend of mine recommend the Percy Jackson Series. At first I was a little skeptical about reading a book for teenagers, but as I read reviews and the background on what the series was about, I was fascinated about what it had to offer, but I still wasn’t completely sold. I waited a little bit longer, wanting to see if I can find anyone else that has read the series, but as I started to read review after review, my friend who happens to read a lot, including the Harry Potter and Twilight Series, pushed me a little more to just give it a try and I’m happy I did.

The Percy Jackson is a NY time’s #1 Best Selling 5 part series with a small side book that takes place between books 4 and 5. The author is Rick Riordan, who also wrote NY time’s best seller “TRES NAVARRE” for adults along with several other books for adults and teenagers.
The Percy Jackson Series is about a boy in his early teens and his adventures being a “DEMIGOD” and his experiences growing up around the Greek Gods. While not getting into too much detail, the Series references several Greek Mythologies, including some of the more popular Gods like ZEUS, Poseidon and Hades as well as some Mythology not as poplar such as Atlas, Calypso and the TITANS and putting them in the modern United States.

When I discussed the series with my friend, I had him compare it to the hugely poplar Harry Potter and Twilight series (which I have not read) he best described it as having a great story line with character development put in a fast moving story line. If you like to read a series that offers that “WOW” factor as the H.P. and Twilight series but doesn’t get into the extreme story development details, than this series is for you.

All in all the P.J.S. is a great series that will capture you and show you a different twist of characters that have been talked about all over the world for Centuries. I’m also very excited to hear about the P.J.S. series following in the footsteps of Harry Potter and Twilight in joining the MOVIE arena. I can only hope that people who haven’t heard about the series will be drawn and fascinated with Rick Riordan’s creation. With this movie being released in FEB 2010, it also brings a “BACKBITER” feel; One side of the sword is a side that hopes the movie will exceed my expectations and stay true to the series and hopefully not the other side of the sword that will disappoint all true fans as the “Chronicles of Narnia” has somewhat been a disappointment. Currently the main cast is mostly new actors with a sprinkle of “A” list stars like Pierce Brosnan, Rosario Dawson and Uma Thurman playing Mythical Greek figures.

If you’re anywhere interested in a new series I promise on the “RIVER STYX” that if you give Percy a fighting chance, he will not let you down. My friend encouraged me to read this series and I’m thankful he did. I now have my wife reading about Percy after she was skeptic about the series. My wife is big fan of Nicholas Sparks’s books and absolutely loved the Twilight series; she decided to give the series a chance when she read on the author of Twilight, Stephanie Meyer’s website that the Percy Jackson series was great. My wife has just finished the 2nd book of the series and is hooked as much as I am. It doesn’t matter who you are, how old you are or if you know anything about Greek Mythology. This is a fun exciting series that offers everything a great book should have: excitement, romance, suspense, drama, and tragedy. While reading this series you’ll be hooked in looking up Greek Mythology tidbits found on every page and wanting to know more and more about all the Greek Gods. This series is one of a kind as it offers a different way to look at characters that have been written, talked and shown about for centuries. Next time the Greek God “JANUS” offers you a series to read, choose wisely!
-ML

You can read Rick Riordan's BLOG or check out the Percy Jackson WEBSITE.

Reviews 1

If have updated my Yelp Reviews, Please feel free to read them:

Food Reviews:

Giovanni's Shrimp Truck, OAHU
Puka Dog, OAHU
Shokudo Japanese Restaurant & Bar, OAHU

NEVER FORGET 9/11/01

"Tribute in Light, 9/11/03" by Brendan Loy via Flickr.com

Random thoughts (1) "A Life More Simple"

It has been a couple of days since being on vacation from Oahu, as I look back at the time I spent, it amazes me how life can be so complicated when all we do is grind to make it another day, stressing about what I don’t have and what other people think. When I start to compare how life would be living in Oahu to living in the Bay Area (CA) I start to see why people are so happy living in Hawaii. First of all the dependency of Oil or Cars is very minimal in Hawaii. Down in Waikiki where I stayed 80% of people traveled by either walking or riding a bike, yes I know Oahu is no where the size of Mainland states, but the simplicity of life is zero to none.

Through out my vacation I notice that as life becomes more simple the quality of life increases, what I mean by this is a majority of locals are always happy, always give back to their communities, their local heritage by attending special cultural events, eating in local non-chain funded restaurants and always looking to help out tourist. Hawaii is one of the places around the world that is very dependent on tourism, but Hawaii doesn’t always sell out to Corporate America, even though I did notice the 1-3 chain fast-food restaurants and the extremely large and always busy Wal-Mart, but I also notice almost the same amount of tourist going in and out of a MacDonald’s paying $3 - $4 more also going into Local operated restaurants like the various shrimp trucks sprinkled across the island (I Highly recommend GIOVANNI’S), world famous Leonard’s Bakery serving Malasadas and a Hawaiian twist on America’s favorite past time food “HOT DOGS” in ordering the very special “PUKA DOG”.

When I roamed around the island, walking down the tourist stretch of Kalakaua Ave, I couldn’t help but notice the difference between Locals and Tourists and how they carried their self perspective . A majority of tourist walked around with a sense of their wealth, wearing expensive clothes, walking in all the chain boutiques and making sure to ignore others as they greeted. On the other side I notice Locals living a more simple life, wearing their board shorts and bikinis walking around in flip-flops or barefoot, greeting each other with politeness and just trying to enjoy the day as it has been given to them. I will cherish the days I stayed in Waikiki as I could never imagine running my daily errands barefoot wearing a tank top and Hawaii printed swimming shorts. I guess in a big way I’m jealous of the Hawaiian life style. I remember during President Obama’s Presidential race hearing how he traveled and spent his vacations in OAHU and now understanding why. One of the Most Important and Stressful People in the world needs time to forget the daily responsibilities of his life and head to a place where he can kick off the suit and tie.

Another thing I noticed about Life in Hawaii being simpler is being able to enjoy the environment as it is. As humans evolved to what we are today, it doesn’t mean we have to live like pigs. I couldn’t help but notice how clean Waikiki and the Oahu Island really is; for the exception of the scattered homeless all you can see or should I say can’t see is the non existence of vandalism, trash and pollution. I can still remember how the air felt being just that much cleaner as if my body was being rejuvenated from the inside with every breath I took. I know it’s a very sad perspective when you think about how much the rest of us waste and how many areas around the world are left that is as clean as Oahu.

All in all, Oahu shares a very simple life without the dependency of the high standard living from its other brother and sister states. A different world where the majority have different priorities from you and I, a place where you can forget about your 9-5, traffic and bills. I don’t want to come off as generalizing tourist or the blue collar worker as not caring about simple life, I just want to show my appreciation for what I have witnessed during a time I know I can never achieve in my daily activities. I would love to imagine a world that didn’t matter what you did for a living or what you wore on a daily basis, only caring about waking up the next day and showing love to your fellow “BRADAH”
-ML

Photo Shoot: Kari & Nathan Brooks Wedding

Kari & Nathan Brooks Wedding
Location: Palm Event Center: 1184 Vineyard Ave Pleasanton, Ca 94566
Flickr Album Website: Kari/Nathan 8.22.09


I'm very proud to present this as my very first wedding set. I have never shot a wedding and I was very nervous as Kari and Nathan set some time aside away from their Pro Photographer to allow me to take practice shots from their wonderful day. As I’m still learning Kari and Nathan gave me the experience I’ll never forget.

Here is one of my Fav's. Please check out my Flickr site for more pics.

© Michael Lopez