Browse Category: photosbynina

So unloved…

Got an email from a friend who is currently in the midst of transforming from a humble street cart to a full-on SF hipster cult.  I got a taste of their corned beef sammich a couple months ago and snapped a few photos for them.  In her email, she asked if she could send my photos to a person who was interested in writing an article about them in jweekly and I was excited for them and for my photos.  THEN!  I got a second email from her saying that coincidentally there was a blog posting (totally unrelated to the aforementioned article) on SFoodie featuring an event going on tonight featuring MY PHOTO on the header!!!  I guess the writer grabbed it from Pearl’s Kitchen’s Facebook profile and didn’t ask for permission to use the photo from my friend nor did they ask for the photo credit.  Bummer.

Christmas Vacation: Part 3

Photo courtesy of Brother

Thursday, December 24, 2009

On Christmas Eve morning, Brother came over and we headed down to Fountain Valley for my photo assignment.  Debbie’s good friend from high school found me as a link from her blog and asked me to take family portraits for them.  Brother came along to be my second shooter and it turned out to be a fun hour.

We originally were supposed to go to Mile Square Park but ended up staying at their house and taking all the photos in the backyard.  They have a really nice backyard with a great shady spot.  Coupled with the morning light (around 9:45 am), the photos turned out pretty well.  They have a beautiful family and it was great working with all of them.  Thanks for the referral, Debbie!

Later in the day, Jes and I went packed up our belongings and headed to the Buena Park house.  Jes and his brother hung out while I wrapped Christmas presents.  In the evening, I drove down to the Suminos’ house to deliver gifts and hang out before dinner.  The boys have grown so much and Cole is a walking, talking human now.  Crazy.  Brandon is such a fun little guy too.  He’s small but really scrappy.  Love it!

The boys tore open their gift and were so happy to see four Bakugan toys inside.  They showed me how they work and I was genuinely impressed.  I miss having them around.

Collect them all!

mini cards

I’ve had some photo referrals and inquiries from friends and co-workers lately and have felt kinda dumb not having anything to give them.  So, I went online and ordered these really cute mini business cards with my contact info on one side and a snazzy photo taken by yours truly on the other.  They arrived in the mail last Saturday and I was so happy to see them!  They come packaged in a sturdy little box and I also got a card holder for free!

Vendor #3 is in the Mouse House!

cards

Back in October, when Eleen was putting together her list of vendors for her Modern Mouse shop, she offered me space in her store to sell my photos.  I was initially excited but then dumbfounded by all the logisitics.  What do I print?  How much can I spend?  How much do I charge?  Well, I went out on a limb and chose four photos that would go together in a themed set and printed blank greeting cards.

packaged

Once they arrived, I was surprisingly pleased with the quality of the paper and how well the photos turned out.  I then went to Kelly Paper for some clear plastic sleeves and printed some labels to give it a complete look. Ta Da!!

On Friday, I stopped by the store to drop off my first set of 40 cards.  Eleen added them to her inventory and I helped put price tags on them.  Yay!  To make it official, she put them up on display and now they’re for sale!

Hopefully I’ll be able to come up with a cleaver name for my mini photo business and build a classy website this coming year.  Until then, you can find my stuff at photosbynina.smugmug.com.

Modern Mouse is now open!

Grand Opening

sign

Modern Mouse is now open for business and it’s located in a shopping center in Alameda.  It was kicked off this afternoon with friends, family, Haamoni drinks, and Teacake Bakeshop goodies.

Teacake Bakeshop

store_01

It was so exciting to see all of Eleen’s products alongside the 40 other designers’ items.

store_02

products

Everything was so cute and interesting that they make me wish I could quit my day job to do something more creative.

Eleen was kind enough to offer me a little space in her shop too but I couldn’t get my act together in time for today’s event.  But she was very cute in making me a nametag anyway with the name “Beakatude” underneath my name…funny.  I’m actually in the process of thinking of an actual name for my photog stuff so stay tuned.

Congratulations, Eleen!!!

Here are the rest of the photos.

Lights, Camera, Photoshoot!

backdrop

Last Thursday I agreed to take product photos for one of Eleen’s friends who also makes handbags.  She’s building a new website and needed photos taken of her bags.  Eleen warned her that I had never taken product photos before but Penny hired me anyway!  I don’t know how much others charge but I must be a bargain!

test shot

So, I borrowed Eleen’s 500-Watt light and supplies, rented a lens from Borrowlenses.com, and rented an umbrella from Adolph Gasser.  With Eleen’s foam sheets, I made a seamless backdrop and experimented with the set-up until I got it just right.  Here’s a test shot of a bag that I already had lying around the house.  Yay!  Not too much shadow and plenty to work with for whiting out the background with Photoshop.

planet penelope

This morning Penny came over and we spent 2 1/2 hours taking over 150 photos of her 9 bags in different positions and getting the details just right.  Here’s a sample photo of one of her bags.  Her website goes live next weekend (www.planetpenelope.com), which will be just in time for Eleen’s Grand Opening of Modern Mouse.

Speaking of Modern Mouse…I visited the space on Friday and it’s huge!  The products that she’s already received are really cute and I’m so excited to see them all on display next weekend.