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Polarbear Telescope assembly is COMPLETED!
HUAN TRAN Indicates on his blog that the telescope was finished. I’m so glad he lived to see that day. That was his true passion right there!
Polarbear Telescope Assembly is FINISHED
Although it took about twice as long as I originally thought it would, the structure is basically where is should be. We have some major outstanding issues, like the servo and the enclosures, but those will hopefully get done in next few months. Expect to come back here in about a month.
I took this picture above just as the sun was setting. You can see that the pad is a bit more tidy. Brian was busy trying to pack up, so I couldn’t get him to pose next to the telescope.
Thanks to the GD guys for sticking with it until the job was done. I am VERY excited that Polarbear finally has a telescope- it has been 6 years in the making for me. I was just told that we are celebrating 400 years of the telescope. Here’s to hoping that Polarbear has as much impact as Galileo!
Death of Scientist in Big Pine Under Investigation
I found this article concerning HUAN TRAN. Here’s the original link but printed below for your convenience.
A 39-year-old Princeton graduate and post doctoral student from Berkeley died Saturday night, apparently when a wall furnace malfunctioned in his apartment in Big Pine, asphyxiating him, according to the Inyo County Coroner.
Huan Tran was working towards his professorship with a major project at the Caltech Observatory at Big Pine. Dave Woody, Assistant Director at the observatory said that Tran was a staff member and post doctoral student.
He had achieved his PHD in astro-physics from Princeton and was the project manager of a test telescope destined for Chile. Woody said Mr. Tran had worked to design the telescope which was going up on Caltech’s Cedar Flat location.
The Inyo County Coroner, Leon Brune, said that it appears Tran died in his sleep. Brune said a fire marshall from San Bernardino was expected to come to Big Pine and investigate. Brune said Caltech had called to say Tran failed to come to work and they requested a welfare check. On Sunday, the Big Pine Fire Department and Inyo Sheriff’s deputies responded.
Tran was a resident of Oakland. His family lives in Minnesota where his remains will go.
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In Loving Memory of HUAN TRAN
It pains me to write this. Huan Tran was my friend, colleague and human mentor example. Huan was an excellent wedding photographer, and I loved working with him on wedding photography shoots. A comraderie between us was made and we started spending more and more time together, whether on the phone, in person or on a wedding shoot. HUAN was gracious enough to take some AMAZING pictures of me and my family [see below]. I was lucky to have known him. Funny thing is, I only knew him for photography and the subject of his other work NEVER even came up. I mean, I knew he was at berkeley doing the telescope thing but I didn’t realize what a genius he really was. Anyway, we often discussed photography and things of this nature. The first couple years HUAN shot many weddings for me but this began to taper off because as some of you may know, he was working on this huge telescope project. He told me it was a ‘promotion’ and that he couldn’t commit to any shoots for the upcoming year. I was saddened and remember thinking I wish he could just do photography and not the other thing LOL.
This freak accident, to say the least…………well rather than getting all into it, it’s easiest just to read it herehttp://news.sierrawave.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2821:death-of-scientist-in-big-pine-under-investigation&catid=6&Itemid=200021
Looking back, is it TABOO to think that if my wish came true, that HUAN could just do wedding photography full time, he would not have been at the time and place he was at when he parished? But then I remember that perhaps photography was not HUAN’s true passion and that the ‘other thing’ was more important to him. Either way, I think the man DID WHAT HE LOVED TO DO BEST and that’s all we can ask for. RIP my friend
Pictured above. HUAN TRAN with Nikon D1x. NIKKOR 28 to 70 2.8 D lens. Nikon SB-28dx flash.
I took this photo of HUAN on the FIRST SHOOT we ever did together. He impressed me to say the least. I have fond memories of my friend HUAN TRAN.
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ABOVE: A picture of my family that HUAN TRAN took. I have tons of great photos from this day. Actually, HUAN went out with us on a few occasions, taking pictures of me and my family. He loved it, and he never asked for a penny. Of course, I always returned the favor if HUAN ever needed one. I will post some more family photos that HUAN TRAN took later on.
Read MoreMonterey Plaza Hotel Wedding Photos
Surprisingly, I only got down to Monterey a few times in 2009. I hope to be down there much more in 2010 and beyond. I really don’t mind traveling that far. Here are some really nice wedding photos I took at the Monterey Plaza Hotel back in 2007. This couple was so nice, I really enjoyed working with them. I love being able to reflect back on past weddings and smile and remember how nice the bride and groom were to work with. So while these wedding pics are considered old in terms of technology, the style and emotion of my work is clearly evident back then.
The bride gets ready up in her suite. This is actually true black and white film.
some of my special cake shots. Actually, the cake shot is one of the RARE posed shots I take at the reception as I mainly do all run and gun photo journalism at the wedding reception.
I like me some shadow play
I love how the twinkling lights in the background helped tell the story. The backgrounds are what separates the men from the boys so to speak. That is to say, a great wedding photographer will always use the background to help tell the story. Not so much on the turn and burn stuff, but especially on anything that is posed and well thought out.
If you plan on having your wedding down in the Monterey Bay area please contact me right away. I have experience at many wedding venues in Monterey and I have been to the Monterey Plaza Hotel at least half a dozen times.
Read MoreSt. Mary’s Cathedral Wedding Photos
These are wedding photos of St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco.
I’m often amazed at how many times I have been to a wedding ceremony location. It only seems like I’ve been to Saint Mary’s Cathedral a half dozen times when in fact, I have been there about A DOZEN times in my illustrious 20 year career.
This wedding is actually one I still use in my portfolio. That is to say, I carry a really nice wedding album with me to meetings with potential brides. So I feel it fitting to post some of my favorites here. This wedding was shot in 2006 so my equipment is quite different now. I’m producing much better quality now, than I was back in 2006. But the pictures still hold up in my opinion. Otherwise, I would not be posting them.
But don’t take my word for it. You be the judge. In either case, you can take a look at a more recent wedding I shot at St. Mary’s Cathedral by click here, then see for yourself. I think you will find that my style of wedding photography hasn’t changed that much. Rather, it has evolved into what you see today with much better quality thanks to new equipment acquisitions, etc.
st mary's cathedral wedding photos
st mary's cathedral wedding photos
st mary's cathedral wedding photos
If you are getting married at St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco I would love the opportunity to sit down face to face with you and show you this amazing wedding album I still have from this wedding ceremony. I can also provide client testimonials from past clients that have used me, that had there wedding ceremony at St. Mary’s Cathedral. oops I almost forgot, Abel and Cynthia have left positive feedback for me on a number of wedding websites. So be sure to contact me so I can give you those links.
Read MoreSt. Mary’s Cathedral wedding photos
I have shot many WEDDING PHOTOS in the most awesome ST MARY’S CATHEDRAL in San Francisco, CA. In fact, MIMI RUIZ who works at the church often recommends me to brides and groom’s who are looking for an amazing wedding photographer.
The official name of this catholic church is THE CATHEDRAL OF SAINT MARY OF THE ASSUMPTION. There are many St. Mary’s Churches in and around the United States. But this one is in San Francisco and it is a HUGE domed cathedral. Not to be confused with OLD ST MARY’S church which is right across the street from this one [I have shot many weddings there as well].
Here are some of the most recent wedding photographs taken at St. Mary’s Cathedral. Keep in mind this church DOES NOT allow any flash photography during the ceremony. Which means that I am often using 800, 1600 and 2000 iso. That is where the grain comes from. But sometimes grain is good. It makes the wedding photographs look more like film, and less like digital wedding photography. As a film lover myself, I always try to emulate that dreamy film look when I capture digitally.
The church allows you to shoot the processional and recessional with a flash. The start of the ceremony is considered after the BRIDAL MARCH.
They really don’t allow moving around and shooting from many different angles like this. So I have to be super stealth and be careful not to draw too much attention to myself. This is one of my specialties.
All these shots were all natural light, no flash.
The dome at St. Mary’s Cathedral is awesome!
I use a super long lens to get these shots.
The following pictures show an entire wedding guest list as well as wedding court in front of the Church. This is one of my trademark shots. I always love doing shots like this if there is time.
For those of you wanting more information about this catholic church please contact them. The address is 1111 Gough St, San Francisco CA 94109. You can also click here to see it on a map http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl&q=1111%20Gough%20St%2C%20San%20Francisco%20CA%2094109
wedding photos Chateau St. Jean Winery in Kenwood, CA
I shot some great wedding pictures at a wedding last year [2009] at the Chateau St. Jean Winery in the Sonoma Valley city of Kenwood, CA. Here’s a little blurb from Chateau St. Jean’s website
Chateau St. Jean invites you to our beautiful winery for your upcoming Wedding Reception. Nestled at the foot of Sugarloaf Ridge and in the heart of Valley of the Moon, Chateau St. Jean provides the perfect setting for your guests. Our professional staff will treat you & your guests to a special day they’ll never forget. Begin the festivities in our historic Chateau gardens with world renowned wines and delectable passed hors d’ oeuvres. In elegant style, retire to the Chateau Terrace for a delicious meal, surrounded by vineyard views and glowing lights.
This is a great place to have your wedding. The ceremony takes place out on the lawn and the background is the Vineyards. Depending on the time of day of the wedding ceremony, the lighting can be a challenge. Any early on this wedding and it would have been very difficult. Luckily this wedding took place in the later afternoon. The lighting still wasn’t perfect but I was able to pull a rabbit out of my hat. I used a combination of manual exposure, flash fill, and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom to get me the best exposures.
Please take a look at these wedding photos from Chateau St. Jean and let me know what you think. I took near one thousand wedding photographs that day! So if you are getting married here contact me so I can show you the rest of these photos in person!
We actually started the day earlier at the brides hotel room taking bridal prep as the bride was getting ready. For the purposes of this display I have refrained from publishing those. These pre ceremony shots were taken inside Chateau St. Jean’s ready room.
I always try and find some natural light to place the bride for these types of wedding photos.
As I said earlier, the wedding ceremony takes place out on the lawn with the Vineyards as the background. As you can see, the sun was still pretty high in the sky which made it very difficult. You want to hire a wedding photography such as myself that can deal with obstacles such as bad day light.
The bride makes her way down the aisle. I wanted to illustrate how I RAPID FIRE shoot during a sequence such as this.
This bride and groom opted NOT to have a videographer [which I felt was interesting because the groom is actually a Film Producer LOL]. So I want to give them a sense of the MOTION with this sequence and many other through out the wedding day.
I actually DO NOT have my camera in BURST MODE. Rather, I have my finger on the trigger and am WAITING for the right moment so that I am not shooting blindly. BURST MODE is good but you get too many blinks. If I do it all by instinct, I can get the emotion I need to tell the story.
Now keep in mind that I was the ONLY PHOTOGRAPHER, this day. No assistant. So everything you see here was me moving from spot to spot to get all the different angles and emotions of the wedding story.
Like I was telling you earlier, the lighting was bad so I had to use a flash fill to fill in the shadows.
The bride recites her own vows.
Ok so now the groom is getting very emotional. This is another one of those times where I use my manual, instinct rapid fire mode to get the sequence. Natural, organic light is the best way to do rapid fire. No flash can keep up with what I am doing here.
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Below, you see the parents of the groom getting emotional as well.
This is the view from the Chateau St Jean from the patio of the main house.
the lighting is getting good now so I opted to do all the family photos at this time.
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I took the bride and groom out to the vineyards from some romantics before the wedding reception on the patio.
I took many pictures at the reception. I would love the opportunity to show them to you. Please contact me right away.
Some of my trademark night shots with the lightstick.
I hope you enjoyed these wedding photos from the Chateau St. Jean. Now that I have been here, I can’t wait to go back. So if you are getting married at the Chateau St. Jean please contact me right away!
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