AndrewLiu Photography

One of the most scariest moments of my life! Living in Diamond Bar living close to the epicenter, 2 miles southwest of Chino Hills! I was scared shitless! A few things fell from the wall and I thought the house was about to collapse! I got my camera ready incase another earthquake strikes where I’ll have to run outside… FUCK this was the second earthquake of the day too. A 3.1 earthquake hit Barstow. I was seriously running back and forth.. literally.. running back and forth. If there was mud on the floor, you can see my footprints going… back and forth…

A few tips when theres an earthquake:

If indoors, duck and drop under a desk or something sturdy. I however didn’t think about that and wanted to run outside while I have a perfectly sturdy desk right in front of me. If outside, stay clear of buildings and powerlines! If you’re driving.. get the fuck outta the car, but try to park somewhere safe where you’ll be able to stop and get out of the car or you can stay in… If you’re at the beach…. get out of the water and try to stay inland! Damn I wonder how the people at the beach feel…

I hope everyone’s safe… I’m gonna stay prepared and take all my valuables if I have to run. Or I might just have to take my laptop under the table with me.

There’s gonna be a huge one coming up soon, bigger than this one. A 8.5 magnitude earthquake and would probably last between 1.5 – 2.5 minutes, experts says. You need to prepare 4-5 gallons of water per person because each person would need 1 gal per day for 4-5 days. Look at this 5.8 as an earthquake drill… go to Costco and buy water! BE PREPARED.

New updates… The earthquake had been downsized to 5.4 magnitude. And as of now.. theres about 27 aftershocks? You might be able to feel it but maybe not… theres a chance that the aftershock will be greater than 5.4!

Yeah, I havn’t posted much or any at all for that matter… I’ve been in a dead zone lately, just trying to get by with my classes which ends this coming Wednesday. I got two finals… which I’m just trying to get a passing grade on now that I don’t care anymore. I found out that UCLA doesn’t accept grades for transferring but just credits, so everything is all gravy. Had a fun ass weekend though, no doubt about that… I just can’t wait till I get the video camera that’s supposed to come in soon. I’ll try to make some videos! I got the motor sports photoshoot coming up which will keep me busy on Friday. Then I got a fashion photoshoot on August 4th, and hopefully everything works out great. I hope no one flakes and lags cause that’ll kill everything! Then I go to my training on the 5th or 6th? I still have to check up on that. I’ll be working as a photography assistant for photography company that shoots for schools. Hopefully it turns out what I hoped it’ll be. But anyways, I’ll have to study today and look at some mags… toddles ……

Took off from studying and headed over to The Standard in LA. Its a rooftop bar with a pool. Today was a fashion show/pool party charity event that I was able to get into to take pictures by one of my good friend, Joe… Nicolette is the designer of the bikini line LolliMe and if you have the time, check it out at their website www.lollime.com. Took some pictures of Nicolette’s models and they were very gorgeous. I havn’t had time to process the pictures yet, but I will in time. The pictures will be under the “fashion” category in my portfolio website.

The place itself was pretty cool, great view everywhere! The dj was cool too playing some electronics/techno ish… Kinda got lost going from different floors, the elevator that takes you to the rooftop doesn’t go to any other floor but the rooftop. I had to walk around to find another elevator so I can get to the room I was supposed to be in… But anyways, I had a great experience and if you can get a chance to go to The Standard, do it! I almost backed out because I have two huge tests tomorrow that I still need to study for.

I wanted to try take another picture of my bike and use the darkness as my background. I couldn’t get my bike to stand up so I added the little stereo. I had two flashes, one SB-800 which was my main light–infront of the bike, and my SB-600 behind the stereo. I’m not sure if I like this one, but I’m still practicing my lighting. I had some homedepot hot lights but it didn’t work out that well for me. Anyone have any tips on better lighting? I’m pretty close in buying a black backdrop, but I’m just not sure if I’ll use it extensively to make it worth wild.

So I’ve taken a break from studying… yes studying, I know summer school sucks. I went to my local K-mart to pick up a bike pump and there was a problem at the cashier. I had to be 21 to buy the pump… Yes 21! What the fark? Never heard of this before huh? It was an old lady at the cashier and she probably thought it was some sort of weapon… But I complained and finally got my pump… damn K-mart wasting my time. Then I got home and started to pump my bike cause I test drove it last night with low air. Test drove some more on my fixie… and boy was it harder than it looks! After like 8 years of being on a bike this was actually my first time riding one. I was sweating after less than 5 minutes of riding. Took some time to add some pros and cons of a fixie.

Pros: Its a good work out: builds up muscle legs, and ass, builds up stamina. This requires NO gas! I know right! great way of saving some big bucks.

Cons: No breaks on my bike. There are places I can put brakes but I live on the edge! Hard for drivers to see if you’re driving at night.

I can’t think of anything else. But I do need to pick up some head and tail lights and some new components. I need to learn some tricks again… So hard.

So I’ve gotten word that I’ll be helping out a Photographer in his wedding photoshoot on July 26th. I forget where it was located but there were two locations and they are pretty far from each other. I will definitely gain some experience and learning some new tips and tricks the photographer has up his sleave. You can check out his website at www.szetophotography.com.

Then I might be able to catch some pictures of Jordan Farmar or some of the stars from the Lakers. Its going to be in 2-3 weeks, so hopefully it wont collide on the same day as the wedding. It most likely wont and will probably be on a weekday, but I’m still going to cross my fingers on that.

August 1st, I’ll be doing a motorsport photoshoot. Going to the tracks at Fontana and practice doing some panning shots. I might have to buy a LowPro Sling Shot bag for my camera so I can run around the track to get the shots. I’m not sure if I’ll be needing a monopod… I’ll have to think about this.

Today was a pretty long day, sweaty and hot. Did a family portrait for a friend of mine. Two of my umbrellas are broken from the wind, and I was still able to use it for the photoshoot, thank goodness. Without it, I don’t think the pictures would’ve turned out as good as it did. This was my first family portrait, and I was a bit nervous at first but then it got better along the way. It didn’t seem too bad at all, except the weather was killing it. Good thing Jill’s family have done some photoshoots before so they knew what they were doing. I’m just sad that my umbrella was ruined. sigh.. I also added a portrait section to my website @ www.andrewliu.us.

Family Portrait

Stumbled across a site that talks about model releases and public shooting and its copyrights. Sometimes it gets scary to run into trouble while being a photographer. We have to know the rights of shooting certain things to prevent our images being taken away. But that means sometimes you’ll have to decide if the image is worth to you more than your safety. I did have come across a situation where I was asked by a manager to delete some photos because I was shooting in a club. I didn’t know my copyright laws and such back then which I couldve prevented deleting my images.

The video below is an interview of Ed Greenberg whom is a New York intellectual property attorny who dealt with photographers of photography copyright, contracts, and creative rights.

There’s two parts, I think its worth watching the video, its like 10 minutes each, but you’ll definitely want to how to deal with copyright issues when you come across it.

Part 1

Part 2

Went to my brother’s place in Mira Loma for 4th of July. I would have to say that I had one of the best BBQ food ever! Shit was so bomb, got some ribs, sirloin burgers, carne asada, and some kind of bomb ass hot links and some chicken.

Okay, its not the bestest food photography, but I’m still learning. Maybe I have to use this guy’s strategy in this video:

Here are some pictures from the night. I setup my portable studio, and got something like this. I had to use the remote, didn’t want to set the timer. Everyone was pretty drunk…

the hugs

………….. hmm not sure?

Here’s my attempt of some firework shoots, little Target fireworks.

There are a few explicit photos I couldn’t show, sorry.

Phew, that took quite awhile to upload the images and post it. Woke up pretty early at like 9 AM, had the scariest dream. Dreamt that the moon collided with the earth. Yeah pretty scary, felt like it was real too. Hope that’ll never happen.

I’m still at my brother’s place playing Puzzle Fighter and eating some left over food. Still got a grip, so bomb. And the Pies from Marie Calander ooooyiii!, pretty damn bomb. I’m getting fat. I need to hit up the gym again. Went there Thursday night after two weeks. I need to be more productive again. Summer is changing my habit.

Yes! Its that time of the year where everyone is either with their friends or family and light some exciting photo potential fireworks! If you don’t know what to do on this lovely day, go down to the beach. They’ll be lighting fireworks there, and if you’re around Diamond Bar, there’s probably going to be a show at the park at the Sycamore Canyon Park off of Golden Springs and Diamond Bar Blvd. I heard there’s going to be fireworks at Diamond Bar High too, but not too sure about that one.

Back to the beach one… I had a good time last year, went to Newport. I got hella burned from the sun last time. I was there from morning till night. It gets really packed, so have fun find parking if you’ve decided to go to the beach. At Newport, they block off the street so it’s like a block party, everyone’s just drunk and walking around. But be sure you act straight cause there’s going to be cops.

Its nice to watch fireworks at the beach cause it’s really dark, and you get to see fireworks along the shore from different directions. Gets pretty romantic… so bring a date!

Anyways, take care and have a safe Happy 4th of July!