Sunday, August 31, 2008

World Team Tennis 3.5 Division

Ditto, my WTT 3.5 team remains undefeated the whole season after we won our final match today. We're heading to Las Vegas as well in April. I'll be having both of my teams competing in UNLV. I'm hoping that there will be no schedule conflicts (like I did at Mixed Sectionals earlier this year). Stay tune for more info and progress. :-)

Saturday, August 30, 2008

World Team Tennis 4.0 Division

Yay, it's official, my WTT 4.0 team made it to sectionals. We will be competing with other WTT 4.0 teams around the nation in April of 2009. It was a tough season but we managed to stay undefeated and therefore clinching the local title without even have to win the last match of the season. We played our final match today and even though we lost to the 2nd place team, we are still the local champs because every team as lost at least twice. SO, stay tuned and I will update our progress at Sectionals next April at UNLV!

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Photoshop World Las Vegas in a Week!

Yes, it's that time of the year again. PhotoshopWorld Las Vegas in a week!! I usually learn so much during 3 days of conference. It's well worth the registration fee because I end up using what I learn and apply it to my photography business. It has brought back the registration fee many times over. Besides, I enjoy networking with other Photoshop users in the world. You know how the NBA claims they are World Championship when it's just teams within the US. Well, PhotoshopWorld attendees are actually from all over the world. Scott Kelby and his elite team of instructors draw attendance from all over. In fact, NAPP has reached new heights in membership back in April at 700,000! I'm sure it's much higher by now. Also this year, the theme is my favorite television show... Star Trek TNG. Yes, I'm such a geek. :-) So, you folks who have not joined NAPP ($99 annual membership), just come to the PhotoshopWorld in Las Vegas, and they will even throw in 1 year NAPP membership. Members has their privileges as they say in AMEX commercial. You get full access to PhotoshopUser website which is filled with tutorials, and an annual subscription the Photoshop User magazine. In addition, you get discounts on all Kelby Training materials, DVDs, books, etc. Oh, I forgot you also get discounts from AVIS rental car, hotels, and B&H Photo to name a few. I really learned a great deal about Photoshop since I joined 7 years ago and I encourage all of you to join. It will be the best investment you would make in your photography business.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Jennifer and Michael Macaranas Wedding

It's a beautiful sunny Southern California day today and why not? It's Jennifer and Michael's big day. Allen and I have been looking forward to photography our lovely couple for more than a year now. We did their engagement photos last year at our favorite beach location. We had many awesome images. Today is no exception as we capture our lovely couples' special day. Here's a sneak peek of their wedding images.



Here's a brief comment from Jennifer and Michael about their wedding photographers.


Jennifer and Michael Macaranas Wedding from Terry Chan on Vimeo.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Tacoma WA: Glass Museum

This afternoon after visiting Museum of Flight, I ventured 27 miles south to Tacoma and visited the Museum of Glass. I didn't get a chance to walk into the museum because it closed 5 minutes (5PM) before I arrived. However, as most of you know, I'm intrigued about photographing stairs and this place is paradise for me. :-) The outside structure is so interesting that I spent over 30 minutes photographing it. Here's a slideshow of some of the images I photographed today.

REI in Seattle WA

I woke up kinda late this morning from the early flight to Seattle, and working all day yesterday. But, I managed to stop by the REI store in Seattle WA. I believe this is the original REI store. I remember making my first mail order purchase when I was 18 years old. REI is now a large chain store covering the entire US.

It's the biggest REI store I've ever been to. It consists of 4 stories, and an outdoor waterfall...in the middle of the city!! I was also intrigued with the giant compass embedded on the floor on the second level. You can see right through to the ground floor. I actually compared the compass heading with my trusty Tissot Multi-Touch watch. Surprisingly, they both point to the same direction. ;-) LOL


REI in Seattle WA from Terry Chan on Vimeo.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Michael Phelps: The Most Decorated Olympian in History of the Olympics Games

Well, I got back to my hotel after dinner and a long day photographing a wedding in Seattle WA. I washed up and got ready for bed. It was a good thing I turned on the TV and sure enough it was Micheal Phelps winning his 8th Gold medal in one Olympics. What a feat! I ranke this way up there with Pete Sampras winning 14 grand slam titles. The only other athlete to do so is Mark Spitz and he only won 7 gold medals... back in 1972... 36 years ago?!?! Now Phelps has raised the bar to another level, a level which no human can attain any time soon. Perhaps another 36 years?!?

Let me put it in perspective for you... I was living in Hong Kong at the time when Mark Spitz won 7 gold medals in one Olympics. Now, I want to remind you that it was 1972 and broadcasting was at its infancy... no Internet, no WWW, no nothing. We didn't even know the sport of competitive swimming but we all knew who Mark Spitz was. He was a household name! Thirty-Six years later finally another American not only matched Spitz record but surpassed it a day later. Michael Phelps' performance is not human as he had to swim 17 races, setting 7 world records, winning 8 gold medals with one winning only by a mere 0.01 seconds... in 8 days. By the way, this makes 16 medals, 14 of them gold...WOW!

Anyway, I'm glad that I watched it tonight. It's inspiring to know that with a little talent, a lot of hard work, plenty of self-discipline, and undying competitive will, one can achieve greatness. This is a recipe of being successful and achieve anything we set our minds to. It's an inspiring lesson. I hope all of you enjoyed this Olympics as much as I do.

Huimin Zhang and Shawn Call Wedding

I flew into SeaTac Airport early this morning from Ontario Airport. I'm not usually a morning person, but today it was different. I was looking forward to photograph Huimin and Shawn for a number of weeks now. It was a beautiful day with blue sunny skies and warm comfortable temperature. Bascially, a recipe of a perfect day. And why not, it's Huimin and Shawn's wedding day. :-)

Here's a sneak peak of some of their wedding images.
And here's what the lovely couple have to say about me at the end of the day. Turn up the volume for this one. :-)


Huimin & Shawn Call Wedding by Terry Chan from Terry Chan on Vimeo.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Celebration Dinner for Christopher, Tiffany, and Stephanie

Tonight, my whole family drove all the way to Beverly Hills at the famous Mastro Restaurant to celebrate Christopher, Tiffany, and Stephanie's venture into undergraduate studies at UTI, UCI, and USC respectively. In addition, it was a welcome back event for my niece Briana's recent travel to Europe. It was a festive event as we dined at Mastro's famous Napa room surrounded by many expensive bottles of wine (as you can see in the photo on the left).

The food was superb as well as opulent because it was served to us in astronomical portions. We first started with the crab cakes which is basically, biteful after biteful of crabs. Then came their famous "Seafood Tower" appetizer which includes lobster cocktail, shrimp cocktail, king crab legs, roar oysters, and crab cocktail. I was 75% full after the appetizers. Then came the bone-in fillet which was big enough to serve 3 people. The sides were family style size which includes saute mushrooms, lobster mash potatoes, wasabi potatoes, steam broccoli, and cream corn. Honestly, I couldn't finish more than 40% of my fillet even though it melted in my mouth. I also had a bite of their Chilean Sea Bass grilled in butter. It was so moist and tender that it disintegrated as soon as it entered my mouth. Each bite was a mouthful of moist and tender morsel of the best fish I have ever tasted. Finally, we topped it off with dessert which includes Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, mouth watering pecan pie, chocolate mousse cake, and crème brulee. We all had a doggie bag as no one could finish all these delicious food.

After dinner, we had a live musician dedicated a rendition of Elton John's "Lion King" which the girls love so much when they were younger. Here are few photos of tonight's festive event. Congrats Chris, Tiff, and Stephy! Also a big "Thank You" to Kwok & Esther because they picked up the hefty tab!! :-)

Stephanie Makino and Kai Nagata E-Session II

Today, I woke up early to join Stephanie and Kai at Will Rogers State Beach for their engagement session. As you may have noticed that I photographed Stephanie and Kai a couple of weeks ago at Long Beach, CA. Today is just a bonus session because Kai wants to have crashing waves photos for his engagement photos. Well, if that's what Kai wants then that's what I'll provide. I had a wonderful time with Stephanie and Kai because they are the nicest couple ever. I wish them happiness and the very best with their marriage. Here's a sneak peak of their engagement photos today. Enjoy the slideshow and turn up your speakers. :-)

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

David Jay: Free to Succeed Tour with Jasmine Star

Tonight, I drove all the way down the the LAX Sheraton Hotel to attend David Jay's Free to Succeed seminar. He had many insightful ideas about pricing packages, post processing, and branding oneself.

Jasmine Star was the guest speaker. She gave an inspiring speech about how she started 2 years ago as a wedding photographer literally with nothing. Yet, that didn't stop her because she photographed 37 weddings the first year because she was "determined". DJ and JS were funny, insightful, informative, and inspiring. They were surprisingly good speakers. Spending $99 and $15 for parking is well worth it. I would definitely recommend every photographer whether amateur or professional wedding photographer to attend the Free to Succeed seminar.