joy & colin's family session

ed April 22, 2008

commentator: monica

what a treat it is for us to photograph a family as it continues to grow! we first began photographing the yip family when joy had requested for us to photograph her darling daughter, tatiyana, who had just turned 3 years old. later that year, we photographed tati and her parents, joy & colin and her "baby-bro-belly-bump" (say that 4 times fast!) for their holiday family photo session. after baby jordan was born, joy & colin asked us to photograph not only their family of four but the rest of colin's beautiful family, including his parents, grandmother, three brothers, and nephew at the botanical garden in golden gate park. what an awesome blessing and honor it is for us to photograph four generations in one family photo session!

//ed pingol
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the yip men

four generations

brothers

daddy's little girl and now the new big sis

radio popper review for my fellow photography geeks. (yeah, i'm talking about you!!!)

ed April 19, 2008

Commentator: Ed

Hello all-

This past weekend, Monica and I finally had a chance to test out the Radio Popper by "freakin' genius," Kevin King. If you don't know what a Radio Popper is, it simply addresses the key issue of the reliability of the “line of sight” infrared system by “bridging” the infrared light signal over a radio link. This translates into a beautifully simple solution to a very complex problem. AWESOME!!!

As you scroll down, I'll walk you through with my honest feedback regarding the Radio Popper.

You may remember my first time ever toying with the Radio Popper during WPPI, along with photographers I have been "stalking" and consider "Off-Camera Flash Kings & Queens!" For a refresher posted by Matt Adcock on flashflavor.com, please click here.

My first crack in opening the package - It was SO cool to actually have something in front of me that has the potential to change history in the photography world. The transmitter and the receiver are fairly small... smaller than my pocket wizards - a good thing.

However, what I started seeing that could be a minor issue is, if you don't have a dedicated flash, the"permanent connection" of the fiber optic to the flash can be a hassle to remove and put back on again since the only way the optics can be connected to the flash is through tape. But this is a such a tiny issue when you actually use the product and see the potential of what it can do for you as a photographer. And why take the popper off anyway? I don't mind dedicating a flash to this puppy since I'm sure I'll be using it plenty!

Felt like a kid at Christmas opening up the brand spankin' new package! (Disclaimer: Please ignore the very amateur hand model who DIDN'T moisturize the morning of the shoot. And if you like what you see, please note the wedding ring, folks!)

A closer look at the Popper:

Each flash has a different placement of the optic ball. Below is the actual placement of where it needs to be for the 580ex speedlite.

Okay - Onwards to the actual testing!

I've provided images with actual specs... You'll also be able to view/download individual images to check out the full exif data of each individual image for your information. Keep an eye out for the sync speed and aperture settings... it's amazing!

After enjoying a very filling and de-lish meal of crepes with our friend Dave Wong at Squat & Gobble, we headed down the street to meet up with his photog partner, Greg Bartning, at his jealousy-enducing studio. Thanks guys for letting us invade your space for the afternoon! We tested the popper's ettl capabilities with the 580ex speedlite, triggered by the ST-E2. I made sure that the 580 was only being triggered via radio frequencies instead of the infrared line of site by completely covering the 580ex's reciever. I took several shots with the popper turned off to make sure the infrared signal of the ST-E2 is not triggering the speedlite. Once I turned the popper on, the flashes started flashing. Can you say "AWESOME!!!"

Once ON, the poppers worked 100% of the time indoors, regardless of the camera settings. Once I upped my sync speed, we automatically saw a huge difference in the ambient light. This opens up SO many doors of where you can shoot. You don't need a super dark studio anymore because worrying about ambient light affecting the colors is now out of the equation.

Here's our studio model for the day, Mr. Phrenology Top Hat

So sure, the radio popper works reliably indoors... But how about outdoors where there's power lines and a busy San Francisco street in between you and your subject? Well... we'll find out. But first, let's test it normally... like how I would normally shoot. I took several photos with different settings with various in-camera flash compensations. All shots taken, the radio popper also fired with no problem at "normal" distances (about 4-15 feet). So the uber cool features I can easily take advantage of now are the High Speed Sync AND the Flash Exposure Compensation, all IN camera. This will make all my shoots super fast because I no longer have to adjust the flashes manually. Every adjustment is done IN CAMERA, instead of having my "Voice Activated Mobile Light Stand," also known as VAMLS (term coined by Dave which we've now adopted), have to bring down the lightstick and guestimate the adjustments necessary.

Our lovely model, Jessa, whom we "kidnapped" from work for a brief 5 minutes at Cafe du Soleil for this impromptu shoot down the street from the studio. (By the way, this place has almond croissants that'll make you drool! Thanks for getting us our model and satisfying our pastry craving, Greg!)

Then I walked across the street to test out distances... I was about 60 feet away while firing these. Please keep in mind the 1.6 crop factor of the 50mm lense I was using. I've included a small photo of how "bright" the actual conditions were while we're testing. You can actually see Monica, my VAMLS, and see how dark ambient light can be in the middle of daylight. =) Regardless of what setting I was in... the ETTL did it's thing. However, out of 20 shots across a busy street in San Francisco with all the powerlines, a couple did not fire a flash. But regardless, this ratio is still pretty darn good, especially when I now have ETTL and FEC controls, ALL in camera!

There's Dave. Where's Monica?

Conclusion - the Radio Popper is not 100% perfect (yet) and it won't solve all your problems... however, it cleverly solves the "line of sight" and distance problems, which are HUGE problems in the world of photography. It's a simple and effective tool to pull out of your bag of tricks to automatically create properly exposed images, virtually no matter what camera setting you're in, up to an insane 1/8000th of a second! for you norcal folks, that's "HELLLLLLLLA FAST!" Just ask Greg, who was pretty doubtful and ambivalent about the poppers' ability and is now dead-set convinced that he needs this for his commercial shoots. Of course, I know this particuar device will be getting plenty of good use by us, especially with my shooting style. Can't wait to POP away!!!

the test crew: dave, greg, me, and monica

//ed pingol
707.334.1468
info@edpingolphotography.com
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cara and brian's engagement session

ed April 18, 2008

commentator: monica

"what came first: the chicken or the egg?" not sure if ed's recent fetish for shoe photos has grown from the awesome pairs adorned by our clients or if his photography is encouraging our clients to consider their footwear for the engagement sessions as importantly as they do their hair-do, make-up, and outfits. we may never know... regardless, we looove it when our couples bring along cute shoes! and cara & brian did just that!

as much as we have passed by coit tower (, what we like to call the "finger tower,") on numerous occasions, we had never actually visited this local landmark until cara & brian's engagement session. sitting atop telegraph hill, staircases leading down into charming residential areas include some very lush vegetation. the city seems to disappear as you feel transported into beautiful gardens, tended by the homeowners. yet you know you're in sf once you hit a clearing and lay eyes on gorgeous views of the bay and city skyline.

our second location was the ferry building on the embarcadero. this adorable duo wanted a vintage-inspired theme, complete with a final stop at taylor's refresher to share a traditional milkshake, with a modern bay area twist of "greenware" as the container. lucky for us, we had our good friend, peter, of mellange studio documenting the shoot on video. can't wait to see the final product!

congratulations on your engagement, cara & brian! can't wait to see what'll be on your feet on your wedding day in september!

//ed pingol
707.334.1468
info@edpingolphotography.com
edpingolphotography.com

the top of telegraph hill

two mates in the wild

converses + maryjanes. (shoe shots inspired by the original shoemaniac, jon canlas)

taking a stroll along the embarcadero

haute vintage

sharing a shake

michelle and paul's wedding

ed April 15, 2008

commentator: monica

when you've got a gorgeous and laid-back couple like michelle & paul, it's so very easy and enjoyable to photograph a wedding! self-proclaimed hawaii-lovers, they celebrated their union on a beautiful saturday this month with a tropical-inspired wedding theme. we met up with michelle at her suite where she and her bridesmaids "glammed up" at the hilton garden inn in fairfield.

the ceremony was held at saint basil's in vallejo, which is only a block away from the high school where the two graduated from. paul and his guys were already at the church once we arrived, which gave us ample time for their photographs. and boy, do these guys love to pose for the camera! =)

on the way to the reception, the bridal party stopped at the suisun city waterfront, which is a great historical site for photographs. lucky for us, there was a congo drum player who happily provided some ambient music for us to enjoy. afterwards, we arrived at the reception held at the delta breeze club on travis airforce base. with great food, drinks, and entertainment, their party allowed everyone to enjoy themselves and "let their hair down," literally and figurately. =)

congratulations on your marriage, michelle & paul! mahalo for letting us capture your special day!

//ed pingol
707.334.1468
info@edpingolphotography.com
edpingolphotography.com

getting ready

the beautiful dress and colorific boquet!

the finishing touches, helped out by her loving parents

the beautiful bride. check out those awesome lashes!

the ladies, having a great time

the happy groom

tropical bouttainaires and kukui nut leis for the best men

the gents doing their "gq" thang!

the ceremony

uniting

the ring bearer, barely able to peer over the pews to witness the ceremony

announcing the newlyweds!

celebrating their first hour as husband and wife

the bridal party

paul's the man!

a whimsical wedding cake

"turn your lights down low..." videography provided by: mp studios

speeches

the tosses. here's where the groom "let's his hair down."

as a special gift to the guests who stayed through the event, they were gifted an hour of "open bar" at the end of the night. yipppeeee!

==========================
Behind the Scenes
==========================

ok... this is actually funny. see, mich and paul had their wedding in a military base and the guards had this list that contained names of all their guests and vendors. we knew for a fact that jeff, my brother, wasn't on the list. so what we decided to do was to sneak him in the base by hiding him in the back of our trusty honda pilot under blankets. it was HILARIOUS!

==========================
Individual Images of Ed's Favorites!
==========================
if you want to see more of ed's favorite images individually, feel free to click here!

kathie and charles' engagement session

ed April 10, 2008

commentator: monica

kathie & charles are such awesome sports! when we schedule engagement sessions with couples, we are very careful in assessing the type of photography they are looking for in terms of scenery and the "feel" they're after. together, we selected north beach as their first location, an area that has so much fantastic city scenery that we really haven't been able to take full advantage of before. it seems like every little alleyway holds something new in sf's own "little italy." this gorgeous couple was after the "romantic comedy" look in their photos, which we think they did a great job of portraying. seriously, it's not your everyday couple that's willing to pose in front of a "nudie bar" sign.

afterwards, we trekked off to golden gate park, which is such a feast for the senses right now since everything is in full bloom! one of our fave spots is the de young museum and this time, we selected the eastside of the courtyard area, which became our "playground" for the rest of the session. =)

congratulations on your engagement, kathie & charles! we can't wait to see you wed by "the man" sf loves in august! (we're being cryptic since this will be a great surprise!)

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//ed pingol
707.334.1468
info@edpingolphotography.com
edpingolphotography.com

the wall of this world-famous saloon, vesuvio, has such fantastic color, pairing nicely with kathie's top

two rebels in love

charles' "wine-fro"

ummm..... no!

the de young museum & the e-ring

springtime in the park. kathie playing hard to get!

big kids at heart =)

we're coming down to the wire! we're currently at 2nd place in sacramento's "photographer of the year" contest. with your vote, we're hoping to move to 1st! please vote for us for "photographer of the year" by clicking on the link below. the contest ends on 4.18.08. thank you so much, everyone!!!!

2008 KCRA 3 A-List Contest Nominated: Best Photographer in the Sacramento area

vote for us, please!

melody & nhan's engagement session

ed April 10, 2008

commentator: monica

melody & nhan are one of those couples out of a romantic comedy. full of energy, laughter, and love for one another, we had a fantastic time during their engagement session! we met up at the japanese tea garden for yet another beautiful sunday in golden gate park. if you've never gone to the garden during spring, it's definitely a must-see! such a colorful collage of various flora for the eyes to feast on! and melody & nhan were so eager to create the goofy, humorous images we love capturing.

our second location was the palace of fine arts, where the couple changed from their casual outfit to being sharply dressed, ready to paint the town as red as melody's cute dress. for this session, we saw a more serious side of the couple. they were smokin' hot against the dramatic architecture of the palace!

congratulations on your engagement, melody & nhan! we're looking forward to your "big fat asian wedding" in august! =)

707.334.1468
info@edpingolphotography.com
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a gorgeous spring day

the silly couple in love

"best boyfriend" turned fiance

the extra-terrestrial touch

frolicking in the park

the palace of fine arts

===================================
behind the scenes
===================================

cool... i didn't know i squint that much behind the camera

here's monica (again) being a ham

rachel and vince's engagement session

ed April 10, 2008

commentator: monica

you may remember rachel & vince from the "mini e-session" we photographed of them last year. after the fun afternoon we had with this cute couple, we were so excited to work with them again during their engagement session, part deux. we met up at the palace of fine arts only to find out that the rotunda is currently being renovated! booo.... hisss... (but at the same time, yay for seismic safety!) though we were disappointed, we were able to make do with all the other wonderful parts of the surrounding area.

our next location was baker beach, which had some gorgeous morning light, especially this early in the spring season! we had a great view of the bridge that morning and rachel & vince had quite a workout running up and down the shore and climbing up boulders.

congratulations on your engagement once again, rachel & vince! your wedding in july is just a few months away.

//ed pingol
707.334.1468
info@edpingolphotography.com
edpingolphotography.com

a passionate embrace

the palace of fine renovation =)

so in love

the happy couple

the moat

at the beach with a great shot of the bridge

just for kicks

=========behind the scenes==========

walking back, i knew my brother was behind... so i turned around and made this
goofy pose. obviously he had a camera in hand and snagged this photo. awesome.

susan and derron's engagement session

ed April 8, 2008

commentator: monica

susan & derron met in their mutual interest in motor vehicles, first in passing (no pun intended) while in the car scene, than later, when they became sports bike riders. so, of course it made perfect sense to include their bikes in their e-session. they chose ocean beach as the location, since they had spent many afternoons riding through pacific coast highway in the city.

it was an incredibly windy afternoon, though beautiful nonetheless. fortunately, just across the street is golden gate park, which provided some shelter from the gustiness. with the tulip beds in full bloom, we had to stop by the dutch windmill for some photos. not only did this gorgeous duo bring along their "motorbabies" but they also included their "furbabies!" they made for some great family photos. =)

congratulations on your engagement, susan & derron! we're so excited for your big day next month!

//ed pingol
707.334.1468
info@edpingolphotography.com
edpingolphotography.com

biker babes!