Compliments of the Season!

Just wanted to wish everyone a very wonderful and festive Holiday Season! May it be filled with joy and memorable moments! Anyways, enjoy and thank you for stopping by!

Christmas Bokeh

Been a long while, and I apologize (once again). But tis the season for festivities, and when I think of the holidays (mainly Christmas) I always think of the decorations - mainly the lights. Though the Christmas tree is always an attention-grabbing piece, it can also be used for some interesting bokeh shots (from what I have discovered). Hoping to shoot some more over this festive time. Anyways, enjoy and compliments of the season!

  

Update (Short & Sweet)

This past month (October) was a huge learning experience for me. I got into an internship at Bell as an Associate Photographer, so i'm learning the ins and outs of studio photography, and getting some hands-on experience as well. I'm still in the internship, hoping to really grow and diversify my photo portfolio.

 

 
In addition to that, I got my first published photobook. To follow up with the previous post with the dog, I covered a 60th Wedding Anniversary and the family was so wonderful to work with. In the end, they gave me a copy of they family photobook that I made with my client and I couldn't be more grateful. I will definitely use this in my portfolio.

Finally, I am so happy to get my copy of Assassin's Creed III. If I'm not taking photos, I'm definitely playing the game. Also I have a feeling i'll be taking more photos of this statue as well. Anyways, that's it. Enjoy! 

Yo Dawg, Serious

This past summer, I was asked to photograph a momentous 60th Wedding Anniversary dinner. The day went very well, the family was wonderful to work with, and everyone was a good sport when it came to me photographing them. Something else may come into fruition from this as well, so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, I thought I would share this photo, as it was one of my favorite shots to come out of that event (besides taking photos of the family/couple celebrating the milestone). Enjoy!

Greenwood Park

I went for short excursion in Greenwood Park today with my parents. The weather was in our favour and I was able to get some shots of one of the trails we went on. Hope to go back there soon. Anyways, enjoy!

 

Subconscious Samurai

For those that knew me during first year at York (more specifically, in the winter term), you may have picked up on the notion that I had an undying love for the Japanese culture - particularly anything associated with the way of the Samurai. Even though those obsessive days have gone, I still hold some interests. I thought I try this "free drawing" session where I drew something without erasing it. This is what came about - guess I still subconsciously think about being a Samurai one day. Anyways, enjoy!

 

Scenes from Virginia Beach

So its been a while.... and like always, I have been busy. I did however manage to go on a weekend trip to Virginia Beach with some great pals of mine and get some needed R & R. Here are some photos I was able to put together. Enjoy!

  

To the Man Responsible for Me Living

On this day in 1921, Dr. Frederick Banting along with colleagues at the University of Toronto successfully isolated insulin from a Pancreas of a dog. He would then use this insulin a year later to treat a 14 year-old boy who had Diabetes. The rest is history.

Thank you Dr. Banting, for giving me and anyone else with Diabetes a chance to live out our lives to the fullest. I, along with others probably, are truly grateful for this discovery in medicine.

Love Lost... But Not Forgotten

This idea has been on my mind lately. The idea of loved ones that have passed on still living among us - not haunting us or anything like that, but just living among us, and observing the lives the rest of us continue to live. I guess there's plus and minuses to that (like all things). Anyways, enjoy!

    

Reflecting Above the Mist

So as summer kicks off, I begin to reflect on the events and experiences that have lead up to this point. Though there have been some obstacles (mountains, if you will), some downfalls, and some successes, its great sometimes to just look back and just observe what you have done, what you have gone through and how it has affected you. As up-and-coming teachers, we are all told to do that in order to better ourselves as educators, Though an exercise such as this can be applied to almost anything in life.

This was a card that I made for someone who is retiring recently. For the sake of the card, I initially felt that this image (inspired by Caspar David Friedrich of course) spoke to someone retiring because it symbolizes a person looking back on their own journey and finally appreciating their accomplishments. Personally though, I always see this painting as a reminder to always be willing to stop and reflect on the experiences that you have gained on this lifelong journey and how they affect you (if at all). I know both of those meanings are more or less similar, but I would like to think that my journey is far from finished. So sure I might be "reflecting" now, but I'll be definitely going back "down into the mist" to continue this lifelong journey of mine.   

All in all, I enjoyed making this card - great way to keep the ball rolling with the other art mediums I'm trying to pursue. Anyways, enjoy!            

Happy Father's Day!

Just wanted to wish all Father's around the world (and my own) a happy and wonderful Father's Day!

Same Stuff, New Look

Over this weekend (I'm including Friday), I got my new batch of business cards. Though they are the same as the last batch, I found that I wanted to increase the font on the new ones, as the last batch had small font and sometimes hard to read. These new cards though have much bigger font (as some could tell), making it a bit easier to read.

 
So in celebration of that, I thought to give the blog layout an update as well. Anyways, thanks for stopping by and I look forward to posting more new stuff, with the welcome of the new blog layout. Enjoy!

Victoria Day in Unionville

I managed to get some shots during the Victoria day weekend.

 

Painting and drawing are taking a long hiatus - it will come back though. I'm just grateful that I can still take photos. Anyways, enjoy!

Update

So I have not posted in a quite a while, so thought I give a small update, keeping it short and hopefully sweet. I have been trying (key word here is: trying) to get back into painting (both digital and traditional), and also drawing (also both digital and traditional) for my own personal artwork. Though its quite hard with the job I have now, its something I still wish to pursue. I know I said I was gonna revamp my old series "Creatures of the Mind", but that will have to wait... but it will come... in due time :D.

I still am working with digital photography though. I actually have a few photo projects coming that I am really excited. I might even have to update my photo site this time - for real this time lol. Anyways, thanks for your support and stay tuned for future updates/images!

Remnants of the Past

I use to go through this forest area all the time when I was a kid. It was not any national park or anything, but it definitely had its share of wildlife and beautiful places. I plan on going back here from time to time to see what other sort of photos I can get. Anyways, enjoy!

Palms to Start April

Happy Palm Sunday to everyone who celebrates this day. For everyone else, happy Sunday! Enjoy!

 

Bathe in Sunlight

This photo was greatly inspired by the tremendous work of Nicolas "Sparth" Bouvier. He definitely has an eye for capturing light and atmosphere in his photos. I am always in awe of what photos/photo series he puts out. Please do check his photos out! Enjoy!

I Miss Megaman

So being a Marvel vs. Capcom enthusiast, I was so pumped when they released MVC3. Then when I go it, I quickly realized there was no Megaman, but Megaman's successor Zero. After sighing for a day, I accepted fate and pressed on. Then when I found out that were gonna release Ultimate MVC3 with additional characters, I thought yay, here's another chance, but no.....  they put in a lawyer, a reporter (I think he is), and a gremlin that caused you to die like a hundred time in ghouls n' ghosts.

Don't even get me started with not putting in Ken...

Ah well, I still like Ultimate MVC3. Maybe one day they'll do like a Mugen-type fighting game and put every single character under-the-Marvel-and-Capcom sun. So here's a sketch I wanted to put down. I could definitely see Megaman being like a cyborg ninja, but that's just me. Anyways, enjoy!

Black and White sketch with Painter

Just a really quick black and white sketch using Painter. I tend to lean more to Photoshop when doing digital painting, but Painter has its moments too. The great part about this is that the drawings/paintings can be worked on cross-platform for ultimate-artistic-creation! What great times we live in haha. Anyways, enjoy!

Photo site makeover.. kinda

So I now have time to start updating my photo site and flickr profile with updated photos and use it a bit more. I think this is a step in the right direction in terms of getting my art out there, as well as get me back into the passion of creating artwork - whether through traditional mediums, or digital ones. We will have to see. Anyways, enjoy!

 

Pilgrimage

Just a quick sketch of something that popped into my head. I'm actually hoping to change around my photography site so that its more design and blog-ish friendly, as you may know that I post more photos than other types of artwork on here, and I want to put more paintings and drawings here. Will see what happens. Anyways, have a happy Valentine's Day!

Fruit from the Poisonous Tree

So I was out for a walk and I took the camera with the lensbaby lens. I got some okay shots out of the day. This one seem  to be the one that stood out for me. Enjoy!

 

Creatures of Mind Series

Back when I was at York, I did a drawing series called Creatures of Mind (sorry if I talked about this before). It was a series of drawings that depicted creatures that were based on feelings, emotions, and/or states of mind. It was my way of "personifying" things that really affected me or interested me. I am hoping to resurrect that series again.

If I can find the time, I will take photos of the original drawings and post them here. I hope this series will give me the necessary kick-in-the-butt to go back to drawing and painting (whether digital or traditional). Anyways, enjoy!  

A Change of Heart

So I was using stumbleupon (yet again) and found this video tutorial on how to make this origami heart. Its meant primarily for a money bill, but I didn't have a $50 bill (cause I wanted the heart to be red regardless) so I had to sacrifice a red file folder. Just thought it would a cool thing to do, since Valentines Day is around the corner somewhere. If you want to make this yourself, just click here. Anyways, enjoy!

Painter Revisted

Its been a while since I used painter for sketching and such. I saw the most recent painter program... what really caught my attention was the new features that they introduced. So with that I thought I give it another try.

Here is just a 10 minute sketch of me just initially playing around with it. There is a WHOLE lot more to do though. Anyways, enjoy!

I Hate Noise... on my Photos

I think as the days go by, and I start to play around more with my camera and the lenses, I will be more conscientious of how to use the ISO and shutter speed more to my advantage. Cuz the last thing I want to see is a noisy photo. Anyways, I am just rambling on. Enjoy!