Top Reasons for Engagement Portraits

(1) So you can practice having your photo taken. This is especially important if you're not used to having your photos taken. But even so, it's important to figure out how to be at ease in front of the camera with your significant other.
(2) It's fun! Plus you'll have some great this-is-what-we-were-like-before-we-got-married pictures. You're pretty laid-back taking engagement photos, so there's no time crunch or stress and you can just be your naturally goofy selves. And, you can use the photos for a multitude of things:

• Make custom save-the-date cards with your photos.
  
• Print out a big picture, get it matted and then have people sign on the mat at your wedding and then frame it.
  
• My favorite: create an album out of the images and double it up as a guestbook for guests to sign in on your wedding day. Have fun pages like, "What is the one piece of advice you would give to the couple for a long and happy marriage?" or "What was your first impression when you met the groom? The bride?" When you have beautiful photographs of the two of you to complement the funny, silly, sweet comments you'll receive, the book will be a treasured heirloom for years to come.
  

BTW, I can help you with any of these project ideas and it'll be one less thing on your plate.

Enough of product-plugging and onto the photos.

I met up with Angelica and Victor at Santa Clara University, and then we drove to Santana Row for some nighttime pictures. I've never shot nighttime pictures alone before and was a little nervous, but seriously, Santana Row is far better lit than a lot of reception halls I've shot at. (: Plus, I can actually move people toward the light. (It's a little rude to move the bride and groom during their first dance. Just a tad rude.) (;

CHUNG NGUYEN | PHOTOGRAPHER www.chungnguyen.com

The Winter of My Discontent

I tried the overly optimistic route, you know, being really thankful for stuff in order to wean the blues. I think it helped a lot. But I'm also curious what the alternative route will bring. I obsessively read Ramit's bitter rants yesterday and I'm truly inspired. My rants... enjoy!

• People who try to run me off the road with their cars. Wait, you're telling me you're not trying to run me off the road? THEN WHY DO YOU INSIST ON DRIVING LIKE THAT!?!
• Men who are emotionally withholding by nature.
• Women who genuinely believe that their good looks did not help them get where they are. You're delusional.
  
• Men who genuinely believe that women got where they are only because of their good looks. You're just jealous. And bitter.
  
• Cliques.
• Lunch that costs more than $10.
• People who insist on being the center of attention even though they have zero personality and nothing interesting to contribute.
• "Nice guys" who think that women only like to date jerks. It's not true. We just don't want to date you. Why? 'Cause you're a jerk. A bitter one at that.
• Coming up with a really, truly awesome and witty comeback the day after. D'oh!
• People who complain about their job but don't do anything about it.
  
• Or worse, people who want to quit but are scared of the poor economy.
• Bitter foods. Why? Really, why?
• Movies that cost a lot of money to make and suck. One word: Troy.
  
• When I commit stupid grammatical or typographical errors in emails. So embarrassing.
  
• Browser incompatibility. Webmasters: WORK HARDER so I don't have to use the "IE Tab" functionality in Firefox. Thanks.
  
• Homeowners who think their 3-bed, 2-bath, 1500-square-foot home from the 1960's is now worth $900,000 because they replaced the roof.
• Government bailouts. Stop wasting my money. Actually, I hate government spending waste in general.
  
• War. What is it good for? Absolutely nothing. Except to ensure we spread "freedom" and "democracy" around the world.
  
• Getting exercise tips from out-of-shape people. I'll take my chances, thank you very much.
• People who gladly trade excitement for a safe and comfortable life.
• Asian-American actors who have to fake a bad stereotypical Asian accent for a role. It's annoyingly insulting / insultingly annoying.
  
• People who gripe extensively about getting older. Dude, EVERYBODY is getting older. Not much you can do it. Enjoy the moment; seize the day.
  
• The whole Jennifer Anniston / Brad Pitt / Angelina Jolie drama. Get over it. Please.
• People who think my big, fancy camera is the reason why my photos look nice. No, that's not the reason why, dork. My photos look nice because of my big, fancy lenses!
• Men with fancy sports cars. Who drive like a grandma in a Toyota Corolla. Just 'cause you have a nice car doesn't mean you know how to drive.
• Fanatics. Apple fanatics are annoying. Sports fanatics are scary. Religious fanatics are really, really scary.

OK, that's all I have for now. What do you have to gripe about? Feel free to comment. It's fun, I promise! (:

A Little Bit of Sweetness - Sneak Preview

{ Chung Nguyen | www.chungnguyen.com | blog.chungnguyen.com }

Learn Some Photo Tips & Tricks (BabyBuzz Cafe in San Jose)

The thing I love about the Internet is that possibly EVERYTHING you've ever wanted to know is readily available. But how do you know what you don't know if you don't know what you don't know, right? Right!?! Yeah, it's a doozy! Plus, some people just learn better hands-on.

I'm teaching a one-night class at the adorably fabulous BabyBuzz Café in San Jose (Willow Glen area) and if you're a mama with a camera, you should join me! The class will cover some digital photography basics, specifically helping you feel confident in taking fun and amazing pictures using the equipment you've already got. My goal is to talk for about 30 minutes on photography basics, provide you with a lot of resources for further development at home, and have enough time for Q&A, ao you can go ahead and throw your questions at me! And if I don't know, I'll be sneakily googling on my G1 phone. (;

Details:

• WHEN: February 3, 2009 (Tuesday) @ 7PM
• WHERE: Babybuzz Cafe 1314 Lincoln Ave Ste 1A San Jose CA 95125
• WHO: Chung Nguyen | Photographer and you
• WHAT: Learn some digital photography basics (I have a lot of info to share!) and ask me all the questions you've been dying to ask about your camera or photography in general
• WHY: Because babies, kids, and pets grow up fast and do the funniest things in the meantime that need to be documented!
• HOW: Just show up, though I'd love it if you could send me a quick note (chung.nguyen@gmail.com) to let me know that you're coming; it's free!

WPJA, Word-of-Mouth Marketing, and Advertising in General

I've yet to blog about this, but since it's sending quite a few interested brides to my website, I might as well: I'm a member of the WPJA, which stands for Wedding Photojournalist Association. Check out the screenshot of my name:

a. Yep, that's me. (I need to update my listing to Chung Nguyen | Photographer and state that my wedding services start at $1,500.)
b. OMG, I'm listed above Ben Chrisman. (The ranking, I believe, is based on activity level within the WPJA - i.e. entering in contests - so it's pretty meaningless as far as "you should hire THIS person and not the other." Wouldn't hurt to be at the very top, though.)
c. Wowsahs. Packages starting at $500. Word.

One of the most frustrating thing I've found thus far in my business venture is the business aspect of it. If someone would just send me out to shoot and post-process the photos, no problem whatsoever. I rock the photo-taking, schmoozing with clients on-site, photo-editing aspect of being a photographer. Client acquisition and marketing, however, I'm a little shakey on. And the thing is, if you ask any photographer how they got started, they'll inevitably tell you that it's through word-of-mouth referrals. It always goes something like, "Well, I shot one wedding for a friend and someone at the wedding was so impressed, they hired me and so on so forth." Seriously. I don't doubt that yes, WOM helps a tremendous amount, but it's kind of disparaging to hear that as a newbie in the business because at the back of my mind when I heard this over and over again, I was thinking, "BUT I HAVE NO CLIENT BASE!!!" Plus, people make it look oh-so-easy don't they? It's nicer than listing the difficulties they encountered.

Here's how I got my portfolio started:

• Worked as a second-shooter for other photographers. It's very humbling and very educational at the same time, and you can earn some lens-money in the meantime, not to mention GET A FREE MEAL! (Sometimes I think I'd work for food... but don't tell people this.)
• Posted on Craigslist for TFCD / TFP (that's "trade for CD" and "trade for portfolio"). Essentially people would model for me and I would give them a CD of the images. Bartering at its best.

How I advertised:

• I went back to Craigslist. I should know concrete numbers, but I don't so bear with me: I've booked two weddings and three portrait sessions through Craigslist. The good thing about CL for me is that it's free and because it's based in the bay area, a lot of people here use it. Yay! The bad thing is that there are A LOT of people who post there, and sometimes SO MANY FRIGGIN' TIMES just because they think listing and relisting their ad will garner more clients. (Maybe it does, but it's still annoying.) CL has a mechanism in place to prevent you from listing too many times for the same services, but these repeat offenders are definitely paying someone to bypass the system. More power to them. And yet, the good thing that comes out of being one in a million is if your photos are beautiful, you will definitely be a stand-out amongst the crowd. The crowd needs to work on its grammar and graphic design skills. (I found Ashley through Craigslist and she definitely stood out to me. And if you looked at her blog, you'd agree. Her photos are BEAUTIFUL!)
• I email people as my main source of communication with the outside world, so I simply instated a signature that says, "Chung Nguyen | Photographer www.chungnguyen.com." Genius, no?
• Chung (Chan) told me to tell everyone I know that I'm a photographer. I've still yet to do this. I think this would be a great idea because friends and family are pretty happy to pimp my services out (thanks Cat, Bruce, Jane, Eva, Tam, Michael!!!).
• Facebook. I have it and I use it to subtly spread the message of Chung Nguyen | Photographer. I've got a page that you (yes, YOU) can be a fan of. If you visit my personal page, I have an immediate link to my blog.
• Speaking of blog, I try to blog frequently so if you google "Chung Nguyen," this page will come up and you'll have booking info for me at your disposal. (Actually, it should be noted that I also try to blog frequently because if I don't, my mind will explode from all the randomness that goes through it.) I also try to put my name and URL everywhere I can (at the bottom of blogs, in the comment section of my Flickr images, etc.). I once had watermarked images with my URL, which worked well to protect my work (more on this later) as well as point people back to my website when they saw the photo. I mean, watermark is great and all, but it does DIDLY-SQUAT for your search engine optimization (buzzword of the year: SEO), since image recognition and indexing software is at least a few years away from being perfected. Why I no longer watermark my images: it doesn't fit in with my workflow of uploading pictures (I don't want to make two sets of photos: special, watermarked "blog" photos and the regular ones I was gonna upload anyway), it's kind of cumbersome and overwhelming sometimes when looking at an image, and it makes me (personally) feel pretentious for even thinking that anyone would want to steal MY photos when there are about a billion better photos out there by people who don't blog as religiously as I do (tip: it's easier to rip off people who aren't so vocal online, if you're into that sort of thing). P.S. I know I need to optimize the search engine to think of me when people search key phrases like "wedding photography san francisco" or "kick butt photographer bay area," but I'm just not at that phase in my life where I want to be typing in those key phrases at every entry in the hopes of getting a few new clients. Yet. KICK BUTT! (:

BTW, I don't think anyone has read this blog post up to this point. If you had, congratulations! And please comment with the phrase "I read the whole entry" and that'll be my secret code to know that someone - ANYONE - has actually read this entire flippin' entry.

Finally, with regards to advertising, I think I will continue on my current path with WPJA and possibly advertise with a few popular blogs and resources. I especially love non-profit organizations (curse you, hippie genes!), so whenever the opportunity presents itself to help some people out while getting my name out there, I try to do it. It's the epitome of win-win for me. I guess I'm not necessarily trying to compel people to book me with my ads, because that would require a whole crew of ad geniuses and I'm not it. Instead, I just want to get my name and my website out there in hopes that people will check out my website, see my photos, learn more about me. Love me. Book me. Easy, isn't it?

Blog-Loving The Rut

This guy is hilarious. I love his comics, I love his random observations, and I love his blog. You should check it out.

I found it because my coworker sent this comic around. Cheeses Christ, I thought it was the funniest thing ever! d-:

Doggehs Pictures

The following Maltese and Bichon Frise are my coworker Brenda's doggehs. I made them come out on Sunday morning because while Fi gets a lot of picture time, I haven't worked - photographically speaking - with that many dog so I wanted to challenge myself a little. And I did. (1) White dogs can either look grayish or, on the other hand, get blown out easily (photo-speak). (2) Daisy (the pink-harness-wearing Bichon Frise) is a ball of energy that can be harnessed to help with our energy crisis in America and around the world. (:

Enjoy some doggeh pics:

I heart little doggeh legs.


Yes, this girl, right here. Full. of. attitude. She's awesome!


I mean, just look at how much air she gets!!!

{ Chung Nguyen | www.chungnguyen.com | blog.chungnguyen.com }

My Ghetto Patchwork Playlist

Four random songs from me to you.

Leehom Wang, "Hua Tian Cua"

Cool mix of the new and the old, Leehom is actually an American who made a huge splash in Taiwan and, consequently, the rest of Asia. AND MY HEART. I think he's super adorable!



Jay Chou, "Adorable Woman" (Ke Ai Nu Ren)

I first discovered the magic of Chou on my study-abroad trip to China thanks to my roomie Lydia. The guy started off writing songs and then performing them himself. Sometimes he's a miss, but when he's a hit, he's a hit. To me, he's the Taiwan version of John Mayer, always trying out different instruments and approaches and music styles.

This song, to me, has one of the most romantic bridges - ever. And, as an independent woman who's all about self-sufficiency (sometimes to a fault), I can't help but yearn for someone who would feel this way about me (even though he doesn't have to):

The world is so big yet I am small like a little ant
But I want to use all my strength to protect you

John Mayer, "Comfortable" (Live)

I love his music. He's a beautiful songwriter and despite his tawdry, tabloid-heavy lifestyle (Jessica Simpson!?! Why!?!), his songs tell tales about someone who's not 100% sure about himself just yet, but he knows what he doesn't want and that's something to start with. I've always loved the song "Comfortable." I think people give the idea of "comfort" such a bad rep, but comfort, to me, means trust. Trust is a valuable, hard-earned thing that should never be taken for granted.

And, of course, my favorite line: "I loved you. Gray sweatpants. No make-up. So perfect."



The Pussycat Dolls, "I Hate This Part"

Yes, I listen to PCD, apparently. Well, I thought "When I Grow Up" was so catchy so I added the whole album to my Deezer playlist and then I heard this song, which just resonates with me because it actually does a great job of explaining the moment when you realize that it's over. That singular moment when you know there's no going back and it hurts because it's someone you care about and you're about to cut ties.

Love, Luck, Postsecret, and Perfect Timing

No, romantic love isn't the be-all, end-all to life's numerous questions. But I'd be lying if I said that the butterflies-in-the-stomach, I-know-I-can-live-without-you-but-I-really-really-really-really-don't-want-to feelings weren't great. They are. They're amazing.

But looking at how unions and couplings come to take place always amazes me, especially at my age. (My age.)

You see.... I'm at that age. That age when people are looking around and thinking that the waters are gonna rise real soon so we better couple up and get our butts on the ark, metaphorically speaking. And, for me, it all boils down to how flexible you are and how lucky you are (timing is mostly luck, sorry to say). Those things need to be in balance. If you're unlucky in love AND you're inflexible with your extensive wish-list, well, good luck. At the same time, I think in finding a mate - especially nowadays when we're so globally connected to SO MANY PEOPLE - it's not unreasonable to stick to your guns with things that you want. Suffice it to say, it's rather unfair to make people uncomfortably compromise on the big life issues (e.g. like where you're gonna settle down and if you're gonna have kids, or dogs, or cats, or all three).

These Postsecrets prompted this entry:

I could wax on extensively about romantic love, its potential pitfalls and its numerous rewards. I'm one of its greatest proponents, and also a voice of dissent from within. Such is love, I suppose; it's a bit of everything.

I'm a Lensbaby Baby

I tried the 3G version of the Lensbaby and it just didn't work out for me. But when they came out with the Composer, I decided to give it another try. I mean, their service is pretty damn exceptional - and that says a lot coming from someone as experienced with customer service as I am to be so thoroughly enamored with the Lensbaby company.

I think the thing I like the most about the Composer is that when I look through the lens, it forces me to look at everything I've seen before in a completely different way. I'm actually very excited to take this baby out with me on some people shoots to see how it works. I'm happy with it for now and it's just a cool flippin' lens. Check out some of my pictures:

My favorite thus far:

{ Chung Nguyen | www.chungnguyen.com | blog.chungnguyen.com }

Yep, I'm Still On the Photo Challenge

A photo a day? I can do it! Especially if it means that I can do "make-ups". (Sorry, some days it's hard for me to get out of bed!!!) But I'm glad I'm doing it because it forces me to photograph different subjects and themes than what I'm naturally accustomed to (i.e. people). My current favorite:

And even if I don't always blog the photos, you can always check them out on my Flickr photostream. Also check out the rest of the Photo Challenge pool as well.

{ Chung Nguyen | www.chungnguyen.com | blog.chungnguyen.com }

High Kittehs, Blog-Stalking, and Personal Emails

Pretty much what Chip looked like. So high. High as a kite! (Link)

Sunday means Postsecrets! I thought this was funny, and hits a little home to me. I'm such an e-stalker. I'll admit it here and now. Everyone needs to blog so I don't feel so alone.... (:

And finally, Seth has a little advice on sending out personal emails. I will be extra mindful going forward. And let me just plug that if you want to receive not-too-personal information about my business and any specials I might be running, you should provide me with your email address. How? Look to the right...below my Twitters. Yeah, plug in your email address there and you're set!

Warm, Cold, or Normal?

{ Chung Nguyen | www.chungnguyen.com | blog.chungnguyen.com }

On My Mind: Israel, Jennifer Aniston, John Mayer, and Angry Pandas

The whole Gaza strip thing has got me in a funk. I don't have any real stake in it except for the fact that, oh, I don't know, I'm a human and it's atrocious what's going on over there. It's very complicated. And while my fellow UC Berkeley alumni may scorn me for not immediately jumping on the anti-Israel bandwagon, I'll take the risk and say, "I'll be damned if I know how to unravel the mess over there."

The thing is, it's pretty much like seeing your parents get divorced. It's messy. It gets real ugly real fast. People get possessive and territorial. They'll hurt the other person just for the sake of punishing them. It's enough to make me want to crawl back into bed until the mess is over with.

I guess it should be noted that my parents are not divorced, bitterly or otherwise.

But, yeah... I guess I just wanted to say that I see it from both sides and it looks bad. Just awful. And the only way it will stop is if everyone could embrace their similarities instead of their differences. Similarities: they're all human and, if shot at, will die; they have friends and family who are equally mortal; they only want comfort, food, support, warmth, and love for themselves and their friends and family. Focus on that, guys, and you might begin to understand why AIR-STRIKING AND ROCKET-BOMBING OTHER PEOPLE IS TOTALLY UNCOOL.

Using the term "uncool" was my way of transitioning to Jennifer Aniston. I feel so bad for her. Not only are her characters typecasted, she, as a person, has been typecasted as the quintessential I-can't-hang-on-to-a-man-so-Courney-Cox-lets-me-be-the-third-wheel. And as much as I feel bad for her, I'm hoping that she and John Mayer will just break up already so I can have my quarter-life-existential-crisis-having songwriter/guitarist/singer back. Seriously. Whatever happened to the guy who sung the lyrics, "I loved you. Gray sweat pants. No makeup. So perfect." (I still can't forget that he dated Jessica Simpson. Eww.)

Finally, to get this off my mind already, I have to say that Prince is hilarious and he brings up a really great point about panda motherf'ing BEARS.

This Dude is So Friggin' RIDICULOUS!!!

This is what beautiful, artistic, and creative wedding photography is all about. Right here.

I believe the word you're looking for is, "Wow."

Just. Wow.

Glue-licking Troublemaker

He looks good in B&W because he is B&W.

{ Chung Nguyen | www.chungnguyen.com | blog.chungnguyen.com }

Five Years, More or Less

I graduated high school in 1999. In 2004, I had been out of college for a year and was transitioning from an administrative assistant job at the Academic Senate office in UC Berkeley to working as a writer at a start-up, where I met my current beau (man, we've been together for a pretty long time!!!).

Suffice to say, a lot of little, random, funny, heart-breaking, hilarious, and forgettable moments happen in five years. So I decided to document it all. In a diary.

Check out this five-year diary. It's the smallest little thing ever, so I can write only about two to three sentences per entry per day. It's like hand-written tweets. (:

I make it a point to jot down a little something every night before I fall asleep. As it stands right now, half of my entries document any amazing food places I went to on that day. Yes, I do have my priorities straight, thankyouverymuch! (:

{ Chung Nguyen | www.chungnguyen.com | blog.chungnguyen.com }

2009-01-04 Photos

The pages of a GraphiStudio album. They're thick, they're sturdy, and they're very fabulous ... with the right photos and the right design. (;

A photo with the boyfriend.

{ Chung Nguyen | www.chungnguyen.com | blog.chungnguyen.com }

2009-01-03 Photos

Today's subject is music. I guess this photo sums up the fact that I'm all about digital music nowadays (on my computer). My favorite sites: Amazon (for buyin' ... I hate iTunes), Deezer (for tryin'), and Pandora (for randomizin').

I'm smiling at Fi in this self-portrait:

I'm sure you would smile at her, too. Look at this face:

<3

{ Photos by Chung Nguyen | www.chungnguyen.com }

2009-01-02 Photos

The topic is pens. Click on the image to read background info about it:

{ Photos by Chung Nguyen | www.chungnguyen.com }

Christmas & Family

Those two go hand-in-hand, don't they? Our tradition is to go to Christmas mass on the Eve, then eat, then open the presents (why wait until the 25th!?!). Some photos from this year's festivities at my parents' house:

I got everyone to wear the hat for a photo. I'm missing my oldest niece, who's in Japan for a study abroad program, and the youngest niece, who couldn't make it that night.


Holiday chihuahua wearing a home-made outfit by my mom (it's her fleece sweater's sleeve). He is that thin! (:


Me and Nhi.


Why I love candids:


Why I try not to force kids to smile:


We made them sing before they could open the presents (:


I thought this gift-wrap was pretty awesomely hilarious:


My super-adorable nephew, who, based on this outfit, is serving the last five months of his two-year prison-term. d-:

{ Chung Nguyen | www.chungnguyen.com | blog.chungnguyen.com }