Not A Starving Artist

I did a shoot a few weeks ago with Anthony and Ian of Smosh up in Norcal. They’re amazingly super chill guys.

newmediarockstars:

Behind the Scenes of our interview with SMOSH!

Anthony, Benny (CEO of NMR), Ian, and Melly (CCO of NMR)

Thanks for having us!

kanediep:

Interviewing Benny and Melly from New Media Rockstars for Uploaded documentary.

Just noticed Michelle Phan blogged some of the still I took from her short “Underneath Your Love.” As I said before it was an awesome experience getting to work with all the creatives.

For me unit shooting provides a hands-on experience to see and learn more about lighting, story telling, and direction.

Thanks again for having me Ricebunny! 

I know its not like me to write rant-ish post up here, however I feel compeled to expressed the idea that we should all as equal inhabitants of this place called Earth treat each other with respect and love.

Its a Monday Tuesday (and now I realize I can’t keep track of the days), and it appears that I still have a terrible case of the “Mondays.” A few of my pals shared two graphically horrific YouTube videos that seriously made my blood boil, then scream out some form of banshee rage.  (I’m not going to link the videos here, there will be no negativity on this blog.  Plus, I’m sure you all more than capable of googling them yourselves.) Somewhere in Europe two drunk kids thought it would be a swell idea to duct tape a firework to a German Shepherd’s mouth and blow it face off. And somewhere in Chicago, IL seven youngsters thought it was fair to ambush one Asian person.  

Regardless of who is right and who is wrong. This is not cool at all. 

I don’t understand why in a world where our differences makes us each unique and beautiful do people decide to spread hate among one another. I am deeply disappointed and sad that as a global community we can’t put aside our issues and celebrate our lives together. I strongly feel that this is where us, the creatives, come into play.  

Let’s face it. We are creatives, and we are just friggin’ weird as heck. Whether your craft is photography, music, graphics, cinema, etc… we hold the responsibility to create a platform/space that can unite individuals from all extremes on some basic form of human understanding. At least this is what I want viewers to get from my images. In the realm of photography, I am most passionate with creating portraits. If I can capture an individual in a way that others are able to peer into the subject’s life and persona with a kind openness, then I’ve done my job. Can push myself to take this to a larger scale one day? I hope so.

Maybe I’m a sap, but I want people feeling good after seeing my images. Maybe after that —that good feeling will spread to another person, then another and start a chain reaction or some sort.

—

End of Rant.

Where have I been these days? It appears that I do not have presence in the world these days except within the online spectrum.

(Pause on blogging: thank you all for showing your support by “liking” and “following” me)

Afternoon, quick updates at the start of 2012. Let’s begin with the un-obvious ones:

I had the opportunity late 2011 to work on a couple of video project with the lovely Michelle Phan. No, by work I don’t not mean filming or dping. It was a blessing to work on these two films because of the others involved on the project. To be surrounded amongst equally creative individuals who aim to go beyond expectations can motivate the heck out of you and remind you to keep looking at the bigger picture.

Check out the videos below!

NewMediaRockstars, ok I’ve been name dropping this one everywhere. NMR’s mission is to empower, inspire, and promote the independent new media community. That is quite a bold statement.  In this startup I am the Chief of Creative, CCO.  Fancy title = huge responsibilities. My job is to establish the visual branding of the company, company culture, check quality control, etc…. oh yea produce epic photo shoots!  Pretty much anything and everything related to what you see and read on the webpage needs to be approved by me.  @#*(% I have a lot of work ahead of me. Believe me when I say I feel under pressure. I feel like I just been handed a big chunk of unexpected responsibility, but you know what? Regardless of whether or not I’m ready to lead, I know that I can and will rise in this situation.  All I can say is stay tuned. 

And of course I’m constantly shooting (I really want to stop saying shooting after the shooting incident) and editing.

With NMR as my primary project, I really have to train myself to focus and be highly selective with outside projects I take on. I feel that 2012 is the year when I have to and will need to push for more produced content. By produced I don’t necessarily mean having more finances funding each project (though that would quite lovely). What I’m saying is that with the photo projects I do take on I want to invest more time into developing the concept/theme of the shoot, build a stronger team around me, and overall just invest more time and energy to make stronger unique images. Anyone can pick up a camera and button smash until a happy accident appears. What I want to get at the end of the day is an image that is different. No, at this point I cannot directly define what different is or means.  And yes, I do realize everything has been done before and nothing is original.  However, I strongly believe that the connection I make among my subject, my team, and the project will generate images that will resonate with others.

In 2011 I was wearing several caps that unintentionally distracted me from fully focusing on purely photography. I’m going to make 2012 different. There’s no doubt that in my mind that I am going to fall on my face multiple times throughout the year, but I will get back up. This is my year and I’m going to take it.

Won’t you join me the pursuit of dreams?

First time in a long time I’m able to give my younger brother a xmas/birthday present, and yet still I can’t afford wrapping paper. Its ok I’m helping the environment.

I just experienced one of my most wth moments in my life. I left the NewMediaRockstars office around 6:30ish to meet up with my pal Janice to catch up over dinner at Love Letter. Once the food came out a man wearing a black hoodie, jeans, and had his face covered (I honestly thought he was just some punk kid dressed up as a wannabe ninja).  Out of nowhere he pulls out a handgun and walks over to me and sticks the weapon into my arm.  He tells me to get up and go into the kitchen.  He does this to everyone else in the restaurant.  

It was so strange when all of this was happening.  Everything felt so slow-mo like.  While walking into kitchen I remember asking Janice, “what’s going on?” It didn’t really occur to me that we were being held up.  It felt like more of a practice or rehearsal like when we used to have fire/earthquake drills in grade school.  While being held I didn’t feel scared at all.  In fact I felt my mind going into auto-pilot mode.  I went straight into prayer mode and recited the Lord’s Prayer over and over in my mind.  The energy surrounding me was so heighten.  All the ajimas were holding each other and ducking their heads.  One of the cooks had his hand under the back table on what I assume to be one of those security button things.  Another old woman crouching under the same table was trying to dial out 911 while the others were telling her not to risk it.  

The man eventually left with just the money from the register.  I’m oddly surprised that he didn’t run off with the rest of the items that were left in the eating area.  This whole fiasco didn’t really phase me until after he left.  From there my mind went into anxieties and worries. What if he fire at me while I was going into the kitchen? What if he fired at my friend who was inches away from me?  What if he fired at anyone for that matter?  With situations like these any small action could have lead to another end result.  Luckily, the result of this mess was that just money was stolen.  No one was physically harmed.  

I’m still a little shook up from this event, but in some strange way I feel empowered.  By empowered I mean that I am reminded of my own mortality.  I’m not going to be around forever and eventually I will die, and go to the maggots in the ground.  With this reminder I feel that I have no reason not to do everything in my power to chase my dreams.  

I WILL BE A TOP PHOTOGRAPHER

Life can be cut short at any moment.  There is no reason for us as people to live in fear.  We’re given only one life and one chance.  Why not seize the moment and do everything and anything we can to live it to its fullest.

Simultaneously lets not forget to love on each other. After tweeting that I was being held up I got a flood of messages from friends asking if I was ok. (Thank you all for caring! ) If I was shot or had died tonight, what if I never got another opportunity to see these people again?  Would I ever get to tell my parents thank you for raising me to the best of their abilities and that I appreciate them despite our differences? I remember thinking about the people that mattered to me, and how I probably haven’t told them how grateful I was for our relationship.

I feel like our human mortality can be right around the corner at any moment.  Lets never forget to live life and love on one another.

Apparently Kingsley is terrified of birds.  Whoops.  But it made for a coolish photo.

melly-lee:

Chased birds with ItsKingsleyBitch 

more at http://newmediarockstars.com/2011/12/kingsley/

New project uniting new media with entertainment :) 

melly-lee:

First photo from my new project check it out http://newmediarockstars.com