Self Sitting on Bedroom Floor

Self Sitting on Bedroom Floor, originally uploaded by Vu Bui.

Flickr Tracker Thingy...

i am just posting this so I can see the stats on Flickr...

Annie Throws a Punch

Annie Throws a Punch, originally uploaded by Vu Bui.

I had a great day of shooting with Annie Tsai of Annieisms in the studio and then in the mean streets of Orange.

This shot took some time to get. Coordinating all the necessary elements was tough... we needed the fist to be in the right place in the frame, her hair to have a good amount of movement to it, her expression to be something fitting and her other hand to look like it belonged where it was. I did almost no post processing outside of cleaning up and adjusting curves, and I think the shot came out great.

Thanks to Annie for being such an awesome model! She had the patience and determination to pull this shot off. More shots of her on the way...

Casey McKinnon on a Piano

Casey McKinnon, originally uploaded by Vu Bui.

This photo goes to show that you can sometimes get really lucky with location right near home, you just need to look around a bit. The piano just happened to be sitting next to a dumpster under the private property sign... in the Orange Circle right down the street.

Some work was done to get the wall and piano to look really gritty... to match Casey's pose and expression.

Rudy and Casey

Rudy and Casey, originally uploaded by Vu Bui.

Lan did a photo shoot of Rudy and Casey, the geniuses behind Galacticast. It went quite well, and though I wanted to leave it to Lan since it was his shoot, I did sneak in some shots here and there. This is one of them, it wasn't posed, but was actually more of a brief real moment.

Upon seeing the shot at home, it struck me as being very romantic and dreamy... so I did my best to replicate that feeling in the final look of the photograph.

Casey McKinnon

Lan did a photo shoot of Casey today, and I snuck in a few shots here and there. Here's a rough image (pre-edit) that I enjoy. More from the shoot to come.

The Bui Brothers in Vlog Deathmatch

Lan and I have entered into a challenge, a "deathmatch", if you will... and we need your help. Please visit Vlog Deathmatch for details.

Lottery Ticket Saleskid

Lottery Ticket Saleskid
Originally uploaded by Vu Bui.

In Vietnam, you buy lottery tickets from walking salespeople. Actually, they are just people who go buy the tickets for resale, making about 10% or so of the value of the ticket (which is about 30 cents, typically). Often times the tickets are sold by homeless or disabled people... the rest are sold by regular folks without any other means of income... and a portion of these are children. There are many tactics they use to sell you the tickets... though most of them center on the fact that if you really annoy the crap out of some people, they will do anything, including buying a lottery ticket they don't want, just to shut you up or get you to leave.

Dan Toc Girl

Dan Toc Girl
Originally uploaded by Vu Bui.

This is the first in a series of shots I'll be posting on Flickr from an hour or so I spent at a little Catholic school in a Dan Toc Village. Technically I wasn't even supposed to be there... I slipped past the guardhouse which keeps foriegners out of the village. The government there doesn't want people bringing money into the developing area (mostly through the church)... they would much rather have you give it to them and have them... um... "disperse" it for you. Yeah. Bastards. Anyhow, there were kids there from about 1 year old through maybe 8 or 9, and it is basically a place where the parents can drop off the kids all day and they are fed and educated... and the only "catch" is that they learn Catholicism as well as the rest of their studies.

Dan Toc is what the people the world knows as Vietnamese call the "natives" of the country. There are other names for them, and each tribe has their own name, but basically they are the "mountain people"... and until recently have remained segregated from "civilized" society in Vietnam. I won't go too much into the politics and history here, there is plenty of info on the net...

So... I went to this school to photograph the kids... some were shy and some were playful... all were curious. Since foriegners are not allowed into the area, most of them had never even seen one. I realize that I am half Vietnamese... but I don't look it. Not one person in Vietnam saw me as anything but a foriegner, sometimes to my benefit, sometimes not. So I shot a bunch of photos, talked to a couple kids, and took off when it was nap time.

My Grandmother

My Grandmother
Originally uploaded by Vu Bui.

Well, I'm back. I've been back since last week, actually. This is a photo of my grandmother. I think it's my favorite of all the portrait photos I've ever taken of anyone. It's also something I'd never be able to replicate, because my grandmother is notoriously difficult to photograph, because she hates having her picture taken.

I was walking by the kitchen (it's separate from the house) and looked in the window, and she was talking to my aunt. The only light on her was coming from the door in which my aunt was standing... it was diffused sunlight (cloudy day)... so I quietly ran and grabbed my camera and shot it right through the bars in the windows just as she turned in my direction.

I have lots of photos to post, I've put up a dozen or so on Flickr and will be posting dozens more... some of which I am really happy with. I also have about 9 hours of video to capture and look through... and hopefully post to Videonatomy.

5 Weeks in Vietnam

So I leave for Vietnam in less than 2 weeks. I'll be there for 5. It sorta crept up on me and I didn't even realize that it was so soon until this past Monday. I guess I should start planning what I'm going to take with me... but I won't. I'll save that mess for 2 days before I leave, that way I can maximize my pain... and that is always a priority.

Vietnam... what to do? (oh, and new job)

I'll be leaving for Vietnam in two months and a week. I'll be staying there for 1 month. During that month I hope to do the best photography and video of my life. Either way it will be a great experience, I am sure.

I also finally started a regular job again. It's been 8 months since I quit Oakley. They were nice enough to hire me even though I have a month's vacation scheduled for July... and I really like the company... but it really does hurt to make 30% less than my last job. I also no longer have my own office, I have to clock in and out, I am a bottom-tier employee with no subordinates... there is a lot to get used to. The good thing, and the thing that I was looking for... is that it's a regular 8 to 5 job, not life-comsuming in the way that Oakley was. The bad thing is that I'm already liking the company a lot and can see myself committing to a long long time there if all goes well. I guess we'll see.

Anyhow... back to Vietnam. I am really excited about the trip... I was born here in the states, raised here... then sent to Vietnam for 2 years during high school to learn the language and my father's heritage. During that time I did enjoy my stay... it had its down points, like malaria and a few other unpleasant moments... but it was ok in general. Going now, though, on a vacation will be great. I expect to thoroughly enjoy my time. Also, now I'm a photographer and videographer... and my only real problem right now is trying to decide on whether or not to bring the big video camera. It's so heavy... and I will have to carry it everywhere... and it will interfere with my photography. Then again, I want to get some footage while I still can of certain things... certain family members... the condition of the towns and people right now... various things that will change greatly in 5 years' time. I know it will be already quite a bit different than the Vietnam of 12 years ago... but I don't yet know how much.

So... I guess I'll have to see. July = Vietnam.

Google Mars

Holy crap this is cool. It's a Google map for a portion of Mars, made with the help of NASA. Not very useful... but it sure gets the mind running... you know... old dreams of becoming an astronaut. Actually, I don't know if that's what I was interested in when I was a kid. I remember when I was maybe 5 or 6 I had a big poster of the solar system and a cheap little telescope... but not much else. I don't even know if I ever used that thing. Most of my childhood is gone entirely, and what I do remember is in tiny flashes... no real substance. Anyhow, this Google Mars this is great... er... for looking at Mars.

Doctors...

Josh brought up something in Storytime that I have also realized over the past few years. I don't bring up my mysterious health problems to doctors because I forget to talk about them when I am there in the doctor's office. I know, however, that I really only forget because I don't want to talk to the doctor them in the first place. Certain things somehow seem better left unknown... which is, of course, a really stupid way to feel. People literally die because they put off going to the doctor about a lump or a pain when they first realize it... they wait until it is unavoidable, which usually means it's too late. It's as though somehow if a problem is not actually diagnosed, it doesn't exist. Talk about denial!

Anyhow, after writing this and posting it I will probably still not go to the doctor...

Oodles of Noodles

Behind the scenes
Originally uploaded by Nevin.

The feedback that we've gotten on the new episode of Noodle Scar has been great so far. People seem to really enjoy it, which is great motivation for us to keep going. It's gonna be tough (coming up with decent new content every week), but it's been lots of fun so far... so even while tough it is still enjoyable.

While we were filming, at the LA Arboretum Nevin took this great shot of us. Makes us almost look like we know what we're doing.

Noodle Scar

Lan and Bonny and I have just started a new project that we've been talking about for a while, Noodle Scar. It's supposed to be a mostly comedic semi-news type show that will be hosted by Bonny. The first episode is already done. We are going to start with a goal of one episode per week, and increase them from there if it ever gets any kind of following.

Even the format of the show itself is still up in the air, but we are pretty sure it's going to be like the first episode for now... and we'll see where it goes from there.

Right now I need to start doing some research to find out the when/where/what for our next episode. Here's a project that I'd really like to see through, unlike the somewhat pointless Videonatomy.

Documentary on pause...

Well, the day before we began shooting our documentary, we had to put the brakes on it... for now. Being regular guys with no previous film/video knowledge really... we didn't know a damn thing about permits. We certainly didn't know it would cost us $250/day to shoot in Santa Monica even without a crew! So we are working on solutions... step 1 will be to talk to the woman in charge, who is on holiday until Tuesday. Hopefully we can work something out, because tapes alone will end up raching up a big cost for us... there is no possibility of us coming up with $250 each day we want to walk around the street and do some interviews, especially since we have no intentions of making any money off of this project.

So... we'll just have to see. More news next week.

Almost a flat...

I blew out my tire today biking to Peter's Canyon... but the tube didn't pop. Lucky lucky me... no walking necessary. Jarr was at the park anyway, and gave me a ride back home... but I didn't get to finish the best part of my ride... the trails.

Flickr Meetup!

The meet went really well yesterday. Everyone was cool... no weirdos (except maybe Aaron and I) and no assholes. It pretty much went as well as it possibly could have. I took lots of pics, but as usual, only a few came out good. The rest are useless... mostly due to focus problems because of the aforementioned problem with f/1.8 and the fact that I manually focus everything on the stock focusing screen, which is really not meant for manually focusing anything.

This little girl was walking behind her mom, and she didn't look at me until the moment I took her picture. The expression on her face was already there... so she's not pissed at me. At least not yet at the moment I took the shot.

f/1.8

I am unhealthily addicted to shallow depth of field (actually is there such a thing as a healthy addiction?). I can't seem to stop down the lens and shoot with some depth (with very few exceptions). It means that any photos I take have a subject and then some blur. They almost never have a background.

Actually, I suppose a lot of this has to do with the fact that I pretty much only shoot with my 50mm lens now... which is the equivalent to an 80mm on 35mm with the 1.6x crop factor. So it will be a big difference when I buy the 17-40mm again. I guess I shouldn't have sold it, but at the time I was convinced that f/4 was just too slow for me to use. I know better now, and if it gets dark then the 50 1.8 comes out. Simple.

Mini Cooper kids

These guys were driving through Chinatown in this classic Cooper. They didn't mind hamming it up for the camera. It probably made their day, actually. Too bad I didn't have a polarizer...

Flickr Meetup!

Calling all photographers... there will be a Los Angeles Flickr meetup this coming Sunday in Chinatown. Read about it here.

I like the idea. I've wanted to do it before... but never had the opportunity. To be able to just meet up with a bunch of people you don't know, who you may or may not have had any interaction with online... but you've seen some of their photography, and you're out with them creating more. I think it's great. Then again, it might also be very competitive. I have no idea. But Lan, Aaron and I will soon find out. And hopefully it won't just be a day of meeting new people, but also of some good new photography. It's cetainly a new subject for all three of us.

Shades of Gray

I have watched lots of short films, and lots of vlogs, and lots if vidoes of various things on the internet. This one, as far as planned comedy is concerned, is definitely one of the best. Completely worth watching. I'm right now downloading the iso for the DVD, but since my router sucks I am having problems and probably won't have it for a few more days... but here's the thing... I'm not pirating it. For whatever reasons, probably not the least of which is the fact that the creator, Jesse Cowell, didn't get the licensing rights to the music he used for the film, he is not selling the movie. He instead has a compressed version available for download, and a DVD version floating around on the "Play It Forward" system.

The premise is that he basically made a bunch of copies of the DVD and gave them out... and only asked that they in turn make copies and give them out... and so on and so forth. This method of distribution, while not a way to make money, is an awesome way to get something widely distributed and seen by lots of people with minimal costs. It's genius. It's also available via torrent, which is how I am downloading it.

The movie is basically a comedy about a pack of friends who decide to teach their one kinda asshole of a friend a lesson for all the bad things he's done to them over the years. The premise is pretty simple, but the story plays out very well and the characters are all different and very dynamic, yet work together in a strange sort of way. The entire film was shot for $2,000, which is awesome... though of course if they had actually paid for all the music they used it would have been significantly higher.

It's really worth the 290MB or so download to watch the web version of the movie, but if anyone wants a copy of the DVD, just let me know and I can probably send you one, once I have finished downloading it. If not you can get it via the torrent file.

It's inspiring to see work like this... so what am I going to do with this inspiration? Hmmm...

Cool Dude - The Block of Orange

Yet another shot that could have been decent if I had taken more time. Street photography is not coming easy for me... it's really not the same as landscape... not even similar, really.

The thing is... once someone has said yes, you can take their photo, it's still a little too exciting... and so I quickly do it to get it done, as if I feel that if I didn't hurry that they would change their mind or something. I guess it's a training thing. If anyone is looking at this blog and hasn't seen the rest of my photography, please look at it here, it's not nearly as bad as this stuff.

Murderball and My Date With Drew

I just saw 2 really good documentaries. Lately I have been renting mostly Korean movies and documentaries. The ones I just saw were My Date With Drew and Murderball. I'm quite impressed. Murderball doesn't surprise me at all... I knew what it would be and what to expect and I liked it... a great film about some amazing people. My Date With Drew totally caught me off guard. I watched it because it looked like an interesting concept... but I wouldn't have even known about that concept if Blockbuster didn't have an entire wall dedicated to it for some reason... and I'm glad they did.

I won't go into too much detail, because I don't want to give anything away, but I was extremely impressed with the movie and with Brian, the main character, who has had a crush on Drew Barrymore since childhood and now has a "borrowed" camcorder from Circuit City which needs to be returned in 30 days and $1,100 he won on the game show Taboo. His goal is to get a date with Drew. Sound stupid? Maybe. But really the concept is quite simple... follow your dreams, no matter how stupid they may sound. It's not just a movie about a guy trying to get a date with a movie star... but about a man with a dream and a goal and what he is willing to do to try and achieve it, no matter the odds (which, by the way, are obviously ridiculously against him). It's brilliant. And it's good to see someone trying for their dream, and it makes me feel really really lazy and wasteful of my time here on Earth... because it really isn't just the goal and attaining your dream which is the greatest part... it's the journey. Sometimes you might fall way short of your goal and still be extremely better off than you were before you attempted the near impossible.

I'm not much one for optimism and for positive introspection... but I do believe that I need to start doing what I love, and not just talk about it. I am going to become a pirate. Oh wait, no... I'm sure I can think of something better to pursue... but give me a sec...

David the Possum and Girl - Venice Beach

This is a domesticated possum named David. This girl, whose name I either didn't get or forgot, said that she had found him on the street when he was just a tiny little guy, and now he was 9 months old and happily living with her. Again, I shot a blurry pic, this was after dark, I shot at ISO 3200, f/1.8 at 1/30th of a second. It has focus blur AND motion blur... just for good measure. Will I ever take a decent street portrait?

Karen and friend - The Block of Orange

Karen really wanted to sell me some nail products... I have a shiny fingernail from her demonstration of them. Instead, Aaron and I took her picture.

Japanese Girls - Santa Monica

These 2 were just messing around taking pictures of each other. They didn't speak a lick of English. I had asked (or actually motioned) if they wanted me to take a pic of the both of them... and they gave me their camera. Then Lan asked if he could take a pic of them with his camera... and they did this pose. They were really cool and funny.

Jenny - 3rd Street, Santa Monica

Jenny and her friend were coming out of the Barnes and Noble on 3rd street in Santa Monica. She is a nanny in Newport Beach, though she is originally (and recently) from Sweden. Aaron just walked up to the two and asked if we could take their pictures. They were a little hesitant, but then said it was ok. She has the most amazing multi-colored eyes.

Movie Tickets Girl - 3rd Street, Santa Monica

She was giving free passes to the movies in Santa Monica, on 3rd street. Aaron told her we weren't having luck with people letting us take their picture, and she volunteered. I should have gotten her name... but I didn't, so she is just Movie Tickets Girl. Screwed up and focussed a little too far back... so her face is out of focus ever so slightly... basically just enough to ruin the shot.