I have had a dream of having one of my photos on the cover of a magazine.  I am now close to that dream.  I would appreciate any votes towards my photo at the website below.

http://iamkoream.com/koream-cover-contest/

The theme was about Third Generation Korean Americans and having a cover that best illustrates that topic.  Are they Korean, American, or both?  What do they eat, listen to, speak, know about the heritage.  I felt the best and most impact was through a photo that showed a Korean on the inside, but an American flag layer on the outside.

Thanks for all of your support!!  You can vote Daily!!  Spread the word!!  Contest ends Feb 12th, Friday!!!!

http://iamkoream.com/

Well even though it's not a printed magazine, it's still the front of their online version.  The Korean American Journal or Koream, recently published my photo and a little interview of me in their most recent update.  Not only did I enter that contest, but I'm also entering the contest for their front page cover of the printed edition.  Wish me luck and feel free to leave me comments about what you think!!

Cheers,
Nathan

The sky is falling, the sky is falling!!!  This was unfortunately not the case for tonight, at least not for folks in Los Angeles.  With the yearly visit of the Leonid meteor shower, some years are better then others.  It depends on how much we brush through the tail of the comet Tempel-Tuttle.  The meteors appear to be coming from the constellation Leo, which is where they get their name.  In past years, this has been an amazing meteor shower.  With the most spectacular showers in 1866, 1899, and 1966 when thousands of meteors fell ever minute making the sky look like it truly was falling.  North America was expected to get 20-30 an hour, but I only saw 6 in 2 hours.  Asia was supposedly going to get 200-300 an hour.  Wonder if they did.

Tonight, or this morning really, Tom and I ventured out and away from the blazing lights of Los Angeles and headed North.  We got on the 405, then 5, then 14 and headed towards Palm Desert.  Knowing that looking East and North, would be our best bet.  62 miles away, we started taking backroads and finally ended up on a dirt road up near these hills.  The lights of the city were off in the distance but our eyes soon adjusted and we could see this would be a good spot.

Although capturing meteors may seem hard, it appeared more patience then anything.  I had my Canon timer remote and 2 cameras.  I setup one looking directly above with a fisheye, as to pretty much cover most of the sky.  I set it to go off for 30 seconds and then repeat.  I should have angled it a little more East, but this still seemed like the area I could get the most coverage.  I moved the other camera around, trying different angles, exposures, spots.  We even had some fun with multiple exposures and painting with light.  Not using too high of an ISO, as I wanted the shots to not have too much noise.  Trying not to shoot wide open, I ranged between F3-5.6.  I tried some at 2.8 as well, but never broke out the F1.2 as I didn't think it was worth it.  I should have tried some at F22, as the sparkle effect might have been cool.

Although I only captured a few shots with meteors, the night was fun.  It was nowhere as many meteors as we had hoped, but I guess seeing 6 and photographing a few was good enough.  We headed back to LA around 2:15AM.

Enjoy the photos and I hope to try this again someday, maybe when there are more meteors.

The photo above is NOT a Meteor, as the bright then dim portion signifys it was an airplane going by.  But still kind of cool.  :-)

A car came by when I was taking one of the photos, kind of turned out cool.

I photographed Toni and Jon's Engagement Session back in April and was very excited when I got the call to photograph their wedding as well.  My only concern was it was on the same day that I had Danny's Bar Mitzvah in the morning.  I explained my situation and would normally never double book a day, but Toni was dedicated in having me capture her wedding day.  So I worked things out and made sure the timing was right, bought extra memory cards, and hired the talented Brian Fletcher from Orange County as my 2nd photographer to make sure everything was covered.  We started out at the Double Tree Hotel in Carson, right next to the wedding and reception site of the Carson Civic Center.  When I arrived, I was amazed to see a large gathering of 12 groomsmen and 12 bridesmaids.  Now this was a wedding party!!  As Jon headed down with Brian, his entourage, and a bottle of Dom Perignon, I headed into the brides room to start getting my own photos.  Beautiful dresses, flowers, and everyone in good spirits, I could see this was going to be a fun wedding.  With tears all around, they toasted to Toni with some champagne and headed over to the Civic Center to join her guests.

After a beautiful sunset ceremony, photos were taken around the area.  Toni even had a custom red carpet backdrop made for her so they could get group photos taken.  Hawaiian Hula Dance, Jon on the DJ turntables, and lots of fun dancing.  This wedding party came to celebrate and a celebration this was.  Thank you to Toni Rose and Jon for trusting me to capture their wedding day as well as Brian for helping out with all the amazing extra shots.  Best wishes and a long happy life with your new family!

Turning 13 was never as much fun as what I just experienced.  Danny's Bar Mitzvah at the Kehillat Israel in Pacific Palisades was not only a religious and memorable occasion, it was an amazing celebration.  With friends and family watching, Danny transitioned into a responsible adult according to Jewish Law.  A ceremony was held and even webcasted over the internet for family across the nation.  With a hockey themed reception, amazing appetizers, and activities for everyone, it was a great experience and a lot of fun.  Glow toys, silly glasses, and games kept Danny and his friends entertained all afternoon and we even got to hear some of Danny's drumming skills on his electronic drum set.  There was a tasty buffet lunch and even an ice cream sundae bar to top it all off.  Thank you to David, Carole, Danny, and Matt for this experience.