I never liked the feeling of being lost. When I moved here to the US almost 10 years ago, I have made it to the point to know where most of the places I wanted to visit are. Mapquest, Yahoo Maps and now Google Maps have been my BFFs and companions and pre-iPhone era, you would have found those printouts of directions in my car together with an atlas and local maps.

I am the sort of the same way with the highway of life and love. While I am not as obsessive-compulsive as former, I preferred to at least have an inkling or two as to how my life progresses and will progress. I remember saying to myself that I will be married by 27, have a baby by 28 or 29, buy a big house at 30 and so on. Get the drift? Well, those plans and dreams didn’t happen at all. I tried having fun and dated guys but nothing seemed to work out. I almost threw in the towel regarding relationships after a big heartbreak and disappointment until I met this passionate, strong and smart man. I was already 30 at that time. (I should be buying a house at that point and not dating)

We were married 2 years after that meeting.

Last week, we went on a backpacking trip to celebrate that union. I am very much reminded of one of the million reasons why I picked him to be my husband. The trip was so ardous — we got lost so many times due to lack of trails and yet he assured me in countless ways that I am in wonderful hands. I may not have told this to him but I don’t feel lost anymore. Wherever we go, it always feels like home. He is now my home…

I love you so much, JZ and happy 2nd anniversary to us. I am looking forward to spending another 50 or so years with you.

And again, since a blog post isn’t pretty without a photo, here’s one of him on a good hair day taken 3 days ago.

Much love,
Joyce

Just want to do a quick post to say that JZ and I are back from a much needed (backpacking) getaway — just in time to celebrate mother’s day with mom Z and grandma Z later.

Happy Sunday and happy Mother’s day to all moms! Have a blessed one.

Much love,

Joyce

Some psychologists believe that the birth order has a lot to do with one’s personality. One example that they gave said that “youngest sibling expects others to do things, make decisions and take responsibility; and oftentimes feels smallest, weakest and immature.”

My, oh my, they got it so wrong.

My beautiful sister Chelle was born April 30th to my parents (and our family) who already have 4 girls at that time (i.e. Bel, me, Michelle and Jot). She defied most of the “psychobabble” norms — as she turned out and grew up to be so independent and responsible, always (or most of the time) confident, uncapricious and not even spoiled at all. She is one tough, talented cookie on top of being so smart, mature, friendly, outgoing and oh so happy. Most elderly even call her ‘happy child’ as she is always laughing in most circumstances.

Anyway — sister dear, as you turn a year older, I just want you to know that I am so proud and very thankful of you. Your personality did affect who I am today because we spent so much time when I was in my 20s and you were still a kid. Thank you so much for all your carefree ways, for always making us laugh, for being the life of any party and for taking care of mom and dad since we are so far away…

I love you and I miss you much. I am looking forward to seeing you again soon. Happy happy birthday, my gorgeous sister!

Much much love,
(Your sister) Joyce

I had numerous friends and family members asking me if I was fine. I have scratched my head on almost all occasions because things have been very wonderful. Can you imagine my confusion as to why do they think otherwise? When my sister asked the same thing earlier this afternoon, I decided to find out from her why. And you know what she said? Well, she blurted out that it’s because I haven’t been posting anything new on my blog. Hahahaha!

Anyway, I know I am guilty as I have been a bad blogger and photographer lately. And no, it isn’t because I lost the passion but it’s due to the fact that my focus has been diverted mostly to fitness and spending quality time with my husband (we are getting in shape together).

So please do not worry, I haven’t stopped shooting — in fact tonight, I snapped this one after a 3-mile run.

As you see, all things are bright and beautiful here…

Happy Wednesday night all!

Much love,
Joyce

I recently got an email from someone asking me questions re. beach shoot for portraits. Here’s a snippet of that:

“… While searching for beach shoot, I stumbled upon your site and one of your albums of a couple. Do you have any tips to share on how to accomplish those photos? I appreciate any help as I will conduct a family session at the beach”

I was at first hesitant to give an advice since I am not really a seasoned PRO and I have only shot at real beach once… O-N-C-E! Eeeek… Oh well, I don’t have problems admitting that, of course, since I am from Minnesota and here, lakes are called beach anyway (super lame). HA!

With that, since the question is a little bit broad, I will try to give you my best possible answers through my blog and here’s hoping that it will/might help you and one or two more.

1. Those shots that you were asking about were taken in Jacksonville, FL. For that shoot, we woke up at 6:45AM to catch the sunrise for the best light. With my roots being on doing landscapes, I do believe in that ‘magic hour’ that other photographers talk about. I made use of that light.

2. On top of that, we did use a big, hunking reflector too, to additionally light the couple since the natural light was most of the time on their backs. I did that because I don’t like overexposing the skies. I love my clouds, you know.

3. Don’t be scared to use their shadows and silhouttes.

4. Be prepared to get wet so bring extra clothes and towel to dry. I was soaking that day. :p

5. Use the reflection on the sand after the waves ebbed.

6. On the technical side (not an expert here), learn how to use manual setting. To expose, I metered the brightest light and then the subject — from there, I adjusted it almost to the middle. My ISO was at the lowest (100) and my aperture stayed between f/2.8 to f/4.0.

7. Most importantly, let your subject(s) play and have fun (you, will too). Most of my favorites are those of them just having fun with one another.

Since post isn’t pretty without a photo, here’s one of my favorites from that album that was referred to.

And one of JZ at work:

Well, I hope that you gather something from it. If not, email me (again), please. I may be able to help you find a photographer who can answer better, too.  Good luck with your shoot.

Happy Friday, all!

Much love,
Joyce

A simple photo is my pick for the photo of day which came a day late.

I am thankful for being safe today and I pray for all those who are affected by earthquake in Chile.
I hope you are having a nice Saturday evening.

Much love,
Joyce

Eeeeek, 11 days had passed since I last updated my blog. Some of you might know by now that I love to send love but I wasn’t meaning to be stuck on that Valentines post. There must be a good reason, right? You betcha! (using my acquired Minnesota accent).

I mentioned previously that I want to get my albums and slideshows out of using Adobe Flash (and make my site more iPad-ready ) and to get there, I opted to do it by myself rather than hire someone. It’s pretty risky, I know but I love to program (hey, it’s my day job).

Anyway, since I am focusing on children’s portraits for 2010, Nathan’s album/slideshow was the first to get moved. Otik’s will follow.

Please see screenshot.

The album is at: http://joycedzphotography.com/nathanm

Please bear with me for now as I am re-editing and completing my site.

That’s all for now. I am off to my dance class.

Much love,
Joyce

Some of you may have noticed, I hardly had any blog entries posted on a Saturday. Weekends are usually pretty busy for me and it’s also my time to be away from computers.

Anway, I don’t want to start a trend of writing one every week although today, I want to give you a glimpse of some of the many reasons (unrelated to photography) why I don’t.

Our remote-hugger cat named Milky:

And my love for cooking yummy meals (for recipe, click here):

Do you think I should continue?

Enjoy your Saturday! Happy Valentines Day, too. Celebrate it not because of the occasion but because there are gazillion reasons to love!

Much much love,
Joyce

Photoshopping (or post-processing) has always been my waterloo and there were times in my photography-life wherein I find myself throwing in the towel (good thing I pick it up again). I get frustrated with monitor and color calibrations, over and/or under processing a photo, selecting which Adobe Action to use and list of qualms goes on.

However, to compensate for my lack of post-processing skills, I have been working so hard for the past year to understand and trust my camera so well (have been tempted to switch but stuck with the ever-reliable Nikon) and how it behaves with my single lens (I sold the rest of them). I bet it was a relief for my husband JZ because it meant that I won’t be spending tons on gears. On top of that, I have learned to search and find the best light that will work for each situation that I am in with my subjects. I have failed in numerous occasions  but thanks to the digital world, I didn’t have to deal with wasted film rolls.

Moreover, the last session I had with Debi and Peng gave me so much reassurance on my personal growth with this journey. I was and still ashamed to admit that I was at first scared of that shoot knowing that I have to deal with snow (exposure problem), full-sun (shooting at 2:00 in the afternoon with a cloudless sky) and cold-weather (fogging, etc). However, I managed to come of out it unscathed — I will be forever thankful with that wonderful couple for their patience while I took practice shots and fiddled with my settings). Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Anyway, I didn’t put this image on my earlier posts for them because I feel this is so special — that I want it to be a photo du jour feature on my blog. I showed it to them while we were shooting and now I am showing it to my blog readers for the first time — almost straight-out-of-camera (we call it SOOC) and did not need much photoshopping at all.

I am so grateful, satisfied and happy lately because I feel like I grew an inch or so…

How about you, what aspects in your lives do you see improvement(s)? Please do share.

I am excited for the weekend. JZ and I are visiting and maybe cooking for our parents (in-laws for me) tomorrow .

Happy Friday all!

Much love,
Joyce