95.7 The Beat

Jay Nunez from 95.7 the Beat ask me to do a few pics of him for some of his promotional work. It was very easy to work with him. The shoot only took about an hour. This shot was taken at the Santa Maria riverbed underneath the 101. Since working with Jay, I've had plenty of people asking me to do a photo shoot with them. Thanks Jay! It pays to be staff of a radio station, everyone knows you especially in a little town like Santa Maria. Eventually Jay plans to develop a hip-hop magazine within the Central Coast, while I provide some of the photos. What great networking and exposure!!

Baby Lovin'

This was my first "Prego" photoshoot. I met Mariana on Myspace and she asked if I can take shots of her pregnant. I felt iffy about it at first since I never done anything like this before. I ended up using just natural light and then editing them in my digital darkrom. I took at least 300 shots and got plenty of good ones.
(click on images to enlarge)

Tool Girl

Here is another one that was taken awhile back also. I went with a different approach with this one. A little bit grungier I would say. Maria was so shy at first, so i had to pose for her first and show her how to really do it.

Simply Virginia

This picture was taken awhile back. I wanted to use this photo as an example of experimenting new ways of editing. Virginia was very photogenic and simple which gave me an idea of having a more dreamy feel to it. I think it came out ok.

(click on image to enlarge)

Intro to Multimedia "Class Project 1"

Intro to Multimedia has been a fun class so far. Our first assignment was to create a Travel Kiosk for potential travelers. The assignment was to choose any place we want and inform people about the significant place. Since I'm Filipino and been wanting to go to this place, I chose Boracay. I always pictured Boracay to be a fun and a relaxing place. I decided to target the young crowd and that's why I went with the colorful layout and younger look. So far I have accomplished the picture buttons from the home page to link you to four different categories using Adobe Flash: What To Do, The Food, The Nightlife, and Accommodations. I am proud of what I have done so far! Yee-Pee!

(Click on images to enlarge)

R.I.P. mom (Ruby E. San Juan April 10, 1948 - February 22, 2009)

Hello everyone! This will be my first blog post. What can I say? Well, it's been awhile since doing any type of artwork. The last 6 months must have been the hardest and saddest part of my whole life. Early last year I started pursuing my life of becoming an all-around artist particularly in Photography. I started doing free sessions of portraiture of friends I met on MySpace and also of family members so I can gain experience and practice before committing to anything serious or do any type of paid projects. Everything was going well until my family found out that my mom was going to need brain surgery to remove a 3cm tumor. After her first surgery in August, my mom was hospitalized for 6 straight months. Sadly, she never recovered from many complications which lead to her passing on February 22, 2009. During those 6 months, I was constantly busy helping and keeping my father company. I helped him with paperwork, bills, and attended family meetings for my mother every other Tuesday in Camarillo. Also, every weekend we traveled a total of 4-6 hours to either UCLA or Camarillo to visit my mom and back home. It was very hard to see my mother like that especially when she was so confident that she was going to come home as soon as they took out the tumor and also knowing that she was so healthy before the surgery. I lost inspiration to do anything. My only priorities was to take care of dad and save every available time to visit my mom. After my mom passed away, I still struggle to move on, but I had to whether I liked it or not. I know my mother would want me to continue with life and continue to do what I love and that was art. I eventually enrolled myself at our local community college, Allan Hancock College, to an introduction course of Web Design. (In the near future I will post what I am currently working on in class). So far it has been a good experience and education. At the same time I am also trying to save money for a new camera, a Canon 5d Mark II and hoping to get more exposure in Photography and start making money from Weddings, Engagement, Senior pictures, etc.


Well, sorry to start you with a sad note but with the help of God, family and friends, I know things will get better and I hope you continue to stay tuned for updated pictures and posts.