christy and kris' engagement session


commentator: monica

although christy & kris were born and raised in hawaii, they seem to be san franciscans at heart. they love sf so much they actually flew from oahu to the bay for their engagement session. it's quite fitting for them to have traveled across the pacific for this occasion, since this is the city in which kris proposed to the lovely christy. they returned, this time, with their videographer, greg of advanced visual arts, who was able to record the photo shoot.

with windstorms occurring the day before (literally, storms of wind brought down several trees at the locations we visited), we were quite fortunate that the winds had calmed down greatly for the engagement session. we started at the wilhelmina tulip gardens which are brilliant at this time in the year, before heading to stow lake's impressive waterfall. the weather warmed up nicely by the time we got to baker beach, where this beautiful couple were able to show off their hawaiian style in their beach outfits.

congratulations on your engagement, christy & kris! we can't wait for your wedding on oahu in july!

//ed pingol
707.334.1468
info@edpingolphotography.com
edpingolphotography.com

love that flows freely...

gettin' a little wet in the frigid side of the ocean

his island girl

silhouette shot. the two are also photography enthusiasts and wanted to include their canon. =)

enjoying a beautiful sunny day in golden gate park

the tulip gardens

sarah and chad's engagement session


commentator: monica

the term "engagement session" is a misnomer. heck, ed and i have been married for 3 years and we just recently had our very first engagement session. the "engagement session" (or "lifestyle couple portrait session") is a great way to chronicle the special relationship you're in, whether you're new sweethearts, about to get hitched, or celebrating your anniversary. this is especially true if you have the chance to visit a really cool city... which is exactly what sarah & chad did.

sarah is an awesome photographer based in nebraska, who decided to take a trip out to san francisco, with her husband of four years, chad. it's all too common for photographers who capture thousands upon thousands of images of other people to not have very many photos of themselves. sarah and chad decided not only to take in the sights of the city but to have the experience recorded in photographs. of course, there's no better way to feature the city than to include the majestic golden gate bridge in the background, so this adorable couple chose baker beach as the location for their engagement session.

thank you for allowing us to photograph part of your sf experience, sarah & chad! we had a blast!

//ed pingol
707.334.1468
info@edpingolphotography.com
edpingolphotography.com

we love how baker beach seems to be everchanging, with random wood pieces and rocks arranged by beachgoers. we couldn't pass up this post that was driven straight into the sand...

... neither could we pass up this awesome rock sculpture!

although the beach was cold that morning, we could feel the warmth radiating from these two lovebirds.

the rocky shoreline

the log steps that go on for days!

april's aftershoot session


commentator: monica

april and phil celebrated a gorgeous destination wedding in monterey in june. with the wedding day past, this bridal aftershoot was an opportunity for her to let her hair down and create some edgy photos. for this bridal aftershoot, we wanted a location that was run-down with plenty of wind. lately, ed's been into flowy fabric shots and april was kind enough to bring along some tulle to play around with. we chose marin headlands for the beautiful views of the bay and abandoned batteries. lucky for us, the weather was perfectly sunny and windy!

//ed pingol
707.334.1468
info@edpingolphotography.com
edpingolphotography.com

april in the "april winds"

she's not a model... she just looks like one. =)

an intense and moody feel

enjoying the breeze

on top of the world

jen and ron's aftershoot session


commentator: monica

ed and i feel like we're a couple of the luckiest people on earth sometimes. it amazes us that one minute we're partying hard in vegas, surrounded by some of the most creative people in the photography industry and the next, we're in paradise, surrounded by some of the kindest, most welcoming people on the planet. we're lovin' every minute!

we flew into oahu the morning after arriving from las vegas after being sleep-deprived (thanks, wppi!) with approximately 20 or so hours of sleep over a total 6 nights. we stayed at the hilton hawaiian village the first two nights of our stay. as gorgeous as the property is, we found it odd that a man-made body of water and beach lay only about 100 feet away from the actual ocean. odder yet was the fact that some folks actually chose to lay out by the fake beach. strange...

the next day, we headed out with jen & ron for their aftershoot session. we had to take advantage of the gorgeous views of oahu and the island breezes so eddie asked jen to bring along something that would compliment her beautiful gown and would flap in the wind. can you guess what it is???

//ed pingol
707.334.1468
info@edpingolphotography.com
edpingolphotography.com

the relaxed and happy newlyweds, which is the whole idea behind the "aftershoot"

a dramatic sky and ocean

who says a bride can't be sexy?

a secluded forest (... except for the hundreds of mosquitoes. eek! =)

joy & colin's family session


commentator: monica

what a treat it is for us to photograph a family as it continues to grow! we first began photographing the yip family when joy had requested for us to photograph her darling daughter, tatiyana, who had just turned 3 years old. later that year, we photographed tati and her parents, joy & colin and her "baby-bro-belly-bump" (say that 4 times fast!) for their holiday family photo session. after baby jordan was born, joy & colin asked us to photograph not only their family of four but the rest of colin's beautiful family, including his parents, grandmother, three brothers, and nephew at the botanical garden in golden gate park. what an awesome blessing and honor it is for us to photograph four generations in one family photo session!

//ed pingol
707.334.1468
info@edpingolphotography.com
edpingolphotography.com

the yip men

four generations

brothers

daddy's little girl and now the new big sis

radio popper review for my fellow photography geeks. (yeah, i'm talking about you!!!)

Commentator: Ed

Hello all-

This past weekend, Monica and I finally had a chance to test out the Radio Popper by "freakin' genius," Kevin King. If you don't know what a Radio Popper is, it simply addresses the key issue of the reliability of the “line of sight” infrared system by “bridging” the infrared light signal over a radio link. This translates into a beautifully simple solution to a very complex problem. AWESOME!!!

As you scroll down, I'll walk you through with my honest feedback regarding the Radio Popper.

You may remember my first time ever toying with the Radio Popper during WPPI, along with photographers I have been "stalking" and consider "Off-Camera Flash Kings & Queens!" For a refresher posted by Matt Adcock on flashflavor.com, please click here.

My first crack in opening the package - It was SO cool to actually have something in front of me that has the potential to change history in the photography world. The transmitter and the receiver are fairly small... smaller than my pocket wizards - a good thing.

However, what I started seeing that could be a minor issue is, if you don't have a dedicated flash, the"permanent connection" of the fiber optic to the flash can be a hassle to remove and put back on again since the only way the optics can be connected to the flash is through tape. But this is a such a tiny issue when you actually use the product and see the potential of what it can do for you as a photographer. And why take the popper off anyway? I don't mind dedicating a flash to this puppy since I'm sure I'll be using it plenty!

Felt like a kid at Christmas opening up the brand spankin' new package! (Disclaimer: Please ignore the very amateur hand model who DIDN'T moisturize the morning of the shoot. And if you like what you see, please note the wedding ring, folks!)

A closer look at the Popper:

Each flash has a different placement of the optic ball. Below is the actual placement of where it needs to be for the 580ex speedlite.

Okay - Onwards to the actual testing!

I've provided images with actual specs... You'll also be able to view/download individual images to check out the full exif data of each individual image for your information. Keep an eye out for the sync speed and aperture settings... it's amazing!

After enjoying a very filling and de-lish meal of crepes with our friend Dave Wong at Squat & Gobble, we headed down the street to meet up with his photog partner, Greg Bartning, at his jealousy-enducing studio. Thanks guys for letting us invade your space for the afternoon! We tested the popper's ettl capabilities with the 580ex speedlite, triggered by the ST-E2. I made sure that the 580 was only being triggered via radio frequencies instead of the infrared line of site by completely covering the 580ex's reciever. I took several shots with the popper turned off to make sure the infrared signal of the ST-E2 is not triggering the speedlite. Once I turned the popper on, the flashes started flashing. Can you say "AWESOME!!!"

Once ON, the poppers worked 100% of the time indoors, regardless of the camera settings. Once I upped my sync speed, we automatically saw a huge difference in the ambient light. This opens up SO many doors of where you can shoot. You don't need a super dark studio anymore because worrying about ambient light affecting the colors is now out of the equation.

Here's our studio model for the day, Mr. Phrenology Top Hat

So sure, the radio popper works reliably indoors... But how about outdoors where there's power lines and a busy San Francisco street in between you and your subject? Well... we'll find out. But first, let's test it normally... like how I would normally shoot. I took several photos with different settings with various in-camera flash compensations. All shots taken, the radio popper also fired with no problem at "normal" distances (about 4-15 feet). So the uber cool features I can easily take advantage of now are the High Speed Sync AND the Flash Exposure Compensation, all IN camera. This will make all my shoots super fast because I no longer have to adjust the flashes manually. Every adjustment is done IN CAMERA, instead of having my "Voice Activated Mobile Light Stand," also known as VAMLS (term coined by Dave which we've now adopted), have to bring down the lightstick and guestimate the adjustments necessary.

Our lovely model, Jessa, whom we "kidnapped" from work for a brief 5 minutes at Cafe du Soleil for this impromptu shoot down the street from the studio. (By the way, this place has almond croissants that'll make you drool! Thanks for getting us our model and satisfying our pastry craving, Greg!)

Then I walked across the street to test out distances... I was about 60 feet away while firing these. Please keep in mind the 1.6 crop factor of the 50mm lense I was using. I've included a small photo of how "bright" the actual conditions were while we're testing. You can actually see Monica, my VAMLS, and see how dark ambient light can be in the middle of daylight. =) Regardless of what setting I was in... the ETTL did it's thing. However, out of 20 shots across a busy street in San Francisco with all the powerlines, a couple did not fire a flash. But regardless, this ratio is still pretty darn good, especially when I now have ETTL and FEC controls, ALL in camera!

There's Dave. Where's Monica?

Conclusion - the Radio Popper is not 100% perfect (yet) and it won't solve all your problems... however, it cleverly solves the "line of sight" and distance problems, which are HUGE problems in the world of photography. It's a simple and effective tool to pull out of your bag of tricks to automatically create properly exposed images, virtually no matter what camera setting you're in, up to an insane 1/8000th of a second! for you norcal folks, that's "HELLLLLLLLA FAST!" Just ask Greg, who was pretty doubtful and ambivalent about the poppers' ability and is now dead-set convinced that he needs this for his commercial shoots. Of course, I know this particuar device will be getting plenty of good use by us, especially with my shooting style. Can't wait to POP away!!!

the test crew: dave, greg, me, and monica

I've provided images with actual specs... You'll also be able to view/download individual images to check out the full exif data of each individual image for your information. Keep an eye out for the sync speed and aperture settings... it's amazing!
//ed pingol
707.334.1468
info@edpingolphotography.com
edpingolphotography.com

cara and brian's engagement session


commentator: monica

"what came first: the chicken or the egg?" not sure if ed's recent fetish for shoe photos has grown from the awesome pairs adorned by our clients or if his photography is encouraging our clients to consider their footwear for the engagement sessions as importantly as they do their hair-do, make-up, and outfits. we may never know... regardless, we looove it when our couples bring along cute shoes! and cara & brian did just that!

as much as we have passed by coit tower (, what we like to call the "finger tower,") on numerous occasions, we had never actually visited this local landmark until cara & brian's engagement session. sitting atop telegraph hill, staircases leading down into charming residential areas include some very lush vegetation. the city seems to disappear as you feel transported into beautiful gardens, tended by the homeowners. yet you know you're in sf once you hit a clearing and lay eyes on gorgeous views of the bay and city skyline.

our second location was the ferry building on the embarcadero. this adorable duo wanted a vintage-inspired theme, complete with a final stop at taylor's refresher to share a traditional milkshake, with a modern bay area twist of "greenware" as the container. lucky for us, we had our good friend, peter, of mellange studio documenting the shoot on video. can't wait to see the final product!

congratulations on your engagement, cara & brian! can't wait to see what'll be on your feet on your wedding day in september!

//ed pingol
707.334.1468
info@edpingolphotography.com
edpingolphotography.com

the top of telegraph hill

two mates in the wild

converses + maryjanes. (shoe shots inspired by the original shoemaniac, jon canlas)

taking a stroll along the embarcadero

haute vintage

sharing a shake

michelle and paul's wedding


commentator: monica

when you've got a gorgeous and laid-back couple like michelle & paul, it's so very easy and enjoyable to photograph a wedding! self-proclaimed hawaii-lovers, they celebrated their union on a beautiful saturday this month with a tropical-inspired wedding theme. we met up with michelle at her suite where she and her bridesmaids "glammed up" at the hilton garden inn in fairfield.

the ceremony was held at saint basil's in vallejo, which is only a block away from the high school where the two graduated from. paul and his guys were already at the church once we arrived, which gave us ample time for their photographs. and boy, do these guys love to pose for the camera! =)

on the way to the reception, the bridal party stopped at the suisun city waterfront, which is a great historical site for photographs. lucky for us, there was a congo drum player who happily provided some ambient music for us to enjoy. afterwards, we arrived at the reception held at the delta breeze club on travis airforce base. with great food, drinks, and entertainment, their party allowed everyone to enjoy themselves and "let their hair down," literally and figurately. =)

congratulations on your marriage, michelle & paul! mahalo for letting us capture your special day!

//ed pingol
707.334.1468
info@edpingolphotography.com
edpingolphotography.com

getting ready

the beautiful dress and colorific boquet!

the finishing touches, helped out by her loving parents

the beautiful bride. check out those awesome lashes!

the ladies, having a great time

the happy groom

tropical bouttainaires and kukui nut leis for the best men

the gents doing their "gq" thang!

the ceremony

uniting

the ring bearer, barely able to peer over the pews to witness the ceremony

announcing the newlyweds!

celebrating their first hour as husband and wife

the bridal party

paul's the man!

a whimsical wedding cake

"turn your lights down low..." videography provided by: mp studios

speeches

the tosses. here's where the groom "let's his hair down."

as a special gift to the guests who stayed through the event, they were gifted an hour of "open bar" at the end of the night. yipppeeee!

==========================
Behind the Scenes
==========================

ok... this is actually funny. see, mich and paul had their wedding in a military base and the guards had this list that contained names of all their guests and vendors. we knew for a fact that jeff, my brother, wasn't on the list. so what we decided to do was to sneak him in the base by hiding him in the back of our trusty honda pilot under blankets. it was HILARIOUS!