The picture I shot for La Baguette finally showed up as a huge 10 feet x 5 feet billboard in the walkway of Stanford Shopping Center.

I was taking picture of this billboard when the Stanford security started questioning my intentions of taking the secret layout of the shopping center. They were then on their radio for a while looking really serious. I think they called Homeland Security or the Director in Pentagon to check my name against their list of top 100 most dangerous terrorists.

I don’t think it’ll ever get old to see my work in magazines and on the walls of a super high end shopping center.

- MS

I had a spontaneous fashion photography photoshoot in de Young Museum this past Monday (during a work week, yeah baby!). Nope, I did not plan where I was shooting nor what exact time the shoot should begin.

For those of you who knew me well since 10+ years ago, you must be gasping with horror. No planning??? Imagine the horror of Michael Soo doing something without planning for it thoroughly.

“My name is Michael Soo and I was an avid planner. An obsessive compulsive I_got_hit_this_spot_by_2pm and_do_that_at_3pm planner.” I used to strive to be impeccable in my timing and mind you, my timing was accurate to the minute and I was the perfect manager in corporate America. But that has changed over the course of the last 10 years. I won’t be going through my life story here but as a libra, I have been moving into my subconcious center to find that balance.

Sarah Abramson was my guinea pig…I mean beautiful model. She was amazing in every way. Very responsive in email, phone calls and texting; professional, and of course, tall and gorgeous. I gave her some directions on the type of poses I was looking for and she snapped into them like peas into their pods. I just wished we had time to run through more looks before the sun went down but that’s nothing I can or want to control. Erica Carr did the makeup and a bit of hair work. I really like her positive attitude, very easy going and does wonderfully clean makeup work that made my job easier in post.

Timing was unpredictable. We started late, Sarah lost her way. She was probably making a U-turn from the Mexico border. Erica, on the other hand, didn’t even know where we were meeting. The sun droop down the horizon fast. Going back 10 years, I woulda flipped. LOL.

But no! I did not even flinch! No brah. I was relaxed with my grande soy latte in hand, planning my week. It’s all good.

That said, the past 5 years have been a wildest ride that few has the stomach to swing through.

The Good

Before meeting with a client, they sometimes wonder who’s the mystery man behind the camera. So, I figured that if I should enhance the mythical nature of my existence, I’ll hype it further using imagery, smoke and mirrors. Ok, there’s no mirror involved, just one flashlight, is all it took. The smoke you see is actually humid sea breeze, mixed with fine sand in the cave.

Folks in my forum then got really creative and started doing the Sprint commercial thing writing out the name of my personal website/forum, i.e. the SooCool in the soocool.com/forum. SooCool Photography Forum of the San Francisco Bay Area, California is the largest local photography forum in California with over a thousand members who post/read/browse the forum on a daily basis. I found plenty of great photographers/friends in the forum than I thought I would. Fantastic guys/gals who love photography with a passion.

In my last pose, I made full use of the floating dust to create a lightsaber look. I call it, The Explorer

- Michael Soo

Photographing large families (20-30 people) and doing group shots usually make a photographer cringe. What about photographing Whole Foods Market’s 350 (yes, you read that right, three-hundred and fifty) staff members ?!

I had a fun time shooting the entire team of Whole Foods Market, the one just moved and opened in a huge new store in Cupertino. They have a total of over 350 employees. What a crowd! We had to do the shoot under the shadow of the building where the light is best and right under the rising sun. Lighting such a large group can be extremely challenging if the clients’ schedule isn’t very flexible. You are pretty much at the mercy of the location and the sun.

I then shot the team, each department staff in their area, seafood, produce, meats, senior staff, etc. etc. All 9 departments. It was fun, everyone collaborated well and the shots are marvellous. The group shot is now hanging within the store.

- Michael Soo

For companies who are selling high end products online, it is unusually difficult to convey to the customers the touch, the texture, the smell, the taste of the products.

I have the honor to work directly with How Fast They Grow, a company founded by a mother with an exquisite taste. Her products are catered to moms who are interested to do scrapbooking for their growing wonders, but just do not have time to. Who does anyway. As we all know, scrapbooks are a huge timesink.

Her albums are beautifully crafted, backed with boards that do not warp, well designed, smooth fabric, the list goes on. But the beauty is really, how amazing it is to hold it in your hand, some of them are almost like a little furry animal that you would like to stroke over and over again. The challenge was, the ability to convey to the mothers, how amazing these books are, soft to the touch, the texture, how it feels when you run your fingers across the fabric of the book.

- Michael Soo

So, yes, it finally happened. My best bachelor of a friend is getting married…and I’m the best man.

It took me a while to juggle the fact of the matter, should I be helping to photograph his wedding, or should I be enjoying that beautiful day.

Well, I figured I’ll do a half-ass job at both, bringing me joy and contribution to this wonderful event at Chateau La Joye, located in San Gregorio, California; a few miles from Half Moon Bay.

During the ceremony, I setup my camera from a high position and used a remote shutter transmittor to snap pictures. Who woulda thought, the best man could still shoot images DURING the ceremony. Yeah baby! I’m the BEST….man!

Here is their album, my photojournalistic view, from the bachelor party to the rehearsal to the wedding itself.

*sniff* *sniff* ‘Lil John’s all grown up.

- Michael Soo

There are only a handful of Glamour and Model Photography Workshop in the country, especially ones that teaches the whole gamut; from Photography; to Lighting Techniques; to Posing; to Makeup; to Post Processing workflow; to Photoshop retouching. So, this is it. The 2nd installment of our rare Model Photography Workshop. This time, in the Buddha Lounge of Mountain View.

Our models, only the best across the state, ranging from the FHM’s 2007 Digital Darling winner, Ashley Colette from Visalia; to our long time favourite models; FHM Top Digital Darling Nominee, Jessica Elise from Los Banos, Sarah Figueroa from San Diego, Molly Powers of Campbell, Celeste Rodrigues of Modesto and of course, Laura Christine from LA.

This 2-days workshop was designed from the ground up catering to photographers of all levels. We had photographers who has zero studio lighting experience to photographers who brought 8+ Elinchrome lights. It was fun all around and a great mix. Every attendees in this workshop got a free 1-year Smugmug Professional Account. Thanks to Markham Bennett from Smugmug for setting this up. Really appreciate it.

Well, without getting way too deep into it, here are the slides.

Open the Slideshow in a NEW window

Models, you can find some of your images in my Lingerie Gallery and Glamour Gallery. Laura, here’s your beauty shot

- Michael Soo

Being a bride isn’t easy. You have a thousand things that you are coordinating and another thousand that you have to do yourself. As the saying goes, “If you want to get things done right, you’ll have to do it yourself.”

On top of all that work, you’ll need to select a photographer without knowing their true abilities. That’s one of the biggest reason referrals work great and higher-end bridal shows are filled to the brim. So, what are the Top Criteria to look for in your Wedding Photographer? Hopefully, this list will help you funnel down the list of photographers to a top 2-3 that you will be absolutely thrilled with.

1. Style : Your eyes tells it all. What styles are you attracted to? Is it photojournalistic (documentative by nature with well composed artistry fused within)? Traditional (posed beautifully against a backdrop of scenery of sorts)?

   Although there are some photographers who are more flexible than others, you can pin point down your style easily by just going through photographers’ website. The photographer’s portfolio will look really easy on the eyes if you really like his style. Comparison shop by viewing the images will provide a big payoff here.

2. Website : Any legitimate photographer should have a professional website that showcases his/her portfolio of imagery he/she is capable of. The website should be clean and easy to navigate. The portfolio and design of the website can clue you in on what he/she likes and his/her composition skills in photography.
3. Blog : What is more important than the website is the blog!!

   See what the photographer has been shooting every other week!! Every photographer places their absolute best work out of years of shooting in their website. But it’s the consistency in their artistry that you will only find in their weekly blog.

4. Clientele Variety : The portfolio of the photographer website should contain a variety of clients. If it contains a lot of images from the same people, you might want to research further as those may be weddings of relatives of that photographer.

   Weddings place a lot more stress on a photographer. Every moment counts. The fast paced environment do not allow the photographer to think twice about how to expose their images correctly in the technical sense.

5. Reference/Testimonials : Ask the photographer for testimonials or reference from his past clients. That will give you an excellent idea on how well he works with his clients. If people you personally know has worked with him/her before, it’s even better.
6. Engagement Sessions : Photographer who does engagement sessions will provide an excellent test-bed for you and your fiance(e) to work directly with your photographer in a casual environment before your momentous day. This will strengthen your relationship with your photographer as well as produce a larger variety of imagery in your albums.
7. Backup Equipment : Ask your photographer how many cameras will be there at the wedding. If he/she replies “one”, run away as fast as you can.

   With the digital imaging revolution, just about everyone has a $1000 digital camera and claims to be a photographer. Do not get trapped into allowing your big day to be shot by a photographer who does not have multiple cameras, multiple lenses, multiple memory cards, etc.

   I have seen weddings half ruined by photographers who dropped his camera into mud and not being able to continue shooting for the rest of the day. Do not let that happen to you.

8. Photographer #2 : Beyond backup equipment, if you are paying good bucks for the wedding, expect an option from the photographer to allow a 2nd photographer to be present.

   Providing multiple angle coverage is more important than one might think. Just by the couple turning away from the photographer to kiss, the main photographer may, within that second, lose his ability to capture the most important moment of your life.

   In addition to that, a 2nd photographer may come in handy to direct group photos to be shot smoothly, arrive to a wedding separately ensuring that if the main photographer is stuck in traffic or whatever other inevitable that may happen. Essentially, the 2nd photographer is your one time insurance coverage that pays for itself.

9. Speed is of the Essence : Find out from the photographer when will your images be available online (average timeline is a week), when will your album be designed (average timeline is a month) and when the final album can be delivered after the approval (average timeline is another 1-2 months).
10. Contract : Never do business with any wedding vendor without a clearly written contract or agreement that specify what exactly you will receive.

This will hopefully get you started on how to narrow down on your search for the photographer of your dreams. Do meet up with your photographer if you have questions. A good professional photographer will answer your questions to the best of his/her abilities in the most honest way possible.

- Michael Soo

Willie works mere minutes away from me in the big Apple HQ in Cupertino. This will give you a preequisite knowledge of where I shot Willie & Pattry’s rings… But that’s not what I’m going to write about.

Rather, it comes as a great pleasure to have Willie & Pattry be the first wedding clients to grace my new website, Wedding Impress. From now forth, all my clients will have their space for their friends and families to view their Engagement images, Wedding Album, provide Testimonials, etc. Ok, Ok, enough of my shameless plugs.

I do have to say that Willie is a heckavu cool guy. I had a load of fun shooting their engagement shoot at the Palace of Fine Art in San Francisco. The fun part isn’t just taking shots where every single one of the usual photographers has burrowed their tripods. Rather, the fun arises where we took numerous shots that no other photographers has ventured to take. That, in my opinion is the fun.

BTW Willie, despite protests from beautiful Pattry, I do think you look hellavu cool in your shades.

- Michael Soo

The most fun in a party is or event is capturing and blasting it back with music !!!

A Bat Mitzvah or a Bar Mitzvah is no different. Beyond excellent reading of the Torah, giving her personal bima speech, Kimmie, daughter of our most fearless director in Sun Microsystems, is resplendent in her white dress (and later apple green). She is the embodiment of the party itself !! Her ceremonious Bat Mitzvah was held in Temple Beth El of San Mateo, an elaborate temple with an Ark-like architecture.

The evening fun took place in San Mateo Marriott in the evening and boy, was it a party. Every detail of the party was planned 8 months well in advance and you can see how well the themes work together in the movie above.

Mazel Tov, Kimmie!!

- Michael Soo