Camera of the Year 2006

Sorting through my mail today, the December issue of Popular Photography & Imaging magazine is here! Opening to page 84, I'm aweing the wonder of the Camera of the Year 2006. The Sony Alpha, sitting proudly on the damp wet moss in the mystic Muir Woods, its bright red emblem eminating from the dark recesses of the rotting trunk of a falling redwood. Golden rays from the sun carressing the foliage of the forest, giving shape to the fog that flows gently above the forest floor. The air is crisp, the wood silent. The shutter is released and flashes of light from the multiple flash units bathe the Alpha and the memory is captured in time, into the 2 pages spread of the magazine before me. It all started in early September when John Owens, the Editor-in-Chief of Popular Photography and Imaging magazine called me on my cell phone asking me to do the 2 pages spread of the "Camera of the Year 2006". I'm all excited since this is the second year I'm helping them shoot a 2-pages spread for the "Camera of the Year" article. Both, very different style than anything they have ever done before. The previous one was shot by the beach, almost submerging the prototype of the Canon EOS 5D in saltwater, literary!! What an adrenaline rush! I came up with 4 concepts for them to choose.

1. Two beautiful girls holding the Sony (easiest to do, just need to call up cute girls) ;-)
2. Sony sitting on the railings beneath the iconic Golden Gate Bridge (slightly harder since it required me to drive near to 2 hours during the golden hour)
3. The Sony sitting above the rocks by a gorgeous waterfall (quite difficult to drive near to 3 hours to the site of waterfalls. As it was summer at that time, most waterfalls were dry)
4. The Sony in a redwood forest (most painful and difficult. Had to drive 4 hours as most redwood forest in the area are sparse and finding the perfect spot for the camera can be daunting. Timing for the sunlight has to be perfect too).

Without hesitation, the devious editors and Art Director had to pick, you-know-what....sigh I'm thinking that I should limit their choices next time. LOL I spent a day or two mapping out different redwood forests in the area. There are a few such as the Big Basin, one by San Mateo, one in Oakland and obviously, the furthest from me, the Muir Woods. Known to have the most mystical look, I picked Muir Woods. I packed up my gear and ready to head out, checking to see if the super-dad of the two Super Mario siblings are interested to join me. Bryan Chang was indeed interested. Thank God too as I ended up with 5 bags of heavy loads, each weighing 30+ lbs easily. If not for Bryan, I woulda died in the woods with the wolves chewing on my delicious femur and the Sony Alpha, fallen to the hands of a thief, or worse, a lawyer.

We dragged the whole 100+ lbs of equipment from the car to the woods, searching desperately for a spot to shoot. We ran down cliffs of torn branches, restricted do-not-enter areas and muddy spots. No fun at all. Finding the right spot require a level placement for the camera, a perfect background with the right number of redwoods, good lighting in the background, correct amount of open space for light to pour through, sufficient working area. God. The list goes on. It was near impossible and definitely extremely frustrating. One really have to be both logical AND artistic to have the eye to find the perfect spot. After searching for a good hour, by sheer luck, I found it. Setting up lights around the area isn't easy either but Bryan definitely made it simple. Thank you, Bryan for the great help!! The rest is history.

- Michael Soo