A Victory at Trader Vic's

Trader Vic's is a wonderful Polynesian-themed restaurant that has locations worldwide. The founder of the chain, Victor Bergeron Jr, is reputed to have invented the notorious Mai Tai around the time of World War II (yes, this restaurant chain has been around a LONG time).

As you'll see from this collection of photographs, what the restaurant needed from me, a food photographer, was pictorial representation of a number of its menu items for use at international locations to standardize the look of their food. And with restaurants in locations ranging from Palo Alto to Los Angeles to Atlanta to Abu Dhabi to Beirut to Berlin to Tokyo…and the list goes on, you can see how the customary local cuisine presentations might vary and would benefit from these photos!

(Click on an image, then use your RIGHT and LEFT arrow keys to go through all of them)

As we all know, kids and animals are the traditional bugaboos for photographers. At Trader Vic's in Palo Alto, I discovered a third problem model: the lowly sterno. As I mentally prepared my blog before this shoot, the titles "Mai Tai, Oh, My" or "Oh, My, Mai Tai" were rolling around in my head. However, this next picture—which took nearly FOUR HOURS to shoot—changed all that.

This photograph contains many elements that are typically a challenge to get right. Reflective containers dare not reflect the camera gear, for one. The beverage ice cubes in the Mai Tai at the front had to be frozen and the mint had to look refreshing to the eye. Minutiae required attention…burning faux grill marks on the skewers, for example. Food stylist, Randy Mon and I had our hands and eyes full indeed.

But I'll cut to the chase. The dancing flame over the little silver kettle took the most time of all, and it became a head game between us and the can of sterno. Everything would be set: lighting, ice cubes, Blue Hawaiian, skewers…and the sterno would die down. Reset. Sterno wouldn't flame well. Reset.

I think you get the idea. It was either the sterno, or us. And a picture tells a thousand words. Michael+team: 1; Sterno: 0!!

— Michael Soo

My Billboard in Stanford Shopping Center

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

Yi Ching & John's Wedding, Palo Alto, California

"I am booked on 8/18 with a Bat Mitzvah", I told Yi Ching, the bride.

"I can't shoot your wedding," I continued.

But she insisted on having me, even for a mere few hours of the ceremony.

Yi Ching already had an engagement shoot back in Taiwan but after seeing my work in Cypress Hotel, Cupertino, I think we were just meant to work together. It was fate, what's meant to be! She is an artistic graphics designer and she seemed to know what she wanted. What the bride says, what the bride gets. ;-)

The only issue is that I needed an assistant badly because most churches has severe restrictions on photography and boy, was I right. Patty, the director of First Methodist Church in Palo Alto listed the things I can't do. I was not allowed anywhere nearer to the bride & groom when the ceremony starts. I was, however, allowed another photographer behind the choir benches. He/she, must not even flinch during the ceremony. No flashes either. The list goes on.

Yi Ching got the wedding dress from Taiwan. Very unique and different. Lots of sparklies that got me interested to take a closeup. She was having a sweet conversation about the ceremony with her mom when I shot this.