this Fanimecon was great! there was a lot of effort from many convention goers. costumes were done in many styles, but everything was impressive. if you haven't gone to Fanimecon before and you're a fan of cosplay or japanese animation, this is one of those on the top of the list.

we were here Fri, Sat, and part of Sunday. i could only take so much anime and cosplay. three full days was enough to satisfy my thirst. 

our company XXXmas party! sorry Patty that you didn't make it. Kerry made some gourmet dinner!!! had fun and oh yea i got an early gift! my Elinchrom Quadra came in and i used it with the softbox 20"!!! i love this light...quality light makes a difference...

so i was able to shoot another co work, Anton! meet a good friend of mine! we had some fun at work taking some photos outside. all these were done with the softbox 20" and 580exII...

really wanted to photograph something today and Patty was around. so it begins!!! i used the 20" softbox and my 580ex off camera. hand held. hands down one of the best investments to get...

so i went back home to Visalia, CA for this Thanksgiving! as always just chilled with close family and friends. had alot of turkey and other foods! loved it!

for the holiday we decided to go Monterey Bay Aquarium with our friends, Ferdinand and Rhea. we enjoyed the slight overcast weather and the great sites to go to. went by Fisherman's Wharf and ate at a great restaurant. i'll post the name up when it comes back to me LOL. just near the restaurant was held a car show off get together! after everything we took a ride down 17 mile rd near pebble beach. this is where you can take some great photos if you got some models willing to brave the chilly winds...

more tragedy in the family with my Grandfather Samuel passing away a few weeks ago. he lived a full life and had lots of family and friends to join in celebrating his life. 40 days later we all did a family reunion which is a custom in Filipino culture. i brought my new gear and took some shots of relatives i haven't seen in a long time or just haven't met yet...good times!

it's Mia's 1st birthday! she's so cute! i had a lot of fun shooting the party. very cute Hello Kitty theme! i did a HDR shot because the sun was coming through the trees and i played with the different levels for it...

first time going to HIN. all i knew was that there will be girls, girls, cars, and girls. haha! great opportunity to do some journalistic photos. i had my flash bracket with the 580ex and mini soft box attached. just eye candy mostly 

i took a trip up with my dorky lover friend Kate. we this was our 3rd year anniversary and we never been to Napa before. we enjoyed the quaint hotel and all the wine!! we also had our first air balloon ride followed by a nice champagne breakfast buffet! very nice! being up in the air floating was refreshing. we had to wake up at 5:30am but it was all worth it...

i guess it's that time of year because i did another graduation. Congrats Justin! the graduation was at their school in Sunnyvale, CA (can't remember right now the name of the place). there were a bunch of photographers with their zooms. i only had my trusty 24-70mm with me. yes i really wished i had the reach in a bigger zoom, but i moved around a bit and got the shots that counted. after the ceremony there are more shoots in the gymnasium which i used the 580ex...

this years Greek Festival was great! the foooood! i love greek food, especially gyros (yeee rows) something like that. i used to live in Crete, Greece for 3 years and i've had a weakness for Greek food ever since. went with Kate and Desiree. i brought the camera with one 580ex and available light. 

   the following day we went shopping at Santana Row in San Jose, CA. someone was craving for Pinkberry... same setup as day before. i was hoping to catch a dog get-together but missed it. we still saw some dogs though.

while attending FanimeCon this year, there was another event taking place for celebration. Desiree's Graduation! very nice ceremony at the Spartan Stadium in San Jose, CA. she told before the ceremony that she didn't like her studio graduation pictures. "what happened?" she just didn't like how they turned out, so i was down to give her some photos. here they are...

  580ex camera right, 430ex camera left, sun behind left

  available light

click this pic to see all graduation event pics