Personal Project @ Cheers
THE CONCEPT:
Showcasing specific POV shots of food/beverage items, the person(s) I’m sharing it, and the place that we’re sharing it at. I really enjoyed compiling all these photos together. It reminded me of fond times with friends and family.
Disneyland with my sister. Boozy drink. August 2021.
I love taking photos of my food before I dig in. Maybe it’s because I think it’s beautiful as is and I want to remember it. But sometimes I actually pick up the item and take photos of it, as if I’m about to say “Cheers” to the people I’m sharing the meal with. That’s when I started to see a handful of these images start to float to the surface. They seemed to create their own series over time over good food or drink and times with people I love.
All the images started to follow the same rules:
make the food or beverage the spotlight of the photo
if possible, make the company you’re sharing it be in the background but slightly out of focus
incorporate the environment to inform where you took this photo
And that’s it. None of these shots were planned out. I was inspired to pull out my camera because I wanted to capture that moment.
World Traveler
This photos was taken while grabbing dinner with some friends in Seoul. We spent the day exploring different neighborhoods throughout the city and were starving. Somehow we ended up at this small hole-in-the-wall type KBBQ spot and honestly they had the BEST food ever there.
My friends didn’t want to be on camera so I mostly just took photos and footage of our meal with just our entire spread in the background.
I wish I could go back and eat some more. It was heavenly!
Seoul, South Korea with friends. KBBQ. September 2022.
This or That?
Sometimes I like to experiment with focal points. Like with this image of one of my all-time favorite snacks, Yan Yan!
I tend to pick this up for myself every once-in-awhile because nostalgia. And well, the backdrop was just calling me to take its photo.
I just can’t decide which one I like better. So I included both.
Making Healthy Look Trendy
I used to do an Instagram story pretty regularly of my green juice or smoothie of the day. It was a normal occurrence of me trying to be healthy.
I particularly like this photo of my green juice because of the fruit stickers on my wrist and the Cuppow as the lid for my mason jar.
I love my Cuppow. I love mason jars. And I love the chalkboard backdrop because my houseguests all contributed to that over the years.
It’s part interactive art installation. Part health PSA. 😂😂
Tres Dudes, West LA. Green Juice. January 2021.
Tres Dudes, West LA with Elaine Faye. Halo Halo. July 2021.
A Lovely Surprise
This photo is a special one because my dear friend decided to surprise me with a little treat one day. She just came home and gave me a Halo Halo from B Sweet.
If you don’t know, Halo Halo is a Filipino dessert and it’s one of my favorites. Elaine was just incredibly thoughtful that day and she gave it to me just because.
That’s her in the background, Just joyful, stylish her. I miss her kindness and company so much.
(Elaine Faye passed away in November 2022 from stage 4 breast cancer. You can watch a snipped of our friendship HERE).
Apparently it’s Real Cola
Sometimes cool bottles inspire POV shots. Like this one taken at a restaurant post-photoshoot with one of my clients. She ran to the bathroom and I took a photo of my real cola.
Next time I’ll make sure to include the company I keep in the photo instead of being all stealthy about my photo series shots. It’s more fun when you include them.
DTLA with Kristin. Empire Cola. March 2022.
Tacoma, WA with family. Makgeolli. March 2022.
Rice Wine Time
One of my favorite things about flying home to Seattle is when my family pulls out all the stops and throws a KBBQ feast at my aunt’s house!!
IT’S THE BEST EVER.
So yummy. All sorts of cuts of meat. Endless rice. Tons of ban chan. And lots of soju. Like bottles upon bottles of soju.
But here we decided to bust out the makgeolli. Gotta do it right with the bowl and all.
Classic and Cool
Verve Coffee, West Hollywood. Iced Mocha Latte.
I hardly go to coffee shops these days. But when I do, I’m very picky about where I go. It’s got to have amazing coffee, great seating, a cool aesthetic, sizable tables to work on, and outlets. YOU GOTTA HAVE OUTLETS.
Verve Coffee is one of those places. This shop is on Melrose, just on one end of a very walkable neighborhood of cute shops and boutiques before you hit really expensive stores.
I took this photo when I just decided to pop in for a drink. I’m not sure what I was doing in West Hollywood that day. Maybe going to a comedy show? Idk.