Archive for the ‘Personal’ Category

This week has been interesting for me.  Today has been all about business in that I am working to figure out how I provide better services and art for my clients.  Because service means a lot to me, I love to do is tell folks about awesome small businesses that I’ve come across that also have the desire to provide superior service. So, for this random blog post, I’ll talk about one of these businesses I’ve encountered.

So, lately I’ve been wanting to change my workouts to go from the super intense to more mellow workouts.  Years ago, I tried yoga and I actually really liked it.  I had tried it here and there, but yoga now is a lot different than it was like 10 years ago.  Also, years ago, I did it with a video.  It was crazy hard, but most of it was to work on flexibility.  This was before the world of vinyasa yoga, bikram yoga, and acro yoga had hit the main stream.  So, a yoga studio opened up in town and I decided I would check it out.  They had a great introductory deal, so, I thought I would jump in.  I was just perused their website and found this great class call Community Power Hour.  The class description reads:  ”If you are interested in starting yoga, or continuing your practice, but do not have the time or investment to commit, please join our community classes. We believe everybody should be able to practice, regardless of life’s current situation. See the difference yoga can make in your life. This is a free class, with no obligation to join.”

So, Leap Yoga is the place that I have been visiting and they are just great.  I thought it was so cool of them to offer a class that is free and gives the community a chance to experience the benefits of yoga.  It can be quite an expensive investment, but I love that it truly is a no obligation class to try out yoga.  I actually went to try out the class today!

When the class was finished, there was no obligation to join.  I just think it’s such a wonderful service they could offer!  I had a great time and the class was challenging and there were a lot of assistants around to help! I had a blast!  These folks run a great studio!  Go check them out!  :)

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I don’t know what it is lately. I’ve been thinking a lot. A lot about what I want out of life. A lot about what I saw for myself as an adult when I was a child. You got a glimpse of that in one of my recent posts. But, I have been thinking a lot recently about what I’m passionate about. Perhaps, I’ve become more of an idealist as I’ve gotten older, maybe it’s because the Olympics are upon us and it revives some of these old feelings of chasing dreams, or maybe watching some really amazing films and seeing the art that others have created has initiated thought and inspired me.

As I continue to wade through childhood memories and thoughts, I’ve come to realize a few things. You see, as a child, I was definitely more of an artist. I think I take after my mom. She performed in a traveling show as a dancer and later as a martial artist. My mother introduced me to tap dancing at 3. I later moved on to ballet and gymnastics and later some ballroom dancing. I think I’m a performer like my mother. My goals have changed some over the years, but they were always big. My mom introduced me to Shirley Temple movies and thought it would have been just so amazing to do what she did.

I also enjoyed sports. I fell in love with gymnastics at an early age. I remember watching Mary Lou Retton’s 1984 Olympic performance and thinking, “I want to do that!!” So, after a lot of coaxing and saving, I pursued my goal of becoming an elite gymnast. I fell short because I ran out of time, so I shifted goals a little. My new goal was to compete in college and I’m so fortunate I got to do that, even if for a short time. Gymnastics is definitely art. It can be just so beautiful and gorgeous to watch.

Recently, I saw this little photo up on one of my friend’s Facebook pages. It really spoke to me because I was petrified to dive into the arts. I remember taking my dad’s camcorder around the age of 8 or so and editing my own little movies and there was something really cool about creating something from your own vision. Bringing to life something you envisioned. But, here’s the thing. I never showed those videos to anyone other than my family. Being an artist is scary. Really scary. It is a very vulnerable position to be in when you put yourself out there. The experience and journey is empowering and powerful, but the moment you release that work of art that you created for others to enjoy can be very unnerving. BUT, I have to say, when I provide a piece of work to someone and it is well received. Man, nothing beats that feeling. Yes, it’s true – it’s art and subject to interpretation, but it’s nice to be appreciated and validated.

There’s something that’s just amazing about art. For me, photography is a tool, a way for someone to see what I see through my eyes. There’s no way to describe what you see. The only way to offer anyone a direct visual perspective to another person is to offer a photograph. A moment in time through the photographer’s eyes. I love when I can help someone see how beautiful they are as in glamour photography or when I get to freeze a moment in time for a family or a parent.

The posted photo above says SO MANY things to me than just a father with his daughter. This photo has an emotional component for me. It depicts a father’s RELATIONSHIP with his daughter — and we all know that a father’s relationship with his daughter is special and difficult to describe. To me, the family portrait isn’t a group of people sitting together and looking at the camera. The family portrait is capturing a moment in their lives (where they happened to have dressed a little nice possibly).

This image embedded above is another image that puts a smile on my face and really says family portrait to me.

I’m not certain what possessed me to get so personal on the blog today, but I did. Eh, oh well, now you know a little more about me, right? I suppose maybe I write these random posts to keep me going. To keep me focused on goals and to remind me to continue to find myself as an artist. I had a little dream when I was a child. It was to be an artist. To create. I believe in dreaming big – I hope that one day I could take my skill over to film and television. In time, I hope to share more of my goals, dreams, passion, and my art with you, but for right now, I’ll continue to build my dream bigger! Thanks for participating in the dream with me! Maybe next time, you’ll share your dream with me!

I have been fortunate enough to meet a wonderful woman and massage therapist. A lot of local folks have been seeing her for clinical bodywork and to help with some of the pounding we do to ourselves at the gym. Not only is she a superb massage therapist, she’s a kind soul!

I recently found out that she needs some help. After not feeling quite right for some time, she acquired medical coverage and was recently diagnosed with stage 4 gallbladder cancer. Because of the type of medical coverage she has, her health care costs are high. Since she must cover the majority her medical costs out-of-pocket, a local gym, CrossFit Folsom Lake, held a fundraiser on April 21, 2012 to help Jessica and her family with the cost of her treatments. I had the honor of going to the event and photographing it.

The fundraiser brought so many folks from the local CrossFit community together to help a special lady. Some of these folks know her well and have been healed by her warm hands and caring, some haven’t but came out to support a cause.

In attendance were the wonderful local gyms of Folsom City CrossFit, CrossFit Centurion, CrossFit Anywhere, Good Times CrossFit , and CrossFit Folsom Lake. In total, the effort of the combined gyms raised $3500!!! But we all know that the cost of health care is high and Jessica still needs help. She continues her battle with metastatic cancer, so donations are still being accepted if you are able to help. To the wonderful folks who were in attendance at the event, if you would like your high resolution photos, please contact me. I will be offering the photos for sale in an effort to contribute more the Jessica’s fund. Make a donation of any amount to the fund, and I’ll be happy to send you your photos.

For more on Jessica’s story, read this or for an update on her condition, read this. Or watch this by CrossFit Genesis:

I know the video states donations must be made by April 21st, but I did check in and donations are still being accepted.

So, in an effort to assist with the cause, I’d like to extend this out to any folks who are able to help. If you make a donation of $40 or greater, you will be entered into a drawing for a complimentary portrait session. This does not apply to previous portrait sessions, boudoir, glamour, weddings, or other events. This is for a future session only (no events, weddings, boudoir, or glamour sessions, sorry). This session can be used for a corporate headshot for up to 4 individuals, a family portrait session, engagement session, children’s portrait session (limitations apply), pet portrait session, or an individual portrait session lasting a maximum of 2 hours. The session must occur in the or Folsom, or Granite Bay area. The donation must be made after April 25, but before Saturday, May 5, 2012 to be considered. This is a short timeline, so please get your donations in ASAP! You will have until December 31, 2012 to use your session. There will only be one winner and you must submit proof that a donation was made. The winner will be randomly selected. You may e-mail me with your proof at info@victoriaflowerphoto.com. Please also feel free to e-mail me with any additional questions.

Make your donations here. Please let me know if this link is not working.

Please continue to keep Jessica in your thoughts!

When I was younger, Lunar New Year was a huge deal (it still is a big deal, but it was definitely more fun when red envelopes were involved).  I lived in San Francisco, so there was the parade to watch and parties to go to in the city.  We would all dress up and go to a huge banquet hall with our families and friends to bring in the New Year.  We also did some traditional things at home.  My dad is from mainland China and my mother from Taiwan, so our tradition was a bit of a fusion from what was customary in their respective countries.  We always had a big dinner on the eve of the lunar new year and there were always signs around the home and incense lit.  We would always clean our home before the new year so that the bad luck from the previous year was swept away and the home was prepared to accept the good luck coming in.  Traditionally, you didn’t do any cleaning on the actual new year’s day or any sweeping of floors for fear of sweeping away any good luck.  There are other traditions that my family didn’t necessarily practice, but if you’re curious, you can do some reading here.

Some of my fondest memories were of the lion dances we would see in Chinatown.  The colors are really beautiful and the lion dancers were quite athletic.  The lion dance was meant to ward off evil.  They’ll often visit business to bring good luck to them in the new year or when they have their grand opening.  I have also seen a few lion dances at Chinese weddings.  This year, there was a fun YouTube video of a lion dance (well, I think technically this might be a tiger dance).  It cracked me up!

This one is cute, but it’s a long video!

Anyway, I hope that you all have an excellent 2012 or excellent year of the dragon.  Which ever calendar you use to celebrate new year, I hope that this new year is one where you have happiness, health, and prosperity!

Okay, so, I admit.  It’s been a while since I’ve posted, but I promise, it’s for good reason.  I have been crazy busy with shoots and I didn’t want to rush any of my projects or my post!  I really wanted to give me shoots the attention they deserved.  So, I’ll be sharing some more of what I’ve done in the last few months with you in the coming posts.

Today is about starting fresh and setting new goals.  I think every year we have to reevaluate where are and see if we’re on the right track.  If we aren’t, then we have to refocus.  So, I spent today trying to see if I could produce a clearer picture of where I wanted my business to go.  I am happy with what I’ve done this past year (I’ll share, I promise).  I definitely want to take things to the next level.  So, I’ve invested – invested in more equipment (my mobile studio just got better – more lights, more light stands, and other doodads), invested in furthering my education (I will be attending more workshops, so that I may provide you with a better product and service), and invested in myself with setting boundaries with work (so that I don’t burn out).

I am also working on my goals on a more personal level.

I’ve let my fitness goals go this past year.  I have been on a bender ever since I tried that crazy diet.  I learned that I cannot deprive myself of all those things because I just don’t handle depravation well.  So, I’m resetting.  I’m going to reset my diet and my fitness.  I’ll keep things fresh and new and try things that I haven’t tried.  I’m currently taking a boxing class.  It’s rather intense and it’s not like your usual aerobic kickboxing class or anything.  I’m also continuing my CrossFit training!  The CrossFit Games Open registration begins on February 1, so if you plan on competing, get ready!!!  There were some snafus in the beginning of last year’s registration, so hopefully, this year, they’ll be ready to go!  I plan on improving my diet.  Reducing my carbohydrate intake some and eating less processed food, however, being a pesco-vegetarian, it’s hard to eliminate them all.

I will be working on my need to be a “keeper”.  My friend SG calls me a “keeper”.  I like to hang on to things.  I have a hard time throwing things away because….what if you need it????  It’s a trait I inherited from my parents.  It’s a tough one to beat.  I have been doing some purging, but in the next few days, I hope to get rid of a lot of stuff.  I recently found receipts from 1999!!!  Embarrassing, I know.  Yes, I did get rid of them.

I will be working harder, but I will be mindful of boundaries.  In the past, I would take things on with gusto and go 110%, but found that I would get burned out and would need a break.  So, I’m going to work hard, but also pace myself.

I want to be a better friend.  Over the last 5 years or so, I have not been the quality of friend that I once was.  I forgot my very dear friend’s birthday and I have forgotten the birthday’s of my friend’s children.  I used to be one of those folks who was on top of it with the cards and all that good stuff.  Ever since graduate school, I have let those things fall by the wayside.  Not okay.

I want to be a student.  Well, not in the traditional sense, because I’ve already done enough of that for now, but I want to be educated on various subjects.  I want to make sure I find time to continue to enrich my brain with things that interest me:  business, exercise science, medicine, and personal finance.

So, those are  my goals for 2012 both professionally and personally.  Make sure you have your goals etched out for the year.  If you’d like to share them, I’d love to hear about them.  I want to leave you with a photo of my friend’s dog.  She texted me this photo on New Year’s Eve.  His name is Jack and he is ready for the New Year!!!!  Isn’t he just so handsome?

I think we sometimes forget the meaning of this day.  I think a lot of us think about Black Friday and the opportunity to shop for a good bargain for our friends.  What is Thanksgiving about?  Well, I thought I would do some reflecting today, so I went to Wikipedia — hahaha, I know — reputable source. I’m not really religious, but I’m somewhat spiritual and I am a person of good standing morals and ethics.  This holiday helps me build upon my existing character by reflecting on my life and where I am today and the things I should be grateful for.  So, I try to remember these things on Thanksgiving each year.

A good friend of mine challenged me with an exercise.  She texted me this morning and asked me to tell her 3 things I was grateful for.  My response:

1. My health
2. A roof over my head
3. Good people in my life who care about me.

What about you?  What are 3 things you are grateful for?  Think about it.  If you care to share, I would love to hear your response or just take a moment and jot them down for yourself!

I hope you and your family have a happy Thanksgiving!