Head Shots: Thi Nguyen

Yesterday my dear friend Thi and I decided to have a photo shoot. As an L.A. based actress our goal was to capture 5 new looks in a one day shoot. A little ambitious perhaps but luckily for us this was not our first time prepping for a photo project. You can find more information about Thi here: http://msthinguyen.com/

 

Working and helping your friends accomplish their goals is a gift in itself. No one can accomplish large projects by themselves. This shoot was the second and we both observed our personal growth as a model and as a photographer. We completed our shoot within a more efficient time frame and larger variety of looks.

One particular memorable moment was on on third look - "hipster look". At first I began art directing Thi. I would communicate to her how she was photographing. "Your chin is a bit to high" or "can you turn your body more?" I would say with the additional "Be sure to relax and shake out you body." The point is to make your model feel comfortable and let them know how they come across in a shot.

After 5 mins of directing we stopped talking to each other. This is what I call flowing. Flowing is when you give your model the permission to get into their characters and the photographer becomes invisible. Thi got to do what she does best which is act and I basically follow her lead. Once I felt she was in the right pose I would snap and then so on and so forth. In my opinion the best images are always the candid ones. If you allow people to be natural and play your images will capture with that authentic energy.

As someone who personally take photos almost every day with instagram. I admit that the best way to become a strong photographer is to do what Annie Leibovitz says "Take a ton of photos, know how to edit and it's about the story/series." You can find her interview here.
http://www.theverge.com/photography/2011/11/17/2569568/annie-leibovitz-iphone-4s-camera-brian-williams




Here are some of my favorite shots from the shoot. I hope you enjoy them.

Thi Nguyen - Los Angeles Actress 
Shot #1: Hipster/Artists Look

Before

After

Color Correction - Use your Curves RGB palette in Photoshop. It give you more control than Color Correction in Adjustments. Make sure you are using RGB for web and CMYK for print. 

Shot #2: Sport/Athletic Look

Actress/Model: Thi Nguyen
Wardrobe Styling, Hair and Makeup, Photographer/ Art Direction and Edits: Krista Turner
Special Thanks to: Jaemin Yi http://jaeminyi.com/ and the overcast Venice, California Weather.

Paper Goods and Window Displays

Summer being right around the corner I'm inspired by all of the blooming flowers.
To celebrate the season change I created a few new floral pieces to bid winter adieu! 

Salon NESOU in Santa Monica is one of the leading taste makers in hair and fashion industry on the westside. Between their involvement with updated trends and advance educational courses, no wonder their staff participates in events like NewYork Fashion Week and other LA red carpeted events.

More importantly NESOU is an environment filled with an engaging group of artistic individuals who simply put adore what they do. The goal here is to guide individuals to play and discover a look that reflects the way they feel on the inside. NESOU is a community of laid back fashion forward artists. Here is the website to NESOU. I redesigned their website and took majority of all of the photography. http://nesou.com/

CONCEPT: My goal was to create a tagline that reflected the salon's aesthetic and the season. "NESOU Loves Santa Monica." A short and sweet sentence that gets to the point that the city is not only NESOU home but the staff here helps to creates that culture. With Spring and Summer being one of the dominant seasons for weddings, the window display had to reflect those values of togetherness and rebirth. Essentially the display is a romantic picture frame or wedding invitation. I designed a 3D floral frame made 100% out of paper. To give the appearance that the frame is floating I used 5 invisible fishing lines. With the remaining flowers I staggered them in the far left window to give the display a more cohesive look.

After I designed the display I assembled a team of five stylists to help execute the production of this piece.Special thanks to: Marcus Hoey, Katie Chandler, Lawrence Gonzales, Jessica Lyu and Taylor Hood.

DETAILS: 8ft x 5 ft  / paper window display

Brainstorming Back to Basics: Stationery Project 101

This year I am going to be launching my own stationery line!
Big news right?! I couldn't be more happy to announce this exciting news to the world.
I have assembled my team of friends, supporters, mentors, and my courage.

Even though most of the work is done. In terms of marketing and branding I still feel light years away from completion. I spoke with my dear friend Danielle over at TALLWORKS today and she said beginning at the basics is the best way to start fresh.

Today I am working on a new name and playing around with the feel and look of my personal aesthetic. Here are some mood boards that I worked on today to grasp inspiration.

When I begin any creative process I would say mood boards and bubble graphs are a great way to cultivate new ideas. I also agree with Danielle by trying to be as specific as possible and avoiding words like "good" or "cool" the less specific the more you tend to remain in limbo.

[Support the Artists of the World]

Reference Photo Credit to:

Jon Contino - http://joncontino.com/

 LuvAj - http://www.luvaj.com/

Hello!Lucky - http://www.hellolucky.com/

Max Wagner - http://maxwanger.com/

Christina Winklemann - http://christinawinkelmann.com/

 Mylan Nguyen - http://www.mylanski.blogspot.com/

Ken Garduno - http://www.kengarduno.com/

kristatomic - http://blog.krisatomic.com/

Crooks and Castles - http://crooksncastles.com/

the hill-side - http://www.thehill-side.com/lookbooks/ss-2013 

papersource - http://www.paper-source.com/

Portfolio 2013

I have recently revamped my portfolio for 2013.

Here are some images of my new and improved portfolio.

Portfolio is a 24 pages book printed dual sided binded together using a two valley fold and an inside pamphlet stich. 

LOVE

Threadless Love Submission 

I revamped a design/illustrations of mine to fit the love theme for Threadless' LOVE contest. Threadless Love Submission 

Catch and Release

I had my first solo show ever. On Saturday Nov 27th 2010 was the reception and I entitled the show "Catch and Release" at the Karman Orange Gallery Santa Ana, CA 

***Press Release: http://www.karmanorange.com/2010/11/catch-and-release.html

**Flickr:http://www.flickr.com/photos/49253639@N06/sets/72157625507631312/with/5224199462/

 

True Affection Floats 1 

True Affection Floats 2

Cast Away 1

Cast Away 2

Catch and Release was inspired by the ideas of casual relationships/flings. 
The images evironment take place at a lake. Water is a sense of purity and a lake is one of those rare bodies of water that is placid and just filthy. The images are ment to work together and as seperates. Together each piece has an equal (ying and a yang)  but each character plays on the idea of isolation so with space and placement the meaning changes. 

Special Thanks to John Lai, Phillip Woo and all my friends who either helped to set up or just to enjoy the show. 

Fountain Side Arts

I branded a logo and business card for Fountain Side Arts a small up and coming gallery in Fountain Hills Arizona. Learning how to educate and encourage clients to be more cautious and intentional with their choices is always interesting.

I think teaching in a way always make me a better designer because you have to explain why you choose is successful. Expressing your thoughts out loud always helps me understand my decisions better. Special thanks to Taryn Hiroshima. Thanks for all of your lovely advice.

Final Picks

Some illustrative logo explorations

A worthy exploration
Some logo explorations