I love commencement season. I know some find the speeches silly but each year some truly inspiring ones emerge that remind us of what the big picture is. This year Oprah will be giving our commencement speech, and I’m excited to hear what she has to say (and maybe the slight glimmer of hope that one of her new favorite things will be under my chair)

I came across this incredible commencement speech by David Foster Wallace, originally given to the 2005 graduating class at Kenyon College, but wasn’t popularized until his death three years later. It’s a powerful reminder to be conscious of the invisible, and the true meaning and value of an education

[This is Water - David Foster Wallace]

Sometimes there are lapses in my blogging because I’m not sure I have anything interesting to say. Other times, it’s because life is racing by at such a dizzying pace that I struggle to find time reply to emails, let alone reflect and write something semi-coherent.

The problem with the later situation however, is that when life gets busy, your brain is also busy. And when my head is so stuffed with ideas, it either must find expression or I go through days where the frustration is almost palpable. I file away ideas for shoots, ideas for blog entries and all sorts of adventures. But I don’t think I am the type of person who can be content with just ideas. No matter how neatly filed they are.

I am immensely enjoying law school. Immensely. I realize how crazy that makes me sound, but the feeling at times is like when I’m behind the lens. When I am fully engaged in something that feels so natural and is an extension of my interests and talents. It doesn’t mean I think I’m good at it, but much like photography, I can’t suppress the urge to learn more about it.

I came across this amazing video the other day. If you have a few minutes, it’s really worth watching. It’s beautifully shot, makes you think and in my case, it makes me dream. People are always surprised when they find out I’m a law student and a serious photographer. More often then not, they’re looking to talk me out of at least one of those fields. But to me… it makes perfect sense. Photographs exist because we want to remember. We want to remember the experiences and individuals that are important to us. When you photograph a person, it is an affirmation of their inherent worth. When I photograph, I champion a cause. An individual. The value of their voice and story. It is the same passion that drives my interest in advocacy and law.

Projects like this, remind me that life is too short to do anything that you don’t love so much it hurts. Sometimes that means going to the frontiers with a camera. And sometimes it means being stubborn enough to insist that it’s possible to reconcile a dichotomy such as law and photography. :)

I came across this great project called Help Portrait recently through Chase Jarvis’ twitter and thought I would share it with my fellow photographers.

Photography has become one of my life’s biggest passions. In my travels, it is a tool that I use to capture stories, but it’s also become a means of bridging language and cultural divides, and a way to give a voice to someone on a totally different platform. I am constantly amazed by the transformation that happens with a subject in front of a lens, and marvel at the stories that unfold because I stopped to take a second look at someone. I’m not idealistically saying that photography alone can change the world. But I think it’s important to use whatever gifts we have to make a difference.

I hope this inspires you. :)

I had the pleasure of photographing the Fu family in Hong Kong recently, and it was a blast. The girls decided to do something different for their mom’s birthday by giving her this photo session. There are few ways to celebrate the life of a mother, than to create amazing images together. But hey, that’s me.. :)

I’ve put together a slideshow of their images below. Enjoy!

I can’t say how excited I am to be able to finally present this from start to finish: The Cameron Family slideshow!!

A few weeks earlier, I had a fantastic shoot with the amazing Cameron Clan, and I’ve been working over-time to pull this together as quickly as possible. That meant a lot of caffeine, lots of cramming new programs both into my hard drive and brain, and the assistance of a very understanding brother who was visiting HK.

Now without further ado:

hooray!!