Portrait: Albert Bourla

March 26, 2021 in portrait

When Business Insider asked me to take portraits of the Pfzier CEO, Albert Bourla, I immediately knew I wanted the images to be colorful and bright. I took inspiration from some GQ cover shots, Forbes and Entreprenuer magazine for this shoot. I only had 20-30 min to get the shot, so I had to plan out my lighting the night before.

SHADOW: THAIARA

March 02, 2021 in Shadow Series

Introducing a personal project called "Shadow,“ a series birthed at the beginning of the pandemic while reflecting on my own cultural trauma. I wanted to extend my story to other Asian women by sharing their experiences on the dark side of their cultures.

For my first subject, artist and model Thaiara, we wanted to explore the topic of "suppressed emotions" in Asian culture, specifically crying. Wearing her traditional Laotian outfit, Thaiara freely expressed her tears as we discussed the way our cultures have shaped us.

2 Light Self-Portrait

February 24, 2021 in beauty, self portrait

Trying to shoot a self-portrait by yourself is not easy. So I always try to keep the set-up as simple as possible and use what I have around me. Some call it being lazy. I call it being resourceful. For this self-portrait, I used 2 lights and…can you guess what my backdrop is?!

"ESPIAL" for ARTPLAY Magazine

February 03, 2021 in fashion editorial

I shot this editorial in the summer of 2020 and it is finally out in artPLAY magazine now! I am really proud of this editorial because it was a huge team effort. Everyone was prepared and had the same vision so I could really focus on trying different lighting techniques. The editorial was inspired by the artist HR Giger’s drawings of species from an Alien universe — so I really wanted to create an alien/outerspace mood through lighting alone. Here are some things I’ve discovered while shooting.

How to shoot a beauty editorial with only one light

January 11, 2021 in beauty, editorial, test shoot

I used to think I needed a ton of lights and modifiers to get a great shot. But the more I shoot, I am realizing that sometimes less is more. For this beauty test shot, I only used…drumrolls….one light! Read on to find out how!