Archive for the ‘Events’ Category

Thanksgiving is tomorrow! Wow time flies and I mean that literally. Halloween felt like it was just yesterday and I can’t believe that tomorrow is actually Thanksgiving! I’ve been having dreams of fried turkey, oven roasted turkey, turkey breast, turkey wings, turkey legs, turkey stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potato pie, candied yams, cranberry this, cranberry that, pretty much everything that you can imagine at a Thanksgiving dinner for the last few days. Oh and best of all, I get to chow down on at least two separate turkeys, one fried and one roasted, plus all the fixings you can think of since we’ve been invited to two separate dinners tomorrow!

Anyways, that’s enough talk about food for now. I promised some photos from Khmer Arts Academy’s opening performance for Dengue Fever’s opening show almost a month ago and I’m now finally getting around to posting them up. You’ll probably notice that I don’t have any photos from Dengue Fever’s actual performance and you’ll probably wonder why. The answer to that is pretty simple as the Halloween party we were planning to attend literally started right after KAA’s opening dance ended. Since the party was down in Long Beach near the Queen Mary and we were all the way up north in Santa Monica we didn’t get the chance to stick around and watch the show even though we really wanted to. Oh well, that’s how life goes sometimes. Anyways on with the show and on with the photos. Enjoy!

















Oh and before you go. If you would like to see the rest of the photos from the performance you can find them at my online gallery here.

Every year, the National Endowment for the Arts awards a one-time-only National Heritage Fellowships for master folk and traditional artists. The fellowships recognize the recipients’ artistic excellence in an effort to support their continuing contributions to our nation’s traditional arts heritage. One of the recipients this year was Sophiline Cheam Shapiro, a Cambodian Classical Dancer and Choreographer from Long Beach, California. You can visit Sophiline’s profile here at the National Endowment for the Arts website for more information about the Fellowships and her contributions towards preserving Cambodian Classical Dance for the future generations.

Now, Sophiline also happens to be Julie’s dance instructor and when she found out that they were asked to perform at the Fellowship Concert, I instantly knew that I wanted to be there to cover it. Fortunately I was given the okay to do so by John Shapiro, Sophiline’s husband, and before I knew it September 24th rolled around and I was winging my way east to Washington, DC for this special occasion. I can honestly say that it was an honor to see Sophiline Cheam Shapiro perform in person at such a special event and I will be forever grateful to have seen it.

Anyways, on to the photos. As you’ll see, I’m only posting the photos from Sophiline and Khmer Arts’ performance of “Shadow” during the concert here on my blog. The rest of the photos from the entire concert will be available at my online at my client print gallery here at the NEA Heritage Fellowships Concert Gallery. And as always, enjoy!

Event: National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowships Concert
Date: September 24, 2009
Venue: The Music Center at Strathmore
Location: North Bethesda, Maryland

Just this last weekend two very close friends of mine tied the knot and I had the honor of not only being a part of the wedding but I also had the distinct pleasure of shooting it as well! Now while I’m sure it’s not a first for someone to be part of a wedding as well as photographing it, I was asked to cover Tean and Chanda’s shortened traditional Cambodian Ceremony on Friday morning before participating as one of the groomsmen during the Western Ceremony on Saturday. And while this was not my first time as a Cambodian Wedding Photographer it was definitely a first for me to shoot a wedding and then participate in it!

Now before I jump ahead to the photos, I want to extend my heartfelt congratulations to Tean and Chanda as I am truly happy for them. Over the last 9 years that I’ve known Tean and Chanda they’ve been some of my closes friends who have always been there for me when I have needed them. And while I can tell you that words can’t describe what that truly means to me, I can tell you they have showed me what the true meaning of what friendship really is. And for that, I am truly thankful. Thanks guys.

To love, friendship and a long healthy life together. Congratulations once again Tean and Chanda! I hope you enjoy your photos!