So as anyone in Denver knows, the weather in Denver can turn real funny in a hurry. The day of Dina and John’s engagement session was no exception as the weather really did a funky number on us as far as the temperature goes. The day started off pretty warm which led us all to believe that we were probably going to roast for the rest of the day only to be surprised when the temperatures turned mild as a nice high overcast cloud layer rolled in. That didn’t last long though as the winds picked up and the temperatures dropped from a warm 75 to a chilly 50 degrees when we arrived at our next location in the foothills of the Rockies. Fortunately for me though, the weather couldn’t stop Dina and John from toughing it out and finishing the last few shots we were trying to create.

But that’s enough from me, I’ll stop talking so that everyone else can enjoy the photos. Congratulations guys and I can’t wait to cover your wedding next year. Enjoy!

Fast forward 7 years and now it’s Paul, Daniel and Fornia’s turn to do the same as graduates of Cal State Long Beach’s Class of 2010. Since all three are hard working members of Cal State Long Beach’s Cambodian Student Society and are good friends of mine we made arrangements for a quick fun shoot just prior to their own graduation ceremonies later this week. I know that all three of them have worked hard to reach this final step in their collegiate careers so I just wanted to pass along this piece of advice as they graduate into today’s uncertain times: no matter how bleak things may look, never give up on your dreams because few of us rarely achieve them overnight. We all need a little bit, or for some a lot of luck at times but as long as you keep your heads up and as long as you keep on trying you’ll put yourself in the right position to take advantage of the luck that’s needed to reach your dreams when it does come knocking on your door.

So with that in mind guys, congratulations on your huge achievement, good luck, reach for the stars and I wish you only the best with your next journey in life.

Traditionally the New Year is celebrated with blessings that involve wiping powder on peoples faces and water fights while the hard working farmers take a moment to enjoy the fruits of their harvest and relax before the rainy season begins. Now as you can imagine, the celebrations are quite a bit different here in the States and abroad than they are in Cambodia but the partying is still there nonetheless. Here in Long Beach, the celebrations started with the 6th Annual Cambodian New Year Parade which took place on April 4th followed by the annual New Year Celebration at El Dorado Park on the 10th. Now normally I would have been out there documenting the celebrations with my camera, but this year I told myself to just simply enjoy the party instead of taking photos of everyone else enjoying it. But with that said, I couldn’t stop myself from snapping a few photos so here are some shots from the New Years Parade and a few more from KAA’s performance at El Dorado Park. Enjoy!

And as always, you can find the rest of the photos from KAA’s performance at SOJOURN FOTO’s Online Gallery.

Oh and before you go, be sure to visit my gallery here for the rest of the photos from the Culture Show!

At Sojourn Foto, we are proud to offer a variety of high quality Flush Mount Albums from Leather Craftsmen. From Classic Leather to Japanese Silk, each and every one of our albums is designed in house and our clients can choose from many different sizes and styles. Since no wedding is ever the same, neither are our albums. For that reason, Sojourn Foto’s albums are classic, elegant and timeless.

And if you’d like to see the rest of the photos from Expulsion, you can find them here!

“Expulsion”, a new work from Heidi Duckler and Collage Dance Theatre will activate a vacant lot in Cambodia Town. Based on the themes of immigration and displacement, this cross-disciplinary site performance will explore the temporary, often fragile nature of “home.”

So I don’t want to spoil it for you but it’s definitely going to be something new and different if you’re expecting a traditional performance from KAA. Part of the collaboration between the Collage Dance Theatre and KAA was meant to push both groups to their creative boundaries as both groups had to be able to adapt to and create a new performance to fit not only fit the theme of Expulsion, but location and setting as well. So while you’ll probably recognize a lot of what’s taken from traditional Classical Cambodian Dance, this performance features new choreography that was created exclusively for Expulsion. I should also say that the new dance combined with the acrobatic performance of the Collage Dance Theatre should definitely keep you entertained. But that’s enough for me, on to the photos!

Anyways I hope you enjoyed that little sneak peak. If you want to see the rest of the performance in full you’ll have to show up to that nondescript vacant dirt lot on either March 19th or March 20th at 6 pm. For more information about Expulsion or the Collage Dance Theatre you can visit their site here or just take a look below.

Date: March 19th and 20th, 2011.
Time: 6:00 pm.
Location: 1546 E. Anaheim Street, Long Beach, CA 90813. At the intersection of Anaheim and Walnut across from Mark Twain Library.

I remember back when I was about 10 years old and I was out and about playing with some of the neighborhood kids when one of them suddenly started laughing at something and pointed over at a parked car. I couldn’t figure out, for the life of me, what was so funny until the kid finally told me to read the car’s license plate. Well we were standing about 40 ft away and I remember how I looked over and saw nothing but blurriness and asked what was on the license plate. The kid stopped laughing right away with this look of disbelief on his face before realizing that I was serious and that I could NOT see the license plate that he was laughing at. My life would change forever from that moment on as I realized that I did not have to see the world in the blurry fog that I had always seen it in.

Fast forward to February 24, 2010. I am flat on my back with my hands crossed across my chest trying to remain as still as possible as Dr. Pham is working on the creation of the corneal flap on my right eye using a state of the art Intralase Laser. The Intralase Laser is one of the latest and greatest in Lasik Technology as it uses a laser to create the corneal flap vs the old method of using an actual blade. I can only feel a slight pressure with my right eye during the creation of the corneal flap as I try my best to focus on a big red x with my left eye. I was told earlier by Dr. Pham that this is one of the most important parts of the surgery and that I have to remain as still as possible so that they can get a good flap which is crucial to the success of my operation. Knowing that, I begin to realize that although I had no qualms and was not one bit nervous about coming in for this operation prior to this moment, I start becoming nervous because I am now worrying about being nervous and screwing up by moving during the creation of the corneal flap! I kind of had an epiphany at moment and told myself to shut it and calm down because I had been through a lot worse than this. From that moment on it was nothing but calm as Dr. Pham told me that the creation of the corneal flap with my right eye is now complete and that it was time to do the same with the left.

Everything is a blur now and all I can really see out of my left eye is a flashing red light accompanied by the dit-dit-dat sound of the laser that I am supposed to stare at. My left eye sucks. Literally, it’s twice as bad as my right eye so Dr. Pham told me that it would take twice the amount of work as my right eye which means the procedure is twice as long as the right. But that’s only 60 seconds long fortunately and it’s over in a flash. The only funny thing I notice about that part of the procedure was the burning smell about 3/4th’s of the way through it. I was told of this earlier of course and was told that the smell was from the gases emitted by the laser. Though I can honestly say that while I was going through the procedure, I figured that the smell was coming mainly from my eyes being “burned” by the laser vs the gases being emitted by the laser itself. Then again, maybe that’s what they meant in a round a bout kind of way.

The rest of the surgery was a breeze. Dr. Pham spent the next minute or so smoothing out the flap over my left eye just as he had done with my right eye earlier. I couldn’t believe it but I could see better right away, even though I felt like I was underwater and swimming my way around the office. The next few minutes were spent with Dr. Pham as he took another look at my eyes to verify that all went right with the surgery and gave me my post op instructions as one of the nurses placed some funny looking goggles over my eyes so that I wouldn’t accidentally rub them as I slept the next 4 nights. And that was it. I couldn’t believe it as I walked out the door but I knew that once again, my life would be changed forever.

Fast forward again, to roughly a week later on March 5th, 2010. I had already had one post op appointment with Dr. Pham the morning after my surgery to double check once again that everything went well with my surgery and to check my vision. My right eye was at 20/15 the very next morning and my left at 20/20 while the only side effect was some dryness in both eyes which was normal. After a week of multiple eye drops, multiple times a day, Dr. Pham is just performing another set of checks to make sure that all is still well with my eyes. Since my last post op appointment, my left eye has improved dramatically. Dr. Pham had advised me that it would take longer for the vision to improve with my left eye compared to my right eye simply because it required more work and thus, more time to heal. And while my right eye was at 20/15 the morning after, I had been seeing double and had some trouble seeing as clearly with the left at times. Now a week later, my vision out of my left eye is almost as sharp as my vision out of my right and it should only get better as time goes on. It’s simply amazing.

My surgeon for my Lasik procedure was Tony H. Pham, M.D. from the Orange County LASIK Institute. I can’t say enough good things about Dr. Pham. From the minute I walked into his office for a consultation to the minute I walked out of his office just a day ago I’ve been treated by Dr. Pham and his staff as if I were family. I never once felt pressured by Dr. Pham or anyone in his office to go through with the surgery and I never once felt pressured to choose the Custom iLasik procedure that I went through vs the regular iLasik procedure which was a considerably cheaper option. I consider my eyes to be the life of my career, and they literally are, so while I had a budget and had saved up for this moment for a very long time, I didn’t want to go cheap when my eyes were on the line. I can honestly say that without a doubt, if you’re in the Southern California area and are thinking of going through Lasik surgery, give Dr. Pham’s office a call and schedule an appointment. You won’t regret it!

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