Cline Cellar and Viansa

Every year, I take a day to drive around the bay area to visit some of the venues that I will be photographing next year. This time, Sonoma, CA.

Beautiful Cline Cellars in Sonoma. I actually forgot that I photographed here before but that was a long time ago!! I shot a wedding here for Denise and Atsushi!










Hello Viansa! One of the most beautiful wineries next to the Cline Cellar.

2010 Assistant Open House Pictures

What a wonderful and fun night we had! Each year, I open up my studio to a group of photography enthusiasts for the opportunity to work with me for the following wedding year. The pool of talent was very strong this year but I managed to narrow down to 12 of them. Of course, my 2009 assistants came and had a blast as well :)

I'd like to thank Vero for taking these wonderful images! Thanks babe!

Here is Lisa (office manager), Amanda (assistant) and Vero (associate)!






Say hi to Jason (2009 assistant)





Here is Andy (2009 assistant and soon-to-be associate)






Saying my "thank you" to everyone

Assistant Open House - 2010 Casting Call

REPOSTING since many of you asked about this.



Hello everyone! Many of you have probably heard about my annual Assistant Open House and have already expressed interest in taking part. Believe it or not! It is that time of year again! Assistant Open House is an invitation only event where I meet the many talents and select 5-10 individuals who will be helping me with my 2010 weddings.

Who is this casting call for?
This is for people who are interested in the world of wedding photography and want to start doing what you love. If you have a wedding photography business today and already shooting 5+ weddings a year, this may not be for you. This is for people who are interested in getting to know the field and want to "feel-this-out". This is a great opportunity to see and learn what you have always wanted to do.

When can I start helping and learning?
It all depends, all wedding assisting takes place in 2010. If you are invited to the open house, and after we meet, I still have to decide who will work with me next year based on experience and interest. I don't necessarily look for the most technical people. I am interested in friendly, fun and willing to learn ones. Good smiles help :)

OK, now I am interested, how do I get invited to the open house?
Here is what you need to do, please follow instructions below else I will not be able to consider your submission:

**1. Write me a short email (I mean short!!) to tell me why wedding photography is for you. What makes you different compared to other photographers? Be genuine, be creative, be yourself. Please don't send me an email to tell me what you think I want to hear. I can tell! :)

**2. Include a link to your latest people pictures. It can be from a wedding or from a shoot you recently did. I am interested in your portrait skills, so please focus the picture selection to people only!

**3. I would like you to submit a creative (I mean this!!) photograph *900 pixels wide @ 72 dpi* with you and a sign that reads "Augie Chang 2010 Casting Call". I got this great idea from my Bludomain Photographer of the Year nomination, credit to them! Don't know what I mean? take a look at what I did for Blu. This should be very creative, fun and should show who you are. I will use this photo on my blog once I select the 2010 team.

**4. Contact information, cell and email address please.

**5. Please put "Open House 2010" in the subject line

**6. Email this to: openhouse@augiechang.com

**7. Deadline for this submission is on Sunday, November 15, 2009 by 11:59pm PST (according to my clock)

Once the submission process ends, and if you are selected, you will receive an email from me with an invitation to this Assistant Open House by 11/29/2009. The event will be on a weeknight in December.

I would love to accommodate everyone, but due to the number of interested individuals, I won't be able to invite everyone. Please don't get mad at me if you are not selected. This is not personal. I just don't have the capacity to accommodate everyone.

Looking forward to receiving your submission!

Augie

PPGBA's July Four Nights

I am honored to be speaking for the Professional Photographers of the Greater Bay Area (PPGBA) in July about my contemporary children photography business. If you have not had a chance to visit my latest AUGIECHANG kids web site, take a moment to visit www.augiechang.com/kids

There will be 20 photographers from all over the bay area coming to my studio for my talk. I am excited to meet all of them!

If you have not signed up already, go sign up now! Space is limited.

REGISTRATION INFO:

Lucie Silveira - 997 Asbury Street, San Jose, CA 95126 - (408) 454-4006 LucieXYZ@gmail.com

Click here to the PPGBA page

Thrilled to be nominated for Blu's Photographer of the Year!!

UPDATE: the voting process is not going to start until July. I will let you know when this happens. I appreciate all of your support!



A few days ago, I received an email from Bludomain and asked if I can send them a fun profile picture of myself. I didn't think much of it at that time, so I sent over my latest photo from Nestldown that my assistant shot. Then last night, my friend Christine, wrote me and said "Congrats on your nomination!" ... and I was totally confused.

I finally found out what this is all about. This is a complete surprise. I am honored to be nominated as the Blu's 2009-2010 Photographer of the Year. I can't believe, and proud, to be standing next to my good friend Jen on this nomination.

Click here to the Bludomain blog post!

WPPI 2009

Heading to WPPI 2009 today. I will be checking out the latest and greatest in albums and services. I am excited to bring home some great products and perhaps services for you all this year.

More importantly :) , networking out at WPPI is absolutely phenomenon. Parties after parties and fun after fun. I am not sure that I am going to get enough sleep this week, but I know I will be seeing many great photographers that I have not seen since last WPPI.

In the meantime, Cheers!

Thi Cosmetics in Palo Alto

Today was my first baby shoot of the new year. The shoot was in Palo Alto, therefore after the shoot, I dropped by Taylor Pham's latest store, Thi Cosmetics in downtown Palo Alto. Walking into the space, the first thing I noticed was the airy and contemporary space. The overall theme of the store is vogue chic. I've known Taylor for years when we both first got into the wedding business but this was the first time I met Taylor's business partner Mimi. Mimi is just as nice and fun as Taylor. They definitely make a great team.




Taylor was in the middle of a "class".




Here is Mimi, my new friend.

Finally coming...

I have finally ordered my very own Canon 5D Mark 2 to go with my old 5D. I've waited for over a month because everywhere was out-of-stock. This camera is going to start out my 2009 wedding/portrait year with a bang! I can't wait to get my hands on this new camera because now I can seriously shoot in the dark (with ISO 25600)!! wooooo hooooo!!!

2008------------------>2009

Another year, another year older. Thanks to all of my friends, my family and my clients. May all of 2009 be a healthy and happy one!

2009 Assistant Open House

It was a successful Assistant Open House last night. The group was energetic, fun and loud! Haha. I love it. Everyone stayed til 10:30pm!! Yes!! From 6pm to 10:30pm! We talked pretty much EVERYTHING and ANYTHING. Needless to say, beer and wine were flowing too.

Thank you everyone who took the time to visit my studio for this year's assistant open house. Based on the talent I saw from last night, my 2009 assistant team is going to rock!

I also invited the talented and sexy photographer Jen Skog to my open house. Everyone of course was in-awe that she was here too! Jen is a great friend and I am sure she'll work with a few of my assistants in 2009.

(thank you Kevin and Tammy for taking the pictures for me!)



My good friend Jen.