Portrait session with Kate Taffel

I had a fun session with Kate Sunday afternoon. I have been wanting to make some black and white photographs and she’s a perfect subject… such beautiful contour of face, lines, shape… all lovely. We also had some intimate photos but sorry cannot show those to you…

There’s inner self in these photographs… a person can be very black and white, in and out, simple yet in great depth, with rich texture and shades…

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Bic & Henry – Engagement session | Golden Gate park

It was such a fun session with Bic and Henry! I try not to suggest locations for engagement sessions anymore as I wanted to try new locations, and Bic and Henry absolutely surprised me… loved it.  

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And this shot was getting a little bit Titanic… bh02bh03bh04bh05bh06bh07bh08bh09bh10bh11bh12bh13

Vegas, Vegas | Monica & Joe

WPPI was amazing, so were Monica and Joe. I first worked with Monica Joe in early 2007 for a boudoir session, later of that year they got married… I so looked forward to seeing Monica and Joe. The session was done all indoor in MGM and Wynn’s Hotel, too bad we didn’t have enough time for an outdoor shoot … oh well, maybe the next year!

Sexy! Look at them…

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Ted Gurney Portrait Award – PPGBA Portrait of the Year Award

It’s this time of each year for PPGBA to hold their annual award celebration, and it was a great surprise that my name appears to the Ted Gurney Portrait Award – it’s daunting and mysterious, until I had it in my hands, I still could not believe it…

On the plate, it says:
GIVEN IN PERPETUITY BY THE PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS OF THE GREATER BAY AREA. IN MEMORY OF TED GURNEY MASTER OF PHOTOGRAPHY TO THE CREATOR OF PORTRAIT OF THE YEAR.

I will keep it for one year, until the next award winner takes it over, then “Jasmine Wang” will be engraved to the plate as winner of 2008.

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Paulette Dance Studio

This album took much longer than I thought, though really turned out right… here are some of the spreads…

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Paul loves Marie | The Sweetest Loving couple | Engagement session |San Francisco

We first went to Legion of Honor for the e session as it was Paul and Marie’s first date location, then Deyoung Museum – where the second date was… “As you can see, we were quite into museums!” I looked at Paul; he had his eyes on Marie with a big smile and so much love written on his face. I said, “That was impressive! I have to make sure only date guys who would take me to the museums…!”

We then went to Japanese Tea Garden right nearby and then ran to Cliff House for the breathtaking sunset on the beach… I was truly thankful to have the opportunity to see such beautiful scene…

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Kay & Mike | Engagement Session, San Francisco

 

Kay and Mike are soon getting married! They have been waiting for the “perfect weather” for the engagement session in the past 5 months. “The perfect weather” might not really exist – we figured when we get the perfect photos, the day would be just perfect.

How many of us are perfect? My dear friends, when we have to seriously count our flaws, the list can be pretty long… One can say being truly lucky to be able to find the right person in a life time. The right one is the perfect one – that’s what Kay and Mike have found in each other, the “perfect one” ….

Kay and Mike and getting married at Trinity Episcopal San Francisco and the reception will be at Legendary Palace in Oakland. 

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Happy New Year of 2009!

Dear friends,

In the year of 2009, we are going to continue to prove that our hard work will bring harvest, and all things are possible – we need to fight for it.

Are you ready for change? Change has happened in the year of 2008, and there will be more in 2009 – it requires us to be courageous, hopeful, responsible, and most importantly, to be able to love and forgive.

Happy New Year to you, my beloved friends!
Jasmine

Photos were taken at Hornblower cuise on the famous San Francisco Belle. New year's eve 2009, San Francisco. Photo by Jasmine WangFireworks at city of San Francisco, new years eve 2009Bay Bridge, new year's eve 2009Golden Gate Bridge, New Year's eve 2009

Marcela & Chris – St. Patrick’s church, Westin St. Francis San Francisco | 11.22.2008

Marcela and Chris traveled from Portland, Oregon to get married in the beautiful Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. It was an intimate and fun wedding. The ceremony was at St. Patrick’s church. They are such a non-traditional couple and didn’t want any “getting ready” or formal photos, cake cutting or bouquet toss… it was foggy later in the afternoon when we got to the 32nd floor in St. Francis but the room was still surrounded with a beautiful night view of the skyline of San Francisco… Both of them work at Westin Oregon and when I got the ring shot with “The Westin St. Francis” it was so special to them…

Lorraine and Rick – Our destination wedding in San Diego – Immaculata USD & Loews Coronado Bay resort 11.15.2008

Immaculata USD | Loews Coronado

In the middle of November, it was over 80 Fahrenheit in San Diego- Bride’s family flew from Ireland and I flew from San Francisco for Lorraine and Rick’s wedding. I attended their rehearsal dinner at The Field, an Irish pub in downtown San Diego Gaslamp area. And of course there was mariachi at the wedding. check links . Ah- what could I say – it simply could not be more perfect!

Click here to view slideshow.

 

San Francisco Halloween 2008

This year’s Halloween party was the one of the creepiest I have seen and ooooh I had so much fun! It was hosted at wellknown painter Jennybird‘s house at the west side of San Francisco. Mostly Burning Man artists hang out at the party and needless to say, it could go pretty wild. Some of the best costumes i have seen. Awesome!

Cheng & Xin – San Francisco City Hall Wedding |10.23.2008

Dear Cheng and Xin,

Congratulations to you, and welcome to San Francisco! You put so much effort to plan this trip and this special day. You asked me for opinions of the bouquet, veil and color of xin’s tie… everything turned out amazingly simple, elegant and special. It was such a beautiful day; I hope the good weather here in the bay area helped to end your trip on a good note.

I witnessed you went to the city hall early in the morning, exchanged vows and the moment of “you may kiss the bride” – in a sense, I was the third witness. I drove around the city and showed you many of my favorite places; we laughed, joked around and had good photos… you tried hard to make me skip my meeting that evening and took me out for dinner. After we all sat down, I realized that we were going to have your “wedding banquet” together… the three of us… THANKS for letting me spend all the special moments with you!

You worked so hard even on your wedding day; your cell phone did not stop ringing. We caught great photos in between of your phone calls from work. Good luck on your career too, new graduates from Duke! You are going to have a bright future. starting from Manhattan, New York, is only the beginning of your life journey. There’s much more yet to come.

Best wishes to both of you!
Much Love,
Jasmine

Click here to view slideshow.

San Francisco City Hall Wedding.

I Love You, until the end of time…Come What May – Teresa & Ted wedding at Palace Hotel San Francisco |10.18.2008

Palace Hotel Wedding San Francisco.

My dearest friends Ted and Teresa, I still remember the day you came to my studio – it was a pleasant meeting, you loved my art work in my studio and we shared the same taste for music. After that you told me: “we stopped looking after meeting with you – we were confident that we could not find anyone better than you!”

Thank you for letting me spend this beautiful special day with you. It could not have been more perfect. Eight months of hard work, I know, it wasn’t too much time for you to put everything together. Right before your wedding day, you drove all the way from LA, met with all the folks came from afar, still managed to find time to take me out for dinner – I know you must be exhausted. you made this day so beautiful and memorable to family, friends, and us who were also part of your big day.

At the end of the day, I found this letter from you:
Jasmine, Thanks! Thanks! Thanks! We can’t tell you enough how much we love our work and especially, love working with you! We are so lucky to have you as our photographer and I can’t imagine having anyone else. We definitely will be in touch even after all the wedding photos are done. Thank you sooooo much for everything! Teresa & Ted

Best wishes for you, Teresa & Ted! I signed on the very guest book I made for you – hoping this, and all the wedding photos I captured will help to keep all the beautiful memories for you.

Click here to view slideshow.

Ann Arbor Michigan – Meghan and Rich’s U of M Engagement session

I was fortunate to have lived in Ann Arbor Michigan for a couple of years before living in San Francisco Bay area. It was Ann Arbor where I went to see the concerts from world famous musicians, independent movies, and continued my opera singing practice by being a part of Handel’s Messiah each year.  It was a nostalgic trip that brought back fond memories of this charming town.

Meghan and Rich are getting married in the Matthaei Botanical Garden of University of Michigan and reception is at St. John’s Hotel.


University of Michigan Law School


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Cutie Ellen

I had the honor photographing Ellen’s mom and Dad, Wei and Paul’s wedding last year September. Soon enough, Ellen came to the family! I was so delighted to meet Ellen and what a cutie she is!

From San Francisco to Seattle – Michael & Sergio

Michael and Sergio became one of my favorite couples the first time I heard their story. In the past 13 years, from San Francisco bay area to Seattle, they have always been there for each other. Sergio told me: “when I was in bed fighting with Leukemia, I reached out for his hands – I was so happy to have him close to me.” It has been 13 years! Finally, they are getting married… Congratulations, Michael and Sergio!

The next day while I was in Seattle, I was invited to Michael and Sergio’s new house. It was such a beautiful house! On the top floor, we all sat there in awe, admiring the Seattle skyline at night, so beautiful… Sergio told me: “Jasmine, you are an angel with 2 wings”…They made me promise the next time I’m in town I have to stay in their house…

Hey you! – When Ted met Teresa…

When Ted met Teresa, he looked in a bad shape: ”hi Teresa, nice to meet you, may I use your bathroom?” That was after an hour long frustration waiting at the airport for each other at the wrong terminals.

Fun, fun, fun! That was how this session went. By the time we went to the last location – San Francisco MOMA and Yerba Buena Center, it was dark. Time flies! While Ted was talking about Man Ray, I was raving about Richard Avedon and Irving Penn; and poor Teresa was listening to our “bullshit artist talk” and driving us to the beach. Oh we also talked about the famous pastry…

The next day morning, Ted and Teresa showed up at my door again, with the pastry in their hands  – they got breakfast for me! “We just found an excuse to see you again” …That was the sweetest thing ever! Later in the afternoon, they flew back to LA, where they work and live, but we have set up a “date” to meet again soon.

Ted and Teresa are getting married at Palace Hotel San Francisco, Oct 18th, 2008.

PS: now they are married in the beautiful Palace Hotel! Click here to see the wedding day photo post …

 

OPERA, FEAST AND TEARS – A Country Funeral In China

Just so you know, I have not only photographed weddings, but also funerals. 🙂 This story is a little bit different, read on… It was published on a British magazine China Review. Here I post it to share with you. A little story behind the story: I stayed 3 days in the little village to get enough photographs for this photo story, where there were no proper restrooms and heating system in the middle of winter… The entire village fell  asleep right after it got dark. I pretty much stayed in the traditional Chinese heated bed most of time when I was not photographing… Renqiu, is about 200 kilometers from Beijing.

OPERA, FEAST AND TEARS

EARLY IN THE MORNING of December 3rd, 2006, the high pitched sound of Chinese Suo Na music floats out towards the main gate of Junzhuang village marking the beginning of 75 year old Zhang Mou’s funeral celebration.

Typical of funeral celebrations in villages throughout northern China, the hundred plus members of Zhang’s family enter the village square at day break dressed in the long, flowing white robes peasants have worn to funerals since China’s pre-history. As the family members gather, an opera troupe from a nearby township begins to play a classical Beijing opera selected especially to commemorate the deceased. Even though only just past six in the morning, several hundred villagers have already gathered in the square surrounding the makeshift stage. By the end of the day, nearly all of the villagers will have spent several hours laughing and sobbing as the opera continues. As night falls the opera comes to a close. The funeral celebration is just getting underway.

While Chinese funeral customs vary greatly across different regions, ethnic and ancestral groups, the Han people populating China’s central plains region do not consider funerals sad occasions, rather joyous celebrations similar to weddings. The two most important occasions in Chinese family life are “Red Happiness”, weddings, and “White Happiness”, funerals. Following a relative’s passing, central plains Han typically celebrate the life of the deceased for three full days and nights. Family members spend the nights keeping vigil over the coffin.

Preparing for the afterlife

After the day long opera that marks the opening day of the funeral, the family of the deceased spends the second day “escorting the dead” or songlu in Chinese. This important ceremony is preparing the deceased for entering the afterlife. A procession of relatives wearing white funerary robes travels to the village gate carrying paper chariots, horses, and people along with special “money.” The Chinese believe that once these items are burned, they will be available for the deceased in the next world.

Since ancient times, Chinese have always thought that the more items buried with the dead, and the larger and more magnificent the tomb, the more the deceased will be honored and respected by posterity. The first Chinese emperor, Qin Shihuang was buried with thousands of terra cotta soldiers and horses. This tradition has evolved throughout the centuries, many nobles and emperors going as far as burying the living in order to increase prospects for imperial prowess in the afterlife. Common people like Zhang have follow this tradition, albeit on a less splendid scale, substituting paper chariots, horses, and people for the real things. Families even burn full sized paper models of luxury items such as BMWs or fine clothing and jewelry.

The other major aspect of songlu is preparing the home that the deceased will live in in the afterlife. The Chinese consider coffins to be the homes of the deceased. As such they are often constructed with the best types of wood and adorned with delicate carvings. The splendor of the coffin naturally depends on the economic resources available to the deceased’s family. Typically the cost will amount to the average farmer’s annual salary. The Chinese government encourages simple funerals and has passed a law requiring mandatory cremation. However, throughout rural China superstitions remain such that even though there is no option but to have loved ones cremated, peasants still place the ashes of the deceased in a coffin, and spread them out in the shape of the human figure.

The cemeteries and mausoleums where the dead are laid to rest are very intricate, replete with multiple superstitions. Any items of tribute must be placed by the gravesite in sets of nine. In Chinese, the word for nine (jiu), sounds similar to the word for eternity. The idea of a famous Chinese phrase for heaven, “the nine great days,” is embodied by this practice, and symbolizes that the deceased will spend eternity in heaven.

The funeral proper

The third day is the day of the funeral proper. A music troupe is invited, and the sounds of song and drums, along with that of firecrackers can be heard from very early in the morning. At many funerals more than one music group will be asked to play. The sounds of Chinese Suo Na music, drums, folk music, military music and other performances compete with one another for the attention of the villagers. The folk music performers all wear bright red and green outfits. During these performances, the family of the deceased hold a huge banquet, at which they will entertain the entire village. Everyone gets a free meal. After lunch the sound of firecrackers marks the formal beginning of the final funeral procession. The members of the funeral caravan wear white mourning robes and carry the coffin through the entire village before heading to the gravesite. During the procession the closest relatives will stop and wail over and over again. As the volume of their cries represents their respect for the deceased, the family members will cry with all of their might. The louder the cries, the more they will gain the respect of the rest of the village. Other mourners also cry out to express grief, generally just to pay their respects, not genuine tears.

Men generally stay at the front of the procession and members of the family stay close to the coffin, often carried on a tractor. With the women at the back, the children or grandchildren of the deceased are at the center carrying portraits of the deceased. The procession stops several times to set off fireworks, kneel and pay their last respects. Once arrived at the gravesite, more paper horses and paper people are burned as the coffin is lowered into the ground. Only when the deceased is buried in the earth will he be able to rest in peace. The villagers then make their way back home, and the immediate members of the family begin a three year period of mourning. During this time, immediate relatives will not wear any red clothing, hang any red items in the house, or celebrate any weddings until three years after the family member’s passing.

© Jasmine Wang Photography. All rights reserved.

Beijing, Beijing

 

Today my friend Albert sent me this video of Beijing, and I would like to share it with you:

Beijing, where I lived for many years, has been such a special place for me. Many years ago when I was working at Canadian Television Beijing Bureau, Jacques, producer from CBC Radio Canada and I had a special project of video graphing  the city life in the Forbidden City, Summer Palace, etc around Beijing. It was right before the Chinese Spring Festival, and we were lucky to find fireworks scenes in the Beijing suburb – it was spectacular. But when I watch this video of Beijing, seeing all the places I have been many times, old memories come back to me.

On August 8thI was photographing a wedding at Palo Alto Four Seasons. My friend Christine called me when I was on the job and could not believe that I wasn’t watching the opening. The stage director for the opening, Zhang Yimou, 张艺谋 (Director of Movie “Hero” and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”) is one of my favorite directors in the world. In 1998, he stage directed Puccini’s opera Turandot. As an opera singer for many years, Puccini’s Turandot has an irreplaceable place in my heart, and Zhang made this opera glorious in the history.

In case you haven’t seen the opening (like me), you can order the DVD from here.

Starbucks, Where Romance Began To Brew – Kim and Eli’s Engagement, San Francisco

Starbucks on 9th street San Francisco was where Kim and Eli met for the first date. It was right before Kim went to the gym, sitting in the café and reading her book, she immediately attracted Eli’s attention. 2 tables away, Eli was secretly checking her out. He found a perfect topic to start his conversation: “oh…I think I have seen you in UCSF campus…” Much later, Eli admitted, he followed Kim walked into Starbucks…