Steph Kao

I got the best email today. It just warms my heart.

A month ago or so, I took some photos of Oliver, a little chihuahua who was being fostered by Rowdy Dog Rescue. I received the below email today from Dave, the founder of Rowdy Dog Rescue. I can’t really take all the credit. There are a lot of people and organizations out there who work tirelessly saving and rescuing animals everyday. I’m happy that I’m able to use my photography and contribute in my own small way.

Hi Stephanie,

I hope you are well! Oliver went to his forever home today and I know, without a doubt, that the beautiful pictures you took of him helped attract the adopters. He has a huge backyard to play in now and will have the life he has always deserved. Thank you, again.

All the best,
Dave

Happy trails, Oliver.

The big yellow joint, the big yellow joint…meet me down at the big yellow joint…

My life is complete. Made the pilgrimage to the Banana Stand yesterday in Culver City and got a free frozen banana! Best frozen banana ever. CANNOT WAIT FOR MAY 26TH.

Recently finished off a roll of film, but only half the photos came out. Ugh. It was kind of upsetting. That’s the down side about film. This was the one and only good shot. Well, that’s life sometimes…

Mission Santa Barbara and rose gardens.

Did a fun and impromptu photo session with my friend and co-worker Christine last week.

Darwin, a corgi mix. He’s a cute, mellow little dude. Available for adoption at K-9 Pals.

—Update 5/6/2013—

Cute little guy was recently adopt! Hooray!

Lucidity was…an experience. How do I best describe it? It was like the smaller, more obscure younger cousin of Burning Man and Coachella with a twist of a renaissance fair.

This is the UCSB gamelan, Kyai Selamet, which I played in many years ago. I don’t currently play with them, however a bunch of their members play in Sinar Surya, where I regularly play now. They asked me to fill in since they needed extra players for the performance. Overall it was interesting, yet strange. I can’t ever really take hippies that seriously.

I recorded all our pieces with my GoPro cam, but the sound quality isn’t too great. Anyway, this was one of the pieces which we *didn’t* mess up. Enjoy.

How can you not smile from seeing this face?!

(Bosco is available for adoption at K-9 Pals.)

—Edit 4/18/13—

Bosco was recently adopted. Yay happy puppy!

Engagement session (my first one!!) with Carmen and RJ - March 10, 2013

I love you THIIIIIIIIIIIIIS much.

Shots from the Widelux! It’s basically a precursor to the Spinner360, except without the sprockets.

I think my calling in life is to be a dog photographer.

All these dogs are available for adoption through K-9 Pals.

Widelux F6B from my co-worker Andrea! She gave it to me since it was just sitting around not being of much use to her. It’s a old panoramic/wide angle camera. I think it still works since it’s been kept in pretty good condition. Can’t wait to load it up with film!

Sometimes I don’t look for cameras, but they find me.

I volunteered on Saturday for K-9 Pals and photographed some of their dogs available for adoption.

Christmas lights bokeh

santabarbarasymphony:

Musical Snowflake Tutorial by Tiny Beethoven

I made a couple of these snowflakes at work people went BALLISTIC over them. They’re fun and easy to make. Above is also a link to the tutorial I shot. Enjoy!

First roll with the Pentax K1000 which I bought back in September. I’ve have this roll for 3 months! This is why I prefer not to shoot 36 exposures sometimes…I get too impatient and antsy about finishing off the roll.

But there is something special about getting your film back from the lab and looking through them for the first time. It’s like getting a present, receiving a letter/package in the mail, or opening a time capsule, if you will. (If you kept the film long enough.) It’s just an awesome feeling.

I’m still stunned at how fast Thanksgiving came and went this year. It seems like they come and go faster and faster each year. (Or is it just me?) Anyway, it was a nice holiday, but then I got sick and came down an awful hacking cough. Missed 2 days of work last week. Today’s the first day that I actually feel at almost 100%.

Well, as I was convalescing, I re-watched Firefly, and finished it off with Serenity—hence the very Wash-inspired photoset. Some of these were also shot for the last assignment of my photo class at UCLA Extension this quarter. (I’m excited that I’m taking more next quarter!)

Any improvements?

I got lots of Photojojo goodies for my birthday! Glance upon my bounty!

I’ve already tried out the camera cookie cutters. So fun!

My shoddy cookie-decorating skillz.

I saw a puppy tied up outside a cafe with different colored eyes. I wanted to take him home!