Every Monday I'll be posting a snapshot that I took in Los Angeles.  Love my city!

Much thanks to my good friend, Ash Imagery, for capturing this.  It's me in this big big world!

2009 was a year of gain, as well as much loss, but because of that I've learned a lot about myself.  With the help of my wonderful family and friends through my struggles, I realized what an unhealthy life I was living in.  So, here are a few things I want to achieve...

:: Kicking Addiction #1, Coffee - I should be sipping a cup of nice, hot coffee for enjoyment and not to abuse it as an excuse to help me stay awake.

:: Kicking Addiction #2, iPhone - Turning it off when I go to bed.  No more checking emails/twitter/facebook in the middle of the night while in bed.

:: Kicking Addiction #3, Be In Control - Controling someone or something can be an addiction when what I'm doing is just to help me get away from my own problems.

:: Have compassion and unconditional love for myself and others.

:: Outsource my office work, so I can spend my time with my loved ones and improving my photography skills.

:: Continue to eat good food, but with healthier choice.  A new column will be added to my food blog as I share my journey to learn how to eat healthier.

:: To love, be loved.  :)

For more of our lunch date in San Diego, visit my food blog.

*Get to know who is Mrs. Lillien here.

Time to explore...

For my recent trip to New York, I decided to try using film with my cute little toy camera, Golden Half.  I pretty much captured whatever that caught my eyes.  Highly recommend it to anyone that wants to experience what photography is all about (hint: is not about what equipments you have).  To me, photography is always about documenting the reality - from what I see to the state of mind I have at the moment.  This set of photos depict "loneliness" to me, which was the feeling I had as I was walking on those New York streets. 

*Special thanks to Jose Villa for the encouragement to try out film.  What do you think, my mentor?*

Color Film: Fuji Color Superia 400 / Black and White Film: Fuji Neopan Black and White 400 / Lab: Richard Photo Lab in Los Angeles

The Golden Half takes two photos in one frame.  The following is exactly what it looks like after being developed.  Pretty cool, huh?

Sometimes we need to grow up and move on that we must say 'good bye' to the ones we love.  Never knew this would be the last shot I took with him next to me.  I wish he will live a better life and find someone that truly deserves him.  Sunset will never be the same to me...

"Love the heart that hurts you, but never hurt the heart that loves you." - Vipin Sharma

"True love does not come by finding the perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly." - Jason Jordan

"There is more hunger for love and appreciation in this world than for bread." - Mother Teresa

"Perfect love is rare indeed - for to be a lover will require that you continually have the subtlety of the very wise, the flexibility of the child, the sensitivity of the artist, the understanding of the philosopher, the acceptance of the saint, the tolerance of the scholar and the fortitude of the certain." - Leo Buscaglia

"If you love something, set it free. If it comes back, it was, and always will be yours. If it never returns, it was never yours to begin with." - Unknown

"Love doesn't make the world go 'round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile." - Franklin P. Jones

"True love never lives happily ever after - true love has no ending." - K Knight

"We are, each of us angels with only one wing; and we can only fly by embracing one another." - Luciano de Crescenzo

"Love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much perfoms much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is done well." - Vincent Van Gogh

"In all that we do let us do it for love." - Chris Cotton

"Love fails, only when we fail to love." - J. Franklin

"Where there is great love there are always miracles." - Willa Cather

"To love is to place our happiness in the happiness of another." - G.W. Von Leibnitz

"Love is the difficult realization that something other than oneself is real." - Iris Murdoch

"Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved." - Barbara Johnson

"Love and magic have a great deal in common. They enrich the soul, delight the heart. And they both take practice." - Nora Roberts

"Love is not just looking at each other, it's looking in the same direction." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

"The pain of love is the pain of being alive. It is a perpetual wound." - Maureen Duffy

"It is not how much you do, but how much Love you put into the doing that matters." - Mother Teresa

"Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get, it's what you are expected to give — which is everything." - Unknown

"If we deny love that is given to us, if we refuse to give love because we fear pain or loss, then our lives will be empty, our loss greater." - Unknown

Miss V taking a rest from her iPod games.

Can't wait to post more of my personal photos from the Hawaii trip!

Sharing some personal photos from my Hawaii trip while shooting a wedding.  The light in Hawaii is so soft, even during the afternoon; that's probably one of the things I remember the most from this trip.

Got a chance to visit The Annenberg Space for Photography yesterday.  What's more exciting is that the photos were taken by my iPhone!  I used the OldCamera app for the black and white conversion, which every iPhone user must get!

I have to thank Gina Garen for bringing the lovely doll, Blythe, back to life.  Some people thought Blythe is too scary looking, but I thought it has a special soul that captured me.  By taking photos of my dolls, I was able to test/learn different angles for portraits (believe it or not, LOL), which really helped develop my photography style. 

I want to share with you some of my early works.  I really took a lot of time posing them, which was a lot of fun!

*Dated 2004, with black and white film, shot by Canon EOS RebelG.

*Dated 2004, with color film, shot by Canon EOS RebelG.

*Dated 2004, with film converted to yellow tone, shot by Canon EOS RebelG.

Most recent one, with digital camera.