The first flowers he ever gave me were tulips and that was gosh... 7 or 8 years ago? It was before we even started dating. They were purple (my favorite color).

This time there were 8 pink tulips with 1 lucky yellow one! It was a lovely surprise and I absolutely adore them. They were freshly cut from a local flower shop, smelled great and came in a beautiful white pitcher! Whenever I see tulips, they remind me of Springtime where it is the beginning of warmer weather and endless sunlit days.

This is my second favorite flower arrangement he's sent me so far. My first favorite were the Vera Wang lavender roses he sent for my birthday several years ago.

Earlier in April, I briefly visited San Francisco. During that time, I had the opportunity to go on a mobile/DSLR photowalk with some amazing photographers! It was organized by the talented Laura Lawson. There were a mix of people who solely shot using their iPhone and some who brought both mobile phone and camera. Majority of people primarily used their phones. I was one of the latter who used both (iPod Touch and DSLR).

The meetup started at the Gandhi statue behind the Ferry Building in San Francisco. Hence the hashtag for this photowalk: #gandhigram. If you're on Instagram, you can search that hashtag to see everyone's photos from that day. The Ferry Building is a perfect meeting spot because it's very close to public transportation (BART or Muni), offers a nice view of the San Francisco Bay, well traveled area, food/drink options, and is an extremely photogenic spot.

It turned out to be a group of about 20 or so photographers, with some coming and going throughout the afternoon. What was unique about this particular photowalk was props were involved! A horse and unicorn head to be exact. A lot of posing and trying different locations definitely stirred quite the attention from many bystanders. We traveled from the Ferry Building to Pier 14 to Cupid's Span and back to the Ferry building. There we refueled with some deliciousBlue Bottle and then headed over to the Embarcadero Center, where we attempted a group photo. Then walked around the center and finally parted our ways. All in all, it was a lot of fun meeting new people and finally meeting fellow instagrammers who I've been following for some time! It's always nice meeting people in person - seeing the talent behind the lens!

Here's a few shots from my Nikon (the weather was nice that day but the sunlight was strange; hence my photos seem to be all different colors - any tips on how to correct that?):

And photos from my iPod Touch Instagram:

Make sure to check out Arthur's photos and Alex's photos from the photowalk!

Again, another long overdue post! Sorry, I hope to catch up soon.

On Sunday, April 8, 2012 evening, Arthur and I attended our friend's Davy and Jocelyn's beautiful wedding at the Brazilian Room in Tilden Park, Berkeley. It was a sweet and lighthearted ceremony. Our friend, Nic, officiated the ceremony and did a wonderful job. It was a very special moment to share with the couple because the ceremony started at 6pm and 3 years ago at that exact time is when they first met and went on their first date. 

We were super honored to be a part of their special day and to celebrate the beginning of their lives together. Davy looked extremely handsome in his bowtie and suit. Jocelyn was stunning in her dress and l just love her style. I also loved how much detail was put into the decorations! Jocelyn pretty much made everything there (from the decor on the table, flower boutineer, wands, signs, and more). She is amazingly talented and crafty.

It was my first time in the Brazilian Room. I loved the location of the wedding. The ceremony took place just outside the building on the patio during golden hour. There was lots of greenery all around (since it's located in a park). The entrance welcomed you with a beautiful blossom tree, which had sprinkled petals all over the ground. The reception took place inside the building with lots of windows and a fireplace. It was very cozy! They also had a full out photobooth in the entry way with a prop box! We got a double print of the photos immediately for keepsakes. Dinner was deliciously catered and they had three types of cupcakes and cookies for dessert.

The photo slideshow of them was so adorable! The DJs (not just one but five!) played amazing music to keep the crowd entertained and grooving. Also, I have to note this was the first wedding I attended that had its own hashtag! Way to embrace social media! :) Anything tweeted, instagrammed, etc. with the hashtag was collected on a website for them to review and look back on.

At the last minute, I opted to not bring my DSLR with me (due to bulkiness). I did however made sure I brought my iPod Touch so that I could at least capture some memories! All of my photos from this wedding are all iphoneography. Iphoneography is basically photos taken and processed on your iPhone (or in my case my iPod Touch). It's definitely becoming a popular trend since it's so easy with the apps available to tweak and place filters on your photo. Plus the cellphone camera has gone a long way and much improved. A major bonus for me is it's small size which fit in my clutch!

I look back and realize that I didn't take that many photos. Even worse is that I got no photos of the couple! :( Thankfully, Arthur did take photos with his iPhone 4S and Nikon. You can see his photos here. :)

With the exception of the two photobooth strips (which I scanned), all were taken with my iPod Touch.

Sorry this post is way overdue. April has been quite the busy month for me!

I recently heard about this webservice called about.me through a friend on Instagram. They also have an iPhone app for this service.

I just signed up for it to try it out. It's essentially your business card set up on a webpage; you can even think of it as an e-business card. It's a great way to direct others to one page that has links to all your social networks. This makes it easy to just give out one link instead of a list (this is especially useful if you are a social media guru).

I like the clean feature it has and the ability to customize it to your liking. It's perfect to add the link to your email signature or on your profile page. I also enjoy the great photo support it has to customize your background or profile picture.

Currently, they have a partnership with moo.com (here are my thoughts on this great company), where you can create free customized business cards. They will even include your QR code! You only have to pay for the shipping costs.

Overall, I think it's a nice service to house all your networks and links in one convenient location. You can find your friends and add them to your favorites. But I don't see how it will supersede your contact page on your personal website. I just don't see it being anything more, unless I'm missing something.

With that said, if you are on about.me, let me know so I can add you! :)

My first purchase from Jewelmint finally came! It took about a week and came via USPS. I finally gave in and tried the site out. I had heard so many ravs about it. I am thoroughly pleased with the various designs they have. Plus, you get 60% off your first purchase! 

The jewelry ranges from earrings, bracelets, rings to necklaces. They're all bold, statement type of pieces. There are some that you can layer with others. You answer a couple of questions in the beginning and then they display jewelry that best matches your "style" according to your answers. You view other pieces and add them to your collection if none really fit you. Some of the pieces they showed me didn't match me at all.

The stud earrings I really wanted were already sold out. :( So I looked around and came across this royal ascot ring. I hesitated on getting it for about a week and finally decided to give it shot. What I love about this piece is the design is styled off equestrian. And I love horses! :) It's also a nice statement piece. I don't own a lot of rings, so I thought this would be great to start off my collection.

I absolutely love their packaging! I must admit, the packaging and presentation is sometimes what sells me. :)

All of these photos were processed in Lightroom 4. I just downloaded the trial version to play around with it. It takes some time learning the program because it's very different from Photoshop Elements 10 (which is what I have). You have so many more functions to adjust your photo! I'm still getting use to it but am already liking its features a lot! It really helps make the processing your batches faster and easier. Plus it has a nice workflow.

This past weekend, Art came down to visit me. On Friday night, we decided to go for a photowalk around Gaslamp Quarter (downtown San Diego). It was actually a lot of fun! You really get to see the nightlife and commotion all around you.

It was my first time at "street photography," let alone at night too. I've always been super hesitant at taking photos of strangers. I always feel a bit awkward. Also, I'm usually never fast enough! Portrait photography is defintely an area that I am interested in exploring. I guess doing selfie projects is a start. =)

Going with another photographer is always better and not to mention safer! Wandering around is the best way to get to know an area. It also allows for you to explore new places and really get a good feel for the atmosphere. I've hung out downtown several times but it was usually to go out to eat or bars. It was very cool to not partake in the festivities but watch it from a distance. I always enjoy the hustle and bustle of city life. You get to appreciate the lights, movement, decor, and many other things. Plus, it's a great way to get some exercise walking around!

I'm totally a fan of street photography now. I'd like to get more practice and be able to capture the mood and nightlife better.

If you use Google's Chrome web browser, I recommend installing Fittr Flickr extension. This extension features:

• keyboard shortcuts
• tag autocomplete
• displays EXIF information
• shows short URL
• photo sizes

I personally really enjoy seeing the EXIF displayed right below the photo. It gives the basic information you are usually interested in, such as, shutter speed, aperature, ISO and focal length. I also really like the fact that it helps autocomplete your tags. It makes tagging photos so much faster!

Here are some screen shots of the program. The last photo showcases my most recent photo on Flickr with the basic EXIF displayed below it.

Let me know if there any other extensions or programs out there that you use.

I'm not abandoning this blog (at least not yet). I just wanted to mention that I recently started up a Tumblr (http://melissatta.tumblr.com/ ). The focus of my Tumblr will be more of a quick micro-blog. It will showcase photos, quotes, and other miscellaneous media. The purpose of it is to serve more of as an inspiration to others.

In case you're curious, I didn't switch over to Tumblr entirely because I do not like the fact that there is no privacy option/feature for photos there. I did some research and you can disable the "right-click" feature on Tumblr by adding in some HTML code. I inserted this line of code after <head> tag:

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.tumblr.com/1cmk6kw/HlSla0dfm/darlieecious-dot-tumblr-dot-com.js"></script>

I got this code from Schmigs. I know this isn't the end all option to preventing people from stealing your photos but at least it will deter some.

I do really like the ease and user interface of Tumblr. They make it so simple and they have many fun themes to select from.

Here on this blog I will continue to post personal updates, opinions, news, photography, events, etc. :)

I recently ordered a free sample set of 10 green business cards from moo.com! I've always loved their quality of work and unique products. You can give them a try here: http://us.moo.com/partner/sample/ Because they are free, their watermark is placed on the bottom left corner.

Shipping is also free! I received my business cards within 3 days of placing the order! They also provide you a USPS tracking number too.

There are two options of cards: classic or green. Of course, I went for the green! Green cards are 15.5 pt, light coating, and non-reflective. They are also 100% recycled and produced using wind power. The classic come in 16 pt, matte laminate, silky and faintly reflective. They are sourced from sustainable forests and are elemental chlorine free.

I really like the thickness of the cards. At the same time, the cards are super smooth. The ease of placing my order online was so simple. I connected to my Flickr account and was able to pull up my personal photos to be printed. So easy! The quality of the photos on the card are exceptional.

On the back, I just printed my contact information and website. They offer about 10 different font styles and they're all easy to read and modern.

I would definitely use them for future prints, like postcards. I love their packaging too!

You don't see 10 cards because I gave out 4 already!