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nyp retrospective: it's been a long time…

2012-06-25T09:36:03Z

i know what it looks like: that nick yutaka cat goes and has a baby and virtually disappears from his blog. he must have retired; been put out to stud. i've even had a couple of past and potential clients remark off-handedly that they'd heard i wasn't taking jobs right now (i did take a short hiatus in the latter part of 2011, but nothing long-term). well, despite how it may have looked, i'm still out there grinding. sure, baby-making takes its toll on my blog composing time, and yes, i've reeled back the frenetic workload that i'd been keeping the past couple of years, but i'm still here at your photographic service. and i wanted to come correct this time: no fluff posts featuring my breathtakingly handsome baby son or hot kicks that'll blow your socks off. just raw nyp heat from several shoots over the past year. as timbaland appropriated from rakim "the god": it's been a long time, i shouldn't have left you / without a dope beat to step to…

over the past year, i've shot a multitude of things. of course, my bread and butter is child/family portraits…

baby kylie at the lab in costa mesa

you and me and kylie's brother, lucas (a proud nyp alumnus)

baby christian joined the nyp family of clients…and he brought his radio flyer.

and for his birthday party, christian's parents brought a bubbly wonderland.

it was a pleasure to make baby violet and her parents' acquaintance at her dol at the elegant W hotel in hollywood.

it was hilarious (and a little disturbing) seeing guests at matthew's batman-themed birthday party merc the hell out of his batman piñata.

aside from the occasional kid going agro on a piñata, things were sweet this past year, like baby olivia enjoying a kiss from her doting mother, angelica.

nick yutaka photographer isn't just a baby photographer though. i shot and wrote a couple of pieces for a harley magazine. unfortunately, i even broke out my modeling chops on one. i apologize for any physical or emotional damage the image may cause you.

sure, portrait shooting is old hat, but this one was unique because of the occasion: an extended family retreat at the pelican hill resort in honor of their matriarch's birthday. here, her daughter and son-in-law sharing a big laugh…

…and a couple of her grandkids were all grins too. i suppose it doesn't become an official nyp shoot until i get snaps of a couple of kids or pets.

there was this breakfast at tiffany's-themed bridal shower at the charlie palmer restaurant at south coast plaza (yes, i'm name-dropping the notable locations i shot at. no, i have no tact.). the future-bride's mom was the meat in this kiss sandwich from her daughters: party host angela and guest-of-honor mariam.

besides a bridal shower, what else do you do leading up to your wedding? an engagement photoshoot, of course. this shot of mimi and ryan in downtown LA was one of my favorites of 2011. i don't do nearly enough e-sessions.

mimi's friend mari and her husband scott (not pictured, obviously) were also a delight to work with. she looked radiant at their small, intimate nuptual exchange. mari also has the distinction of being my first and only south african client!

back to mimi…she's a sucker for a good pair of christian louboutains, so she made sure to make room in her budget for a fresh pair on her wedding day.

i also had the honor and priviledge to shoot my good buddy phil's wedding to his longtime sweetheart, nga. it's always a pleasure to witness your old halo war-buddies gettin' all growed up.

after the show it's the after party then / after the party it's the hotel lobby and / after the belve' then it's probably cris' / and after the original it's probably this… i also shot a swanky corporate event at the pelican hill resort. the band and the guests dropped da bang bang boogie da bang da bang boogie to da boogie bang boogie da bang. (welcome to hip-hop reference HELL!)

to the tens of faithful visitors who peruse my blog, i hope this helps quench your thirst for more nick yutaka photographer. i'll see you out there!

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ficky-ficky-ficky-ficky…

easter ham

2012-04-09T02:24:10Z

reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated. i'm still here, grinding away. i promise to have all-new sets up sometime soon. until then, enjoy some easter ham…

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we livin' our dreams (uh-huh) you must believe

happy holidays

2011-12-26T11:00:46Z

happy holidays to all my clients, colleagues, family, and friends.

i've been on hiatus with a new long-term houseguest. be back soon…

quick hit: bo knows

2011-09-03T01:38:40Z

oh no, not again. i'm sorry i'm practically turning my blog into a shoe appreciation website, but while mired in an ocean of photo processing, i turn to a few outlets to blow off steam. and as fate would have it, the shoe that started this crazy addiction happened to get retroed today.

1989. 6th grade. calle mayor middle school, torrance, california. i was a new student, my family having moved down to southern california from my native san francisco. i was having a hard time adjusting. i felt extremely awkward. it was actually one of the toughest, darkest times of my life. my old buddies probably don't know this about me, but i would have what i can only now describe as panic attacks almost every morning for most of middle school. it was probably the raging hormones of a pre-teen about to go through puberty, but i just mentally could not deal with change.

out of a combination of being an only child (thus spoiled) and perhaps unsure how to make things better for me, my parents (bless their hearts) treated me to a lot of nice things around this time. one of the biggies was a pair of nike bo jackson cross-trainers. the "bo knows" ad campaign was blowing up, and i ate it up hook, line, and sinker. i'd never lusted for a pair of sneakers before, but i was on the cusp of a craze that not only took a hold of me, but many of us in that generation. my best and oldest friend justin recently recalled that i ended up getting several colorways of that nike sc trainer II back in 6th grade, and "That was UNHEARD of back in the day…back then it totally boggled my mind that you would have the same shoe in different colors. This was your defining shoe in my opinion…it's what started it all. Defining shoe! Go get them at lunch…I command you!"

the hype was STRONG with this one. not one to deny my friend's command, i found a pair in what we recall as the defining colorway (remember, this was the late ’80s/early ’90s!). though you might see a strange-looking pair of neon yellow and teal shoes in the images below, i see low self-esteem, a lot of tears, and the beginning spark of a long journey to find the strength to fit in and function at a very difficult time in my life.

for you orange county sneaker "heads," blends at the lab in costa mesa usually has us covered. this was my first purchase from the boutique. bonus points for the environmentally-friendly shopping bag.

getting undressed real sexy-like.

pine needles for texture and symbollic of cross training.

i'm giving myself props on this plant-watering prop.

well i don't know about you, but i'm all worked up. hopefully i can get back to some blog posts of relevance to my business (not just my interests) soon. in the meantime, enjoy these nice vids.

said ad campaign for these particular bo's. features abound, including of course the great bo diddly.

and for this post's musical accompanyment, what can i say? good hip-hop is hard to come by, so sometimes you just make the best out of a nice beat, nice visuals, and two bruthas getting their floss on HARD.

quick hit: fear the beard

2011-08-14T10:29:39Z

i know what you're thinking. i've been in the lab. like…DEEP in the lab. i've been chained to my computer, processing photo after photo after photo. i literally have an ace bandage around my wrist as i type this due to some strange carpal-tunnel-like pain. it's 3:30 a.m. on a sunday morning. this is the kind of crunch i've been under. hey…you asked!

all joking aside, i've kept my sanity by continuing to enjoy some of my personal pursuits as time has permitted. i got a motorcycle license. for a limited time only, the first reader to buy me a motorcycle gets a free portrait session! that's fair, right?

my other pursuit: baseball. my japanese baseball league team is playing for our division title tomorrow. i'm pumped. i'm attempting a playoff beard for our stretch run. we're pushing a month of growth here, and it's not pretty. i'd have to check strunk & white's elements of style, but there might be some legitimate irony in me trying to grow a playoff beard for a japanese league team, and i assume it's my japanese genes that make my beard so pathetically whispy and patchy.

in any case, i snapped a self-portrait yesterday to try and loosen up my teammates for the big game. my lack of grizzle is this week's quick hit.

now back to the lab…

apologies for the lurking sweat line. i am the world's most sweatiest man.

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one of my favorite young MCs: mac miller. "best day ever." i never take a day off / work around the clock, my engineer gettin' paid off…

. . .

update: we lost. good-bye "beard."

quick hit: true blue

2011-06-11T02:04:30Z

with the summer months upon us, both the weather and my schedule are warming up. and as usual, it's my blog updates that suffer. thank goodness for quick hits!

so i lumber home from a hellacious week at the office to find a box on my doorstep. "ooo!" i think. what am i expecting today? the internet age is wonderful; any day can be christmas when that grinning box (or one of its brothers) decides to come a-knocking at your door. i get to unboxing and bam! "ah yesssss…"

one of my oldest and deadliest vices reared its ugly head last week: kicks. specifically, jordans. what can i say? i'm a child of the ’90s. you know, that wonderful decade when teens got stuck up for their jordans and starter jackets, and movie-goers got shot at the theater after watching boyz n the hood. well, i thought i'd weaned myself off the addiction over the past several years, until i got an email alert about a certain shoe that would be going on sale that evening. i couldn't pass it up.

and here it is, thanks to armchair commerce (thank you again, internet) and a dream…the air jordan III "true blue". it's probably my second-favorite jordan (thank you, tinker hatfield). observe the classic traits: the elephant-print accents around the toe box and heel, the star-pattern on the toe of the sole, and don't you dare sleep on the jumpman logo. yes, this was the first jordan shoe to boast the iconic jumpman logo. the jordan I and II were of a different breed. honestly, i never cared much for them. to me, the jordan line began in 1988 when mj dunked from the free-throw line in these (the white/cement gray colorways to be exact) and mars blackmon first queried "money, is it the shoes?"

do you know what my favorite jordan is of all time? do you know, do you know, do you know? take a guess in the comments. and let me know what your favorite jordan, or any kick, of all-time is.

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i'm not quite sure what snipes is rockin', but it appears woody's gone with david robinson pumps (mister robinson's neighborhood), while kadeem stays true to his mj jersey with a pair of VIs. we goin' sizzler…we goin' sizzler…

quick hit: history

2011-05-23T10:00:09Z

i hit a bit of a speed bump late last week. after reaching a triumphant high by helping my j-league team win our division in our year-round basketball league (it's more of a weak senior league that they let a couple of "young bucks" such as myself participate in), i hit rock-bottom with severe residual foot pain (an old war injury) and coming down with some sort of bug. i limped through thursday and friday, and tended to my under-the-weather–ness all weekend. the result: not a whole lot in the way of photo taking, processing, or blogging.

at one point though, i watched a something on my appletv. after letting the device sit idle for a few minutes, it went into screen-saver mode. i just happen to have it set to play a slideshow of my flickr stream as a screen-saver. once i noticed, i became sort of mesmerized reliving the memories and thinking about my photographic journey thus far. to share that experience, i popped my camera into video mode and recorded what i was seeing. then, for fun, i played around with the footage in final cut, just to see if i could make it a little more interesting to the casual observer (read: added background music). the video is crude, amateur, and is this week's quick hit, video edition. enjoy.

mos def ft. talib kweli (a.k.a. blackstar) "history". (also featuring my sony tv, surround sound speaker, and stereo shelving)

wedding: joe & youngshin, part 3

2011-05-16T07:00:16Z

part 2 of this series ended with the words: "tune in soon for the conclusion to youngshin's fairytale day." i distinctly remember when i learned the word "conclude": at the end of back to the future II, the phrase "to be concluded…" was painted over the scene of doc brown passed out on main street of hill valley. my parents explained that the next movie would be the last movie. and much like robert zemeckis' landmark time-travelling series, part 3 of joe & youngshin's wedding blogposts will end this trilogy.

instead of the wild west, buford tannen, and levitating trains, this part 3 includes a few private moments before the ceremony, the ceremony itself, and a little fun at the reception. follow along and enjoy!

in a scarce moment alone, youngshin made her way to her bridal staging room as the main event inched near.

bridesmaids and flower girl soon flanked the bride as we approached the staging room. i just love how her shoe peaks from under her gown leading the way.

as youngshin took care of some formalities in the staging area, i sought out joe and his groomsmen. they discovered a makeshift staging area for them to cool off. and i mean that literally; i believe that day was the warmest of the summer. wall unit air conditioners were pure GOLD.

i love this moment of joe speaking to his mom by speakerphone just before the ceremony. this was actually somewhat tense as both moms were making their way from the salon to the church to make the ceremony on time. joe was a calming influence though for both mom and the pastor.

ah…the main event begins. joe and his groomsmen notice the doors to the church open as…

…youngshin entered with her father. and there it is, the traditional first look. (remember, they saw each other throughout the day prior to this moment.)

here's our little friend from part 2. it looks like he got his hair in order.

i can relate to this. my wife told me i'd be a dead man if i tried to smear cake on her. joe's a former marine, so i'm sure he's trained to endure the punishment. youngshin, on the other hand, looks like she's channeling little mac from mike tyson's punch-out.

youngshin gave a mighty toss of her bouquet, after which she declared the next girl to be married.

by day's end, i really appreciated how cool joe and his groomsmen were as they broke open a few bottles of celebratory beer (and i may have partaken myself, at their strong insistence of course).

through and through, a loving couple on a loving day.

so there you have it. a fun time with a wonderful couple on the first day of the rest of their lives together. i'd like to send a big "thank you" to joe and youngshin for allowing me to document their big day and letting me feel welcome and part of the festivities.

and if you're joining us late, here are links to part 1 and part 2 of this series.

in the name of fun, beastie boys "make some noise". here we go again, give ya more nothing lesser / back on the mic it's the anti-depressor… (full must-see short film here)

quick hit: hey mama

2011-05-09T08:50:19Z

did i say i'd have a new full blog post done this weekend? naaaaw. couldn't have been me.

happy mother's day & birthday to my moms.

though i no longer endorse kanye, i do endorse this song.

quick hit: fight the power

2011-05-03T09:52:45Z

sometimes i catch myself spacing out at a shoot (actually, just about anywhere i go). i'll notice something off to the side between poses or locations. here, i noticed one bulb resisting the conformity of its brethren.

i don't think so. bulby don't play dat.

i think the blog gods may smile upon me and grant me the time to compose a full blog post this coming weekend. until then, stay classy, internet.

a tribe called quest sample as a hook? auto-like.