What? Another blog you say? Yes… I am about to start a pure food blog just about the baked goods but don’t worry, it’s just a side project.  Nothin Crazie will still be my main home.

So why start another blog?  Because it’s my stepping stone to my future bakery   The new food blog will be a collection of recipes that I am currently collecting, displayed in a format catered to showing off the beauty of food (ie food porn).

The main theme for the banner is to have something that was colorful and simple.  Something that represented artistry and creativity.  It boiled down to using a cheerful color theme of green, yellow, red and black with nice thick brush strokes.  The hand drawn “chef” was added to represent moi, but due to my limited drawing skills, he ended up looking nothing like me.

I opted for a vertical banner to allow more room for larger pictures, and to put more emphases on each recipe entry.  It’s also more unique since most sites features a horizontal banner instead of  a vertical one.  So enough yapping, here ’s the final design!

After posting the first wedding session blog, I decided to dig this series back up.  This is a set of my friend Colin (who I am the groomsman for) and Janice.  Taken back in July in between the time of the ceremony and the reception for another friend’s wedding, this was my very first time taking pictures where the subjects weren’t food.  I have to thank them for being brave enough to be my first guinea pigs.

Some people ask me, “Why the spider in the last shot?”  I don’t really know how to reply except that it’s something different?

Slideshow:

Check here for a larger format.

I finally shot my first wedding 2 weeks ago!  It was for my sister’s best friend, Tukta and Jerome.  I was kind of nervous since the only photography experience I had prior to this was shooting one of my friend’s engagement session.  I asked my friend Letty to come along for comfort and for the experience.  Even though our skill in photography were around the same, it made me feel better there would be another person covering shots that I could potentially miss, plus I knew Letty had lots of natural artistic talent.

The day started out pretty hectic with Tukta still needing to buy her wedding shoes an hour before the ceremony began.  It was funny to see the faces of shocked sales clerks when we were inside the shoe stores.  We end up arriving to the ceremony 30 minutes late only to be greeted by the wedding host who was pretty annoyed.  She kept rushing us off the property after the ceremony was over, hardly giving us any enough time to take pictures even though we had 30 minutes remaining before the agreed upon departure time.

Regardless, it was a lovely and wonderful day.  The weather couldn’t be nicer.  Jerome and Tukta handled the situation perfectly keeping the atmosphere upbeat and joyful.   Both Letty and I had TONS of fun.  Who knew being a wedding photographer was so physically draining.  I was sweating the entire time and my legs were sore.

This event was so fun that it inspired us (me and Letty) to pursue it further.  Even though our pictures are miles away from the real professionals, we learned a ton and had a blast.  Thanks Jerome and Tukta for having faith in us.

Okay enough of me talking… here’s the set:

Slideshow:

Check here to view the video in a larger format.

Wedding Book:

After deciding to take photography as a serious hobby, I need a professional website to showcase all my goodies.  I have partnered up with my friend to start a “studio” which means we need a logo.  Even though the name of the studio needs to be finalized, I proceeded with the logo design anyways.

The concept for the logo is to have something which represents our creative nature.  An image that portrays class and elegance but is still fun and joyful.  An image which provokes creativity and imagery.  An image that grabs your attention, but can be camouflaged when used as a watermark.

Pictures of flowing shapes and curves started to form in my head.  After a few sketches and scribbles, the following design was developed:

Yup, a flowing swirl with a brush painted oval.  This abstract shape is suppose represents our personality as well as the studio.  Here’s the break down:

	The swirl is reminiscent of the old Victorian style of beauty and elegance.   The line is colored black for more class.
	The circle represents a colorful personalty.  Fun and joyful, the color combination brightens the mood and the painted brush stroke give a natural and organic feel.
	The shape of the logo embraces the shape of a heart, representative of the passion and love for photography. The passion drives the creation of more beautiful pictures which each click of the shutter.
	From a different perspective, the logo forms the shape of an eye to represent creative talent.  Having the ability to see creatively for pictures that are not only beautiful but also displays the personality of the client.
	The logo also forms the shape of a roll of film, a symbol for the studio.

The results when combining the logo with the still to be determined studio name:

So what are your thoughts? A success or epic fail?

So I disappeared for a little while again.  I was busy putting together wedding pictures and album for the FIRST wedding that I was a photographer for.  Who knew all the work after taking the photos would be so time consuming… luckily it’s fun at the same time.  The photo session re-ignited my creative juices so now a new category is born to share my (and other crazie member’s) creative talent.

Nothin’Crazie has finally launched! Here are notes from the 4 crazie members.

From the Creative Director crazyPyxo:

So after a month of brainstorming, arguing, designing, and redesigning, Nothin’Crazie has officially launched! What is this site about? It is to chat about the random craziness that we all encounter during the day. It’ll range from going to eat at crazy expensive restaurants to finding some super cheap place which can potentially put your health at risk. As long as it’s crazy, it’s going to be blogged!

How it started:

The idea for the site came when I first encountered a blog called Nordljus. Not only is the author an amazing photographer, but they can also make AMAZING desserts. The site was put together with such class and taste, it inspired me to experiment with creating my own art pieces. Being the lazy bum that I am , having an “inspiration” didn’t result to any action. Some time later, I realized crazyDiva share the same passion in baking as me, so we started to discuss the possibility of creating a baking blog together. The idea evolved to baking, food + fashion blog. The final push came after we found a fashion blog called Nitrolicous (after searching for the Comme des Garcons line released by H&M). When the push came, we recruited crazyChiquita’s for her spunky energy (since she’s a regular baking buddy of ours). Last but not least, crazyC decided to pry his way into the blog by advertising himself as the “technical expert”. Even though we didn’t need his “technical expertise” (since we do have 2 members from the computer field), he begged us enough to eventually let him in. From then on, the blog evolved to topics not only about food and fashion, but to also include everything else.

The making:

My first idea for the site design was to have a “doodle” theme. Pure black and white scheme with rough outlines to imitate a notebook blog. I thought the theme fit the situation of 4 different people blogging about their own experiences, mashed together into one place:

But then crazyDiva complained that the chicken looks too cheap, so it got changed to a heart instead:

After loading the banner to the site, it looked very amature, like a kindergarten class assembled it together. So it was on with design #2. I decide to kick the “craziness” up a few notches this time with color and a more complicated design:

Which would change according the the season (like Christmas below):

When I presented it to everyone, I only received a “meh” response. They complained it was “too heavy” and the theme was not fitting (tending more towards a “skateboarder” theme then a “blogging” theme). Ok… so it was onto design #3. Time to tone down the “craziness” and add some “class” back in. I decided to use a watercolor color theme to achieve a “light and classy” texture while maintaining a sense of randomness (some what like the first design – except with a dose of color):

I felt like the design was lacking something, but I couldn’t figure it out. That is when I turned to the “crazy” team for their suggestion. They commented that the banner was lacking character and that it didn’t represent the chaotic nature of our characters, so… SIGH…. back to the drawing board for the FORTH time.

This time, I was determined to make something that is classy and chaotic at the same time. The idea was to build a banner (in a controlled collage style) out of elements which represented our blog. After hunting countless hours in google images, the final design is what you see as the current banner. When I was finished with the design, I didn’t really care what other team members had to say because #1 I wasn’t going to do another redesign, and #2 I liked it enough myself. Luckily, all the members except for crazyKidas liked the designed. Too bad crazyKidas, you were voted OUT! She complained that the objects used in the banner didn’t match together. Too bad for her, she can suck my toe!

The Launch:

Since the launch date was close to my birthday, I decided that I can use 1 cake to serve 2 purposes (I am on a budget): my birthday and the site launch event. So I ordered a cake which said “Congratulations” on it:

Everyone was asking me why I had “Congratulations” on my birthday cake. My response was “because you can congratulate me on making it far!”. They didn’t know that my real purpose was to save money. Well, I guess if you are reading this, then now you know. Any-whoooo Congrats to myself (and a little credit to the team) for launching Nothin’Crazie! WooHooo!

From the clueless “Technical Expert” crazyC:

Prolog
Being a successful professional, I have very little time to be involved in such nonsense like a ‘crazy’ blog. Having delivered countless Web 2.0 presentations to key industry leaders, I was approached by crazyPyxo to help develop his blog site. I was hesitant. I knew my visions of a great blog would hit road blocks when dealing with crazyPyxo’s abrasive attitude. However, my heart melted, as his constant cries for help echoed through the night.

How it started
Understanding all the excellent blogging platforms in existence, I suggested to use Wordpress. Not only is it an industry recognized platform, it is also highly extensible and flexible for customizations. I knew that crazyPyxo would want to develop his own design and theme. His initial reaction was quote “OMG EWWW NO. THIS IS UGLY, WHAT A PIECE OF CRAP, MY BLOG IS NOT USING THAT”.

From the Fabulous Fashion Connoisseur crazyDiva:

High fashion, designer handbags and Jimmy Choos have always been a passion of crazyDiva’s. With the countless amount of fashion blogs out there, crazyDiva and the rest of the crazyCrew hope to bring you a blog with an edge like no others. We will not hold back our opinions, we will diss those poorly styled who deserve to know that they are ugly, and we will show respect and share with the public those stylish mamas that are worthy of our praise. crazyDiva will bring you high-end designer style in a whole new light and you will never settle for cheapness again.

From the clumsy “Teenage Looking Educator” crazyChiquita

From teaching children about Anne Frank to teaching children not to play with their mucus crazyChiquita always has numerous exciting encounters with life’s ups and downs. With her love for Japanese Fashion, Baking, making crafts and questioning social norms and differences in human beings, she brings a multi-dynamic view to this blog. CrazyChquia will bring a dose of her corky and witty flare to this crazy blog which complements her personality quite well.