Dining at Tolani Wine Restaurant

Last month, I kept busy by double booking some of my days. Chris and I started our day with capturing some footage for SHAPE magazine and Donna Kim, this time at Stuart Weitzman's Madison Avenue store. But after the review, I had to grab my bag and run through the rain with my assistant for the night, Rey, to hustle up to the Upper West Side for the opening of Tolani, a new wine restaurant on Amsterdam Avenue. Josie Zohny of WeRoqq PR was there to greet us in from the rain and we were honored to be some of the first to taste the food on Tolani's menu. I think a general consensus between the group agree, you must try their meatball! They have many delectable dishes on their menu and of course, great vino (wine).

Here are some photos from their Opening Night.

To check out the rest of the photos from the night, visit their gallery or their facebook fan page album!

Camera settings: It was pretty dark, limited to candle light and dim lighting so I had my aperture wide open and ISO turned way up. I went as slow as possible with my shutter speed without causing a blurry shake effect since all my shots were not locked down. I used a combination of a f/1.2 50mm prime and a f/1.4 24mm prime for wider shots. I knew I would need all the stops I could get before I even got there (past experiences) and I was right. The down side of the aperture wide open was the extremely shallow depth of field. I would've preferred some of the shots to be much flatter without sacrificing angle or distance. I had a speed light on hand, but it really took away from the beauty the ambient lighting was providing. The only thing that could've improved the shots were longer exposures but things were happening quickly and the place was packed so to lock down the camera would've been out of the question.

Joanna Jojo Levesque Shoot

Last month, we posted that Shukmei of WeRoqq PR managed to get us a nice write up on Just Jared Jr. website of our bracelet photo shoot for She's The First with Interscope recording artist, Joanna "Jojo" Levesque. The shoot started with us taking product photography of the She's The First bracelets designed by Asha Patel. We then took photos with Jojo wearing the bracelets. The shoot was fun and laid back since Jojo is very easy going and a pleasure to be around. Our team for that day was also amazingly efficient. We ended with a PSA in which Jojo spoke about why she supports She's The First. We got it in only three takes, giving us time to have a little fun and take a few group shots to end the shoot. If you would like to support She's the First and wear one of these bracelets, you can get one from She's The First gifts.

From left to right: Jeff Chastain (hair), Franklyn Bonfante (CI), Tammy Tibbetts (STF), Reinaldo Irizarry (stylist), Jojo, Chris Vongsawat (CI), Cynthia Hellen (STF), Ivy Ermert (MUA)

Camera Settings: Product was taken with a Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens; Jojo's photos, the PSA video and group shots were taken with the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L II IS USM Telephoto Zoom Lens. The video was recorded at 24fps at 1/50 shutter.

Chamber Images Featured on Just Jared Jr

Recently, Chamber Images got together again with She's the First after the awesome Girls Who Rock event to shoot some of their new bracelets to help promote their charity. The surprise is that they had Interscope Recording Artist, Joanna "Jojo" Levesque come to our studio to wear it. It was a great time had by all and a really easy, laid back shoot. WeRoqq PR was on the scene and snapped a few photos which they pitched to Just Jared Jr. and the good people over at Just Jared Jr. put them up for all to see. Check it out!

http://justjaredjr.buzznet.com/2010/09/17/jojo-shes-the-first-supporter/

Grand Opening: Union Square TGI Friday's

Josephine Zohny of WeRoqq PR invited me to cover another grand opening, but this time of a well known restaurant chain. TGI Friday's just opened it's doors to the public yesterday in Union Square, New York. Here are some photos of the ribbon cutting ceremony.

Chamber Images Photo: New York Times

Recently, we were invited to cover the grand opening of Who A.U.'s brand new flagship clothing store on 34th St. in Manhattan across from Macy's. All we were expecting was to have a great time taking photos and footage of the event, but it came with its bonuses. I'd again like to thank Josephine Zohny of WeRoqq PR for inviting us and making all of this possible.

Get today's edition of the New York Times, May 20th, 2010, Thursday Styles section, page E4!

Check out the article: Front Row - WHO.A.U., a Korean Chain, Pursues U.S. Teenagers - NYTimes.com

You have to admit, that caption looks pretty good.

Grand Opening: Who.A.U Flagship Store

On Wednesday, May 12th, WeRoqq PR invited us to cover the grand opening of the WHO.A.U flagship store @ 22 W. 34th St. in Manhattan. My favorite PARTs model/DJ, Ms. Farrah Sabado was spinning the turntables with awesome beats, there were lots of hor dourves and drinks, plenty of fresh, young faces helping out customers and there was even a BEAR! The great symbol of California of course. The whole shindig was sponsored by Z100 and Time Out New York. We had a great time and lots of photos and footage to boot! Here's a taste of the event.

Camera settings: f 2.8-4.0 1/50-100 iso:640-1000