Smile, It's the Best Makeup - Los Angeles Transformational Beauty Photographer

On one of the expeditions in the Antarctica trip, a group of girls asked me to make a photograph for them with the beautiful glacier as the background.

I immediately went into portrait photographer mode and the next thing I heard myself say surprised (or rather, impressed) even the most critical me - "Smile, it's the best makeup!"

I've long believed in being authentic in what I do and this "incident" is further proof for that.   It was not preconceived, so it must have come from what I truly believe.  You think a trip to Cagliari, Sardegna, witnessing the religious procession of Festa di Sant'Efisio might have put the thought into my head? 

They say "a picture is worth a thousand words".  I'm going to show you two thousands words.  I hope you see the point clearly demonstrated by them.  These were made on the first day of Festa di Sant'Efisio, where thousands of people from villages and towns of the whole island were in the procession, dressed in traditional costumes.

A. With a smile:

Girl-in-Traditional-Costume-Festa-di-san'Efisio-Cagliari-Sardegna-Italy-Copyright-Jean-Huang-Photography

B. With no smile:

Woman-in-Traditional-Costume-Festa-di-san'Efisio-Cagliari-Sardegna-Italy-Copyright-Jean-Huang-Photography

Now, do you or do you not agree, smile is the best makeup?  

A Mother is a Mother is a Mother - Los Angeles Travel Photographer

It's that time of the year again.  Since 1657, May 1st marks the beginning of a four-day religious procession, Festa di Sant'Efisio (The Feast of Saint Efisio, in English), starting and ending in Cagliari, the capital city of Sardegna, Italy.  

To say it's a colorful event would be an understatement.  Close to 4,000 (some source says 5,500) men, women and children from every town and village of the island will be among the procession, dressed in traditional costumes.  It's not only the most important religious procession of Cagliari, but also the largest in the Mediterranean.

You know it's an important event when you see all members of the family, including babies, in the procession.  You also know it's important when people dress in their most beautiful traditional costumes, all made by themselves.

So, on May 1st, when the time approaches 10:00 am, everybody should be ready for the Saint.  But wait, nobody is ready unless the mom says so.  In fact, there's quite a few moms there on site, demonstrating perfectly what a mom is best at.  

Mom-and-Son-Festa-di-san'Efisio-Cagliari-Sardegna-Italy-Copyright-Jean-Huang-Photography

Salute to all the moms out there, the moms that don't and won't take a break no matter what.  A mom is a mom.  Happy Mother's Day!

Is There only Penguins in Antarctica? - Los Angeles Travel Photographer

As I've mentioned in this Instagram post, "there's no time for down time" on this Antarctica trip.  Sometimes, it means having to finish dinner quickly, in spite of yummy food and interesting conversation, to meet the school of humpback whales.  

Humpback-Whale-Flukes-Antarctica-Copyright-Jean-Huang-Photography

At first, it seemed that we were the ones approaching these whales, which newly arrived from their wintering grounds off the west coast of South and Central America.  Their skin glitter under the setting sun while we witnessed them porpoise ahead of us.  Soon, we realized that they were the ones in control, especially the three that could be circling the ship in one minute and playing hide-and-seek the next.  Our eyes looked hard into the ocean as if our vision could peel through the cold and dark surface.  Just as we thought we got a hang of knowing where they show up next, a very showy one decided to raise its "hand" to say hi, only then to flap hard into the water.  And he'd do it again and again, as we exclaimed in awe.   What a flirt! :-)

Humpback-Whale-Waving-Pectoral-Fin-Antarctica-Copyright-Jean-Huang-Photography

Now, the parting question I have for you is, based on this graph, are these the same whales that we have seen in the Pacific ocean off of California lately?  And why?