a.N.N.a

Happy Bday to me!

photo@annamunandar.com (Anna Munandar) — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 07:42:00 +0000

Thank you so much for those who wished me Happy Birthday. I really appreciate it. You guys rock. :)

So I had a very nice birthday dinner and party with my awesome friends. Thanks for the awesome time, guys.
Here are a couple of photos from the party:

Spring Break

photo@annamunandar.com (Anna Munandar) — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 07:50:00 +0000

This Spring semester has been super intense for me. Taking more classes that usual and getting more gigs than before too; which is very good tho a bit overwhelming sometimes. So spring break is coming up. I just can't wait to get away from the stress of school and work.

Me and a couple of good friends have been talking about going on a trip to Grand Canyon and Utah for this spring break. I was excited, but I wasn't super excited since I wasn't completely sure what I'm going to photograph. After researching on the possible sites to visit, I came across a few photos from Arizona that I bookmarked long time ago. I remember right away that this is what I've been wanting to photograph since I saw the pictures. btw, those pictures are of from Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend. I know Antelope Canyon is a little bit overdone, but I just can't resist the beauty of it. It is just breathtaking for me. So, you can say it's overdone; I would not care. I'm now really looking forward for this trip more than ever; in another word(s): super excited! :)

Unfortunately we will only have less than a week, so after (sort of) planning the trip, we decided to eliminate Grand Canyon and just go to Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, Monument Valley and stopping by Las Vegas on the way back. I hate to cross Grand Canyon out, but I think we got a lot on our plate already, so that's okay. I hope I'll get back with a few awesome shots. :)

Art Center Pasadena

photo@annamunandar.com (Anna Munandar) — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 07:36:00 +0000

My day today started with a trip to the dentist and followed by a tour around Art Center College of Design. I plan to transfer to the college in about a year. Art Center Pasadena is the world's top design school. They have excellent graphic design program. Even before the tour, I knew that the school life there is tough, but the tour definitely convinced me even more so. This will be challenging, but hey, challenging life is way better than boring life.

Another program they offer that wowed me was their Transportation Design program. Their student's portfolio is just awesome. It made me really interested in that program before I went back to the reality of my lack of drawing skill. I actually just read this:"...over half of the world's automotive designers graduated from Pasadena's Art Center College of Design". How neat is that?

Annaliese's Birthday Party

photo@annamunandar.com (Anna Munandar) — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 19:50:00 +0000

Photos from Annaliese's Birthday Party on Santa Monica Pier.

Talking Cat & Dog

photo@annamunandar.com (Anna Munandar) — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 22:33:00 +0000

Flood in Jakarta

photo@annamunandar.com (Anna Munandar) — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 21:16:00 +0000

Rain has been pouring very heavy for a few days in my hometown Jakarta, Indonesia. Our house in Jakarta is flooded up the waist at this moment. The flooding has killed at least 5 people and has left over 100,000 people homeless. My mum is home with our maid , our dog Brownie and 2 puppies. My dad just got back in Jakarta from a business trip this morning. But he couldn't get home due to the flood, so he is staying in the airport. Please send good energy to them and everybody who's effected by the flood. Thank you.

Snow in LA

photo@annamunandar.com (Anna Munandar) — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 21:49:00 +0000

Just a few hours after I post the last post, it got even colder here. When I came home in the evening, I saw in the news that Malibu was covered in snow. That is so cool. I hate cold, I really do, but when it's really cold I think the only good news would be snow. And that's what happened in Malibu. Too bad I missed it.

And now, two days later, it's almost 75 F out there. It's even too hot to wear a sweater. Isn't 40 to 75 a little too big of a jump in only 48 hours? This is bizarre.

When did we switch weathers with Europe?

photo@annamunandar.com (Anna Munandar) — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 00:47:00 +0000

Why is it freezing here in California when it is warm in Europe? When did we agree on switching weathers? I want the warmth back....

Meet The Cancilla Family

photo@annamunandar.com (Anna Munandar) — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 00:37:00 +0000

Also check out the website I made for the krazee family. :)
www.fartdaddy.com

Brand Spankin' New!

photo@annamunandar.com (Anna Munandar) — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 10:41:00 +0000

Alrite guys. I finally finished with the redesigning of my website. I hope you guys like the new design. It now has a new flash section for my graphic design portfolio. I should be adding a web design section soon.

Due to this recent re-design, some of the url you have from some time ago might not work; maybe you bookmarked it or found a link from another site or blog. If that's the case, just go to the main page and go from there.

This whole site is designed from (almost) stratch by me. No templates used except for the copy & paste-ing some javascripts and flash codes. I'm open for comments and suggestions. You can email me at photo@annamunandar.com.

I also registered another domain just to make it easier for many of you who can't spell my last name. :) The new domain name is www.minianna.com. Easy,right? At this moment, the content is the same. I might change my mind later time and have different content. Of course, I will still have the annamunandar.com along with many others.

Enjoy......

Santorini

photo@annamunandar.com (Anna Munandar) — Sun, 20 Aug 2006 11:24:00 +0000

Hi all,

I'm in Santorini Island at the moment. It's a beautiful Island in Greece known for the amazing sunset. Stuck here for a few days longer than I expected because it's super holiday here in Greece and everybody goes back at the same time unfortunately. But Santorini is beautiful, I don't mind staying here a bit longer. Although this means that my stay in Italy will be shorter. Only have about 4 days for Italy if everything goes as planned. That sucks a lot, but oh well. I'll try to make the best out of it.

Greece so far has been interestingly different. The elevator/lift is bizarre. It don't have extra door that close so you can see the doors and walls doing down when you go up. A bit freaky at first. One thing that I'm not so fond of is that the fact that everybody smokes here. But what interesting about it is that instead of buying the ready to smoke cigarette, the buy separate things and make it their own. They said it's for economical reason.

In Santorini, people walk a whole lot. Most of the time it's up and down the hill. A lot of houses are up on the hill so you have to go up the hill by foot cos most of the time it's not accessible by car. I'm pretty much sick of it by now. I miss my lazy lifestyle where I drive just to go to the shop around the corner.

Year 2007

photo@annamunandar.com (Anna Munandar) — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 09:05:00 +0000

Happy New Year everyone. It's 2007 now. I don't know if I should be happy or sad that the year gone by this fast. A lot of things have happened in 2006. Some good and bad things. I had great adventure, made many new friends, met some old friends last year. I hope to have even better adventure, make some more new friends, get to meet some old friends again this year.

I also hope I can finish my study in Santa Monica College this year, get very good scholarship and transfer to Art Center Pasadena. Wish me luck.

Whatever your wishes for the new year are, I sure hope they will come true. Good luck and Happy New Year once again.

Baby Elephant Seals for Christmas

photo@annamunandar.com (Anna Munandar) — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 09:00:00 +0000

I spent Christmas in Carmel and Monterey the next day. It was my first time in the area. Carmel is a pretty nice fancy town with lots of fancy art galleries. I wonder how the artists make their money since I don't think all of them sell that many paintings to cover the rent for their elegant galleries.

I had a pretty nice Christmas Eve dinner at a restaurant called “Hog’s Breath” in Eastwood buildings. Food is not the greatest, but the atmosphere is very nice.

Christmas day was shooting day for me. I went to Monterey to shoot the sea lions. I wanted to go to the aquarium, but I don’t think it was open on Christmas day. Point Lobos was the next destination. Love that place. The shooting day ended with an experiment with long exposure on the waves after sunset.

On the way back to Los Angeles, I stopped by San Simeon State Park near the Hearst Castle. I can smell the odor from the parking lot. Guess what’s there? Elephant seals! Yay! If you know me, you probably know how I love watching animals. Even better, there were quite a few newborn babies. They are so adorable; they made my Christmas.

Re post: Film vs Digital

photo@annamunandar.com (Anna Munandar) — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 04:29:00 +0000

For those of you who didn't read the response of the Film vs Digital post.

ruby_soho said:
"...i just want to share similar insights on the "analogue-digital divide"...i've heard almost similar criticisms against digital film/video-making from the "purists." they say that the art of filmmaking is going down the drain because of digital video. its sad cos i'm into filmmaking and i teach video prod. classes in college and i see so much potential in kids these days, so much stories...it's only right for them to use whatever medium is at hand. technology is there for their taking. i dont see why digital should be perceived as an inferior medium if it empowers them to express themselves. ..."

Ruby, your comment is definitely on track. I too started taking photo because the technology (digital camera) made it easier for me to take pictures, see the result and learn right away.

If it wasn't because of digital camera, I don't think I would start taking pictures (or at least not at that time anyway.) And that means I might have never found my talent in photography. That would be an absolute waste.

I was only 19 when I was introduced to (digital) photography. Before then, I didn't know what I'm good at. Photography has made my life a lot happier. It also gave me self-confident. It felt good to know that I have something to be proud at.

Digital cameras also speed up the process of learning for me. In only two and a half years, my photography has come from zero to where it stands now. I don't think I would have learned as fast without digital cameras.

Photomom said:
"...I came from shooting film. I went digital and don't think I'll ever look back."

Photomom, you're not the only one. I'm not saying that digital photography is better that film photography. Absolutely not. It's depends on what you want to achieve and what medium you're most comfortable with. Each has advantages and disadvantages. So let those "purists" do whatever they want and let us enjoy what technology has to offer. :)

Film Vs Digital

photo@annamunandar.com (Anna Munandar) — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 21:29:00 +0000

I went to a photo expo a few days ago and met someone who is against digital photography. He kept bragging that he does everything in the camera, nothing in the computer. "Digital manipulation is more like painting than photography," he said. I respect people who are really into film photography. But I have no respect for those who don't respect photographers who do digital.

It's like those people who always ride bicycles and don't respect people who ride motorcycles. Does it really matter what we use? Aren't we all going towards the same goal? If you like using 35mm film cameras better than using digital cameras, that's totally fine; no one has a problem with that. But don't disrespect those who like using digital cameras.

To be honest, I like many of the photos he showed. I think those were wonderful and very inspirational. But to me, some of his photographs have some obvious flaws that can easily be removed in photoshop. I think he got so into bragging that he does everything in the camera that he doesn't seems to realize that he can get better results if he uses a little bit of photoshop. It's like, if you're late to work and you have the option of using a bicycle or motorbike, which one would you take?