Oaksterdam University for Chronicle of Higher Education

I spent a day making photos at Oaksterdam University for Chronicle of Higher Education a few weeks ago. Oaksterdam University, America's first cannabis college, teaches all aspects of the cannabis industry so that students are prepared to find work in one of the hundreds of dispensaries in California or to start their own business. I'm pretty unfamiliar with this scene so it was great to get exposed to a new world, and everyone was super friendly.



















Photos by Alison Yin

Taiwanese New Year

A couple of weeks ago, my good friend Emilie took me to an annual Taiwanese New Year celebration in a downtown Oakland loft/warehouse. It was an impressive event - great food, fire dancing and a Bollywoodesque play with lots of interesting costumes - all coordinated by Jennie Chuang.

It was nice to take photos just for fun, which I haven't done in quite awhile. One camera, one lens, no deadlines... and the most beautiful tiger I've ever seen!

Photos by Alison Yin

Nikki Kellogg

About a month ago, I was approached to put together an aspiring dancer's portfolio. Nikki Kellogg, 22, is planning to move to L.A. to audition and make a push for being a dancer, and she said she needed a portfolio to show around. This was an entirely new project for me, and we spent quite a bit of time planning our shoots and what kind of photos she wanted to showcase her looks and talent. We did a combination of "studio-esque" shots with dancing in the street and more traditional head shots. Nikki was really wonderful to work with, which made my job a whole lot easier. Here are just a few of the photos that we made prints of for her final portfolio. Photos by Alison Yin

Oakland Community Acupuncture

My friends and acupuncturists, Ky and Chris run Oakland Community Acupuncture, OCA. These guys are fantastic! They are very professional and when I am there I just want to hang out. Last year they hired me to shoot some images for them for the new website that they were building. Well, the website is up and you can check it out here.

Oakland Police Vigil Part II

I'm a bit behind on things lately as I've had a lot going on with the wedding business, and I'm also working as a contract photographer for Oakland Community Organizations.

Here are some of my photos, just little vignettes, from the Oakland city vigil for the four police officers who were killed back in March. Photos by Alison Yin

Oakland Officer Vigil

The officers who gave their lives in the service of the citizens of Oakland are heros. I hope that this sounds a sea change for the streets of Oakland. The violence needs to stop. The system is broken. I have hope that we can fix it.











Photos by Adm Golub

Flowers, more flowers

John Bos grows and sells tulip and daffodils on the corner of Oakdale Road and Claribel road in Modesto, Calif. on March 21, 2009. Everywhere I looked the past couple of days it was flowers, the signs of spring. (Adm Golub/ The Modesto Bee)




This Silver Waves camilla, top and Lady Pamela were winners at the Camellia Society of Modesto's 48th annual Open Camilla show in Modesto, Calif. on March 21, 2009. (Adm Golub/ The Modesto Bee)




And lastly here are some flowers on my street in Oakland.(Adm Golub)