TOMMY SHIH PHOTOGRAPHY

[phone ringing]
Oh, Jenn Hee
Me: What up HEE?
Jenn: Heeeyyyyy SHIIIHHHH
Me: Hey, how’s it going?
Jenn: Good! Remember when you told me you’d do anything for me and you’d charge me zero dollars?!
Me:  Vaguely…I think there were some qualifiers to that statement, but sure.
Jenn: Perfect! Because we can’t pay you. But do you want to shoot Charlyne Yi for our cover?
[Furious Googling ensues]
Jenn: The stoned girl in Knocked up and she’s in (and wrote) Paper Heart with Michael Cera. She’s all sorts of nerdy awkward awesomeness!
Me: Um…nerdy awkward awesomeness? Sign me up!

It’s always good to see your work in print, even if it’s electronic print. Especially if it’s for a good purpose. The cover in question was for the Hawaii Women’s Journal, which is a non-profit publication that provides a platform for women writers to showcase their talents. I was honored when my good friend, and Editor-in Chief, Jennifer Hee brought me on to shoot the cover for their second issue. Jenn’s fellow Harvard Alum and burgeoning food blogger Jennifer Rogers conducted the hilarious interview. In between laughs I managed to snap off a series of semi-action shots during the interview to establish what it’s like to talk to Charlyne. She was unguarded and honest, and seemed to vacillate between enthusiastic navigation of subject matter that she was familiar with, and slightly flustered consternation over tricky pop culture topics of which she had limited knowledge (definitely by choice!).

At the end of the interview I asked Charlyne if I could have a few more minutes of her time and she graciously agreed. I positioned her by the window and put my eye to the viewfinder when I I heard:

I feel like this the real photo shoot part now. Is this where you tell me to be sexy? Do you tell people to be sexy? I don’t really do that. I can do mad!

Quote of the day.

Which is how we got this:

Mad

Nothing, though, can fully explain this:

Mad with coffee

Here’s one final image that didn’t make the cut for the spread, but I thought really showed Charlyne’s personality

To see the photos that did make publication and read the entirety of Jenn Rogers’ interview with Charlyne, please visit the Hawaii Women’s Journal site and view it in all of its full-screen glory!

Linkorama:

Hawaii Women’s Journal: http://hawaiiwomensjournal.com/
Jennifer Hee’s blog, 30 is the new awesome.: http://jennmeleana.wordpress.com/
Jennifer Hee makes delicious baked goods at health (rabbit) food deli Kale’s Natural Foods in Hawaii Kai. Follow them on twitter to find out goodies are on tap for the day, made from exotic ingredients that I have no hope of pronouncing such as kale, quinoa, and something called fejoida: http://twitter.com/KalesNatFoods
Jennifer Roger’s Domestic Divas food blog: http://www.domesticdivasblog.com/
Charlyne Yi’s Myspace Page: http://www.myspace.com/charlyneyi