It’s been seven months since I proclaimed to the world that I want to become a photographer and since then I’ve scoured the internet, looking for various sources of inspiration. One of the photographers that I found, whose style I love is Alice Gao. I’m used to taking pictures of my family, I find it incredibly difficult to take photos of still life objects, or people interacting with objects. Gao makes it look effortless.
It stated, “If you’re not one of her 990,000 Instagram followers, maybe you’ve come across Alice Gao’s signature photo style in publications like The New York Times’ T Magazine or Kinfolk. With a sharp focus on dynamic travel shots, well-lit food snaps, and unique still-life photos, we can see how she’s accrued so many fans.”
I liked this Q&A: One of your favorite photo subjects is travel. What are some tips for making those types of shots less touristy and more intentional?
“It’s a lot of patience: waiting for the right moment, the right light, or the right subject to walk through the frame to help tell a better story.”
Here are some of my favorite shots from Gao’s portfolio. Make sure to follow her on Instagram for more swoon-worthy shots. She makes life look like art. (As if her talent for photography wasn’t enough, her personal style is amazing, too.)
This past weekend, my extended family all packed our bags and headed to Palos Verdes. We stayed one night at Terranea, a Mediterranean-style, oceanfront resort. It was my first time staying there. My sister, Grace, recommended the place, she had come a few weeks earlier for a staycation of her own with just her family. We had an amazing time, the kids loved playing in the pool (they have four) and hiking to the beach. At one of the pools, there was a fast slide, for the older kids, and a splash pad for the younger ones. When we first got there, the husbands all changed into their swimsuits and headed to the adult only pool and spa. My favorite part? On Monday morning, I enjoyed a (free!) morning yoga session with my sisters.
We were suppose to stay in three separate rooms, one for each family, but at check-in Grace asked for an upgrade. Luckily, they obliged and we got placed in a three bedroom villa. (Score!) The villa had a huge kitchen, three big bedrooms and three bathrooms. The best part was that the kids got to maximize their time with each other.
The only bad thing about this place was that the main pool was packed. Apparently lots of people had the same idea as us, staying at a resort on Labor Day weekend. Otherwise, it was the perfect trip! Compared to Pelican Hill in OC, Terranea’s villa was about 25% bigger and the grounds at Terranea are huge. Unfortunately, the “beach” is too rocky, you can’t really play in the waves. You walk there just to enjoy the view or check out the large sea cave.
This place is great if you’re looking for a beachfront staycation in Los Angeles. You have a lot of options in south OC (Montage, Pelican Hill, Ritz Carlton), this is one of the only ones in Los Angeles.
Now here are some pictures.
As we were waiting to check-in, I gathered some of the kids together. Hunter, my niece’s dog, came along, too! (They are a pet friendly property, you just have to pay a fee.)
Palos Verdes is a full 1 and 1/2 hour drive from our place. Logan slept all the way so was a little drowsy when we got there.
The best thing about the resort is that it’s oceanfront. The views are spectacular.
Check-in is at 4pm but our villa was already by the time we finished lunch. We ate at Nelson’s, one of the restaurants on the hotel’s grounds. It was a bit pricey but everything was tasty.
After lunch, we hung out on the grounds. These are the two oldest kids, Evan and Berry, checking out the view. It’s cute how they stick together.
Sam couldn’t help but sneak some bunny ears on my nephew, Evan.
We checked into our villa and my sister, Grace, relaxed with Hunter on the couch.
My poor nephew, Riverton, was sick. He was a trooper to still come along.
The hotel’s grounds are really beautiful. There’s a lot of walking from place to place, or you can take one of the hotel’s shuttles. Here, Parker was excited to go to the pool.
These are my three nephews warming up by the fireplace after taking a dip in the pool. Some of the kids were roasting marshmallows. Nearby, they were playing Big Hero 6 on an inflatable outdoor screen. We didn’t watch but I thought it was a nice touch.
After the pool, we hiked to a really cool cove.
My kids were a little too young to hike into the sea cave but the older kids did. That’s my nephew, Bobby, coming out of the cave.
Sammy took Logan down to touch the water.
My brother-in-law, Keith, sweetly held Parker and took him down, too.
This is one of my favorite pictures. My nephew, Evan, loves horsing around with Parker. It’s cute how they play.
Who needs toys? We put the living room couches together and Parker would jump from one of the ledges into his cousins’ arms.
Our friends, Kat and Kevin, also came along. Here’s Kat next to my sister, Grace, and their dog Hunter.
Kat and Kevin let me take a picture of them kissing. I love how the cabana perfectly frames them.
The boys loved the fast slide! Check out the expression on my nephew, Grayson’s, face.
At the pool, Berry, my niece, gave Hunter a sweet kiss on the head.
After we put the kids to bed, the adults stayed up all night chatting away. It was a little hard for Sam to get up the next morning. Here’s Logan giving him a wake-up cuddle.
I came across this series, Rain, by photographer Yoshinori Mizutani and was immediately struck by the compositions. At a simple black and white crosswalk, Mizutani captures people walking by with their colorful umbrellas and a yellow taxi passing by.
“I always thought of rain as something gloomy and unpleasant,” he states. “One day, however, I stepped out into the city and realized how rain can alter our everyday landscape. Even the most mundane details such as wet ground and rain drops can reveal a whole new world to us if we observe them from a slightly different angle. ‘Rain’ is one of my continuing attempts to present a new perspective and interpretation towards our often overlooked daily phenomenon.”
This year, Philippines-based illustrator Kerby Rosanes decided to create an amazing new series that fuses geometric shapes with animals. Rosanes is known for his wild doodles that fill up whole pages of his sketchbook. This series, called Geometric Beasts, consists of illustrations that are more precise, half of an image resembles a normal looking animal and the other half consists of sharp, triangular shapes.
What does the series mean to him?
He states, “Each piece is my take on breaking away from societal norms and just be who we truly are as unique individuals. I grew up in a community (and probably most people are) where your value as a person is based on various metrics and calculations just for you to qualify in a society that other people dictates you to be in. This ‘measured’ life deprives us to take risks, to follow our passions and to do what we truly love.
“I use geometry to symbolize the norms and simply because it’s the only math subject I enjoyed at school (lol). I always love drawing animals and in this case, they represent the concept of unleashing the ‘beast’ within us – risk taker, wild and adventurous.”
It had been a while since we hiked Santa Rosa Plateau so, yesterday, we packed up the kids and headed to our favorite trail. We call it the “fairy tale” trail because the path resembles something you’d see in a fairy tale book – the trees’ branches hang in this particularly beautiful way. It was nice and empty. We only ran into some bikers towards the end of the hike. Here are a few pictures. (I’m glad I snapped a shot of the boys hugging.)
I love keeping up with the current trends but I’m always reluctant about trying them. This one has piqued my interest, it’s called hidden rainbow hair. Your hair looks (almost) perfectly normal on top until you put it up or braid it. Think a 40-year-old could pull this off, though? I personally love it with the cotton candy pink color hair on top and the hidden rainbow colored hair hidden underneath.
London is leading the craze with Not Another Salon, located in the heart of Brick lane, London, being credited as one of its founders. The video of the hair falling is especially mesmerizing.
As you may know, one of my very favorite artists of all time is Audrey Kawasaki. (Inside my home, Audrey Kawasaki, Stella Im Hultberg and Amy Sol paintings all hang on my walls.) Audrey has the ability to paint the female form in this innocent yet sultry way. She just released her latest piece and it’s absolutely gorgeous! Called “Lush,” the painting was created for the Suggestivism:Resonance exhibition at Spoke Art gallery in San Francisco. The show opens tonight and will run until September 24. More works in this exhibition will be released tomorrow, Friday, September 2nd. Can’t wait!
This past weekend, my family got together to celebrate August Birthdays (mine and Sam’s, we both just turned 40). We hung out at my sister’s place, she has this great community pool so we soaked up some sun while we watched the kids splash around. My sister, Grace, just adopted a rescue dog named Hunter, he’s an adorable new addition to our family, so chill, we caught him sneaking upstairs and sleeping in one of the kid’s beds. As a special surprise, Grace went all the way to Pizzeria Mozza in Newport Beach to pick up the ultimate dessert, butterscotch budino. Talk about melt in your mouth!
I was so happy; I got to run around with my camera and snap some shots of the day.
What’s a happy birthday sign without some pictures of your dogs on it.
Logan was all smiles that day.
My sister, Carol, with her husband Burt.
Berry, my niece, holding some of our balloons.
Parker and my nephew, Riverton. I’m glad they have each other.
The closest we come to a family picture. (I like how Parker posed.)
My brother-in-law, Keith, jumping into the pool with his daughter, Berry.
Hello, I’m Alice Yoo! I’m founder and CEO of Skylar Yoo, a company dedicated to inspiring and empowering women to be bold. We sell apparel, art prints and accessories to the modern feminist.
In my former life, I was editor-in-chief of the art and culture blog My Modern Met, which I founded back in 2007. I curated and wrote about art, design and photography for more than seven years. (In fact, I published over 7,000 articles which were seen by millions of people worldwide.) I’m also co-author of a book called For Love: 25 Heartwarming Celebrations of Humanity, which is on Amazon and wherever books are sold.
I live in southern California along with my husband and my two toddler boys.
This blog is about what I love, the tough experiences that I’ve learned from, and my journey as a second time entrepreneur. Right now, I’m in the midst of a 365 day challenge, to read one book a day. If you share my passions or want to learn some cool new facts, come along for the ride. I hope to inspire, educate and entertain you!
