2VIE - Art Auction Benefit & Exhibition July 9th, 2011

2VIE – Silent Art Auction Benefit Event is organized to help cover our dear friend Vee Vitanza’s remaining medical bills from his acoustic neuroma brain tumor surgery. Please join us to celebrate life, its endurance and  the friendships… that help us go through it all.


P.S. Our studio has donated a one hour photography session valued at $400 that will be part of the auction to help raise money. 
So come on down and help support a much needed cause while you shop for some beautiful art.


See you there!!




More info at: http://vartmuse.wordpress.com


Event Date: Saturday July 9th, 2011
Fees: Free to the public
Event location: Leanna Lin's Wonderland
Address: 5024 Eagle Rock Blvd, Los Angeles CA 90041
Tel: 323.550.1332

CicLAvia: 10/10/10

Hey cycling peeps of LA. Dust off your bike and come on out to ride 7.5 scenic miles on the streets of LA on Oct 10, 2010 from 10am to 3pm. The 7.5 miles route will be completely shut down for social integration and no cars will be allowed. CicLAvia will be open to all walks of life including bikes, pedestrians, strollers, skateboarders, roller skaters, dance troops, dog walkers, street artist, etc. I hope we will bump into a breakdancing battle just like the old days with the brown paper cardboard on the pavement so the dancers can perform those fancy head spin moves. This is an experimental event just like the ones that was in NYC and Columbia where for a few hours, the city has rezoned the streets for the community usage and enjoy the area without cars. Wooo hoooo!


More info:
http://www.ciclavia.org/

AltCar Expo 2010 & Steven Lam Photography

we are so excited and honored to announce Steven Lam Photography will be the official photographer for the Alternative Energy & Transportation Expo aka AltCar Expo. Here at Steven Lam Photography we are very passionate about alternative energy usage. We ride our 100% electric Vectrix Maxi-Scooter to work. We also love to ride our hybrid Giant bicycle and our Sanyo Eneloop electric bicycle to our studio. Our electric scooter and bikes have helped reduce our gas guzzling car usage down big time. We have reduced carbon footprint ourselves simply by alternating our mode of transportation on a weekly basis. About 90% of our local errands are now being done on our bikes like the groceries shopping, going to the farmer's market, pharmacy, picking up take out, and even the hardware store, etc. We are not only saving money on gas, we are also reducing the wear and tear of our cars. Best part, we are having a ton of fun riding our bikes around town with the added side affect of staying fit and healthy. We are looking forward to see what AltCar Expo 2010 will bring us. Our studio will be shooting throughout the event, coverage will include press day and the general expo days from key note speakers to special guest speakers. Of course best part of it all is we will have a chance to shoot some of the worlds most advance electric advancements in the science community. Woo hooo!

This year's expo will be one of the biggest, brightest and most promising expos to date with amazing products being featured like the all new Nissan Leaf which is 100% pure electric. It's not a hybrid of any sort, Nissan has proved to the world that there is a demand for electric vehicles aka EV and Nissan is rolling the Leaf out big time with full production models available soon. You can also take a test drive on the Leaf as well. Another exciting highlight is the Mini Cooper will also be joining the green movement in style with the introduction of their own 100% electric Mini Cooper call Mini E. These are just two of the exciting highlights from the expo. There are lots of other vendors on site at the expo showing so many alternatives ways to add a bit of "green" to your life. And if new EV is not your cup of tea then there will be other vendors showcasing their gas to electric conversion models giving you ideas on how to breathe new life to your vintage car. Best of all, admission is free to the AltCar Expo making it 100% affordable to the community. So please come on down to see what's new, what's good for you and what's on the horizon of the green movement.



Nissan Leaf Test Drive / Drive Electric Tour @ AltCar Expo

https://www.drivenissanleaf.com/Event/EventDetails.aspx?eid=1


Nissanusa.com


Mini E

miniusa.com


AltCar Expo 2010 info:

Dates:
Friday and Saturday, October 1 & 2, 2010
10am to 5pm


Venue:

Santa Monica Civic Auditorium
1855 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401-3209
310-458-8551

Parking is $9.00 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium
Free bicycle valet available

altcarexpo.com

santamonicacivic.org

26th Annual California Coastal Cleanup Day

Hey peeps, Saturday September 25th, 2010 is the 26th Annual California Coastal Cleanup Day from 9am to noon. This is a much needed effort and we need all the help we can get. Last year, there were more than 80,000 volunteers that participated in the statewide beach clean up and helped removed 14 million pounds of trash. For 2010, CCCD is expecting to reach 100,000 helping hands. If you love the beach as much as we do and want to give back to mother nature, please come out to any california beaches and help pick up debris so we can all help heal the bay together. Think of this as a pay it forward with all of your future beach activities like riding your bike on the beach, picnics, volleyball, surfing, snorkeling, kayaking, paddle boarding, camping and just enjoying that wonderful walk on the beach.



More info at (800) COAST-4U or coast4u@coastal.ca.gov.
http://www.coastal.ca.gov/publiced/ccd/ccd.html

http://www.healthebay.org

http://www.signuptocleanup.org

http://www.oceanconservancy.org/site/DocServer/icc2010report_regional_CA.pdf?docID=6001

Eat My Blog / Summer Bake Sale

We had a blast over the weekend at the Eat My Blog / Summer Bake Sale event over in West Hollywood at Tender Greens. This is such a wonderful and generous event because all sales proceeds will benefit The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. Especially in today's crummy economy, this event was sweet and welcoming for the needy. We are no baker so we brought our camera to help document the event and our sweet tooth for some tasty treats.

Please click on the link below to see more photos and read about the event from Cathy at Gastromomyblog.com's review of the day. Enjoy.

http://gastronomyblog.com

Eat My Blog

Hey peeps, if you have a few minutes to spare this Saturday June 19th, please come out to support our friend Cathy Dang of Gastronomy Blog and Laurie Moore of the blog G-ma’s Bakery pet project Eat My Blog.

Eat My Blog is a giant bake sale to help benefit The LA Regional Food Bank. If you are a foodie, this is an event not to miss. Your sweet tooth will thank you for it. So come on out to help support this much needed cause for the Los Angeles community.

More info at eatmyblogla.wordpress.com

ThinkCure! Bike Challenge | Sunday Nov 14, 2010

Photo of my dad and I in Saigon, Vietnam circa 1975 chillin’ on his baby blue Vespa


The Lams have experienced 3 very tragic cancer episodes and have lost our love ones to this terrible disease. We have lost our Grandma, my father and just this past weekend our auntie Anh to cancer. This is a very sad week for the Lams, but it is also a bittersweet feeling knowing that the scientific cancer research community is gaining grounds in search of a cure for cancer for future generations. We feel so helpless witnessing our love ones in the hospital being consumed by cancer and ThinkCure! Bike Challenge is one way we can empower ourselves and help fight the battle against cancer.

To celebrate their lives, our studio has formed Team Lam to help support this cause and we hope you will find it in your heart to help this wonderful cause with your generous donation. Better yet, come join in the fun with Team Lam and ride with us to help raise more money for this cause. Any amount is appreciated. We are hoping to raise $500 and know that we can make this goal in no time. Please help us spread the word and copy the link below to your friends and help us raise our $500 goal for this wonderful cause.

Team Lam's ThinkCure! donation site: http://www.thinkcure.org/goto/teamLAM

click here >> to Join Team Lam



Q&A's

1. What is the ThinkCure! Bike Challenge?

ThinkCure! Community Ride is a 22 mile bike ride of family-friendly fun. We will cruise on the 110 freeway into Pasadena and ride on their beautiful streets and then finish the ride at Dodger Stadium. There will also be a Metric Century (63 miles) and a Century (100 miles) ride also happening on the same day.

2. When is the ThinkCure! Bike Challenge?

All three rides take place on Sunday, November 14th, 2010, while the ThinkCure! Health & Wellness Festival will begin Friday the 12th and run through Sunday the 14th of November. They'll start in the early morning, but sign up for emails and check back later for exact times!

3. Who is ThinkCure!?

ThinkCure! is an innovative, community-based nonprofit that raises funds to accelerate collaborative research to cure cancer. They rely on community support, calling on everyone in the community to get involved and make a difference in the fight against cancer. ThinkCure! is the official charity of the Los Angeles Dodgers and has already donated over $600,000.00 to the fight for a cure since its inception in 2007.

4. How Much Does it Cost to Enter the ThinkCure! Bike Challenge?

There is a $50 activation fee along with a $50 minimum fundraising commitment for the 22 mile Community Ride and a $100 activation fee and $1500 minimum fundraising commitment for the other two Challenge Rides. The ThinkCure! Bike Challenge is a community fundraiser to fight cancer, not just a cycling event.

5. Is there a Fundraising Requirement?

Yes. The Community Ride’s minimum fundraising requirement is $50 while both Challenge rides have a fundraising minimum of $1500. This is in addition to the activation fees. The main focus of the ThinkCure! Bike Challenge is to raise money to fight cancer through collaborative research at City of Hope and Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.

6. Is The ThinkCure! Bike Challenge a Charity Event?

Yes. The proceeds from the ride will go through the ThinkCure! grant process, which gives the money to collaborative cancer research at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and City of Hope.

7. What happens if I don’t meet my fundraising minimum by the recommitment date?

If you have not reached your fundraising minimum by our recommitment date, ThinkCure! will notify you and charge your credit card the remaining balance. Riders can continue to fundraise up to December 14th to reach their goal and ThinkCure! will refund the previous charge to your credit card.

8. Are donations tax deductible?

Yes. As a 501c(3) charity all of your donations and your supporters donations to ThinkCure! are tax deductible. Activation fees are not tax deductible.

9. Where will the ride take place?

All three rides will begin and end at Dodger Stadium and will leave via the historic 110 Freeway. The Community Ride will loop through the beautiful City of Pasadena before heading back to Dodger Stadium. The Metric Century Challenge ride will skirt the base of the San Gabriel Mountains before heading back to Dodger Stadium while the 100 Mile Challenge Ride will go over the top of the challenging Glendora Mountain Road.

10. Do I have to wear a helmet?

Yes. Safety is our first priority so helmets are required for all participants. To learn more about bike safety be sure to attend one of the bike safety seminars at the ThinkCure! Health & Wellness Festival.

11. How old do I have to be to participate?

Riders must be 18 to participate in either Challenge ride. The Community Ride is open to adults and children 10-17 with parental permission. Children 9 and under must be accompanied by an adult with either a bike trailer or bike extensions.

12. Is this a race?

No. The ThinkCure! Bike Challenge is a ride designed to get the community together to support the fight against cancer. There will be no timing and aggressive dangerous riding is not allowed. While many of the roads, including the 110 Freeway, will be closed, all riders must still follow the rules of the road and challenge riders must be aware of traffic on open roads.

13. What type of bike would be best for the ThinkCure! Bike Challenge?

Any bike in good and safe working order will be fine for the 22 mile Community Ride. The Challenge rides will offer more difficult terrain and a longer day in the saddle. A multi gear road bike would be the best choice but even a mountain bike will do.

14. Can I listen to an iPod or use a cell phone during the ThinkCure! Bike Challenge?

No. In order to ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for everyone using headphones or riding while distracted by your cell phone is strongly discouraged. This is a community event. Take the time to enjoy the ride and get to know the riders next to you!

15. Should I bring a water bottle?

Yes. In fact, Challenge riders should bring 2. Hydration is perhaps the most important consideration when spending a day on the bike and there will be many pit stops along the route to refill your bottles.

16. What will be available at the Pit Stops?

Pit Stops will have stations to refill your bottles as well as nutrition provided by ThinkCure! Bike Challenge sponsors. You can also expect to see fruit, pretzels, PB&J Sandwiches as well as other snacks. There will also be designated Lunch Stops with sandwiches and additional healthy foods.

17. Can my family or friends support me from a personal SAG vehicle?

No. Personal SAG vehicles are not allowed to ensure the safety of all participants. The definition of a personal SAG is any non-staff motor vehicle that is providing any type of aid, assistance, or motivation to any rider.

18. Are Tandem Bikes welcome on the ThinkCure! Bike Challenge?

Yes. Tandems are very welcome. Just remember, fundraising is per person not per bike so both riders will have to pay their activation fee and meet the minimum fundraising requirement for the ride they have chosen.

19. Is bike storage available at the ThinkCure! Health & Wellness Festival?

Yes. Bicycle Valet will be offered at the ThinkCure! Health & Wellness Festival.

20. How can my Friends and Family who aren’t riding support me during the ride itself?

The ThinkCure! Health & Wellness Festival is free open to the public to allow your friends and family to be there to cheer you on as well as take advantage of the vendors, informational seminars, and health food. Your friends and family can also volunteer to make the ThinkCure! Bike Challenge a safe and successful event for everyone. Send an email to volunteer@thinkcurebikechallenge.org for more information.

21. What Vendors will be at the ThinkCure! Health & Wellness Festival?

Brands that put a priority on Health & Wellness will be there to share their knowledge and products with everyone at the ThinkCure! Health & Wellness Festival. Check back for a complete list of Vendors in the near future as the festival takes shape.


Check out one of ThinkCure! Ride Challenge upcoming information meetings for all of the details on their upcoming Training Program!

Thursday, July 8, 2010
Pasadena Cyclery
1670 East Walnut Street
Pasadena, CA 91106
7:00-8:30 PM

Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Bay Shore Neighborhood Library
195 Bay Shore Ave
Long Beach, CA 90803
6:00-7:00 PM

Thursday, July 15, 2010
REI-Manhattan Beach
1800 Rosecrans Ave
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
7:00-8:30 PM

Thursday, July 22nd, 2010
REI-Santa Monica
402 Santa Monica Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90401
7:00-8:30 PM

For info:

thinkcure.org

Team Lam's ThinkCure! donation site: thinkcure.org/goto/teamLAM

To join Team Lam email our studio at info(at)stevenlamphotography.com

Metro 2nd Annual Downtown LA Bike Ride 2010

Today was the 2nd Annual Downtown LA Bike Ride sponsored by Metro for Metro Bike Week LA. We heard about the fun 4 miles ride looping around downtown LA and thought this is gonna be so much fun being able to ride with other Angeleno cyclists. We started the day by heading out to Olvera Street in Downtown LA from Eagle Rock. Thank god Eagle Rock is a bike friendly town, because without all them lovely visibly marked reflective bike path lanes plastered all over town, us bikers would have a hard time trying to share the lane with those speedy drivers. Especially during peak traffic hours. Boy I tell ya some of these drivers are on auto pilot and totally do not have a clue about bikers they are sharing the streets with. Thank goodness team Lammie Pie had our bright flourescent riding jackets on. One hour later we arrived at the starting line and we were pleasantly surprised to see at least 75 other bikers, Metro staff and other local press and journalists joining in the fun. At 8:30 am we started off from Olvera Street / El Pueblo up to Civic Center, then through the Financial District to the Historic Core trekking down into Little Tokyo / Arts District and back to Olvera Street. The best part of the ride was having the LAPD Rampart Division bicycle police escort and stopping traffic through out the path as we tour the streets of downtown LA. We all did the 4 miles loop around Downtown LA in 30 minutes. A wee bit fast, but heck it was totally worth it. We met alot of wonderful people and also made a couple of friends along the way.

A big thank you to LAPD bicycle division, Metro and The City of LA for supporting this event. We had so much fun and will definitely be back for next year's ride. We hope everyone will catch on next year and join in for the fun festive ride. Heck maybe some one will be getting marry during the bike ride next year, we would love to shoot that wedding!

Psst, want more info on our bike accessories? Click here.

More info and blogs about today's ride:

2nd Annual Downtown LA Bike Ride 2010 route

Metro / The Source

LA Streets Blog

Photos on Flicker by photographer Rubin Carter

KTLA video news coverage

UNIQUE LA / Spring 2010

Came out to support the numerous talented artists and our super talented letterpress queen Tianyi of Tiselle Letterpress + Design at the 2nd Annual Unique LA Spring Show. This is such a fun way to experience some of LA's most gifted artists and rare finds all under one roof. The show was held on the penthouse floor at the California Fashion Mart Building in Downtown LA. We wish we had more time even though we have spent four hours here...yikes! Highlight of the day was doing the photoshoot with Tiselle by Oh Snap Studios. Another highlight was when I finally found an original issue LP of Herbie Hancock's funky ass 70's era electro jazz album on vinyl titled Head Hunter at the Amoeba Music booth...wooooo hooooo! Amoeba is one of my favorite LA music store, they have everything under the sun folks. I've been searching for this bad boy for the last 6 years and man it is in prime condition! So peeps if you have not had a chance to check out Unique LA, please do. They have a spring and fall show annually.


Roll call (Left to Right) Steve, Carmen, Tianyi, Dan



My rare vinyl LP find of Herbie Hancock Headhunter

Bridges To Exploration

On March 27th Holly Rindge from Bridges To Exploration commissioned Steven Lam Photography to capture their Sea Creature Safari marine trip in Long Beach. We had so much fun shooting these kids on a 90 minutes marine expedition which were all winners of the non-profit organization's 1st Annual Youth Environmental Contest. We are honored to be a part of this wonderful educational program and we are so happy to see that two local online news sources (Gazettes.com and The Reader Page) featured BTE's fun and educational marine exploration field trip. Thank you Holly for such a fun photo shoot assignment.


More info and photos click on links below:

Bridges To Exploration

Gazettes.com / Sea Creatures Used As Learning Tools

The Reader Page / Students Explore Marine Science on the Sea Creature Safari

Steven Lam Photography Joining Forces with Forgotten Stories

Steven Lam Photography has joined forces with this amazing cause driven company that supports non-profit organization called Forgotten Stories. We donated our studio time and talent for their clothing line photo shoot for FS website to raise money and awareness for their charity. Please help support our good friend Derek William's organization. He is doing a One For One campaign, for every piece of clothing sold, a piece of clothing will be sent to a child in need who lives in poverty. Are you in?

We are honored to be a part of this revolutionary and positive humanitarian movement.
Buy yours today and Forgotten Story will make an add'l $5 donation to the American Red Cross for the people of Haiti.
More info at http://www.forgottenstories.org

Make A Mark

Just a reminder that the Make A Mark event is going down tomorrow Saturday October 10th, 2009 from 10:30am to 3pm at the Pasadena Convention Center Conference Center, Lover Level. 300 Eeast Green Street, Pasadena, CA 91101.

Make A Mark is a tween empowerment event focusing on self-esteem, body image, and a positive relationship between mother and daughter.

Steven Lam Photography is proud to be a sponsor of this positive event. We will have a photo booth set up to help capture photos of these lovely tweens. So come on out and have a great day filled with wonderful and powerful information, guests speakers and other goodies. And remember to stop by our photo booth to say hello and have your picture taken.

For more info: http://www.mark-it.org

Make A Mark

Attention all girls! We are excited to announce our dear friend Kelley Gin is hosting an amazing tween empowerment event focusing on self-esteem, body image, and a positive relationship between mother & daughter. Make A Mark will be an interactive and informative event featuring a fashion show hosted by Plum Denim and Jellypop Shoes. Jennifer Curtet will take the main stage as she motivates our future female leaders of America. All guests will receive a swag bag, raffle tickets, and an opportunity to donate to two charities; Heart 4 Africa and Pajama Program .

Make A Mark

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Pasadena Convention Center

{conference center, lower level}

300 E. Green St.

Pasadena, CA 91101

10:30am - 3:00pm

Tickets are $20.00 per person and can be purchased through Event Brite

Contact Kelley for sponsor opportunities: info{a}mark-it.org or 626.893.1054.

Acura LA Bike Tour 2008

21 Miles later...Yah!



4:15am at the starting line...Brrrr



Glad we made it to the finish line



Oh no, man down



Once a year, the streets of LA gets shut down for the Acura Bike Tour, 5K Run and the big kahuna of them all, the LA Marathon.

Here's our two cents of the event. Woke up at 3am way before the crack of dawn, WTF!! Yeah, we didn't even know what we got ourselves into. Wifey almost wanted to kill me when she found out the wake up and start time...yikes! So we ran through our check list: We got our bikes tuned up, got our gloves (muy importante), windbreaker, helmet, bibs for our shirt, bike and helmet, water bottle, power bar, cash for parking, directions, all checked. And we're off!

Fireworks and the bike tour start gun goes off at 5:45am. It's way too early and cold (50 degrees) for us to make sense of this all. Thank goodness our adrenaline was in full throttle.

What's great about the Acura Bike Tour IS NOT A RACE! I repeat, THE BIKE TOUR IS NOT A RACE! It is purely for enjoyment purpose and a chance for all bikers of all skill levels to unite and ride together on a route through LA. Beginners are totally welcome. The minimum speed you have to maintain is 9 mph and you're set! Easy.

This is our first year at the Acura Bike Tour and man despite the early am traffic, parking congestion and of course the 21 miles bike ride. It was all worth it. Yupe, we are officially hooked. This is one of those event that just can't be missed if you have a wee bit of that bicycling spirit in you. The thrill of riding with an estimated 15,000 fellow bike enthusiast is reason enough for us to be here. The icing on the cake is being able to tour the various part of Los Angeles with no cars on the streets, that is absolutely priceless. The bike tour allowed us to rediscover the city again at a slower pace and it was such a pleasure. Places we've been and would not dare be in at the wee crack of dawn. With the streets closed off to autos, giving us the privileged to ride and appreciate the natural raw urban beauty of this city is just way too cool of an experience to pass off. Too often we tend to drive hurriedly from point A to point B with blinders on and missed all of the nuances in between our journey. This tour really gave us a chance to feel the heart beat of LA in the flesh, uninterrupted, unfiltered, traffic free, smog free and 90% people free! Nothing but you and the spinning sounds of wheels hitting the pavements, that's it. No honking, no road rage shouting matches, no sirens, no machinery or factory sounds. Just us and the city! Wow, what a day! We were also lucky enough to have our family there for support at the finish line.

We hope we will be lucky enough to continue this tradition annually and join our fellow Los Angeles bikers from all walks of life, nationalities and ethnicities. From kids to elders, this event is a must if you call yourself Angelinos.

Okay, now you wanna ride, what to do. Well the official website sucks.
The website do not have any specific details or giving you any other options to sign up except through their website which they charge an online registration fee on top of the Bike Tour registration fee. This event is organized by Divine so the website is a bit self serving to help generate addition cashflow for them. My advice is to wait and drive down to the Life Expo which takes place at the LA Convention Center during the two days prior to the Marathon and Bike Tour event day. This way, you can save some money from the online registration service fee hacked by Divine. Even if you sign up online and pay for the convenient service fee, you still have to drive down to the Life Expo to pick up your goodie bag which will have your bib and race's number and instruction, route map, etc. Therefore, save yourself a few bucks and just head down to the Life Expo, wait in line a bit and then just register and pick up all of your goodies all in one stop. Make sure to go and register early if you want to grab your free t-shirt in small sizes. Otherwise, by the last day of the Expo, all they have left is Large sizes.

IMPORTANT
Please note that The Marathon and Bike Tour route might share route but they may not have the same starting and ending location. This changes so make sure to read up ask all of these important questions at the registration desk at the Expo including parking location, very important. For the bike tour, make sure to get there a couple of hours early if you can to avoid traffic from the freeway exit and into the parking lot.

I've added addition links below since it is so hard to find any info for the Acura Bike Tour due to the overshadowing by the LA Marathon event.


Acuralabiketour.com

Facebook Acura LA Bike Tour

Not Bike Tour related but have some really helpful biking articles

Myra VanInwegen's Bike Articles