'My Little Pony' Mimics Katy Perry's 'California Gurls' Music Video

Katy Perry's 2010 hit single, "California Gurls" was recently re-made by horses. As cute as real California girls, the Equestria ponies and unicorns on the animated children's television series, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, had their own version of the music video.

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Boun Loun- A Passionate Photographer and Graphic Designer

A native of Durham, North Carolina, Boun Loun, 27, began taking pictures when she was a sophomore in high school. Boun was the only and first Cambodian in her predominantly white community. While she was exploring her identity and trying to figure out how she fit in the society norm, Boun found true passion in many forms of arts and decided to put her energy in taking pictures. Like most artists, Boun sacrificed her time, energy and money in order to pursue her passion in photography, “I love to shoot all day, either I get paid for it or make it on my own. I love what I do,” she emphasized. These days, she is at Ocean Beach Starsbuck in San Diego, CA, a barrister, helping customers with their daily coffee wake up call. She is also a full-time stay-at-home mom. During her time off, Boun is a photographer and graphic designer. She has the passion for photography and works hard for it, “The most exciting part to me is when I am done with the photos and I hand it to the clients and they are very happy with the results. It is a great feeling when you know you make someone happy,” she said.

Are you a 100% Cambodian?
Boun: Mostly Cambodian, I have just a trace of Chinese and Vietnamese but mostly Cambodian.

Where were you born? Where are you based?
Boun: I was born in the Philippines and I am based out of San Diego, CA.

What kind of photography do you do?
Boun: I basically do everything. I do weddings, music, events, press reviews and family photos. Pretty much anything I can put my hands on.
What are you using to shoot with? Natural light or in studio?
Boun: I usually focus and capitalize on natural lighting.

When did you realize you wanted to be a photographer?
Boun: Pretty early on, I remember as a sophomore in high school. My dad took me to a college fair. We were discussing colleges and majors. Right away I wanted to be a photographer. To my father, coming from a medical background, was kind of hilarious to him. He thought I was just kidding. I still perused it and now he sees the work that I do. He respects it and accepts that is what I do and have passion for. I have always loved art. I started drawing in elementary school. I think it has always been in my blood any type of arts.

Do you remember the first photograph you took, which led you to become professional? What was the photo of?
Boun: My first paid gig as photographer, I would say it was a few years back. I did a high school dance team. It was a nerve racking. It was with a completely different age group, which was of high school girls. It was a bit off guard too because they wanted to be on the beach and not at the school. They wanted something more on location. However, it was a cool as well as a great experience and the excitement that came with it was a rush. They kept me on my toes. It was good to test the water my first time shooting professionally.

What would you say was your most embarrassing moment on the job?
Boun: In general, it is always nerve racking. Actually few weeks ago, I experienced my first embarrassing moment when my equipment failed! I was on a shoot and for some reason my memory card couldn’t read any of the images! Basically I lost the images! I had to take it to the camera shop. Lucky, I was able to recover all of them. If I couldn’t recover it, you don’t really know where to go from there with the clients. It teaches you to always come prepared and have a backup, i.e. bring a battery and extra card. It is always hard to have backup in this industry because the equipment is so expensive. If you have friends who are in the same field, it is always good to borrow or exchange equipment with them. You just have to always stay clam and stay professional at all time.

What would you say the coolest experience and most exciting part of your job?
Boun: I would say, when you are with a band you get to be on stage with them and catching the moment is the coolest experience. The most exciting part of my job, I would say looking back after I got my photos done and hand it to the clients. It is a great feeling to see their excitement in the final product. The most exciting thing to me is when you see the clients are just so happy with their photos that you shot and you worked so hard on the project. It is a great feeling when you know you make someone happy.

What would you say is the most challenging part of your job?
Boun: I would say one of the challenges, as a photographer is that I can’t always control the conditions. You can’t always control the time of the day or the sun. Things that I run into a lot are time conflicts. I always think that I am finished but I end up staying longer. The clients need to understand quality takes a lot of time. That is a downside.

I noticed you received your BA degree in Graphic Design and not photography?
Boun: I went to the Art Institute of Pittsburgh to receive my Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design. I actually do both photography and graphic design. To me, they really go hand in hand and complement each other. For example, if I need to do something graphically, I can use my own image through my own shooting. That is comforting because I can use my own image and work. I can offer a band by saying; hey I can do both your press photos and design your album cover. It is like the whole package but one person does it. Even though I do not have my degree in photography, I grew up using the camera and have professional experience. I am comfortable with the camera. The reason I got a degree in Graphic Design because it is more marketable.

When did you start your graphic design and photography company?
Boun: My business started while I was in college. I started with freelance jobs and slowly in 2007, I officially got my business license and website. Just recently that my business is starting to pick up through established clients. It is nice to build your clients. Then you can start doing their family and friends. I hope to look for clients that I can build on and lasting relationships.

What do you favor more? Photography or Graphic Design?
Boun: Its funny the other day, I was thinking what I like more? Sometimes I think I like photography more. Other times when I am working on a graphic design project, I think I like that more. To be honest, I love both them equally. They give me a different rush for different reasons. Being on the field shooting, you catch the moment. When you are designing something, it is like wow I created that appealing product.

What are your goals and hopes for the future for your company?
Boun: Ideally, I would like to continue with my own business or be a contactor for National Geographic or a huge band. I would love to shoot all day and either get paid for it or make it on my own. I love what I do. I get a rush out of it. I am in the process of shooting for a concert. The next big step is shooting for a big band. Right now, most of my clients are local. I meet them through Starsbuck. As much as I do not like waking up at 4:00am, it is a nice way to meet clients.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to get into photography?
Boun: If you have a passion for photography and art, it is a great job. It takes a lot of time unless you make it really big and become well established, it is a hard living. You really have to sacrifice especially it is hard on your family. But it is all worth it when you doing it at the moment and out in the field. I am always pumped. If you are willing to put some hard work into it and have passion for it, then I say go for it.

What is your favorite Khmer dish?
Boun: Well I can’t say I have a favorite, but I’m a big fan of a variety of stir-fry with white rice!

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2011 Kidney Walk & Update!

This past Saturday, I walked three miles along with some thousands other participants in the rain for the 2011 Kidney Walk in San Diego, CA. I had two weeks to meet my goal for the fundraising, which was $200. Within two weeks, not only I reached my goal but I also received extra funding from family and friends support and contribution towards the cause...

Aftermath of the International Conference in Montreal

I made it safe back to San Diego, CA from International Colloquium, “Cambodia, from then to now: Memories and Plural Identities in the aftermath of Genocide,” in Montreal, Canada. It was an amazing experience! I also met a lot of great academics and professionals who are involved with Cambodia both in the US, Canada, and elsewhere. I took video of my presentation and I am in the process of editing it. Please stay tuned........

Classical Khmer Dance in Montreal, Canada

Today, I had the great fortune to watch my very first ever Khmer Classical Dance live! It was even better that it took place in Montreal, Canada of all places! I just love the performer colorful dresses and outfits! They dance so beautifully and yet peacefully! It was like the Khmer Rouge regime didn't even existed for a brief moment. I was lost in their performance! Once the dance was over, we return our attention to the keynotes; Rithy Panh & Alex Hinton. Then follow by the documentary screening from both Paul Tom and Rithy Panh. I thought both documentaries were moving and yet got their message across.

I honestly cried three times watching "Le papier ne peut pas envelopper la braise" (Paper Cannot Wrap Ember). The reason is that the story was about prostitution in Cambodia. It showed the struggle and suffering of a life as a prostitute in Cambodia. I thought Rithy Panh did an excellent job on bringing the past, present and future of Cambodia in the film. I also noticed that the main character was a former child refugee who returned to her home country in 1992 when she was nine years old. This is actually align with my presentation on Saturday, May 7, 2011! Today was a great start of the conference! I am looking forward to many more speakers, presenters, documentaries, and arts from Cambodian all over the world as well as scholars in this subject matter!

The only down side I would have to say.....the screening was in Khmer and French. For those who do not understand Khmer or read French, seemed to be out of the loop. So I ended translating the dialogue and summarizing the stories to those who were curious.

I woke up in Montreal, Canada!!

As I am enjoying my fry crabs with noodle on the side for lunch, I realized I woke up in Montreal, Canada this morning!

I did not get to my friend's place until 1:30am eastern time. My flight got delay more than an hour due to the weather condition. It was good that we waited on the plane before we took off last night, especially after I heard a scary story from the person sat next to me! The native Canadian explained how he had an experience where one of the plane he was on, got hit by the thunder during a storm. It was so bad that his whole body flew up and land hard on the seat that his head got knock out and he passed out for a bit. Of course he is ok now. Great story to share before we were taking off on a storm!

My friend, the native Canadian French Cambodian has been a great host! Her mother and grandmother have been friendly and welcoming to me! They are amazed that I can speak perfect Khmer! I have been sharing my experience when I was in Cambodia while conducting my research for six months. Since they have not return back to their homeland for 30 years now, they seemed to enjoy the update and stories I shared. I was able to practice my presentation to them but in Khmer. This was a little difficult since I have been practicing in English.

The weather has not been nice to me this morning. It is actually overcast and some rainfall.

I am amazed of how my friend speaks four languages: French, Cambodian, and English & Spanish! I think most people here speak at least two or even three languages! Awesome!

Ten cups of Chinese tea later, I am ready to start my day in Montreal, Canada!

Weather Forecast: Montreal, QC

Flying to an International Conference in Montreal

As I am charging my laptop and waiting to be aboard from an hour delay flight, I am very excited to land in Montreal soil with just few hours to go!

It has been a long day of traveling. I left San Diego International Airport around 7:30am this morning. Although North Carolina is three hours ahead of California, I feel extremely tired! It is now 8:31pm eastern time and 5:31pm pacific time. Let me share with you that the entire time of traveling, I was on the go with the shape-shoes! I mean, I'm only allow the most half an hour between each flight! I honestly, thought I was going to miss my flight because they were late. Since I only have between 20 to 30 minutes to catch the next flight, I was late for this one. This is the last domestic flight before I head to Montreal, Canada! However, it got delay. So I guess it work out after all...

I have not explore Charlotte airport yet. Well I got a little rush and walk about an hour ago when I thought I was going to miss the flight. I had to run from one terminal to the next within 15 minutes! You see, I was not alone! I met a native Montreal, who happen to sat next to me from the last flight. We did not know that we are heading the same location until I saw her Canadian passport. So we rushed, ran and worried from one terminal to the next. Now, I have no idea where she is at. I guess I will see her again on the flight since we both are going to the same destination, Montreal. Boy, I gotta say, that was my work out for today! I actually miss yoga. I did not have time to practice yoga this morning. I'm a little tense. Well, I am off to checking in...Check back for an update when I land in Montreal, Canada!