yes, +27 was my score at mylora sidaway. despite the horrible score, i had the best time this season playing golf. it really was because of the great weather that made that round of golf that much more enjoyable.  and of course golfing with great friends helps too.

can’t wait till the next round!

the story begins with a phone call to my desk. apparently a client walked in and wanted some help with renewing their domain name. thinking that this was going to be easy, i proceed downstairs to meet with the client. (mistake #1)

once i got downstairs, i introduced myself and ask how i can be of service (mistake #2).

the client (elderly guy in his late 50′s, early 60′s i’m guessing) proceeds and hands me a piece of paper with two domains on it and tells me he wants to renew “his” two domains. thinking that the two domains were with my company, i asked him if he had his id and passwords for the accounts (mistake #3).

he starts explaining about how he had a website before and now he is getting a new website build and just wants the domains renewed. so i explained that in order to help him further i will need his id and passwords for his accounts. he advises that he does not have the id and passwords. so i told him to wait in the meeting room while i go look up this domain names to see how i could help him verify authorization to his accounts.  this  is when i find out that his domain names were not registered with us. so i headed back to the meeting room and was ready to tell him about how to register and how to transfer his domain name (mistake #4).

so the sign-up part was easy enough, but when i got to the transfer part, this is where it all fell apart. first i explain that his domain names were not registered with my company and he will need to contact his current registration company for and ensure his listed email address was valid. before i can finish, he goes off about how the domain name are his and there is no company attached to his domains. so i try to explain that with all domain name registration, it has to be registered with a company and that company is responsible for his domain name until it either becomes publicly available or it gets transferred to a different company. again he insist that his domains are “his” and does not  reside with any company. so instead of arguing i told the client to wait while i find his previous company’s name. i come back with the name and asked if he recognize the name of the company. he advises no and again insist the domain name are his and not with any company. at this point the client was beginning to irk me. so to try and help the client understand his situation, i used an analogy of cellphones. i advised that once he gets a cell phone, the company he got the service remains his service provider for as long as he keeps the service or transfers else where. here i am thinking to myself, this is the perfect example (mistake #5). as a response to explanation he advises that he does not want a cell phone plan. *face palm, face palm, face palm*

patience was wearing thin at this point. so i told him he was going to have to trust me on this  and pushed on to how to confirm a domain transfer (mistake #6).  advising that there will be email confirmations sent to him in order for him to confirm the domain transfers to us. at this point he accuses me of lying and making up this domain transfer confirmation. asking for proof and where it is writing that there needs to be email confirmations in order to transfer the domain name.

that was the last straw. i was now in full “kicking you out professionally” mode.

instead of arguing any further, i told him i will get him the phone number the registry of his domain names so he can call them and confirm what i was saying. after getting him the phone number, i thought he was going to leave (mistake #7).

now he was interested in the hosting plans which we offered. so i started to ask him some basic questions to better gauge which one of our hosting plan would best fit his needs (mistake #8). he had no clue what he wanted or needed. so i simply advised he sit down with his new webmaster and look through our hosting plans page.

this next part nearly kills me… “what is your company’s website?” he asks. so i give him the site url and advise his click on the hosting tab for all the information he needs.  he then asks, “does this contain all the information like prices and stuff it comes with? and how do i contact you.” i replied, “yes the page contains full details of our plans and you can either call us or send us an service ticket.” but he was still not done with his questions. “what’s your name and how do i get in touch with you again?” I gave my first name (mistake #9, explain more later) and advise he can either ask for me via phone or case ticket, but if he had any questions any one on my team would be able to help him (mistake #10).  how he responded completely caught me off guard. “your team? what do you mean your team? are you the owner?” i underplayed my position and advised that i was one of the supervisors with the company (mistake #11). again his reaction caught me off guard. “one of the supervisors? you have more then one supervisor?”

throwing professionalism out the door and did not care about the sale anymore, i ignored his last questions and redirected back the questioning about our services and asked if he had any other questions pushing to end this meeting now. he then asked for my name again so i tell him my first name (remember mistake #9) and got another response i was not expecting, “that’s not real name.” being somewhat taken back, i replied “that is my legal name. how is that not a name?” he replies “its not a real name because you didn’t give me your last name.” i quickly explained that i am the only person by that name and for privacy reasons i do not give out my last name. at this point i was gesturing him out of the meeting room and out the front door. just before leave, he asks for a business card which i advise i do not have any because our offices is not a retail location. he turns and starts heading out the building door, while he is walking i can hear him mumble “can’t believe you how you guys do business… blah blah blah…” *door shuts*

taking a moments to regain composure.  i go back into the meeting room to pickup my notepad and pen. one of my colleagues walks in and begins telling me about how when this guy first got to our door, he was like shaking and push our door and when my colleague answer the door, the guy was like “do you always keep your door locked???”

omg!!! what a nut job…

If we had to break down photography into the most primitive components, photography is the act of capturing/recording light. The most primitive camera one can use to take a photo with is pinhole camera. Now fast-warding a few hundred years, leaving the pinhole camera behind and blazing toward the digital photography era, that same basic components which makes the pinhole camera a camera is still used with our Canon 5D Mark II. The only difference between pinhole and digital cameras is within a digital camera, it has more elements that can be used to manipulate the light. So how do modern cameras sees light? To a camera, when it is evaluating/metering light, it is basically sensing/measuring the intensity/brightness of light (in general). It does not care about the amount of red, blue, green, etc which is in the mix of light.

I’m not sure if you have heard this before, but darkness is just the absence of light. If we had to represent dark to light, it would be a smooth gradient from black to white. So this how the Zone System works. First it breaks this smooth gradient of black to white into eleven sections. The sections are labeled from 0 to 10. Black (no light) is 0 and White (bright light) is 10. So when you set your camera into automatic or even some type of priority setting, the camera is programed to adjust your settings so all your picture will have the same type of light exposure. According to Zone System, this exposure of light is represented in section 5. Section 5 is also known as “middle gray.”

Now if you have a dark scene (light is in section 3), your camera will increase your exposure in order to get the amount of light up to section 5. Or if you have a really bright scene (light is in section 8), your camera will try and decrease your exposure to get the amount of light down to section 5. So with the dark scene, when you take a picture, the picture will appear brighter than the actual scene. The bright scene will appear darker than the actual scene.

So what does that all mean? It means, if you are taking a picture in the dark, in order for the picture to remain dark like your scene, you will need force your camera to under expose the picture. If you are taking a picture in bright light, in order for your picture to remain bright like your scene, you will need to force your camera to over expose the picture.

Unfortunately that is the limit of my understand of the Zone System. So please do not ask me if going from section 4 to section 5 if that is exposure compensation of -1 stop. If you are interested in reading more about the Zone System, visit the follow wiki entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zone_System

George Smeltzer
George’s passion for photography has taken him nearly across Canada. This Ottawa valley-boy hit the scene after studying photography at Algonquin College in Ottawa. One of George’s first jobs was taking action shots for Wilderness Tours of weekend warriors whitewater rafting on the Ottawa River. He then worked in custom photo finishing for several years, but felt an urgent need to pick up his camera professionally again. He returned to Wilderness Tours for another high-octane summer, before the siren song of BC’s mountains lured him to Vancouver over eight years ago. Shortly after moving west, George assisted Dave and the late Mark Montizambert of Montizambert Photography. He has shot for a wide variety of clients, including BC Lottery, McDonald’s, Relaxus Products, Solus Decor, Tin Drum Interiors and Gabriela Adamov Garden Design. George spent eight years shooting portrait photography for The Artona Group, as well as his own commercial work. (taken from the Focal Point – Instructors page)

Well that started a rush… a rush to call the school to see if there is any more room (apparently they still had like 6 – 8 spots). a rush to pay. A rush to call my parents to let them know I would not be home for dinner. A rush to get home and grab some camera gear. A rush to the school early (because i had not clue where this place was what it looked like).

The course I’m taking is called ” Basic Digital SLR Photography.” I have another friend that had taken this course before and has been raving about how it has helped her. So I decided if I’m to get serious about my photography, I’m going to take a course or two. You’re probably thinking, “Why are you taking such a basic when you already know how to take such good pictures?” (ok maybe not in those exact words) But to be good at something you need to have a good foundation and to help build that foundation you need to be taught by someone that is a professional in that field. Everything I know is pretty much learned by trail and error. Which means most of my good shots are flukes. I want to be able to turn my flukes into skilled shots.

Here is the course description:

An introductory course on the basic’s of using a digital SLR camera, combined with the basic techniques and theories of good photography. Through lectures, field trips, assignments, and critiques we will learn how the digital SLR camera works, and how to get the best images from it. We will cover basic concepts in photography such as proper exposure and good composition. We will also cover basic output of your images once they have been taken. A great first course in how to make fantastic digital photographs. You must have a digital SLR camera to use during this course.

The school I have chosen to do this course at is call Focal Point. Apparently they are an accredited institution with the PCTIA (which means this course is going to be tax deductible. double yay!!!) I’m going to be going to class once a week (Wednesday – which means no more badminton for me) from 7PM to 10PM for 10 weeks. There are going to be eight assignments in total. For the complete course outline, find the PDF here:

http://www.focalpoint.bc.ca/Outlines/FPBasicDigitalCourseOutline.pdf

And of course, in order to take the other levels, like “Intermediate Photography” I need to get this course done as a prerequisite.

Tonight was pretty basic. Photography history and Getting to Know Your Camera. Apparently we will have to shoot everything in Manual mode for this course. >.<”

I keep you posted in my progress and I’ll post my assignments for you all to critic…

So what does being 30 mean??? At 16, (well in my case, 17), learning how to drive. At 18, being able to vote and file taxes (YAY!! *with uber sarcasm*). At 19, being able to apply for credit cards (without co-signer), gamble and drink alcohol. At 21, being gamble and drink alcohol in the US. At 25, being able to rent a car more easily (has this change at all?). But at 30, what does this entitle me to (beside the long list of possible medical ailments)? Is this really the end of life’s expectancies or am I just missing a few things in my list above?

…well like with any age, it is what you make of it that will define who you will become.

omg… sooooo cliche… sorry people… barf bags are on your left…