A c h u b l u e

This afternoon I got a phone call from one of my friends. “Yeah, remember that photography course I was talking about a couple weeks ago? Yeah classes are starting tonight at 7:00PM… I just signed up with my friend and there is only about two spots left. Just letting you know…”

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…

Some people would say this is a milestone year in their life. Some would say this is the beginning of the end. Some would say this is being over the hill. Whatever this is to other people, to me it’s just the end of my 20′s era. I will no longer be able to say that I’m “20″ something. Because now I’m th…….. thri…… thri… thirty!  The big three o…

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…

Last weekend, I attended a wedding and was granted the title of “Official Unofficial Wedding Photographer.” What does that mean? Well it means I have been granted the permission to go behind the scenes and take photos where no noobs has ever gone before… muahahaha…

My day started at 6AM just like the rest of the wedding party… Had to wake up, get ready and be at the groom’s by 7:30AM. Being the “Pro” that I am… I got there at 7:15AM, but… I’d rang the wrong door bell. Basically waking up this poor guy at 7:15AM in the morning. After that I got to the right house and got to work… The groom was already pretty much dress, so we staged a couple shots of him getting ready and getting his make-up done. Pretty then just waited for the rest of the “brothers” (close guy friends of the groom) to arrive with the cars to be decorated. After getting the cars decorated and the flowers on the groom and groomsmen, we were off to pickup the bride.

I should mention that this was an Asian-ish wedding so there was going to be a lot of Asian traditions taking place. The first tradition was “door games.”  When a man goes to pickup his bride, the bride’s “sisters” (close girl friends of the bride), would present challenges for the groom to complete. First task was to sing a modified version of “Nobody – Wonder Girls.” Well actually the first task was to “dress up”: a tight shiny purple hula skirt, a rainbow colored lei, and two shiny purple pom poms. OK… back to the singing. Well the song was “rewritten” in canto with the verses saying what the groom will do for the bride. And of course like the music video there has to be dancing. Second task, read out loud a contract which basically states the bride will not have to do anything around the house and can shop as much as she likes. Third and final task is to bribe the “sisters” usually with a “red pocket” that contains the amount of some lucky chinese number. Finally the groom gets to go upstairs to see his bride.

(hummm… this post is getting way tooo long… brief outline to finish up my day… the pictures will speak for themselves)

• Tea Ceremony at Bride’s house with Bride’s Family
• Tea Ceremony at Groom’s house with Groom’s Family (a yummy smelling roasted (whole) pig arrived, but i wasn’t allowed to have any of it… *sniff sniff* )
• St.Andrew’s-Wesley United Church before the ceremony we did some friend and family photos (also when the professionals showed up with their “pro” equipment, but that’s a whole other post). Ceremony (quick and short). The bride and groom had a horse carriage to take them off to Stanley Park for Pictures (I was not at Stanley Park as I had sound setup at the Marriott Hotel Ballroom).
• Got to Marriott Hotel early to reset up a bit, eat brunch at 2ish and get a chance filter out some bad photos. Also there early to setup the Ballroom with the church sound system. (omg… running around and setting up stuff in a dress shirt sucks…)
• Dinner, speeches, games (bride and groom), first dance (bride and groom),  slide show, musical presentation, good food,  lots of “drinks” and 577 pictures later my night was done.

Well not really… had to clean up the  sound system and other things there and by the time I got home it was like 12:30AM

*sigh* needless to say… I was tired.

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