Assignment

I'm hired to do an assignment in the Galapagos Islands and Easter Island, my task: tour these historic and mysterious Islands and photograph my journey. Okay, well, I wasn't technically hired...and I'm not really on an assignment...and I had to pay for this adventure myself...but I can pretend, can't I? And that's what I'm going to do :) I'm going to go on assignment and take the best pictures of my life during this trip, because where else can I take pictures of the great creatures of Galapagos or the mysterious Moai? I'm really going to focus on capturing the best pictures I can to describe my trip to everyone when we get back. Through my pictures, I'll want everyone to feel as if they were there with us and see what we saw. It's been busy preparing for this trip and packing, but I know it will be all worth it and it's safe to say it's a once in a lifetime type of trip (unless National Geographic hires me to actually go on assignment to take pictures)...but until then, I will take full advantage of this opportunity. Sorry for all my blogger fans (all of three) for not uploading lately, but when I get back, I will have lots to blog about! Talk soon!

Patience

I'm far from labelling myself as a "professional photographer"; really far. Although some people like my pictures, it doesn't mean I'm a professional, obviously. I've really only been taking photography seriously for about 6 months now. To be called a professional, in my opinion, I think you'd have to be doing it full-time.

I've read lots of stories here and there about established photographers, and most of them have a long history of how they became a photographer. Others, don't. Others have just started out the past couple of years and looks to be going on a great path.

Only after 6 months of picture taking, I want a new (nicer) camera, more/better lenses, and more gear. I should be patient about this and wait for the time to come along when I have those thousands of dollars to spend on the gear. One can say it's an investment; just drop a few thousand on some gear and go for it. But others, like me, can't really take that plunge and do that.

For the time being, I will try to perfect photography with what I have (as a smart person once told me). I've read many different articles stating just that; because you have the most expensive camera and gear, it doesn't mean you'll produce the best pictures. Hopefully one day, I will get recognized and things will just fall into place, and instead of me looking at what I want to buy, I'll be looking at what I should buy next!

In the meantime, if you happen to have any of the below equipment and would like to donate it to me, feel free :)

EOS 60D

EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

Congratulations!

Our dear friends Linda & Khobie got married last week!  They had their ceremony on Thursday and their reception on Saturday.  Their ceremony was lovely and colourful.  Their reception was classic and bumpin!

We, and the rest of their family and friends, couldn't be happier for them.  They are an amazing couple who are unselfish and would always do anything for us.  Through my eyes, we can relate to them most because Khobie is of the brown ethnicity and Linda is of the asian ethnicity; opposite of us.  As couples, we both got engaged at around the same time, bought a condo around the same time, and got married at the same time.  I can foresee us doing many similar things together in the future.

Congratulations to you guys once again!  Not sure if we'll get to see you guys before you leave, but we hope you guys enjoy the much deserved honeymoon!  Remember to take pictures!

~DD~

Yosemite

I came across this video yesterday through a co-worker who's into photography as well. Now, I don't use the word "awesome" a lot, but this video is pretty awesome!

It's a six minute video of a photographer assigned by National Geographic to follow a group of mountain climbers for a couple of months.  Not only is mountain climbing a hard thing to do, but imagine taking pictures of mountain climbers, while mountain climbing yourself.  Everyone bared the elements of camping out for the two months they were out there.  It was crazy to see all the equipment they had to bring with them to set up different shots.

Although I've only started getting into photography for less than a year, this is the type of dream job that I would love to do in the future.  I would love to have the talents of this photographer and have the ability to go on this adventure.  I will be sure to take our upcoming Galapagos/Easter trip and make sure our camera is always with us.

Enough with my talk, here's the video:

http://vimeo.com/27101039

I'm going to try and find if there's a longer segment on this to watch...six minutes of footage over a span of 60 days?  That's just not right.

Lake on the Mountain

We came back from the cottage on Sunday and it was simply a relaxing weekend. Our two full days there typically went like this:

530am - Woke up, got ready, ate breakfast
600am - Got in a row boat, went fishing
900am - Came back to shore, had a snack
1000am - Got back in the row boat, went fishing
1200pm - Came back to shore, had lunch
100pm - Relaxed, napped, or more fishing
500pm - Prepared dinner, ate dinner
800pm - Walked around, took pictures, relaxed, played cards
1200am - Goodnight!

There's some history with this cottage, and you can read more about it at my other site by clicking: dlography

Wedding

Our good friends L&K are getting married in about three weeks! Talking to them about their planning brings flashbacks to my mind about our wedding last year. It's like digging out an old book from the shelf; all the memories, planning, and effort came back to me. I feel really happy for them because they've been planning for over a year now and it's coming down to the last few weeks. All the planning and preparing comes down to a couple of days. A message to them if they're reading; take in every second of your special days because it's only going to happen once.

Thinking of their wedding prompted me to look back at our older posts from last year, reading what we were doing a few weeks before our wedding. It reminds me of what we accomplished as a couple, and also all the support we received from our family and friends. Although they're our family and friends, I feel our wedding brought us even closer to them.

I've always told Devika that I'd do it again; I wouldn't mind going through that year of planning and prepping, because everything was just so memorable. At least we get a taste of planning through L&K to plan, and also from our other family and friends that got married this past year, and in the future as well!

Pre-congrats L&K! Enjoy planning and have fun with it!

Summer Time

It's been a while -- exactly two weeks since my last post. Since then, I was in Seattle for a work conference for a week, went to Niagara on the Lake for the weekend, and wrote an exam for my course. It's been a busy couple of weeks, but now everything is finished and I have some time to relax and enjoy the summer!

The next month will be somewhat busy as there is only one weekend in August that we don't have anything scheduled (for now). From what I remember, September comes after August, which means vacation time!

We'll be going on a vacation of a lifetime, visiting Galapagos Islands and Easter Island. Two magnificent locations filled with wildlife at one location, and mystery at the other. I credit this trip selection to my Wife as she has always wanted to go to these Islands. I'll be honest, these were not on the top of my list of places to visit, but I'm glad we're going on this trip. After reading up on the facts, looking at the pictures, and reading reviews, this trip will indeed be one to remember. And since I've taken a liking to photography, these two locations will definitely provide me some rich landscape to capture.

Not just yet though! Although we can't wait for the vacation, there are still two whole months to enjoy, which includes fishing, weddings, and get togethers!

Fun while it lasted

Each floor of our condo has a small room for the garbage chute. The chute only operates between 800am-1000pm; after these hours, it shuts off.  There are times when there's something stuck in the chute and it won't work either.  The alternative is going down to P1 and going to the main garbage area and throwing out your things there.  We live on the 2nd floor, so going down to P1 isn't all that big of a hassle.


For the longest time, tenants are lazy and couldn't care less, so whenever the chute isn't working, and even during its down time, they leave their garbage on the floor of the chute.  And even when the chute is working, they leave big items there that they know can't fit down the chute, but leave it there anyways!  We've seen things from boxes for shelves to shower curtain poles.  We even caught a few people leaving garbage there too!  Worst part is, one of the directors of the board lives on our floor, and we saw his girlfriend going to the chute at 11:00pm, so obviously she knows it's closed, but she left it there anyways.


I decided to print out a gentle reminder and stick it on the door. It wasn't the meanest reminder, but it wasn't nice either. It was just to tell people to not be so lazy and be courteous to your neighbours and go down to P1 to throw your garbage away.  I posted the sign Monday evening.  I checked the chute whenever I passed by this week to see if there was any garbage left, but there was none -- until this morning.  Someone left a bag of garbage there.


So, it was fun while it lasted.  The sign's still up, and hopefully it'll stay there just as a reminder to those who leave their garbage there.  It's not the biggest deal, but at the same time, it just doesn't make sense.  Mind you, I'm sure it's only a few suspects that consistently do it.

dlography

My friend and I did an engagement shoot last weekend for a couple getting married in September.  It was a hot and humid day, but the couple braved the elements and was able to be playful, smile, and laugh for us!


Check out some shots here and here.

Food Critic: Bellevue Cafe

We went to Bellevuew Cafe (61A Bellevue, Kensington Market, Toronto) the other day with another couple. It was a Friday morning on the long weekend and the weather was nice outside, so we sat on the patio.

I'll go right ahead with the rating: C

I give it a C because it wasn't anything spectacular. I think because I'm not really a huge breakfast guy, so I'd have to be really impressed with the food.

The food was good, don't get me wrong. Everything appeared to be freshly made, from fresh ingredients; nothing compared to a greasy Denny's breakfast that's for sure. The sausage appeared to be actual sausages, as opposed to (Denny's, or other breakfast joints) regular oily sausages.

The service was on the slower end as everyone seemed to be kind of laid back. Price wise, it was actually not too bad considering the type of food it was (fresh, compared to packaged or frozen).

If you're looking for a breakfast joint in the Kensington area, check this place out. Although there was another bigger breakfaster place directly across, and it had more people there, so maybe check that place out?