Empty

September has almost come. I'm looking ahead, and I'm not seeing much there. For the first time in 13 years, I don't have a first day of school. And yet, there's so much on my mind. I don't know exactly what I'm doing, and it's freaking me out a little. Part of me likes the adventure, and part of me is concerned. Man isn't life fun?

Sleepy dog

So today I met up with some friends. I hadn't seen them since well, graduation I guess lol. Anyways, we had ourselves a good time, even took some photos too. This dog here, Sunny, was just lying peacefully on top of the sofa, so I got my camera out and snapped away. Now I've had one of my lenses, the 50 f/1.4, for about a year now, and I've been a little hesitant of using it to the fullest for some reason. Recently, I've been trying the extremes with it, and I'm loving the results. Feels like I'm using a brand new lens, it's weird lol

Invisible boundaries

I've ben out of school for several months now, and I'm definitely feeling different. I feel like I'm living for me, if that makes any sense. Recently, I've been reading through these forums about identity, and one good point that came up was about how when we define ourselves, we are restricted. We are restricted to the boundaries set by the character we define ourselves to be. So in short, you'll be missing out on many things in life just because you're trying to please your definition, not your true self.

Now if you haven't guessed by now, I tried something a little different today. I styled my hair in a way that I never would've a few months back. And you know what, it felt natural. It seems like the worst reason to do something is to do it to please someone else. Just do what makes you happy

Getting there

So remember a while back when I was talking about cleaning out my room? Well, I've been doing quite a bit of work these past few days, and I can finally see the floor for the first time in what seems like months lol. I've still got quite a bit of work to do, but it's all coming along. I went out to Staples and got a new desk today too. I have to empty out the current desk, then put the new desk together, but I'm sure it'll be awesome when it's all done. I am just so ready for a fresh new room right about now.

Hands? Pfft, who needs hands?

I'm simply ecstatic that I can bike once more. Today I thought I'd try to take some photos while biking, and this is the result. I was actually inspired to do this by a photo contest on Gizmodo. I figured I needed something to motivate me, so that's why I'm participating again. I believe they hold contests every week or so, but I just hadn't bothered to enter lately. Anyways, after I got some photos, I put my camera away and then rode across The Worker's Memorial and back. I was surprised that I wasn't too tired afterwards, considering that I hadn't biked in about 2 months lol.

Pumpkin

So my next door neighbour recently got a new kitten. She is just simply adorable. Quite energetic, but still fun. I had the pleasure (and challenge) of taking some photos of Pumpkin. Pumpkin Hamish Giannubilo if I remember correctly. Anyways, I took tons of photos, and this one just stood out the most to me. I guess it has something to do with the fact that most of the photos were a blurry mess haha

Too many bookmarks!

Every day, I go through my favourite sites and blogs. During this summer, I'm finding that it takes me at least 2-3 hours to go through all the new content on all the sites that I frequently visit. For example, I'll watch about 15 videos from my subscriptions, I'll read about 2 in-depdth articles from a photo site, I'll then take a look through Facebook and see what's happening, then I'll look to Gizmodo to see what's new in tech news, and finally I'll end up on Reddit. Now a lot of incredible things end up on Reddit, but I don't always have the time or mental capacity to read through everything in one sitting, so I set up a read me later bookmark folder. Problem is that I've got so many links saved that it'll take me a day or so to get through it all. And yet I still feel this urge to see what's new on Reddit, so I just get more and more. Arg!

At the PNE

Oh man, what a day. Today I went out to the PNE with some friends, and some people I had never met before. But hey, it was still heaps of fun. I'm just working on sorting through all the photos atm. This was the first time I went without going on any rides, but that wasn't a problem at all. There were just so many things to see. I gotta say the highlight of my day was seeing Loverboy live. They just had so much passion and energy. Definitely gotta go get some of their records if I ever see them. I could ramble on and on aout how awesome it was, but I'll let the photos do the talking when I get them all sorted and edited.

Froggie's back

Well, I can't say for sure if that's the same frog I saw a few months back, but hey close enough right? Lol anyways, my mom pointed him out as I was about to go out FOR A BIKE RIDE!

WOOOOOHOOOOOO!!!!!

As you can see, I'm quite excited about biking again. It's been over two months since I last rode a bike, and man did it ever feel good! It just felt so right! Maybe I'm making too big of a deal about this, but you gotta understand, biking usually takes up the majority of my summers. So now I plan on making the most of what's left of this summer :D

Homerun!…..I mean, fore!

So today I went out to the driving range with some friends. It's been a long time since I last went there, but it was quite a lot of fun. In case you hadn't figured it out by now, I'm not that great at golf. Heck, I don't even own a set of clubs. But it was fun to just get out there. Surprisingly enough, my collar bone was fine throughout the whole time. Speaking of which, I'm going to the see the doctor tomorrow about it. I'm really hoping I get the green light for biking :P

Zoom

So today I thought I might experiment with a technique I read up on a while back. It's a simple technique but can yield some interesting results, such as the image here. I also recently started thinking about a project I might start just for fun. Haven't quite decided what kind of project yet, but I'm thinking of like themes. You know, like numbers or colours, that kinda thing. Hopefully that'll be fun

I'm such a nerd

So today I whipped out my old box of Lego and decided to build something. I swear I must've spent a good 2.5 hours just sitting in my room building this thing. Aside from the legs, I made everything from scratch, and damn was it ever fun. The only downside is that I could not walk through my room without first clearing a path. But still, totally worth it :P

Get a feel for it

So today I hit the end of the roll in my film camera, and thus had to change the film. I gotta say, it's a lot more work than I'm used to. With digital, you rarely have to change your memory card, and even when you do, it's just pop it out, pop it in. But with film, oh boy is it ever a lot of fun. I just love how much more involved the user is with the whole process of taking a photo. It's an amazing feeling when you feel the film move as you wind up for the next shot.

Never Again...

So last night I pulled an all nighter and went out to go photograph the sunrise. I left around 4:30am while it was still dark out. I'm not gunna lie, it was pretty damn scary. It was really strange, how there were virtually no cars. I made my way to the top of the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge. In theory, it would make for a great vantage point. However, there were a few of variables I didn't consider.

1.) It was quite cold and windy

2.) There were a lot of huge, loud trucks

3.) Vehicles crossing the bridge tend to make it vibrate.

By around 6:15, I couldn't handle any more. My senses were overloaded. It was just far too industrial. Thing is that the sun hadn't even come up yet, but I didn't care. As a photographer, I usually do everything possible to get the shot. But this time I just couldn't do it. My only thought was to escape to a warm, quite place. In my head I imagined a blank, silent, white place. Not a room, just a nothingness of white. Unfortunately, such things do not exist in reality, so I just went home and slept in my room.

I'm hoping that in the future, I'll be able to get a nice photo of the sunrise above Vancouver, but from a more bearable environment. I'm thinking like from a mountain top, minus the bears haha.

Vlogging

So today I decided to film a little something for a friend overseas. I'm usually totally against the whole holding a camera at arm's length, but in this case I'll make an exception. See, the way I see it, vlogging like this is more of just a form of communication as opposed to an art form. And with the internet, it's easy to share these vlogs too. Hurray for technology!

It's quite warm out

I try not to complain too much about the temperature, but it's getting kinda ridiculous. I'm sitting here at my computer with a fan blowing by my side, and it's barely manageable. Not the fan in the photo, but a little one that just sits on a chair beside me lol. But yeah, I guess my computer doesn't help, seeing as it almost burns my hand when I touch the top corner. I'm considering making a DIY air conditioner, like this one. I figure it'll help me chill out a little :P

Scott Pilgram

So first off, I'm aware that this isn't a photo, but it's all that's on my mind right now. Today, I watched Scott Pilgram vs The World, and it was just awesome. I read through the series, and the movie did not disappoint one bit. Sure, I could nit pick at the tiny little details, but overall I came out of the theatre in awe. The acting, cinematography, editing, music, it was all just spectacular. That said, this movie might not be for everyone. A lot of the humour is based off of videos games/anime, and having read the series made it so much more enjoyable. But yeah, I thoroughly enjoyed it, so if you got the time, go see it!

Stacking

I gotta say, I absolutely love randomly finding stuff like this. It was quite hot today, and my room was even hotter, so I had to get out. Course, I could've just hid in the nice, cool basement, but I wanted some fresh air. So I set out for the river, and boy was it ever refreshing. I was in my flip flops, so I just walked right on in. Then something caught me eye, so I took out my camera and here we are. But yeah, something I noticed was that a lot of the things I knew about portrait photography could be carried over to other subjects too. Just because it's an inanimate object doesn't mean it's any less of a subject for a photographer. Instead of a stack of rocks, imaging that's a person right there. That would make for a pretty nice portrait, right?

Backstories

So today I was around Vancouver with a friend. It's been a while since I've just wandered around Vancouver, and despite the heat, it was a lot of fun. We went around to some random shops around Granville as well as W. Hastings. Pictured here are some of the latest vinyl records I've acquired.

On the very left is A Rush of Blood to the Head by Coldplay. The cool thing about that is that a friend of mine got it for me in the UK when he was there for an exchange program of sorts. Next up is Destroyer by Kiss. I've listened to this album many times, and had to pick it up when I saw it used for only $8. Following that is the album She & Him Volume 2. I was first made aware of She & Him after watching (500) Days of Summer. Great movie, and awesome soundtrack too :P Anyways, I got that brand new at Urban Outfitters. And last but not least, A Night at the Opera by Queen. This is my absolute favourite album by Queen. It was actually the album that got me into Queen in the first place. So yeah, I think I'm just sit in my room go through these for the next few nights lol

Pretty Flowers

Recently, I haven't been going anywhere exciting. I mean, I've been to places like Park & Tilford and Lonsdale Quay, but I've been there dozens of times. As a result, I haven't been getting any new shots either. So today I set out to try to go find something a little different. I didn't exactly succeed, but I did find this little flower which I thought was kinda neat. Well, I guess my interest was more in the composition of the photo than the flower itself. I took some photos of other flowers, but this one stood out the most, most likely because of the contrast between the subject and the background. So um, yeah, that's all I gots to say today lol

Awesome Stool

So my parents got this little stool a while back, and I totally love it. It's just like the perfect height for sighting on by the coffee table. But more importantly, it was a fantastic tool to have during my brother's engagement photo shoot. It provided a little bit of elevation to get a nice height, and it also acted as table to put down my bag or lenses. One of the things I love about photography is that everything besides the camera and lenses can be as simple and low tech as imaginable :P

Donut Peach!

So I was introduced to this fruit yesterday from a friend who said that they were supposedly really good. Luckily I came across some today on Lonsdale and just had to try them. I came home, washed one, and took a bite. It was pretty damn good. It was a little different from a standard peach, but in a good way. I've always been a big fan of fruit, and I love discovering more varieties. I wonder what'll be next?

Cause and Effect

So I went and picked up Starcraft II a couple days ago, and I've been playing it quite a bit. Enough so that my room has become virtually inhabitable lol. But yeah, it's a really fun game. I just think it's really awesome to see how far the game has come since Brood War, released in 1998. Thing is, I played the original a lot too. When I was in elementary school, I remember coming home to play Starcraft for hours on end. Come to think about it, not much has changed, has it? lol

A Gathering of Penguins

…appeared above my head

They sang to me this song of hope, and this is what they said

They said come sail away, come sail away, some SAAAIIILLL away with meeeee

Anyone? I saw these penguins set up and just thought of the song Come Sail Away lol. Anyways, today we had a nice family dinner with our family and my brother's fiance's family. It was actually a lot of fun. Good food, good conversation, the works. And for some reason, these penguins were involved too. Good times :P

Rage!

Well, not really. More like, annoyances. So basically today I bussed out to Capilano Mall to pick up a few things. The first thing that really bothers me is that even when you text the stop number from Cap Mall, it only tells you the bus number. Now normally that isn't an issue...unless it's a weekend. See, on the weekends, half of the 239s only go to Phibbs, not Cap U. So I really had no idea which 239 would be the one I needed to take to get home. I make a guess, and I'm wrong. Damn. And then while I'm waiting, my ticket expires. So that's a big disappointment. But yeah, I'm not mad or anything. I was just hoping that today would be one of those really awesome days where every just works out perfect for you lol

Sit back and relax

I looked outside after supper, and the weather was just too nice for me not to be outside. So, I grabbed my camera as usual and went out for a nice walk. Funny thing is that the first thing that came to mind is that I wanted to go for a bike ride (damn this clavicle!) But yeah lol, I just went out and it was quite refreshing. As I moved along, the sun was slowly setting, so I just found a nice fence to lean on by Inter River Park. This summer I've been out to some really amazing places, but I haven't had much time to just sit down and enjoy a nice summer evening. And considering that it's supposed to start raining tomorrow, this is pretty awesome :P

Up from above....wait

So I spent quite a while thinking about what to do for today's photo. I tried a few different positions here and there, and nothing really worked the way I wanted it to. So in the end I just went outside and got a decent shot there. I'm going to try for a trickier shot next time. Honestly, I find this kind of photography fascinating. I've seen some incredible work out there, and it just amazes me each and every time.

Desk

So my room is slowly coming together. Well, at least my desk is. I've also found some awesome snacks to leave at my desk too: Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and flavoured croutons. Yeah I know, kinda random, but still very tasty. And you what, I probably wouldn't have known about the croutons if not for the internet. Everyday I'm more and more amazed by the internet. Many people say that the internet is like a giant library of information, but I think it's more than that. There are whole communities that thrive within the internet. A couple of months ago, I watched a youtube video by a guy named Dan Brown (not the author). He basically talked about the power of communities and the internet. At first I was a little weirded out, but over time I've come to see that he was right all along. I'm not good at explaining these kinds of things cause I just tend to ramble after a while lol. Instead, I'll just say this: the internet needs to be taken a lot more seriously. I've been on Reddit a lot these past few days, and I'm just so amazed. The fact that the Reddit community can function off of just ones and zeroes online is incredible. My only fear is whether of not I'l ever too disappointed in real life communities and only be able to live off the internet. I'm highly doubtful it'll ever happen to me, but I'm sure it has to some people around the world.

Sunset

So this evening I noticed that the sun looked particularly orange and round. So, I grabbed by camera and set off to get a nice photo. It took a while, but eventually I got the photo here. I took around 30 photos, but I've gotten a lot faster at sorting through them than before. I'm glad that after my many hours of using Lightroom, I won't have to take as long to do the same amount of work. Hurray for efficiency!

Bowen Island

So today I went out to Bowen Island for the first time with the parents. Honestly, it was a lot of fun. Like, it was just beautiful. We only managed to cover a small portion of the island. As it turns out, there are only so many places you can physically go. Everything else is just super dense forest lol. But yeah, I had my camera with me and got a lot of good shots. I'm working on getting them up, but I still got a lot of photos to go through. Let's see, I still have to put up the photos from the VanDusen, edit the photos from the shoot, and now this haha.

Second Shoot

So today was a very exciting day. A while back I was asked by my brother and fiance to take their engagement photos, and today it finally happened. The weather was just all over the place, but I got a lot of great images. I'm still in the process of sorting through the photos, seeing as there were over 270 lol. But yeah, it's looking pretty good so far. I'm happy that I've got something to work on for the next little while.