Hello everybody, did you all have a good Thanksgiving? I hope so.

Thanksgiving was pretty good stuff. Was able to hang out with friends and just have a good time (and a good dinner). We decided to get Krystle in the photogenic mood and take a few shots. Some of the places we planned on visiting weren’t lit the way we expected them to be (or weren’t even lit at all). The photos came out very well nonetheless. Krystle didn’t know exactly what type of pose to do. I tried to think of some poses from the top of my head such as the mantle or that cute fist-to-cheek pose that a lot of Koreans seem to do. Even though I saw this funny video about camera poses, I just could not think of that many at the time. Nonetheless, she did them all without hesitation and with the most enthusiasm possible. Very great photos. Take a look at the gallery below and be sure to tell me how they look. :)

After playing around with my new Nikon SB-600 Speedlight for a bit, I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t need it and it’s not for me. It would be cool if  I were able to take advantage of it’s wireless flash capabilities (here’s some amazing examples from a photographer who uses external flashes wirelessly), but unfortunately my camera doesn’t support it. Relying solely on the light source being on top of the camera just doesn’t cut it. While some photos look nice with the flash, most photos end up looking better with natural light. I invested in my 35mm 1.8f NIKKOR lens to get the most of natural lights so I will just keep it at that. I’ll be returning the flash tomorrow. When I purchase a better camera in the future, I’ll buy one that supports wireless flash and invest in external flashes.

It’s 3:17am as I am typing this and Black Friday starts in about an hour and a half. I’m so glad that I don’t have to work until 9am. I’ll be sleeping for a few hours and then work until 7PM. Oh Black Friday… how you always seem to keep me on my feet, even if I’m not shopping. I hope that you all will continue to stay safe have a great Thanksgiving weekend!

 

November 5, 2009 started out as a good day. I spent the morning studying and went to school around 10:00AM. I took my English exam and attended my Speech class. A friend and I joked about what the teacher wrote on the board and I received my grade sheet for a speech I had done before. The teacher never gives a grade of 100% and has only given a grade of 99% only two or three times in all of his decades of teaching. I was feeling very happy and accomplished. After school, I bought a few groceries and picked up my sister from school. I go home and check my Twitter to see @myketuna talking about a shooting on Fort Hood. Suddenly everything bursts with breaking news. Local news stations take over and cover stories for news websites are changed. I receive text messages from my friends asking if I was still at the school and if I was okay. My mom owns an alteration shop right outside of the East Gate. For 30 minutes, I try to get a hold of her but the call kept “dropping.” She uses a landline phone, so I was confused and getting really worried. Eventually I get a hold of her. She ends up calling me silly and that there’s nothing to worry about.

The shooting took place around 1:30PM. I realized that I was driving home from school right outside of the Clear Creek and Main Gates around that time. A few friends and I try to go to Temple to donate blood for the victims, but we heard that the hospital was packed. My friend Matt (@The_Good_Guy) is staying at my house because his apartment, which is directly below Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan’s apartment is on lock-down. We visited the apartment after the lock-down was lifted to retrieve some things. There were still two police vehicles within the vicinity focused on keeping the photojournalists away from the apartment. One photojournalist was arguing with a police officer while looking like an idiot. He was no more mature than a 5-year old. Maybe it was because I was able to walk around the apartment with my camera and he was complaining about it. I took some pictures of the photojournalists and the apartments while waiting for Matt. Officers were still raiding the shooters apartment at the time. There appeared to be about three or four of them walking in and out of the apartment which appeared to have no leads whatsoever. After Matt was finished, we simply left.

What started out as a day of normal activity and enjoyment turned into a day filled with stress and endless condolences. I’ll continue to pray for everybody. Please, I hope that you all will do the same. Goodnight.

Currently Listening To: Calvin Harris – Flashback

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Halloween weekend was fun, had it’s ups and downs. On Friday, I spent parts of the day with Thomas, Jasmin and Shalen. Just hangin out and buying our costumes and getting them set up. Jasmin had a baby and Thomas spent a loooong time at Oh Mart trying to put in color contacts. After a long wait, I decided to just help him and got em in less than a minute, ha. Eventually Matt, Devo, Richey, Cece, Krystle, Kim, Anthony, Courtney etc. etc. came down and some of us ended up hangin out at Walmart. I left early cause I was stupid tired.

Halloween day came and I decided to help my sister clean her room. My mom and sister ended up getting in a serious argument that eventually involved the police. Nothing happened though, the police just gave a lecture to my sister and left. But yeah, I helped my sister clean her room and I went to work dressed as a doctor. Work was alright, a lot of people were dressed and there was a lot of food to eat. What sucked is that I had to stay there until 10PM. Afterwards we took as many people as possible and took some group pictures of ourselves. The pictures came out very well, but they could’ve been better given that the vibe didn’t get killed too early. Nonetheless, some pretty beast photos. We split into different groups afterwards. Some of us ate, hung out, and stayed at Court’s house until 4 in the morning. And that was after Daylight Savings time was applied.

I woke up today and went to work feeling like crap. I really wanted to leave early but decided to man up and stay until I was supposed to get off. After work, I ate and took a 5 ish hour nap. So yeah, that’s my weekend. Much better than last Halloween considering I didn’t do anything last year. I haven’t studied all weekend, I’ll be sure to get started now. Oh, and pictures! Here you go! :)

 

Thanks Raymond. I’m glad she appears to be doing well.

Currently Listening To: Rediscover – My Pretty Eyes

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Hello, it’s been a little while. This past week has been pretty boring, but still something else. Best Buy has finally demoted me down to a part-time position which completes the final step of my plan to boycott unnecessary things. I’ve had the past four days off and it feels great. I have more time for schoolwork and personal agendas. I haven’t missed a single class this week and I was able to turn in all of my assignments without having to do it all at the last minute. What sucks is that every night that I spent studying, some either called or text asking if I wanted to do something that night. I had to refuse. The irony is that now that it’s Thursday and the weekend has started for me, nobody wants to do  anything now. Ahhh karma.. I have to work the entire weekend. Even worse, I have to work Halloween night, until 10PM. DANG. No parties for me I guess, since I have to work early the next day. ef em ell.

This weekend, other than work and studying, I’m going to take my D60 and my 9mm 35mm and go on a shooting spree all around town. It’ll be a blast for sure. >:] Question! What are you all doing for Halloween weekend? TELL ME! GO! :)