Browse Category: photos

Weekend Roundup

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I had a pretty full and relaxing weekend. The sun was out and lots of stuff was happening. On Saturday, Jes and I went to the North Beach Festival to have some lunch with friends and to take in the sights and sounds. We got some drinks at the beer garden, ate in the patio of a cute little Italian restaurant, and even scored $20 of zipcar credit and t-shirts. Here are photos from the afternoon festivities.

Today, I went to see Sex in the City with Susie and enjoyed it. It was a cute and very sappy movie that was perfect for a Sunday afternoon. This evening I finished up my photos for last week’s wedding while I watched a nail-biting Lakers/Celtics Game 5. It wasn’t a pretty win but a win is a win.

I also managed to get up early for class both on Saturday morning and this morning to get my butt kicked twice this weekend. I’m starting to feel soreness in muscles that I didn’t know existed so this had better pay off.

So many photos…

Aack!  Sorry for the lack of posts.  It’s one week later and I’m still not finished getting through all the wedding photos.  Not only have I had almost no time after work to get through them but I also took A LOT of photos.  I’ve also been so exhausted each evening that I end up falling asleep with my laptop in front of me.  So, the next time I get started again, I can’t remember where I left off.  Well, I think I can say that I’m about 2/3 of the way finished and my goal is to crank the rest of them out tomorrow.

Krista & Jim – June 7, 2008

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Saturday was my debut and I think it went just fine. The wedding took place in Rossmore (a part of Walnut Creek) at the community clubhouse. Everyone was so nice to me and the bride and groom had such a great time.

I arrived pretty early to scope out the joint and left about 4 hours later completely exhausted. It’s really tough to cover a wedding alone but it definitely helped to have two cameras handy. Thanks, Michelle! The mix of lenses and my flash were awesome and I now know that the two lenses I’ve had on my wishlist for a while are really worth getting after all. I had some challenges such as high noon lighting, teal green walls inside the dressing room, and a non-traditional arrangement of the ceremony but in the end I think I managed to handle it all just fine. By the way, I took this group photo from the second story window. Not bad for a girl with no ladder, eh?! Now it’s time to sit down and sort/edit the photos to my liking. I hope I can get through them all this week.

UPDATE: Photos are done and now ready for viewing.  Password is DAWSON.

Day Off

I need to take more random days off.  I got so much done and feel ready to take on my weekend!  This morning, I took inventory of all my camera gear and double and triple checked all the details for the Saturday gig.  Then I met up with Susie for an hour-long ass-kicking ballet/yoga/pilates class.  Then Susie took me to the billion dollar babes sale for a little shopping.  I picked up a really pretty smoke quartz handmade necklace for $35 and had a lot of fun just browsing all the high-end designer stuff.  Afterwards, I went to Crate and Barrel to buy a gift for Ranee’s bridal shower tomorrow and then drove the Bangs to the airport for their trip to Maui.  Phew!!  Despite all the activity, I feel so relaxed and my mind is clear.

Now it’s about 11:19 pm and I need to go to bed.  I have a big day tomorrow and need to be rested and focused.  It’s going to be my very first paid gig and I don’t want to mess anything up.  I even borrowed Michelle’s identical Nikon D70s as a back-up camera.  Tomorrow should be fun and exciting.  Wish me luck!

I’m a total idiot.

This weekend was going to be a well-choreographed endeavor for me. I was supposed to fly down to LA on Thursday night, catch up with friends and family on Friday, shoot a wedding in Yorba Linda on Saturday, fly back to SF that same night, and shoot a second wedding on Sunday. Phew! It was going to be rough but I was really looking forward to it. Until…I got a phone call from the Bride of Sunday’s wedding. She called as I was about to board BART this morning with a slight tone of panic in her voice. This is how it went:

Bride: “Hi! I just wanted to call to give you my cell phone number.”

Me: “Oh great! Thanks!”

Bride: “Uh, I also got your email from last night and was a little confused.” …..
“You wrote ‘See you Sunday’.” ….. “The wedding is on Saturday!!”

Me: “Oh! Why did I think it was Sunday? No problem. I’ll see you Saturday at 11:15 as scheduled. ”

Bride: “OK, I was going to have a panic attack for a second there.”

Me: “No worries. I’ll be there on Saturday.”

*click*

I ran onto the train, plopped myself down in the nearest seat, and nearly threw up in my lunchbag. HOW DID I DOUBLE-BOOK MYSELF?!!!! So as I steamed for the 22-minute ride through the tunnel (with no cell-phone reception), I couldn’t help feeling a stream of anxiety, disappointment, and confusion all at the same time. My head was spinning and that felt like the longest BART ride EVAR!! As soon as I got off the train, I ran to the curb for my shuttle, didn’t see it, so I sat down and called the Brother to break the news. He was going to have to fly solo on Saturday and I wasn’t going to be flying down to LA after all. AAAck!

Brother – Thank you for being so understanding. Your sister is a complete idiot. I owe you a fat dinner and trip to Napa Valley.

**If you are a potential client reading my blog, please don’t let this hiccup deter you from considering me as your photographer. Trust me, this was a complete brain fart that will NEVER EVER happen again.

From the Rooftop

Last night AT&T Park had one of their many fireworks displays. I have no idea when or why they have them but when they go off, I get a pretty good view of the show from my rooftop. I tested out my mini tripod and “Fireworks” setting on my digi and was pretty impressed with the results.

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Here’s a photo of my side of the building with the ballpark in the background. If our unit was on the other side of the hallway, I would have been able to watch the show from my livingroom window. Instead, I must go to the rooftop patio, which is already pretty cool.

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Afterwards, I stayed around to take some cityscape photos, which came out surprisingly well. I just turned it to “Nightscene” mode and voila!