Feeeeeeed me

(Cross-posted on Xanga and Facebook)

I'm not calm enough to objectively address my take on the collective conservative-Christian three-ring circus drama right now, so I'll hold my thoughts on that.

I don't really feel like I need to justify my Facebook status in any way... but I want to explain. For those not in the know, I posted, "Katherine finally feels like she belongs in America today. God bless MY nation." A friend commented that my statement was very similar to Michelle Obama's "and she got a lot of shit for it," as he said. I was flabbergasted by how much I also got for that comment... exclusively from America's evangelical population.

For a little personal background information, I am Asian by ethnicity and American by birth. Yet I have constantly felt like I never belonged in America. Comments about my race, mocking statements about my heritage and origins, innocent questions born of ignorance, and blatantly racist accusations are part of my growing-up experience.

Many white Americans have commented to me that they don't understand how constant reiteration of "Obama being the first black president" can be taken as anything other than a racist comment. (Well, I'm entertained when white people talk to me about race just because I'm Asian, anyway) It's true - they are racist statements in the sense that they point out his skin color repeatedly. But the same people who say, "Color should not be a factor" are exactly the ones for whom color is NOT a factor. So yeah. Skin color matters, and Obama's election is a milestone for every non-white American today.

All I meant to communicate in the Facebook status 100-character limit was this: "Today, someone like myself will never be forgotten in the history of my country. I BELONG." When this realization sunk in... well, I'm not usually an emotional person, but I couldn't hold back happy tears.

I simply wanted to share this beautiful moment with my friends in a rare moment of vulnerability. I consequently am deeply hurt that anyone would twist a sincere prayer for blessing upon my country's future into a way to throw "America's wicked, perverse sins" in my face. If one of my biggest blessings today really is God's curse on me, then maybe I should look into a one-way ticket to hell.

But I really learned something today: Nobody can take my happiness away from me unless I let them do so. And nobody's bigotry can cheapen this day for me.

On one level, Obama is just another Democratic nominee who won the election. This is the level at which dissent on economic policies, Roe v. Wade, the Iraq war, abortion, and international security should be voiced. Yippee-ki-yay. The last time we had a Democrat president (the Methodist Christian one), it became known that he screwed around with girls in various offices of government... while married... so you doomsday Christians should be used to being on your knees for the Democrats already. (I say this with extreme sarcasm) Do you really think that Obama could have lower morals? I'm not denying the possibility of that, certainly, but I highly doubt the probability of it. I can see - and strongly disagree with - why some might find "Democrats are scary" for some people, but now that it's all over, QUIT WHINING. What's done is done.

But on another level, he is a hell of an icon. Today is the day the Emancipation Proclamation is officially fulfilled. He is the face of success - for all minorities - but especially for every slave descendant in America today. He symbolizes marginalized America. His election proves there is hope for children from broken homes. His mere existence validates the worth of preserving a child's life, even if a mother or grandmother must raise him alone. My thrill over his nomination was exclusively over this milestone.

I admire his indomitable courage, I'm almost certain that he will rack up assassination attempts, if only because he is the first black American presiden, as well as being a spokesman for a plethora of controversial issues. God willing, they will only be attempts. But it's deplorably undeniable that the country whose citizen murdered Martin King Luther Jr. for merely dreaming about American equality will have progressed beyond violence as a form of protest in a scant 40 years.

Barack Obama is no idiot. For all his screaming fangirl base of "change"-chanters, he can't possibly have overlooked the deep hatred many harbor toward him (thank you, conservative Christians, for giving sheltered me a glimpse of that tonight). That a man so young would offer up a life so sweet - a loving wife, young children, a normal life, relative protection and security for his family - in dedication to his belief that he is the best candidate to next lead America... This kind of devotion should command our deepest respect and gratitude, not our scorn and self-righteousness. "I could not love thee, dear, so much, loved I not honor more." How can we celebrate Lovelace's couplet in poetry but not in action? I am deeply ashamed to call myself a Christian today when I see "God's people" spit on God's anointed.

I believe that Barack Obama is God's hand-picked leader for America. He is without a doubt the right man for the right time. Anyone who believes that Obama is "against God's will" must have an egregiously skewed understanding of God's omniscience. Obama is not a savior - he is merely a leader. I'm not entirely sure some have noticed the difference.

His victory tonight already fulfills his hope for the future: Change HAS already come to America. In coming days, it is inevitable that he will disappoint the people of America in some way. He is only human, after all, and expectations for this man in particular are the stuff of legends. Yet I firmly believe that God placed him in office for a reason, that he will do his part to fulfill his duty to me as the commander-in-chief of my beloved country, and I pledge in turn to honor, respect and support him AS A LEADER in every possible way.

God bless the United States of America.

What if I told you it was all meant to be?
Would you believe me? Would you agree?
Its almost that feeling that we’ve met before

A moment like this
Some people wait a lifetime for a moment like this
Some people search forever for that one special kiss
Oh, I can't believe it's happening to me
Some people wait a lifetime for a moment like this

Everything changes, but beauty remains
Something so tender I can't explain
Well I may be dreaming but 'til I awake...
Can we make the dream last forever?
And I’ll cherish all the love we share for a moment like this

Some people wait a lifetime for a moment like this
Some people search forever for that one special kiss
I can't believe it's happening to me
Some people wait a lifetime for a moment like this

Could this be the greatest love of all
I wanna know that you will catch me when I fall
So let me tell you this
Some people wait a lifetime for a moment like this…

Some people search a lifetime for a moment like this
Some people search forever for that one special kiss
I can't believe it's happening to me
Some people wait a lifetime for a moment like this

Fantastic work, Lighthousers. This is the point where I am supposed to tell you that all the work was for God's glory, so don't forget that. ;) (I notice that in American churches, applauding such "success" seems to be the norm... I'm still a little out of touch with that habit) I'm so proud of you all, not because of what you did (although you did it well) but because of how much your heart was in it. Nobody ever notices what the photographer is thinking or doing behind the camera, but if the Lifehouse pics suck... I'm sorry! You try shooting in a dark auditorium with elephantine tears dripping down your cheeks! =]

So mad that I accidentally cut off his shoe here ;p

Now for technicalities. I decided to give RAW a shot and see what all these snobs are raving about. ;p Honestly? I prefer shooting JPEG. Far less hard drive and CF card space, much faster processing, less fine-tuning and tweaking. Besides, I know my white balances semi-well by now. I'd hate to waste that hard-earned knowledge. Hehehe. I spent the longest time trying to fiddle with those "whites." Very annoying.

I also processed them all in Lightroom as my second experiment. In retrospect, I should not have combined two semi-variables, although I have fiddled with RAW and Lightroom separately before. Although it's very convenient for sorting, organizing and quick-editing, it's not quite what I like. I do like the white balance tool and the sync option. Overall, I think I've just gotten so used to Photoshop tweaks that I'm either going to have to invest a significant chunk of time achieving the look I'm used to getting in 30 seconds in CS3, or else I'll probably have to run the best photos through two edits, a quickie Lightroom run and then Photoshop tweaking on the best photos. Maybe I'll consider Photo Mechanic as an alternative, since it's a journalistic standard when it comes to photo software and tools. One more boost for my resume!

This is what I've been slaving over all week. :) Archana's ideas, brought to life by skillful models, captured by me. I also did all the photoshopping, etc. Whoo!! We set up the majority of these shots, but we used some of my old photos for the rest because we didn't have enough time to do 'em all.

If the titles and taglines don't make sense... click on the images to see the Web sites they were designed to represent. Each of the sites has a "theme" and a tagline, which we copied as closely as we could. =]

If these are funky colored on your screen, sorry - I processed them on the calibrated monitors in the photojournalism lab.

I feel proud. They look so nice in print. XD

Model: Oriana Wong

Models: Alyssa and Brighton Welch

Models: Alice Chung and Perry

Model: Lene Lay

Models: Bethany Tsui, Emily Yang, Alice Chung, Helen Wang, and Jennifer Huang

Models: Robert and Alyssa Welch

There's no Web site for BridalSugar just yet... Archana's hoping to pitch it to Sugar Inc. over spring break! =]

Last week four-year-old Morgan fell 20 feet from a tree, breaking her arms and impact-fracturing her back, neck and shoulders. Here's the original story.

Here's an update from a few days ago.

On Thursday I got a chance to drive down to San Antonio and hang out with their family for a few hours. Morgan has three older brothers, a baby brother and a baby sister.

Morgan thanks you for gifts, Auntie Susan :)

More here

Happy birthday, Oliver. =]

Here's an intermediate save:

Here's the finished product without acid wash. Doesn't it look cool with that clean background? It's like... pseudo-studio lights!

P.S. Sorry. I couldn't help it. Too funny. What other song could possibly go with this pic? So here's more attempts on my part to emulate those esteemed Taiwanese studios. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, check this out)

Click for entertainment.

The Lanning-Porter wedding yesterday was a success, I do believe. We started out getting ready in the Hyatt Hotel overlooking Town Lake. I don't think one can go wrong photography-wise by getting ready in a room with a great view and a super-large window.

This is what I got to look at when I wasn't shooting. 

Yesterday was also Flugtag, so we fought tons of traffic all afternoon and evening. However, it did make for a lot of people cheering us on. You'll see a shot of them randomly tumbling around in the sky, and two of them camping out on the bridge at night.

The actual ceremony and reception was held on a ferry-type boat off the shores going around and around in unromantic circles... We ended up boarding pretty late, because all the important guests and relatives and the Justice of the Peace were allllll stuck in Flugtag traffic for two hours, no lie.

I don't like shots with flash or with high ISO and slight blur, so I'm not processing any of those. Thus, there will be none on Flickr for you to see and none for me to copy to Xanga. I am a purist, I suppose. I like me some light! Don't worry, they capture enough memories for the bride and groom.

I did, however, like my "getting ready" shots. Everything is here.

Dress detail. I didn't know I could like dresses from David's Bridal! =]

Dress, with light from the window. We had an awesome view of downtown and the lake and all the festivities... at least I did. I think the girls were too busy running around like chickens without their heads. :D They always do. :D

Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes and a bone in her nose, oh, oh... I mean, what?

We were here... and the sky was amazingly blue, although in most of my pictures it is far too bright to capture the awesomeness that is a rich blue sky.

My view. See the people on the bridge? They're setting up for Flugtag. That tiny riverboat to the bottom left was the one chartered for the wedding. They're decorating it.

Princess of Austin for a day

I grabbed a [soon-to-be] sister-in-law to help out for some bouquet shots.

There's the bridge in the bokeh blur

I think they looked pretty nice

Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. I love these things.

He looks really happy, eh?

Haha, love the sweat beads

The wedding coordinator ALSO did all the flowers on her own. Awesome? Awesome!

I like this shot. I didn't know Phuong was about to talk to me when I shot this. She looks tiny and pissed. So funny.

And just so you don't forget. We were in Austin. AUSTIN. EVERYWHERE.

Here commences my shoe fetish evidence.

Blue wedges

Nice piggins

Writing bridesmaids' names on the bottom of her shoe... apparently "the first one to rub off will be the next to get married!"

Shoes and soldiers

Classic wedding portrait, I guess? That's all we really had time for, but we're scheduled for another one after they get back from their honeymoon. In future I'm charging more for this sort of stuff, not because I'm that amazing but because I need my study time. :-[

I like the pink tips

She definitely lapped up the princess treatment ;) Although she was very chill, and not at all Bridezilla.

I like this shot of the girls; I also like how all their dresses are different. I liked this season of David's Bridal's gowns. Is it sad that I know them by color and style? Meh.

Trying out an idea. They helped me along.

I might like this one best.

But I think this one is the most realistic.

Flugtag crazies! This was while we were outside the hotel shooting the following...

Boys and their Converse sneakers. Fun fun.

Girls, on the other hand, like sugar and spice...

And a little bit of not nice.

Now some bridal candids...

"Look at me, please"

You may think she looks all romantic and sweet, but she wants you to know she has a punky rocker edge!

Groom chatting with friends on the deck

That glowy thing is Red Bull's stand. Apparently they sponsor this wild and crazy event. Shot from the boat.