100th Post/Homecoming Dance 2010

So about this time two years ago, I had created this blog with hopes to show some of my work. receive some constructive criticism, and to somewhat get myself out there. I honestly admit that I have indeed gotten somewhat better since I first started, but i'm still not nearly close to where I want to be, so hopefully that will happen soon. Thank you so much to those of you who have kept up with me and looked at my work on a consistent basis. Apparently I've gotten approximately 300 views over the past two years (is that good or bad???) but yea again, thank you guys so much for you support!

So my close friend, Joseph Kim goes to school with me and we tend to tell everybody that we're cousins. So, this being my "cousins" senior year, he and his friends went to the CCHS Homecoming Dance 2010. If you remember, I went last year with my sister and her friends and took some pictures for them. This year again, I was given the awesome opportunity to take pictures for my "cousin" and his friends.

For some reason, I tried to pay special attention to Nisha just because she was the homecoming princess AND because she took the liberty of setting up the whole night for many of her friends so...

MAD PROPS TO NISHA DESEI!

They definitely knew how to pose well too!

More so than the boys, I paid special attention to the girls. At events like these, (e.g. Homecoming, prom, Winter ball, etc.) I believe that the girls are still the most important and the main priority so, I made sure to make that a point even when it came time to pictures.

The Homecoming Princess and her boys

The boys....

The whole group, 33 people....

The whole group again.

So overall, it was definitely awesome that they would a trust an amateur like me to take their homecoming pictures. I am EXTREMELY thankful to them for letting me photograph their homecoming day. I was REALLY nervous because I didn't want to ruin their homecoming day; hopefully I didn't. Very beautiful ladies, and handsome men. I could not have asked for better people to take pictures of. Thank you guys for letting me capture your SENIOR homecoming day!!!

A Bittersweet Night

So I wanted to start off with a small update. Since I've come back from the Ecuador Trip that I went on back in late July, I can honestly admit that my life isn't RADICALLY different, but I am constantly reminded of what I learned while I was down there. There are so many things around Orlando that remind of Ecuador... weird isn't it?!?! I haven't gotten the chance to do as much photography as I had hoped for and I can honestly say that I do miss it a lot.

- Do I miss all of the post-production? Not so much.
- Do I miss lugging around all of the equipment? Not so much.
- Do I miss standing on my feet all day, walking back and forth on a football field? Not so much.
- Then what do I miss?

I miss snapping away shots. The one thing that I love about photography is that I am in control. I don't have to listen to a teacher, do it a certain way, or even take CERTAIN pictures. I'm given a general subject,   and I am my own instructor. The best is getting that PERFECT candid shot. You know, the shot of the dad giving his little girl a kiss, the photograph of the girl with "that look" in her eye as she watches her boyfriend play football (ha-ha), it's those perfect "kodak moments" that make it all worth it. Cliche??? YES!!! But the truth is, you will never understand it until YOU are behind the lense.

Yesterday, Friday, September 17, 2010 was Cypress Creek's homecoming football game where the homecoming parade would take place, and where the homecoming queen and king would be announced. How is this bittersweet? Unfortunately, our football team did not exactly play to the best of their ability and ended the night with another loss, however, last night was the night where the homecoming queen and king would be announced along with homecoming floats and other fun stuff. While I don't have much more to say, here are some of the pictures that I got.

The CCHS stadium has horrible lighting and due to the fact that I, as a teenage, amateur photographer with no steady income, NO income for that matter, I do not exactly have the correct equipment for low lighting situations such as a football game at night. That would explain the blurriness.

Some of the CCHS bear pride. More so senior pride than bear pride. ha ha

More pride.

Katarina Rodriguez and Stephany Duenas were two homecoming queen runner-ups (top right)

And without further or due, THE CCHS HOMECOMING QUEEN AND KING, AMANDA HORNE AND STEPHEN ROCHET LOPEZ! Two friends, very good friends if I am able to add (at least from my perspective.... ha ha) that I am very proud of. Congratulations you guys!

Afterwards, we had a small photo shoot. Both Amanda and Stephen are two very photogenic people = AWESOME models, haha. Congratulations again you guys.

In case some of you are wondering, I took most of these photographs with the Canon 15mm fish eye. It was the widest lense that I had. The next in line would have been my 28-135 which is a tad bit too close. I do however LOVE the fish eye so in regards to my personal preference, it all worked about... but honestly speaking at the same time, I think the photos came out great even with the fish eye.

**** PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!!!!!****

If you see a photograph that you like/appreciate, not to sound like a grinch (if that makes sense), but PLEASE do not copy the photograph straight from my blog (right-click, save image as) and claim it your own. I do own copyrights to my photographs so if you want them, just talk to me. This isn't a way for me to get all the credit or to make others know that I took it, not you, but it's a reminder that out of respect for any artist, whether they be a painter, photographer, videographer, poet, author, music artist, etc. this is THEIR work! So again, if you see something that you like, just talk to me about it. To find out contact information, click here.

Why not?!

So I was on Facebook and saw the opportunity to win a free Macbook Pro, iMac, iPad, iPod, and other awesome prizes. There are 9 ways to enter the contest and this is one of them. While a lot of them are way via Twitter, they had the chance to enter through my blog.

Logos Bible Software is giving away thousands of dollars of prizes 

to celebrate the launch of Logos Bible Software 4 Mac on October 1. 

Prizes include an iMac, a MacBook Pro, an iPad, an iPod Touch, and more than 100 other prizes!

They’re also having a special limited-time sale on their Mac and PC

base packages and upgrades. Check it out!

So yes, this is my way of enterring the contest but also gives you a chance to enter as well.  Click here and enter in any ways you can and have the opportunity to win some prizes!

2010 Harvest Summer Missions - Ecuador

About 3 weeks ago, I posted an informational update in regards to a mission trip that I would be going on from July 25-31. Here we are, 3 weeks later, back at home. I cannot even begin to explain how amazing the trip was. The trip went perfectly and for someone like me [one who complains a lot] I have no regrets, no disappointments, and no complaints about the trip. The pictures that I took cannot even begin to express how beautiful the land there is, it cannot express the love I saw in the eyes of my own team members and the people of Ecuador, and cannot even begin to demonstrate or show how effectively God used us to do His will.

Without a doubt, this mission trip was THE highlight on my summer and hands down one of the best experiences of my life. With months of prayer and preparation, we went into Ecuador ready to do whatever it was that God called us to do. For many of you, you may just be interested in the photos but for those of you interested in how my trip REALLY was, feel free to contact me and ask me questions, ask for my testimony, etc. Here are a couple pictures and a video with which I hope to try and provide just a mere visual and small explanation of how blessing this trip was for my team and me.

Some pictures prior to our departure. 

The bottom, right picture is a picture of Quito, Ecuador at night from the air plane.

Some of the B-E-A-U-TIFUL scenery in Ecuador

Our first FULL day in Lumbaqui, we made a quick stop in a town called "Cabeno" to make some of our own sugar cane juice.

Not too long before our arrival in Ecuador, local church in Lumbaqui was broken in to and the kitchen sink was stolen. So, to help increase security and safety, we helped build a wall around the church after we made our sugar cane juice.

Later that day, around 3 or 4 PM, we headed back to Cabeno to tell the town's people that our mission team would be giving our free hair cuts at the local church while leading a nighttime service.

Some of the neighbors

Our time in Synangue was to be spent helping this unreached village known as the "Cofan Village."

Our time in Synangue was supposed to be spent putting up the walls for the church that our team last year spent time laying down the foundation for. Our plans were changed, and instead, we spent our time in Synangue (2 days) moving the bricks for the walls in a series of 5-6 different "transfers." We moved 1,000 cinderblocks, each weighing about 5lbs,  from...

1. Where they were to a river bank
2. Across one river
3. Across a small island
4. Across another river
5. To a river bank on the other side
6. From the river bank up a 60 degree hill (more or less)
7. Finally, from the top of that hill up another hill, finally to the church.

You can pretty much sum it up as us transferring 2.5 tons of cinderblocks 7 times or as us transferring a whole church 7 times. haha 

Some of us were able to carry 6 cinderblocks, others carried 2.

While we were training in Orlando, we had practiced three skits. 

We decided to perform all three of skits on our last day in Lumbaqui at the local church.

We also taught the kids about Jonah and acted our the story.

The top two photos (left & middle) were from a skit that we call "Bus Stop."

The top right and bottom left are from a heart skit that we created, 

and the bottom right is the start of Jonah.

The top left picture here is also from the story about Jonah while the remaining three photos are from a skit that we call "Sin Chair."

On our trip back to Quito, we stopped by a beautiful waterfall (above) and a natural cold & hot spring known as "Papallacta."

Intimacy...

From August 3-6, Harvest had their 2010 Youth Summer Retreat. The theme this year was Intimacy. Not intimacy as the world defines it but intimacy with Christ. Our guest speaker was Rev. Q Kim. He was truly an anointed speaker who is a man of prayer. Overall, the four days and three nights were FULL of multiple blessings and honestly one of the best retreats that I have been to, if not THE best.

On August 5, we did an activity called "Pilgrim's Progress." For those of you who like to read [this isn't me], you'll know that this is actually a book written by a man known as John Bunyan. Pilgrim's Progress is about

"A "Christian" and his journey to "Celestial City;" Part II tells of the journey of Christian's wife Christiana and their children to Celestial City. The two parts work together as a unified whole, which describes and depicts the believer's life and struggles" - CCEL.org

As an attempt to help our youth understand more about their Christian walk [including mine] and how important it is, our retreat planning committee decided to simulate this book by cause the youth to go through a series of stations that would help clarify how each individuals' struggles affect everyone around then. Some stations simulated perseverance, temptation, and some simulated the reality of one's downfall causing everyone else to pay a price.

Much like our Christian walk today, when one of us falls away from Christ, falls to temptation, etc., the people around us are effected most. I truly believe that beyond to soreness, the complaints, and the lassitude, every single person who particitpated, from the age of 12 to the age of 20+, came out of Pilgrim's Progress with a stronger understanding of how crucial their faith and loyalty to Christ effects their life and the lives around them.

Some ice-breakers....

Team games....

Skits....

Pastor Goose and Julee left this past Tuesday to start their new life in San Diego, California. A couple months ago, Pastor Goose had accepted a calling at Jesus Community church to start an english congregation there. On the last night of the retreat, we spent a short time praying for them, praying for provision and God's faithfulness over their time in San Diego.

And here we have, cute Emmanuelle "Manny" Kim, daughter of  Rev. David L Kim and Olivia Kim. :D