gj

" When I was a young man, I wanted to change the world...

...I found it was difficult to change the world,
so I tried to change my nation.

When I found I couldn't change the nation,
I began to focus on my town.
I couldn't change the town and as an older man,
I tried to change my family.

Now, as an old man, I realize the only thing I can change is myself,
and suddenly I realize that if long ago I had changed myself,
I could have made an impact on my family,
my family and I could have made an impact on our town,
their impact could have changed the nation...
and I could indeed have changed the world. "

-By Unknown Monk, 1100 A.D.

...it begins with you

I find myself not wanting to blog every time I try to write something...why? Because I'm so incredibly dissatisfied with my blog design! I need a graphic designer who will help me revamp it completely and help give me a new look. Don't get me wrong...I CAN design, it's just that I don't have the time to sit here and wonder and ponder precious hours that I do not have to come up with a design that I won't be happy with because I am my own worst critic.

Anyways! This past weekend was awesome. It was the weekend of the CiM (Christians In Motion) conference. Peter Scazzaro from New Life Fellowship and author of Emotionally Healthy Spirituality came to speak in our 2 day conference. It was amazing! He spoke about a lot of amazing things and practical things that we can do to mature emotionally in order to gain spiritual maturity. I'm not a huge fan of reading Christian books and this is one that I actually picked up and read which I highly recommend to people. So I suggest YOU read it too...order a copy at Books For Christ. Another amazing thing about this conference was that I got to test out my D700. AWESOME! I LOOOOVE my new baby....

Labels: photography

Today I brought my new baby home
I was running around downtown collecting a lens from here and a body from there. I'll admit that after I made the purchase it felt like there was a target on my ass. I was getting paranoid that someone was going to snatch my purchase.
All in all i'm SUUUUPER stoked!!!! It was a big purchase but SO worth the investment and I can't wait to see where this camera will take me. I'm so thankful to God for putting me in a situation where I can even make the purchase. It's such a blessing!

Muhahahaha I'm just playing around with the camera right now and it's AWESOME! It's late so I'm going to sleep soon but I'm itching to take it out for a test run!

Labels: photography

photo by Norman Jean Roy

Labels: photography

ok, i'm about to head out the door to church but I wanted to write a quick line about what I did yesterday. I went to visit some camera stores downtown and I got to talk with lots of people there about my on going battle between d700 and 5D mkII.... I only got to play with the D700 as stores are still taking care of preorders for the 5D. I love the D700! I want the D700! Prices are steadily going to go up on these beauties because the canadian dollar is so bad so I want to jump on it NOW! But I keep telling myself that I should wait to test out the 5D first so I'm going to have to be a little more patient.
:)
overall the D700 felt comfortable in my hands and that's the most important thing, everything was at my fingertips with dedicated buttons and I liked how I didn't have to go into the menus to change stuff.
OK! GOTTA GO!!!

Labels: photography

"In ALL things God works for the good of those who love Him"
-Romans 8:28




...staying positive is one of the hardest things to do,
but staying positive will get you farther than you ever thought you could go.
attitude is contagious whether it's positive or negative so surround yourself with positive people. I am my harshest critic

I can't believe my brother's married! I can but at the same time I can't...
I absolutely LOVE my new sister, I am so blessed to have her and I thank God for giving me the kind of sister I've always wanted. It's great having an older brother and all but nothing beats a sister :)

While I was in Korea I did a quick engagement shoot for them because the Korean style of wedding photography is very different and it didn't suite my brothers taste, so to soften the disappointment I did a shoot for them. The shoot was taken place in the most charming old traditional korean home. The story behind this home deserves a separate blog but in a nutshell the house is a guest house for people who want to visit korea but want to experience it the REAL way. People come from all over the world and stay at this small house and are truly able to feel comfortable and welcomed by the family who runs it. My sister in law taught the owners kids piano and so we were warmly welcomed. Next time I go to korea I'm definitly going to stay there cause it's in a great location too. But again, this place deserves a seperate blog ;)

Back to my brothers wedding...
Korean weddings are so different I don't know where to begin. It's all about the extended family, everyone's invited! My youngest uncles wives relatives were there too...crazy huh? I realized how important it is to keep an open mind and not be easily offended when you're thrown into a culture that you're not that familiar with because what's considered offensive in one culture is not offensive in another.



The wedding was so hectic it went by in a flash! I had to greet relatives that I hadn't seen in years! As I'm going through my photos I'm kinda sad because I didn't have time to take photos :( I didn't even take any with my parents...booooo...I guess i'll have to wait for the photographer.

Labels: photography

i'm in my last week! already?
so sad to leave :(
i don't want to leave!!!!

Korea has been such an amazing trip where I got to see things I've never seen before. Although it is my hometown I hadn't experienced it in this way before. It felt like a second home to me and not so foreign. But most of all I'm going to miss my parents! I see them once a month if I'm lucky.

Here are some random photos of where I've been, what I ate and what I saw...

traditionally prepared DUCK! so yummy!
book store on the streetonly country where Starbucks isn't written in english

there's so much more!!!!
I'm so happy that I got to go to Korea again...hope to go back in the near future. I just wish the flight wasn't so long!