Jan
8
Year End Wrap Up
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2009 was all about Samantha. If I have any plans or goals in 2009, they all revolves around Samantha. Either it’s my career or travel plans or what’s for dinner, it’s all about Samantha.
The year started off with me quitting my job and going freelance to take care of Samantha. My mom was not too thrill about that, especially how dead the job market was after the economy crash on the day Samantha was born. But none of the less, Brian and I survived the year and ready for 2010.
Besides juggling between Samantha and working or finding work, we took some time off in July to take Samantha on her first airplane trip. We spend a few days in NYC visiting Brian’s sister and the big city. We didn’t know what to expect because we are very particular about Samantha nap and sleep schedule. Surely enough, Samantha adjusted just fine and I would even say that this was a turning point for her. After coming back from NYC, Samantha started sleeping through the night.
I also took two months off from work over the summer to hang out with Samantha. We met a few evanston moms and made a few friends. Samantha loves the park and library. She also started walking with a walker around this time, but lost interested and didn’t really start trying again until she turn 13 months old. Now at 16 months, she’s almost running (very clumsy of course, picture a frankenstein running.)
The Christmas holiday was great. We got our first real tree and decorated it while we played xmas music and drank hot coco. It was really a Kodak moment. We brought Samantha many gifts but not as many as the gifts she receive from her aunts/uncles, grandparents and cousins. I don’t know who’s happier. Me watching Samantha’s reaction or her opening the presents.
Well.. that’s a wrap up.
Jul
2
Occasionally I have people asking me about my photography (what equipment/software I use). First, thanks to those who like to visit Samantha’s photo gallery at all…I have a blast taking her pics, and if I were the only person left on the planet viewing these photos, I’d still be doing it!
I encourage everyone to take the time to enhance their photos, especially the ones you admire the most or consider precious. Even pictures taken with the cheapest of point-and-shoot cameras can benefit from a little digital improvement here and there. You’d be surprised at the difference it can make.
I liken this process to preparing raw meats for a meal. Rarely do you simply cook and consume a piece of meat as is from the store, without flavoring or marinading it at least a little. You almost always have to resize the meat somehow and then marinade it for taste, even if that only means a dash of salt or pepper to enhance its flavor. Well, rarely do images captured with any camera (high-end ones included) come out prepared perfectly, the best it can look. Once in awhile you’ll get lucky with that great money shot, but even then I bet it still can benefit from a little bump in contrast or recovery in the highlights (a little salt and pepper).
This becomes even more true if you’re shooting in RAW format these days (which most of my photos are taken). Your camera is outputting the best possible image quality that it’s mechanically capable of shooting (100% color/levels/white balance etc information). But it then becomes your job to tweak all that information so that it comes to life. It’s like the butcher giving you the best quality meat he has. Its up to you to season and prepare it so that you bring out the best flavors of that meat. Ever see pieces of raw footage from a hollywood movie or commercial before it’s been sent to the highly paid Colorist for grading? It’s almost unrecognizable in a lot of cases. The difference in before and after are stunning. And we’re talking about ridiculously high quality cameras shooting this raw material.
Which brings me next to my software of choice, Adobe Lightroom. Unlike Photoshop, which to me is more of an image manipulation software, Lightroom is a photograph enhancing tool. This is different than manipulating a picture…nothing is physically altered in the image. It’s simply enhanced… toning this detail down, bringing that one up.. until its digital information is balanced the way you like it.
Lightroom is built for the photographer and purist. Getting familiar with its specific sequence of Developing tools alone can be an education in the fundamentals of photographic principles. Starts with white balance to tonal balance to color ranges, and finishes with vignette correction… exactly the natural sequence of logic that a seasoned photographer would follow. Its quite easy to learn the software by experimenting, and you can start slow. It doesn’t take much time before you figure out the necessary tweaks and what they accomplish. Can’t say enough positive things about this tool. Give it a shot if you haven’t already. There isn’t a photograph of mine that i care about that doesn’t pass through Lightroom at some point.
As a side note, I might consider making some of my own video tutorials on topics such as this (showing my photo touchup workflow, etc). I’m trying to gauge interest, so if there’s anyone actually still reading this blog who would be interested in that, do let me know.
Jun
17
Stroller Update
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After a long battle of “should we / should we not” mental and wallet consideration, we finally purchased the Bugaboo Bee. It is pricier than most but I can’t get myself to like anything else out there. I ordered it online, so I’ll receive in a few days. I’m so excited to finally use it. I went to the store a few times just to look at this thing. I hope it meets my expectation.
May
23
Red Velvet Cake
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No.. this is not a post about how to make red velvet cake or a review on red velvet cake. This is a post about the warnings of a red velvet cake. If you are like me and likes to eat red velvet cake, be aware that it turns the color of your poop red.
This morning as I take my morning routine, I looked down and I saw red poop. All sorts of pondering came about. Do I have cancer? What should I do about Sam? I should sell my home and make sure my family settle into something comfortable on one income. I should move all my savings to Sam’s college fund….. then I stop and remember I ate a red velvet cake last night. So… I did a search online and found that red velvet cake does turn your poop red. This was surprising because the previous times I ate it, this didn’t happen to me. Maybe it depends on the amount of food dye in the cake. Well… I had a scare this morning, but I’m still keeping an eye on my afternoon poop.
May
18
Summer 2009
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Brian and I have decided to make good use of this summer, unlike our previous summers where we end up regretting not planning anything for the summer and watch the summer pass by. So, starting today, we have scheduled things to do from now to mid August. We’ll keep revising our agenda as the weeks go. Here are some items on our list to do for this summer in no particular order:
- BBQ with Family and Friends
- Visit Family and Friends
- Trip to the Zoo
- Trip to Shedd Aquarium
- Trip to downtown Chicago
- Day at the beach for 4th of July
- Trip to NYC
Feb
27
Changes
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Little Sam is now a little over 5 months old now, how time flies. There were a couple of relatively big changes that occurred just today. Samantha is now sleeping in her own crib in the nursery (yes, she’s been in a co-sleeper with us up until now, and sometimes even on our bed when taking naps). She’s transitioned surprisingly well, hopefully it’ll be as smooth during night sleep as well. And second, she ate some bottled baby formula today! She’d been breastfed or having bottled breastmilk 100% of the time until today (good job, Mommy). I knew she’d have a little protest when first tasting formula (last night), but she finally ate about 1 oz just a little while ago after her bath. Cool. At least I know now she has alternative foods when stuck without her favorite.
Feb
21
Slumdog Weekend
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We’re predicting a Slumdog sweep this weekend at the Oscars. And we’re celebrating with our own tribute to this very entertaining movie, in our Webisode 3! Enjoy!
Feb
12
Samantha in HD!
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Any video footage of little Samantha you ask? Good question. Especially since I do some video work as part of my living, you’d think I’d have a lot. I guess there’s been a couple of reasons why the delay. Video, especially home video, sometimes has a reputation (and rightfully so) as being painful to watch. I fear developing a library of boring, unwatchable footage of our daughter. I didn’t want to amass a collection of material that Samantha would want nothing to do with when she gets older.
I needed a creative workaround. Let’s treat video just like photography and show snippets/captures of time! A first xmas, a funny expression, any memorable instance. No time for full features or storyboards either. Keep it short. And its all about fun with the gear and technology too!
Then one day as I was deconstructing an animation piece of a motion designer I admire (it helps me learn software and thought processes), it turned out to be a perfect template for some fun with Samantha video (so I can’t take credit for the design, but the actual content is mine own of course). Lets create a small series of short vids, with a fun opener.
Well, here are the initial results. Sorry Windows/IE users, they’re quicktime .movs for now (with my parental and work responsibilities, its the quickest workflow if I’m to do this at all). Either download QT/iTunes or toss them onto your ipod to watch on your way to work (cause I know you want to watch Sam all day long 
). Maybe if I have time to figure out the whole Facebook youTube Vimeo Podcast thingy one day, it’ll be more accessible. Any suggestions, do share!
Feb
10
Snuggle Blanket ?
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You heard of the Snuggle Blanket, right? Well, check out the WTF Blanket. It’s too funny.
Jan
27
New Year
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It’s been awhile since last postings. Been a little busy. Happy New Year (East and West). May you all avoid loosing your jobs or foreclosing on the house. We have a few new galleries up. Although its taking forever to upload stuff, not sure if its a Cyberduck problem, or my hosting service. Samantha is doing well. Growing pretty fast! Four months old has definitely been her turning point thus far.
That’s it for now.