b - jason's black and white birthday

... that happened a week and a half ago.

this week's been busy with the move and all that blogging has taken a back seat.
as you no doubt saw first in krista's blog, our friend jason decided to celebrate his 23rd in style.

the original plan was to rent a boat for a summer cruise, but that didn't pan out when they double booked the boat for some touristy shit.






so instead, he rented a suite at the four points by sheraton (not the ambassador, krista. :P) here in downtown k-town. it was nice, it had four hide-a-beds that you pulled down from the walls, a lounge with comfy couch and HDTV, basically it was a hot tub short of a hip hop video.

the TV went unused for the most part, if it were my birthday, i'm thinking some Rock Band would've definitely been in good measure.









but we had fun. it was fun to dress up (even if it was half-a-costume) and look all classy with classy friends while acting decidedly un-classy.

after a bit, it was decided that we head out to the bars to take the party elsewhere, as it was creeping up to midnight, and the rest of the hotel guests were probably getting tired. let's just say that paying 5 bucks cover and the privilege of paying 5 bucks for a beer -- shitty beer, no less (budweiser) and listen to DJ Rip-Off spin his Girl Talk plagiarism. 

i guess the equation is [80's vocals] * [90's beats] = [00's profit] ? 

but i digress. we all had fun. we'll have pictures up of the new apartment once we get our cable hooked up. 

e - what would you do?

My lips will never be the same, ever.

What would you do for Radiohead tickets?

That's the question that our local radio station 98.9 The Drive had been asking for about a month or so. I'd thought about it, nothing good came to mind though but I really wanted to do it for Brant because I knew that he was a pretty big fan and he's pretty much the reason that I even know who Radiohead is.

Well like any good girlfriend I kept thinking, and thinking, and thinking.

Think. Think. Think.

I really had nothing. About to give up and just say forget it my dad encouraged me to just enter with anything because if I didn't I would probably regret it after hearing people who were chosen. So I did it, I entered.

"I will kiss 989 people in one day!", I wrote thinking that they would never choose that. I mean c'mon Radiohead is a HUGE band, people would probably cut off their left arm for that.

Nah, I'll be safe I thought, thought being the operative word here.

On Thursday I actually checked my email, I tend to avoid doing so because I get a million and one 'So and so has wrote on you Facebook wall' notifications. But I checked it, I have no idea why but I did. And low and behold, an email from the radio stations promotions and marketing manager Shawn Whalen telling me that my idea qualified for the prize and asked if I was willing to do it.

Totally. It was a huge prize, tickets to a SOLD OUT Radiohead show at the Molson Ampitheatre in Toronto, return train transportation will VIA Rail - traveling VIA 1, which is first class including all the booze and pillows you would ever want, effing sweet, and a nights stay at the Delta Chelsea Hotel in downtown Toronto.

The day came, Monday, August 11, I was nervous and tired - being up at 530 a.m. was rough! But I made it, had an interview on the radio and then we hit the streets. We hit up pretty much everywhere in town that we could, Tim Hortons, Wal-Mart, Downtown, The Cataraqui Town Centre, Loblaws, bus terminals, any where in Kingston that is busy, you name it we were there.

Most people were nice and let me give them a little peck on the cheek, some were mean and some just didn't want to be bothered at all. The older ladies and old gents were the nicest, the old guys loved it. Another reason why old people rock, they kind of got it and were super cute.

kiss.

kiss.

kiss.

988 kisses later, my lips sore, my body tired and my clothes damp from the rain I was one peck away from giving Brant the coolest gift ever, but I had to wait until 430. A surprise was in store.

My last task and final kiss was to kiss Mike Ried, the afternoon host on the drive. It was fun, I got interviewed on his show, gave him a little kiss and that was that I am going to see Radiohead.

Worst part, Brant can't go. He's starting a new job at Taylor Studios as the print tech on Wednesday, tomorrow, and can't get it off. I guess it wouldn't look too professional to ask for a day off just 2 days after you begin your job. ha. So My dad is going, he deserves it too, afterall I might not have entered if it weren't for him.
YAY RADIO HEAD ON FRIDAY! Weeeeeeeeee! This will make me a sure fan, a forever fan.

b - shooting weddings...

... takes forrrrever.



The initial shooting of the wedding is great, don't get me wrong. Eric and I have shot a couple for friends and family, and for the most part, it's pretty straightforward.

There's always going to be good pictures wandering around the place - little moments between the bride and groom, if there's any kids attending, that's pretty much like easy bonus points. Kids being kids pretty much means you have a constant source of good photos.




Big thing is just the hours upon hours of editing that has to be done after the fact.



Really, the ideal way to shoot a wedding from a business-oriented point of view is to just shoot the wedding the day of, either develop the film or transfer digital files the next day, and then hand them over. Boom, done. No mess. In and out, on to the next gig.

The problem is, if you're like us, you tend to be a bit ruthless when it comes to editing. You don't want to fork over anything less than your best work. We were working digitally, which meant we could be a little sloppy. We shot about 700-1000 photos (lots of multiple shots when it came to large group pictures - don't want anyone's eyes closed or looking in the opposite direction!), and the first edit was down to about 90 photos.



And those were just the good ones.
After you get all the really nice ones out of the way, you have to find filler shots. Filler sounds negative, I'm sure, but it's not. You need the detail shots, photographs of the centerpieces, the invitations, the decorations, the cake, the presents, all that sorts of jazz. And not to mention candid shots of the mingling between the service and the dinner ceremony. It's a pretty crazy job for just one person, thankfully I have Erica.



The day wasn't without it's craziness, however; when I arrived at the house with the groom and his posse, I was approached by a very frustrated Erica, who told me that the minister was very adamant that there was to be absolutely no photography during the ceremony. Which is pretty much the proverbial money shot over the whole course of the day. I figured she just meant no flash photography, meant to discourage the people in the audience.
"No", I was told.
"Any photography is absolutely forbidden during the ceremony."
I understand the whole sanctity of the ceremony and all, but this is an outdoor wedding just off the back roads in Perth. You could hear cars driving in the distance, birds and squirrels, and all sorts of fauna rustling all around you. A couple clicks of the shutter wouldn't hurt, would it?

Whatever, didn't want to chance it. She later pointed out that the arrival of the bride, the first kiss and the signing of the certificate were fair game. Basically, so as long as she wasn't preaching, it was all good.




... then went and stuck her head in the way of the first kiss. ARGHDEATHKILLMAIMGRRRR.


EDIT: DAWWWWWWW