Lunch with the Newlyweds

{In which Brandon and Phoebe wear super sweet matching shirts}

Since I didn't have work and Dawson wasn't schedule to fly out until that night, we had lunch with Brandon and Phoebe on 2/28. Due to some miscommunication, we ended up waiting at the original 鼎泰豐 (Din Tai Fung) for Brandon's parents when they'd gone to one of the other branches. While we waited, Phoebe looked through all the photos I took at the wedding, and then we took some more new ones.

Alter Ego

{In which I draw life lessons from a game in an effort to rationalize procrastination}

While avoiding the wedding photos last week, I stumbled across an online text-based sim game called Alter Ego. It's not exactly a super fun sort of game, but since the alternative was to actually process the photos (at a time when they were giving me a ton of trouble and filling me with self-doubt), I found the game distracting enough for my purposes.

Laundry Day

{In which I receive a mysterious message}

As I mentioned before, on this one day a couple weeks ago I did laundry instead of blogging or working on photos. My grandpa doesn't have a washing machine, so I have to lug my laundry ten minutes away to the coin-operated laundromat. Usually I don't stick around and wait, but that night I decided to do some writing.

It was a good idea, except the next day I realized I'd left my notebook at the laundromat.

Dawson in Taipei

{In which I explore Taipei with Dawson}

I woke up super late the day after the wedding, then went over to the hotel where everyone was staying and found Dawson. We ate lunch and then somehow stumbled into the 2/28 Memorial Peace garden (I thought CKS Memorial was one stop from Taipei Main, but it turned out to be two. Oops). But it was really pretty so we took a few photos before we left.

In Which I Give in to Vanity

That's me on the day of the wedding, which was held at Alethia University. Yes, you probably saw these on Facebook. Whatever, just humor me (and my vanity :P).

Since I shared my worries about what to wear to the wedding, I thought it only fair to show what I actually wore. (No tattooing was involved.) I bought this dress two days before the wedding at 五分埔 (Wufenpu). The initial quote was NT$880, but I charmed the salesman into selling it to me for NT$700. Not bad, huh? :D

Oh, and here's a gchat conversation I had with my friend about the first photo, which she saw on Picasa.

Annie: I like the picture where the bride's hair glistened in the sun. Or not the bride.

Me: LOL that's not the bride.

Annie: The girl. Whatever.

Me: Um... that would be ME.

Annie: Wait, what?

Me: Yeah, I'm serious.

Annie: OMG THAT IS YOU AHAHAHAHAHAHAH I thought she looked familiar...

Yeah, don't know if that's a good thing or not. :P

A big thank-you to Dawson, who took the photos for me! :)

with love,

linda

My First Stint as an Amateur Wedding Photographer

{In which I think about how to improve as a photographer}

This post is an extremely long reflection and analysis of the process of getting those photos done — it's really a way for me organize my thoughts about what I did and how to improve next time, so feel free to skip if it doesn't interest you. And if you haven't already, feel free to check out the photos on Picasa or on Facebook!

Phoebe and Brandon's Wedding

{In which I finally post the photos from Brandon and Phoebe's beautiful wedding!}

Phoebe and Brandon got married in Taiwan on February 26, and I was so honored to be able to participate in their big day! Dawson flew in from China and together with Sungil we repped Berkeley ICA. I was super excited to get to hang out with all of them (I miss Berkeley ICA so much!) and take lots of pictures of everyone looking gorgeous for the wedding.

A big part of me couldn't believe that Brandon was getting married. Still hard to get it through my head now. But I have lots of pictures as proof! And yes, you finally get to see them. Well, a handful, at least.

This was my first time photographing a wedding so I was a little nervous — despite the fact I was just photographing as a guest. But I really wanted to take lots of beautiful photographs for Brandon and Phoebe as well as for those of you who couldn't attend. I know I still have a lot of room for improvement — my inadequacies as a photographer as evidenced by these photos bug me a lot, actually — but I hope you can look past the flaws to experience the moment I tried to capture. Brandon and Phoebe's love for each other really shines through, and that's what's important. Be sure to send your blessings and congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Jue! :)

Chasing Pigeons

{In which there are photos of a cute boy}

Wow, that last post worked like a charm! After writing it I felt a lot more motivated to work on photos (no idea why) and spent hours on the photos this week. I finally figured out what I was doing wrong with some of the ones that were giving me a lot of trouble, so I went back and fixed them. I was really relieved that they don't suck so much any more, even if I wasn't any closer to finishing. But that really helped me not to dread processing as much and gave me the push I needed to keep going. In fact, I made so much progress that I think you'll be able to see some of those photos by this weekend!

An Interview with Myself

{In which I crumble under stress and start talking to myself}

So, Linda, your blog has been kind of sucking lately. Only two posts last week? Even after you already lowered your bar? Isn't that kind of pathetic?

Jerk. What kind of opening question is that?

Parrots

I've been horribly unproductive lately.  On Tuesday I chose to do laundry instead of blogging or working on photos, which makes me feel kind of guilty. But at least I have clean clothes.

I meant to work extra hard yesterday, but I came home, turned on my laptop, and promptly fell asleep. I think I woke up around 2am to turn off the light before going back to sleep.

So far tonight, I've processed another 10% of the wedding photos. I still have a lot more to go. I'm taking a quick break to post a few photos of - you guessed it - parrots. That way you have something to look at while I go back to working on photos. I'm pretty sure the pictures won't be done by this week (sorry!). Maybe next week? Fingers crossed...

My coworkers went to a temple to 拜拜 (make offerings to the gods) and I tagged along to photograph anything of interest in the area. Across the street people were giving out free food in honor of one of the gods' birthdays (I forget which one), and there were three parrots in the room where people were eating. So that's why I have photos of parrots.

Hope you're having a great week! Usually I can't wait for the weekend to be here, but recently I've found the days going by too quickly. Probably because I feel like I haven't made enough progress on on my photos and my blog. Still learning to be more diligent and self-disciplined...

with love,

linda

Death Valley

{In which I process a photo from 2008 instead of the thousands I should be working on now}

Photo taken on family vacation to Death Valley in 2008, with the Canon SD800 from Uncle Eric.

Baozi

This is 包子 (Baozi, steamed bun) — my coworker Sandra's cat. So cute, right?

I was tempted to skip posting today as well, but couldn't bring myself to disappoint you two days in a row (sorry about yesterday!). I'm currently swamped with photos, so blogging got bumped down quite a few spots on my to-do list.

Besides the thousands of photos from the wedding, I also have several hundred from each of the other recent events and outings (company dinner, hanging out with Dawson, Flora Expo). I should stop having so much fun; it's messing with my productivity. Oh fine, who am I kidding - these past few days have been awesome and I am so loving it! :)

Of course, the wedding photos are top priority right now. I'm thinking of showcasing a handful of my favorites on my blog and then linking to the rest of the album, which will be uploaded... somewhere. 

I need some input, please! 

1. For the album, what's a good number of photos to include so people don't get overwhelmed (like me)?

2. What's your preferred photo-sharing site (Picasa/Flickr/Facebook) and why? 

I've done a preliminary selection of photos (so you don't have to look at out-of-focus photos, or the fifty pictures of the back of their heads — even if that's what we saw for most of the ceremony), but I'm still deciding on the final number. Hm. Since I need to process and resize all of them, I should probably choose just the really good ones, even if that means missing certain moments. Gah, wedding photography is so tough! I am in awe of professionals.

So yes, it is a lot of work, but I'm excited about sharing the photos with you! My photos might not be very comprehensive or professional-looking, but hopefully they capture the spirit and heart of the wedding.

Thanks for being patient as I process the photos and for putting up with fewer blog posts during this time!

with love,

linda

February Food Post

{In which there is even more food than last time}

Since my January Food Post was so popular, here is the February edition! No preamble this time, go read the January post for my take on food and the inspiration for this series.

Enjoy!

Ok, neither of these is especially Taiwanese, but variety is good. Yay for Japanese and Italian!