wushuzilla

Posts Tagged ‘wedding’

On June 19 I attended the wedding of Jamie and Wendy.  They are friends that I met through Ruhi who both live here in Xi’an.  They asked if I would be able to take photos of their wedding – nothing “official”, per se, but Jamie liked the photos I took at the Family Reunion and Orientation in Hong Kong so he asked if I wouldn’t mind snapping a few pictures during their special day.

It was my first time taking photos during a wedding so I wanted to try and do my best at it.  I figured it would be a great learning experience.  And I was right.  I learned a few things about areas that I need to work on, the limitations of my equipment and the need to take control of a photo-taking situation to get the best photographs.  Wedding photography is not for the feint of heart and I have newfound respect for those that do this for a living.  You have to be both aggressive and gracious, assertive and giving.  It is an interesting balance.

Over the course of the wedding and subsequent reception lunch, I ended up taking around 2,075 photographs.  My method is to take several photos of each pose or situation, knowing that at least one or two of them will probably not work out and this “shotgun” method tends to give me good results. 

Out of the 2075 photos, I first did a round eliminating all of the photos that didn’t turn out at all.  That brought me down to around 600 photos that turned out.  From those I picked the photos that captured the feeling of each moment the best.  That brought me down to 275.  From there I worked on cropping and color correcting the photos and eliminated a few more giving me a final count at 261 finished pictures.  I burned those to a couple DVDRs and will be meeting Jamie this week to hand them off. 

From the 261 photos I picked 75 that I personally liked for my own portfolio album.  You can see them on my picasa album (unless you are in China) here:

I wanted to share my top 9 photos with you, along with the reason I like these particular photos the best.

This is Wendy before she changed in to her wedding dress.  For some reason, while she was moving I managed to keep part of her face in focus.  I really like this effect – it is actually something I might try to achieve in Photoshop, but as luck would have it I didn’t need to here.  It feels like it is keeping her spirit in focus but also displays the quick pace and hectic nature of one’s wedding day.

These are freshmen students at the Xi’an Music Conservatory University.  I really like the looks of concentration and relaxation on their faces, indicative of high-level artistry.  They were actually quite good.  In particular I like the position of her fingers over the strings – almost like a cat stealthily walking through the tall grass.

This was probably one of the only times I snapped Jamie’s dad smiling.  It isn’t that he wasn’t happy, but just that he doesn’t crack a big grin all that often (based on this one time I saw him).  I like this photo because it has some genuine joy coming out of Jamie, Umesh and Jamie’s dad.  Jamie’s parents both live in YanLing, just a few hours west of Xi’an, where they both teach English at the university there.

This is a picture of Wendy, her father, and her daughter (from a previous marriage).  They were waiting a little ways down the path for the wedding to start so they could make their way down the aisle.  I like this photo because, even though it is her wedding, that doesn’t mean she is exempt from taking the occasional phone call, but more than that I like it because her daughter decided to do a little impromptu dancing, which I thought was very cute.

Thanks to my long lens I was able to zoom in on their hands during the ring exchange.  Something about this feels very symbolic to me – well, of course it does.  They’re exchanging wedding rings.  But still, I like the composition on this shot, so I included it here.  As they say, “if you like it, then you better put a ring on it”.

For the most part Wendy’s dad has on a big smile and was quite cherry.  But for this one moment I was able to capture him as his eyes were watering seeing his daughter finding happiness.  Nothing brings tearful joy to a parent’s face than to see their children find true happiness.

Amazingly I was able to capture the bouquet being thrown by the bride to “all the single ladies”.  I was surprised this photo turned out so I wanted to include it as the only wedding “action shot” in the group.

The new family together!  This is a nice photo because both Jamie and Wendy are looking at the camera, but the real reason I like this one is Wendy’s daughter’s expression – almost a mixture of happiness and mischievousness. 

  

And finally I like this photo.  Jamie’s flowers kept falling out of his lapel so they had a fun time trying to get it back in, eventually just sticking it in his shirt pocket.  While they were doing this everyone and their uncle whipped out their pictures to snap the "moment” between the new couple and I was lucky enough to get this shot showing the enjoyment and laughter on their faces.

I also put together a time-lapse video of all 2075 photos.  They are on a 1/10th of a second rotation, giving a total time of around 3 and a half minutes.  I put some music to it as well, which I think gives it a nice effect.  Check it out here – the entire wedding in 3 1/2 minutes!  …

Youku Version:

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTg2NjYyOTk2.html

Youtube Version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwpeTeQvS8U

Oh, and here is a runner-up photo that almost made the top 9:

Ruhi and Lei looking towards the future!

So, I’ve been back in the U.S. for 5 days now. I’ve spent most of my time working and catching up on project. Just now I finally got my email inbox down to zero, so I’m celebrating by writing a blog before getting something to eat and continuing with my work.

I finally finished up all the blogging work from the summer China trip, which you can check out on narom.net. Lots and lots of videos and photos. I also put up all my wushu footage from this trip (I didn’t take a ton this time around, and am holding off on putting up Xie Zhen Hao’s nanquan for the time being) on my wushuzilla youtube channel. Here is the playlist, in case you want to sit here and watch it:

Here are my goals for this weekend:

1. Finish up the Mandy Rockefeller website
2. Finish designs for the Ali Carter website
3. Finish pending work for the TVCC website
4. Finish designs for the HKB website
5. Finish updates for the Mona website
6. Get my bike to James’ place so that everything is in one location
7. Organize all my stuff so that it fits in to two suitcases for when I go to Idaho
8. Finish writing up the wedding plans
9. Work on my wushu training plan for the time I’m in the Bay Area
10. Organize my finances
11. Get on a normal sleeping (11-7), work (9-5) and training (7-9, 6-9) schedule for next week.
12. Get all project tasks lists organized for next week
13. Write a blog about how I travel (per Pierre and James’ requests)

Hmm .. that probably seems like a lot.  But I think it is do-able.  Jiayou Mark!

On a personal note, it seems that not everyone is aware that I’m getting married in September.  So, this is just to make it official: Yes, I’m getting married in September.  Her name is Ruhi.

My future plans are as follows (since no one seems to really check my facebook or alivenotdead status notes):

08/01 – 08/24: Bay Area (work, wushu)
08/24 – 09/10: Idaho (work, wedding (9/9), training)
09/10 – 09/12: Seattle (work)
09/13 – 09/21: Haiti (work, honeymoon-ish, service)
09/21 – 09/23: Los Angeles (visiting)
09/24 – ??/??: China (by way of either HKG, PVG or PEK, tbd)

We will be living in Xi’an for the next year or two (or ten).  We should be back in the U.S. in the spring. Ruhi has been living there for the past 8 years so we have a place already.  I will continue with my freelance work and training in wushu (hopefully at a good location).

Our wedding ceremony will be a small one with just family and a few close friends.  Next year we will do a “tour” of various locations and invite our friends and family to a reception dinner where they can meet us as a couple.  Cities on our list to visit are Seattle, San Francisco/Bay Area, Los Angeles, San Diego, Austin, Hong Kong and Beijing.  If you live in one of these cities, we will probably let you know early next year (either by blog post or email) when and where the dinner is and how to RSVP (or something like that).

We are doing it this way because, well, we don’t really want a big ceremony.  Plus it is on a Wednesday and in Idaho, so most people wouldn’t be able to attend anyway.  And the venue is not big enough for a lot of folks.  Not to worry, I’m sure we’ll be posting up our photos and videos online soon after.

And thats it.  I got stuff to do today so I will say adios.  Have a good weekend!

This blog entry is being written for Wushu West’s website, wushuwest.com. However, since I’m the one writing it, I thought it might be of interest to other folks too. If you would like to learn more, please visit the Wushu West website.

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Edit 7/28: I’ve added photos and video to this entry. Many photos courtesy of Pierre Combes. Thanks Pierre!

Thursday, July 24, 2009

Our bus ride from the Shaolin Temple to Xi’an was pretty interesting. I’ve taken buses across parts of China before, but not quite like this. A tour bus is much more comfortable than one of the long-distance coaches that you can take here. Our journey took us through some mountains that ran parallel to the Yellow River. Some of the views we got were just breathtaking, and I was able to grab a few shots that don’t do it justice.

We stopped a few times along the way to get gas or relieve ourselves, but 6 hours later we arrived in Xi’an. Now, I should mention that my time in Xi’an wasn’t spent with the Wushu West group. As a result, this blog isn’t so much about what they did. I will ask one of them to write up what they did in Xi’an, but if the previous requests for blogs are any indication, don’t hold your breath.

Here is a look around a Chinese truck/rest stop:

I was actually just in Xi’an 8 months ago during last year’s China Wushu Nationals (perhaps you read my blogs back then?) so it was very familiar to me. I really like Xi’an a lot for its combination of new and old, and my time this trip didn’t change that opinion at all.

We were all staying for the night at the super nice Grand Park hotel, located just across from the South Gate of the city. The view was fantastic, since we were on the 9th floor, and the amenties were spectaular, especially in comparison to the hotel at the Shaolin Temple.

The first evening we ate dinner together at the buffet downstairs in the hotel. Very good food, very fresh and lots of choices, so everyone was pretty happy. The normal rate for that dinner is 118 RMB, and the rooms run around 800 RMB, so I think the tour group definitely arranged a discount.

After dinner some of us went for a walk around the South Gate. We saw some street vendors and performances, and then walked by a wine store that James said was stocked with some of the best wines in the world. He said that very few wine stores in the U.S. would be able to have the selection of wines this place had. One bottle was over $14,000 USD! A little pricey, if you ask me, but James is the professional wine expert, not me.

Ruhi had also met us in Beijing. She lives in Xi’an and had gone there a few days before us. Since we will be living in Xi’an after getting married I wanted to check out the apartment and see the neighborhood I would be moving to. First we went to see her place and then we grabbed a quick foot massage, which I slept through entirely. Then I went back to the hotel and slept.

The other funny thing that happened is that we randomly ran in to an old student of Ruhi’s, named Phoenix, who works at the hotel. I guess living in Xi’an for 8 years means you tend to randomly run in to old friends.

Friday, July 25, 2009

This is the day where paths diverged. Everyone else spent the day going and seeing the Terracotta Warriors, the South Gate or the Goose Whatchamacallit. I had some errands to run (first of which was to post up that blog entry that we were alive) and then I went with Ruhi to Xi Gao Xin (West High Tech Zone in Xi’an) to get measured for a ring. We also went to a nice place for a quick bite. We did meet up with the Wushu West group during both lunch and dinner.

Here are several photos that Pierre took of their trip to the Terracotta Warriors. Enjoy!

The lunch was at a nice dumpling restaurant next to the Bell Tower. Amazing dumplings, of which I took many photos. Here are a few:

At the lunch two things happened.

First, it was Travis’ birthday. He turned 7 years old, so we had a cake and a song for him. He seemed to enjoy it.

Second, there was a performance/competition by children of employees of the restaurant. It actually got started as everyone left, but while they were testing the sound system, this boy played a flute song that was freaking amazing. I uploaded a video of it, but I’m not sure I will be able to post it here until after I leave China. Be sure to come back to check it out in a few days.

Edit (7/28): Here are two videos of him playing. First is a mic check, and second is the end of his actual performance.

It was actually a competition of story telling. All the kids (about 10 of them) were judged on how well they recited a story that was pre-written about dumplings. The skills ranged from super nervous kids reading from the paper, to well-composed, confident children that had arms movements and great vocal skill.

Ruhi and I stayed to watch it after everyone left for the next leg of their tour. Here are some videos:

And here is one of one of the girls singing. Believe it or not, I think it is English.

We had to pick up the ring and run a few other errands. We finally met up with the Wushu West folks again at their dinner stop: hot pot near the city center.

The meal was good and afterward we all piled in to the bus and headed across town in terrible traffic to the train station. This was my second or third time at the Xi’an train station so at least I wasn’t super overwhelmed. I have to say that it IS a bit more disorganized than the Beijing West station (or the central one, for that matter).

After a while we were tour-guided in to the terminal and made our way to the train. Once again it was an overnight trip to Beijing. We watched some videos on my laptop (Futurama, Bolt) before going to bed.