Atlanta, then chasing guys in the heat

a story on the day being hot sent me out to chase down a guy who can run a 7 minute mile to take his picture... so not only do I have to chase him down, I have to be in front of him, get my camera ready and shoot. Now given my coordination, I wasn't very good at that and ended up with some out of focused shots. I also had to switch from a long lens to a short one and in the middle somewhere, I had turned either the camera off or the auto focus off, so I didn't get any shots of him as he run past, although it would've looked really cool, judging from the viewfinder...

so I ended up with this:



I contend that I would've done better if this wasn't slapped into my lap an hour before and if the guy ran slower... or if the 2 other people who ran would've let me take their pics...

Anyway, at least I made a new facebook friend, Alex, and he seems really cool. And he can run very well, which already piqued my interest cause I love to run and people who run make me feel at home. Well, most of them... the not so competitive ones... like Alex. And a lot of my other friends are also runners... I need to train... I'd like to eventually run a marathon...

But anyway, Atlanta.

So I didn't update for a while because I was in Atlanta. Well, Duluth, really. And it's being petitioned to be another town/city, the part I was in. I took my best friend home, it was kind of like a mini-mini-road trip, which was nice. Went Karaokeing and realized that my singing actually sounds quite awful. But it's still fun and I'd still do it. I have the coolest best friend, and he gets cooler every year, and we only see each other about once a year. So yeah, that's about it for now. Oh yeh, and I spent like 50 dollars at a used book store last week, I should start reading again... Over and out.

I am not dead, heels and moving forward

Starting off with an assignment:



Taking this photo was a chore. I didn't want anybody to model the shoes cause I'd take a long time and the idea of looking at someone's feet for more than 5 minutes kind of creeps me out. But the placement of the shoes were hard too, cause they look kind of awkward in the first place and look really weird no matter how I arrange them. So I finally found this placement that looked ok, but it was really hard to get it to stay. (hey, that rhymes.) Anyway, hope it looks ok.

Now that that's over, I can be egotistical and talk about myself.

So I got back from Corolla, N.C., a few days ago, the beach was very relaxing and it was really awesome to spend time with my best friend. He actually came home with me and I feel kind of bad not getting this week off too to hang out with him more. But I got Thursday and Friday off so I'll take him home then and be gone for a bit again. (rhyme again?)

The beach was actually kind of crowded, but still fun, full of jetskiing goodness, sunbathing, getting buried in the sand and most importantly, delicious homecooking and Dynasty Warriors 4. I went to a beach near Sunset Beach, N.C., with Andy a few months ago, it was really nice cause no one was there. Photos of both beaches later.

Nutshell:
-Don't burn yourself with a candle. Especially before going to the beach. Especially with a fake candle, one of those with a lightbulb in the shape of a flame.
-Jig-saw puzzles are fun, but don't get ones with oddly shaped pieces and about 700 pieces of the same shade and color.
-Jetskis hurt your butt when going over 60 mph.
-Fincastle's burgers are the hottness.
-Superman Returns doesn't have anything after the credits like X3 does.
-Spiderman 3 is coming out next May and it looks awesome.
-P.F. Chang's is good good food. (rhyme!)

Freaky meetings:
John (My best friend from elementary school who moved to Georgia in the middle of fifth grade.) and I stopped in Raleigh on the way back from the beach, just like we did two years ago, and visited Kate. No horny goat weed, arbor myst, jayzz, juvenile delinquent center nor crappy karaoke this time, though...

Then the conincidences began. As we entered her apartment, she called out "Davis." And lo and behold, there was Davis, who went to high school with me. The night before, they had a party, and Clarke was there, who also went to high school with Davis and me. He also goes to college with John. And then Charles came up in conversation, who went to high school with Clarke, Davis and me, and who also went to elementary school with John and me. So yeh it was a freaky little web of connections and I am totally confused now with so many names... I am my own grandpa?

Moving forward:
I was driving home to lunch today and I discovered that it was a little hard to switch my perception to the car being still and everything moving around it. But I managed it for a second and it totally freaked me out. But it was kind of trippy and awesome. Whee.

Beach and bike

I'm going to the beach for a week, so I probably won't post for a week, unless I feel the urge to put up some amazing pics of the beach up during the week...

Meanwhile, I leave you with images of my new bike, helmet and gloves I got last week. I didn't really know how to ride a bike until recently, thanks to the effort of several patient teachers... But I think I might be doing something wrong, cause my butt hurts whenever I'm done... or is that normal? I hope it doesn't damage anything important...

Kids are so cute

I spent all day yesterday hanging around a bunch of kids for a possible story. It was kind of fun. I wish I had a little brother and I could teach him everything about photography. That would be so neat. So that got me remembering the time I went to the daycare center "Academy of Spoiled Babies" for some photos. I was suppose to send them some... Haven't got the time yet... heh...

Mayodan Racing

Today I bring you something I shot a while ago for the Rockingham edition of the N&R, same edition that the rodeo will run in. I worked with the same reporter, too. We turned out a pretty cool photo-page out of that. It was pretty schweet. With the "ch". It was pretty fun to cover, too. It was in Mayodan. Right near Madison, N.C., if that means anything to anybody... It's on a go-cart racetrack they have there. It's pretty cool. I was pretty satisfied with the shots I got from there.

My second brothers

Moving away from the theme of posting assignments I do for the News and Record, here's something that's important to me. Or rather, people who are very important to me. I grew up with these guys in church pretty much since I've been in the United States. For almost as long as I can remember. Their family is like a second family to me, and it's hard for me when something happens to them, especially since I'm not sure what to do as I am not biologically related to them. But I might as well be.



The guy on the ground is Brandon, he's older than me and knows a lot about cars. And the other kid is Nick, he's younger than me, but in many ways, he's really more mature and older than I am. We were suppose to be babysitting some kids, essentially, but we ended up just horsing around a lot.

Recently their grandmother has been afflicted with illness and may soon pass away. I'd like to be able to help them in some way. I don't know what to do though, other than just being there. I can't really think of anything else to add. So yeah, my brothers. I'll eventually post something about my biological brother.

El Rodeo? Jaripeos?

Here are the long-awaited rodeo pics. They are not that great. But they are decent. My favorite are the two at the bottom with the dancing and the sunset.
I'm not entirely satisfied with these, I might take them off of here later, just cause they aren't that good...

Repost: Monique

I haven't got much today. Shot part of my story today and it wasn't quite as exciting as I thought it would be. But I kind of dug myself into it, so I might as well finish it. At least I get to learn from my mistakes and more about picking stories to do, which I think is something I really need to work on. I also finished editing the rodeo stuff, it's also not that great and it's on the newsroom server at the moment, so I will put some up later.

In the meantime (ain't it always the case? maybe I should just post every thing a few days after the fact and treat it as some that happened yesterday?), here's a repost of the stuff on Monique I did a week or so back that I posted over at livejournal. Everyone who's seen it seems to like it a lot. The subject is really cool. But I think I could've done a better job on it.

Originally posted June 25, 2006 on livejournal:

Here're some pics from a story on Monique, who stands at about two feet tall, and who is also an artist and scholar student. Check out the article on the News and Record website, the article is by Tina Firesheets, called "Life on a different scale." Captions later... maybe... if I feel like it... haha...

Reunion: so they did have class rings back then.

Rodeo went alright, less people than expected. Less action than expected. Less need to know Spanish than expected, although everything was officially in Spanish and I had no clue of what was going on past the first hour of when I got there... more later.

So I covered a reunion a couple of days ago. Not too exciting, a lot of meet and greet. I got some okay stuff out of it. Here they are: (too tired for captions right now...)

It was the Class of '71 from Dudley Senior High School. I was very stupid and asked "So did you guys have class rings back then?" At which point they all laughed and I felt like an ass. Then one of the ladies showed it to me. I took a photo but it was blurry. Hm.

The extension of my being.

The stuff I shot last night is on the newsroom server and I can't get to it at the minute, so I'll post it later. Meanwhile, I'm getting ready to shoot a Latino Rodeo in a few hours, where they probably will not speak English and I will not be able to speak Spanish. So I will let you know how that goes... If I don't get trampled by a bull while trying to chase down someone for a name, once I figure out how to do that without speaking Spanish.

In the mean time, I leave you all with an image of the extension of my being:



Now imagine that, except with Jessica Alba in a bikini holding it.

Waiting for the moment and the moment is gone.

So my first attempt at actually shooting baseball for the paper took place last night.



It wasn't all that bad. A lot of waiting. And then everything happens and I miss it.

I got to play around with the 400mm F/2.8 lens though. It was really heavy and really cool. I wore my new bike gloves to carry it so I don't get calluses on my hands... did I spell that right?

I like my new bike gloves. I got a new bike. I don't really know how to ride a bike. Starting to learn though... Maybe I'll put up a pic of the bike later.

So back to baseball. I thought baseball games last forever, but I only shot an hour of it and then rushed to get it edited and sent off for the 930 deadline (game started at 7). But by the time I was done and packing up, the game was over. I guess it's shorter than I thought it was.

Anyway, here's another photo of the game that's decent:



This guy ran into another guy on the way to third, it was a huge collision and the other guy fell flat on his face. It looked wicked cool. Except I totally missed it, even though I was following D'Antonio the whole time. Fk.

A belated fourth

Happy belated 4th to everyone. A little late, I admit. But I had to work.




All I really had to do was take a shot of the fireworks. It was suppose to be simple. I arrived extra early so I could plan the perfect shot so it would make front page. But nothing ever goes according to plan. About 30 minutes before the fireworks was to start, I had chosen my angle, framed it to perfection, got to know the people in front of me really well. Also had a very nice storyline. And then the guy over the speaker says: "Everyone please seek shelter. There is a storm coming."

And so I lost my angle and my story. Waited in the car for an hour. I was hoping it would get cancelled so I wouldn't have to scramble to get something on the spot.

But of course, the fireworks were still on. People flooded back into the stadium and before everyone even settles down and just like 30 seconds after I set up my camera... the fireworks started. My silhouette plan totally did not work and the people faded into the darkness. I needed a face so I turned to my right and shot the first person I saw. She was holding an umbrella. Thank goodness for unplanned compostional elements... and then 3 shots of her and it starts pouring and the fireworks rushed to an end. Everyone runs away, I chase down the lady for a name, get very wet, rush back to edit, all just so I could get a very tiny pic on the jump in black and white. Of the lady and not the fireworks. woot.

An introduction to nothing.

This is me:


Photo by Kelly Pace/Greensboro News & Record

Right now, I'm a photographer. Tomorrow? Who knows?

Life is full of changes, day by day, year by year. It seems cliche. But maybe it's cliche for a reason.

Here's a breakdown of my life since 1986:

-Jan. 12, 1986, I was born in Hong Kong, China. To this day I'm not entirely sure what I should affliated my self with. China? Great Britain? Hong Kong? US? Doesn't really matter I guess.

-Between 1986-1994, I did some growing up with great help from my family and my cousins Dicky and Ruby and various aunts, uncles, and other cousins. There were some colorful moments I remember vividly. Most everything else is now blurry as a dream.

-In 1994 I went to North Carolina and that's where I am now, with a great group of friends and friends as close as family.

-Between 1994 and 2004, I mulled through school, picking up some skills along the way. I think. My path was to go to medical school. Not sure where I got that idea, but that was the plan.

-And then I got into photography. I guess towards the turn of the millenium, maybe the planets aligned in some weird way... photography became a bigger part of my life. Until recently I decided to pursue that more. Instead of medicine? maybe. maybe not. I dunno.

-Things I say a lot: "oops," "sorry," and "I dunno." What can I say? I got nothin'

For past thoughts, visit addressunknown.livejournal.com

Or consider this: