Just Bought...

Finally bought my photo studio kit. It's a kit for amateur but that's enough for me since I don't think I will ever become a professional photographer who would actually get paid for taking pictures. Still so excited though. Can't wait to test on it and to learn how to do the correct lighting, etc etc...

One thing that I need to do though...Clean my apartment. Haha. Been delaying it for a while. Been thinking of throwing away my futon frame. I think I'll do it this weekend to create some space. This is pretty much the challenge of setting up a home photo studio in such a small apartment, but if it's still possible, why not right?

EXCITED!!!!

Anyways, plan for this weekend...Going to the Chinese Culture Celebration and Italian Fest. I think that's all the events that I'm attending. I should probably check back the list that I made weeks ago. Can't really remember everything, but definitely have something to do this weekend.

Devil's Lake State Park...

Went to Devil's Lake State Park yesterday just to get out of my stressful life and to take a few pictures. It felt really good to be able to be so far away from the city for once. It's really calming to be able to sit on top of the mountain and just to look at the view for a long time. Went hiking for 4 hours. Surprisingly, I wasn't that tired when I got home. I actually wanted to stay and hike for a few more hours, but I got bitten by bugs too many times already that I decided to give up. Definitely wanna do this again in the near future though.

Anyways, here are some of the pictures that I took...

This is the trail way towards the Panfrey's Glen...

One of the bridges I encountered on my way towards the Panfrey's Glen...

One of the landmark of Devil's Lake State Park: The Prospect Point...

Looked like someone misread the schedule...

Tomorrow is Memorial Day. I wanna go somewhere, but dunno where yet. Probably gonna wander around by myself again. I actually found that to be very relaxing. I guess my head is just filled with too many things lately.

Anyways, my next project is to build my own photo studio at home. Already started researching all the equipments that I might need. Probably gonna start buying sometime this week. So excited!!! New things to try and new things to learn.

Photo from Today...

This is the only picture that I have edited so far. I know that I said I was going to this Irish Heritage Celebration thing and it might be a little confusing to you guys that the only picture I'm posting here is actually a Chinese Dragon mask. No, don't worry. I still can tell the difference between Irish and Chinese since I'm Chinese. But basically it turned out the Irish cultural event starts tomorrow. So, I don't have any picture of it. A little sad truthfully that I'm going to miss it, but there's still an Italian Festival to look forward to. So, I guess it's ok.

Well, I don't have a lot of pictures for this event since it's a carnival and I think a carnival looks better at night in a picture. Unfortunately, I was there only until 6 PM when basically the sun was not even close to being a sunset. So, maybe next time then. It's almost summer anyways. I'm sure there's going to be another carnival.

Plan for This Weekend and Upcoming Weekends...

Tomorrow is finally Friday. Yeay!! After a week not taking any photographs, I'm not sure if I'm gonna be able to take good pictures for the graduation ceremony this Saturday. Well, crossing my finger here. Let's just hope everything will turn out well. I'm going to practice again tomorrow anyways.

So, the plan for this weekend...

1. Irish Heritage Celebration in Fitchburg, WI tomorrow. Going there with Elka right after work. There are going to be carnivals and fireworks. So excited!

2. On Saturday, the graduation ceremony and banquet would probably occupy me for the whole day. So, no other plan other than taking pictures at the commencement and banquet.

3. Sunday...Unfortunately, I'm dedicating this day for my spring cleaning. My apartment seriously needs a really good tidying up. Probably gonna spend the rest of the day studying photoshop.

Upcoming events I'll be attending in the near future...

1. Brat Fest next weekend.

2. Terrace Fest on May 31st, 2008.

3. Wisconsin Chinese Culture Day on May 31st, 2008.

4. Italian Fest in Fitchburg, WI on May 30th - June 1st.

Well, check back here tomorrow. Pictures of the Irish Heritage celebration will be posted here tomorrow.

Unwanted and Trapped Behind the Bars...

The beautiful dogs of DCHS. Please adopt when possible.

Improved Little by Little...

Went to a lot of places today to practice taking pictures. I think I'm starting to improve little by little. Although I would definitely still call myself as an amateur (just because that's the fact), I'm quite happy with the small improvement I had today. Here are some of the pictures that I took today. None of the pictures are edited. Enjoy!

This picture is taken at the Rotunda Theatre at the Overture Center during the Kids in the Rotunda.

I saw this kid posing for his father at the antique car exhibition at the State St. Isn't he just the cutest thing?

One of the most antique car at the antique car exhibition.

The cutest dog who just likes to bark and pose. It's just so cute that he travels in the basket with his owner.

One of my friends who I always ask to model (or more like to become my photography victim) for me during my practice. Haha.

Just one of those great candid moments.

My other friend who has becomes my photography victim. Haha.

Well, that's all for now. I think I need to set up a flickr account or something like that to post the other pictures up. I guess I'll do that when I have the time. A little exhausted right now.

More Experimental Pictures...

Went to Lake Mendota to practice taking some pictures yesterday, the first two pictures posted below are two of the many bad results I got...hahahahaha...This proves that I still need a LOT of practice...

This one is for Elka...hahahaha...

This is something I tried out today. I miss Christmas. *Sigh*

My First Experimental Photo...

Of course, it's not perfect (It's actually a little out of focus) since I took this pictures just like that without reading through the manuals first. Haha. I guess I was way too excited. Gonna start studying tomorrow (A little too exhausted right now) and hopefully, I will get a hang of the camera by this weekend. I wonder if I would be able to get some sleep tonight. Haha.

Everything is Postponed to Next Week...

Yes...Unfortunately, my camera didn't come yesterday. It was shipped yesterday though. So, I will be expecting it to come on Monday. The one thing that I regret the most is that I just lost one weekend of practice, which leaves me with only one weekend to practice before the graduation. *Sigh* This just doesn't lead to a good ending. *Sigh*...

Well, since I can't practice this weekend, all plans have been changed to next weekend. So, here is a new list of the places or events that I want to visit next week.

1. Circus Day at the Chazen Museum on Saturday. It's a free family event.

2. The Ivory Room Piano Bar on Saturday. Just in case we don't have a chance to go tonight.

3. Kids in the Rotunda at the Overture Center on Saturday since I won't be going to this week's performance. The theme is supposed to be 40's and 50's blues music.

4. Farmers Market at the Capitol Square on Saturday.

5. Northside Farmers Market on Sunday just in case I can't go to the one on Saturday or could also be an additional practice.

Some upcoming events that I might be interested in...

1. Brat Fest. May 23rd - 26th. Well, this is not exactly for photography related purposes. It's simply a tradition.

2. Wisconsin Chinese Culture Day on May 31st. Don't even know what this is, but might be worth checking out.

3. Isthmus Jazz Festival on the Terrace. June 5th - 8th.

4. Madison Feis on June 7th.

5. Mounds Dog Fest on June 8th. This is a MUST!!!

6. Rhythm and Booms at Warner Park on June 28th.

7. Dane County Fair on July 16th - 20th.

8. Maxwell Street Days on July 18t - 20th. Again not for photography related purposes but to satisfy my appetite as a Shopaholic.

9. Opera in the Park on July 26th.

Well, that's all for now. I'm sure there will so many other events that I can attend in the future. For now, I will only look forward to the events for next weekend, which I don't think I can attend all on the same weekend. *Sigh*.