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Showit Web, Part 3: Juanita & Quintus

When photos are put together as a slideshow, they usually look good. A sequence of photos from an engagement session make us remember how much fun we had, and music illustrates mood better. However, the effect of a slideshow peaks when it was used for wedding photos. Because I photograph weddings photo-journalistically, my slideshow becomes a movie. A documentary movie about love. Love between a bride and a groom, between a bridal party and their families, and among all of them.

Here's the slideshow of Juanita & Quintus on the Valentine's day in 2009. They were renewing their vows to celebrate their 14th wedding anniversary. Even after all those years, Quintus is as romantic and sweet as a guy can be to a girl. To Juanita.

Showit Web, Part 2: Victoria & Jabari

In February, Victoria and Jabari visited Baltimore for their engagement session, but I didn't have Showit Web back then. Slideshow was not a part of the wedding photography package Victoria purchased, but why not surprise her with a little gift? As long as she is happy... :)

Showit Web Slideshow

This morning, I purchased Showit Web. Showit Web is a slideshow application. Not sure why, but I woke up this morning with a strong urge to get a copy of Showit Web. No, I didn't go to bed thinking about it last night. It just happened...

The purchase was definitely an impulsive choice, but it was a smart one. I love every tiny bit of the application. It's so easy to use, and the result is so stunning. Just like the couple in the slideshow!

Kirsten+Florian+Quentin in Silver Spring

Kirsten Stade. She studied Earth Systems at Stanford and got her Master at Columbia. She interned with Park Service in southeast Utah and was a conservation biologist at WildEarth Guardians. She has a background that anyone would want to boast about, but she never mentioned any of the these when we met. She just thanked for my time, offered me a drink, and made me feel home at her house in Silver Spring.

Florian is her boyfriend. He is a dancer. He smiles like a shy little boy in front of Kirsten. I wasn't sure if he was shy because he was in front of a camera or because he was kissing Kirsten in front of his son, Quentin.

Quentin is an aspiring actor. Not like most of us, he doesn't have a fake smile. Or maybe his fake smile looks just so natural...

There are some photos of Kirsten, Florian and Quentin.

No Camera Day

I love to take photos. Taking pictures of someone's wedding never felt like work, and if I had to keep only one material thing for the rest of my life, I will definitely choose my little camera. Of course, my favorite 85 mm lens attached!

But recently, I've worked too much. I was always either taking photos, processing images or thinking about new ideas. So I decided to have 'No Camera Day' at least once a month. And last Saturday was the first one.

It was my first real day-off since I got my Canon 5D in December 2007. It was hard NOT to think about pictures, but my efforts to be away from anything photography paid me off. I was already in Virginia Beach - I had a photoshoot the next day - so I didn't have to go anywhere special to enjoy the 'No Camera Day'.

I went shopping and bought two beach towels, a pair of flip-flops, a bottle of tanning oil, and a book, 'Historian'. I love to read books and have bought and read lots of books from amazon recently. But they are all like...

Light
Fashion Photography
Minimalist Lighting
500 Poses for Photographing Women
...

Yes, I needed a break.

I also bought Starbucks Vanilla Bean Frappuccino. My favorite drink at Starbucks is Light-iced Triple Skim Latte with 2 Pumps of Sugar-free Vanilla Syrup. But, coffee drinks are for work. They are kind of boring... Vanilla Bean Frappuccino is white, and has lots of little grond vanilla bean pieces, making the person who drinks that look like an angel! :)

Oh, about the book 'Historian'. It seemed interesting... But, I fell asleep on the beach on my new flower-patterned towel after reading the page 7 of the book.

Obviously, I don't have a photo taken that day, so I'll include one I just took while blogging. This is my favorite hair pin that my mom bought me from Korea! And, yes, I meant South Korea.

Miroslava & Andrei : Engagement

We met at the Starbucks, the only Starbucks in Ocean city. It rained all week, but Saturday was sunny and beautiful. It was as if the rain washed the sky clean for Mira & Andrei's engagement session.

Mira has beautiful eyes and stunning smile. But she is not just one of those pretty girls. She loves to have fun. She is not shy to make funny faces. She is energetic. She ran, jumped and made poses in front of my little camera. She is very adorable.

Andrei is tall and lean. He surfs. He looks great in his shorts. But most importantly, he never takes his eyes off of Mira.

Here are some photos from last Saturday.