As I noted the other day, my son, Pedro married Ana Kay. They are officially and legally married. Throw a party! Now, a brief trip into Tai Chi land. In Tai Chi we learn, first, the form. Interesting stuff. From the outside, it just looks like nice, smooth movements. Later, the teachers teach us the function. That is, how to use those nice smooth moves for self-defense, of course at a higher speed.

Putting this into the context of Pedro’s marriage. They did the function first, followed by the form, in June. As you notice in the photo above, they are wearing hockey jerseys! These are the jerseys that Pedro had when he was in high school and played for The Wolfpack. Ana Kay had on her boots (See photo to the right), and most of the guests, myself included, wore jeans, sneakers, and whatever. Tony had on sweat pants. As I mentioned, this was the ‘function’, the practical aspect of the marriage. Now, why do it this way?

The whole ‘form’ is scheduled for June 18th of this year. This was the original plan, but Ana Kay has to go galavanting off into South America, Brazil to be exact, to study the effects/possiblities, or whatever, of tuberculosis being passed through unpasteurized milk. ??? That’s what I overheard. So, she leaves for Brazil about July 1st, or so, two weeks after the wedding was supposed to have taken place. So, they decided to move the actual wedding (function) to February 12th and let the form happen in June.

Therefore, on June 18th, we will be in Dothan, Alabama to see the gala. I will, of course, be taking those photos, too, with special assistance by my wingman, Tim. We will drive down a couple of days before, do some preparation, or “B” roll shooting, photograph the wedding on Saturday, and drive back, photographing happily along the way, on Sunday.

In those photos there will be lots of dressed up folk. You’ll also get to see the wedding dress, Tony in a tux, and also Stephen, Pedro’s best friend, in a tux. I can’t wait to see that myself!

So, there you have it!

And, so it was that on February 12, 2011, my son, Pedro took a bride, Ana Kay. Pedro and Anna Kay had been friends for quite awhile while attending The Ohio State University. About 2 years ago, I believe, they decided that they were in love. On Saturday, they made their commitment to each other by signing on the dotted line.

I, of course, was in attendance, camera in hand, the proud father. I got to meet a portion of her family, aunts, uncles, grandparents, nieces, nephews, and even a cat! All were very warm, welcoming, and a fun bunch to be around. I loved it. Now, as weddings go, this presented the maximum challenge of my photographic skills.

1. It was taken in a house with a small living room.
2. I only had a 50 mm lens, which was a 75 mm equivalent on the D300. Note to self, for part two, go in with a 35 mm, 28 mm, or 24 mm lens. 50/75 is too tight.
3. There was not much light available. I had to shoot with ISO 2200+ and fairly wide apertures. Focus was critical, but made for some very nice backgrounds of people.
4. I wanted to pay attention to the wedding, rather than photograph it. It was, after all, my son taking his vows.
5. The groom, 5’8. The bride, about 6’1, maybe 6’2. ’nuff said!

I had a great time photographing, actually. I was loving every minute of it skulking around trying to capture the sense of the ceremony and all of the guests that were around doing their own things waiting for the nuptials to begin.

There will be a part 2 to this wedding in June, but I will explain that in the next post and share a couple more photos and my rekindled experience with wedding photography, but right now, I need to go to sleep!

L-R Paul, Ana Kay, Pedro, Vera, Tony

A marker is all that remains …

Today was a normal, uneventful day. I went for my usual walk. I came home, stretched a bit, did some work as I decided to work from home today. As usual, when I work from home, I take time to have lunch with Tim. Today, we agreed to meet at 12:15. It was my intention to leave my apartment, turn right, then head to Harris Teeter (grocery store) before going to meet with Tim. I had intended to buy some flowers for one of the ladies at Just Fresh. She’s always so nice to us and always gives us free drinks and is such and upbeat and happy person.

As I was about to leave the apartment complex, I saw an array of emergency vehicles on the street. There were helicopters circling above and news vans starting to arrive. There was an ambulance parked in the outbound driveway, preventing any means of egress from the apartment community, at least on the right side of the driveway.

I exited on the left, turned left, as the right was blocked by two police cruisers and a number of fire trucks. More helicopters were beginning to arrive as well. I continued to drive, turned right, and left the scene. I opted instead of Harris Teeter to go to Bi-Lo, as it was on the way.

I went to Just Fresh, gave Tammy the flowers. She was very happy and came and gave me a big hug. Unfortunately, she was having a bad day, but the flowers sure changed the mood. I was glad to help. Before going into the restaurant, I noticed that there were now 3 helicopters above the neighborhood, probably representing the 3 major networks.

We ate and I left to return home at about 5:30. Yes. We do have some long lunches, but I brought my computer and worked during that time, too.

When I came home to let Hobbs out, I took him to his usual place to relieve himself, the field across the street. One of the reporters approached me for an interview. I told him that I didn’t even know what happened. He told me:

A family was walking, mother, father, and baby. Someone hit them and the father died. I was wondering if I could interview you and get your thoughts about it.

He did a quick interview, asking how I felt about it and what could be done to prevent such a thing in the future.

Allegedly, the driver was bending down to pick something off the floorboard of the car, swerved and hit the family, killing the grandfather and daughter and seriously injuring the and grandchild. In this case, two entire worlds were changed in the blink of an eye.

When I took Hobbs out this evening, all of the vans were gone, the only thing left was the yellow police tape and a golden angel statue placed at the scene…

The full story is here

All to myself

I may be a bit off here, but it seems like i’ve been going non-stop since about Thanksgiving. To steal a phrase from Alcoholics Anonymous and use it for myself, I am a high-functioning introvert. Let’s have a look-see, shall we. Since November I don’t think that I’ve had a single weekend day where I didn’t do something with someone for several hours.

Looking back at the last few weeks: I was the school every day for almost 10 days. I participated in the Chinese New Years Festival, an all day event, then danced the night way with Tim and Shilpa. Each and every weekend before and after that, we’ve had something to do. This past weekend I went out Friday night, hung out with our gang of four all day Saturday and into the evening. Then went to take pictures with Shilpa on Sunday, met Tim for lunch and finally parted company at around 7:30 PM.

Last night I had planned to go to Tai Chi, as I tried the Monday class for the first time last week and found it to my liking. That was when the introvert in me reasserted itself and said:

Whoa there fella! Enough is enough. I cannot handle any more social interaction. We need the cave!

I knew better than to push it any further. Yesterday, when I got my monthly massage, Carolyn, my masseuse, asked why my muscles in my upper back were so tight, as they are not usually so tight. I didn’t know, at the time, but thinking of it, I have probably needed ‘the cave’ for a while.

So, I am in the cave now, feeling much better for the solitude. It’s quiet. Hobbs is resting comfortably on my right foot. So warm. So toasty. Tomorrow, I’ll peek my head out of the cave for a bit because I have work and my normal Tuesday class. This weekend, I’ll be in Ohio, so not much cave time, but when I come back Sunday, probably back into the cave I go until I feel that I am sufficiently recharged.

When I meet people, they think, in general, that I’m extroverted. Nope. Not the case. Being with people constantly, without a break, wears me down rather than energizes me, the true mark of the introvert. Quite the opposite side of my friend Shilpa, whose social schedule is terrifying to me! She can go and go and go and go and loves every minute of it. No thank you!