Finding Home in Florence {Day 5}

Before I left for Italy, I was talking to Nicole over Facebook about the pending adventure.  She had a lot of good word on Florence and today, I was really stoked and excited to go to Florence!  Of course I would have enjoyed staying in Rome a little longer to spend more time with Glenda, Joanna, and Nadya, but my train ticket has already been bought.  I repacked all my gear by 7:40 AM and hung around till 8:50.  I chatted a bit with a groggy Joanna and parted ways towards Florence.  Glenda left before I did so I wasn’t able to say bye.

At the Termini station I waited for 9:15 to roll around so I could board the Eurostar train towards Florence.  It was a nice one hour train ride where I caught up a bit on my journal, CF downloads, and rest.

When I arrived, I went to find the hostel Plus Florence.  This time I didn’t get too lost and found it within twenty minutes of leaving the train.  Couple descriptions to describe Plus Florence’s awesomeness- indoor jacuzzi and pool, roof top bar and terrace, and, best of all, FREE WI-FI!  I think I am in love!

I checked in and dropped my luggage off so I could go back out to look for s0mething to eat and do some exploring.  I adventured around Florence, climbing up a really high duomo (which I didn’t actually go to the top top because I made a wrong turn …. ) and found some really really really great gelato!

haha! Game over!

I was behind this thick pexiglass panel..

Piaget? Like Jean Piaget?

I went back to my hostel two hours later to find my room and inquire about trains to Cinque Terre.  I was supposed to see Michaelangelo’s David the next day, but since today and tomorrow are my only days in Florence, I opted to go to Cinque Terre instead of seeing the David in the Ufuzi.  I pre-paid for my ticket too.  Oh well.  I prefer hiking adventures over museums.  The dude with spikey hair at the front desk of Plus Florence told me that I need to be at the Station at 7 AM for La Spazia, a local train.

Found my room and before I set back out, I asked where I could find the best gelato in Florence.  Another employee directed me towards across the city, really was across the city, to a spot where it was affordable and delectable!  It was  a hike, but it was definitely worth it.

With so many flavors to try, I tried a caramel dolce and a strawberry mixture.  Mmm!  I have definitely been spending more money on gelato than anything else here!

Mmm...gelato...

Drooooool!

Dinner consisted of cold pizza and marinara pasta.  By 6 or 7 PM I headed up towards the Terrace to write in my journal.  I never tried a Strawberry Daiquiri before and I really didn’t like the beer choice there, so I had a couple strawberry daiquiries.  This Australian girl named Lizzie and two Australians from Perth, named Steve and his friend (who’s name I don’t remember), and the bartender Lorenzo and I were at the bar chatted and laughed it up till about 9:30 when Nora joined us.

Somehow we got into a discussion of religion and Nora spilled some of her white wine onto my pants.  Usually that would be an interesting pick up moment, but I don’t think I liked her.

I gave Lizzie my ticket to the Ufuzi since I was heading off to Cinque Terre instead and we all drank and were merry till I went to bed at 11:40 PM to get ready for Cinque Terre.

May 10th 2009 {Italy}

I woke up with my alarm buzzing non-stop.  It took all three alarms to get me out of bed, which was pretty strange because this was a journey of the lifetime!  I was going to Italy for two weeks, planned since February when I bought my airline ticket.  The proceeding night, I was packing and repacking to make sure I had all my things ready and streamlined.  No way was I going to pack like how I packed for my adventure into Ireland!  I quickly grabbed my cellphone to make sure of the time.  The mind can play funny tricks at 4:20 AM, so I had to make sure it was the right time four times!

Luckily for me, I pre-made hoagies and food for my flight to Italy, knowing that the airline food would be lacking for a vegetarian.  While I was eating my breakfast, I was surfing facebook, my email accounts, and thinking to myself that I will not be back here for a good two weeks.  Elation and joy came to my groggy self as soon as I thought about not being home and being in Italy for two weeks.  Sadly, two weeks was all I could afford to be Italy.  I know that I could not do year journeys, but I would love to be able to travel longer than two weeks.  But who was I to complain?

My Jack Russell Terrier woke up when I woke up and when she wakes you need to get her ball or bear ready to play.  But today, I could not play. I had a plane to catch, so instead I tried to give my dog a hug but she thought I was playing chase so off she went to play hide and seek.  Giving up, I went down the stairs and Grace went up to my bed to hide which was when I was able to give her a hug goodbye.

It was now 5:30 AM and I was driving up to EWR, the international airport in Newark.  My starting flight was to St. Louis at 10:30 AM, but as my parents who were with me had to go off to their destination, I went up there early.

Going through the security check in was really easy and stress free.  I have only been pulled over by the TSA once, when I was flying off to California to travel around with Eric, Ann, and Vincent, where I was checked and had my gear swabbed.  As this was an international trip, I always make sure I am there three hours before my flight.  I can wait inside the airport, I mean, I did stay in Thailand’s international airport for four days.  Boy was that one seriously cold!  They cranked the A/C, but then again, Thailand is pretty hot.

I went through security and looked to fulfill my coffee addiction.  Looking around I didn’t spot a single Starbucks!  I thought Starbucks was like rabbits reproducing!  There was a Java Central, though, at the terminal.  Java Central and a $4.00 cappuccino. Add into that were disgruntled workers.  Quench my coffee addiction and deal with the situation or go through my flights coffee free.  I sucked it up and bought my coffee!

I finally boarded into a really small airplane.  I usually fly with American Airlines when I travel internationally and because of my really cheap airfare to Italy, I had plenty of layovers.  I don’t mind layovers that much, if I could save some money for the actual stay, so for me it was a great place to update my journal entries or just reading.  The plane had two rows, like the standard airplane, but one aisle had only one seat and the next only two.  If I stretched my arms I could almost touch the walls of the airplane, that was how small it was.  Pretty fun first time experience.  The noise of the engine, however, made sure to dash that excitement.

In the air, I put back on my iPod and had some songs playing.  Ingrid Michaelson’s “Turn to Stone” was playing and I thought to myself that was an interesting song for a wedding slideshow probably during the ceremony when they have the first kiss.  There is that pause and refrain and then the music kicks back in!  I was thinking about this while reading the Odyssey.  I have to say interesting choice in music while reading about Odysseus’s adventures!   The Odyssey is my favorite classic to read, since middle school till now, I frequently read it.

The only problem was that I am a quick read, so by the time I landed in St. Louis, I have read more than half of the text!  Luckily, we just landed at St. Louis’s airport.  Another hour and a half and I would be off to Italy!  I have some addictions that I need to profess, first, is my coffee addiction, second is my internet addiction.  This trip I did not bring my laptop with me and had my iPod touch and a hyper drive unit for my photography storage.  Logging onto Boingo, I checked and sent emails to clients and friends and family.  Rinse and repeat till 2:00 PM.

When 2 PM came around, I was boarding my flight to fly to Chicago!  Chicago is the hub for American Airlines, so every time I fly internationally I land in Chicago before flying to my destination.  There is this really cool eating area that they have that I like, even though the prices are gouging.  The flight only lasted forty minutes and at 3:36 PM I was in O’Hare walking casually to my next gate.

While waiting for my final flight at 4:30 PM, I ate most of my food and went in search of a plug outlet to charge my iPod’s batteries for my flight over to Italy.  The clock was ticking, this time, I was a bit more antsy to get going.  The excitement was getting to me in a bad way!  Then I heard the ping for our flight that we were starting to board!  And my luck was not that great, not only was I in the back by the window, I sat next to a huge fellow.

But he was a nice guy, so I can’t really complain, he and I swapped seats so that I could get the aisle seat.  I prefer aisle seats over window seats because of the freedom I have sitting in the aisle!  I really don’t like being cramped and stuck by the window, because it is a pain to constantly ask the other person to stand up so I could get up and go about.

The flight took off at 5:45 PM Chicago time, which was delayed because of a bathroom problem.  I swear it wasn’t me who clogged it!  

During my flight, I finished reading the Odyssey.  I really should have brought another book to read and my iPod was not going to last the entire flight.  So I did the next best thing.  Plot out the business path.  Which… was hard without having something to write on.

I finally dozed off and somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean unsure of the time.  But sleep finally settled in and I hit the snooze button.

Wedding Photography. Ideals and Thoughts.

I sent a message to a member on Weddingbee, which concerned her wedding photography from a said photographer in STL.  And all the issues she is facing right now because the lack of professionalism.  Whether or not that photographer realizes it, but we, as in all the vendors that participate in creating these weddings, are really in this together.  The fact that she is having issues surrounding getting her proofs is disappointing and that her album, if things go the way the are going, will be ways off.

Why do some people choose to get into wedding photography?  Cause they have a decent setup and think they can do it?  Is it because they want to also participate in the celebration of life?  Is it because they love to capture people and their emotions?

There are probably many questions, profound or not, when asked about wedding photography.  Among them is why be a wedding photographer.

Today as a non – jaded wedding photographer, I can honestly say that it is earnestly about capturing the emotions people give off during celebrations.  But what will happen when I get to say 40 and shooting weddings?  Could I say the same thing?  I wonder what my life will look like when I am 40.  I sure don’t want to know.  Heck I don’t want to be 27 in 17 days!

I think it would be interesting to know why people choose to shoot wedding photography.  I am sure brides and grooms from all over hear all sorts of various answers.  But I guess I am not looking hard enough to read them all.

School is in Session! {promotion}

School is coming back.  And college students are coming back from the vacation buzz or research grants to get back into their education.  But that is no excuse to delay your wedding plans!  Being that I also work at a university, I know how hectic it can be.  So let’s not let the dollar hold us down!  I am offering all college students 15% off any sort of coverage! Only that you have to proof that you are a current college student.  One discount per couple.

200th post! Giant Recap!

I have been a faithful blogger since 2004 using Xanga.  Sadly, I no longer have that account on Xanga.  I was Random_Pepperhead and then the great mango (which is still there I think…)  Then I switched to Blogspot for a little while.

My first blog entry was this: My trip to Ireland

I blogged entries from my travel journal to start with.  Then I moved to WordPress and imported all the entries.   And was so much more happier with the design and ease of use of wordpress.

Over the course of the years, since 10/19/07 (start of blogspot), I traveled to California twice, Seattle, and Italy, prior to that it was Thailand and Ireland.  And my camera gear has changed as with my shooting habits and styles!  It is quite interesting to see how much I have changed.

I went to California with my brother, sister in law, and nephew to see Yosemite, Mojave desert, disney land and some other places in between.

My very first portrait session was … for lack of better terms a “failure.”  It was with this one guy I contacted on craigslist and it just didn’t go so well and the photos ended up … bleh.

But a little afterwards I was contacted with these two friends and I did much better with their portraits.  I am a quick learner so all the mistakes I did in my first session I fixed for this one.

Yeah.. I totally overdid it with watermarks….  don’t stone me!!

And right after that I photographed my first wedding!

The thing with that wedding was that the bride and groom are my parent’s friends and knowing that I wanted to get into weddings they told me to bring my camera gear!  So

But right afterwards, another family friend gotten married and wanted me to shoot the wedding.  My first two in one weekend wedding!

Because I had FF miles, I flew off to Seattle for a week.  And had a coffee and Thailand food delight!

Then a little bit later, I worked with a singer/actress from around work and tinkered with my portrait and lifestyle photographs.  I did tone down my watermarks!

Although it is fair to say that, I still need to work on controlling people’s expressions, at this point.   So it was fair to also say, that I was more of a candid photojournalistic style shooter.

By the time I finished working with her photographs, I was following Vincent Laforet’s blog and usage of the new Canon 5D mk II!  And was stunned with what he did with it!  Little before the camera came out, I purchased a 100 mm macro lens planning to get the 5D Mark II much later.  But I happened to have walked into a best buy, that had the body in stock.  At that time, hardly any retailer had one in stock!  And then and there I picked one up!  My most unplanned purchase!

Stoked with both the 100mm macro and the 5D2, I also signed up for bludomain for my own site.  www.tednghiem.com.

And then … I stumbled upon a wedding site and got some eSessions!  My first eSession was with Kara and Bryan

I did more eSessions afterwards, but in between those eSessions and my boudoir, I went to Italy!

I had the time of my life out there in Italy!  Two weeks of pure gelato and exploring bliss!

Then I did some boudoir!    I did two prior to this next show, but they did not want me to show their photos.

Boudoir

Right afterwards, I went to Florida to spend time with my brother, sister in law, and nephew in Disney World.

I came back refreshed after having a ton of fun with my nephew, brother and sister in law, to get right back into another boudoir.

Then a little later, I was in contact with Pat Furey to 2nd shoot for him!

So within 200 blog posts, I was able to accomplish this much!  I still have ways to go to be an awesome wedding and travel photographer, but i know I will only keep getting better!

Surely I should wait to make this post when the year ends, but 200 posts is a pretty big number!