Catching the tail end of summer

Last summer was glorious in so many ways that were definitely not covered on this blog (sigh, I really need to be more diligent about this one) and as I look back, I realize that the days I actually decide to whip out my camera for whatever reason obviously become more vivid in memory. Over the years, documenting something with film has become a rather luxurious and stressful hobby, financially and logistically. Rolls often get lost while I'm moving literally for the 5th time in the year, scanned shots sit in my hard drive for eternity until I dig them out and manage to post a few. It's a whole process of its own. But you know, I can't seem to ditch film. Like a lot of people around me know, film is how I first learned photography and I honestly have not fallen out of love with what it can do to a photograph. ANYWAY enough rant about film (or more like what was supposed to be my excuse for posting summery pictures in JANUARY). Here is a beautiful late summer day hiking with Sarah + Allie in Virginia sometime in September. All taken with the trusty Nikon FM10.

Sunday Brunch - 14th St NW

I feel weird talking about splurging on Sunday brunch at some cute place because brunching is just something that I don't really do (I like eating two full meals - both breakfast and lunch, why eat only one meal for both...? don't judge), but we'll talk about it here today because I actually had a great time brunching with some friends few Sundays ago. We hit up a cute little place called Cafe Saint-Ex in 14th street area, and I gifted myself some delicious brisket hash. The best thing about Sunday brunching is that it's so relaxing -- it always feels like that nice little deep breath you take before freaking out about another week starting on Monday. Anyway, we walked around 14th street area of DC afterwards, and whew, glad we managed to enjoy the last warm Sunday of the year properly.

Winery at Bull Run

Back in September on one sunny Sunday afternoon, two of my friends and I spontaneously decided to go visit the closest winery near DC. As we drove westward through the Virginia country, I became thoroughly convinced that Virginia is basically more of a farmland than I had imagined. It reminded me of home. Oh how I miss home and the Texas Hill Country. But I think I can get used to this - Virginia is full of beautiful landscape, wineries, hills and valleys.
After doing an initial wine tasting (we went through 12 different types of wine & ports!) we decided to go with the rosé for the chill afternoon.
Bull Run was such a cute place. There was also a wedding ceremony there that night, so they were setting up the entire place nice and pretty. Oh, and live music too. Definitely worth the short trip.

Raw Thoughts

So here's a bit of a personal post. I took this photo with my Nikon FM10 last year around this time. It's not the greatest photo, I haven't edited it in any way, and it's still saved onto my hard drive in the most raw form it could exist.

There are a lot of times I'd go through archives after archives of photos I've taken in the past, whether they'd be digital or on film, and I would find one that would resonate with the current state of my being. A year ago, I discovered that flowers brighten my mood without fail every time. Upon that discovery, I began to spend lavishly on buying myself a stem or two when I really needed it -- I find this phenomenon parallel to the whole hype with puppy therapy or taking a vacation into the woods. Any form of rawness, or the nature, comforts me in mysterious ways.

We live in a hyper digitized world. I can't say I'm not guilty of being glued to my apple products or having the fear of missing out when I'm not surfing on the web. But the digital presence, I've found, is not exactly qualitative nor all that significant. I often stop and find myself craving something raw, something natural, and finding emotions within myself that I haven't found a way to express.

Sarah pt. 2: Lomography Lady Grey

I am back after a pretty long break from this blog, with some more photos from the photo shoot with Sarah last month. I really should shoot more, but film photography indeed is such an expensive hobby. I really enjoy shooting with the Lomo lady grey though - the subtlety of everything is beautiful.

More NYC: Brooklyn Bridge

More photos from the Nikon FM10 of exploring Dumbo and Brooklyn Bridge with Janie and Kayeon. We decided we were going to walk across it to commit to the full touristy mode. It was my first time - and I obviously fell in love with it hard. Too many photos, perhaps. Some architecture amazes me, especially bridges.

Exploring DUMBO!

I was in New York last week for about 5 days for job searching and interviews. Well. I actually ended up having way more fun than I had anticipated thanks to some of the most wonderful friends that are making it big in the city. They came with me to Dumbo to support me with my interviews, and we explored the area afterwards. Feeling so blessed and thankful.

 

I fell in love with Dumbo, by the way. It's just over the bridge across from manhattan, but it's drastically quieter and relaxed. Maybe I'm getting old or something, but being in this part of Brooklyn gave me a breather and helped me to appreciate every little corner that had its own characteristics.

Leftovers from last roll

Photos from the wedding coming soon, hopefully!

Peaceful Mornings

Have you ever wondered why certain things happen to you, and you simply don't understand the reasons behind everything? You thought you were in an honest environment but the whole time you've been cheated out of things you deserve?
Well...enough said. I'm ready to pounce on that wedding tomorrow, with honest intensions and just the willingness to work hard the best I can. I thank God for everything at this moment, because Christ who lives in me has already won over everything.

More Oak Cliff

Walking around the Bishop Arts District before we got attacked by some crazy rain!

And last but not least...one of the cutest couples I know! KK & Jessica.

Oh, and I'm head over heels infatuated with the Portra.