Online News Association Conference 2012

Let's do some time traveling. (Which we're going to have to do a lot with film posts)

Back in September, I packed up my bags and left for San Francisco to attend the Online News Association's San Francisco conference (aka #ONA12) with hopes and dreams of meeting great online journalists and maybe performing some magical networking. I think I ended up just having more fun than anything though, visiting Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, getting to know some cool people, and getting a private tour of the Industrial Light & Magic office of Lucas Film by dad's old friend who works there. I also got to spend some time with cousins that I see maybe once every 3-4 years, so that was nice. 

But back to my film prints! I made a pretty bold move, in my standards, by taking only the iPhone and a film camera - the Nikon FM10. Now, I've always had pretty good experiences with the FM10 if and only when I actually latch on the negatives right inside the camera. I remember those painful days as a sophomore in college when I'd cry about my time and money gone to waste because I got a blank film at the end of the development. Making sure the film is loaded correctly is very, very important for a film amateur like myself, especially because the FM10 is completely manual.

I knew San Francisco was going to be beautiful no matter what - but I fought off the temptation to bring on the DSLR and stuck with this old and dinky camera for some authentic shots of the bay area. Turns out it wasn't a bad idea at all.   

The following photos were taken at the #socjourn #wjchat Meet Up at Sens restaurant in Embarcadero.  

So. Remember when I said I met some cool people? I may not have had the chance to talk to people like Marks Luckie (Twitter / 10,000 words blog), or Kim Bui (co-founder of #wjchat) or all the other remarkable people who probably attended, but I unexpectedly befriended a Canadian journalist from a no-name town when she walked up to me asking a question that I can't recall now.

We became fast buddies and walked to the Port market to grab lunch together, sat outside with the ocean view and talked about life, photography, journalism, gluten-free foods, boyfriends, etc. That was a quite weird yet refreshing experience. We exchanged business cards, Twitter accounts then headed different directions.

Meet my friend Liz :) Hope we could meet again, someday! Also taken on the FM10, but with the Tri-X 400. 

Life of My Little R2D2

I just spend an absurd amount of money at the only photo lab in Dallas that still processes 120 and 110 format films and b&w 35mm films this past weekend. It also agitated me very much that I had to drive about 40 minutes into downtown area where I was challenged with weird road situations and inconsistent traffic lights. Then the price of the whole service! Ah. The absurdity of it all makes me so sad. Film might not be dead, but it might as well slowly starve me with how much everything's costing me. 

But anyways, enough about my geeky life - here is more of my geekiness. Yes, I shoot my little R2D2 I got as a gift at the Lucas Film headquarters when I run out of models. These are digital, by the way. Oh the glorious f/1.4! This shoot was inspired by THIS.

 The very costly film photos from medium format & other cameras coming soon!

Post-Shopping Craze

Ok first of all, let's talk about the weather in Texas this past weekend. With highs of 60s and lows in 50s, or sometimes a bit colder, the cold front came about in such a stealthy manner that I was pretty skeptical for awhile. I chose to stick with my shorts for the first day, then soon gave into changing my whole closet for the new season (meaning taking out my favorite blazers and scarves!). Yes, autumn comes in the middle of October for us. It's quite wonderful. But not to be a geek or anything (which I am pretty much 98% of the time), but the best part about this weekend was the overcast soft lighting all day long, which's really rare in Texas. 

My mother and I went on a shopping binge the past few days, but only one of the trips was successful. She bought the red shirt, cardigan, and jeans all from the Banana Republic Factory Store - and doesn't she look absolutely fantastic in them?!

Anyways, cheers to autumn. It's my favorite season.

Some Lifestyle Shoot of My Bedroom

Happy Friday! For a freelance photographer like myself, I don't really have weekends - meaning every day's kind of like a weekend to me. But make no mistake, I don't just sit around doing nothing. I've been trying to study, learn to edit better, read more, and all that jazz.

So S generously left me his 50mm f/1.4 lens before he left for Seattle. I tried to take advantage of that amazing depth of field the lens gives me...especially in the low light situation in my bedroom.

This is Greg, my best dinosaur friend! S handmade him for me last Christmas when I took a trip to Vancouver to visit my childhood friend.

Port of San Francisco

This past weekend I had an opportunity to attend the ONA (Online News Association) Conference at Hyatt Regency in the financial district in San Francisco. I was there mainly for the job fair and the career summit, perhaps a little too blindly, but things turned out better than I had anticipated. 

But anyways, I decided against bringing my D90 this trip because I wanted to try something unconventional for myself - which's completely relying on my iPhone camera for the most part. I did bring one film camera - the FM10, but as the iPhone was obviously so much more convenient for me to bring around, I tried to maximize the use of this phone. 

One downside is though, that when you take all your photos with your phone, your phone WILL die in the middle of the day when you actually need it for navigation and GPS (or the original functions, like, you know, calling people).

Walking down the strip of eateries, cafes and different types of market (shroom shops and butcher shops! oh and biscuit shops too) made me really miss living in this type of environment, but I can wait. 

Life is Sweeter With Sugarbox

I was first drawn to this place by its interior decor. With its all-white leather furnishings and clean and dark wooden walls and floor, the store at the first glance through the huge windows (major plus) exuded chic and elegance that stopped almost every girl (and boys, I'm sure) to take a closer look. Cute decor and macarons? Plus a variety of wine selections to go with the cake balls? It's a perfect place for some quality ladies' time. 

Sugarbox is located a t Shops at Legacy on Legacy Dr. & Dallas Tollway - Plano, TX.

Some Changes

So as I've moved back to Plano, TX from Austin about a month ago - I figured that the previous purpose for this blog would no longer be valid. Therefore, I decided to change this blog into somewhat of a restaurant/coffee shop review anywhere I go, and also an outlet for my photography. Fun stuff. Or I may make some more posts abut Gilmore Girls (for which I apologize in advance). Or I may post about my unemployment projects that I've been doing lately. Whatever they may be, I hope you find this blog helpful/useful/inspirational.

Thank you!

Ariel