Still glued to the computer after having sat here for the past 2 hours or so. Got up early this morning to make breakfast for Vyanne before she left for work, and I’ve just been reading stuff and chatting online with friends.

Attended my friends’ wedding a couple of days ago. It was a simple ceremony where they exchanged vows and rings at the Royal Botanical Gardens. The weather threatened to pour every now and then, but it stayed clear for the duration. Heh, that was followed by dinner at the RipponLea estate. It was in a smallish sort of grand hall, comfortably holding 11 or so tables, with a little dance floor and a band playing on the stage. I’ve not been to many weddings and the ones I have the recollection of the most is my brother’s wedding a little over a year ago.

Heh, had my D300 up to the task of taking photos for the event. I’d say I’m impressed with the camera, as I shot mainly in manual mode to keep the exposure constant. I left my camera in auto white balance but only tweaked one of the images for colour correction. Shooting in RAW format allowed me ample room for editing photos later on. The autofocus was mainly accurate and impressive under dim candlelight/dark hall lights. I do believe that it would have been impossible to achieve the same level of success with shots had I used my D70 instead. Took the lessons I learnt from my brother’s wedding as well as all the reading up over the internet on techniques, and it has helped quite a bit. I could still do with some improvement on using flash as a lightsource as some pictures had uneven illumination on them but overall, the pictures came out quite well. Overall, I felt that the images were pretty good, and it’s something I want to improve on and hopefully make it a profession one day.

Heh, time to get my ass off the chair and start getting things done. A lot of errands to run today. I think it must be the missing morning coffee that’s causing my inactivity. Time to go make one.

Haven’t had time to sit down to think. Usually like to reflect a little on things that are happening. It’s just been eating and seeing and drinking, not that it is a bad thing. Heh.

Watched the theater version of the Phantom of the Opera last night. It was one of the last shows before the theater starts a new performance. I recalled watching it as a kid with my cousin’s family in Singapore. I only remembered bits of scenes, so most of it was new again to me last night. Everything except the music, which I have listened to over and over again for the past 20 years. It was pretty good, and it has a very different styling to Les Miserables or Miss Saigon. The show lasted about 2 1/2 hours but didn’t feel long at all. It was quite engaging throughout and that’s probably why it’s been such a successful show.

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Was out with Vyanne having breakfast at Brunswick St and walked into a plant nursery. I want to devote a little time to growing a small herb garden when I’m back in Melbourne. Not quite sure what I’d need to do but it’d be good to have an ever ready supply of parsley or chives or mint. I’m not quite sure if I have green fingers, but I’m interested enough to work at it. Heh, I guess it’s the influence of watching Jamie Oliver plough through his garden for herbs and vegetables to make dishes and salads. My mom has also grown lots of things and I find the whole idea quite inspiring to motivate me.

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Picked up my D70 again the other day and tried fiddling with it. I’m just so used to my new camera now, the old one just feels a little clunky and sluggish. It was good while I was still using it, but I really find the D300 to be a huge improvement in getting the image and wonder how I ever made photographs without it.

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Heh, just a few more days of resting before I have to endure 20 odd hours of flying again. I am really glad to be back.

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One of the various great foods you can find in Melbourne

Taiwanese Pork Chop Rice

Not many updates this month. I’ve been eating lots, spending time with friends and Vyanne, and just taking many photos. The weather’s been pretty decent, being hot but not unbearably so for the last few days. Life is simple these days, no schedules to keep, and doing as you please whenever you feel like it.

It is a good distraction, not needing to worry too much about things, but it gets a little too comfortable after a while. Heh, don’t seem to be much I dwell deep into these days. Been taking photos on my D300 with the various lenses I have so far. It’s been an interesting experience and I’ve also been trying street style photography. I’m just setting manual exposure and trying various focus distances to grab photos unobtrusively by just leaving the camera a little above my hip.

I have decided to come back for good from New York in May. I have told upper management and announced it to the world. I’m just weary of all the travelling, and the recent drama with flying from New York back to Melbourne via LA is enough for me to just concentrate on being where I am. It’s been a year since the whole experience started and it has added some character to me, pushing me to deal with things and not sidestep them.

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Heh, today is just another day. A little cloudy, and waiting for the really late car service people to pick up my car for servicing. I’ve had my Jazz for a year now and it’s slightly scratched here and there, but overall, still humming along dandily.

Nothing much else to quote today. Just wanted to jot something down to remember the days by.