2nd Year University Student

This post was a long time coming.

I never realized how easy first year was until now. After a midterm a week and 4 separate group projects/reports, I miss all the extra stress-less times i had in first year. But I guess I need to be highly pressured and grow up these days because life is finally starting to get complicated. New relationships, new housemates, new rules, new work.

As much as I love my house-mates though, there is always going to be problems with the house. I won't go into detail, but it's always going to be there, so i'm not complaining. Last year it was even worse, so i can take it, even if I can't always agree with the rules people set up in the house.

In terms of academics. I can't complain. I'm not one to believe that by complaining about something that that problem with go away. It's going to stay and I'm more action orientated. I'd much rather kick some serious ass through fixing the problem then just complaining to my friends. I earn the bad marks that i get, but at the same time, i earn the high marks that i get as well.

If time flies when you're having fun, then I guess i'm having the time of my life. There isn't a moment so far where i can complain (rightfully). And it hope this natural high doesn't end.

-Canon Ma

Muse and Hamilton

Recently the amount of motivation has escaped me when it comes to really doing anything. I don't know if it's because the fact that my barrage of midterms are finally over (besides one), so now I really don't feel like doing anything, or the fact that I haven't been eating normally has just made me too tired to really do anything.

I still read up on updates in the photography world, but none of it is photography based, and they're just facts to me right now.

I begin to wonder whether or not photography was just a fad for me. A very long, 2, almost 3 year fad, and it's coming to an end. I really hope it isn't true but if so, I'll let it sleep peacefully.

However, until I completely lose my passion for it, this blog will continue, my photoediting skills will be practiced, and my year long payment for a pro flickr account will not be wasted.

A thing i really want to show more is Hamilton, in a better light. There's this thought about how Hamilton is boring, there are no events and it's lifeless. The only speck of soul that is visible is the student community. And while I agree with everything, why is boring bad?

Why can't students wind down from their partying, drinking, and academic cramming and sit and notice life? If you take the chance to slow down and take a look around you, you can finally start noticing the glimpse of beauty in everything living and dead around you.

Hopefully you stop thinking about the next drink, the next midterm, the next life step you'll take and enjoy for what everything is in the moment. For that moment in time, what you have taken for granted can all come rushing back and showing you their importance in your life.

While others enjoy one aspect of life, I enjoy the fact the fact I can see at least 2 sides. I never want to take things for granted, neither do I want to be so short-sighted.

-Canon Ma

Website Designing

I now have a new appreciation for websites. These things are so complicated to work on. Design aside, the actual programming is so intense. But I'm speaking from the perspective who's only had 1 year of website design practice.

Was designing and trying to update a website for a club atm, and finally realized that I never want to do it again. I feel like the product of what I did is kind of a b!t**slap to what all web programmers and art students live for.

Here is what is kind of looks like atm. Everything was designed + programmed by me with the help of Dreamweaver. Comments would be great, especially from you art students!

http://mcmaster-csa.com/

There will be another post later today that is more like my old ones. Prepare for the emo.

-Canon Ma

Summer 2010 Balloons

Post was started a long time ago, took awhile for me to publish.

I'm sure everyone has already glanced at the photos. I'm just gonna do a little commentary on each that i decided to publish.

Probably the best shot of the day, I already knew after looking at this photo on the computer that it needed to be edited to be more dreamy, more emotional. Hopefully with the yellow and slight blurring of the image i got the dreamy look.

If i could show you how much of the shot i had to photoshop out, it' might ruin this shot. The amoutn of powerlines crossing this shot was disgusting and i had to photoshop everything out before i saw this gem. 

Just another shot, her face is covered but i just liked how she looks like she's commanding attention.

This shot was just to test the lighting and to get in the mood, but little did I know with her talking on the cellphone, I was able to catch such a "in the moment" shot

These 5 shots we had bussed/walked all the way to Scarborough bluffs to take the shots. The initial idea was to put 2 things that were complete opposites from each other.

And that's the story behind the shots. This is bit rushed because I just wanna get this entry published and out of here.

Again, thanks to everyone who participated and spent time/money on this project.

-Canon Ma

My Haven - Henry's Imaging Show

This happened awhile back, just took awhile for me to get it published, kept forgetting

October 17, 2010 was definitely a memorable moment for me(and all other camera folks alike)

While not a show like Photokina or PMA (google them), Henry's hosted it's annual "Photographic, Video, & Digital Imaging Show" at Missisauga where it displays anything that has to do with imaging.

Big names that came were Henry's themselves (with a crap load of cheap bags, picture frames, tripods, lenses, old camera bodies), Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Sony, Panasonic, Fujifilm, Zeiss and various other smaller companies.

I couldn't help but feel happy (in the pants) as i ran everywhere and indulged in everything that is Photography. It was literally my candyland, and i was that fat kid. My mom and Ian both agreed that I was pretty crazy while we were in that setting.

I ended up getting a new camera bag and this awesome piece of perfection

Sparring the details, it was a good day for me. I got to hate Nikon and love Canon at the same time, in the same building (Ian was a Nikon user, their booth wasn't as busy as Canon's :D ).

I am definitely going back next year. Anyone wanna come with?

-Canon Ma

You're Perfect (To me, at least)

Photocred: Gideon Yambot

I'm sure everyone has imagined a perfect person. The perfect physical attributes and the perfect personality to match. Now we also should know, by now, that there's no such thing. What you conjured up in your head is a product of media and I'll be damned if you can bring me a perfect person.

We all know why there's no such thing (genetics, up bringing). But it'd be safe to say the perfect person wouldn't fit in our world anyways. The world we live in is a perfectly constructed image of mistakes. And if one was ever to be perfect, it wouldn't fit.

The world is like a 6 billion jig-saw puzzle piece. Each of us like a puzzle piece, parts of us jut out and parts of us cave in, symboling features we are strong in and chunks we're lacking. So what would a perfect person's piece look like? A square? It wouldn't fit anywhere, not even those corners that we all love.

Faults are what keeps people interesting and form groups. There's got to be some people who don't like for who you are, and some people who you despise. Whether it be a person, celebrity, professor, or co-worker. You can't lie and say you've never talked infavourably of a person, everyone has. The nicest people I've known have complained about someone in their life. It's not that they're mean, or pessimistic, it's just that it's impossible to have your interests and values comply with everyone, you'd end up having no personality or being fake to everyone (the latter will not end well).

We are, however, born near perfect. We have no values, no tainted views, no language, almost no mistakes (I say almost because physical attributes when born are subjective and babies are selfish). But people grow, people conform, and people change. We try so hard to fit into our world as a perfect puzzle piece in some part of the world that when we become that piece, you don't realize that the perfection you strived for was costly.

But does this matter? You fit into the area that matters to you. 

You're happy, and that's all that matters.

-Canon Ma

People Watching

People watching is fun. You get to criticize every single fault that another person has just to make yourself feel just a tad better about yourself. That's why you should always people watch around grocery stores, donut shops, and the treadmill section of gyms.

However, i tend to go magically blind whenever i walk past the weight section of the gym, i wonder why?

Not much to really talk about, just filler to upload pictures. Enjoy!

Convocation - Ah Gor

Arrived a bit late, but spaces didn't fill up yet.

This post was a long time coming. Even though convocation wasn't, right after I did a post about my parents, I knew I wanted to post about my brother as well. I just needed an event to allow me to actually take photos of him without physically asking him. Cuz that's how we roll, we don't ask, we just DO.

Now I'm kind of jealous, is there something like this for McMaster?

The event, which happened on Saturday, October 16, 2010, was not only my brother's convocation, but also a first "thing" for my family. He becomes the first ever "Ma" to ever receive a University degree, in ANYTHING. So if you can imagine from my family point of view, this is kind of big.

A photo in front of his University banner before the ceremony gets started

I remember asking my dad how come my parents never pressured us to BECOME something, BECOME someone. They taught us right from wrong, to donate, to offer help when people needed. To be streets smart and to be downright caring, but why not to become something big? I asked him only because I know of parents who always pressure their sons and daughters to become a lawyer, or doctor, or something that is highly regarded in today's society. My dad's answer was this.

"It wasn't in your blood"

Now before you judge, it's not as bad as you think really. He added on, 

"I'd rather you enjoy a happy life, with everything you need to be stress-less, than carry the burden of studying to become a doctor, and then the burden of being a doctor."

So you could probably understand how proud I was when seeing my brother cross that stage. For the longest time It was hard to shake what my dad said to me but at least now there's a proven point that it is in our blood (or at least, my brother's).

A rare moment(for me) captured in a photo, my brother smiling.

I've always been kind of proud of my brother actually, regardless of opinions that I might've slipped out of my mouth. He's always had a good control and balance of everything in his life. His hobbies, his school, his family, his social life, his love life, and his work. Dear god, I'm still struggling to find any sort of a balance, how did he do it?

But i guess all of that got shadowed by the fact that we never got along after middle school. I never looked at him that impressively until recently because our values are completely different. But instead of being mature and accepting and adapting to them, I instead fought with him. We officially become 2 completely different people living in the same home, like 2 strangers bound by 4 walls. For the longest time, I felt like the only relation I had with him was our names, and our blood.

In grade 7, I was asked who I looked up to. And I honestly said "No one". I didn't want to be like anyone, I didn't want to shadow anyone. It was during those years where I wanted to be unique and somewhat different, kind of a leader, instead of a follower. There were years where I really tried to be different than my brother.

But things have changed, time has passed, and ironically the person I look up to most these days is my brother.



My favourite photo of the whole entire set.

-Canon Ma

What a sight.

Today I probably saw one of the most digusting scenes i've ever seen.

An old lady.

Well no, it wasn't just that, but it was an old lady stuck in the backseat of her car. I'm not gonna comment on the fact that she could've just unlocked it from the inside, because clearly if she knew that already she would've done so without banging on the back window of the car, calling for attention from me and my brother.

She clearly got left behind from whoever drove her, and I don't know how this could've happened, but I just found the sight disgusting. How bad of a son/daughter do you have to be to leave your own mother in the car by herself, without opening an inch of the window.

Some could say the senior (65+ year old) is...not the brightest person on the world, but instead of taking that point of view, I'd defend her because i don't know how it was for her. Maybe when i'm 70 and trapped in the backseat of a car with all my windows closed, and burning to death, i'd be crazy enough to completely forget about unlocking the door from the inside (or better yet, maybe the driver just set on children lock, not allowing the back to be unlocked)

I don't know, I just didn't know that senior neglect was apparent in North York, let alone Canada.

I personally didn't help her, because my brother got it covered, but I hope she's okay, and I hope whoever just left her there better have a good reason, and if not, get their comeuppance.

-Canon

Where in the devil are the pictures?

They will be up guys! I just have to retouch all of them. and there are a lot! I'll try to make it worth the wait as I'm entering back school, trying to design a website (again), trying to find my damn card reader and trying to find a job.

If you haven't seen these already, take a look at what I did when i ditched Wonderland with friends.

Landscape view from the bottom of the badlands

Probably my favourite photo of it

Winding road into the forest.

Don't pixel peep! you can tell the river of sand has been photoshopped to make it stand out better.

Remember, all comments and criticisms would be great as I'm trying to improve as a photographer/artist. Sharing this with your friends would also be awesome as I'm trying to get more notoriety with my work.

Have yourself a very merry day :)

-Canon Ma

Poolshots

I have no story, just photos. Probably better anyways, apparently this blog is very depressing and emotional.

just enjoy the photos! :D

I'm beginning to think that I should stop posting just one amazing photo from the bunch and try to show you an entire series everytime i shoot. You get to follow the story, get the vibe better, and somehow appreciated the photos and the background better. I'm just guessing but, I think photos will be shown in a gallery-style from now on, not just singles.

-Canon Ma

Profile: Stanley Chung

How else do you look after conquering a 2 metre mountain of rocks?

After months of begging me to do a shoot of him, I finally conceded and decided to bring my cousin out to do a photoshoot of him.

One of the last concluding photos.

Officially half cousin, I grew up with him going to his house a lot while we were young to...I don't really know? An asian thing I guess, my family always felt that family was the most important thing to you. Because when your at your lowest point in life, emotionally and financially, only family would be there through it all to help you out. (the validity of this statement is, of course, subjective to each culture)

Looking a bit too proud there, no?

I've had a lot of experiences with this cousin. Although he sometimes might've been too young to remember it (or too crazy), they're all great.

Nice back

Ski trips, Algonquin, semi-competitively-but-not-openly-about-it racing him through trails to see who's faster, biking, fishing, Tobermory, Chinese new year, Lunar new year, random friends dinner with our piano teacher, 5 day trip to the eastern provinces of Canada, Niagara Falls.

Don't kill me

Everytime we met up for family we automatically clicked, that was the coolest part I guess (though i never thought about it). We were tight without really trying.

Pimpin', I know.

To the point where our parents would always ask us why we were always so loud and laughing, and how they never understood our humor. I guess we were loud and annoying.

Moments after chucking a rock.

But in my opinion loud, annoying and laughing is all good, rather be that than quiet and like a wallflower. And like every family dinner, what's a good dinner without loud conversation going across the dinner table?

This is as emo as this post

So here you go Stanley, you happy now? Enjoy these new Facebook display pictures to show your friends. Did I tell you how much I charge per photoshoot? It's a hefty price. New camera please.

Awkward Turtle, where are you when I need you. J/k

P.S. - Remember to hire me as a wedding photographer when you get married :)

Just a fun photo :)

-Canon Ma