Wow, what a week!
My brother, Nam, graduated from Chapman University School of Law on Friday May 22nd.
I'm taking his picture as he is getting his official picture taken.
I graduated from California State University Fullerton on Sunday May 24th.
After my name was called. Photo by either Matt or Viet (I'm not sure).
My cousin’s daughter, Franchesca, graduated from Orange Coast College on Friday May 29th.
This is right after she got her official picture taken.
(I know that is a blurry photo and it’s not the best, but it’s all about the moment. There was actually a girl right before her who also had short hair and I totally thought that was her, so I was snapping a bunch of shots of the stranger. I did it too fast, and my camera needed some time to recycle. That’s when I realized that Franchesca was up at the moment. It’s kind of hard because everybody is wearing the same thing. The only thing that really stands out is the person’s face or if they are wearing flowers. But then again the people who are wearing flower leis have the same ones. haha! After this, I understood how my family had a hard time spotting me from the crowd when I was graduating.)
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*Click here to view Nam’s graduation slideshow.
It includes the begining of the ceremony, the end, and the reception with free appetizers and open bar! Nam had the support of family, friends, and his girlfriend. We all had a good time as you can see for yourself in the slideshow. I tried to get a lot of candid moments, because this was a celebratory event for Nam.
Photographic Notes: I rented the Canon 580 EX II for the weekend, and I used it in some of the photos. I think I was using it too fast and too much in a small amount of time. So, at times it did not recycle fast enough for the next shots. I took the hot batteries out and let it rest for awhile. I then just open my aperature to it’s widest and set my ISO to it’s highest for the low lighting situation. In some of the photos, I switched my lense to a 15mm fisheye lense so that would explain some of the distorted photos. It’s all for fun.
I took all the photos unless I was in it. I was wearing a red top. Don’t mistake me for my mom, because she was also wearing a red top. haha
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The general ceremony for all CSUF graduates took place at 8am, and I wanted to skip that and go straight to the major ceremony. I started driving about 8:34am with a goal of lining up outside the Titan Stadium at about 9:15am. It seemed like all my classmate friends were already there, so I felt like I was late or something. I was kind of rushing but my brother, Viet, wanted me to stopped by a coffee-drive-thru to get him coffee. Since there is a Starbucks like on every corner, I stopped by one that was convienient. I stated what he wanted to the speaker box. The barista asked me if I wanted anything else. I said, “…no, that’s all.” Then the barista replied with, “Hi Van!” I was totally shocked, and I asked who it was. The barista said, “It’s me, Franchesca!” Then she pointed the camera towards her face and I saw her at the speaker box. It was a plesant surprise because I haven’t seen her in person in a long time. Also I was amazed at this 2-way-camera technology at the drive thru. haha! So when I pulled up to pay, we had some small talk. I told her that I was on my way to my graduation. Then she invited me to go to her’s. I only had a maxium of 6 tickets, so that was all used up by my family and Matt. Well, I think it’s kind of like torture for them to be there because, there wass a lot of waiting around in big crowds, I know they were hungry, and the weather was just so absolutely hot!
Anyways, here are some pre-graduation moments for me:
Surprise! I took an unsuspecting photo of you, Franchesca!
Photo by Matt
When I arrived on campus, I had my little Canon 550 SD point & shoot camera on me because I knew I had to be separate from my family after awhile. They were using my SLR camera to take pictures of me. While I was waiting with fellow graduates, we were killing some time with taking some pictures.
xtine = our photocomm advisor (Photo taken by Stef)
It’s a good thing I saw xtine and got my picture taken with her before the ceremony, because after it ended, it was just so chaotic and crowded.
Photo by Pat Lim.
We took pictures of each other at the same time! Here was my view:
Allen on his phone, Pat taking a pic, & Stef daydreaming...
Oh yes, you can see DSLRs owns Point & Shoots. LoL!
That's where my family was sitting. Click on this image to view it bigger.
I'm always a photographer, even when the spotlight is on me. (Click to view bigger)
Haha, the last 2 pictures are kind of similar to what Pat & I did.
I did a short video clip with my cell phone when all of us graduates were together sweating in our black cap & gowns as the sun hits us.
*Click to view my graduation slideshow of pictures from the point & shoot.
*Click to view my graduation slideshow of pictures from the DSLR.
We went to eat at a Vietnamese restaurant, Kim Dung, after the ceremony was over. I wanted to get away from crowded Fullerton and into cozy Little Saigon.
Matt & my Mom taken with 15mm fisheye lense (hence the distortion)
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