Voice activated light stand

6-year-old Melanie Wells helps putting out prop flames with Arnab Sinha, an EMT/Recruit Firefighter at McLean Volunteer Fire Department fire station.(Sun Gazette)

Again, Thuỵ helped me to light up the firefighter in this shot. It was at 11 in the morning, and the sun is almost directly above us. Under the big helmet, the EMT/recruit firefighter Arnab Sinha face was at almost 4 stops under. For this shot, I asked Thuỵ to hold the flash stick near the ground and point directly into Arnab face to give me a beautifully balanced exposure. When I have time, I will share with you more about my flash stick.

At the firehouses

David Cheng, 3, is trying out fire fighter bunker rubber boots for size at the Ballston Fire Station in Arlington.(Sun Gazette)

I and Thuỵ, we were at the firehouses today to take pictures for the Sun Gazette. Thuỵ was my "voice activated light stand" and he did a wonderful job. Without him, I could not take these pictures, and the lighting came out great. In the picture above, David Chen, a 3-yrs, Arlington resident is trying out the firefighter boots for size. The light inside the fire house is just not enough to light up the subject and the quality is that dreadful green neon lights. So, I quickly set my camera to expose 1 under for the background and Thuỵ was at my four-o'clock position with the flash set at 1/4 power. I love the expression of David, pulling on the boot.

Been awhile

Vienna Chamber Celebrates First Oktoberfest (Sun Gazette)

Schools started about a month ago, and the hectic life are settling in. Thuỵ reminded me last night about the blog, which I did not put in an entry for two long months. My bad.

Huân started the Linda Mood Bell program, and so far, very small - un-noticeable - changes. But we have plenty more time to go to draw the conclusion. I certainly hope that the program brings positive results, and this is not because the tuition but because Huân definitely deserves it. It's a long overdue for him.

Even though the school has started, Bảo continues to work at the Orchids For You store, one day a week. I can see a bit more mature, responsible, and confident in him. We went to the picnic about a week ago, and he was quite happy & energetic around his friends. His happiness permeates to me and other family members as well. We had a wonderful time.

Thuỵ is such a pleasure to be with. He helped me with the photo assignment shooting last week, and made the time 10 times more enjoyable. I really looking forward to have him at every photo shoot and I hope that he enjoys the time we're together as well.

I started to take pictures for the Sun Gazette. The photos of first assignment didn't come out as good as I want, even though the photo editor complimented them. Oh well, I'll try harder and apply new techniques on the next assignments. One thought keeps circle in my head: "telling the story, telling the story", it's tough to translate that into a two dimension 4x5 picture. I was looking for emotion, expression, dramatic moments; but along with that I have to worry about the lighting, the dreadful sun light at noon, the angle, the quality of light and in a crowded place. I need to train my eyes to be able to spot the moment, and work with all the difficult light conditions. Only practices and not afraid of try new things will help. This weekend, I need to produce images of kids & fire-trucks, at two different fire stations. I have been forming the images, describing the images over & over again in my head. I have been going through different light scenarios, and how the flash should be setup to overcome the difficult lighting condition. I hope those thought would help me this weekend.