THE WEEKEND

At Ryan's House, originally uploaded by Patrick Q.

I had a fun weekend! Friday night I drove down to the Coast to meet with Ryan again. (He gave me a CD with this photo on it; he took this picture the last time I was down there. It think it turned out pretty well.) I came down so that we could review the set up of the big lights and all the particulars of the camera I'd use on Saturday. I got it all down quicker than I expected, leaving me with a free evening.

Ryan invited me to stay, but I thought I'd head home to work on eBay stuff. On the way out of town, I called Terry to say hello and decided to stop by his apartment to see Jo and him, since they had a free evening. On the drive to their apartment, I stopped at a light right by a small carnival, set up in a shopping center parking lot. As usual, I was singing along with a CD (I'm sure looking really stupid) when my cell rang. I stopped singing and answered it. Rick said, "Hey, look next to you." So I turned and saw Rick and Erinne sitting in the adjacent car. Embarrased, I asked what they were up to. They were also free. We all decided to go to the fair together. So much for working on a Friday night.

The rides and the atmosphere at the fair were great! But I kept getting a strange feeling like I had never moved, unable to shake the thought that I would have been at the fair with the 4 of them if Katrina had never happened. Some things are just meant to be, I guess. I also had the crazy thought that maybe I would die on one of the rides - no escaping your destiny ala "Final Destination 3." But, somehow I survived the evening with nothing more than a slightly upset tummy from being turned upside down one too many times. The only real bummer of the evening was that I missed Pauline, especially when I was solo on the Ferris Wheel. I was glad to have the cell so that I could call her.

Saturday was a whirlwind day, as Ryan, Amanda & I photographed two wedding ceremonies- one in Mobile and the second in Gulfport. I am happy to report that I did OK - I wasn't stressed out and I felt confident. Ryan's a good teacher. The big moment of my day was taking all the preceremony photos at the second wedding. Amanda was there for support, but Ryan was still finishing up the reception photos in Mobile. It was my first experience, relatively on my own, with professional photography. I had the demeaner & the lingo down. I just treated it like a theatrical role and drew from all my memories of the wedding photographers I've observed. Thankfully, I've been in a lot of weddings. I'm eager, no...anxious, to see how the photos turned out. I wasn't shooting digital, so I'll have to wait until Ryan develops the prints to see how I did. But I'm looking at the experience this way. I know I can handle the stress and that I have the right demeanor for wedding photography. I can always brush up on my photography skills, but I'd be sunk if I couldn't cut it in the personality department. So Saturday was a relief.

The last reception let out around 11 p.m. The family knew how to party! And they included Ryan and myself (Amanda left early) in the festivities. Ryan even did the electric slide with them. The crowd ate it up. I'm sure he'll get some referrals from this wedding. I was glad I got to be a part of it.

I can't wait for Ryan & Amanda's wedding this summer. From the sound of their plans, it will be the party of the decade :)