A day as a professional photographer, kind of!

Last month I got a new Panasonic GH% for my birthday. Since then I have been practising with my camera every day. I have been posting a lot of my pictures on Instagram and getting a lot of positive comments. I am really considering taking some college classes next year on photography and possibly pursue a career as a photographer.

Last week I actually got the chance to be a professional photographer, sort of. 

I was visiting my cousin, Tom, in Temecula and telling him how much I enjoy photography. I was showing him some of the photos I took with my new camera of random stuff. He told me about a friend of his that does professional real estate photography in Temecula. Tom asked me if I would like to meet him and see what he does. I was super excited about getting to meet a professional photographer. This might give me some Idea if this was the career I wanted to take or not. I told him that I would love to meet him to see what it was like to be a professional photographer.

We met Rich at his house, I showed him my work and he said it looked very good. We talked about how he got into photography and how he started his own business. This all gave me some great insight into what It would take to start my own business. Then Rich asked me if I would like to ride along to a listing he had to shoot in an hour. Of course, I did and he even said I should bring my camera and take some shots too.

We drove to a home in Lake Elsinore that Rich was planning to shoot. He went over how to set up my camera to take better images in the different lighting conditions. I really learned a lot about real estate photography and how to shoot it.

Time to make some edits

After the shoot, we went back to Rich's place and he showed me how he edits the photos through Lightroom. I have never used any photo editing software before and he made it look easy. this something I am definitely going to get when I have the extra cash.

Here is one of the photos I took.


I really enjoyed learning the tips and tricks that Rich shared with me but I really don't see myself as a real estate photographer. It was actually kind of boring taking pictures without any life to them. I prefer to take pictures of nature and people, although it may not be as lucrative as other types of photography.

Well the beginning was pretty good

Amnesia Moon
Jonathan Lethem

I was immediately intrigued upon reading the summary of Lethem’s Amnesia Moon, so much so that I ignored my earlier disappointment in his Fortress of Solitude, which I found to be well written but nevertheless disappointing. (Besides, Amnesia Moon was discounted and only cost three bucks. Three bucks + intriguing summary = Lethem gets another go.)

Here’s the summary that hooked me:

Since the war and the bombs, Hatfork Wyoming is a broken-down, mutant-ridden town. 

Wait, hold up. Do I hear mutants? In a post-apocalyptic world? I'm already sold, brother! But, for the sake of being complete, I’ll provide the rest of the summary that so captivated me:

Young Chaos lives in the projection booth in the abandoned multiplex movie house, trying to blot out his present, but unable to remember his past. Then the local tyrant Kellogg reveals to Chaos over a can of dog food that the bombs never fell. The truth, in fact, is a little more complicated…

So Chaos gets behind the wheel of an automobile and, accompanied by a fur-covered female,

Um, did you say fur-covered people?! AWESOME. It’s gotta be good, right??

too obvious?

sets out onto the empty highway on a journey to the edge of his American nightmare: in search of a missing identity and a stolen love.

Ok, so they had me at fur-covered mutants. What can I say? I like mutants, I like books about the end of the world, I like nightmares, I like fur. So I began Amnesia Moon full of hope, a schoolgirl skipping home from the last day of school across a field of daisies.

And let me tell you: the beginning was pretty damn good. It had promise, I tell ya. Sure, I was a little pissed that the aforementioned fur-covered female appears to be the ONLY mutant in the entire novel. But otherwise, I was digging it.

Furthermore, Lethem’s vision of a post-apocalyptic world (while not necessarily offering up anything new) was nevertheless entertaining. Fans of Phillip K. Dick will also enjoy the many allusions and nods to several of Dick’s novels.

Unfortunately, it all went nowhere. Lethem sets up a very interesting premise, one that, if only developed a little bit more, could have made for a very powerful book. Instead, it seems as if he reached the 200-page mark and said, “Fuck it! I’m ending this bitch NOW.” And off he sends everyone into the sunset. Literally. Trust me: I’m not spoiling anything. Actually, I lied. It might have been a sunrise. But I think you get my point.

In a nutshell: Intriguing, but much of it lacked development, and a better resolution wouldn't have hurt, either. But he writes so well, dammit. I wish I liked his stuff more