Tim Monzon: Hooray For The Weekend

In the words of Loverboy, "Everybody's workin for the weekend". So true =)

Check out my new invention!!!

Okay, so I'm uber stoked, because I finally managed to create my lightstick for formals and weddings. Total cost: $480. Yikes. Actually, I could've brought it lower, but I decided to spring for a new SB-800, which is a total of $315, including taxes and shipping. Had I gone for, say, a used SB-28, it probably would've cost about $120, making the total about $285 instead. But I needed something I could use on camera as well, so I had to go with the newer model. And technically, this lightstick isn't even finished yet, seeing as I don't have the "stick" part yet. Which is a monopod. The rig is mounted on a tripod right now, but its way too bulky and heavy to carry. A good monopod will run me anywhere between 70-300 dollars. I'll try to stick to the lower end of that range. And JR, if you're reading this, yes, be very jealous.

I took a test shot of my car with the lightstick this afternoon:

Now, its hard to tell exactly what's so special about using lots of flash to spice up an image, which is why I'm banging my head against the wall at the moment. *Remember to take before and after pics, dummy! Now, I didn't do a lot of post processing with this picture, which is good, because the colors are already standing out. The image pops with color. Take note of the sky especially. Usually sunlight tends to diminish the contrast between sky and clouds, as well as make colors more drab (depending on what it is you're looking for in a picture). Lots of flash deletes that ambient light, and replaces it, causing colors to be more vivid. Eh, whatever. I'll make sure to do a before and after next time.

Whew, finally got that out of the way.

So, after checking out pictures and watching the videos of some of my friends going skydiving, I think I'm gonna do it. That's right, I'm gonna face my deathly fear of heights, and smack it in the face. As I watched their videos, I dunno, I guess I got inspired. And even after listening to their testimonies of how its a lot scarier than it looks when you're finally on that plane, I think that this is something that I owe to myself to do. Now, its just a matter of saving up for it =). They all want to do it again in the summer, so I suppose I have time to save up, and psych myself up for it. Hopefully this plan will go through. I'm leaving you blog readers to put me up to this before the summer ends.

I've just about finally finished all my bags of Doritos. I'm surprised I haven't gotten sick of them yet. At least I bought enough flavors to not get sick of one. Now I have to finish my Girl Scout cookies. I went through one box in two days, but even then, it was just sickening, haha. The thing about peanut butter, is its almost a necessity to drink it with milk. It's just so.... sticky. I couldn't get myself to continue eating them with only bottles of water lying around. I'm sure I'll finish all my boxes by next week though. My hunger can never be satisfied.

Okay, Youtube time! Haha, this videos been out for a couple months now, but I just can't help but come back to it almost every other day! Let me tell you guys: if you really want to know how to master using the internet, let Max and Gabe show you how!