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Everyone seems to be getting married these days. From co-workers to friends to relatives, I’ve been travelling ’round the world to attend these marriages. So far in the past year, I’ve been to France, Rhode Island, the Bay Area, and now to San Diego. This time, my high school friend, Steve Foley was getting married to Kelsey, in Oceanside, which is located just north of San Diego.

San Diego is a wonderful city and town, though it seems to have grown a lot busier in the years since I left to attend college. The weather is better than in the Bay Area, warm and sunny for about 10 months throughout the year. It’s more laid back than bustling LA or San Francisco, something I value.

Arriving on Friday night, I spent the evening and morning on Saturday hanging out with my parents. Coming back home is like coming back to lots of good memories… the house looks the same, and at the same time, it looks different. I haven’t been back in a number of months, and it was neat to see how of the differences that have accumulated during that time.

John and Jeff

Before the wedding, I drove down to Mission Valley to see John’s new apartment. Jeff Tang also stopped by and it was just like the high school days again.

I met both John and Jeff originally through my friend Roderic, who also happened to be down in San Diego after taking a road trip from his home in Colorado! On Saturday, Rod was in LA, but we arranged to meet for brunch with my parents the next day. In the meantime, John, Jeff, and I marvelled at John’s large and comfortable new chaise. That thing’s huge! Jeff himself just recently got himself a new place, which just happens to be a couple of houses down from my parents!

After spending about an hour at John’s place, it was time to jet over to Oceanside, about 30 miles away. I drove pretty quickly to get to the Mission San Luis Parish Chapel, located next to the king of all missions, the Mission San Luis. I was on memory lane as I passed by many of my favorite exits, Del Mar Heights Road, Ville de la Valle, and Sorrento Valley Road.

Steve and Kelsey

The wedding ceremony had some twists and turns that I’d never seen before. Steve and some others from the wedding party, including his best man, Neil Burrell (with whom I also went to high school), were dressed in tails and shorts! Neil had the biggest Amish looking beard I’ve seen him in, which goes perfectly well with his status as a Ph.D. candidate in Applied Mathematics at Colorado University in Boulder.

At the beginning of the ceremony, they asked for everyone to turn to the people next to them to greet and say hello. The people around me all seemed to know each other from school, Harvey Mudd. I met Christian, Bill, and a couple of women whose names escape me at the moment. It’s neat to see from an outsider’s perspective the familiarity that friendship that living, studying, and partying together generates over four years of people’s lives.

There were two photographers at the event, one carrying a Nikon setup and the other using Canon equipment, along with a Pentax 645. I had brought along my D30 with the 17-35mm lens attached to it, but I didn’t take all that many pictures; after all, I was just an attendee at this wedding.

During the ceremony, I spotted my former Chemistry teacher, Mr. Perrotti. During a short lull in the ceremonies, I waved to him. He hadn’t seen me prior to that, but quickly recognized who I was. Has it really been 8 years since I graduated from LJCDS? At times, it seems like yesterday I was in his class, dreaming up of various chemical concoctions that I’d be mixing up in the backroom. Following the wedding ceremony, Mr. Perrotti and I met up outside of the parish and chatted about old times. We arranged to meet at the reception, which was held at the Karl Strauss Brewery in Mira Mesa. I also ran into a couple of former Country Day students, including Jana Wachsman, Greg Knab, and Ben Rubenson. Everyone’s grown up now… with the awkwardness of high school completely shedded away.

Wedding reception

At the reception, I had more in-depth discussions with Greg Knab and his girlfriend, Allison. Greg and I have known each other almost as long as I have known Rod, since elementary school. I remember he was a great BMX bike rider at the time. We lost contact with each other in middle school, but Greg resurfaced at Country Day in 10th grade. I have fond memories of the two of us going to Singing Hills north of San Diego to go rock climbing.

Today, Greg’s running his own web design firm in San Diego and living in the Hillcrest area.

While I was speaking with Greg and Allison about business, one of the waitresses, Becky, came up to me and told me that they needed my photographic assistance. It turned out that the official photographers, Karen and Norm, were a little late in arriving at the brewery. Steve and Kelsey were about to make their big entrance to the reception, and they need someone to take pictures. My eyes kind of lit up when they asked me to shoot the grand entrance, and I eagerly gripped the D30 and 17-35 and got to work.

I hadn’t prepared to shoot anything professional, just a few personal shots here and there. If I knew what would have happened, I would have brought my flash and a bevy of other lenses. Sometimes, however, you have to make due with what you have, and I did my best with the 17-35 as Steve and Kelsey walked down the wooded walkway to greet a throng of their closest friends and family. Everyone cheered, smiled, and congratulated the newlyweds… and I played the role of the documenter, trying my best to capture moments in time that they’ll cherish forever.

The art of photography can be impersonal, but when you know the participants, it suddenly becomes real. You no longer become an observer, but a participant in sharing their highest triumphs and their lowest defeats. It’s a fun passion to have, photography.

I took a few snapshots of the congratulatory scene before settling down at the dinner table with Tom and Phyllis. Over dinner of salmon, chicken, mashed potatoes, and mixed veggies, we talked about all that’s happened in our lives since I left from Country Day. It’s fun to come back and talk to people who’ve had great influence on your life. Mr. Perrotti fueled my interest in Chemistry, even though I never took a class beyond the dreaded Chem 32 at Stanford. Later in the evening, Tom, Phyllis and I talked about scuba diving and getting certified, swapping stories from Catalina and the certification process. In addition, they shared some personal stories that were a hoot to listen to. “Are you going to be here later this evening? … I’ll be back.” And just like that, it began… what a beginning!

The evening was ended with me chatting with Norm, the photographer, about the merits of the D30. He noticed at the chapel that I had an L lens (i.e. expensive and professional). During the reception, he realized that I had the D30 (i.e. expensive and expensive). Norm was using a Canon EOS 1-n setup, no small change there either, but he was most interested in the D30, as he’s been eyeing it for some time. It’s always fun to swap stories about camera stuff with people. But, it’s better to be taking pictures!

I didn’t have much time to speak with Steve nor Kelsey, whom I met for the first time this weekend, but I was able to pry Steve away from the throng for a few minutes. We’ve both come a long way since our computer days at Country Day. In fact, all of the people that I met this weekend had gone off and have become quite accomplished in their respective fields. That’s refreshing to see… and much better than hearing they’re off working in some McDonalds somewhere. Everyone’s pursuing and achieving their dreams and goals. Kick-ass!

I got home around 12:15 am and stayed up until my parents came back from their evening out on the town. It was like being back in the Bay Area, going to sleep around 2:00 am!

Roderic and My

On Sunday morning, my parents and I drove over to Jasmine Restaurant along Convoy Avenue, to meet with Rod and his girlfriend, My. Over scrumptious dim sum, we made great conversation. Rod’s the person I’ve known the longest in my life next to my family. We met in kindergarten at Spreckel’s Elementary School and have stayed friends ever since. How many can say the same? Now, we’re both in our mid-twenties, pursuing our careers, forging new relationships, and living life.

Leica M2

I brought with me on the airplane a garment bag and one of those wheeled pieces of luggage that everybody seems to be dragging these days. In it, I had a bunch of stuff from and for my siblings. After leaving that stuff at the house, I have plenty of space for stuff I wanted to bring back up to the Bay Area. One of the things that I brought back was my parents’ Leica M2 camera.

The Leica M2 is the camera made famous by photographers such as Henri Cartier-Bresson. It’s a marvel of meticulous, hand-crafted engineering. Fully manual, this camera teaches you to take time with composing and setting up your shots. With point-and-shoots or even my D30, so much is controlled by the camera, from the various dummy modes to the built-in light meter. With the M2, it’s up to you to determine the proper exposure settings for the camera.

After I got back home, I loaded up the Leica with some Kodak Tri-X 400 black and white film. I don’t know how much I’ll shoot with the Leica, but it’ll be nice change of pace from the digital realm. The camera should help me to focus more on composition and lighting than I have been with the D30. I’m looking forward to it!

After getting back home from lunch, I hung out at the house for a couple more hours, helping my Dad with his computer, taking some pictures for my Mom, and reading up on old comic books and the D&D Monster Manual (the Night Hag!!!) before leaving for the airport. And, just like that, the weekend in San Diego was over!

Randy picked me up and we went to Cupertino to help his friend who was working on a film project for school. Film’s the next big thing to tackle for me. Still images is certainly a lot easier than film, where you have to deal with motion, composition, sound, and lighting… all at once. What an intriguing challenge!

More Pictures

Click on the link below to see the rest of the photos that I took during my weekend in San Diego!