Test week stress & thoughts.

So it's my turn to write up a blog post for the week. I was super excited about it, wrote out ideas and stuff then I threw that paper into the black hole known as my binder and it was never seen again.

I also made those plans before I knew this week was test week.
It's time for midterms and I've got one left to go. Doing some last minute reviewing, hoping that my test anxiety won't get the best of me.

In the last month, I've gotten to do some amazingly fun stuff! The PrairieView staff like to spring surprise field trips on us--rather, I should say that they like to keep the location a surprise. We ended up going to the Millennium Library to take portraits of each other and then to the Festival of Trees & Lights to just shoot whatever!

Shooting in the Millennium Library was so much fun. Not only because I am a total bookworm, but the light in there was just amazing! The huge windows are definitely great, especially on an overcast day for soft light. It was a great experience, not only for shooting but managing time when you need to scout a location quickly and shoot in it right afterwards.

The Festival of Trees & Lights was awesome, too! I was especially impressed with all the detail that went into some of the gingerbread houses. I don't think I could ever do something that amazing (or cute!). And there were so many different Christmas trees! I think this one here was my favourite, but it was such a tough choice to decide if there was one that I could consider an absolute winner, in my eyes. They were all fantastic.

I also had the opportunity of scheduling a portrait session with my cousins. Originally I was just going to take pictures of one of them, but since they were both ready, I figured hey, why not? Both of them are extremely talented musicians and singers, so while we were taking pictures, we would get a little "show" in between! It was a great shoot, all around and I was blown away by how much easier it was to take good shots. Three months ago I would have never been able to shoot like I am now.

I can't believe it's already December. Time flies so fast at PrairieView and before I know it, it'll be June and we'll be graduating. Every day, I feel like I'm becoming a better photographer without realizing it. I never knew school could be this fun, but that's just another sign that I've found something that I love doing and I want to keep doing as long as I'm able to.

Yesterday, after our Creative Imaging test, we were all notified of the group changes for this coming January. We were all aware that this day was coming--we just didn't want it to. Change is scary sometimes, but sometimes it's for the better. Normally, I would vehemently disagree about this because our group was such a "together" kind of group (we almost always took walks to Photocentral all together, we wore more or less the same shades to our exam yesterday, by accident!) but it's not like they're sending us off to different parts of the country. We'll still see each other at lunch and potlucks!

All in all, this is a great experience. I am unbelievably blessed to be here, learning to better myself in what I love doing; taking pictures.

Claudeen Tiongson
PV Diploma Student
2011-12