New Things in Life

So, my Lifetouch stint has come and gone, which is a sad thing, but not as sad as it could have been, had i not found the job I'm in now.

By some beloved miracle I stumbled across a job where I am now working as a Media Technician in the MultiMedia Services Department at Royal Jubilee.

 (My ID card makes me feel important, haha)

So far my job entails things like OR (Operating Room) and Morgue Photography. I know what your thinking. Sunshine and rainbows.
I was showed how to scrub in and prepare for shooting in the operating rooms, which was pretty sweet and made me feel like I was on Grey's Anatomy.

I also have to film the nurses, maintenance crew and other such people in training for when the new facility opens in January. So far that part has actually been pretty fun. I got to learn about all the fancy-dancy high-tech equipment the staff will be using (although, to be honest, I'm not sure how they will manage considering people keep seeing me with my video camera and microphone and asking me what I'm taking pictures of).

But today was actually the first time I shot on the construction site. So I have to sport a reflective vest and a hardhat, along with steel toed boots, and then follow the maintenance guys around while they are being trained on all the electrical and plumbing equipment, etc etc.

It's strange actually, because the job is in my field, but has actually exposed me to things I never thought I'd ever see or be in the middle of. I get a behind-the-scenes look at the hospital and how it runs, as well as the complicity of the construction of such a huge site.

So far, things here are awesome. I'm getting paid more than I ever have before, to do things that I love and that I'm good at. That's pretty much the life.

Oh, also, I feel the need to show you this picture of what we call The Robot. It's actually called a duplicator, but it burns and copies dvds, then labels them, and it has this little robot arm that moves the discs around to their corresponding locations. SO INTENSE.

ALSO, I FINALLY spent some time putting together a new FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY SITE!!

 The system of my old site was just WAAAYYY too inconvenient for updating my photography portfolio. I'm doing so many shoots these days, that I need to be able to update my site easily and efficiently, and my old site just wasn't cut it. So I'm still using my old site, (www.maelinadegrasse.com) but my photography page now links to an outside webpage. It's pretty, efficient, and easily updated. And I'm super excited because now I can hand out business cards without feeling guilty about having to tell them that my most recent work is only available on facebook. lol lameness.

AND YOU CAN VISIT IT HERE (HINT HINT)

Okie Dokie,

Until next time!

Lurve Meena

Teaser...

A shoot I've been coordinating for a few months. Shot it just this Monday. HUGE success!

Here's a sneak peak...

Makeup by Anthea Kuan

This is Why I Love(d) My Job

This is why I love(d) my job...

Let me explain...

I started a new job in September with Lifetouch Photography, a company that does school portraits, as well as some studio stuff as well. But my job was doing school portraits. A LOT of early mornings, getting up at 4:30 or 5 to drive out to Duncan or Lake Cowichan or even Youbou. This may or may not come as a surprise to you, but it's possibly the most fun I've ever had at a job, (Okay, except for the Olympics, because not much can beat that haha). And since it's working with a photography company, and thousands of kids, I can't use any of the photos in my portfolio or anything, so I don't have much to show you. I can, however, get away with keeping this photo as my own personal memorabilia of my time with Lifetouch, since technically this student is relatively unidentifiable. (By the way, that board he's holding is our start/room board. I have to take a shot of it every 60 shots or so, and sometimes I like to get the kids to hold it for me.)

So, as much fun as I'm having, it's unfortunately a seasonal job, so in the next couple weeks, it'll goodbye Lifetouch. I'm already on the hunt for a new job, so hopefully I won't land myself in the poor house AGAIN this year.

Caio for now mi caros!

SHAWN SLAVIN: An Inspiration

So a few months ago, a University in Spain called UVIC, made a lipdub (a lipsyncing/audio dub video done in as few shots as possible) that mistakenly got attributed to the Uvic students of VICTORIA by none other than Perez Hilton.

When Slavin discovered this, he decided that Uvic (Victoria) should do their OWN lipdub sensation. He spent months organizing, had dozens of businesses donate their time, money, or product to the cause, and the proceeds of the event were to raise money for the Children's Hospital.

Incredible donations included Red Bull providing crates and crates of energy drinks for the students that were on site at 7 am, some of which stayed until 8pm that evening. Aclara Promotions volunteered their time and efforts and produced the whole video free of charge. Alibaba's and Hot House Pizza donated 5000 dollars worth of Pizza. And of course, BC Transit donated a bus. Okay, well the lent the bus.

Slavin and his cause appeared all over the news, in television, radio and print, did countless interviews, and even went to Vancouver to contact Michael Bublé's manager to get copyright permission for the song. I understand that Bublé was even supposed to make an appearance in the video, but with the life of a popular recording artist, I guess it didn't work out.


The Spain Lipdub consisted of 400 some-odd people, and Slavin was hoping to beat the Guinness world record by getting over 1500 people involved. (I think that's the number, I may be wrong.) In the end, he had almost 1000 students show up that morning to participate. 


The argument as to whether or not Victoria's Lip Dub was better than the Spain's Lip Dub, is a bit of a moot point. Because Shawn's goal was to bring the community together in a fun, once in a lifetime event, and I believe I speak for most of us, that it is astounding how much he accomplished. Most Lip Dubs are organized by media programs, or film schools, but this Chemisty-Psychology Double Major student decided to take the bull by the horns and coordinate his own.

 

I really want to congratulate Shawn. I'm sure he's heard it a thousand times, but I can't stress enough what an incredible person it takes to accomplish something of this grandeur. I'm impressed and inspired and know for a fact that this kid will go so far in life, and that this is only the beginning of his accomplishments.

I had to make it quite small to fit it here on my page, so watch it in full screen, or better yet, go to the Youtube page to watch it!



So please share this with as many people as you can, and help Shawn make this video go viral!!!!

CLICK HERE to watch it on YOUTUBE and comment, like, and share it!

Cheers,

Meena

For Harry Potter Nerds Only.

This is so dumb, it's funny.



Draco likes face paint...do do do do do....

Sorry, only those blessed to be nerds will enjoy this. Sorry to the rest of you. Yay nerd power.