Val Bromann ::: Blog ::: October 2009

Posts from October, 2009

This should keep you occupied at work…

Posted by Val on October 28th, 2009 at 12:14 pm | Permalink | 2 Comments » |

1. I am so behind in the blogging thing. What has happened to me?

2. The day after Jen and Andrew’s Wedding we went to Dos Reales for lunch. I got enchiladas…they would have been more super delicious if they were not covered in lettuce that I had to pick off.

3. I got a new Blackberry. I like it because I never use the phone for a phone because I hate talking on the phone. I can use this one for internet and texting. I don’t like it because it likes to call people from my pocket and send Mat 20 blank text messages in a row…

4. I’ve been doing a meal planning chain lately in the hopes of not wasting food: I made a hamburger and had to get 8 buns so I made pulled turkey to take up the rest of the buns. Then I had extra bbq sauce so I made bbq meatballs. Then I had extra ground beef so I made pasta with meat sauce. I think I am caught up now.

5. For the record: Totally 80s Trivial Pursuit is the hardest game ever. Ever. You might think “Oh, I love the 80s! I would do so good at that game!” Well. You would be wrong. In two hours of playing Mat and I got maybe eight questions correct the entire time. I got two in a row where the answer was He-Man. Every other question was about Reagan. And between the two of us I don’t think there was any way we could have gotten any sports questions right.

6. Monday night I went to see The Armando Diaz at IO. It was awesome. Basically one person gives a monologue and then everyone else then performs improv based around his monologues, but they aren’t literal interpretations. Mat and his partner got way more of the connections than I ever could.

7. I said partner above. Mat is not gay although he plays a lot of gay people and doesn’t like sports and likes theater and I like to joke with him that he is. I meant improv partner from his class.

8. Speaking of Mat, check out his new web series that will be launching soon…

Genrefinity Episode 1: Bikini Wax Social – watch more funny videos

9. Friday night I met with Chelsa and we went to Hydrate to see Annee Pocalypse. I never thought I would see a version of the musical Annie set in a whorehouse with zombies… Hydrate was playing a whole mix of 70s/80s/90s TV theme songs before the show. That was pretty awesome. I am going to open a bar that only plays TV theme songs.

10. Places I want to get married, if I ever get married (and, you know, have money!) in no particular order:

Architectural Artifacts

New Leaf

Byron Colby Barn

11. Sunday I went to brunch with Nadia and Jenny and Josh and Adam and Jennifer. We went to Orange and I got a pancake flight of awesomeness! And frushi.

12. I need to become a good enough wedding photographer so that people will want to fly me around the world.

13. July 5, 2011. Counting the days…

14. My mom emailed me to ask what “Java automatic update” means because it is flashing at the bottom of her computer. I told her not to click it because if she does the computer will explode.

15. This is a picture of Bo in the part of my Halloween costume I bought that I probably will not wear:

This should keep you occupied at work… | 2 Comments » |

Competitive eating is hard. Self Portraits, harder.

Posted by Val on October 25th, 2009 at 5:27 pm | Permalink | 3 Comments » |

I realized that I haven’t posted ANY of my photos from Advanced photo class…and Wednesday is the last session! In truth, most of them are pretty boring because it was more of a technical class than a creative class, but I’ll still post them soon. But let’s start from the end!

My last project for the class was to do a self portrait. I decided that, for once, I would stop being lazy and actually do something that had some effort to it. Crazy, I know.

The self portrait was supposed to show something about us. And, well, what do you know about me? I love competitive eating! I figured that a) I am one of competitive eating’s number 1 fans and b) I am pretty well known for my photos within the CE community, so it only made sense to turn the tables on myself and photograph me as a competitive eater!

So, I went to the store, bought 50 hot dogs (yes 50!) and cooked them up. I bought 40 of the absolute cheapest kind and then a 10-pack of good all beef ones. I figured I’d use the crappy $1/10-pack ones for show and actually eat the good ones…of course, after my first two bites of red-Kool-Aid soaked hot dogs I decided that I would just spit it out after I took each photo. It was, how shall I say, pretty damn gross.

These are some things I learned from this shoot:

1. It is really hard to take a self portrait. Especially an action shot. I had to set up my camera on 10 second delay and run around the table hoping I wouldn’t knock down my lights or any of the cups of juice. And none of my photos came out as in focus as I would have liked them. I wish I could say I nailed it, but I was far from it. I hope I get an A for effort though (not that we’re graded).

2. I can never be a competitive eater. I was pretty done with the eating part after two bites. I dipped them in red Kool-Aid for show. That was horrid. How do they do it?

3. I came to find why Pat wears a mohawk. My hair was stiff from Kool-Aid by the end of the shoot.

4. Cats don’t like being locked in the bathroom for over an hour because you don’t want them eating your hot dogs.

So, without further ado, here are some of my shots!

Getting ready:

A few of the photos:

This is the one I am pretty sure I am turning in. Mostly because my eyes are open (though not really in focus):

This was the set up:

What do you think? Automatic disqualification for too much debris?:

This is what I looked like afterward. Red hands, red hair, red face. Frown for the DQ:

Competitive eating is hard. Self Portraits, harder. | 3 Comments » |

Congratulations Jen and Andrew!

Posted by Val on October 21st, 2009 at 9:44 pm | Permalink | No Comments » |

OK. So Jen and Andrew’s wedding was kind of awesome. And by kind of I mean totally. I am so happy that Jen invited be to be her photographer. Especially since she asked me a couple years ago when my photography was nothing like it is today (I still have a ways to go to get anywhere near where I want to be, but I feel as if I have grown an awful lot). The day was amazing. During the portraits we did beforehand at the park I for the first time really felt like a real photographer. I was fully leading everything and telling people where to go and what I wanted (without being pushy or commanding or anything I hope). But it felt pretty great.

The ceremony was a blur, which was the hardest thing about shooting a friend’s wedding. I know they said some amazingly heartfelt things but I totally missed it all as I was too busy trying to get all the shots into a fast 8-minute ceremony.

Here’s a sneak peak of the photos totally stolen from my new pro photo blog, Valerie Bromann Photography. (p.s. you can totally become a fan of me on Facebook. DO IT!)

Ten things (of many!) that I loved about the wedding I shot this weekend…

1. The wonderful couple, Jen and Andrew! I’ve known Jen since college when we were in an inline skating club together and she asked me to be her photographer almost as soon as SHE proposed to Andrew in Hawaii!

2. The bridal party! There were bridesmaids, groomsmen, bridesguys, and groomsgals!! And how can you not love it when you ask them to go behind a tree and they start climbing it!

3. The shoes. Red and black Chucks for the ENTIRE wedding party? I would say comfort over style, but these were mighty stylish!

4. The ceremony. It was short and sweet but packed to the brim with personal sentiments.

5. The officiant, who was a good friend of theirs who got ordained just so he could marry them.

6. The cake from the Cake Lady, Diana McPheeters. It was delicious, moist, and beautiful (sans fondant)!

7. The dancing! Jen and Andrew love to swing dance and have so many friends who do too, so it was a wild night on the dance floor!

8. Pumpkin carving! So I don’t think this was at all planned. But using butter knives or Swiss Army Knives, or whatever they had on hand, many of the guests started carving the pumpkin centerpieces!

9. Carmel apple favors from Cunningham’s Candies, with the most gooey carmel coating ever. I may have taken two home with me. But some just couldn’t wait that long!

10. Did I mention how awesome Jen and Andrew are?

Congratulations Jen and Andrew! | No Comments » |

I always have to rehearse eating!

Posted by Val on October 19th, 2009 at 9:03 pm | Permalink | 1 Comment » |

This weekend Jen and Andrew got married! Friday after work I headed down to Urbana, traffic was a little heavy so I ended up missing most of the rehearsal, but got there in time for the end. We then headed over to Crane Alley for the rehearsal dinner. I was forbidden from drinking (good call!) but had some delicious appetizers and a fish sandwich because for some reason I can’t get enough fish and chips lately. And, I’ve got to say, I love a bride who will eat chicken wings the night before her wedding!

Andrew’s parents gave some sweet speeches, sneakers were handed out, and we wrote a special message for the couple on the ceiling!

I always have to rehearse eating! | 1 Comment » |

This really happened at the wedding, I swear

Posted by Val on October 18th, 2009 at 11:52 pm | Permalink | No Comments » |

Got back from a fabulous weeking in Urbana today after shooting Jen and Andrew’s wedding! I’ll recap and post pictures later, but for now, a special request from the groom: a photo of the bridal party on the moon getting attacked by a dinosaur…

This really happened at the wedding, I swear | No Comments » |