I keep on forgetting that this portion of my website even exists. I think I’m going to start posting here more. Not that I care about what people think, but for pure enjoyment.
So I just came back from a 3 week trip. It started off with going to Miami for my uncles wedding. I’m still disturbed with the fact that I was the only one from my family to go to my uncles wedding..It really says something about my family. I had a whole week to myself to go out and about. I’ve never been fond of big group gatherings and was definitely ok with being by myself for a week before the wedding. I rented a nice Mustang convertible to drive around Miami, went to South Beach multiple times, went to the Miami Heat game, ate lots of Cuban food, shopping and met up with one of my friends from California there. The wedding was a blast too. First time in Miami and definitely not going to be my last. Oh, I also left with like $300 of Miami Heat/Vice goodies lmao.
I left paradise Miami to San Diego for Dave Freeman Open thinking that the weather was going to be just as beautiful..damn I was wrong. First time ever seeing it rain in San Diego. I wasn’t assigned for this tournament, but my friends from Canada were coming down and wanted to hang out, take photos of them/other friends and of course eat tacos! Not my most favorite venue in the world, but I haven’t photographed badminton for a few months and needed to warm up before Frisco Open the following week since I’m assigned to that tournament.
Aside from having a good time at the tournament and getting to see my friends, my favorite part of this trip was when Toby, Carmen and I went to Happy Lemon to get some boba. It was definitely very loud inside for some reason. I was photo editing while we were waiting for our drinks on the sofa in front of the cashier. As soon as our number was called, I put my MacBook inside of my bag, got up and heard a very loud drop. The entire store heard the drop as well and it went dead quiet. From the sound of it, I had a feeling that my MacBook dropped from shoulder height and everyone felt the pain for me. While everyone was hopeful that my computer was ok, I picked up my computer, opened it up and it was working just fine. Then I said out loud, “woo I’m ok!” while hoisting my fist in the air. I kid you not, everyone yelled out WOO/YEAH! with happiness for me that my computer was ok. We all know how expensive MacBooks are and how costly it can be to repair them. Isn’t this something that you would see in a movie or something?? This moment restored my faith in humanity and was just soo heartwarming!
Last leg of the trip..Dallas. Home of the football team that I shit on the most along with the entire country lol. You don’t know how hard it was for me to not laugh around town when I see people wearing Dallas Cowboys gear. But I was on good behavior to prevent from getting shot. But I did go to AT&T stadium to take a photo with my Aaron Rodgers jersey and cheesehead. If you didn’t know, Aaron Rodgers is the boogieman of the Cowboys. He has an excellent record against them in both regular and post season, plays there like if it was his second home and always torches them at the last second. He’s definitely not well liked there.
While I was using the tripod/self timer to take photos of myself, stadium security drove by and yelled “TAKE THAT SHIT OFF!” and I responded with WE STILL OWN YOU! While holding up the L sign. They should know better than speaking to their owner like that lol. I had 2 days to myself before the tournament started and got to explore Dallas a bit. Hung out with some friends, did some shopping and ate more bbq than I should of. In fact, I had it 5 times during my 5 day stay. Including having it twice in one day whooooooooops.
I didn’t have enough time to do 2 other things on my bucket list before the tournament started and was hoping I could cram it in before the tournament started on Friday around 5pm. I recently watched a podcast with my favorite quarterback, Aaron Rodgers where he was asked what his preparation is like for games/practices. “Its very important to have a great process that works for you. It may not work for others, but you’re in control to find what suits your needs. Sure, you might be winning at the moment, but that doesn’t mean that your process isn’t f*cked up. Your head needs to be in a clear space, give yourself plenty of time to think things over, get plenty of sleep and most importantly, don’t overload yourself with many tasks to take care of on the day of. It’s important to not add any stress and be happy as you can before game time.”
So I got plenty of sleep and decided to not go explore Dallas more before the tournament. Instead, I went to the cafe to enjoy a drink with 2 friends, went shopping, got a nice lunch and then headed over to the venue to start photographing, I cannot comprehend how much better my framing, focus (both mechanically with the camera and mentally) was and how much energy I had. I repeated this process throughout the 3 day tournament and I’ve never had better photographs in my life. Sure, the venue had great lighting, colors and arguably had better players compared to other tournaments I photographed, but I even finished the tournament with more photos (double compared to my usual and better content) I even took 2 of the best photos of my life and added it to my web portfolio. It’s the first 2 black/white photos. Lee Yong Dae/Yoo Yeon Seong had the spot of being my web portfolio page opener..had. So thank you Aaron Rodgers for the tips and inspo!
I had a nice chat with someone I met at the tournament. They approached me with a question that never surfaced across my mind and had me thinking about this a lot. “So you’ve been around photographing badminton for about 8 years now. I think that you’re definitely the best in the country, but I think you might be the best in the world. Ever thought about that? I often get your photos mixed up with the main photographer that yonex uses. Everyone praises him and regard him as the best badminton photographer in the circuit.
Me: No, I definitely have never thought of that
Honestly, I think this is all opinionated/subjective. Photography is like being a doctor, where you specialize in a very particular field. You don’t want to throw a dermatologist into heart surgery bc they’re not gonna know what to do. So same thing here, we sports/badminton photographers specialize in this. However, there isn’t a book where it states how to photograph badminton as its all based on style. I did appreciate the kind words, but now I’ve been thinking about it even more. Not that it matters to me too much. I still think that its not fair that I never got my chance to travel internationally on the world tour and photograph more players and at nicer venues to really show my maximum potential, but thats something I don’t exactly want to go into here the internet.
After flying out of Dallas, I went straight to the office after having time off for 3 weeks. Not the best feeling in the world. I finished photos from Frisco Open and jesus..the Facebook album tripled the amount of traffic compared to Dave Freeman. All thanks to the wise words of Aaron Rodgers hahah.
For the amount of trips I’ve had throughout the years, it still never fails to amaze me with the fact that this many people know me, many new faces greeting me and getting sent out this far away from home to do what I love doing most. The experience becomes more humbling each time, but the friendships I’ve held with people that I still photograph along the years and the years to come will always be special. I hope to replicate this for all of you at some point in my life
Thank you to everyone for making the last 3 weeks in Miami, San Diego and Dallas unforgettable. While my last trip in Dallas was my best experience I’ve ever had being hosted for a tournament, that will never stop me from bagging on your silly football team heheheheh
Most importantly, thank you to everyone who has supported me since the beginning of my time. Showing me the photos I took of you many years makes me cringe (as I would do things differently now) but I appreciate you expressing your gratitude and enjoy seeing your evolution throughout the years. Heading into year 8 now! See y’all next time : )
-Chris
