There came a time where January 2nd of the New Year provoked my celebration of the dreaded holiday season. The hustle and bustle combined with work and family commitments tests even the most patient people. There came a time where Christmas gave only a gift of misery.
Irony fills these pages of my ChadSorianoPhotoBlog. Misery is replaced with that ever so subtle faint of brighter things to come. It will be wrapped hundreds of layers thick with melancholy, you will need a "Call of Duty Black Ops" weapon upgrade to blast to the core of hope.
Time heals all wounds. Misery has no chance in my family, no more. When I see my kids decorate their personal miniature fake Christmas trees with decorations 10 layers thick, I know it is now Christmas time.
You can view more photos and videos shot with the Canon EOS Rebel T2i with the Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 lens. As well as the Canon EOS 1D Mark IV with the Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L lens in my Christmas 2010 Gallery.
ChadSorianoPhotoBlog would like to wish everybody a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
"Every Good Boy Does Fine" as my music teacher from year's past would always tell me at my "forced against my will" piano lessons. As I reflect on my delinquent music days gone by with my fellow ChadSorianoPhotoBlog readers, the teacher lost me at "Every". Ironically, my ever so slightly more mature adulthood and my haste for classical composition manifested into a self inspired interest of piano by my very own daughter.
Visions of princess fairy tales and Nutcracker Suites became a precursor to many things to come. The crown and tutu interest waned and she moved on to more athletic pursuits.
Soccer was a blast for my daughter and for me as well. Running up and down the field kicking the ball gave her the exercise and teamwork skills while her father practiced his sports photography. She quickly learned into mid-season the fear of being kicked in the shins soon came to reality. One "Cheetah" season was enough for my daughter.
Nervous described my daughter as she walked past the audience filled with camera toting parents onto the stage under the intense theater lights. My anticipation to capture her first piano recital rested as she pushed through the keys of the holiday favorite "O Christmas Tree".
Only time will tell how long my daughter's piano pursuits will last. I captured this 1080p video moment with the Canon EOS 1D Mark IV with a Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS lens. I edited with iMovie'09 and used Quicktime at best qualtiy to compress a 369mb h264 video file. I recorded audio with the Sennheiser MKE400 shotgun microphone directly to the camera via mini jack.
The Conquistadors first brought disease and religion to the native people of northeast Florida. The British followed suit with even more pestilence and "Redcoat" rule. The United States brought a Super Walmart. Finally, ChadSorianoPhotoBlog arrived to this east coast community of St. Augustine, Florida with meat. Lots of carne. Raw muscle from almost every meat group for a holiday Thanksgiving.
Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon landed his trade ships near the same shores of our beach house rental. He journeyed long and far in search of gold and new land. My family had sandy pursuits and St. Augustine tourist traps.
The Spaniards had their own weapon of mass destruction to ward off hostile invaders at the Castillo de San Marcos. More potent than gunpowder was hormonal rage complete with Gucci purse and Coach sandals.
We trekked into the Old City via St. George street with eyes wide open. From the oldest wooden schoolhouse to the plethora of "Tourist Trains" encapsulated by Spanish Colonial architecture. I soon discovered the former Spanish buildings now housed a Kilwin's of St. Augustine with my favorite toasted coconut ice cream.
Off to Anastasia Island to see the St. Augustine Lighthouse with it's spectacular topside view. 219 steps later, we made it to the top.
With a quick view of the bay and the inner workings of the Fresnel lens, we descended the 219 steps again in search of lunch. I Googled "fried chicken" which pointed me in the direction of an Anastasia legend called O'Steen's Restaurant.
I ordered the signature Fried Chicken while my family ordered the Fried Catfish, Clams, Liver and Gizzards. Fantastic describes the experience. Topped off with their special "Datil" cocktail sauce and accompanied with their seasoned hush puppies, O'Steen's Restaurant is definitely on my "must do" list while in St. Augustine.
Christmas in November came upon us with ice skating and sledding along with an Elf Village with no elves at the St. Augustine Amphitheater. My kids blasted through the overpriced carnival games and their cousin ice skated for the very first time at the WinterWonderland.
Thanksgiving is behind us with more meat filled photos approaching the New Year. I used a Canon EOS 1D Mark IV with an EF 35mm f/2, EF 50mm f/1.2L and EF 24-105mm f/4L IS lens.
Dick Greco is a familiar face in Tampa. He served the city of Tampa as Mayor twice. Once in the late 1960's and in 1995. Now 77 years old, Dick Greco will face new challenges in these tumultuous financial times.
Dick Greco is a familiar face for ChadSorianoPhotoBlog. His second mayoral tenure in 1995 coincided with my Fox News in Tampa career. Hitting the streets of Tampa as a general assignment news photographer, I interviewed and videotaped many news stories with this career politician. It is nice to see a familiar face in Tampa.
An amazing turnout for Canon EOS Discovery Day hosted by North Tampa Photography. With over 120 photographers from all over the state of Florida, the whole day was filled with back to back seminars, a display of the latest Canon high tech gear and great raffle giveaways.
A special thanks to Drew MacCallum, the Canon Instructor for the first Basic seminar. He did an outstanding job guiding aspiring photographers through the in camera menu and the basics of image capture. He made the frightening unknown of camera jargon into cheerful and pleasant terms.
Kudos to Amanda Arrick. The first time to Florida instructing the Intermediate class to the more advanced group of the day. From the intricacies of Custom Functions to the Full HD movie capabilities of Canon DSLR's, she weaved her magical thread of knowledge with her audience.
Don't miss out on the next Canon EOS Discovery Day. The next tentative date for Tampa is early spring. Keep updated on ChadSorianoPhotoBlog on Facebook or even North Tampa Photography on Facebook. I am sure you will not be disappointed by what you experience on this Canon filled day.
I used a Canon EOS 1D Mark IV with an EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II,EF 24-105mm f/4L IS and a EF 35mm f2 lens. For the video, I used the Rode VideoMic for audio and edited with Final Cut Pro.
Tampa's Downtown on Ice will only be satisfying the "Peggy Fleming" and "Kristi Yamaguchi" inspired for a short time until January. Overlooking the Hillsborough River with the University of Tampa in the background, you can ice skate for just $10 for 90 minutes. That is 80 minutes longer than my chunk legs can tolerate.
It has been two years since my daughter attempted her first ice skating journey. It has been over 25 years since my "Disney On Ice: Chubby Boy with Ice Skates" performance. My subconscious guided my weak ankles on the ice and my death grip on the skate rink wall assured my confidence not to crash into innocent bystanders. I thought I could inspire my daughter to hit the ice again after two years with my thin test of courage. No luck. After $10 admission and ten minutes of lacing up her skates, she refused to get on the ice with me. Who could blame her?
Only the "gifted" can tread on this icy treat. The park's fountains and open space will entertain my ice skate deprived children for now.
I would like to introduce the featured Canon instructors for the day, Amanda Arrick and Drew MacCallum. They will be teaching the Basic and Intermediate Class, respectively. Make sure you bring your camera to class because there will be much to learn from these experienced professionals.
ChadSorianoPhotoBlog loves Canon events including the past Canon EXPO 2010 in New York City at the Javits Convention Center. The latest Canon gear, seminars with leading image professionals and glitzy mock fashion shows filled the Labor Day Weekend.
The parade of ghostly goblins and wicked witches danced around the candy filled trunks row after row like cemetery tombstones. Halloween started a week early for my kid's elementary school with the annual Trunk or Treat. Only foolish haunted spirits dare to spook our sweet filled trunk. The elixir of "Liver and Onions" for my wife's dinner cast a no trespass spell until the meat poison was all consumed.
Call my daughter the Filipina Helen Carter of Supergirl. My middle school days in 1984 were filled a many with the Superman series. My daughter feared the liver and onions more than Kryptonite.
My son came to the sad reality of the Jedi mind trick. Maybe next year he can be the Filipino Superman.
You can view more in my Trunk or Treat 2010 Gallery shot with the Canon EOS 1D Mark III with the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS and the EF 70-200mm f/4L IS lenses.
Lurking behind the shadowy depths of that contrasty and grainy thermal print, emerges an eight ounce and nineteen week old bundle of joy waiting for the iPhone 5 and iPad with a Facetime camera. The Soriano family welcomes their newest "soon to be" blessing preferably dressed in all pink according to my daughter.
My wife's effervescent glow will turn into labor pains of love a couple of months from now. I will be ready with my HD DSLR to capture that 1080p "crowning" moment.
Already my new daughter desires Nintendo Wii and assumes the Wii Remote controller hand position for long Wii Party competitions. My son and daughter are a little dismayed because we cannot add a fifth Wii Remote controller to only a four person console. We will just have to get two Wii consoles in the future. Problem solved !
"Pizza Heaven" describes the wood fired Italian pies at Via Napoli. The Prosciutto e Melone Pizza gave a pleasant taste of a ever so salty cured ham balanced with a sugary cantaloupe aftertaste. Fantastico !
The atmosphere was a mix of southern Italy and Disney contemporary. I was impressed by Via Napoli's creators, the Patina Restaurant Group, restrained the Walt Disney World "cookie cutter" mentality. Kudos to Patina and its CEO Nick Valenti.
Did I forget to mention the outdoor seating? The fall season gave Orlando, Fl a sneak preview and my PhotoBlog soldiers weathered on through imported mozzarella and Calamari Fritti with honor.
If wood fired pizza and fried calamari did not satisfy your Italian cravings, this video of Positano, Italy will appease your soul. It is one of many Italian videos from my Youtube Channel. You can view more videos and Via Napoli images shot with the T2i/550D in my Canon EOS Rebel T2i Gallery.
When my son and daughter saw the early construction of the kid's museum, they had as much excitement and anticipation as their father. We already enjoyed the park and all the events along the Riverwalk and the Glazer Children's Museum just made a great place even better to bring kids to play.
The Glazer Children's Museum has a plethora of exhibits to choose from their two floors of fun. The Play and Discover Area are filled with a water Kidsport, a Publix Super Market, a Fire House and even a Kids Network with a weather green screen just like on Television.
The family enjoyed the museum so much we became official members, so we can go back unlimited times for the next year. I highly recommend the Family Basic Annual Membership because the price of two museum visits for a family of five will pay for the whole year. What a bargain !
You may see ChadSorianoPhotoBlog shooting the Full HD 1080p video in the next couple weekends. If you happen to catch me in production for my next Youtube Video at the museum, please come over and say hello.
Chad Soriano brings more than 20 years of experience as a television news photojournalist and still camera photographer. Chad worked at Tampa’s Fox Television station, WTVT. His primary role there was in the special projects, consumer investigation unit. His assignments ranged from general news to consumer fraud. His skills in news gathering and camera-work combine to create a strong tool in developing and promoting a unique visual style.
