PN: This is moved from my old site dated Jul 20, 2011.

You might now be wondering about the relevance of Jana to my photography. I'll get into that soon enough and I hope that all my readers would understand why I am giving too much of time and importance to such a tribute.

March came and there was the new guy sitting beside my desk. "Welcome to Maximus", I stated. "Thank you", Jana replied with another handshake and again, with that contagious smile. Colin came by while we were chatting. He asked Jana to walk with him so that he could introduce him to everyone in the office. "Obviously you guys know each other so I'm going to take Jana away from you for a few minutes", Colin jokingly said to me. "He's all yours", I replied cheerfully. I proceeded to my desk and scanned through my tasks for the day...

9am came and my biological system is now ticking for caffeine. I normally would ask Kelly (my long time colleague and coffee gal/buddy) to go with me but now there's a new potential  coffee buddy. I educated Jana about our morning ritual and he was hooked right on the spot. He joined us that day which marks the beginning of our daily "Good Morning Maximus" coffee break routine.

Days came and gone and I slowly learned more things about my new found coffee buddy -Sorry Kelly, you are still the original : ). At work, Jana was technically very proficient, very patient, and very professional. He was always eager to learn things no matter how unfriendly the processes are. The few things that really caught my attention though were his friendliness, truthfulness, and most of all was his great sense of humor. I kid you not, he had ways that would make you smile or laugh on a daily basis...  

PN: This is moved from my old site dated Jul 20, 2011.

One morning on February 2010, while passing by my boss's office I saw a familiar face. I looked at the guy's face longer while trying to recollect my memories and I finally I stopped walking and said to him, "I know you". He said the same phrase. Our manager at the time, Colin, interjected, "You two know each other? That's great!". "I know him by face from IBM in Markham, Ontario but I never knew his name", I replied. "I'm Jana", the guy answered offering his hand for a handshake. I reached out and shook his hand while saying, "I have to go but give me your number. I'll call you as soon as I become available". Jana gave me his 416 cel number and we parted ways. I understood at that time that he was there for his job interview.

In the afternoon that same day, while trying to complete the task at hand, I thought it was time for a coffee break. I normally check my personal emails on my smart phone while I walk to Timmy's. As I reached for my phone I realized that it might just be a good time to call Jana for a coffee. So I did. He picked up the phone and I asked if he was available for a coffee break. He said he is also in the area so it was perfect. We met up at the shop in Blanshard. 

As I turned onto Blanshard from Pandora, I saw Jana standing by the coffee shop's entrance with a big smile on face. "What a small world", I stated. "It really is", he replied. We talked about the city, the company, and the work. In an instant we felt comfort in each other's company. After a few minutes of chatting, it was time to get back to work. Just before we parted ways the second time he asked, "Do you think I'd get the job"? "I'm sure you would and let me know when you are back in town for good", I replied. "For sure", he answered with a smile that seemed to never fade from his face. "What a cool guy", I told myself as I walked back to the office.

This is the continuation of my first blog...

I'm not sure what the rules or etiquette are for good blogging. However, I will try to make mine short but concise so as not to bore my readers. Well, if there are any for that matter. In any event, it probably wouldn't mean much because these are all meant primarily to my most ardent readers - "myselves".

After taking another photo I've felt trickles of rain but it didn't pose any alarm. I scanned the sky once more. To my surprise a rainbow appeared right before my eyes. If you can imagine a 5 year old kid stepping in a candy store, running around not knowing which candies to take, that's how I looked like while looking for a better spot. "This is something that doesn't appear everyday so it has to be taken perfectly.", I told myself almost falling off the ditch. Voila, even I was surprised of how this picture turned out to be. It's one of my favorites, but the other shots were also great -at least for me. Here's another one that I thought wouldn't turn out to be as nice because I had to zoom in. Normally you'd lose the quality of the image but I guess the fairly bright light compensated.

There are many other photos I'd like to talk about but I think it's about time to close this blog. This link will lead you to the rest of the photos. I hope you can enjoy them the way I do, or should I say "we do".

Final thoughts: There's always the sun shining beneath that rain...

PN: This is moved from my old site dated Jul 17, 2011.

This is my very first blog. Not just for my photos but ever...

Our yesterday's planned photo meeting was cancelled. I didn't learn about it until I got home from a tennis game and checking my FB msgs. Anyway, I thought to myself, "What do I do now for the rest of the day?". It looked like it was going to rain anyway so my boys would rather stay home... sure... I took a shower, picked up the camera, and decided to head out anyway despite the unpromising weather condition.

As I stepped out of the building, I felt drizzles of rain. I scanned the sky and I saw that the clouds from northern part of the city was thickening. So then I decided to head south. As I drove further southwards, the rain poured lesser and lesser.  I saw some clear sky spots from the Clover Point and so I decided to head towards that direction. I wasn't disappointed.

The cloud formations surrounding the area were incredible. I parked right by the entrance and started taking some photos. Here's the very first picture I have taken. To be con'd...