People often ask how we process our images.  Depending on the size of the wedding we may shoot 2,000 to 3,000 images.  Once of my most recent weddings came in just over 3,200 images.  The first step we take is to arrange the images into groups based on content and then we begin weeding out duplicates, blurry images, blinks, strange looks, etc.  Only after all the sorting is done can we begin working on actual editing.  Adobe's Lightroom product has been the center of our studio for about 5 years.  At first it was basically an orginizational tool I used to manage my images and keep everything straight.  Over the years the product has grown and so has our use.  

At the end of the day I don't know how I would manage the volume of images if it weren't for Lightroom.  I can flag images that pop out to me.  I can drop groups of photos into a stack so I can focus on editing and presenting the best images.  When exporting images I have watermarks set up for facebook and the blog but I also have profiles set up for exporting full quality JPGs to my printing site for clients and backup.  Great tools help me make great images.

The first few hours with Micah were rough.  And please understand rough is the understatement of the century.  Anyways - you will understand that we did not video that part.  After about an hour or so of crying he wore his little body out and passed out on the bed with me.  We took a nap and when he got up we sat down and watched a little bit of finding Nemo.

Nemo & Micah from Rick Mead on Vimeo.

A little later on we had some dinner - introduced him to KFC.  We figure the boy is going to live in Kentucky he had better get used to fried chicken.  Oh and french fries are at the top of his list too - he is going to fit in GREAT in America.  This last video is cute.  After dinner he really started to come out of his shell.  He was playing and grinning and just having a GREAT time.  My favorite part is when he gives Ashley a Kiss - that's Ashley's favorite part too.  Anyways - Micah is down for the night.  Little trooper is worn slap out.  Enjoy the video.  We land Wednesday, 3/16 at 8:00 PM EST in Louisville International Airport and would love to see you if you want to come on by.  By reading this blog you have been part of the South Korea experience.  Come see the journeys final leg as Micah and Ashley and I start a new Journey as a new family. 

Fun with Micah Day 1 from Rick Mead on Vimeo.

Brittany on the Japanese Resturant Experience from Rick Mead on Vimeo.

I need to say one thing.  This meal was probably the single best meal I have ever had.  The experience was fantastic, we were WAY under dressed, and the meal was seriously expensive.  I don't think I will ever be able to experience Sushi any other way.  Anyways, Ashley and Brittany weren't quite as adventurous as I was but we all did enjoy the experience.  You will want to sit down while watching this video because it is 100% brittany in every way.

Playing with Micah from Rick Mead on Vimeo.

We didn't get to spend the entire day with Micah like we thought.  But we did get to spend about an hour playing with him this morning.  I think they are trying to ease him into the idea of Ashley and myself.  He did super well playing with us as long as his foster mother was in the room.  We played with leggos, rolled a ball, jumped on the sofa - all-in-all a good time.  I found out he is tickelish and has the best laugh.  I introduced him to Angry Birds on my iPhone and think that sealed the deal.  We spent the rest of the day Sight-seeing and I will have lots of photos and video up of that soon.  We are excited because tomorrow we will get Micah at 1:00 in the afternoon and then he is ours always and forever.  I am sure we won't sleep the first night but one can always hope

Friday we got to meet Micah for the first time.  We left a little after 1:30 as he was taking his afternoon nap.  The picture above is how we left him.  It was so hard to walk out that door and leave him behind.  Tomorrow (Monday) we get to spend the day with our little boy.  I am so excited to spend time with him.  We really can't wait to pick him up and love on him.  We will get him around 10:00am and will have to bring him back about 5:00pm.  Monday evening will be the last night without him.  On Tuesday we will pick him up around 1:00pm and then that is it.  He will be ours forever.  I am sure we will have some tough moments tomorrow.  Micah doesn't really know who we are so I don't really know what tomorrow will hold.  Please join us in praying he begins to understand that Ashley and I care so much for him.  I am so pumped to spend time with my little boy.  I need to go get some rest now so I am ready for tomorrow - as if I could actually be ready for such a thing.  Oh well.

the market from Rick Mead on Vimeo.

We started out our day by going to this HUGE market in downtown Seoul.  As you can see it is packed!  People selling cloths, collectables, souvenirs, "food" (yes food is in quotations intentionally), electronics - you name it and they had it and if you can't name it they have it.

We started looking for gifts for Micah so we can give him Korean things as he gets older and we were able to find a few things that we thought were kinda cool.  We started looking for a food court of sorts and saw a sign that literally said food court floor 8.  So we got on the escalator and rode it up to the 8th floor.  It was a food court all right made up of all kinds of food.  Think Chinese restaurant in the mall + Russian mafia and that pretty much defines the space.  We came off the escalator and about every eye was on us as we walked around a room with ZERO engish signage to be seen.  Suffice it to say - we found somewhere else to eat.  Randomly enough we found an Outback Steakhouse so we had to check it out.  It wasn't bad - but it definitely isn't the same as what we have in the US.  

The entire market is lined with trinkets, hair bows, wallets, chocolate, etc. on tables like this - very swap-meet / flea-market style.

Ashley and Brittany started looking for gifts for people and actually found some good stuff.  We really felt swallowed up in this place but it was a fun afternoon.  

We ran across several of these stands.  You would basically pick what you wanted cooked and then they would cook it for you.  There were little seats to the right where you would sit down and "enjoy" your "meal" but we were not feeling that adventurous.

Right before we got on the subway back to our place Brittany finally stepped out on a limb and ate some street vendor food.  She found some pineapple on a stick.  It was actually very tasty.  Ashley and I tried this stuff that looked like Crab Ragoon on a stick ... it was not awesome.