We arrived in Beijing last night & only in town for the day for a physical test this afternoon. Since we had nothing till the afternoon, Brad, Deni, and myself were able to enjoy a morning of breakfast waffles & coffee. After eating we were trying to figure out what to do, when Deni mentioned he needed to go to the Pearl Market. 

Last time I visited the Pearl Market a couple weeks ago, I was able to get a new lens. This time I was ready to start a new chapter in my photography journey, with flash. Ever since I’ve started this Challenge, I’ve been continuing to learn more and more about photography through YouTube & CreativeLive classes. From the very first class I started on Understanding Light with Mark Wallace, Flash has been a major part of almost every photography class I’ve been able to learn from. While it’s been amazing shooting nothing but natural light photos in the past couple of years, I’ve known for a while the look I wanted to achieve is only possible with learning how to control flash. As I continue more and more with my learning process, I’m excited to see how the quality of my work changes throughout the rest of this challenge. 

After the physical test happened, we got on the road to Chongli. Let’s just say we did not leave at the best time. Completely stuck in rush hour, it took us almost 2 hours just to get out of the city. We ended up arriving at Secret Garden almost at midnight. Before checking in & passing out.