The First [Unofficial] Day of Winter Holidays

The first day of winter shoot week feels like the first day of winter holidays. No more getting up before the sun, no more surprise assignments, no more "dressing for the weather" for the off chance that we will be outside shooting a surprise assignment all afternoon. Today started off wonderfully. An alarm going off at 8:00 instead of 6:30, lazily sipping a couple cups of coffee, and casually checking things off the to-do list.

While taking a mini internet break after checking one thing off the list [Don's for handfuls of film and a 50mm 1.8 - yes, my life is pretty good], I found this on one of the design blogs I read daily...




Now that we all have one or two [or four] rolls of slide film, this back lit slide display might come in handy. If anyone feels like spending £150 [to display 36 slides], check it out here.

Home Sweet Home?

These are a bit old, but better late than never right?

My series titled "Home":

Procrastination presents...

...one of my best friends, Lauren. Lauren models for a local line called Tony Chestnut, the incredible brain child of Jill Sawatzky. Jill's designs make me glad that I live in a climate where wool coats and thick tights are weather appropriate. Tony Chestnut's Feliz Navidad collection makes me so excited for winter.

[photo by Tristan Fast]

In the midst of studying/getting ready for work I have been daydreaming about this coat. I want this coat. I am getting this coat. I choose my fabrics next week.

It's a girl!

A few weekends ago, Mark and I went on a mini vacation to Minneapolis. Two whirlwind days of driving and shopping later, I returned home with some absolute gems: a trunk full of ikea treats, a bunch of records, some good h&m finds, and this...

Welcome to the family little Diana Dreamer.

I took my first shot with it today. I'm excited to see if the roll will turn out.

I do have to admit though, that firing a shot with the Diana doesn't compare to the satisfying 'click' of my Nikon FE.

p.s. I have been casually picking up a bit of Croatian from one of the security guards at work. We can now carry on a basic conversation.

Ja sam umorna. Laku noc.
(night night)

Dear blog,

I'm sorry...
I am a neglectful blog owner .
Life has been so hectic with school and work that I keep putting off posting stuff here.
I have a bit of time tonight [thanks to a lovely gem who took my shift at work] so, here is some stuff from the last while. The most recent project has been my self portrait series called My Christmas Wish List.



I'm resolving to turn my [blogging] life around starting now.
More posts to come.
Promise.
Maybe even more tonight after I get some more homework done.

I see a darkness

I want to be a photojournalist, a war photographer. I'm dumbfounded on how to go about mastering the art of war photography. I'm not even certain that it is a realistic goal. But still I want to capture images of conflict and war. I want to raise awareness about these issues and make them more publicly available.

The idea of war photography came about in 1859, around the time of the American Civil War when it was predicted that photography would be able to visually document future wars correctly by generating precise documentation of battles, soldiers, and all other things war-related. War photography captures images of armed conflict and life in war-torn areas, depicting the terrors of war and the acts of sacrifice.

VII Photo Agency was formed in September 2001 [days before the 9/11 attacks] and ever since this inception, VII has been responsible for creating and relaying to the world many of the images that define the turbulent opening years of the 21st century. VII documents conflict - environmental, social and political, violent and non-violent - to produce an unflinching record of the injustices created and experienced by people caught up in the events they describe.

There are so many incredible and powerful photographs that come out of this genre of photojournalism.

This photo by James Nachtwey, one of the founders of VII Photo Agency, really captures a sense of the sorrow of this Romanian child. Nachtwey does a lot of his shooting in black & white and it really seems to isolate the subject that he wants to highlight. The angle that this is shot on lends a sense of tension to the image and the never-ending rows of beds gives a feeling of loneliness and hopelessness. I think that James Nachtwey has done a great job in this image of showing the results of the conflict in Romania.

I find this image by Zoriah Miller so captivating. Like the previous photograph, it is in black & white which keeps the viewer focused on the subject matter and not distracted by the colors. I love that he has chosen to show the results of conflict in a non-violent manner. The line of kids helping each other up and over rubble in an area completely destroyed by war is such a beautiful image.

Marcus Bleasdale has been photographing events in the Democratic Republic of Congo for the past 8 years and has photographed everything there from child soldiers to elections. I just love the way that this picture of a child soldier is composed. I like that it shows a little boy riding his bike down the dirt road with a rifle slung over his shoulders. The boy seems to have so much determined energy and it is so terrifying that his energy is being focused on such a horrific childhood.

Some of the images that come out of the conflict and war photojournalism genre can be difficult and disturbing to look at, but it is important to be aware of the atrocities that are happening in the world, and at the very least, not to take our own comfortable lives for granted.

Wow, Wow, Wow.

My favorite photographer, the talented Ryan McGinley, shot one of my favorite local faces, the lovely Richard Bars. Welcome home from NY Richard. I'm hella into you, and I'm hella into this shot.

p.s. I stole this scan from the ever stylish Tjejsajten girls.

Simple Simon...

I was so so so lucky to have the ENTIRE day off on Thursday, so I grabbed a coffee and packed a lunch and headed out to the country with my Nikon FE and some black and white film. There are these amazing remnants of turn-of-the-century settlement towns near my lake that I have been waiting for the perfect chance to photograph. I shot these for an assignment on simple composition. I'm kind of into them.

100 year old cemetery

abandoned highway gas station

ibid

farm diesel

i adore religious imagery

outside the power station

towers for miles and miles

railway controls

perfect

Also, I have been wonderful at procrastinating tonight. I stayed home to do homework, but instead I ended up watching HOURS of photojournalism documentaries on the internet.

Can somebody please build me a time machine, so that between school and work, I could actually have some time to do nothing. or at least laundry.

The Quiet Life

Look at this.
The quiet life camera club is a place for photographers of all levels to submit images.
There are some amazing photographs on here and it is a great place to get ideas.

the quiet life

Pedestrian Lines

I didn't have any problem finding lines to photograph. A short walk around two blocks in my neighbourhood left me with way more photos then was necessary for this assignment. The challenge that I do need to learn to overcome, is the awkward feeling of photographing in public.

I chose to take my shots this morning. Sunday morning. Sunday morning in the heart of Corydon. I was surrounded by dog-walkers galore, sleepy couples on their way to breakfast, gangs of young, lulu lemon clad moms pushing trendy baby strollers, and tripping teens, dressed head to toe in American Apparel, Starbucks in-hand. I had a difficult time not feeling silly about crouching down in the middle of all of this, focusing on some crack in the sidewalk, or garage siding, while all of these pedestrians passed by and gave me a "what is she doing?" look. This is my own personal challenge, and I can only guess [and hope] that time and practice will diminish this feeling.

Black and White Vegetables

I just love fall. It is the perfect weather for sweaters and tights, and the perfect time to spend a Saturday morning at the St. Norbert farmer's market. This was the location for about half of my shots for the first Analog Techniques assignment. Here are some of the pictures.

Digital shoot in the Exchange

Let's call this the 9-5...

I was first attracted to photography by photos in an art magazine. After that, I found myself spending most of my free time trying to learn more about photography and looking at pictures on the Internet. I can’t even count the number of times I sat cross-legged on the floor at McNally Robinson for hours looking at book after book on photography. Throughout working on my degree in Commerce I continuously contemplated switching to a more creative program. Once I had graduated, I found myself so bored with my career, that I took night classes after work in Graphic Design. I have explored multiple traditional career paths, and I still find myself being drawn to photography. Now I have decided to commit myself to it.

During the next year, I would really like to learn better composition. I usually end up shooting simple, close up shots because I am always disappointed with how my longer shots turn out. I also cannot wait to learn how to translate what my eye sees to what I end up producing with my camera. I am really looking forward to learning from my classmates’ styles and interests.

I haven’t really had any bad photo experiences, but I have had a few close calls. I become unaware of what is going on around me when I am taking pictures, and on more than one occasion I have wandered into unsafe areas of cities while traveling. A few weeks ago I was in Panama and I was shooting these amazing old buildings that were destroyed when Noriega was removed as the dictator. After they were destroyed, the neighbourhoods became the ghetto areas of the city. I was taking a photo of a hallway that was destroyed by a bomb, and all of the sudden, five boys ran out and were yelling at us for money in Spanish. Luckily I was with a friend who knew which areas were safer and we ran a few blocks over before anything bad could happen. I quickly learned my lesson about being more aware of what is going on around me.

welcome to panama city

Photo Favorites

My favorite type of photography shows people in everyday life, specifically people working. I prefer candid shots to posed ones. I really love gritty, urban scenes especially those from far away places. I wish that every picture could be shot with medium format film. Lately I have been really interested in photographs of small architectural details, especially doors.