Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Set Up

Okay so I have to try to put some rules together... Not sure how that is going to work. I know that I am not going to exclude any subject, but my family... that just makes it too easy to get photos because the little girls too darn cute. So that I think is going to be the only forbidden subject with this little experiment.

Equipment:
I think for this project I am going to stick with digital cameras (not phone cameras..mine is way to obnoxious). I have two great camera's to use. My everyday workhorse is going to be the Lumix DMC-FH20 http://panasonic.net/avc/lumix/compact/fh22_fh20_fs33_fs30/ since it is compact but has some great features. I bought it on my last trip to Calgary and I got some great shots of Banff with it. Plus it is small enough to be discrete which I have read is important when doing a project like this as several places/people are very touch about having a camera around. Not that I am going to break any laws... just saying...

My other camera is my one true love... of course if you read Popular Photography they say she is dated but I love her today just as much as the day I bought her, my Canon EOS 50D http://www.dpreview.com/news/0808/08082605canoneos50d.asp  . She is a couple of years old (well I bought her right before the Z Monster was born) and she doesn't do HD Video (Why do SLR's do video again???) but she is a monster. Too much for me still but then again that is part of why I am doing this.

I have also decided that due to the amount of images I will not be touching up images on a regular basis. Call me old fashioned but I learned how to shoot with an old film camera and one of the ideas that was pressed in to my head the whole time was "Composition". So my goal is to not have to do any touch up or altering, but as time permits I may. I do have Photo Elements and I need to learn how to use it better so there may be some works that are "Touched Up". The whole goal of this exercise is to jar my feeble brain in to being more creative again. So we will see how that rule holds up.

Another goal is to name every picture and give a narrative. I have looked at a few of these things over the last couple of months and I find it a lot more interesting if you know what was going on and what the artist was thinking/seeing so that is something that is going to be important to me.

Once again my goas are simple:
1) Jar my creativeness again so I feel like there is more to my life;
2) Make myself a better photographer by repetition, what is that old saying about Carnegie Hall?
3) Have Fun and explore my surroundings;
4) Document my year in photos to reconnect with my family, my friends and myself.

I have bored any poor soul who is paying attention enough for the night. Thanks for reading.

RM

Monday, December 20, 2010

Once upon a time... a boy had a bad idea...

Welcome to the Blogoshpere.... kind of corney but oh well... so, anyway this is my attempt at trying to loosen up my creative spirit. I think at times we all take life too seriously and forget to stop and look at the things that make this world such a wonderful place.

So, in order to kickstart my art... I have decided to do one of those crazy pic a day deals... Starting on Jan, 1 2011 I am going to start posting a pic a day. I should have plenty of subjects since I live in San Francisco so there should be some interesting stuff coming.

My main goal of course is to start the creative juices but it will also be to hone my photography skills, if for no other reason than to give me an outlet from work. In order to get going I am going to to post something everyday until the pics start (unless I am in he boonies with no internet). That way I get used to the writing before the big day.

So pass the link along, maybe wait a few weeks until there are some pics to share.

Next post will be about the equipment I will be using and whatever pops in to my shriveled little brain.

RM