BEDA 17 – Old Photographs

I've been very uninspired lately. I'm a creative person. I always have been. Lately, I just can't get out of my own way to let the creativity flow. What I've been doing instead is looking at stuff I've done in the past. I don't know why. I only see what I dislike about the pieces, but some of it does bring back memories.

Some of the pieces I've come across are the scanned prints from photography projects from college. They are nothing special really. More than snap shots but definitely not professional photographs.

These photos mean a lot to me. They are the first photographs I ever took using an SLR camera. They were the only times I used black and white film. They were the only times I processed my own film and made my own prints. There was a craft in creating them, none of which involved using the computer. It was all created in camera and in the darkroom.

I loved the process. I spent hours in the darkroom. Too bad none of my photographs turned out like I actually envisioned.

I considered going into photography rather than design, but in the end I was a better designer than photographer, so my time in the dark room ended there.

Goal #5 – Pictures. Pictures. Pictures.

Originally when I started college I had set my sights on becoming a photographer.

Actually, let's back up a bit, because that's not an entirely true statement. Originally when I decided to attend college it was because I was tired, frustrated and a tad bored with the job I had at the time. I decided I needed to do something to change the direction of my life, but I didn't want to 1. be too committed to the choice I made and 2. would rather slit my wrists than do anything associated with business.

Through a bit of research and the recommendation of a coworker I decided on a course called ACAP (Applied Communication Arts Program). It was the foundation year for a few applied arts programs, one being photography and another being graphic design. Subjects for the ACAP year were hands on classes in things like illustration, photography and design. While I did well with the photography classes, I did better with design. It didn't take me long to decide that I was going to continue into graphic design.

While I concentrated on graphic design, I never left photography far behind. For the first while anyway. Over the last few years I haven't spent much time or put much effort into the hobby I once enjoyed. So, it's time for me to take it up again.

And yes, I did photograph those vintage cameras that you see above. Our house has always been full of cameras.

Goal #4 – My world as seen through a phone...

...my phone of course. It will be the one camera I should have with me at all times. Well aside from those times that I leave it plugged in charging somewhere, or have forgotten to charge it and it's lying dead at the bottom of my purse.

Plus, it gives me a reason to play with some of the photography apps I've downloaded. Yeah, maybe that won't be such a good idea all the time.

Here's the first Daily iPhone Photograph. It's of my beautiful birthday flowers. The ones in the front came from my wonderful friend jjs (What I know at 38) and the ones in the back are from my boss.

A New Year Starts Every Day...

"Time for a fresh start" by James Oconnell
 @ www.behance.net

I have been meaning to write this post for just over three months now. Yes, it was suppose to be a New Years post about my “goals” for 2011. I had made a few lame attempts at starting it, but they never went very far. Was it because I'm a hopeless procrastinator? Or maybe the fact the my mind can be so scrambled I have a hard time organizing my thoughts into cohesive strings of text? It could be. But to be honest, I'm not one for making “New Years Resolutions”. It just hasn't been something I have really done in my life. But, I thought maybe it would be a good way to start of the year for this blog. After all I haven't actually been making any real effort with it yet, and that is something I want to do. I kept putting the process off, making little excuses for myself. Then it just seemed irrelevant.

So much time had past since the year started, but my birthday was coming up. Bright Idea – Birthday Year Goals. What I would strive to achieve between birthday 2011 and birthday 2012. Well, my birthday came and went and I still put off sitting down and gathering my thoughts.

No more. Here I am. And here's the list:

1. Read More – I mean novels. Not more blogs, not magazines, not the back of the cereal box.
2. Try my hand at animation in some from. Learning to make a ball bounce is a good start.
3. Make a video a week and post to YouTube. This could be the weather, the cats, anything.
4. Capture an image of something everyday with the camera on my iPhone. The sky, a tree, probably a cat. Anything at all. Post it to this blog. Possibly through Daily Booth.
5. Take more pictures in general. I have cameras. I should use them.
6. Procrastinate less. Just damn well do it. This blog, case in point.
7. Do at least one sun salutation a day. I learned yoga, so I should use it!
8. Learn to use Adobe After Effects. Motion graphics! It's the future of graphic design, right?
9. Relearn Flash. This also relates to #2.
10. Travel. I have to do this one alone, so I need to start small. It could be a weekend trip to White Point.
11. Go to the beach. Stand at the edge of the Atlantic ocean for the first time in 20 years.
12. Create an actual vlog and post it before my birthday 2012.
13. Use the dollar store canvases I purchased years ago. After completing each painting, photograph and then donate each to the Salvation Army.
14. Lose weight, get healthy, eat better, move more. Vlog about it?
15. Be present in each moment. Appreciate everything.
16. Blog at least once a week. Capture this year, here, on this blog. In words, in pictures, in video.

This list isn't really in a particular order. Just how it came out. I've probably missed a few things I hope to do, but that's okay. I have to learn to embrace change as well.