Walkabout.

     Once upon a time, there was a guest speaker in my photography class. He was a really cool guy and he was very kind and very inspiring. What I liked about him was that he was successful, but he wasn't overly successful. It was just nice to see a guy that was really good at what he did, but wasn't a cocky, uber-successful, franchise-owning multimillionaire.
     I'm getting off-topic.
     In his presentation that he gave to the class, he told us that one time he got really disheartened. He was uninspired and he did not know if what he was doing was worthwhile. He then proceeded to tell us that when he felt this way, he realized he needed to just force himself to create things. So he went for a walk and decided to find something beautiful every fifty steps. He began to walk and every fifty steps he stopped and took a picture of something that he thought was beautiful. By the time he finished his walk, he remembered why he loved what he did and gained a new resolve to be a part of it. Then he told us, "When you realize what you really want to do, you make sacrifices."
     This has always been really inspiring to me and I have always wanted to try it. So about a month ago (I am really behind on my blogging) I went on a walk and I stopped ever 100 (50 was too short for me) steps and tried to find something beautiful:

     I offer the same challenge to you. It doesn't matter if you are a photographer or not, but go out when you feel down and find something beautiful. Something that reminds you why you love life.

When life gets you down, remember: shift happens :)

Ode to Photography

     In my Humanities class, we discussed a poem by John Keats entitled "Ode on a Grecian Urn". It was written during the final stages of Keats' short life and muses on a fictional Grecian urn that contains scenes of a story that does not exist. Rather than discuss a real piece of art, Keats decides to commentate on art in general.
     Keats ponders different scenes painted on the urn and reveals how jealous he is that they are forever trapped in that scene. The maidens that are teasingly fleeing the pursuing men will always be lovely and the pursuing men will always be thrilled by the chase. The boy who is about to kiss his love will always be in love and the girl whom the boy is about to kiss will always be beautiful. The trees will never die. It will always be spring. Those people will always and forever be eternally there. Frozen in time.
     This got me thinking about how photography is essentially the same. It is an art form that freezes a moment forever. That second in time is stuck for eternity for better or for worse. So I created a photo essay based on this idea. Hope you enjoy it:

Eternal Spring

 Falling

Moonrise Over St. George 

Indecision 

Collision

 Ecstatic Leap

A Question

"'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,' - that is all

Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."

- John Keats, "Ode on a Grecian Urn"

Composition.

     I have a question for you: what do you notice about these pictures? What makes them make you feel what you feel? If you feel anything at all?

Self Portraits Are Hard.

     Okay so I have this list of things I want to do as a photographer. One of those things on that list is to do self portraits. I have this one on my list because in my photography text book it says, "Self-portraiture is a staple of art photography because it is practical (the subject is always willing), and it offers rich inspiration from the tradition of the painted self-portrait."

Obviously it isn't as easy as the book makes it sound. I literally took eighty pictures about like this.

However, thankfully, some of them did turn out all right and I did get to cross that off my list. Here are some of the better ones:

     This actually was a really insightful project. It helped me to understand how my subjects feel (what the crap is that sound?! what is that light for?! [cameras make weird noises and bright lights]) and why they respond to certain things the way that they do. It also gave me a better understanding of my equipment.
     Above all, this taught me about self-confidence and self-respect and the awkwardness of neighbors arriving at home to find someone staring at a tripod across the street.

It was fun.