February 1, 2015: “Patriot Day”

In honor of the super bowl today between Seattle and New England I want to capture a football image.  My baseball team is Boston and my second favorite QB of all time behind Dan Marino is Tom Brady.  I own his jersey so I put that together with my Boston hat. 

I had an idea to shoot light directly down on me and capture an image from above almost directly down. In setting the shot up I use my Samsung phone to focus on myself as I can tether my camera wirelessly to my phone.  It is an extremely useful technology, the only downfall is the camera will not shoot flash when tethered.  I at that point switch the lens to manual focus and leave it at its proper depth, position myself and shoot a few shots to get the right composition.  It is extremely hard to get the shot I want, even when I have everything placed properly and hop in at the right position I cannot view the composition.  I ended up shooting 3 photos, I believe it was a 15 second exposure with a single flash at the opening of the shutter.  I slid out of the picture to create the ghostly effect towards the back of the photo.

Everyday is a learning experience, I love stretching myself and working on different styles.  I am just glad the Patriots won 28-24 over Seattle.  Everyday find inspiration and wok on developing a skill.

              

January 9, 2015: “Windblown”

Watching the wind fiercely blow the snow

12 degrees, 20 mile per hour wind gusts, snow shooting everywhere. I begin to chase beauty, using the wind to my advantage, watching nature exert amazing strength on a wintry day.  Watching I slowly succumb to nature while trying to get an amazing shot.  Holed up trying to make it till sunset.  The wind keeps blowing, stopping with no rhyme or reason.  I am wearing 2 layers of pants, 3 layers of shirts, a facemask, wool socks, boots and gloves with fingertip holes.  I have to have complete control of my camera, the ability to change functions and capture the perfect shot.   After about 5 minutes the feeling is gone in my fingers. I look down the blowing snow is on my fingertips and sharp pain pierces though. 

An occasional break in the wind as the sun goes down

I had gotten a few shots but was unable to make it till sunset another 15 minutes.  I covered my fingers walked to my car.  The pain pierced like needles, I sat there the heat on waiting for the pain to go away.   At some point it did, I felt amazingly alive just the one fool to be outside trying to get something done create something for myself. 

Beautiful snow being blown

Capturing a snowfilled image means more to me than just the picture.  It is about this project and creating something new everyday, moving forward and following through.  I was windblown, cold an to some extent frozen yet it was the happiest I was all day.  Being outside is where I need to be whether cold or warm I need to be me.

Photoblog January 3, 2015: “Where I Want to Be” HOGWARTS!!!!!!!!

January 3, 2015: “Where I Want to Be”

HOGWARTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am still disappointed I never my received acceptance letter.  Today was supposed to be more of a forward reflection however my head wasn’t having it.  I became excited to work on small photography and make an engaging photograph.  Setting up the shot, lighting, posing and focusing was a test for me.  Making inanimate items interesting is a skill I enjoyed playing with look forward to working more with it.  As much as I want to be spending quality time with Harry, Hermione and Ron building a strong friendship drinking butterbeer and managing mischief, where I want to be is working everyday with my camera growing into a fullfledged professional.  This photo encompasses my love for fantasy, hope to prevail in life and opportunity for growth.  Where do you want to be?