I am making an effort toward positive change. Loss is a strange thing. It is so difficult to simply pick up the pieces and move on. Sometimes it seems as easy as breathing, and other times as difficult as drowning. Or maybe that should be the other way around.

Today I took my camera out for the first time in weeks. I took pictures of flowers. Ha.

another shot

Just because it's my favorite of the 70+ I've taken so far.

My life has taken so many odd turns lately. Everything seems to be crashing about my ankles. I am trying very hard to remain positive, but it can be difficult.

On the plus side, I'm scheduled to shoot four different families so far for my final project. I started with mine (hey, why not?). I should have more than sufficient images by the time I'm done. If nothing else, taking pictures is amazing stress relief.



Meditation on Straws.

(click fo' bigga)
1250ISO
26mm 3.2@1/50; 70mm 3.2@1/80

Assignment 3

A Day in the Life of Emma

Emma, age 1, was diagnosed with Anemia in February of 2009. She starts every day with a Flinstone's vitamin mixed into her bowl of cereal. Despite the fact that the vitamins taste like candy, she has not embraced this change.

Mara, Emma's mother, and Emma walk the wide swath of asphault that cuts through the open space near their home.

Emma's mother, Mara, is eight months pregnant. Here Emma objects to Mara's refusal to carry her the rest of the way home.

Emma's inquisitiveness over the camera supercedes even the importance of snack time.

Emma clasps her mother's wrist as they go through their thrice daily ritual of dental hygiene.

One of the most important things I learned about this assignment was not to leave the finishing touches to the last minute. Modern technology can make a thirty minute project turn into 4 hours of stress.

we like the moon

70mm/2.8@1/10

For my Day in the Life project, I decided to shoot one of my husband's coworker's children. She is a year old, and absolutely adorable. I don't know her parents much beyond the occasional meeting, so it was awkward to ask, but they were more than happy to accommodate me. There are a lot of challenges to shooting people you don't know very well, and I learned a lot today about positioning, anticipation, and being willing to just click the shutter and grab the shot even if it's not Perfect. I'm going back for more of the routine behavior, and I hope to apply some of my on-the-spot learning to that. I took a lot of shots, many of them largely documentary, but some of them just pretty. I'll post the more documentary ones after I have finished my final edit. Here are a few of my favorites from today.

the good things

(click fo' bigga)

My body has forced me to come to a few realizations. Having spent almost six months of the past year practically bed ridden, I cannot simply leap back into the swing of things. No four hour long trail rides. No two hour long workouts. No getting up at 6am, chasing kids and animals around all day, working for four hours, and then going to bed at 2am. This is more than a little unfortunate. I -had- thought that I was taking it easy, but then I hurt my back and got the stomach flu. These things do not combine well. My doctor is now monitoring me closely. I have to count my calories, log my sleep, not work out for more than twenty minutes three times a week, not ride on the trails for more than an hour, no racing at full-tilt gallops.

I want my life back. I want to go dance in the rain and walk through the city on fun field trips. I want healthy lungs and racing my wife up the roller coaster hills. Instead I'm stuck spending my time trying to stay warm and dry, and taking pictures of flowers. Well, other things too, but the flowers part amused me. Sigh.

flower nookie
(click fo' biggah)
overhead flourescent . 50mm 1.8 1/125 . 1600ISO

I was supposed to shoot a soccer game. It got called on account of rain. I figured I'd shoot tonight's game instead. I wound up at urgent care as a result of pushing myself too hard in my attempts to recover from having spent four months nearly bedridden. So, I have local daycare Valentine's day party shots instead. I didn't know any of these children. I forgot to write down one little girl's name, and had to drive out and show the provider the images in order to get it. Lesson learned!

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Holiday Party at Susie's Daycare in Walnut Creek. February 2009.
(Click the images for larger versions)

Nathaniel shows Miles one of the cards from his basket.

Donovan squirms anxiously in his mother's lap.

Ainsley forgoes her napkin.

Lachalan enjoys the mess as much as the food.

Ainsley draws out the end of the festivities while the other children wait impatiently on the step.

FOR SCIENCE!

Life just keeps on keeping on. Eight year olds in safety glasses crack me up. Imala chose to do her science project on the melting temperature of different plastics. This involved sacrificing some spoons. And then came the inevitable "At what temperature does the spoon melt," question. We are now down by six spoons. Ha!

The most difficult thing about a new camera should not be finding the time in which to use it. Between Child A getting the stomach flu, Child B getting a cold, Horse C getting an abscess, 3 hours of dental work leaving me a ball of misery and whine for two days, and stupidly forgetting to take the gear out of the trunk on my one day off before the wife drove off with it... well, you get the idea. However. It is there. Waiting for me. Calling my name. Whispering.. Michealle.. Michealle, come take piiiiiiiikshuuuuuuurs. Ehem. At least I found some time to read some of the manual!

Now. To the assignment. Decisive moment is hard. Hard. Glares. People glare. Oh my gosh do people glare. They also gawk. Some of them -dive- out of the way if they think they are in your photograph. Kids sometimes strike poses and try to fill your frame. You want me to adjust my settings and get the shot off before the moment goes away? Ouch.



At one point at the ice skating rink, I sat at the base of the ramp while the zamboni was going around. I was taking pictures of kids coming down the ramp, or goofing off at the top.. well, whatever, I figured the ramp was a good spot. I had my camera up in front of my face and my finger waiting to go, just knowing that -something- had to happen soon. The guy in the right of this picture got so uncomfortable and squirmy that I finally realized that he thought I was taking pictures of him. I shifted my camera a bit, took a picture, then compassionately lowered my camera. Of course, right after that this girl in bright orange stockings goes rail hopping.

Step one: Get out around more people and action. Step two: Don't give a damn if they glare, gawk, dive, pose, or squirm. Step three: Learn lightning-fast super-shutter reflexes! Step four: Take picture. Social intimidation much? I think so!

I got a new camera. What's the first thing I do with the darn thing? Take pictures in the car, of course. On auto mode, and over my shoulder since I get carsick. Still, I am entertained!



I'm now going out to work in my decisive moment some more. It's going to take me a while to figure out the camera controls and what not, but I figure I can practice and do my homework at the same time. I also got a new flash card to replace my horrible one that betrayed me after four years of reliable service. The new one is also faster, to match the new fast camera. In fact, the new camera is so fast that I have to train myself to anticipate a little less. I kept getting pony strides off of their ideal capture point. Sobad.

I almost feel guilty. Almost. Nomnomnom.










Edit @ 6:38pm: My favorite from today, taken through the plexiglass at the side of the rink. Taken during sunset. 800ISO, 50mm, f4.0, 1/2000

Framing + getting a shot in a split second = zomg difficult.

Hurrah for more excuses to shoot and creative feedback. This post is more to kick off the new semester assignment blog than anything else. Here's to the next few months full of shooting.

Oh. Also, flowers AND bunny. Can't beat that. Ha!



I took this years ago on my N80. No clue anymore what film or settings.

The pleurisy has FINALLY gone away enough that I can get away with keeping my narcotics usage to the night time. I'm still on heavy amounts of ibuprofin, but I'm relieved enough over this step that I could cry. This means that I'm easing my way back into taking pictures again. This excites me greatly, as I have some gear to rent and a formal portrait shoot to do with horses at the end of January. Practice, practice, practice.

On another note. Trains are serious business.

Sunlight & fairly still child.

Speedlight & squirmy child.

Part II

Shooting while drugged was interesting. I think 12 of the 30 shots I took came out in focused. Ha! Just out of time to wait for feeling up to par. This will have to do. It's not so nice as I had hoped, but I think it works.

Fish appropriated (reused from first), glass texture appropriated. Fan scanned. Everything else shot with my moderately patient eight year old. Turned down the saturation and the selected things to bring out. Seventeen pictures in this one, eighteen if you count the one I duplicated.

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Tweaked it more. I was tempted to edit out all of the clipping, but I like what it does where I left it.

Generally speaking, I find the behavior of my fellow classmates to be appalling.

How difficult is it to pay attention when someone is giving a presentation?

FFS, people. I was so disgusted that I left.

Then I saw where someone had recreated a Banksy painting on the trunk of his car. It was a joy to be reminded of the things that matter.

Don't know Banksy? Go look.

Here is an interesting article on the future of photography.

The game is changing so fast that nobody can see the moves before they're three moves behind.

It's all good, though. No matter what happens, I'll be there framing the world.

And, a photograph!

50mm . 400ISO . 1/400 @f1.8
It was nice and soft, but there was a patch too focused.
I softened that up in Photoshop. Otherwise it's as-is from the card.

Nothing quite like a mad scramble to get your final project done. My last batch of antibiotics worked for a few days, but mid-shoot on Weds after class I found myself flush with fever again. I spent until Friday in bed, then went off to try something new. A longer round of medication. Wee.

However! Today I was feeling well enough to shoot, and I did spend my time in bed at least planning. I've gotten the first part of my project done. It's not quite how I pictured it in my head, but there's always something lost in the translation for me.



There are 19 separate images in this composite. Three are scans (per the assignment), and one is appropriated from someone good enough to list it under creative commons (also per the assignment). I spent a little over an hour on the fish selection, which is ironic given the fact that it is small, and that the tail - the most troublesome part- has been cut off by the windowsill. I'm not too happy with the bottom left, so I suspect I will reshoot it over the weekend. Overall, though, I'm very pleased with how it came out. I can't wait to start on the second part.

I have been incredibly, dreadfully ill. I do not know what is going on, but it needs to stop.

That lingering illness took a drastic turn for the worst, and after three days of barely controlled fever, shaking, and coughs, I gave up and went to the doctor. Turns out I had pneumonia and an ear infection. Yay!

I had to drop my art history class. I missed my midterm and way too much lecture to hope to ever catch up. Luckily I can make up a great deal of my photography coursework from home.

Alas, I missed Halloween. It's my favorite holiday, but more than that there are so many funky photographs that need to be taken on Halloween! I took a few between coughing fits, braving the cold and the wet against the rocks in my chest.

I was too weak to set up my tripod, and couldn't hold my camera straight. I gave up after the first few attempts. This one doesn't look too bad so long as it's small...



At one point when I went to answer the door to the kids coming around, I discovered that the snails had come out in the dark and the rain. They really, really like squash. They were gorging themselves on the jack-o-lanterns. This one had the least of it, but the larger ones had snails stuffed into every hole and nomming on the ridges of the cuts. I'm just glad they didn't cook themselves on the candles. It was quite the sight. Remarkably, none of the children were squeamish about it, and none of them attempted to kill the things.




Trying to get life back in order again. I jump every time the wife or kids cough. The wee one has a snotty fever. I'm hoping it's just colds...

I don't use facebook, but

here is an interesting article on Facebook & Your Photographs for those of you who do.