Here are two links to items I have enjoyed very much:
A twenty minute lecture by Harvard psychologist Dan Gilbert that challenges the idea that we’ll be miserable if we don’t get what we want. The link is courtesy of Hendrik:
A very inspiring series of photos by Zefram, as featured on File Magazine.
Into my life you came like a storm of monsoon banging down from the eastern sky.
And you scattered me, like the wind disperses dry grass and the petals of flowers.
Out of myself you scattered me into Nothingness,
Beyond the Nowhere, beyond the Beyond.
~ Irina Tweedie
I haven’t felt much like updating my photo blog lately because I’ve been pondering what exactly I want to do with this thing. It’s in need of a proper design, featuring a portfolio and contact section. I should also add a link to my new etsy store. (Now I can proudly say that I sell my work.)
There is a small show of Holga photos on display at the Pendulum Gallery. The work is by local Vancouver photographer Trevor Brady, and will be on display until April 21st. I liked seeing Holga photos printed very large and bold. It gave me a few ideas for things to do with my own work.
I’ve been wanting to try out a few of the modifications that are possible with a holga. There are many out there, but the three I am most intrigued by are panoramas, macros, and shooting with 35mm. Last week through a contact of mine on flickr I discovered a simple variation on the “macro mod”, where I can use my close-up filters to get closer to my subject than the one meter minimum a holga normally allows. If you don’t have close-up filters, there is an article on Toycamera.com with three variations for macro modifications.
I’m really happy with the results from my first roll. Even though I chose flowers as my subject for the test I can see potential in using this technique for shooting portraits. It’s always frustrated me to keep my distance when photographing people with the holga, and now I can get much closer.
I have a gallery of the night shots taken this past winter up at Toycamera.com. Please check it out.
I have chosen the above sunflower photo as my avatar to summon up a bit of sunny weather. Here’s hoping it works.
Last Saturday I went for the loveliest walk in the rain. The air was fresh with the perfumed scent of spring, the temperature was warm, the plants and moss glowed a vibrant green, and everywhere the trees were blossoming. A week later it’s still raining, and my walks outside seem less lovely and more…soggy. We are at the point of springtime when every Vancouverites thoughts turn to ark-building.
Thank you to everyone who came out to Exposure Gallery over the weekend to visit with me and see my photo in the show. I was able to get a bit of reading done during my gallery sitting shift, and discovered the work of two photographers new to me.
The current issue of Light Leaks magazine features an interview with pinhole photographer Martha Casanave, and a stunning selection of photos from her series Explorations along an Imaginary Coastline. A nice compliment to her work is that of Robin Bartholick and his digitally constructed black and white images. (See series 1 and series 2.) It’s interesting to me that their work is so similar, with gentlemen dressed in turn of the century garb and imaginary landscapes, but they achieve their results at opposite ends of the technological scale.
I decided to submit two of my photos for publication in issue 10 of JPG magazine. Please vote if you like my choices, and leave a comment letting me know if you’ve submit something as well. I’m hoping this time I will get something accepted…
If you haven’t seen it yet, go check out Degan’s set of scans from her moleskine journals. I can’t decide which is my favorite, but I adore this one and this one.
If this picture is any indication, I must be getting better at stalking crows. He (or she) was preening when I snuck up to take its picture, and though it was startled it didn’t fly away. Usually crows get very nervous about having their picture taken, but this one seems to be posing for me.
Vancouver has a huge crow population, and every morning and evening they can be seen crossing the city’s skies to and from their nesting site in Burnaby. It’s an impressive sight to see, and one I never seem to tire of.
I rarely take self portraits with my holga because my arms don’t seem to be long enough to meet the minimum requirements for getting myself in focus. But I wanted to take a spring-themed photo with the cherry blossoms, in focus or not, and finish the roll in my camera. I’m glad I took a chance with this shot because I’m very happy with how it has turned out. I managed to get the composition I wanted, even with my eyes closed… 😉
Ben Johnson and I have work in the next group show at Exposure Gallery, titled Persona. The theme for the show is Portraits/Self Portraits, and it opens this Friday March 16th. This will be the last show at Exposure for a few months as they have been forced to relocate from their current space due to a huge rent increase the gallery can’t afford.
I will be gallery sitting on Sunday March 18th, from noon until 5pm if you would like to drop by for a visit – or to entertain me throughout the day. Bring snacks. 🙂
Exposure Gallery
851 Beatty Street
Vancouver, BC
Hours: Thursday to Sunday, noon – 5pm