Well it’s week 10 of the big five two, so naturally I’ve today submitted my picture for week 8. Hmm.
I saw this solar radiometer on my Grandad’s windowsill and thought it would make a good subject. I grabbed a piece of white A4 for a backdrop & started playing with the flashgun. I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out.
Eyes open now for shots for weeks 9-11!
…into the world of Apple vs Google.
http://moreintelligentlife.com/content/ideas/robert-lane-greene/apple-v-google?page=full
A really interesting read for the more geeky, but one particular part that struck me was the insight from Scott Adams. More of an anthropological observation than technical comment :
Scott Adams, the creator of the Dilbert comic strip, writes a blog of pointed commentary, largely aimed at techies. Last year he depicted technology-tethered humans as de facto cyborgs: “If a cyborg can remove its digital eye and leave it on a shelf as a surveillance device, and I think we all agree that it can, then your cellphone qualifies as part of your body.” He sees the phone as an exobrain: “Your regular brain uses your exobrain to outsource part of its memory, and perform other functions, such as GPS navigation, or searching the internet. If you’re anything like me, your exobrain is with you 24-hours a day.”
A very astute man is he.
So it’s taken me up until the end of the second month to fall behind with my five-two project… who’d have guessed it’s be this soon?
Well, pretty much anyone that knows me actually. In any case, I have shot seven and will catch up on both eight and nine this week.
This scene happened to unfold before me. I was sat on the sofa watching TV when the sun broke out through the rain clouds and cast the shadow of the blinds across the door and floor. I immediately saw the potential and lept off the sofa (dislodging the cat from my lap on the way) to grab my camera from upstairs. When I got back, the cat had taken his place in the warm sunshine – thus making himself the subject of the shot.
I love it when an unplanned occurrence comes together…
This week’s photo is minimalist and one that I knew what I wanted before I took the shot. It’s definitely added to my thoughts that I need a second flash.
Last week’s I took while Sarah and I were at the Essex race arena watching 10 hours worth of motorsport. A long, cold, but really enjoyable day.
Last year my life became very busy with my day job, my freelance work, church, and anything else that regularly popped up. I felt I’d reached a saturation point so towards the end of the year I consciously tried my hardest to cut a lot out. Turn down work and try to do nothing.
Although it didn’t really work, I managed to have a bit of a rest in January. Just lately I’ve been missing the way I used to blog, photog, video & generally be creative. So this year I’m going to try and have a come back.
The first initiative was started by Michael Avina, who I showed round Brighton last year with Neil Davidson and got some great shots. Anyway, last year he took part in a 365 – taking a photo every day of the year. This is way to intensive for my schedule, and since he finished & didn’t want to stop, he launched The Big Five Two, a photo for every week of the year.
I’m starting with the attitude that I’ll do my best, but it doesn’t matter if I miss the odd week etc. I’ll post a blog entry with each weeks submission for you to see. So far I’ve submitted the following:
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Hopefully either this weekend, or one soon, Sarah’s brother Jonny will be coming to stay with us for a while. He’s responsible for music & visual projects including TapedCrusaders and the hugely up & coming WikiRiffs.
While he’s around we should be doing some collaborations etc. So I expect he’ll inspire and motivate me to do some more of my own stuff as well.
Here’s to a creative 2011. Let’s hope it works out!…
For a while now I’ve been subscribed to a monthly puzzle book to chip away at each night before lights out time.
Last night was the first time I really took the time to look at the cover.
It’s split into four sections, three photos and an advert for a cash prize. The three photos this month are of a smiling thirty-something blonde, a windmill and a farmyard.
I think it must be a bonus puzzle to try and figure out what the heck the connection is between the three and with the subject of puzzles. Forgive me for judging a book by it’s cover (sic), but the blonde really doesn’t strike me as the type who wants to do puzzles and I would imagine a significant minority of subscribers are living on farms or in windmills.
I’m looking forward to next months issue now. 10/1 it’ll be a German u-boat, a baby panda and a pensive looking Terry Wogan…
…Me!
I actually won something. And with one of my photos nonetheless.
I’ve always had a fascination with the Lido at Saltdean. You may remember that not too long ago I wen’t down there in the night & did some photographing.
Well Sarah spotted that as part of the save the Lido campaign they were running a photo competition resulting in a 2011 calendar, and they’ve chosen one of my photos from the many (presumably 12!) entries.
Can’t wait to get my copy & see the finished product!
The use of punctuation in the English language is changing. I’m changing them as of now, so pay attention world.
It’s not as if I don’t know the current rules, or understand (at least to an average level) how they work & what goes where. Yet when I type or write I seem to have some mental condition that causes the connection between my brain & my fingers to fail. So I have decided it would be easier to just change the rules for everyone, than to reprogram my brain & fingers to do it right, so here goes:
There is now an apostrophe in wan’t and wen’t, an there is no longer one in dont. The apostrophes in was’nt and did’nt have also moved. It is Now also Appropriate to Capitalise random words in your Sentence. Spelling is also Affected. It is now Entirely Optional which way around you Put the I and e in any Word where the two are used Together.
That is all (for now)
At Soul Survivor this year I went to a seminar about video making. Given the event is aimed at teenagers I was expecting a very basic introduction to the art, so I went thinking it’ll be helpful to hear again all the things I’ve already learned.
Instead I learned an awful lot I didn’t know, but the one thing that has radically changed my way of thinking was when the guy defined ‘amatuer’ for us.
I know I’m not the only one guilty of applying this term to someone who is not great at something and isn’t paid for it. How wrong could we be.
Amateur is a French word that comes from the Latin ‘amatorem’ meaning lover. It describes someone who is passionate about their field & does it purely for the love of it, regardless of remuneration. So the kid in his attic with a mobile phone camera & a box of Lego is an amatuer, but as long as the passion and attitude remain – so are Robert Zemeckis, James Cameron & Steven Spielberg. They are all amateurs in my opinion.
I am an amateur and I hope I always am.
After the luxury of a decent camera & Final Cut, I set myself the challenge today of making a video solely in iMovie & using my inbuilt webcam on my Mac. Here’s the fruits:
