Looking for the beauty in a winter's blast.

When I saw the forecast yesterday I knew what I wanted to do with the photo of the day for today.  With fall colours still around I went out and looked for the most vibrant leaves I could find.  Our hedge just outside the back door had a few wonderfully bright leaves with a nice coat of white added.  I framed it up and shot then cropped it in snapseed and then used the old lens filter to darken the background and make the foreground pop. I think images like this can show the beauty even after a blast from mother nature.

For the last few months flowers have been a big subject mater, yet now I anticipate more winter scenes.  It will be interesting to see what I will discover.  I think the biggest challenge will be braving the weather when it turns even more bitterly cold.  This is where I admire those nature photographers who go the extra distance in extreme weather to create some of those memorable shots.  I will try to remember them when I am trying to shoot the season ahead.

Staying motivated. It has to come from inside yourself.

One of the toughest things is to continue to do something everyday on a regular basis.  It does not mater what it is but if you don't have a motivation you will more than likely give up and stop.  I have had this problem, as I am sure most of you reading this do to, with a variety of things.  The toughest of all must be staying healthy and exercising regularly. I know for me it is easy to listen to the aches and pains and wimp out on getting out everyday and getting in shape.

This is also true for bloging everyday.  For a while I had been very good but then I just found it to be a chore and other life activities made it easy for me to have an excuse not to write every day.  It also seamed futile as I really don't know how many people actually read my words regularly and missed it when it was not there.  So I would start to make excuses, no ones reading, I don't really have anything to say, there are so many better writers and blogs out there. This is what stood in my way and I let it stop me for a few months.

Yet some how I have managed to take a photo a day for 650 consecutive days now (started December 31, 2010).  I have had no outside motivation here, just a desire to keep shooting and not let the streak end.  I started with my DSLR and this year have mainly used my iPhone.  While I have had some compliments to images through out the project, these are not the reasons I have kept shooting.  It has just become part of my daily routine and as such I anticipate it can go on for a while.  (The photo below is today's Instagram 366 image of a water droplet on one of our tropical plants).

So what do I do for the first two.  If I learned anything from my photo streak it's that my motivation has to come from with in and not from recognition or adulation. I have to do it for myself and I think the bloging will probably be the easier of the two.  It maybe late every night when I write, but I plan to set a side time before I go to bed and share my photo(s) from the day and my thoughts.  I make this as a promise to myself.

Now the first one is going to be more of a challenge.  Time is not really the issue, focus and motivation is.  Here I might need to give me a target, something to strive for.  the main one I can think of right now is to sign up and train for the Calgary Marathon on May 26 of 2013. Now I did complete the race in 2009 in a time of 6 hrs and 58 seconds and can set a goal to better that time.  I'm sharing this here not for people to keep me on task as I know that no one will really care if I finish or not. I do so as a way to motivate myself.  I will share my progress on a weekly basis more for my own record, but hopefully a few of you will cheer me on.

Expanding one's vision.

One of the biggest controversies with digital and especially with the proliferation of cameras in phones is that it has watered down the art of photography.  There are those who feel that to many people are posting things that are not worthy and passing it off as art.  While it is true that we are now inundated with images, I personally feel that it has freed one to be even more creative.

As someone who has been taking photographs for a long time I find that I am enjoying it more now then ever before.  Having a simple camera that I can have with me all the time allows me to be ready when something happens.  I also find that since I have started the photo a day project, I pay closer attention to details around me.  This can be seen through out my project and today's photo is an example of that.  Most of the time we will walk by and not even notice a mail slot in a door.  Yet by slowing down and looking I was able to see the colors and textures and make an interesting photo.

Now the second side of this picture involves what happens after the photo is taken.  Again there are those who find all the post processing techniques now available and there simplicity to be a crutch that too many people use.  Some people feel so strongly they can get down right nasty on the net and message boards when talking about post processed images.

My take on this is that once again we have a new tool that allows us to create images as we see them in our mind.  We can go with straight photography to completely digitalized art work.  This argument just shows you the subjectivity of the medium and I tell my students that while we may not like every photo we see, if the creator manged to capture what they envisioned then it is successful.

My thoughts on the Hipstamatic app.

I have now been shooting with my iPhone for more than a year and have downloaded a number of apps to experiment with and then have chosen those that help me obtain my vision of what I am trying to achieve.  I was taught at the Alberta College of Art and Design to test and learn what different film, developers, processes, equipment, etc. can do and how to utilize them to achieve the results I was after.  The thought was that once you can gain an understanding of these you could produce consistent results over again as you needed.  The more styles you learned, the more tools you had at your disposal to be artistic or to create what a client was after.

As I have moved forward in to the digital realm, I found with my DSLR that I still liked to shoot in the manual mode for more control, but otherwise I kept things pretty simple.  It was not till I started taking pictures with my iPod touch and then the iPhone that I started to experiment with the world of apps.  Some, like Snapseed, have become my staple working in conjunction with the native camera in the devices.  A number of other apps I have tried, but found that they did not suit my style or vision.  Yet a few though I continue to explore and experiment with as I am still not sure about them yet.

Hipstamatic is one of those apps and the one I will discuss today.  Probably the main reason I do not shoot with it as much as I do the native camera is that it gives you a look based on what you choose and then gives you results that are pretty well final (a few others like RetroCamera, WoodCamera and Leme Cam are the same way).  While you can bring the final results into Snapseed or iPhoto for some teaking or cleaning the results are based on what you choose at the time you push the shutter.

I'm not knocking this as it does make one have to fully explore the app and understand the look each film stock and lens choice can give you.  There are 15 actual Paks in the Hipstamatic family as well as the Multiple Exposure Kit, the PopTone Case Pak and two stand alone apps, IncrediBooth and SwankoLab.  The last three really have no bearing on the styles available.  However with so many combinations, 23 lenses, 22 films, 10 flashes (which I have not experimented with at all yet) it can be hard to remember all the different looks that are achievable. Now you can view the Hipstamatic field guide to get information on each feature individually, however there are not always enough examples to get a feel for each of them.  The best way is to test it yourself in a variety of combinations.

Now I have tried this myself and have found that I do tend to lean more to the Black & White films more often then not.  I find that with colour I still prefer to shoot native and then change later.  What I have not kept as close an eye on is the lenses, but the last few outings have made me more aware of some of the unique features.  This is one of the things I am sharing today.  The following two photo's were made with the Salvador 64 lens which has an inherent double exposure built in. It can be used with any film stock and thus give some versatility here for creativity. The first image was taken with BlacKeys B&W (my favorite) and the double exposure is a slightly enlarged version layered behind. (I added the tone later in Snapseed by adjusting the white balance - my Instagram 366 for today).

The second photo was taken with the RTV Shout! film stock which gives a variety of sayings when you take the photo's (I have no idea how many sayings are available at this time - more testing needed).  The Salvador 64 lens did the second exposure at an angle on the axis this time.  This is probably the best example of one of my concerns with the Hipstamatic app.  There still seems to be a fair amount of randomness and chance to the images you take.  While some of the paks seem more stable, I do see a problem if you want to have a set look that you have pre-visualized first.  While this is not necessarily bad, it does take some of the creative control from the photographer.

I have re-posted this image from a couple of day's ago as an example of the Double Exposure Kit..  this feature is added to all the cameras once you purchase the kit. I do like this more then the randomness of the Salvador 64 lens.  I can now plan my shot and execute it with a little more control.  You do have to remember the positioning of each of the two images (you can only do 2 at this time) but that is no different then when trying the same with roll film.

So in conclusion I would say that if you are a total control freak you will find apps like Hipstamatic and the other's mentioned frustrating.  If you like "Happy Surprise's" these apps are perfect for mixing and matching and seeing what develops. Yet if your in the middle like me, all you can do is test, test and test some more till you gain sufficient knowledge that you can keep some semblance of control while embracing the little bits of randomness that do occur.

Back to the beginning.

I took up photography as I was a tiny child who was always the last one chosen for the team. I learned early that I could still be involved by taking photo's at the games.  I got my first break photographing the Calgary Stampeder's of the Canadian Football League back in 1976.  I pursued sports and journalism for 10 years photographing a variety of events before moving on to the Art College and then my Portrait and Wedding business.  The last time I had photographed a football game I was still pushing 400 ISO film to 1600 and sometimes even 3200.

Today my cousin, Ben Hodson, came to town with the Saskatoon Hilltops to play the Calgary Colts in the final game of the Prairie Football Conference season.  The whole family came to cheer Ben and I decided to take my Canon 7D and the 70-200 mm lens and 2x converter. I approached the staff and got permission to go on the sideline for the game.  It was a lot of fun and shooting digitally sure was a pleasure.  I found I still shot similar to my days of film as I did not do multiple bursts, but just used my timing to get the shot.

Below are some of my shots from today.  The first image is my Instagram 366 photo for today and was shot with the iPhone.  I knew it would have to be something on the sideline and when I saw the Saskatoon place kicker getting ready to practice.  So I got down low and knowing there was a lag time on the iPhone tried to time it so I could get the ball in the air.  Fortunately it worked as he just did one kick and then went back to the sideline. I cropped and post processed the image in Snapseed. 

Then next 10 were shot with Canon 7D.  By the way the Colts won the game 30 - 19 to finish the season at 8 - 0.  If things go the way they should my cousin and the Hilltops should be back in Calgary in a couple of week's for the league final.  Perhaps I will get the opportunity to shoot that game as well.

Getting my photographic art on.

So here is my Instagram 366 photo for October 6.  Inspired by the work of my friend Jonathan Marks I decided to get a little more artsy with my photo.  The subject was a toy clown that shoots balls out of his mouth called Mr. Hands.  After cropping in Snapseed I than brought the image into OldPhotoPro to change the tone and give a little bit of grunge.  One thing I learned is that the free version reduces the file size and you need to upgrade to keep the full native resolution of the iPhone.  I then brought that file into Pic Grunger where I added the texture giving the look I had envisioned when I took the original shot of the toy.  

If you want to check out Jonathan's work to see one of the iPhone artists I admire visit his site at http://www.jonathanmarksfineart.com and checkout his blog to see how he does his magic.

A month flew by.

I can't believe a whole month has flown by since my last post.  September just seemed to be one busy blur with me back to teaching and lecturing and Cool and Luke back to school and their after school activities.  No excuses here, I need to find focus to keep my blog up to date daily.  I will endeavor to do so in the future.  Here are my Instagram 366 photo's up to yesterday.

October 5, 2012  Went to a special mass for the Malayalam community in Calgary at Our Lady Grace Church.  Earlier in the day I had downloaded the new multi-exposure tool for Hipstamatic and I had a particular image in my mind all day.  When I arrived at the church the elements I wanted for the photo where there and I used the Hipstamatic app on multi-exposure and the BlacKeys film style. After photographing the statues face inside the church I went out and photographed the bell.  It Only took two attempts to get the image to line up the way I wanted and I titled the photo "For whom does the bell toll?"  ALthough I liked the effect I brought the image into snapseed where I added a filter from the vintage file which gave me the colouring I wanted.  The final image below was also cleaned up afterwards in photoshop in order to eliminate some power lines from the background. I feel the image achieved what I had envisioned earlier in the day.

October 4, 2012  Late in the evening and still needing a shot I took a pair of scissors from my office and put them on the tiles on the bathroom counter.  Adding a bit of grunge and then playing with the saturation given from the tungsten light source I got the result below.

October 3, 2012  First snow of the season.  After walking the boy's to school I stopped and shot some photo's of the few flowers left in the garden with their light coat of snow.

October 2, 2012  Decided to down load the iPhoto app and give it a try.  I think Snapseed will remain my app of choice for initial post processing, but I do like the repair tool as it is good to eliminate small, distracting elements. The iPad version seems to work better then the iPhone one as when you make a mistake and want to make a single step backwards the iPhone seems to want to take you right back to the beginning eliminating all changes you made where on the iPad you can take incremental steps back.

October 1, 2012  My first night speaking on "Camera Phone Artistry" for the Calgary public library.  Had a nice small group and the lecture flowed smoothly.  I shot this photo in the activity room where I was talking in order to demonstrate how one can find everyday objects and then work with them to create an interesting photo.

September 30, 2012  In the Canadian Martyrs church for a retreat with the Malayalm community once again.  While sitting in the pew I looked up and was taken with the light fixtures.  This is the result of the photo I took after a tiny amount of post in Snapseed.

September 29, 2012  King Edward School in Calgary's Southwest is going to be transformed into an arts incubator.  This weekend they had an open house and had a variety of displays by artists and local community groups.  One of the small rooms was converted into a replica of a photographers living space and had a variety of old photo equipment displayed.  This vintage 8mm film camera caught my eye and after photographing it I added a bit of grunge in Snapseed to finalize the result.

September 28, 2012  Also taken in the King Edward school the evening before during a special event to open the weekend.  While socializing I notice this unique light fixture and had to take a photo.  The event was wonderful as was the weekend and I think the organizers and developers, cSpace, are going to create a wonderful environment that will add to Calgary's culture.  I hope to stay involved in some small way and to report my thoughts here on my blog.

September 27, 2012  SAIT has gone under extensive development and renovations and I am proud to be associated with it.  However there are still structures that date back to the 60's and 70's.  These old sinks caught my eye and I liked the way I could align them to make a neat image.

September 26, 2012  Fall is fleeting here in Calgary as the colours change rapidly and the leaves fall off shortly after.  Walking the boys to school after an evening of heavy rain I saw this wonderful reflection of the tree and colours.  Getting down very close to the water with my iPhone I was able to get the perspective I wanted.

September 25, 2012  Outside a motorcycle shop where they were tuning up and winterizing clients bikes.  Got down low and photographed this bike then added some drama in Snapseed.

September 24, 2012  Saw this wonderfully coloured flower at the Varsity community centre.  One of the things I like in Snapseed to use is the "Old Lens" in the centrer focus feature.  I feel that it gives a nice darkening around the edges of the photo thar helps the subject pop off the frame.

September 23, 2012  Luke was sitting with me on the couch and stuck his feet between my knees.  I like the way they framed up and wanted to record them while the were still small.  After doing the cropping in Snapseed I let the Jazz app randomly make selections until it handed me this gem.

September 22, 2012  My brother in laws bar.  Need we say more.

September 21, 2012  The last day of summer and I rewarded myself with a mini-drumstick.  Decided to do a self-portrait in my office.  The background was rather busy so I used the app "Smoosh" to manipulate the background.  This was similar to pushing the emulsion around on old pollaroid SX-70 film.  After getting this result a felt it had a little resemblance to Edvard Munch's "the Scream".

September 20, 2012  We never no what we will find piled behind k-block at SAIT, especially as they upgrade and renovate.  There was an old gynecological exam table sitting out there for a few days and I thought it might make for an interesting subject.

September 19, 2012  My boy's have been interested in my 365 day project and every now and then make suggestions of what I should photograph. Luke wanted me to take a picture of this tree on our way home from school.  I think he is developing a good eye as I like the shot as well.

September 18, 2012  I like the silver and blues I found in this gate at the Haddon Road School where Cool and Luke go for choir practice.

September 17, 2012  We still had snapdragons in our garden that continued to grow and bloom late in to the summer.

September 16, 2012  I have photographed the cross at St. Luke's church before, but found this angle with the triangles and colours that I had not captured before.  I really enjoy the composition of this shot.

September 15, 2012  The Camera Store here in Calgary had a celebration of their 16th Anniversary and had models posing in the parking lot among the displays.  I liked this old Brownie Hawkeye one of the girls was holding and moved in close for the shot.

September 14, 2012  Close-up of a sunflower.

September 13, 2012  Another one of those nights when it came close to ending the continuous photo streak.  Looking around the kitchen I saw Cool's twisty straw reflected in a steal bowl.  I liked the snake like look and took the photo then used some grunge in Snapseed for the final result.

September 12, 2012  Out for a walk when I saw this wonderful pattern of light and shadow on the bridge crossing Crowchild Trail.  Enhanced and toned the photo in Snapseed.

September 11, 2012  Out driving in an industrial area of Calgary when I stopped to photograph this large structure as the stairs had caught my eye.  Using the drama 2 app in Snapseed plled out the wonderful detail.

September 10, 2012  This flower had a real vibrant colour and the bee just happened to be there.  Some post work in Snapseed gave it a painterly effect.

September 9, 2012  Sitting in Boston Pizza with the family I noticed the lovely colours of the table and lemon slice.  Carefully I lined things up and photographed it knowing I would be cropping it square to fit the Instagram format.

September 8, 2012  Out in Carseleand to take Luke to a birthday party when I came across this wonderful, old, rusted truck in the yard of a house.  Shot using Hipstamatic as I knew I wanted a certain tone and that the BlacKeys B&W film style would give me the look I wanted that would fit the subject.

September 7, 2012  Downtown at the Art Gallery of Calgary for the opening of a photo exposition.  While waiting outside I noticed the juxtapostion on the old Molson's Bank build in the early 1900's positioned against the recently completed Bow building.  I tilted my iPhone as I like the look this gives.