Tag Archives: camera

Never Leave Home Without It

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I talked once before about always having a camera handy. That advice has come in very useful for me over and over again over the months, and this past weekend was no difference. I was walking to the Post Office near my apartment to pick up a package (the Ninja Turtles movie pack, to be specific – why yes, I am a nerd, what makes you ask?), and decided at the last second to take my new camera out for a full spin. Upon looking at the pictures later on, I’ve come to the conclusion that I need some more practice with it – the lens on this is a different animal than the one on the Canon Rebel I used to use.

Still, it was nice to take the camera out for a spin. All I’ve really done with it is taken some shots from my room, and truth be told that doing that with a new camera is like using a new sports car to just go to the grocery store (especially once you’ve adjusted for liberal amounts of embellishment). I may need to look into doing some more winter photography, if the weather is just willing to be on my side a bit more. Doesn’t have to be as clear as it was Saturday, but even mostly sunny days can be helpful. Hell, I’ll take an overcast day sometimes, so long as it’s not raining at me in the middle of January.

Enjoy some pictures of the playground, and let me know what you think.

Adult Supervision

Slide to Snow Drifts

Nothin' But Net

Tom

With Cameras as with Zombies

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The last time I went on a full photo walk was with Brandon, his aunt Karen, Travis, and a few friends in that group of peoples (ie, the slightly nerdy ones that I met through Nano and are total fun to hang out with). We were wandering around, people were being silly. A living statue popped out of her top, Travis pretended to shove Anna into a large fountain – you know, the usual sorts of stuff that happen to groups of friends on weekend afternoons.

Anyway, we’re wandering along the street, Travis and the girls link arms, and they start skipping. Then, at Travis’s behest, they stop, spin, and immediately break into the Rockettes.

Rockettes

What’s funny about this picture is the timing. Everything’s going so well, isn’t it? Thirty seconds later (if it even took that long), Marion fell backward and the whole line collapsed, with Travis bent over in laughter (it looked as though he was going to just fall over from laughing). I didn’t post that picture to Flickr, but I do have it. In fact, I have a whole bunch of pictures, from the line’s start to its collapse. As soon as they started, I felt my finger click down on the shutter over and over again of its own accord, and as the whole thing devolved into a mess of limbs and laughter, the message my finger had been trying to send me finally got to my brain. A moment later, it landed on my lips, and I turned to Brandon to announce it:

“I’ve come to the conclusion that for now on, I will deal with pictures the same way I deal with zombies – Don’t Stop Shooting.”

He laughed, but it’s true, that’s my new motto – Don’t Stop Shooting. It’s a good motto, when you stop and think about it. How often have you found yourself looking at pictures later on your computer (or in your hands, if it was film and you’re all Old Timey), and thought (or exclaimed) “Damn! Ten seconds later and this would have been perfect!”

Case in point: Everyone knows the famous picture of the Lee Harvey Oswald assassination (he’s being escorted by cops, the gun’s shoved into his side, he’s yelling in pain). There were a ton of photographers there that day. The one that capture that picture went on to fame and great jobs. However, there was a photographer that had gotten a shot seconds before, as Jack Ruby approached Oswald. No one remembers that picture, because it simply wasn’t the better image.

So, in conclusion, Don’t Stop Shooting. Or you’ll end up like that guy. No one wants to be that guy.

Tom

Inspiration

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In ancient Greece, there were the Muses. They would inspire the sculptures, painters, musicians and poets to create great works in their names and in the names of the gods. Things moved on, other societies has similar ideas, about the gods, or Lady Luck, or any thousand creatures, mythological or spiritual, that would slip their way into dreams and give people great ideas. Then, of course, there were the rebels, like Bob Marley or Thomas Paine, who created great works as a way of starting a revolution. There was Van Gogh, who took absinthe. e e cummings and Salvador Dali had new ways of looking at the world, unseen before them. Warren Ellis drinks a lot of beer.

What about the other artists out there? The garage bands, the writers squeaking it out in tiny studio apartments, or the photographer going to rallies and taking pictures of police and crowd? Where do they find inspiration? Yesterday I touched on the fact that I tend to find that I’m far more creative when I’m happy than when I’m down, and I think for me inspiration goes hand-in-hand with that.

The world is a very interesting place. It’s full of evil – war, greed, George W. Bush – but it’s also full of love – that woman that bought the 5 legged puppy so that a circus couldn’t get to it, Doctors Without Borders, the common hug. It’s a crazy place, filled with crazy things and crazy people. If you find yourself stuck and uninspired, do what I like to do best, and take a walk. Hop in your car or on the train/bus, go somewhere you normally don’t find yourself. Take a camera if you want (nothing professional, a point-and-shoot will be fine – this is for relaxation and recharging batteries).  Take pictures, look around. Observe. Watch the way people interact with each other, the way birds will hop around and peck at things hesitantly, the way dogs trot beside their owners, incredibly happy just to be out and trotting.

I don’t have an artist’s statement. Most of them are bullshit anyway. Let’s be honest with one another, half the reason people write those things is to fuck with you and see how gullible you can be. The closest I’ve ever come to an artist statement is the following: “I want to show the world how beautiful it really is.” But that sounds ludicrously pretentious. Black beret wearing, latte drinking, turtleneck donning pretentious. Still, though, when you’re willing to say something like that, how far out of reach could inspiration really be?

About as far as the next tree. Or kitten. Or dripping icicle. Keep your eyes open, kids, you’re surrounded by awesome.

Bright Lights

Tom