I’ve been so busy lately, I haven’t even had time to finish my posts properly. This is what I started writing at the beginning of October:

I’m taking my very first photography class this fall. I think my only regret is that I should have taken one sooner.

At the last class we processed our very own rolls of film for the first time, and it was really exhilarating to see a tiny canister film transform into a string of images. Being able to control the whole process from a roll of film in your camera to a finished print is pretty incredible.

I had general idea of how processing the film and images work, but actually going through all the steps and seeing it in person made it all click together for me. Even in just these past few weeks I feel like I have a better understanding of technique especially when it comes down to compensating for light. Capturing the lighting and in turn the mood in photographs is the trickiest thing for me right now.

The second critique is tomorrow night actually and the assignment was capturing motion and depth of field. I’m pleased with the way my narrow depth of field shot came out, so it’s the only photo I’ll share right now.

I am really excited because the last assignment we have is going to be portraiture. I had really been wanting to do more staged photography and since lighting is pretty important, I had been thinking back and forth about investing in some studio lighting. Today I went ahead and bought a kit because turns out you can get cheap sets for not too much money and it will probably be helpful for when I start shooting portraits. Hopefully they work well. I’ll post a review as soon as I try them out.

Union Station

Taken with Pentax K-1000 SE. This is the floor at Union Station downtown. I really liked the pattern and the ambient light coming up into the alcove.

Union Station

This was the view looking up:

…and wishing for a nicer wide angle lens.

I took this with the Pentax using a 26mm wide angle lens and then cropped in on the composition. I think next time I’ll switch back to the original lens. I haven’t been impressed with any of the ones i’ve been using lately.

I’ve been testing out the wide angle and also a fisheye lens adapter. The images are not as sharp as i would like them to be, although I like having the wider angle. The fisheye adapter takes fun novelty shots, but it is a little hard to use because the barrel heavily vignettes the the viewfinder. Unless I was in bright light, I could barely make out my light meter. Also images are super blurry. To be fair though, I was using the adapter on top of my wide angle lens—it was the only one I could fit the adapter on top of.

Taken with Canon PowerShot SX1 IS.

I keep liking this camera more and more. The ability to work with RAW images is really great. This shot originally was a little overexposed. But I was able to easily bring it down and without hiding the highlights of the tracks.

Yellow Wild Flower

I found an open box, clearance Canon PowerShot SX1 IS at a local electronics store. When I was looking to replace my old PowerShot I had actually been looking at the SX20 IS, but decided against it because it was bulky and about 100 dollars more  than the Panasonic I was eyeing.

When I randomly found this SX1 IS on sale, I couldn’t pass it up. I think it’s actually a better camera than the SX20 IS. It has the CMOS sensor, which is the same sensor used in Canon’s DSLRs and it also has RAW image capture, which I am just now starting to experiment with. The price sealed the deal, being only $150 dollars with a $50 warranty plan thrown in for free essentially. I walked out of the store feeling like I had practically stolen it.

It has a lot of features I’m still trying to learn about. The other day I took it around town and experimented with the super macro mode and manual focus. I’m also very excited because it records HD video. Perhaps some After Effects projects will be coming soon.

I had a little bit of time this weekend to start one of my projects.

Even as a little kid, I always got really excited at the prospect of receiving letters or cards in the mail. And living in such a digital age, I still think it’s nice to get an handwritten note from a friend even though it can just be so much easier to email or text a message.

I  try to keep a collection of cards that I think are clever or exceptionally beautiful so I’m not running to the store getting a random hallmark card for someone’s birthday. Lately my collection has been dwindling, and I’ve been wanting to make my own cards for a while, so I started on some designs that have been rolling around in my head.

I’m not sure what to call these ones—my sophomore year of college I spent a lot of time on a project exploring these fractured paper mosaics:

They’re a little delicate. I think it might actually work better with thicker paper. I might try it again with some card stock.

This second set of cards are from pictures I took on vacation last year—a foggy day at Muir Beach.

Next project…. envelopes!

I don’t think I can say enough times how excited I am for this upcoming event. We have finalized our entertainment and are getting ready to print tickets, flyers and posters!

Cheers to the Troops! - Event Poster

A kind thank you to Marvel Printing Company, located in lovely Soulard, who is handling the printing of our paper tickets and posters.

A lot of motivation, a little bit of free time, and moderate amounts of sleep deprivation means pet design projects are being worked on! I finally made myself take a few minutes to just write out the various ideas I have rolling around in my head, and from just that short amount of time, I have some good direction and goals for myself.

I recently decided to finish some of my unfinished projects, including several scarves I’ve been knitting over the course of two years (I completed 2 and have a couple more to go). Finishing those also inspired me to tackle some of the other design and craft projects I have been thinking on and legitimize my purchase of a most wonderful DIY book: The Starving Artist’s Way.

This book has so many different types of projects ranging between building your own furniture, making your own accessories, creative food recipes and other craft projects. Unlike some other craft books I have come across this one focuses specifically on projects that cheap to make yet good quality and environmentally conscious. There’s even a project that tells you how to make your own felt from animal fur. Not quite sure I’d feel okay about harvesting my cat’s fur for anything really, but if you ever wanted to, this book will tell you how! Check out the website for the book if you’d like to see a sampling of the projects.

I’ve already picked out a couple of things from this book I’d like to try and I plan on featuring a project by the end of the month… no matter if it turns out well or not. It’s hard to keep life from taking over your life sometimes and it’s surprising that just the smallest nudge can set gears rolling again.

Help support the USO of Missouri, Inc. by coming out to enjoy a wonderful evening of entertainment with the Arch Rival Roller Girls and their Jeerleaders! Proceeds for this event will be donated to the USO of Missouri. Dinner will be available early on and we’ll have tons of talented performers including:

The Ragged Blade Band
St. Louis Strutters and Co.
Demitri the Mage
The Improv Trick
Hoop Connections
Rayna Skye – the Mahogany Bombshell
Jeez Loueez – the Powerhouse of the Midwest

Tickets are on sale now! Buy them here or from a friendly neighborhood jeerleader near you!

Work has crept back up to being super busy again. I’ve been doing some intense designing for a couple of clients that have decided to revamp the majority of their existing digital graphics and infotainment features. It’s been really fun, but also a little stressful. It seems like I’m pushing against a deadline everyday. But it’s a million times better than trying to figure out how to fill my time when we’re in one of our seasonal lulls.

Outside of work, I’ve been working on a couple of random projects. Some promotional materials for the Arch Rival Roller Girls Jeerleaders’ summer charity event. I think this have been the most fun I’ve had designing a project in a while and it has been nice to have so much creative freedom over my work. I’m also happy to be delving back into print even if just for a moment.