Pictures?

I haven't been posting a lot but I'd like to be. I've been going along with my 365 project with no issues, I guess I feel that nothing particularly exciting has happened to warrant a blog update. I haven't been doing many big push ideas for my daily photos. In a way I'm taking a serious break before I embark on my epic adventure abroad. My senior year was so packed with photography projects, ideas and lessons. I learned an insane amount and was constantly applying new techniques and methods to expand my capabilities. It makes my head spin to think about how much was crammed into one year. And now, my brain needs to sleep. It will be excitedly reawakened after a much needed rest once I arrive in Ireland. My pointer finger and right eye ball are going to be exhausted!

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The other day I picked up a copy of ShutterBug; this particular issue was a travel photography special. Seemed appropriate. It contained some moderately useful information, a lot of it I had already thought of though. Looks like my college learning has done me some good already! It did serve the excellent purpose of adding more proverbial fuel to my excitement flame. Detail shots! Details details. Carlos taught me that well.

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I've thought about making a photography bucket list, but it seems like it would just be infinity long and that's not helpful. Here it is:

Everything

That's just for when I'm in Ireland! Here's a better rundown: my goals for Ireland and two weeks of traveling:

-Take at least one hundred photos everyday. This probably sounds like a lot, but really, it's not. Morning walk? Photos. Walk to bus stop? Photos. Bus ride? Photos. Lunch break? Photos. Walk around after work? Photos. Go out with hopefully-soon-to-make-friends? Photos! Weekends? PHOTOS!

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-Make a blog post everyday. It doesn't have to be a huge blog, but this space will act as my journal for my trip. I want to remember and record as much as I can. If a day is particularly busy and I'm absolutely wiped out then I'll just do a bullet list of what happened that day.

-Post one or two photos on my blog everyday. I won't have time to go through all of my photos each day, especially not if I reach my goal, so I'll post one or two of my favorite shots and save the rest for when I return home.

-Bring a pad and pencil with me so I can write down information about what I'm taking a picture of. It'd be awesome if my D80 had GPS built in, but sadly it does not. I'm sure I'll visit locations that are obvious as to what they are, but for lesser known (to me) places, I want to record some information about them!

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-Project Pub Portraits. This is pretty self-explanatory. Find pubs that I like, feel out the atmosphere, strike up conversations with grizzled old men, take portraits. DREAM PROJECT! I get so nervous every time I think about doing this.

-Galway Doors. I know this has been done a million times, but there are no new ideas and I don't see someone else having already taken the photo being a good enough reason to stop me from my own interpretation! Plus, I'll have all IP rights to the images so I can do a lot with post, woo!

-Landscapes. What a given, right? Perhaps I'll drag my lazy butt out of bed early on my days off and get some spectacular sunrises =3 I have a great rain coat now so I can't use that as an excuse. All I need is a simple plastic bag for my camera and I'm golden.

So there's my bucket list in its entirety (so far). I don't know yet if I'll be adding to it, it seems pretty full to me!

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I leave for Ireland in a week.

:O

-MJ

Inspiration struck.

Yesterday I took a whole bunch of pictures. It was one of our first truly beautiful and pleasant summer days so far in the season and I did a pretty good job taking advantage of it.

First order of business was a walk around the yard! My sister is working on some projects for her Earthtastic! shop and our mom's house happens to have an abundance of lavender growing around it. She cut away while I took pictures.

Many lovely water droplets all over the bushes.

A lady bug friend.

Elijah's interested was piqued by the lady bug.

Really, really piqued. He loves bugs.

Unjuy, handsome fancy feline, was enjoying the sun and our presence outdoors.

Some surprise lilies are growing near the front porch! We all love lilies.

A walk into the large backyard yielded some excellent photo opportunities. Cassidy brought me back there especially for these beauties!

It was very easy to take a lot of pictures.

I picked just three to share, but I have a lot more.

And finally, some peaches. Our yard is a treasure trove of flora!












My outdoor sunshine enjoyment continued into the late afternoon. I visited with a friend I hadn't seen in some time and nabbed some shots from downtown Poulsbo.

Here is Danny skipping or throwing (I wasn't really paying attention) some rocks at the Sound. I didn't follow him down the embankment because I had my camera.

A walkway from the small boardwalk that goes from downtown to a little park in the woods next to the water. I have taken photos of this cement stretch before!

Under-ripe berries? I'm not really sure. Yesterday is  the first time I've really used my flash in conjunction with nature photos. It was a great experience. In the words of Joe McNally, "It doesn't have to be human to light it". That may not be exactly what he said, but it was very close to that. I had never thought of using my flash for subjects that weren't people. I feel it has really brought my photos to a new level!

Obligatory historic shot.

A pub called Hare & Hound opened up downtown not terribly long ago, and then suddenly this 100% genuine, but non-functioning, British phone booth showed up outside of it! I was just tickled when  my Grandma came home about a week ago and told me about it. I had to stop and take a picture. I'll be able to get photos of ones in London soon!

So this concludes my inspirational day of photography. I hope to be struck again soon.

-MJ

I have plans.

Big photo plans for Ireland.

I'll be working a lot but I plan on being out almost everyday. I want to get up early on my days off and explore, experience, meet people and take pictures!

So, with that in mind, I have a few projects that I will be executing.

1. Landscapes. This one is obvious. This also isn't original. From photos and movies that I've seen I think I'm in love with the Irish landscape though, so I will be photographing it like I mean it. Hopefully I'll come away with some unique takes on a cliched subject.

2. Doors. Another extremely unoriginal idea. Every idea has been taken though so I'm not put off in the least. The doors there are so varied and interesting. This will tie in nicely with my desire to walk around everyday. I'll be putting a lot of care into this as well. They'll be my property so I can do with them what I will. I don't have that option with someone else's photos of the doors.

3. Pub Portraits. This is the big one. My nervous, break-into-a-sweat, feel freaked out project. It's the one I want to do the most. Grizzled old men in the corners drinking pint after pint. I can't begin to imagine the character in their faces and the stories that they'll have. I have a careful plan in my mind on how best to go about this one. It'll be the most difficult and, ultimately, the most rewarding and original.

I'm so excited!

T-minus 17 days and counting!

-MJ

It's been a while.

So even though I have been taking a lot of photos recently, I feel a real lack of inspiration regarding blog posts! Nothing particularly exciting photography wise has been going on. I made a slideshow compiling my best photos from my senior year of college. I wish I could upload it here, but I need web space to host it at first. I don't have web space! I should purchase some. My senior portfolio is comprised of 169 images. They span from October 2009 to June 2010. Initially, as the end of the school year drew near, I didn't feel that I had accomplished all that much photography wise. Off the top of my head I wasn't able to recall too many photos that I felt particularly good about. Once I began putting my portfolio together I was surprised and pleased by the majority of my work.

It felt really good to go from feeling that I hadn't done much/gone far and then to so suddenly feel so much pride and happiness while looking at all of my work. It was difficult to choose my best because I had so many images I was attached to. Scrolling through them all I can remember when I took each one and I can see my progression over the last nine months. Accomplishments!

I think for the sake of having some photos to post I'll just pick a few of my favorites from this school year and accompany them with captions.

Elijah and Cassidy, Digital Photography assignment, October 2009.

Hourglass, 365 contribution, January 2010.

Lorena, "Stranger" Shoot, November 2009.

Ninja, self-portrait and 365 contribution, March 2010.

Jacki, downtown Olympia and 365 contribution, February 2010.

Christmas tree, 365 contribution, December 2009.

D20, 365 contribution, June 2010.

Alley way downtown Poulsbo, Digital Photography assignment, October 2009.

Merry-Go-Round, Viking Fest and 365 contribution, May 2010.

Danielle, "Stranger" Shoot, December 2009.

Mom, downtown Poulsbo, March 2010.

Kelly, studio shoot, May 2010.

Jacki, Masquerade and 365 contribution, December 2009.

Jacki, Masquerade, December 2009.

Mickey's Fun Wheel at California Adventures, March 2010.

Mask, December 2009.

Jenne, December 2009.

Jenne, December 2009.

Hannah dressed as Mario, Color Photography assignment, February 2010.

Olivia, 365 contribution, April 2010.

Xandre, studio shoot, December 2009.

Earthtastic! lip balm, May 2010.

SNES Zelda, Color Photography class, February 2010.

I hope that was enjoyable! It's just a small taste of all the work I've done this past nine months. I hope to have something more eventful to share in the near future. Less than a month before I'll be in Ireland. This blog will be exploding at that point!

-MJ

My first event coverage!

Apparently I'm a photographer :O :D (that statement is a bit of an inside joke)

Tonight in Olympia there was an animation showing called Eye Candy Animation Festival. There were animated shorts from students and professional alike playing in the Capital Theatre. My friend Hannah was supposed to take pictures of the event as a favor to the guy who was essentially co-hosting the event, Tommy Thompson, but she had fallen ill and asked if I would do it instead. I was a little nervous at first, I hadn't done any preparing to photograph an event! I asked her a lot of questions and then agreed to it.

At this point I've gone on a fair amount of event shoots with her and I already have the equipment necessary to do what she needed me to do. I just wanted to do well, take some nice shots and provide Tommy with photos that show what a great turnout the event had.

I'm going to go through the photos later, for now I'll just post the one picture that is serving as my 365 for June 5th. I have some photography stuff to share in general but I don't feel like typing anymore and also my brain is scattered right now!

This is a photo of the main character of Tommy Thompson's animation short entitled "High Strung".



-MJ