So far I'm not doing a very good job.

A few weeks ago, at Andrew's suggestion, I decided that I would do a blog post every Sunday. It's important to me to keep this blog going, and having a set day is certainly a good idea. Currently I have weekends off and I spend Sundays doing, well, nothing. So it seemed like as good a day as any to set as my blogging day. I think I was successful one, maybe two weeks in a row and then I forgot yesterday. Fail.

I suppose I have reasons, if it seems worth it to post them. Although, my reasons are a tad depressing :\ I've probably mentioned it already (but I can't remember), but this year's trip to Ireland has seen me riddled with homesickness. It seems like a fractional off-shoot of basic depression. I feel mopey and I have a difficult time motivating myself to do anything. In fact, I haven't taken a single photo since my post last week. Oh sure, I've seen lots of things worth taking photos of, and I've absolutely had the time to take and edit photos. But, the motivation! The sweet, sweet necessary motivation; she is lacking, you see?

Although, I'd really like to post about something positive and productive so I may be grasping at straws here but oh well, I've been spending an awful lot of time on Pinterest, that website I mentioned last week. I touched briefly on my photo collections that I've created, but I believe I have more to say on the subject now!

In an effort to make sure that my constant internet browsing and clicking remains even slightly productive, I make sure to add photos to my various photography boards on a regular basis. If you're curious, here is my profile and all of my boards. Anyone who is interested can see what I've been up to and what I've been collecting. It feels really good to cruise through all of the boards and poke around into other peoples' collections. I feel so inspired whenever I scroll through my own boards, and it's exciting to find another user that has a really strong photo collection.

It's actually been very helpful in causing my brain to churn ideas and catalogue inspirations. All I need now are some willing models and more AA batteries for my flash. Also, I had no idea that I liked black and white portraits so much. My portrait board is almost entirely black and white. That was a fascinating discovery. A useful one, I think. Perhaps converting more photos to black and white, or shooting them with a conversion in mind, will open new creative doors for myself and change the way I think about a setup. Either way I'm looking forward to shooting people again.

So even though I haven't been taking any photos, I've been doing a lot of research and inspiration combing. That's something that I've never really done enough of, and I can say I'm proud of myself for finally doing it. Ryan was always encouraging me to look at other work and to be inspired and broaden my horizons. Why do I have to hate studying so much? I'm getting better though :]

-MJ

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

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

Candid portraits.

I'm going to go ahead and say that today is the first time I've ever put real effort toward good candid photography.

I've been thinking a lot about my upcoming documentary assignment, and in order to do it proper I need to get some grade A candids of my subjects. I had a perfect opportunity for practice today! Lovely warm weather and my beautiful friend Olivia.

Photographing her is something I've wanted to do for a long time. She has fantastic eyes and amazing hair. She lives far away though and we have very conflicting schedules, obviously making it difficult to schedule some sort of photo session.

Today just so happened to be her boyfriend's birthday and she threw a party for him. So, while we waited for him to get home from work, she, another friend of ours and myself waited around outside and enjoyed the sunshine. She planted some tulips that she's quite proud of, which made for a very easy reason to start snapping pictures and acclimate us all to having my camera out. I quickly turned my attention to her though.

She was an amazing candid model. I took tons of shots, most weren't great, but the ones that were are just fantastic I think. She was conversing with our friend and I sat waiting for her to pause (talking photos are almost never good!). It was tiring work, snap snap snapping away while she spoke, knowing I was getting undesirable shots.

The good shots were a total payoff though. They're so natural and comfortable, such real moments were captured. It feels good to look at them and know they weren't staged. All in all, my first real candid portrait session was a complete success and I feel better about my upcoming assignment!

-MJ