After signing off last Friday, I went for a run, took a lukewarm shower, and kicked back into the valley of the great broken futon (which has a concave center strangely the exact size of my butt) to play Bedazzled and listen to the latest Photofocus podcast (the underline means it's linked there. Smiley face.)
The point of Photofocus is to give advice and provide resources for budding photographers - be it professional or amateur, we are all still budding. One of the things they talked about in this particular podcast was self-training, practice, how does a photog improve oneself? How do we push ourselves, challenge ourselves. I haven't quite identified which voice is which since I'm still new to the blog, but who I believe may be Scott Bourne said one of his tips is to pick up a lens, go out into the world, and shoot. He suggested a prime lens (ie: not a zoom lens. Prime lenses have a fixed focal range.), preferably something wide, (wide meaning, has a very "wide" range of focus, generally a shorter lens, like 18mm or 20mm). But don't just shoot. See. Look. Figure out how to best optimize your perspective with this particular lens. The experience would, ideally, teach you how to make the best of the situation you've afforded yourself. And, as true photographers do, make lemonade.
Then they went on to talk about young photographers (as in, really young. Like, still obsessed with the Wiggle-Wobble-whomever people), and the entirely different perspective they bring to the table. Not only because of their innocence, their capacity to retain simple interests, and don't grasp the timid notion of shame, but - this is the kicker, are you ready for it?
They're short.
Literally, they have a different perspective. They stand at three feet tall and look up at this great big world, and tend to offer a very different view of it.
Huh. Who really considered that? ... Ok, well I stopped drinking coffee so I'm still catching up to that being naturally sharp concept without the assistance of java. But congrats on your ingenuity.
Moving on. Speaking of consuming copious amounts of garbage. Of course, with Thanksgiving only three and a half days away now, I've been perusing Pinterest and magazines and recipes and such, to take into stock a number of recipes I won't be making this week (I, like many young women, just do what Momma tells me. Anything other than that tends to be a very, very bad idea.) a lot of food photography has been making everything look fantastically succulent. I'm not sure how they make food glow like they do, but I'm going to try to find out.
THUS, my goals for the next two weeks, to be reported on the blog as I accomplish them:
#1: The Chow Challenge: On Wednesday, I'll look up a few advice blogs and websites to see if I can find some tips for quick and cheap food photography. Then on Thursday, if my family will participate, I'll attempt a few of these tips and let you know how it goes.
#2: Augusta in 35mm or Less: I'll tour Augusta with the only prime lens currently in my possession. It's not as wide as Bourne suggests ( he specifically says 20mm), but it'll have to do. I'll see how creative I can get and try to pull myself out of the box a bit.
#3: The Short Show: Luckily, for my birthday a couple years ago, my dad bought me a yard stick. I'm still not sure why (maybe he foresaw this challenge... parents are creepy like that, right?), but I'm going to put it to use now. I'll tour a city, either Augusta, Greenville, or Columbia, with a yardstick and my kit short zoom lens (or borrow a lens from Papa). Let's see what kind of shots I can get with this.
I'm excited to get started with these! However, I don't know when I'll get a chance to do them. My aim is to get them done in the next fourteen days, and in betwixt those posts, I'll see if I can't come up with some other topics to babble about. You think I can't see you rolling your eyes, but somehow I feel like I can. That's rude, you know. Joking-tongue-sticking-out face.
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