kodachrome

A few things before we start the review.

First, this is collaboration between Josh and I. Second, we are nerds. Big nerdy nerds. We love art, in this instance photography, and we will watch any documentary about the subject that we come across. Josh could go into a deep philosophical rambling about art and life and a defense of photography as an art form and so forth, but that’s not the point. The point is we are really into photography.

Third, we love simplicity. What I mean by that is that we love looking at things at their smallest, most basic parts. Get rid of everything that is excessive or over the top. We like clean…clean lines, clean design, clean houses, clean children, clean layouts…you get the idea. We don’t care for what we consider excessive Photoshopping or distracting composition. All I want in a picture is sharp focus and a clear subject, that is properly framed. Which is also how I like life: sharp focus and clear direction.

Okay, that should pretty much get you set for our point of view.

I watched Bill Cunningham New York one night when Josh was at work. I liked it so much that I wanted to watch it again with Josh. We have since watched it another time together. The film documents the work of Bill Cunningham, the most famous fashion photographer you have probably never heard of. It follows Bill through various cuts from his apartment at Carnegie Hall (that needs to be seen to be believed) to the streets of NYC where he takes candid photos of people going about their day. His work is published in the New York Times under a column titled On The Street.

He talks about looking for what’s interesting and finding something that moves him. He doesn’t care at all for celebrities and he isn’t particularly fashionable himself. He wears these cheap blue blazers simply because they’re cheap. When it rains he uses a plastic rain poncho with duct tape over the holes. Money is not important to him. He eats the same thing at the same place for breakfast because of the price. He says at one point in the film that “If you don’t take money, they can’t tell you what to do…” In his eighties, he goes everywhere by bicycle. Basically he lives to find beautiful things and shoot them. Simply awesome, this guy.

This documentary really affected me. I have so much admiration for Bill Cunningham. He has continued to do something he loved in a way that he chose. He wasn’t affected by money, or what others thought he should do. He just kept doing it how he always did. He said this at one point, “It is as true today as it ever was – He who seeks beauty will find it”.

Anyway, I could go on but you just need to watch this movie for yourselves. You can thank me later.

So yeah, yesterday it got up to 54 degrees. In January. In Illinois. My boys and I went on a little adventure to a park with a swinging bridge. It was a perfect opportunity for me to find my picture of the day and for all of us to get outside. It was a good day.

The first of the year began my 365 project. I spent a lot of time trying to decide what I would do.  I didn’t want to just take a random picture every day. I wanted the pictures to all be a collection. So I started thinking every picture would be similar in some way.  Should all of the pictures have the same coloring? Maybe do a cinema look to each one (with the black bars at the top and bottom)? I was looking through my photography board on Pinterest and realized a large number is black and white. I decided then I would do an all black and white project. I’ll admit though Josh had to help me make that decision.  It’s a big commitment to not have any color in my 365! Plus black and white can be tricky but I wanted the challenge. I will be sharing my pictures from time to time.  Otherwise you can keep up with them on Flickr.

Some of my favorite Jasper pictures from the year….

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

I’ve been thinking a lot about my 365 project that I’ll be starting on January 1st. The goal is to take at least one picture every day. I wanted to write out some guidelines for myself in preparation. Some are standard rules (like rule #1) but some are my own.

1. Obviously each picture has to be taken on separate days. No cheating by taken a bunch on one day and then spreading them out. Defeats the purpose.
2. Try to avoid using my cell phone camera as much as possible.
3. Do something to set each picture apart so when the year is over they can stand together as a collection. (Still working on how I’ll achieve that.)
4. Someone else can’t take the picture. Meaning, Josh can’t take a picture of me. Doesn’t count. If there is a picture of me, it will be a self portrait.
5. Avoid waiting until the last minute this way I can avoid just taking a picture of a random object.
6. Get out there and shoot, especially places I don’t normally take pictures.
7. Try and take my camera everywhere.

If I’m doing this, I’m doing it right. Anyone want to join in? Should be fun!

I had a few minutes of sun this afternoon so I popped outside to snap a couple pictures. You never know where you’ll find inspiration until you start looking.

A photographer friend of mine contacted me about doing a 365 project in 2012. My initial thought was “Heck no”. I first did a 365 project in 2007 where I took a picture every single day. I missed one day. I signed up again in 2010. I made it until May when hell broke loose in my life. The last thing I wanted to do was worry about a daily picture. So when I was asked I initially thought about that time in my life and didn’t want to do it. After thinking about it some more I started to lean towards yes.

This fall was pretty busy for my business. This is an awesome thing for me. However, the more work I get, the more I worry I’ll turn into one of those robot photographers that just shoot the same thing over and over. Enter Project 365… Taking a picture every day forces you to practice and practice is never a bad thing. I hesitated signing up because I didn’t want to do it halfway. I don’t want to just take a picture of my back door or some random object that’s next to me every day. I want to be creative and really take the time to do it right. It’s a good thing though, feeling forced to take a picture. Having to find something creative, especially in the Winter months, isn’t always easy. I’ve got some ideas on making this 365 a little different so I’m mulling over exactly how to execute it.

So yeah, I just got all excited. Get ready folks. More pictures, means more blogging. I hate posting without a picture so there ya go. This is good for you too. (And to clarify my post from yesterday…I am definitely not letting one not-so-nice person run me off.)

The world is a pretty amazing place.