Tuesday, January 1, 2013

New Year, not a new beginning.

When ever the calendar rolls over many people act like it is a new beginning to their lives.  While it is admirable to use the start of a new year as a time to start new projects or out looks on life it can add a sense of pressure to follow through.  Life events such as this should only be used as markers and growth, improvement and change should be an ongoing goal.  By using this style of thinking I feel it makes it easier for one to reach goals and achievements as one is not bound by arbitrary dates and goals.

I'm looking at 2013 as a continuation with some slight modifications.  I plan to continue to take at least a photo a day, but I won't be constrained by a couple of parameters I used last year.  First I won't be exclusively using the iPhone as the tool to create the Photo of the Day.  This year I will use which ever camera works best to obtain a result I want.  Thus if I choose to use the pin-hole camera or 8 x 10 I will do so and post the image when it is processed.  It is my feeling that as long as you take a photo on a particular day it does not matter as much when it is shared.

This will allow me the freedom to experiment and grow even more as an artist using photography as my medium.  I plan to explore different techniques, styles and subject matter with the aim to expand my skills and if possible market some of the results.  I will also not be designating a particular image as the one for the day, rather sharing photo's from the day.

As to this blog, I hope to expand it, sharing more of my thoughts and writing on photography.  Someday's I may be discussing the images presented and the stories behind them.  Other times I will write about topics, events and developments in the world of photography from my point of view.  I can only hope that I will strike a cord with my peers and that you will follow me and share it with with others.

So today I present photo's from last night's New Year's Eve celebrations as well as from my morning walk.  This year I start out in India, the birth place of my wife and spending time with her family.  The first three images are of my son Cool as he played with the sparklers that they had for the boy's and their cousins to play with.  I shot the two immediate images handheld with the Canon 7D and about a 15 second exposure on both.  I think they turned out rather well and loved he results.

For this photo I used the built in flash on a low setting in order to add just enough detail to see Cool.  I was trying to time it to get the fireworks in the background and it took a couple of attempts as I was not directing the activities as I did not want to spoil the spontaneity or the fun.  Again I am rather happy with the results.
One of my goals for the year is to get myself healthy and in shape.  As I turn 50 in July I have seen that it is more important than ever to pursue this, especially since I have two young son's.  To this means I have been walking about 4 km every morning from our house to one of the local churches.  Having the iPhone with me allows me to have a camera available while traveling light as this is as much a training exercise then just a daily constitutional.  I am entered in the Calgary Marathon at the end of May and these are my first steps in preparation.

Now the temperatures by mid-day are in the mid 30 Celsius range so for a trip t I have headed out in the morning around 7:00 am for a trip that takes currently an hour.  The light is quite nice at this time of day and there are a variety of subjects if I pay attention.  The following four images were created on this journey with the photo of Little Flower Church in the last two images being my turn around destination. I hope that as some of the locals become accustom to me that I will be able to take some of their photo's as well.




No comments:

Post a Comment