A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

A 'lil HooHaa

My next photo book…

I’m ready to take on my next project.

This one shouldn’t take as long as the 365, but it will be time consuming.

Not that I can access my Day Zero Project list right now (the site has been down for several weeks, though the owner has assured users that the lists are still safe and once he is back from a long trip, he will be working to fix things), I know one of my goals was to create a photo book of my collection of geocoins, pathtags and signature items. At first, I thought I would put them in different books. But in the end, I think it would be good just to do them in one big book for myself.

As a collector of signature items, I have gathered a large ammo can full of the items over the years. The Pathtags, too, are plenty as my collection right now is at 566 tags. And as soon as I log all the ones I got in the Pathtag Christmas Exchange, I’ll have more than 600 tags (!) … so quite a few. My coin collection isn’t as vast, though I probably have 50 coins or so I’ve gathered over the years.

The idea is to take individual photos of each item. With coins and some signature items, it will require two photos — one for the front and one for the back. The tags will be good with one side only, unless it has one of the special backs. In that case, I might take a photo of the back and block out the numbers for the logging.

This will be time consuming for sure.

The first part of this project will be to create a light box I can use to take photos of all these items. I’ve found a couple of spots online that show how to make them and there’s also ones that can be purchased online at pretty affordable prices. So I’m going to weigh which is better and go from there. Then I’ll start the process of taking photos of all of these items and start shifting them into the book layout.

I’ll break the book up into three sections so the items are separated, but I do like the idea of having them in one book together. It will make for a good conversation starter, I imagine.

I look forward to this project and hope the end result is what I am hoping!

More later!

Looking back: Project 365

I’ll be discussing more of the Project 365 as far as individual months soon. But I wanted to write about the overall project and my thoughts.

When I first heard about Project 365, it was in mid-to-late 2009. I had heard it on a podcast and it sounded interesting. I soon forgot about it and then heard it again in early December. At that point, I was looking for something to get me going a bit more with my photography. I won’t lie — I’m not the happiest with how life is for me and haven’t been for a bit more than a year. As I work toward making that better, I need things to sometimes let my mind wander freely. Photography is one of those things.

So, I took on Project 365.

When I started, many other were starting. Some people who I knew in real life, other who I had known through Flickr. But there were a bunch of people who jumped into it.

It started tough as I had a cold on the first day of the challenge and it stuck with me for a bit after. (Interesting that I am starting 2011 the same way!)

And with one photo, my 365 started.

I didn’t even use my main camera for this one!

Alas, it started with that image. I had a lot of excitement for this project. Heck, 365 straight photos? Pffft. No problem.

Yeah, right.

This project was extremely fulfilling. It was an amazing feeling to finish it. But I’d be bold-face lying if I said it was easy. I watched many people drop out of the 365. Some faster than others, but many people dropped out.  Of the 12 people who originally signed up for the project in a group I had set up, three of us finished. A couple of them didn’t even seem to start. Several made it many months before they just didn’t want to or couldn’t continue.

When you see that happening, it’s hard to stick with it.

Especially when you get a week of a cold, or bad weather or anything else that gets in the way and I just, at times, wasn’t inspired. But I found something and fought the temptation to quit.

It basically came down to one thing for me — as I got 5-6 months into it, I knew this was likely a one-shot deal. I knew I wanted to do it and I knew I could do it, but at the same time, I also knew that I wouldn’t do it again. At that point I figured that I had come this far, I needed to finish.

Think of the scene in the movie Cool Runnings when the Jamaican team crashes on their final run of the Olympics. The driver says “I have to finish” and they carry the bobsled the rest of the way. At times, that’s how I felt.

If you look at my 365 set on Flickr, you’ll see a lot of different things. There are shots taken with my main cameras (Canon 30D at first, before I purchased my 7D. There’s also shots from my Rebel, which was used when the 30D was in the shop). Then there are phone shots (my Palm Centro until I got the Droid X) and my Canon Powershot point-and-shoot.

Some of the ideas/items I took photos of included:

  • People
  • Sports
  • Objects
  • Travel
  • Geocaching
  • Signs
  • Food
  • Drink
  • Disc golf

There is more, of course, but those are things that do appear on my 365.

The satisfaction of taking the final shot was immense. I originally was going to post some fireworks shot as the final, but I liked the one I chose because it had been something I wanted to shoot all year and I finally did it on Dec. 31. Plus, the fireworks shot went well with the HooHaa 52.

My final 365 shot:

I really like how it came out!

The 365 taught me a lot of things, too, including how to stay with some long-term projects. I can flake with them sometimes, so it’s nice to know I can put my mind to it and push through. I have several projects I’d like to do in 2011 in photography and my writing (including a shorter book I have been starting to work on).

So what did I learn from this project?

  • Carrying a camera is a great thing. Always have it because you never know what you will see.
  • The world is different when you are looking for photos often. You don’t just let it pass you by.
  • Everything has the possibility of being a photo. It all depends on your perspective.
  • People are still the best subject for photos.
  • It also reminded me how much I love photography.

It was a great experience. Though I likely won’t do it again, I’d encourage others to attempt it. It’s a challenge well worth finishing.

It’s onward and upward now.

I’ll continue the HooHaa 52 as it’s a really fun group and it’s been a blast. I’m also going to start working on making prints and other things for a photo display I’ll be doing during the month of March, which I’ll pray will land me a few extra bucks! The book will slowly continue and I’ll see what else is out there. I’m also pushing forward to see what I can do to improve life as a whole and further myself in my career. We’ll see what comes up there.

For those of you just starting the 365, good luck. Just remember a few things:

  • Stay with it.
  • Have ideas for “just in case” photos so you can take something every day.
  • Don’t think every photo has to be perfect — it won’t be.
  • Stay with it.
  • Don’t “cheat” yourself. In other words, don’t take 2-3 photos one day and use them for three different days. The idea of the challenge is one photo per day for 365 straight days. Do it right and you’ll feel much better.
  • Don’t take breaks. Don’t take photos for January, take February off and continue in March. You’ve snapped the streak.
  • Stay with it.

It’s a hard project. It will tax you mentally at times and creatively others. But stick with it and it’s well worth it. I love looking back at this set now and remembering things. It’s a diary of your year through photos.

It was fun. But I’m happy I’m done with it!

More later!

Happy New Year!

I’ll take a break from processing some photos to stop here, make a post and wish everyone a Happy New Year.

I hope you all had a safe and fun evening. I’m starting this year the same way I did last year — with a head cold. Alas, this one is with a small dose of laryngitis, too. Blah!

I spent the night at the local First Night and saw a few decent acts and a few bad acts. The fireworks were decent, though quick. Being unseasonably warm didn’t make it a bad night though.

I did have a couple of Guinnesses to ring in the new year. Still doesn’t taste as good as when I was in Ireland!

I can’t believe it’s been nearly six full months since the Ireland trip. It was this time this year that I was counting down the days before I left for the Emerald Isle!

Alas, here starts a new year. It’s starting a little rough with the cold and knowing the local college has far fewer students and classes this semester, thus making it so many adjuncts — myself included — won’t be teaching this semester. It stinks as I’ve enjoyed the past three semesters, but at the same time, hopefully it will push me to see what I can do to further myself. I have some things in the frying pan, but we’ll see how well things cook or if they just burn and need to be thrown away.

Over the next several days and weeks, I’ll be doing some lookbacks on 2010 as well as having some other posts about my Project 365, which I officially completed on New Year’s Eve. It was a tough challenge, but I really enjoyed it. I likely won’t do it again (I rang in the new year by not taking a photo on Jan. 1!)

Anyhoo, I hope everyone had a safe and happy and best wishes to all for 2011.

More later!

Would you do the college thing again?

I always say I’d love to go back to college. And, one day, I plan on going back to get my Ph.D. But when I say I would love to go back to college, I basically mean I’d like to morph myself back to a freshman at a college far, far away.

Then you could really live it up again.

That first day — being left off, being on your own and all. You know, the rush of it all. Dealing with making friends, arguments with roommates, the food and everything else.

Ahhh the freedom!

I’m not so sure anymore.

One of the final writing assignments I gave my classes this semester was an in-class one on how they adapted to college. Being most are first-semester freshmen, it really paints a picture of what many of us went through.

  • The roommate situation stinks.
  • People are loud.
  • The food is awful.
  • Time management.
  • Getting the work done.
  • Living in the dorms is bad.
  • The beds are uncomfortable.
  • The weather rots.

Then add in some other items, like those pledging fraternities or others playing sports and it becomes that much more interesting.

Being a college freshman is tough. It’s that first semester, I feel, that makes or breaks you. It’s not high school anymore and you’re on your own (usually) to the point where you control everything you do.

It isn’t easy.

I won’t lie. I assign a lot of things for them to write. There are five in-class assignments, three out-of-class assignment, a project on postcrossing, a 3-5 page research paper and three books (with quizzes). BUT, outside of the research paper, most of the writing is personal and isn’t designed to stress you out. It’s there to make it so they become better writers by learning how to shape a story, how to work a story and how to make it their own style.

Some adapt, some don’t. But most do what they have to do to get through it and get better.

This last assignment always opens my eyes. It makes me realize how tough it can be to be in these kid’s shoes. They are 18 or 19 years old and have so much on their shoulders and are just starting their life’s journey.

I wish them all well.

But I wouldn’t swap spots with them.

More later!

Photo books

I’ve slowly been working on my annual photo book, which is something I’ve given as a Christmas gift for several years. It’s been a wonderful thing for me to put many photos into one book and give to certain friends and family.

But I got thinking about photography last night on my drive home from work.

Photography really is a major part of my life. I love shooting and seeing the images. I like messing around with photoshop and I’ve started playing with other aspects of my photo world. I’ve started to personally challenge myself, too, which has helped.

Then I got to thinking… why do I take photos?

I realize I do it to document the world around me. It’s not always because I have to or whatever, but it’s so I can remember a lot of things. Sometimes it’s just a few snaps with a point-and-shoot. Other times it’s planned shooting. It can be anything — sports, people, nature, buildings, whatever…

… but it’s a slice of life.

I’ve taken photos in the Wicklow Mountains in Ireland to trails in Delaware County forests. From the lights of New York City, to the coastline of Maine. I’ve shot in bars, in stadiums, in rain, in snow. I’ve shot closeups and macros, and wide-angles tilted shots. I’ve shot in good lighting and bad. I’ve screwed up ISOs, exposures and everything else.

I’ve used top-end digital SLRs to point-and-shoots and camera phones.

But in the end, I shoot photos.

And I love it.

In 33 days (I haven’t done it yet today), I’ll be finished with the Project 365. It’s been a wonderful tool to get me to shoot more, but at the same time it’s dragged on me. I’ve rushed to get photos at 11:50 p.m. because I needed to meet the deadline. I’ve considered time and time again to quit, but I keep plodding along as I want to finish it and know I did it.

But this is it. Never again.

I’ve found it’s become a chore and that’s not what photography should be. There’s a reason I declined the opportunity to shoot photos as a job — I didn’t want it to become that. I shoot for fun and for personal challenges. Do I do it for money sometimes? Sure. But all the time? I wouldn’t want to.

In the coming year, I plan to expand my photo skills (I hope). I’ve looked into a couple online courses to learn a few things. I’ve added several things to my Christmas list that are camera related (a Diana lens, a pinhole lens, some smaller things like a pano piece for my tripod) in the hopes that my free times will include many photo trips, with things such as disc golf and geocaching mixed in.

Which brings me back to my original thought — my Blurb books.

See, each year this book ranges from 80-140 pages. Sometimes it’s square, sometimes it’s landscape. But it’s a year in photos. I try and select my favorites from the year before and have it submitted by early December so they arrive to me on time and I can give them as gifts. People know and expect they are coming and it’s nice to see people enjoy them.

But I’m ready to step it up.

Blurb has the ability to do large books (13×11 or so) in upwards of 440 pages. I’m going to look into working on one of those books. The idea will be to showcase my favorite images since I went digital some 6 or 7 years ago. This project is part of my DayZero project and will likely take me a year or so to do. I’ll have to sift through photos, decide how it will be laid our and decide what images will go into it. When all said and done, there will be probably somewhere in the range of 800-1,200 photos in this book. Some big, some large and some in the middle.

Blurb’s asking price on these books is about $175 or so, so I’ll be saving up for it. These likely won’t be gifts, either, as that’s pretty expensive. But those who appear in the book will have the chance to purchase one, if they so choose.

The first 10 images in the book, if I can pull this off, will be full-sized images with my top-10 list of shots I’ve taken up to that point. It might be difficult, but when I had it in my mind last night, I had 5 or 6 already figured.

Like many of us, I’m just a speck in this place we call the World. It will be nice to see these images all in one place.

More later!