Dead Island

Visiting Toronto Island in the winter is the closest I'll ever get to visiting a ghost town for the time being. I took the trip as an opportunity to practice panoramas (there's only 2). You can't tell from the photos but I did it wrong. Can't wait to go back and try again.

Crunch Time

 

      So, contrary to my previous post I quit my job. It was a terrible idea and a great idea at the same time. Either way it is definitely crunch time now. I am not planning on working in the food industry anytime soon or ever again so time to put my valuable skill to use! Livin' the dream.

There are so many things to do. One of them is to make a to do list. Let's try not to get overwhelmed here 

-Finish website

-Make cards

-Get jobs

-Make Portfolio

-Don't Freak out

I have been shooting here and there. My beautiful friend Alyssa got married this month and I had the pleasure of photographing the event. 

Also I have a watermark now. 

      I also had a fun photo shoot with my good friend Brendan Pinto. He's a stand up comedian and needed head shots but I wanted to get a few shots of him in a play ground. 

I had trouble stylizing these photos. Not sure if I'm 100% happy with them but the shoot itself was fun and a learning experience. 

Escape Plan

Escaping the life I am currently living to live the life I would like to live. 

     This takes time, so much time, especially if I keep dilly dallying. Ideally I would just quit my job and risk poverty to do what I love full time. I'm not such a risk taker, although I admire those who are. I am a planner, I ease into things and that's okay too. I am saving money this summer and come September I will only work weekends freeing up loads of time, but still have a cushion. So it's the safe route, it still has the same destination.

PROJECTS, this is how I have been staying on track just constantly coming up with PROJECTS. 

   I set up a curtain rod on my living room wall to make a DIY backdrop. This is Alex, she's a beaut. She is my first subject I have been able to shoot in my make shift "studio". 

So blue wasn't the best choice of backdrop but I got the fabric at The Salvation Army and it will have it's uses eventually, maybe. It's all a learning process and I really hope Alex will do more modelling for me in the future. 

This is Vance. He's on a similar path to mine but one of those aforementioned 'risk takers.' 

I like working with Vance, he is a very conceptual artist and I am always happy to help make his visions come to life. You can see more of his work here: http://vancehedman.tumblr.com/

     Art and photography have always been so personal to me the idea of collaborating is new but quite a  revelation. There are more PROJECTS and collaborations to come. Big tings, big tings. 

-Amulree

The World is Magic and Everything Beautiful

Why am I doing this? Why have I chosen photography?

                            Sometimes it takes something like a torrential summer rain to remind me.

 

         The world is magic and everything is beautiful. This is a special lens I see the world through; it allows me to appreciate the good and the bad in equal amounts. My patio is flooding, but goddammit if it isn't one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.  I just want the world to see what I see. 

-Amulree 

Hiatus WHAT?

      I have been SO busy for like a month I haven't done anything towards my photography career. On the bright side I am currently living in a new apartment that also happens to be my dream apartment so kudos Lisa.
      I've decided to set some goals for each week, one being spend at least 15 hours a week on photography things and boring stuff like that. My main goal by the end of the summer is to feel comfortable charging lots of money for my services.
      So far this week I entered a photo in a photo contest @ mattgranger.com this month's challenge being 'selfie.' I went on a little photography walk and snapped some shots of my bf. Here are my favourites from those sets of shots.

I actually put some legitimate effort into this photo and I wasn't entirely happy with it, which is funny because the following 2 photos were effortless and I was a little surprised at my own skill.

I don't even remember specifically composing this shot but I really love the way it turned out, it's almost like a painting.

I took this photo and planned to do no editing to it but I was trying to explain HDR to someone and used this photo to try and mimic it. I was really happy with the accidental results, much to my dismay, as I prefer to keep editing to a minimum. This photo may have just changed my mind.

-Amulree 

Big Tings

     I've been really busy lately making big decisions. I've decided to move in with a friend of mine which is a big deal because I thought I would never want to live with someone. I think I've recognized some things about myself (flaws) that would benefit from having a friend around. Mostly that living with some one will force me to be cleanlier and more organized but also my friend and future roommate is on a similar career path and I think we would have a positive influence on each other. So that's happening and I haven't had much time for photography and it pains me every time I say that.
    I am going to enter in this month's photo competition on mattgranger.com This month's challenge is the use of flare and I'm running out of time. I have one photo so far:

   The competition will be done differently this time I believe, due to the large amount of submissions. So there's a chance my photo won't get chosen for a critique. Which is good in a way cause it forces me to try harder. Feel free to let know what you think of this photo and it's use of flare. 

-Amulree

Photographer's Block?

     I guess all creative types go through some sort of block or another. I am getting through this time by re-hashing old works. I have taken to cropping my photos in different ways to change the composition completely. You end up with an entirely new photo for better or worse.  Keeps me busy anyway. Here's an image I was able to make that is completely different from the original.

    I visited home for a few days. I find London to be void of visual interest, but to be honest I didn't look very hard. I spent most of the time soaking in cable t.v.  Here's a shot my sister took, feels very London-y to me. 

Looking at this shot I was wondering how I became so well lit with the sun behind me. It's because I'm facing a white house that is reflecting the light back on to me. Had I realized the effect this made at the time I would've had my sister pose for me in this same spot. 

-Amulree