One Year

I can't believe it has been a year since my last post, and what a crazy year it has been.  There have been new people, places and things in my life and every day it is surprising me more and more. I've changed locations, jobs and overall the way I have been living. I have lived, loved, and lost, and am starting to make the toughest decisions I have been faced with yet. Who am I, where do I belong, what is my purpose? I don't know what the future holds. I can't know. I think I need that uncertainty in my life right now. I am not settled.

Gallery and Gifts Photo Contest

A local gallery is holding a photo contest soon. I am currently working on photos to enter. Out of the seven photos you are allowed to enter I have 3 done. Stoked to print the rest.

New Speedlights

Just got three 430 ex II speedlights and got to shoot with them last night. So stoked to not have to run extension cords every time I want to take a photo.

Photos from high school

Found them!!!! so incredibly stoked I came across these photos. I thought they were long lost. These are scanned prints of photos I printed while in high school!

Warrior

If you haven't seen this movie I would highly recommend it. One of my new favorites. Truly inspiring!

C-41 photos

In anxiousness, while saving up money for my dark room supplies, I bough a couple rolls of C-41 process black and white film and got it developed at the local Walgreens.

Soap Box Derby In Stallion Springs

Miguel and Dan working through some car problems

Apple Orchard in Tehachapi

Best apples and Cider around

Self Portrait

WWU students in trouble.

Garage sale

I have always been a fan of garage sales. It is interesting to me to see what things people are willing to part with in order to clear up a little bit of space. Like shopping in thrift stores it is hard not to find something unique and special because each item generally meant something to someone at some point.  

I was on my way to my sisters house one summer day when I came across a garage sale. Well, actually I think it would be inaccurate to call it a garage sale. Everything on the lawn was free, if you could use it you could have it. I search through a bunch of records and boxes of random things with no luck. It was turning out to be a waste of time. I was about to leave when I came across a black case that I had previously overlooked. I popped open the button on the case to reveal a 35mm SLR camera. I didn't know how to use it or if it even worked for that matter. All I knew was that It looked cool and I was going to take it home with me.

A few weeks later it was time for me to start choosing classes for my next year in school. I needed an art credit and the idea of painting a picture sounded intimidating. I saw a photography class and thought that would be a fun and easy way to earn my art credit. I didn't know if my new camera would work or if I would have to use my moms camera but I thought I would give it a shot. How hard could it be?

The first half of the semester was unbearable! We would come into class each day and open our text books. We were learning about the history of photography, the parts of the camera, and everything in between. I almost wanted to drop the class. It was neither easy or fun. I paid little attention. 

Finally after a month of learning from the book, things started to get better. Our first photo project was to make a pinhole camera and shoot photos around the school. I wish I still had the photos I took from that. I tried going outside and taking a photo of the rubber diamond texture on the outside of one of the garbage containers. Those didn't turn out great so I ended up taking a photo of my chucks. We then had to develop three copies of our photos. One that was developed correctly, one over developed and one under. I had no Idea what to do in the darkroom. I didn't pay much attention while we were learning about it. I just watched what others were doing and followed suit. 

It was then time to bring in the camera! I still had no idea if mine worked or what to really expect. I brought my camera to my teacher to see if she thought it would work and would be adequate for the class. I was stoked to find that it was a decent camera in working condition. My teacher set the settings on my camera for general outdoor shooting and sent me to my seat. I watched as everyone was loading there film and tried to emulate what I saw. It was finally time to go shoot.

I only remember two photos that I took with that first role. I went to my little brothers middle school football game and remember taking photos of one of the endzone markers with the scoreboard in the back. One had the marker in focus and the other one had the scoreboard. This was  my first time witnessing depth of field. It made much more sense through the view finder than on paper. I returned to school with my full role exposed and ready to develop.  Stoked!

Once again, after paying little notice to the teachers demonstration, I was relying on those around me to figure out what to do. It was much harder this time because I couldn't see what was going on. not only that but there were about ten people in a tiny little closet all trying to do the same thing. After quite a struggle I finally got my role of film in the tank with one other students. We took turns agitating the developer in thirty second increments, then the same with the stop bath and fixer.  I couldn't wait. 

Finally after rinsing it was time to pull out the film. My roll was one of the last done so those around me were already looking at there negatives speculating what the final print would look like. I unraveled my role to reveal a dull grey role of film. No markers, no scoreboard, no photos. I wanted to cry. Even the role of film that was in the same tank as mine turned out. I didn't understand. I took my negatives to my teacher and asked for an explanation. She had me grab my camera to see if it might be broken. After a quick inspection no malfunctions were found. she then told me to grab a role of film and show her how I loaded it. Here is where the problem lied. I had only tried to lay the film over to the other side and did not realize that there was a notch that you fed the film into. 

I learned from that quick and haven't loaded a camera wrong since. From there I was taking photos like crazy. I would shoot anything and everything. I still needed to watch how those around me did things. especially in the dark room but that worked out fine for me. I would put my paper in the same dunk trey as someone else and move it to the next one as they did. The more I printed photos the more I liked it and the more I got used to the process. It was finally the class I had hoped for, I loved it. 

It is now seven years later and I am just getting back into it. I was surprised how much I remember from that class. Things that I didn't even pay attention to or bother to learn somehow got imprinted into my mind. I remember that my teacher set my cameras shutter speed to 125. I remember what aperture meant, the rule of thirds, darkroom processes, variable contrast filters, depth of field and how the f-stop effects it, and so much more. I honestly don't know how it all came back to me. I will never forget the excitement I had watching my first pinhole photo develop or the feeling you get right after taking a photo knowing what it looks like and imagining the final print. I see a whole new world through my view finder. I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to learn about photography and how to print photos. I now have my own dark room and am very excited for what the future brings.