Learn Something!

So Vivienne, photography teacher extraordinaire is offering Light Hunters for the very last time as a monthly e-course! This means that you have the opportunity to take the class on a pay-what-you-can basis. Normally the class is $39 and you can pay the full rate (worth every penny!) or choose a rate that works for you. Either way, it's a a great investment.

This is what I was able to accomplish during Light Hunters when I took the course. I enjoyed seeking out subtle light and capturing it. It added more depth and dimension to my work. 

Also on tap for Autumn, Vivienne is also running Montage, which is an amazing class that teaches you how to combine video footage with still photographs to make wonderful soulful videos. This is a really cool class-I took it over the summer and managed to complete two videos. One is on my "About" page and is autobiographical in nature and the other is on my "Videography" page. It's a celebration of some of the graffiti I love to photograph here in Vancouver. (Both pages are listed on my sidebar, for future reference.) 

Montage is a great class if you are looking for new ways to use your photographs or if you're a creative and want a beautiful and unique way to promote yourself or your business. Some people in my class used what they learned to make meditation videos and one made a video to celebrate her wedding anniversary. The possibilities are endless!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I am now looking forward to taking Vivienne's latest offering, Rose Coloured Glasses which begins next week.

Just so you know, I am telling you all this because I want to. I only recommend classes I've taken with an instructor and love. There's no kickbacks or perks for me in sharing this information, other than having the satisfaction of helping to support an artist and instructor who has changed my artistic practice forever, for the good. 

When I started taking classes with Vivienne, I was not a photographer. I had a cheap, crappy point and shoot camera that was in the process of dying and I'd never taken an artistic photo in my life. I was clueless, but I had a desire to learn and when the opportunity presented itself, I leaped at the chance. You do not need to own a fancy camera or be particularly techie. If you have a desire to learn, you have everything you need. Whether you use a camera or just your iphone, it doesn't matter. Vivienne's classes are about playfulness and experimenting. She took someone who was completely green and transformed me into someone who is deeply in love with photography. 

She's just THAT GOOD. 

The Most Beautiful Day

 False Creek, Vancouver, BC, Canada

I am going to remember Monday as the most beautiful day of late spring. Everything seemed sharper, more in focus and brighter. I love watching the change in the light from season to season. Every season's light has a different hue. Thanks to Vivienne, I've become a light hunter.

Science World got a face lift after 25 years and it looks all the better for it. It was built for Expo '86 and served as Sochi 2014 House during the Olympics. 

Dragon Boats

This would make a pretty blog banner, if I were so inclined.

If I'm quiet, it's because I've got alot going on right now. I'm finishing up the last week of Montage and working on a number of projects. 

Farewell Spring 2012, you were a good one! 

Once Upon A City

So here's my second Montage video. This one uses only stills, but I really wanted to make a video about my love for graffiti, so there you have it! Some of the images are created from photographs I've taken and then finessed through the magic of post-processing and the rest are just as I found them. 

I'll have to make a page on my blog sidebar to house my Montage work. It's highly addictive and I see more movies in my future! In the meantime, I've put a link button for my Vimeo channel on the sidebar.

Montage: Week 1

So ages ago, I drove across the line to the US to purchase this little gizmo, a Flip video camera. I've used it a bit since then, mostly shooting tutorials, flip throughs of some of my ROD journals and clips of Indy swimming, which I've patched together using Windows Movie Maker, which I really knew very little about. Other than that, my Flip has mostly sat in a drawer in my studio. Well, no more!

This week, Vivienne's new class, Montage launched and I've been working hard (or if I'm being truthful here, obsessively) on putting together my first video. At the beginning, I was kind of freaking out, not sure what I was going to do. This is usually what happens when I step outside my comfort zone but I take it as a sign that whatever's about to happen is going to be GOOD! After much hemming and hawing on Monday, I suddenly knew what I was going to do when I woke up on Tuesday. Sometimes, you just have to trust in the process.

I've learned a few things this week about Movie Maker, not the least of which is that it's possible to save something in such a way that you simply cannot revisit it later for further edits. Ask me how I know this. Yes, I did the impossible, somehow. Lesson learned. Fortunately, I was 99.99% finished when this happened, so essentially, it wasn't the end of the world. There are a couple things I would have like to have changed (which 1000's will pass and never know) but what's done is done and I'm letting it go. 

What I've learned this week about the process of making a soulful video is that for me, the magic comes in syncing audio to the video and stills. I love finding the most effective way of illustrating the lyrics, arranging things so that the rise and fall of the music drives the story and selecting the right transitions to underscore the important moments. It's exciting stuff!

My classmates have started posting their videos and they are so unique and interesting and beautiful. It's inspiring to catch a glimpse of who they are and to experience their stories in this way. 

Here's a peek at what I was able to create:

29 Days of Magic

I'm gearing up for another fabulous course with Vivienne, which starts in a matter of days! I am so excited about Montage, which is about working with video and stills to tell your own story. I'm a little nervous because this is a bit outside my comfort zone, but I'm excited to learn new things. The desire to learn new things always trumps the nervousness though, thankfully!

Meanwhile, I've been working on a few more photographs. The one above was taken at Burnaby Village Museum. I loved the look of the prices poking up inside an old cash register. I took this one while I was there for the End of Day Celebration. Once upon a time, I was a volunteer tour guide there while visiting BC on summer vacation. It was fun because I got to dress up in 1920's costumes every day for a month and teach people from around the world about local history.

This shot comes from the Downtown East Side. Vivienne recently held a class at Opus (a local art store) on double exposures and I discovered the lane ways nearby were full of graffiti. You'll remember me saying that my new benchmark for true friendship is that a real friend will say "YES!" when you say "Let's go shoot in a filthy alleyway." Curiosity also trumps trepidation.

May has been such a crazy month. I feel like I've lived 1000 lifetimes in the span of the last 29 days. Seth commented the other day that I must feel changed. Yes, in many ways I do. I'm still processing everything I learned and thinking about the important stuff. Really, it was almost too much goodness to take in at once.  

Yesterday was also a wonderful day. I had the pleasure of meeting Andrea Bundon, who is a PHD student at UBC. She launched a blog about disability and sport, called Athletes First some time ago, as part of her research. I've been following along, learning alot from the posts and people's responses and I've commented myself from time to time. Andrea asked me if I would be willing to do an interview with her about the my participation on her blog and what my thoughts were on a number of topics related to disability and spot. I was happy to help.

It turns out she's an incredibly interesting and lovely person and I had a great time having a very thoughtful discussion with her. It's always wonderful when you connect with other kindred spirits! (She's also a prairie girl!) I came away feeling like I'd learned so much and I'm excited to see where her research takes her. Andrea has kindly invited me to do a guest post at some point and I'm really excited about that!

Funnily enough, my day wasn't over after Andrea and I talked for 2 hours. Tiina, who is working the the MS Society's local chapter contacted me last week asking if I would be willing to do an interview. They want to feature me as a member of distinction on the MS Society website. So...there was two more hours of interesting conversation with Tiina who is also lovely. It was wonderful spending time with her.

I feel deeply grateful for everything that has happened in my life in the last 29 days. At times, I feel kind of emotional about it. Like I said, it's been alot to take in and I'm still processing. It will be good to turn inward for the next while and work on Montage. I think the timing is perfect.

Fait Accompli

1. broken glass (C), 2. Only in Vancouver (C), 3. barnicles, 4. 1152 (C), 5. Deep Cove (C), 6. Silent Sentries (C), 7. November (C), 8. Skydiving (C), 9. Love you (C), 10. Antique Wooden Chest, 11. Stop (C), 12. 22, 13. East Van, 14. warehouse (C), 15. Hand , 16. Life Is Good, 17. Where Old Couches Go to Die (C), 18. walking , 19. warehouse wall 1 (C), 20. Metal (C), 21. Self-Portrait, 22. Funky Phone , 23. celebrating spring, 24. Fragile (C)

So this is the last week of Swan Dive. The month flew by so quickly. I managed to create 24 images (plus a few with family, not pictured here) in 27 days, which I think is pretty good. It would have been more, but I got really sick over the weekend (migraine, blurred vision, allergies & sinus pain-oh joy!) and spent the lion's share of the last 6 days in bed. 

I'm taking a bit of a break in May, which is chock full of events-Seth will be here for his book tour, then the Sketchbook Project is here, then the gallery show I'm in is opening and then I'll be doing the Rick Hansen 25th Anniversary Relay. Add in a civic holiday and regular life stuff and well...it's really busy!

June will be amazing because I'll be taking Vivienne's new course, Montage, which I hear sold out really quickly. I'm really excited about it because I will get to work on my video editing skills and learn how to combine stills with moving video. It's going to be an interesting way to share, once I learn how! I've made videos before-just quick ones with my Flip camera to share my journals and things like that, but making an artistic video is a whole different ballgame. I'm always up for a challenge and I look forward to the process.

Onward!

P.S. I have made 99 sales in my Etsy shop.
Whomever makes order #100 is going to get some extra goodies!
Ready? Set? GO!

Inspired!

April has flown by so quickly and we're now in the final week of Swan Dive. *Boggles* As always, my classmates have been hugely inspiring, so I wanted to share some of their amazing work. (You can click on the credits below to see the full size images.)

1. ledger, 2. Walk Away..., 3. still life with pears, 4. Spoon with texture, 5. close up, 6. Happy, 7. Pink, 8. Trees in mist, 9. SwanDiveTruck 4-1-12, 10. The knowing., 11. Gates with texture, 12. play, 13. color correction bluegrad, 14. SF Pier with Nasos3 texture, 15. Untitled, 16. Orchard as painting

Vivienne McMaster is offering a brand new class, Montage, which begins in June. It's about learning to create videos, by combining video footage, still images and words to tell your story. I like the idea of adding another layer to what I've already learned in the last year and a half about photography. It's another opportunity to step outside of my comfort zone and I'm excited about it. I'm signing up! Vivienne is offering an early bird special price to those who sign up before the end of April, so now's a good time to go check it out!