Recording The Light

I’m not usually one for New Year’s resolutions, but I felt it was time to give some thought and inspiration to a new year in photography. So, here are a few directions I want to take in 2011:

1. Picture a Day: In 2007, I first started doing a Picture a Day. That year, I successfully finished the challenge, and was mostly happy with the results. I’ve kept the intent going the following years, but wasn’t too hard on myself for missing a day or two here and there. Recently, I looked back at all the PaD photos from 2007, and realized anew how discipline begets creativity. So, I’ve decided I’ll try again in 2011 to have a Picture a Day strictly every day.
2. Video: None of my current dSLRs (Canon 20D, 40D, 5D) are video capable, and I don’t have any other video capable devices either. While I don’t foresee myself becoming a full blown videographer, the itch of trying myself at video and incorporating some moving footage into my event or wedding slideshow keeps growing. So, finances permitting, I would like to try my hand at some videography. Currently, the new Panasonic GH2 is at the top of my list of candidate cameras. It would also double as a more portable take anywhere still camera.
3. The work of others: There is never enough time to do everything one wants to do, but I feel strongly that I should spend more time looking at the work of other photographers. So, I’ll follow a few more photographers online a little more regularly, perhaps visit a few more exhibits, peruse a few more photography books, etc., etc.
4. Post processing: While I think I have a pretty good working set of post processing skills, one should never become stagnant. I have no intentions of becoming a digital photo artist, but there are a lot of cool filters as well as tips and tricks to be tried. This will also gel well with the first goal, the PaD project. Many times, a long day at my other job doesn’t leave much time to scout out great photo locations, but a bit of creative processing can make all the difference on otherwise perhaps not so exciting photo objects.

Alright, that’s it for now (except for perhaps a goal or two that isn’t meant to be shared). Hold me to it, please, and we’ll look back at the end of the year to see how I fared.

Much has been said and written about the demise of film and the transition to digital photography. Today marks another, for many probably melancholic, milestone: The last roll of Kodachrome film will be developed today.

For more on this, read this article in the New York Times.

California has been firmly in the grip of heavy rain fed by subtropical moisture for days. San Diego hasn’t been quite as inundated as other parts of the state, but even here it’s been raining pretty much non-stop since Friday, and apparently the worst is yet to come.

So, what does one do if one is a photographer? One goes out and takes photos anyhow! Below are a few pictures I just took during a brief walk through our complex. I’ve never seen quite so many hummingbirds on those feeders. Do they not like to fly in the rain? Or do the flowers they feed on not open in the rain? Anyhow, they let me get very close. I only had my 24-70 mm lens with me, and the shots of them in the slideshow are only very mildly cropped!

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