f.Light Photography

Sweet ‘n Lows

Anne — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 22:28:58 +0000

Last week I had a real bummer of a day. And I mean a truly awful, horrendously bad, ultra uncool day. My mood was out the window, I was crying about the tiniest thing and my poor husband got to hear all my pent up tantrums about my crappy life, my sucky blog, my inability to take photos and my permanent writer’s and photographer’s block (Me, exaggerate? Never!). I think hormones had something to do with it, cuz let’s face it, I’m a woman. But that didn’t make it any more pleasant to be around me.

Anyways, my meltdown sparked some new ideas for my blog, which I want to implement as time goes by. One is a very common theme among blogs and I’ve seen it in various forms already. So I wanted to create my own version and just get into it. My personal highs and lows of the week, or the month or the fortnight, whichever fits best into my current schedule. So in various irregularities I will write about things that make me want to jump up and down and hug the world and those things that should never have crawled out from under the rug where they came from.

Because this is the first one of my high ‘n’ low posts it’s not as refined as it may become over time. Bear with me while I figure this out. So, now onto this week’s “Sweet” and “Lows”:

Sweet

My husband and his endless patience with me when I have my meltdowns
Finally coming up with a design for a client’s website that I don’t hate
The smell of morning coffee (even though I don’t drink it, I adore the smell)

Lows

Meltdowns and insomnia (they do often go hand-in-hand)
Cravings for unhealthy food that won’t go away
Being behind in my 52-week project
Ants. Seriously, why do they have to live EVERYWHERE?

My confession

Anne — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:07:32 +0000

I have a confession to make. And I aint gonna like it (ahh…that sounded so lovely American, like in the movies and cheesy rap songs!). My confession: I’m already 3 weeks behind in posting my 52-week project. I know, I know, it’s a disgrace. But somehow life doesn’t seem to play along with my ideas all the time. No worries, I will catch up. Eventually. I can’t promise the exact time and date, but I will find my photos and I will spread the love. Or the self-portraits. Whichever comes first.

So, meanwhile I’ve been having a look through all my old photos and getting extremely nostalgic about London and all the great photo opportunities I had there. But, no use crying over what was. It’s time to look forward and get into the things I can do here. Like my self-portraits. I wish I had ideas though…lately I’ve been too blank. Wiped clean of ideas. The photographic alternative to writer’s block.

I did however redo my blog design (which I’m quite happy about!). I was getting kinda fed up with the old design, so this is a step into a new era of blogging. At least for me. I also found time to work on an entry for Calvin’s New York Contest, which was alot of fun. I’m quite excited to see some of the other entries (if he posts them).

My newest toy is my new computer. I finally got the much needed upgrade from my really slow PC with a crap graphics card. Now that I’ve upgraded to a quad core processor and 4GB RAM with an awesome graphics card, it’s been a dream working on my stuff. Things load faster, process better and browsing through my photos doesn’t take all day. This will hopefully also increase my productivity and thus my output…so here’s hoping I can show you new photos soon. Above I’ve included some older ones to tide you over until I’ve caught up – if the Windows 7 Bubbles screensaver doesn’t distract me too much! :)

See what I mean?

Wedding experience

Anne — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:10:51 +0000

I’ve had the awesome opportunity to spend some time assisting a professional photographer at weddings. So far I’ve attended two weddings with him and both times I’ve learned alot. Mainly what to look out for when scoping the location for potential “shooting places” but also how to aim the reflectors and the flashes and what poses work well. The one wedding was in the middle of the day with extreme brightness and almost no shade, but in the end we found a few nice spots (although the ants where crawling all over us within seconds). The other wedding almost rained out, but luckily it let up just before the ceremony and held off until the reception, so we did get some lovely pictures with a dramatic sky. It’s always great when the weather suddenly does play along.

At the first wedding I got to shoot some of the reception detail and at the second wedding I had the opportunity to focus on the personal items of the bride. In both cases I got to experiment a bit and I did get some nice pictures. I’ve created two collages, one for each wedding. I also experimented a bit with a new way of branding my photos. Any feedback in that regard is also welcome.

The best part was being allowed to take a few photos with the photographer’s equipment as well – but obviously I don’t have those photos. I love how every little bit of experience teaches me something and how shadowing someone can give me so much benefit as well. And of course it feels good to help someone out.

I don’t know yet whether I’m cut out for the stress of being a wedding photographer, or whether I’m more the assistant/second shooter type, but I’m learning and I’m definitely enjoying it alot. Now if only I had a better lens to work with! I’m still dreaming of owning the 70-200mm Nikon VR lens. Until then my nifty fifty will have to hold down the fort.

Week 23: Eye of the Beholder

Anne — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 09:16:06 +0000

Better late than never. LOL.

Week 22: Valentine

Anne — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 19:04:33 +0000

I couldn’t let this week go by without giving Valentine his due. I must admit that the little I know of where Valentine’s Day originated, comes from vague memories and a few choice “facts” that were mentioned in the movie “Valentine’s Day” (on a side note: Valentine’s Day is a fun movie to watch – I enjoyed it alot.). But still, you can’t escape this day or the celebrations, as every shop will overwhelm you with their choice of chocolates, fluffy toys and flowers.

Back in my teen years I was always painfully unhappy on Valentine’s Day, as no one ever sent me flowers or chocolates (except my mom; but how can that soothe an awkward teens heartache?). These days I hardly think about it. Maybe because I’m happily married and thus I have many more “Valentine’s Days” spread out throughout the year. Maybe because I realised that chocolates make me fat and flowers die, and my collection of stuffed animals is definitely getting out of hand. And maybe because love can’t be measured by what a person does on a single day of the year, and whether I receive tons of things or none at all is no measure of how much I’m loved and how important I am to the people in my life. Seriously, if I were to measure how much I’m loved based on this particular day, I’d probably be depressed 364 days of the year, and 365 days in a leap year. One day should not define our worth or our acceptance by other people. Even if it’s nice to get a sign of that love every now and then.

I’m all for sending cards to our loved ones and telling them what they mean to us, but lets not restrict it to one day a year. Show the love every day! And in that spirit my project photo for this week is stripped of colour in everything else, but what counts: LOVE. Go on, enjoy it, celebrate it, share it!

Power to the people

Anne — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 15:32:26 +0000

I am putting my foot down, or at least my husband’s (very manly!) scent. It symbolizes so much, but I have no idea what. All I know is that I like the smell and the shape is funny. Especially if you were to call it perfume. Now who ever thought of selling perfume in a hand. Ah, well, there’s no accounting for taste. Or shape.

Today I am aggravated by the simple fact that lately I’ve hardly found time to write some decent blog posts. And it depresses me. A little bit. A teeny tiny bit. I wish I had more time to do all the fun things in life and let work slip unnoticed to the floor. Or out the window. I think I’d like that. Windows are wonderful. Especially when they let the cool air in on hot days. Today is one of those insanely hot days where it takes an effort just to lift a finger. Never mind a whole hand.

Randomness. I figure most of us have those times during the day where our thoughts wander aimlessly from subject to subject, never settling for longer than a few iotas of time before they flit off to the next one. Today I had an argument about something with my husband. it wasn’t a big argument, not even an important one…to be honest i can’t even remember what it was about, except that I lost. Which is a good thing. Don’t ask me why. It just is. See, there we are again, losing. This is another subject that my mind settles on for a second before moving off to the thought of dinner and popcorn and a movie. I think work has pretty much lost my concentration for the day. How great that the weekend is here. Now I can let those random thoughts roam randomly, while I sit and ponder what to cook for dinner and how best to do this week’s 52-week photo. Theme? Valentine’s. It’s inescapable. Giving in is the easy thing to do. And requires less thought. Man, I love weekends. And holidays. And maybe Valentine’s Day. If I ever find its true meaning beyond the commercial junk it’s dragging around with it. Hearts and kisses. Here’s one for you weekend: A heart and a kiss.

Week 21: Mosaic

Anne — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 20:58:54 +0000

For this week’s photo I wanted to create a mosaic. I like the idea of cutting up a self-portrait into many pieces and rearranging the pieces into a colourful mosaic. There’s no real deeper meaning in this week’s topic, it was just for fun. And I did enjoy doing it.

So, this week no long explanation, just a cut-up fun picture. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Thanks for reading and I look forward to sharing some more photos with you in the next week. Cheerio!

Week 20: Nails

Anne — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:20:37 +0000

Last week I decided to buy some nail polish. I haven’t used any for the last decade, but decided it was high time that I fancy up my toe nails. At a certain age it becomes imperative to enjoy the little things in life, and that’s what I decided to do. Enjoy colourful nails, splash out and be girly once in a while…which, let me tell you, is so much fun.
Only girls can go out and display outrageous colours on their nails without looking odd, and only girls get to torture themselves in the name of beauty and not find it weird. A few days ago my husband expressed his disbelief at the things women do to themselves to look pretty (i.e. waxing, tweezing, dieting). All these things are such an integral part of our lives as women that we don’t even realise how incongruous it must look to the male species.

But then again, don’t we look fabulous? I guess the results do sometimes justify the pain in getting there.

So, this week it’s about celebrating the feminine side, the love of beauty and colour and life. I dare you to paint your nails (of course only if you’re a lady) and to let it remind you every day to enjoy each second and to make the most of every one.

Week 19: Music

Anne — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 18:45:04 +0000

What would this world be without music? I don’t know if I could survive without it. Ok, maybe not all music. I’m more than happy to get rid of blues, R&B, rap, techno, death metal, jazzy stuff, house, trance and a few other genres. But when it comes to just melodies, the pure sounds of an instrument picking out the notes and stringing them together in beautiful harmonies, that doesn’t compare to anything else.

Since I was little I’ve loved music and singing. I played a few instruments, but never had enough discipline to learn to play the piano, the one instrument I’ve always wanted to be able to play. Often when my sister played on her piano it was wonderful just sitting there and listening. I loved Mozart and Clayderman, and the worship songs we learned at church.

I was always the one to do the singing, to use my voice as the instrument. But for this week I wanted to focus on the instrument I’ve never been able to play properly, but which will always have a place in my heart…and not just because it’s great to photograph! :D So here’s to the piano and music and harmony!

Because pianos have black and white keys, I love having photos with a piano in it in black and white. So this week I went monochrome. Monochromatic piano. Sounds almost like a piece of music…

Week 18: Books

Anne — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 18:32:11 +0000

I love books. No question about it. If I could, I would probably spend all my time stretched out on my bed, or cuddled under the blankets (depending on the weather), devouring my books. It’s not just that I like reading them, I also like owning books. I cannot walk past a second-hand bookstore without pausing and most often entering. I have my favourite authors, my favourite genres and my favourite books. But I am always willing to find new ones. I do prefer older books, those which were written before 1980; somehow back then writers weren’t as vulgar and there was less perversion. Of course I’m speaking primarily about the genres I like to read: romance, thrillers, crime-fiction and humour.

These last couple of weeks I’ve managed to squeeze in quite a few books, even though I’ve been super busy with work and the still ever-present need to find a house. It’s really frustrating, and I guess reading somehow takes my mind off it and gives me a breather. I love that about books. And movies. But that’s another topic for another day.

So, this week’s photo is dedicated to one of my biggest hobbies: READING!