Friday, July 31, 2009

Day 142- Friday, July 31, 2009

Day 142:


Well, I got my new lens today. I actually didn't get what I planned on. The Nikon 10-24 mm was suggested over the 12-24. Either way, it's a sweet new lens. Super wide angle, very sweet.

This lens certainly does some whacky stuff. Love the results!

Anyways, I'm pretty sick, and super exhausted, but I have something to show you all:


Goodnight,

Chris

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Day 141- Thursday, July 30, 2009

Day 141:


So this might be the last of the B&W shots from the mill to get posted - at least for a little while. We shall see.

I'm probably most protective of this shot too; I didn't really want to let it go just yet, but such is fate. I love this photograph. When I get the negs scanned at full resolution ( the lab only scans at 72 dpi ), I want to make a large print from this. It's gonna look hot.

So yeah, that's it. Kodak CN400 ISO B&W film, with no adjustments from photoshop. I like this film, but I'm still pretty new to it. I'm looking forward to shooting some special B&W that I got soon.

Well friends, that's it for tonight. I spent most of the evening at my computer organizing external hard drives and the computer so I can switch out my existing internal hard drive for a bigger one. I also started feeling sick today (gross throat), so I drank a huge pot of green tea to myself. Let's all send Chris healthy vibes!!!

Okay, ramble-city here,

Goodnight!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Day 140- Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Day 140:


Well here it is, a little late: The Compound, self titled album, released July 21, 2009.

This is the first release by Georgetown three-piece band, The Compound. I designed the whole package and took the inside cover photos. This was a pretty fun job, and I'd like to do it some more if possible. Tell your friends!

Check out http://www.myspace.com/thecompoundband to check them out.
Buy their cd too! $9.99 at CD Plus Georgetown, or $10.00 from the band.

Hope you enjoy!

Chris



Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Day 139- Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Day 139:


Another oldie - but recently old, from Day 114.

I had originally looked over some of these shots, and it took me a while to get them all edited and delivered to Chris and Chi. This one is dope though. I feel like it's maybe missing "something"; it seems like maybe a bit too much negative space, but whatever. I still dig it.

I spent most of the night reading "Canadian Small Business Kit For Dummies" and working on my first month's operating budget in Excel. I had Kraft Dinner for.... dinner. It's been busy.

I promise I'll shoot some new stuff soon. If all goes according to plan, I'll have a new lens - Nikon 12-24, f4 - to test out this weekend. Super stoked!

Anyways,

Goodnight!

Love

Monday, July 27, 2009

Day 138- Monday, July 27, 2009

Day 138:


It's a shame that I don't have much time to write about this one, because I'm really cranky about having to post it right now!

Okay, so it's crazy late and I'm still up. I've been going a little nuts with all the stuff I have to get done to prepare for the Humber job. This shot is one of my favorites from the film I shot at the mill. I wanted to spend a bit more time working on it, and give it a proper write up before posting, but alas, here you go. Basically I'm just feeling a little protective over it; not totally ready to let it go out into the world just yet. And I mean, I didn't HAVE to post it tonight. But I did. So there you have it; the duality of man... bickering with himself. No I'm not. Yes you are!

Am I getting rambly?

Well good. Hope you're all having a lovely evening. I certainly am.

Goodnight!

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Day 137- Sunday, July 26, 2009

Day 137:


More film. I just can't stop.

I shot a roll of Ilford 3200 B&W last night at Christian's party and I'm hoping it turns out okay. I'm really stoked to see if I got decent shots or whether they're too dark and blurry. Beer and photography don't always go so well together, you know?

Anyways, here's your daily dose. I really wish I could develop my own stuff because I would shoot film 24/7.

Night,
Love


Saturday, July 25, 2009

Day 136- Saturday, July 25, 2009

Day 136:

More film!

So here's the deal. I've had a pretty sizable backlog of film and digital shots to post lately. It's a shame to shoot new stuff every day when there are so many good shots that get passed over. The situation is further complicated by my shooting film now; it's highly unlikely that I'll shoot entire rolls and have them developed all in one day. It'd be a shame for all those shots to not make it onto 365.

That being said, I'm not changing the rules permanently or stopping my daily shooting. There will just be times for exceptions - in this case, a longer stretch.

So, that's that. I'm still shooting a ton, and lovin' every minute of it. Thank you 365!

Love

Friday, July 24, 2009

Day 135- Friday, July 24, 2009

Day 135:


The lovely and talented Melissa Di Pasquale - having a little fun after her shoot today.

This post is inspired by several of the super nice, light mid-toned B&W shots that Miladams has done. Here, check some out!


So anyways, total respect. And goodnight. And sleep well. And dream safe.

Love


Thursday, July 23, 2009

Day 134- Thursday, July 23, 2009

Day 134:


A reminder of the ugly side of "civilization"; one day they'll get their revenge.

Another film shot - I promise I won't run out of these too soon!
Sorry to those with sensitive eyes and fragile souls. No more raccoon roadkill shots so don't worry.

Night

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Day 133- Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Day 133:


This is one of my favorites from the mill.

Enjoy

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Day 132- Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Day 132:


Okay, so shots from the paper mill might be back on the menu. I got my film developed from the trip, and it's friggin beautiful!

The tonality, the clarity, it's what I've been craving!

This shot is completely unedited too; straight scan from the negs.

Enjoy and keep your eyes peeled for more!

Monday, July 20, 2009

Day 131- Monday, July 20, 2009

Day 131:


Woo, nice and clean. This is the shot I was aiming for last night, but I didn't have the time, patience or wherewithal to get what I wanted. SO, here it is today. Again, the MacGyver set up was sweet. I would have taken a photo of the setup, but my camera on the tripod was literally supporting an important part of the lighting - just imagine wedging a diffuser panel in between the top of your camera and the ceiling; pretty much sums it up.... sort of.

Goodnight!


Sunday, July 19, 2009

Day 130- Sunday, July 19, 2009

Day 130:


Okay so this took waaaay longer to get prepared than it did to shoot. I blame indecision. Or wait, was it doubt? I can't decide now and I doubt I'll ever know.

So anyways, I hereby declare myself the MacGyver of self-portraiture; I rigged up yet another hilarious looking yet fairly functional little lighting set up. It's amazing what one can do with so little! But really, I'm really tired of not having some of the right tools. I foresee a pretty sweet trip to Henry's or Vistek soon.

So yeah... I buzzed my head tonight. It was pretty... spur of the moment. There were a few hairy moments too (pardon the pun), during the operation. My brother the barber said, "uuuh, shit", and I said, "uuuh, excuse me?"

Uh-oh, isn't exactly code for, "I'm doing a fantastic job!"
But in the end, all went well and I'm pretty stoked.
Plus it's only hair...geeze, it grows back, and it's a waste to take it all so seriously.
Really, Nick did a fantastic job; the uh-oh moments were pretty funny.

SO, that was my adventurous evening.
Hope you all had equally thrilling nights!

Be cool and try and avoid catchin a case of the Mundaaays!

LOVE!

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Day 129- Saturday, July 18, 2009

Day 129:


Today I finally made the trek to the Humber Arboretum to do some long overdue photography. Unfortunately, the trip was a bit of a bust. I was there for about three hours and only took about 10 photos. I mostly sat around near the back of the gardens waiting/hoping for deer to show up; unfortunately, Life didn't provide.

It's okay though. Sometimes, what is supposed to be an exercise in photography (or anything really) turns into an exercise in something equally important, in this case, patience, determination, gumption, and overall willpower. I still managed to get a few good shots and I'm pleased. And besides, I spent three beautiful hours enjoying nature - can that really be considered a bad thing?

Hope you're all doing really well.

Goodnight

Friday, July 17, 2009

Day 128- Friday, July 17, 2009

Day 128:


Love

Goodnight

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Day 127- Thursday, July 16, 2009

Day 127:


One more from the mill - maybe my last from this adventure.

Today was a pretty good day at work; a very productive evening at home; and a tough night.

Things are pretty all over the place but hey, that's life, better get used to it.

Goodnight

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Day 126- Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Day 126:


Yet another shot from the Georgetown paper mill.

Also, some good news: I've secured a huge job with Humber College, starting in late August and ending sometime next June. The goal of the project is to create a photo bank of high quality images of student life at both campuses, for use in publications, brochures, presentations, etc etc. I think a book might also be in the cards! This is a huge opportunity for me to kick-start my career, and it's going to open a lot of doors for me [literally] as I'll be invited to pretty much every and any important function I can attend. The opportunities to network and meet important people throughout the school are huge, and of course, it's going to put me through second year and pay my rent... and then some.

My goal for the next few weeks or so is to register a business, get some business cards going and get letterheads and stuff like that done up. Also, I'm pretty sure I need a crash course in the basics of running a small business. Learning a ton more about Adobe Lightroom wouldn't hurt either as I'm pretty sure that will be the platform on which the image bank is created.

Anyways, this is a huge deal and I'm super excited. I may not have much of a social life next year but I'm gonna work damn hard to make a name for myself.

Hope you're all doing well! Enjoy the shot and see you tomorrow night!

Love

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Day 125- Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Day 125:


Well, this is my mountain - this is what I'll be reading in the near future, tentatively in order from top to bottom. I'm actually almost finished the top book, Love In The Time Of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, which I have to say is an incredibly fantastic book. My post from Day 102 was an excerpt from the book, something that hit a tender spot for me. The whole book has actually hit pretty close to home so it's been an incredible read.

I'm probably most excited to read American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis, as it is one of my favorite movies and I've been waiting a long time to get it. I'm not a big fan of horror for the most part, as it's typically pretty devoid of anything important to say, but American Psycho is an exception, and I'm fully stoked to finally read it. Also, if anyone has a copy of Rules of Attraction by Ellis, I'd love to borrow it!

Anyways, before I go on, rambling about all of these hopefully fine novels, I'm just gonna say that Project 365 fully supports literacy; put down that tv remote, sign out of Facebook, and grab a Realbook!

...but not Twilight....

Goodnight friends!

Monday, July 13, 2009

Day 124- Monday, July 13, 2009

Day 124:


Here's another from the paper mill yesterday. With so many good shots, it's a shame sharing only one.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Day 123- Sunday, July 12, 2009

Day 123:


Today, Janice, Em, Bren and I missioned to the Georgetown paper mill to do some exploring and shooting. It was pretty dope and I got some nice shots. I'm glad I have friends like Emilie to push me to do stuff like this too; thanks Em.

And thanks to Brenden for lookin' fly and being patient posing for me. I took my new 35mm too, so I can't wait to get my film developed!

Anyways, it's been a crazy long weekend and I'm pretty pooped.

Night all.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Day 122- Saturday, July 11, 2009

Day 122:


Emilie, Brenden, Janice - sharing the love.

Another family visit weekend. It's been so nice; I miss this too....

Sigh...

Goodnight all.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Day 121- Friday, July 10, 2009

Day 121:


A photo from March:

I miss this.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Day 120- Thursday, July 9, 2009

Day 120:


So this is the third day of a hectic, rough week. Things are looking better; tomorrow is Friday, but I'm just really exhausted. I want a vacation.

This is a photo of a photo, distorted through the shooting process. I want to experiment more with shooting through distorted optics, using imperfect situations to explore the creative journey.

I promise I'll write more in these posts soon.

Goodnight.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Day 119- Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Day 119:


I pulled something old off the hard drive today. This is from '06. I've had a pretty awful day.

Night

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Day 118- Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Day 118:


This quick snap is inspired by the events of tonight. It's quick and dirty, and I don't want to speak in great length about why I'm so pissed, but I figured this'd be a good photo-representation of my mood.

So basically, my point is this:

Money, makes you act like a stupid ass sometimes.

In this world, contracts and agreements are abstract. It's your word that matters most.

Om Mani Padme Hum

Monday, July 6, 2009

Day 117- Monday, July 6, 2009

Day 117


Dinner! - Again with the eating lukewarm food...

This was sweet though. I didn't really know I wanted to shoot it until I got all the makings of the meal out on the counter. I suddenly had this vision of catfish served on a bed of rice... I don't know, don't judge me if that's not actually a very aesthetically pleasing concept; I'm no food stylist. But anyways, I think it went rather well. I managed to time all the cooking pretty well, got everything off the stove and under a light, shot, and was eating in about 15 minutes.

Love that d.o.f...

Goodnight friends. I hope my photos are making you hungry!

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Day 116- Sunday, July 5, 2009

Day 116:


So, this is 73 rolls of assorted 35mm film. If the avg. roll is 8 dollars, that's $584.00 - but don't worry Mom and Dad, I didn't pay anything near that. Stacy Weber, huge gratitude to you for this, and good luck with the stray cat fundraising.

Now all I need is my camera! It should be arriving in a few days.

Night all!

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Day 115- Saturday, July 4, 2009

Day 115:


LUNCH!

When you don't know what to take photos of, just cook something! (I bet Mr. B Wilson would agree with me.)
On that note, I must say, aspiring food photographers must never get to eat anything fresh off the grill. This isn't the first time I've sacrificed the hot, juicy, freshness of my food to take photos.
But the satisfaction of creativity, ambition and productivity realized is definitely a good nutritional supplement. I think I can survive the cold food.

Have a good day friends.

Chris

Friday, July 3, 2009

Day 114- Friday, July 3, 2009

Day 114:


Man, tonight was damn nice.

Several days ago I decided I wanted to do some portraits with my good friend, Mr. Chris Rogers and his lovely band-mate Chi. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out in terms of final product vs. initial vision. I do wish I had some more lights though... sigh... in good time.

Hope you enjoy!

Love,

Chris

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Day 113- Thursday, July 2, 2009

Day 113:


Alright friends, I gotta lay it out today:

Life can be pretty rough, and there's a lot of pain and heartache coming at you from left, right, up, down, behind you, everywhere. It's enough to make your head spin sometimes.

But things aren't getting worse. You think cancer is a huge problem? Or the end of oil? A thousand years ago, maybe people DID have less cancer, but they also had a 30 year life expectancy. And oil? Sweet god, they didn't HAVE it back then.

No friends, things aren't getting worse, they are getting better. WE'RE just getting worse at coping with the times when our expectations don't meet that brilliant ideal we had.

So, to those constantly miserable folk, whose phone isn't fast enough, whose morning commute is too slow, maybe your "fml", "life sucks" attitude isn't caused by weakness, or a crippled psyche, but by your own lack of perspective. You're just being dumb and ignorant, that's all, and I wish it was more acceptable to say so.

Attitude is created by the self, not by external forces. CHOOSE to be a positive person in the face of the negative; it is possible!

Join the cause and help stop dumbness!

Here are a few suggestions:

1. When faced with a negative situation of the human kind, ie. someone is being a douche, DON'T RESPOND IN KIND. DOUCHE + DOUCHE = TWO DOUCHES, NOT A BETTER PLANET.

2. When troubled by your own mistakes, DON'T MAKE MORE! Or, if that is unavoidable, contribute a good healthy portion of your life's energy to helping others! As much as we may all want to believe it, life doesn't have to be a ZERO SUM GAME. Quit being selfish!
Besides, the zero sum game attitude is exhausting!

3. If troubled by philosophical, metaphysical, existential, nihilistic, 3:37 a.m cold sweat, what-the-hell-happens-when-I-die panic,
Step 1: Calm down and breathe
Step 2: You are not alone!
Step 3: Call a friend or go somewhere with other people, and TALK about that stuff. It IS important so don't be shy!
Step 4: If no one wants to talk about it, call ME! I DO!

So those are three situations and suggestions I can offer. I know there's lots more super complicated, painful issues to deal with in life, but everything has an opposite; everything in this world has an equal force to balance it. You just have to be smart enough to find it.

"Pain is mandatory, suffering is optional"
"Perspective, use it or lose it."

We'll all get through this is we're just smart enough to make the right choices.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Day 112- Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Day 112:


Happy Birthday Canada!

However, I am aware that this photo has nothing to do with celebrating this glorious day. I feel a little self-conscious about that, but I don't see any fireworks out yet and I wanted to get this show on the road. Plus, Brenden did such a good job cooking breakfast for us, I couldn't not take pictures of the delicious food. Bob Marley makes absogoddamnlutely wonderful breakfast tunage too. I couldn't have asked for a better morning...

Goodnight!