Honing your perspective

Well, its tax return season and many of us are trying to decide what to spend our returns on. Pay off bills, buy a new grill or some camera gear, heck maybe even a tv...depends on how good Uncle Sam was to you this year. While I'm sad to say that Uncle Sam's paycheck did not bring with it any new camera gear, it did bring me my first month's subscription to Lynda.com. For anyone interested in learning new software (aka Photoshop, Lightroom, Flash, etc) it is absolutely incredible. The site has instructional videos on just about any piece of software you can imagine from Vista (God knows why you would want to learn how to use that!) to iWork to the aforementioned Lightroom. Each "course" is led by a single instructor.

The Lightroom tutorial I am currently taking is led by a photographer named Chris Orwig (I highly recommend checking out his work at www.chrisorwig.com). Every once in a while he breaks away from the lesson to offer a creative tip. The one that has stuck with me the most has to do with reducing the noise in our photography. Now, what he meant by this was shooting for quality, not quantity. With the advent of the digital camera, it can be so easy for us to start firing away without too much of a thought for the photography we are trying to capture until we go to upload the photos to our computer.

With this in mind, I set out prior to the first 7:30 sunset of the year to take exactly 3 pictures. I know, I know...there's 4 pictures posted. The truth is, I'm a horrible person and I took 5 pictures. So sue me, I did pretty good at restraining myself. It was amazing how difficult this actually was for me to do! I felt this flutter in my chest every time I went to snap the shutter, as if each click was draining my possibilities for churning out a successful photo. I'm pretty pleased with the end result though and I found that the whole process had me thinking spring cleaning thoughts about reducing the noise in our lives. Now is when I'm supposed to go off on a rant about how we have too much technology in our lives...but hey, I'm on a laptop and I listen to an iPod about 6 hours a day. I think the key those is to find some time and some way to clear our heads and really hash out what we are looking for, even if it means missing a few shots along the way, because, hey, those weren't the ones we wanted anyway.

Signs of Spring (In which Matt refutes all requests and names his own damn blog)

Whoa...2 posts IN ONE DAY!???? Please say I'm dreaming. You aren't...this is real.

Alright everyone, the votes are in...okay, just my vote is in, but thats all that really matters. The winner is..Life Through the Lens. You love it? Thank you SO MUCH! Feel free to stop by where I will be offering free advice on nothing that pertains to anyone. Or you can just come and hang out, but please please please...this is very important. Bring chips. Seriously, I'm starving.

So, being that I am at home this week, I decided to venture out into the Great Beyond (namely the outdoors...namely my neighborhood) in search of Spring-like, colorful images. This request was put forth by the artist formerly known as Carmen de Couto (or as of 150 years ago DeCouto). Many of you know her by her stage name, Crouching Flamingo. Being that the floods have arrived, it was a very grey (gray?) and not so springy day outside. Yet the challenge was before me. It had to be answered.

Several events took place that I have been too shy to try. The first was I approached an elderly man walking down the street to ask him if I might have the pleasure of photographing him. Of this, he understood nothing. Turns out he didn't speak english (or so he said...I think). I tried to convey the message by other means, but without any luck, so reluctantly I stepped away from the REALLY COOL looking elderly man and stopped cornering him against a fence (not really).

The second thing I have never done was to knock on some random persons door to ask them if I could photograph a statue (sorta) of a flower in their back yard. They weren't home, so I just took some shots through their fence (not posted bc I haven't finished editing the shot I had to take from 16 miles away).

Well everyone, hope you enjoyed my ramblings, but I need to get back to work. Lunch break is over.

***Note from the author: This post and the previous were both written under the effects of enormous amounts (for me) of caffeine. Don't do drugs.

My Office (In which Matt takes requests for a NEW BLOG NAME!?)

Wow, what a great week. Work is pretending that everyone has the ebola virus this week and making all (read "some") of us work from home. That said, this week has been a dream come true. Please note the picture of my new office (Why yes, that IS a one-of-a-kind Thomas the Tank Engine blanket, thank you for asking). Kind of thinking about licking raw chicken every Sunday if it gets me this!

Now, on to more important matters. This blog seems to be morphing into something other than its original intent. Though I still plan to provide regular to irregular updates on the family and its most detailed inner-workings, the blog has begun to take on more of a "photographique" (use THAT word next time you're out. That will get some heads turning...guaranteed) tone. In addition, my lovely, multi-talented wife is opening up her own shop on all things fashion, cosmetology, etc. (More on that to come later.) With that in mind, I have decided to open up the phone lines for BLOG NAME REQUESTS!!! That's right, whatever you want to name this blog, so it shall be (All requests subject to denial and/or flat-out rejection) If you want me to call it "Floob-bubber-banderson" or "This blog sucks why would I EVER recommend a name!?" I will do it (maybe) Ready..Set..GO!

Inspiration & Revelations

Lately, I have been trying to inspire myself. I have found myself slipp
ing into that nasty habit we all can fall into at times: dreaming without acting. I have been doing a lot of research on photography, but guess what I haven't been doing much of...you guessed it. So, I've vowed to take my camera EVERYWHERE. Now your probably thinking, "Matt, you can't take it EVERYWHERE." To that I say, you're right. There are some parts of my day that nobody would ever want to photograph...especially not me. To quote The Princess Bride, "Let me explain, no no there is too much, let me sum up." I am rearranging my priorities in life (after spouse and child, of course). Getting out to practice the art and inspire my creative spirit needs to take precedent before many of the things I've spent my time doing (mainly dishes). Thus ends Revelation #1.

Revelation #2: You can practice the art of photographing people, WITHOUT A CAMERA! Here's the deal. This gig is probably 30% technical and 70% connecting with your subject. (Don't hold me to those percentages, I'm not a statistician.) I wrote a note on my hand today to help...us lowly computer drones need that sometimes. It said simply, "Make people smile." As photographers, I have come to realize that THIS is our job. Not simply snapping the shutter. We need to observe, connect with, and draw out the personality and characteristics of the people whom we are photographing. I tried this today, and not only did I get several more smiles than usual, my day was astonishingly better and I left work in a good mood, despite a ho-hum day.

I realize this is probably not a a particularly revealing revelation to you, but hey I'm a little slow. Not to mention it is very easy for us to know something, yet fall into our same comfortable trends. I encourage you to break the cycle and generate some smiles!

And yes...I know none of these pictures have anything to do with smiles. These are just some shots I took tonight and was pleased with. (Hey I can do that, its my blog!)

Update from the Arctic

Well, seems the posts are few and far between. Sadly, as of a few weeks ago, my college laptop went bust. The computer itself works fine still, but the screen went out and its not much good without it! Our recent purchase, then, was a MacBook, which I am thoroughly enjoying. While the adjustment from Windows still leaves me searching the web for how tiny tricks work here and there, the adjustment has been incredible. Can't tell you why I didn't switch earlier...oh yeah, already had a laptop. I digress..

I've been messing with photoshop and lightroom quite a bi

t more lately. I'm looking at getting a membership to Lynda.com. Did a few of their demos and man, the courses seem amazing. I was home with Laiden on Saturday and snapped some shots of him playing (and me tickling him) on our bed. Here is some of my super novice work with photoshop and lightroom...

The colors are much richer than the original and his face is substantially SANS-boogered. What more can you ask for, all in about 5 minutes.

10'4 Good buddies, its bed time...

Matt

Today I received an email from our President urging me (and many others) to write a letter to a number of newspapers on the subject of health care reform. I would encourage all of you to do the same. I have posted my letter below, feel free to check it out.

I write to you as someone who possesses many of the same qualities as your readers: hard-working, independent, and yearning for my piece of the American dream. At least this is what I strive to be, and I know many others who live by similar values. Unfortunately, many of us will never realize our dream of independence and entrepreneurship as the costs of health care continue to skyrocket. The spirit of entrepreneurship is what built this nation, and I urge it to cry out for change. For as the costs continue to rise, the spirit of those who would venture out on their own shrinks ever more quickly. I have held my tongue on this issue for far too long. It is time for those of us who voted to put our president in office to speak up! Let us stand behind the man who has gotten the ball rolling on something that for many was about as real as a unicorn: Health Care Reform. That bears repeating...Health Care Reform! The ball is perched on top of the hill. All we need to do is speak up and let it give it a nudge. Do not let the voices of dissent discourage us from our path or make us question our goals. Especially when they have had their say and input into the way we get there. Please, I beg you all, be silent no more.

Bryant Park

Today Laiden and I spent a few morning hours at Bryant Park. We have started to make a few playmates in that area and really enjoy hanging out there on Saturday mornings. This morning we made friends with a family who moved here from LA last year. Together we played with a friendly, neighborhood cat. I have been practicing achieving more consistency and greater control over the shots that I am taking. I managed to get a few good shots out of the batch that I took at the park this morning.



Carmen and I are beginning to settle in and are regularly attending St. Mark's Episcopal church. We feel at home in the community there and find it not only a good blend between our backgrounds, but also in alignment with where we are headed. We are now in the middle of a series of financial classes there. They are helping us to prioritize our finances so that we can effectively use our money to further our goals in life. Not only that, but the course has a strong emphasis on working together, rather than against each other, which is great.