Progress

I went out today. Took some pictures. Came back to my dorm. Put some pieces together. I dunno if I like it. I'll try again tomorrow. Here's what I have so far....

Photography

After nearly a year of taking pictures, I found that the level of sophistication and complexity in my photographs have been steadily increasing, but I still have to work hard to make them even better. They're not nearly as good as I want them to be. I see many other pictures on Flickr that are much better composed. I wonder how people take such good pictures with just a point and shoot. One of my inspirations is this one photographer Kris Van de Vijver. He has such great visions and understandings of how to use a camera. He doesn't need a D700 to take pictures (though those pictures are noteworthy). He understands the whole point of composition. Unlike most photographers, he simply amazes me. There are a bunch of other photographers that use the camera to its fullest potential, such as one of my best friends Prasanth Veerina, but Van de Vijver takes it to an entirely new level. It's as if the parts of the pictures are posing for him begging him to take their pictures. It's amazing.

My next study of photography and art is more of the integration of music, photography, and computers. Essentially, I really love music, so I will try to listen to music when I take pictures to draw in some kind of inspiration. Photography and computers nearly go hand in hand nowadays. Anywhere from editing to putting up online galleries. Therefore I have to understand both in order to master but a portion of photography.

I have been learning Adobe Photoshop since January, and so far, I use just the very basics of the immense power it has. I know how to simply put a border around the picture, how to create an frame that holds three pictures, how to brighten pictures and individual parts using curves, how to turn things into black and white, how to save things as a JPEG, and how to put them onto Flickr. That is the basis of my knowledge. I don't understand what other file formats are and what they're good for. I still don't understand why RAW formatting is better than the regular Large/Fine setting on the camera. I don't know how to use a gaussian blur tool. I don't know how to edit pictures into pictures successfully. I don't even know what I don't know. But my goal for now is simple.

I'm going to understand the power of borders. I know how to use borders a bit as of now, but after seeing some of Van de Vijver's pictures, I understand that borders don't have to just be a black line capturing the entire picture. It can be two black strips on two sides. It can be almost anything. I want to learn what works for what, and what doesn't work for others.

Another ongoing project is photoshoots with a great clothing company "Simply ANTI". A clothing company founded by two guys sitting in their dorm room, one of which is on the swim team. After seeing that I had a camera and I loved to take pictures, Andy DiPietro asked me to take some shots of his clothing line so he could put them on his website. That was my very first photoshoot ever. It wasn't very good, but I got some experience with personal photography. Taking portrait shots because I had to. It was a very interesting experience in that none of us had any idea what to do. There's a shipment of newly designed shirts coming in this week and there should be a photoshoot going on later. I'm pretty excited.

One thing I am mildly turned off by in photography is portrait pictures that are way too photoshopped. To the point where it is unnatural. A major boost in saturation, a nearly cartoonish look, I don't understand the appeal in that. It may be just me, but I love the natural feel of photography. I don't mind little changes here and there, maybe a slight color boost to make to subject much more clear, but that's about it. Distorted images are interesting using a fisheye or a super wide angle lens, but when it's overdone, I am not impressed no matter how technically difficult it is on photoshop. I feel as though most of the work should be using the camera itself. It's the same for playing guitar. There are many guitarists that rely on their footwork and being able to use a lot of expensive pedals to create their sound. But most of the greatest guitarists start from their fingers rather than their feet. Same rules apply in that one should understand the camera before photoshop. Just an opinion.

Hopefully, my photography will get better through a lot of practice and hard work. I'm looking forward to seeing my progress.

Here's to the Crazy Ones

Music

Over the years, I have been inspired by many musicians. They are different from the rest of the crowd. That's what makes them stand out. They are the crazy ones. They understand an entirely new level of music and a style of playing. They fuse the techniques and styles from the past and implement their own personalities into their sound. When they are playing their instruments, it is as if they are able to talk with it. It has their signature voice. I find that to be amazing. They're not reinventing the wheel. They're just reinventing how we look at it.

John Mayer, by far, is one of my favorite guitarists of all time. I didn't understand the complexity and the sheer genius in his guitar playing until I actually picked up a guitar and taught myself to play a few years ago. Ranging from his Trio, his solo acoustics, to the full band, he knows how to handle a guitar. His influences SRV, BB King, Eric Clapton, and more seem to essentially talk through him and his playing. He is truly a gifted artist.
Mark Hoppus is one of my favorite bassists because of his personality. His bass speaks his personality through an amp. He has a signature tone that really does sound like him.
John Frusciante is one of the most passionate guitarists that I know. Every note he plays is full of meaning. The Chili Peppers as a whole is one of the best bands to have been formed.
Michael "Flea" Balzary is a world renown bassist that understands music to the core. I wish I had that understanding. And through that, he is able to create his own character, his own personality.
Chad Smith is an amazing drummer. His fills and his funky beats always makes me want to learn how to play the drums. He makes all of his drumming look so easy. Syncopated beats are some of the hardest parts of drumming, and he does it consistently without thinking twice about it.

There are many more musicians and artists that make me wonder. They make me think. They stir emotions within me. They make me laugh at something amazing. Because they're different.

Here's to the Crazy Ones.

Thoughts

Things are beginning to come together as other things are beginning to fall apart.

Balance. It's a beautiful thing.

Today, I entered a classroom, actually, a lab. A hovercraft lab. I don't think I will ever be really living outside until school is finished. My mind will be completely dedicated. I don't remember I was this excited about anything in a really long time. I'm working on the electronics portion of the hovercraft. Most of it is done by the group before us. But still, once my group is finished with the electronics, I can move on to other parts of the hovercraft. And, if we are dedicated enough, the hovercraft will hover by the end of the semester. I want that to happen more than anything. I want to see the hovercraft hover by the end of April.

For the last week, I've become buried deep inside my own mind trying to figure out the next step. It has been a rough, rough week. I am now going to put everything I have been thinking of into action. My thought process is nearly complete. My plan is almost set. A catalyst is required. I wonder what that is...

Swimming has become more of a burden than anything as of now. I love swimming. But not here. Not right now. I love the team. I love the people I met because of swimming here. But it's just that I'm not feeling right about somethingIt has been so difficult to pair academics with athletics here. I'm just having a tough time with all of the changes. Sometimes changes are not good when they are too great to handle. And for me, this change was too great to handle. I need to take a step back. That doesn't mean I'm giving up anything. That just means that I need to reassess my goals. My priorities. My dreams.

I just need a moment.

I'm following my gut instincts. I trust that somewhere in the future, the dots will connect. I can't connect them now, but I will be able to when I look back. I'm just in "dot making" mode.

Here's to living life positively and to the fullest [20/365]

Here's to the Crazy Ones.

Kodak Moments and Some Thoughts

I went back to all of the pictures in my iPhoto library. So basically any picture taken since my freshman year in high school. That totals up to about 22,000 pictures. So many memories. I took some time and edited some pictures, mostly portraits, from summer sectionals 2009. That was the first time I took pictures and had some sense of how to actually use a dSLR. It lead to nearly an entire year of taking pictures of things that I found interesting, things that I enjoyed, just kodak moments. It was just amazing to see how people changed over the years.

California sunshine. How I miss it. The pictures are so much more colorful in the sunshine. Just a happier feeling.

I have been pondering my next step for a few weeks now. Maybe even a few months. I dunno where my interests lie. I will find it soon. Even if that means changing everything that I do. Whatever it takes.

Daniel Fremont just emailed me with a drawing that took me back to sophomore year. I laughed so hard I cried. I almost forgot who I was. Thank you Mr. Fremont.

Living positively [16/365]

Here's to the crazy ones.

Thoughts

I'm back at Lehigh. Spring break went by way too quickly. I miss home and I've only been gone for about a day. I'm sure the next two months are going to go by faster than I expect.

So many things are going on in my head right now. I have so much to think about. So much to ponder.

I haven't taken many pictures over spring break. I don't know why. I didn't see anything worth taking a picture of. Or maybe I was just oblivious to things that were worth it. I suppose, everything is worth it in the end. 

I can't wait until summer.

Still trying to live positively. [15/365]

Here's to the crazy ones.

Thoughts

Hmm. The start of spring break has been a bummer. It's only Monday night so things will get better soon. 

No driving. 

Rain.

Kinda cold.

No good pictures so far. 

It's been a while since I took a decent picture. But I have to stay positive. Because it's my year of living positively. But then again. It's been pretty rough lately. Oh well. I'm just going to deal with my problems. 

I have so many problems. It's frustrating. 

I'm going to take some pictures tomorrow. I'm going to get out there and do something. Maybe, then I'll be happy. 

Music

Without music, life would be an error.

A year of living positively [3/365]

Calvin And Hobbes

I always identified with Calvin as a child (I suppose you could say I still do), and this strip pretty much sums up what being a kid like Calvin is like. Constantly feeling out of sync with the rest of the world, and thus retreating to the world you create for yourself in your mind. If you think about it, Calvin was really quite an anomaly in popular entertainment -- not just in comics, but in anything, be it movies, TV, etc. He has no friends, and no extracurricular activities; the only people he ever sees are his parents, who he has a strained relationship with, and Moe, Susie, Rosalyn, and Miss Wormwood, all of whom he detests and all of whom detest him. The only person he ever has any real interaction with exists only in his head. He is, for all intents and purposes, completely alone. And he's fine with that. The kind of kid most people would entirely ignore all through school is not generally the kind you make the star of your show, and yet the strip became hugely successful.

A Year of Living Positively

I just stumbled upon this group on flickr recently called "A year of living positively".

Today is day one.

March 1st.

[1/365]