Some thoughts...

The goal is not to change your subjects, but for the subject to change the photographer. ~Author Unknown





A few weeks ago, I was really excited to learn all about bokeh in photos. I love, love, love that effect and I couldn't wait to figure out how to do it!


And then I realized that my aperture settings aren't advanced enough to do it on automatic settings, and that manual would make it easier. But my camera has no manual setting options. I did discover a little trick on how to do it, but more or less gave up besides that.


I picked up a ShutterBug magazine from work yesterday simply to expand my knowledge on DSLR cameras... And their first large article was all about bokeh, complete with a few pages of beautiful photos of flowers with bokeh texture.


I have decided that instead of taking this as the universe slapping me in the face and laughing, I'm going to take it as a sign that I need to try it again. And read more. And practice. I still have some optimism in me somewhere :)



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If anyone is interested, a good friend and coworker of mine Darlene gave me a copy of National Geographic from November of 1997, in which a NatGeo photographer challenged himself to take one picture every day for 90 days (article title: "North Woods Journal"). The photos are gorgeous and definitely worth a trip to the library to take a look at. He also wrote a book based on the experience, titled "Chased by the Light," but I haven't seen it yet. I do plan on trying to find the book; the article in NatGeo is beautifully written and he learned so much from his experience in only 90 days!



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There are two photography competitions for different magazines that I am going to enter into. I don't expect to do extremely well in one (I'll be up against well-practiced photographers armed with SLRs and more knowledge than myself), but I have high hopes for the other. The end dates for submitting are both within the next month. I'll let you guys know if anything comes of it!

4-18-09

An ad that I saw in a magazine.

I think it's silly that they're rewarding people for being green with a shopping spree. I do understand that much of what is on eBay is used and they are encouraging people to reuse/recycle. However, they are also encouraging people to continue to consume. A $5,000 shopping spree is pure capitalistic consumption, which I feel is the number one thing at odds with living sustainably.

Companies are using incentives like this to make it seem like they support eco-friendly living, but through my eyes there are many companies that are simply jumping on the bandwagon to get your sales. It's hard to know which ones are really supporting green living and which ones are joining the fad.

Sales, however, are absolutely necessary for our economy to survive. This process is also how change is going to happen. And not everyone, everywhere, can go entirely green (I haven't, and I'm sitting here ranting about it). I simply feel that it's important to us to realize how companies are going about it and what their motives are. Profits will always be their first objective here in America. As a consumer, we need to educate ourselves and know what we are supporting.