:monochrome:

The last day of the year, and typically people are looking back at the past one and looking forward to the next, of course feeling hopeful for a better one. I generally don't announce many resolutions, if I have any, and to be honest I try and check where I am at the beginning of each month, so that could possibly add up to 12 resolutions if one looks at it that way. I do have creative plans for the new year, which I'll get into next week when I also review this year's.

But I've already started on one of them. For whatever reason, it was just an idea that came to me, I'll be working primarily in black & white until Spring hits (according to the calendar, at least - it felt like Winter almost lasted until May this past year). I originally thought of making it a whole year, but that's a long year without any color.

I took another shot from the October photoshoot that and converted it to black & white to work on it from there. Although it's not the same thing as starting from black & white, as I've found the tones tend to be different somewhat when you do. And not all pictures translate well into color. So hopefully it'll be a learning experience, which is partly why I'm doing it in the first place.

:filtered:

Publishing this a day early because even with a laptop, who knows if I'll be able to do this on Xmas Eve.

The month and year is winding down, and already I'm thinking of what is in store for the new year, in all aspects. Looking at old black and white photo work a few weeks back has me thinking about it more and more, and I believe that I'll start 2015 off by only working in black & white, in photography and other media. I originally thought I'd make it an all-year project, but I think that'd be a bit much, let's make it until spring. How symbolic, as winter gets pretty grey as it is.

I finally got the film developed back from my first time out using a Holga camera, and part of the delay was in finding a place that could develop the film, and also a place that was actually open when I could get to it. One place that I had in mind is only open on weekdays until 5 PM. Well that's damned inconvenient for those of us that have day jobs.

As stated after I used it, it's not totally obvious with this camera where the frame of each shot begins or ends, so there can be overlapped images until I learn this better, but I can see why some people do this intentionally. The place that developed the film actually seemed concerned if I knew this.

I tend to like some accidental photos, so this could be an interesting camera to use after all.

:momentum:

After spending damn near the entire month of November writing, I took some understandably needed down time this month. But I've been fearful that I was losing some of the crazy momentum that I gained then, as I haven't really produced anything creatively this month, other than finishing up a last (?) shot from October's photoshoot. It's said that we are often our own worst critic or enemy, and I'm a perfect example of that.

So I set aside an hour to just draw whatever in my sketchbook yesterday, and at times it was difficult to pull images out of my head, which worries me a bit, but also I try too hard to make even sketches be near-finished concept-wise. It's kind of sad that I actually haven't done much sketching this year, especially since I succeeded in filling a sketch-a-day book last year. Just have to work those muscles again.

 

Truth be told, I've been more focused on photography for the latter half of the year, so I shouldn't be kicking myself. And while I'm pleased with the results from this year, and others seem to be as well, I know I still have so much to learn.

What with the year coming to the end there are of course thoughts of what the next year will bring. I'm sure I'll do a review of this one first. I met some goals, and others only partially. But at least I keep coming up with things to talk about or show on here.

The next two Wednesdays are holiday eves, woop dee doo, so  hopefully I'll be able to post even a little something.

:interim:

I gave out copies of the first draft of my NaNoWriMo novel out to the people who requested it last week. No comments about it yet, either they haven't finished or started reading it, or it's so awful that they're afraid to tell me. Nah, I know it's not awful. I shan't bug them about it.

After spending so much of the last month in intense creativity, I was a bit afraid to get a bit lax and feel the need to get on to another project. I went back to the shots from the October photoshoot to see if there were more to work on. I got one more out, seen below, I think that'll do it, for just straight photos, that is. I may use some shots as reference for works in other media. I got 13 good shots out of it, that's a record for me so far!

The photos that I've shared online (on Model Mayhem, deviantArt, and a few other photo sites) have gotten good responses and comments. Also good ones for the shoot that I did in the summer. The model from that one finally got back to me, and curiously her critique has been the only one with negative comments that I've heard so far. I reminded her that it was an extremely rushed shoot, due to a rapidly setting sun and avoiding a police officer, so I couldn't exactly set up each shot perfectly. Oh well, you can't please everybody.

Toni Halliday from Curve, Boston, MA, 1992

In other photography-related meanderings, recently I participated in one of those "post something on Facebook" requests, this one asked for 5 days of black & white photos, and I dug way back in time for mine. It reminded me of how many live shows that I used to go to and try and photograph at (didn't use flash back then either), and of course this makes me want to return to black & white again, like I've said I plan to anyway with the above model. I think I'll try and see what differences there are, if any, between film and digital.

:nanowrimo final week:

Well, somehow I managed to complete the novel for NaNoWriMo, and a day before the deadline. I attempted to do some writing while at Thanksgiving, but no, that wasn't happening there, so I had a lot of catching up to do. I don't think I did anything on Friday & Saturday other than write with breaks taken to eat.

I mainly did it as a creative exercise, to try and use my creativity in other ways. I'm real happy with the results, in that I went into it with the vaguest of ideas and characters and somehow made a story out of it. I don't know how far I'll take this one, I'll certainly try some revisions, but I don't know if it's worthy of shopping around for publication. I'm already thinking of next year, of perhaps finishing the story I didn't complete last time, unless that's "cheating" to have a head start? We'll see.

It was good but also exhausting to focus on nothing but that for a month. I got to know the local Starbucks stores and libraries real well, used mainly for their WiFi, and just getting out of the house. I'd like to try and keep this sort of momentum, if not so intense, for my other creative pursuits.

I'll certainly return to look at shots from the October photoshoot, to see if there are others to work on. I've already got ideas for my next one. I'm pretty sure it'll be all black & white for starters. The shot below has proven to be the most popular one so far in the places online that I've posted it to.

Also finding creativity in music, both in DJing and making a mix for an upcoming party that has been an annual thing amongst people I know since I moved to Boston. Ever since I was younger making cassette ones, even if it was just for myself, I'd go all out on the packaging. That's something I think we've lost in the digital/download age. I certainly grew up dreaming that I'd be making album cover art. Nowadays it's usually not much larger than a CD cover, even with the resurgence of vinyl, so they probably aren't designed with much detail if they're going to be so small. But I still do it:

Another thing I found different, was in selecting songs for the mix, it's different than scanning your collection, reading the spines of them on shelves or seeing the cover art than reading a list of songs on your computer. I'll admit it's easier to preview the songs, but something was missing. And considering how large my collection has gotten, it's overwhelming at times, just trying to figure out what song should be next.