365 Day Project: Us

I have decided to begin a 365 Day Photo Project with the subject being "Us" as in Travis, my boyfriend and myself. One photo for 365 days of us. This idea came to me a few days ago and I decided to start it today, August 23, 2010 which is our 4th anniversary.

Through Flickr, I have seen many 365 day projects and have been inspired by the subjects of them. Also, everyone photographer who has done one says their photographic skill improve immensely. Plus to have a whole year documented of Travis and I is very exciting and appealing to me.

Now the first photo is nothing fancy. It is out of focus and rushed. Travis isn't exactly excited that I've chosen to do this. In fact, he was hoping I was going to chuck the whole idea but alas, I did not and am very determined to do it! I think he will look forward to it as time goes on.

There is so much to gain from this type of project and also, I can't wait to come up with new ways to photograph us cause I'm sure there will be points of boredom and stagnation.

We hope that you enjoy following us on our photographic journey!! Feel free to comment as well!

Thank you for your support!

The Flickr set/explanation: http://goo.gl/Dp0D

On Facebook: http://goo.gl/yTiv

The first photo of 365:

Dealing with Failures and Mistakes

I have to accept the fact that I am still learning about photography. I will always learn; there will always be something new to learn about the art and practice of photography.

With that said, I have to accept failures and mistakes as well.

Yesterday, I was asked by my boss and very good friend of the bar I work at to photograph an apartment he is renting out here in San Francisco as a vacation rental. It is a two bedroom, one bath situation plus an outside deck. I took the photos and it seemed they were great only to find in post processing later that some were very out of focus and unusable!

I had photos for all the rooms except the second bedroom in the back of the apartment. Mind you, this is a garden apartment so natural light isn't in high quantities. But I still should have been more aware. I think back on my state of mind and perhaps rushed through this assignment thinking it would be a peace of cake. I now cannot recall if I made sure I was on the correct ISO. Cannot recall?? Cannot recall?? That is the first thing I should be doing in any photography situation!

What if this would have been a wedding or special event where things cannot happen again? There isn't a "do-over"! I would be screwed as well as the client!

Luckily, my boss is a great friend and is letting me redo the shots. Luckily the apartment can be re-photographed. This is where I must learn from my mistakes but at the same time, not let those mistakes keep me in doubt of my ability. I know I have the talent, I just need to hone my skills. Make sure I know what I'm doing in the moment.

He did pay me for this and I feel like I should give the money back. I was so upset with myself but I have to let go of this feeling. I am sure this is what has caused my insomnia tonight.

I am going to post one of my mistakes just to show you how bad it can be when you don't concentrate. When you don't check settings. When you think a given assignment is "easy". Cause I do not want other beginning photographers to go through this but perhaps this is what makes a great photographer are the mistakes they learn from I suppose.

I really hope to rectify this apartment situation later today. I just need to be patient with myself and my abilities. It will work out in the end I just need to give myself time.

Getting Serious

It is time to get extremely serious!! I have neglected my blog for many months and every website and photographer that doles out advice says you must have a blog these days. It creates a personal connection from you to your clients and admirers of your work. So thus, here I am, blogging.

I enjoy writing so you think this would not be something I procrastinate on but alas, it has been something I procrastinate on.

The good news is that I have been doing lots of work and there have been many developments concerning my photography in the past few months!

Here are the two main photography projects I have been working on as of late:

1. Smile! It's a Drag Queen!

This has been a fantastic project every step of the way! Back on June 11, 2010, I was granted permission by a wonderful friend and one of the most entertaining and colorful drag queens in San Francisco today, MuthaChucka, to watch his process of getting into make up and drag and then following him about to a couple of clubs in the Castro District of San Francisco! It was so fun and MuthaChucka was simply amazing, brilliant and yes, very colorful!

Here are two links to see more of this project:

Flickr: http://goo.gl/itpe

Facebook: http://goo.gl/USp9

The second photo project I have been working on at the same time is entitled "On A Given Day in San Francisco". This project began on April 22, 2010, which is also Earth Day. I got up very early that day and hiked up to Corona Heights off State Street. It was a fantastic sunrise and flowers were in bloom, the pale light hitting the rocks, flowers and other living things so eloquently! It was breath taking!

For me it reaffirms what I love about San Francisco: the fact that I live in a city but I can very easily access nature and all its wonder and feel like I'm nowhere near a city! Also, it was to remind myself what is at stake when you talk about "going green".

Here is just one of the examples from that project:

You can access this project on Flickr and Facebook as well:

Flickr: http://goo.gl/7MKH

Facebook: http://goo.gl/lwlf

Also, I have finally published my main photography website through paradepro.com! They are a great hosting site for any photographer at any level! The expense is minimal and the ease of getting your website up and running is quick! If I can do it, anyone can do it! Trust me on this.

The website address is: http://shandopics.paradepro.com/

I was using Vistaprint as my web host but they are really basic and awful in my opinion. Also very clunky in the set up and layouts.

Also, I am a finalist in a photo contest through the magazine Photographer's Forum! Here is their website: http://pfmagazine.com/

I am in their 30th Annual Spring Photography Contest and will know by August 16th if I am a winner for one of the top prizes! As a finalist though, I do get to be in their book Best of 2010! So that will make two books I'm in by the end of 2011! The other book will be published by Lark Books in the fall of 2011! http://www.larkbooks.com/

And finally, I am selling 4x6 prints of some of my photos for only $5! So if you are interested, you can see the list of photos and links on Facebook! You can also pay online through Paypal!

Here is the link for those 4x6's: http://goo.gl/H2M2

Thank you for all your support and purchases!!! You guys rock!!

Keep creating and keep me in mind if you need any photography in your life!!

Best way to reach me: shando.darby@gmail.com!

Beginning a New Series and Other Random Thoughts and Musings

Been taking tons of photos in the past week but you know how that goes, only so many are actually decent. But it was fun taking them as it always is. I get in such a "Zen Mode" when I'm taking photos. Ignoring the whole world except whatever it is I'm shooting. It's really wonderful.

This past Tuesday morning I was up at 5am, could no longer sleep. Decided I needed something at Walgreens and of course took my camera with me. Four hours later I returned home lol! I took 500 photos! It was so fun! And with the sun coming up, all this cool lighting was going on with buildings and flowers, etc.

I have also begun shooting everything in 3 different modes: vivid color, antique and black & white. Thus I accumulate photos quite quickly! I have been challenging myself with black and white as of late cause I want to capture light and shadow much better than I have before. It is very challenging and not all photos turn out great. I am still learning about ISO settings as well. Very important to keep in mind I'm finding out.

As of this evening, I have begun a new series of photos that will take me awhile if I include all the photos I want to include. The series is called Flowers in Repose. These flowers are on the verge of death but I shot them in both antique and black and white modes and suddenly they just spoke to me in such an amazing way. It was sad death, it was just a transition. The lack of color gave the flowers more depth and thus the depth of meaning was clear to me. That we as living things are transitioning always and that what may seem like death, isn't at all. So I suppose I believe in reincarnation perhaps.

But anyway, not to get into semantics on that subject!

I have posted the first photo here and hope to keep adding it to it and finally present them as all one series!

If anyone is interested in purchasing any photos, just let me know!! Trying to get my name out there!!

Here is my Flickr stream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/42157849@N06/

Take care out there and keep discovering and creating!!

Layering

For the past month or so, I have begun toying around with layering photos together to make a completely new photograph. I average about 3 to 4 photos into one photo. Am I good at it yet? I don't think so. Each one is a new learning experience and a lot of time spent on manipulation.

Some might argue that too much manipulation ruins photography. But I look at it as painting with photographs, minus the paints and the mess! Although I want to explore painting as well. Of course with each new interest, I take up more space in our home which can drive my partner a little nuts at times!

When I use layering effects I find a new world for my eyes and for my soul. I get a new emotion out of a photograph that wasn't there when I first took the photo.

Currently I am still using www.picnik.com very heavily but hope to purchase Photoshop later this year. But for now, picnik does the job rather well. I cannot say enough about that website! By all means, check it out and see what you can come up with! And even if you just want to "touch" yourself up in a photo, it's great for that too!

Above is the most recent layered photograph and below are some other examples I have done in the past month! Let me know what you think!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42157849@N06/

Slightly Bummed But I will Prevail!

I have been submitting photographs to various magazines and one of them was Fotoblur. It takes submissions from non professionals and makes an entire magazine out of the photographs.

Part of the process is being voted on by other members of the Fotoblur website and then the panel of people who work for the magazine itself. I submitted alot of photos. One of them is the photograph above this post and some more are below.

It teaches me to keep trying and keep improving. Not to get too down on myself about not making it this time. It will happen. I know I am talented enough to reach my goals.

At this time, I would like to thank everyone who supports me and keeps me going! From my friends all over the country, to my Flickr contacts and the random strangers who comment on my photos, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42157849@N06/

Discovering Our Scanner!

Recently we bought in all-in-1 printer: print, fax, copy and scanner! It is a HP Officejet 6500 wireless. (Ooooooooo! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!)

Yesterday I decided to use the scanning option for a practice photography project and it didn't turn out too shabby I must say.

Of course there was the setting up part, in which my partner, Travis helped on that end while I waited impatiently. Even though it's wireless for printing, the scanning option requires a USB cable from the printer to your computer and luckily my computer loving husband had one!

I took a leaf I had found while walking Adeline, the dog I walk on a regular basis for the past couple of years, and I bought some silk paper and other decorative type paper, and I placed the leaf on the decorative paper which is a very dark blue (the leaf is yellow), and I placed that on the scanner and WHA LA! It was sent from the scanner to my computer! Love technology when it works!

I also layered a couple of photos from my collection on top of this image to give it a cloudy look of sorts and used picnik.com for some color and contrast adjustments.

If you have not or do not know of picnik.com, you MUST SEE IT! It is one of the most amazing, and mostly free, online photo manipulation sites! All of my work is done through that website currently. Hoping to get photoshop soon though.

Below is the finished project as well as a recent photo of Adeline, the dog I mentioned previously!

Have a great day and/or night and keep shooting!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42157849@N06/stats/