Sunday, October 05, 2008
New.(old).Ride
my ride.
1982 yamaha virago 750.
Its like riding down a steep hill on your bicycle as a kid when you get to the point where you can't pedal anymore, can't go any faster, but only hold on tight as you straddle the threshold of fear and exhilaration.
1982 yamaha virago 750.
Its like riding down a steep hill on your bicycle as a kid when you get to the point where you can't pedal anymore, can't go any faster, but only hold on tight as you straddle the threshold of fear and exhilaration.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Amelia Bedelia
Ain't she adorable? My niece is growing up. She just turned one. Amelia has a funny way of talking to people. She turns to you with a matter-of-fact look and gibbers out a string of syllables as if she is imparting some profound common truth that you should know. She probably is. :)
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Home
There is something profoundly comforting about coming home having your mom make cookies. Granted, they weren't for me, in fact they were for my nieces birthday party but I was allowed a few of the broken ones.
p.s. My mother can make cookies and genetically modify organisms. How cool is she?
p.s. My mother can make cookies and genetically modify organisms. How cool is she?
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
dust, dust....
Confession: I am a terrible blogger.
Talking to my parents, I made another confession. Life outside of college is hard. Maintaining a balance of work and social life, social life and savings, savings and whatineedtobuyrightnowbecauseitmakesmycameraanairplane apparently requires much more attention and effort than one would initially think. Needless to say they laughed with (at?) me as I recounted the trials and perils of living in the heart of South Carolina.
These trials and perils I intend to relate to you in a more punctual manner than I have in the past. I intend to hereafter keep a daily log of activites or thougts. But first, for those of you who read this blog and don't know what i am currently up to, or for those who do and have forgotten here is a summary of my current activities.
Primary Occupation: Painter employed by palmetto decorators to scrape, sand, and beautify.
Secondary Occupation: Photographer, well sort of. Amatuer photographer maybe? Semi Pro? Overly ambitious camera Geek? Annoying guy with the camera?
Marital Status: Unmarried
Dating Status: Single
Significant Relationship Status: Lonely
Educational Status-graduated with a degree in music and bible. (thus the painting)
Educational Ambitions: grad school at some point to study, well, I really don't know what I want to study (thus the painting)
Other Activities: Playing loud music in a shed. Learning to Tango. Spending quality time with my good friends, Staying up late and regretting it.
Last Meal Had: 50 cent tacos and PBR at The Whig.
Last Book Read: The Shack by William Young. (review forthcoming)
Currently Reading: Gilead by Marilyn Robinson
Currently Listening: Sun Kil Moon Ghosts of the great Highway.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Sophie: Thoughts on New Things
Isn't it some unspoken rule that upon recieving a new camera you take a picture of your pet?
I suppose usually you get the camera to take pictures of the pet, but in my case, the camera came first, then the pet.
A freind came and found me at school the day before graduation and told me they had found a kitten in a drainpipe who needed a home. A few minutes later I had a kitten in my satchel bag hitching a ride home. Meet Sophie, the coolest, most laidback chill cat ever. She reminds me of Jazz.
Well, with graduation I got a new camera, the Canon 40d. This is a huge step up from my little point and shoot, and a small step from my other film SLR's which keeping calling me jealously from my camera bag.
I remember when Napster came out. I downloaded it and soon had access to basically anysong I wanted. But once I had that, the music became less valuable to me. Having all of it at my fingertips made it seem a little cheaper. I speculate that this is because it became divorced from a context of appreciation and shifted to a form of musical gluttony. I don't want this to happen with my new camera.
For a long time I really wanted a digital SLR, but after taking mainly film for the past six months or so, I feel a little guilty at the ease with which I can take pictures now. The luddite in me makes me contemplate the aesthetic and creative differences between working with film and digital mediums, and so far I've come to several conclusions. As far as I can see in my untrained thinking about photography, I can seperate photography into two categories, Photojournalism and Fine Art. These lines inevitably cross and blur, but they are distinguished in my mind as such: Photojournalism is the attempt to communicate an idea,event, or situation to other people effectively. This includes weddings, events, journalism; all which can be very artistic and abstract but are intended first with an eye to more concrete communication. Fine Art is an attempt to communicate abstracts and ideas that are more personal reactions to culture and life. One begins with an event and captures the ideas, the story taking place; and the latter starts with the idea, and then tells the story.
So my intent is this, digital photography excels beyond film's capabilities in the photojournalitic areas, but film allows for (in my humble opinion) more creativity and finer quality. (Please don't hear me as devaluing the wonderful creative aspects of photoshop and digital technology, I'm not.) My new camera is a tool to sit beside my film as an equal, set aside for different purposes, One I will use for weddings and events, the other I will use to try to stimulate my creative side.
I suppose usually you get the camera to take pictures of the pet, but in my case, the camera came first, then the pet.
A freind came and found me at school the day before graduation and told me they had found a kitten in a drainpipe who needed a home. A few minutes later I had a kitten in my satchel bag hitching a ride home. Meet Sophie, the coolest, most laidback chill cat ever. She reminds me of Jazz.
Well, with graduation I got a new camera, the Canon 40d. This is a huge step up from my little point and shoot, and a small step from my other film SLR's which keeping calling me jealously from my camera bag.
I remember when Napster came out. I downloaded it and soon had access to basically anysong I wanted. But once I had that, the music became less valuable to me. Having all of it at my fingertips made it seem a little cheaper. I speculate that this is because it became divorced from a context of appreciation and shifted to a form of musical gluttony. I don't want this to happen with my new camera.
For a long time I really wanted a digital SLR, but after taking mainly film for the past six months or so, I feel a little guilty at the ease with which I can take pictures now. The luddite in me makes me contemplate the aesthetic and creative differences between working with film and digital mediums, and so far I've come to several conclusions. As far as I can see in my untrained thinking about photography, I can seperate photography into two categories, Photojournalism and Fine Art. These lines inevitably cross and blur, but they are distinguished in my mind as such: Photojournalism is the attempt to communicate an idea,event, or situation to other people effectively. This includes weddings, events, journalism; all which can be very artistic and abstract but are intended first with an eye to more concrete communication. Fine Art is an attempt to communicate abstracts and ideas that are more personal reactions to culture and life. One begins with an event and captures the ideas, the story taking place; and the latter starts with the idea, and then tells the story.
So my intent is this, digital photography excels beyond film's capabilities in the photojournalitic areas, but film allows for (in my humble opinion) more creativity and finer quality. (Please don't hear me as devaluing the wonderful creative aspects of photoshop and digital technology, I'm not.) My new camera is a tool to sit beside my film as an equal, set aside for different purposes, One I will use for weddings and events, the other I will use to try to stimulate my creative side.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Friday, March 14, 2008
Once Home...
Its strange going back to Charlotte. Particularly South Charlotte, where I grew up.
This is Stonecrest, a shopping center just a few minutes from my old house where I grew up. I worked my first job at the Harris Teeter (A wonderful grocery store) behind that far bulding. This courtyard is flanked by a Dean and Delucia's, Qdobas, Marble Slab Creamery all kinds of wonderful places to eat. its all very yuppie. Theres alot of money in the area, although I never had it.
My first break up happened here, while shopping for a wedding present for my brother. High School was stupid. Later I would build a box and fill it with memories to give to another girl. It was made of red oak stained with linseed oil. I had carefully arranged photos and inside jokes. She smiled as she sat at the edge of the fountain just behind me, now dry and empty except for coins that sit on the bottom like spent dreams.
All of this was once home to me. My family moved away. I went to college far enough away to know distance. Things have changed. New houses, new shops, everything growing like the kudzu that it replaces.
The other day I became incredibly disoriented driving on a nearby road. It was one of those roads that wound through several farms and demanded that you drive way over the speed limit with the windows down and the radio cranked. Now there is an elementary school and five or six new neighborhoods with earthy names to remind people that it used to be a farm. I didn't see any Horses, or even a field.
A place that was once home is like an old friend you knew as a brother. Someone you shared life with. Then, after years of not seeing each other you meet up again at a familiar place. The old friend is recognized, but theres so much more to his life now. These two images conflict in the mind's eye, a dichotomy of intimacy and time .
.
This is Stonecrest, a shopping center just a few minutes from my old house where I grew up. I worked my first job at the Harris Teeter (A wonderful grocery store) behind that far bulding. This courtyard is flanked by a Dean and Delucia's, Qdobas, Marble Slab Creamery all kinds of wonderful places to eat. its all very yuppie. Theres alot of money in the area, although I never had it.
My first break up happened here, while shopping for a wedding present for my brother. High School was stupid. Later I would build a box and fill it with memories to give to another girl. It was made of red oak stained with linseed oil. I had carefully arranged photos and inside jokes. She smiled as she sat at the edge of the fountain just behind me, now dry and empty except for coins that sit on the bottom like spent dreams.
All of this was once home to me. My family moved away. I went to college far enough away to know distance. Things have changed. New houses, new shops, everything growing like the kudzu that it replaces.
The other day I became incredibly disoriented driving on a nearby road. It was one of those roads that wound through several farms and demanded that you drive way over the speed limit with the windows down and the radio cranked. Now there is an elementary school and five or six new neighborhoods with earthy names to remind people that it used to be a farm. I didn't see any Horses, or even a field.
A place that was once home is like an old friend you knew as a brother. Someone you shared life with. Then, after years of not seeing each other you meet up again at a familiar place. The old friend is recognized, but theres so much more to his life now. These two images conflict in the mind's eye, a dichotomy of intimacy and time .
.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Me and Caffiene
Ok, I think its fair to say caffiene makes me more productive.
Today I:
1.Made signifigant progress in some classical pieces I had been stuck on
2.Restrung My guitar
3.Patched my favorite Jeans
4.Read a 300 page Novel (The Bean Tree by Barbara Kingsolver. Excellent.)
5.Turned in film to Walgreens
6.Bought a new toothbrush (a two pack on sale)
7.Wished my Grandma a happy birthday.
8. Ate a healthy breakfast (Yogurt and Tortillas)
Success.
Now hopefully I can sleep enough to be ready for tomorrow.
Today I:
1.Made signifigant progress in some classical pieces I had been stuck on
2.Restrung My guitar
3.Patched my favorite Jeans
4.Read a 300 page Novel (The Bean Tree by Barbara Kingsolver. Excellent.)
5.Turned in film to Walgreens
6.Bought a new toothbrush (a two pack on sale)
7.Wished my Grandma a happy birthday.
8. Ate a healthy breakfast (Yogurt and Tortillas)
Success.
Now hopefully I can sleep enough to be ready for tomorrow.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Garfield Minus Garfield
Okay, my new favorite comic strip, I just have to share.
garfield minus garfield
Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life? Friends, meet Jon Arbuckle. Let’s laugh and learn with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness in a quiet American suburb.
Saturday, March 08, 2008
My New (old) Camera
Well, its spring break. That time of year when I'm looking forward to going home and spending some time in Charlotte.
More exciting news, I got a roll of film back from my Kodak Duaflex II. I got this camera from ebay a couple of weeks ago and its pretty much one of the funnest cameras I own.
Made somewhere between 1950 to 1954 this camera is beautiful in its simplicity. It has no light meter, nothing run by electronics, it is completely mechanical. You push a button and the spring loaded shutter pulls back for 1/30th of a second to expose the medium format film that runs through the back of it.
This camera is basically a consumer grade point and shoot, one of the nicer models with a manual focus (3.5-inf) and three aperture settings (f.8 f.11 f. 16) for hazy, sunny, and extra bright (snow or sand) conditions. When I first got it in the mail everything appeared to be in working order so I shot a roll through it.
620 film and 120 film are exactly the same except for 620 rolls being wrapped around a smaller spool. So with a pair of scissors i managed to trim it down enough to fit into the loading area of the camera, and wrapped the film around to the 620 spool that came with it. After a little confusion at the local Ritz Camera store, which involved an all out search for Mr. Peter's missing role. Right after I told the clerk my name was Oakes. 
The results from this camera are pretty fantastic. Soft and dreamy, barely in focus, Plus some awesome light leaks from when I took the film out.The first shot to the left is a light leak across the frame that just happens to look really cool. Note the ethereal quality of the photos, the dream like quality may be a result of either dirty lens, a non reflective lens shooting into the sun, or possible just fog from light leaking in. I'm really not sure, but I am tempted to shoot another roll to figure it out.
Unfortunately shooting rolls of 120 film is expensive to buy and to process. Thankfully, the kodak is more versatile than it first appears. By combining it with my point and shoot digital, the everfaithful canon A620 I can shoot through the viewfinder of my duaflex to achieve a new level of distorted awesome goodness. Click on the pictures below to see more on my Flickr.
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