Neat photo series: Paul Octavious - Recycled Religion
Amy taught me how to make my own shirt out of this amazing fabric we snagged from Church and State. It feels like I’m wearing buttah. My wife is friggin’ amazing, I tell you.
New PDX Bus icon is live!
The new icon I designed for PDX Bus (a free iOS app that shows arrival times and more for public transportation in Portland) is now live on the App Store.
Go snag an update, or download it for the first time!
Griffin House interviewed at SSv
Great interview with Griffin House at Stereo Subversion. Griffin is one of my favorite songwriters out there. There’s an originality and honest writing that I think is rare.
Here’s an excerpt that relates to my last post, regarding honing your skills:
Griffin: I just joined this songwriting group with Bob Schneider and some other writers – right now Sarah and Sean from Nickel Creek are in it – and we all get together and write, sending in a song every week based on a prompt we’re given.
SSv: You mean songwriting homework?
Griffin: Yeah, we have to turn one in every week, it keeps us going. I’ve written my entire new record from that process. I’ve been amazed just how much having a prompt, an assignment, can help keep you focused.
It’s inspiring that artists that I admire struggle with the same things and find the need to flex the creative muscle based on assignment. It’s easy to believe from afar that someone with “natural talent” simply produces solely by “muse.”
If you haven’t heard his stuff and you enjoy gritty-alt-country-con-folk-pop, pop to his Myspace page and take a listen.
Take a Hike
Yesterday afternoon I grabbed my camera, my 50mm, a zoom and a bottle of water and set out into Lower Macleay park without any plan. My goal was to reacquaint myself with the basics—in nature and photography.
In photography classes, I was forced to create images by assignment. I was also using a borrowed Minolta film camera and had to think a little harder about lighting, aperture, speed… I realized yesterday just how lazy I had become with it. I would end up taking way too many shots with poor results simply because I could review them instantly.
I had this realization around halfway into the hike while trying to make this photo—
—I was trying too hard and basically sucking the life out of the photo. It was no longer truly unique, but really just the best shot out of five (or ten) thoughtless clicks.
From that point on, I shut off image previews and focused solely on making a decent photo. I ended up hiking from Lower Macleay up to Pittock Mansion, then down through the neighborhood to NW 23rd Ave and had a blast! I’m planning on starting through a 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles of Portland hike-by-hike.
You can view the entire set on Flickr. How do you hone your skills?
