Process to Perfection

I had a bit of an 'aha' moment today.

I have been reading up on the process involved in selling select photos to marketers and other such clients. The literature I've been perusing also tends to include tips and strategies for working on assignment. While I am not planning to make myself available for photography assignments in the near future, I have been reading anyway, for knowledge's sake.

I am looking at a sample picture in the article--a portrait of a runner. We see him from the back as he jogs down an empty country road towards the horizon. The article is talking about setting up the right model in the right location to get the desired image. I wonder how many times the photographer had him jog 100m, called him back, and made him jog again.

And then it hit me.

The photographer may have taken 50... 60... 100 shots of the athlete to get the one shot that makes the cut. And this process is not unfamiliar to me. I've done it lots.

Thing is, I sometimes feel a twinge of... dissatisfaction when this happens. Sometimes, when it takes me several attempts to get a picture just the way I want it, I'm hard on myself. It's not like the flower was going somewhere, why didn't you just take more time to get everything set up properly? You know about leading lines, why didn't you use them from the beginning? Why did you ever think a wide angle would work for this shot?

I consider my efforts, and conclude that--while I'm a good photographer--I would be a great photographer if I could visualize that perfect shot faster, if I could see more creatively, if I knew exactly what settings I needed for the light available, etc.

Most of the time, I remember that it is all part of the process. I am learning from all this. And that ten different shots doesn't mean one great and nine awful. It means ten different shots.

But in the weak moments, I wonder if I'm gaining any skill at all, because again it's taken me so many shots to get the one I wanted.

And then I saw the runner.

I wonder how many times the photographer had him jog 100m, called him back, and made him jog again.

I did not think this negatively, but more in awe of the process. It made me think of movies, and how directors will ask actors to do a scene many times over, and then choose the best one when putting the film together at the end. And the take he chooses may not even be the one that's most technically "correct." Perhaps that one take where the actor had to improv a bit, because he briefly forgot his line, turned out to be the most natural-looking interaction, and helps the scene flow seamlessly into the next. Ten different takes doesn't mean one great and nine awful. It means ten different takes.

There is purpose in this process; it adds to the final product; and as a viewer, I can't tell how many times that scene was shot. I just sit, and take in the beauty of the art before me.

Occasionally, I do get something great on the very first try. But I think I've just had a good reminder that this really is the exception to the rule. I think I have given myself a little more permission to be okay with calling the runner back, and making him jog down the road again.

184/365

What I wanted to post was a photo of me and my friends at the movie theatre, because that was a great highlight for today. What I'm posting instead is me depositing the money that pays for said movie, mostly because cheques don't have double chins in photographs.

159/365

Movie night. I can taste the butter and salt as I type :)

98/365

I was invited spontaneously to hang out with some friends and watch a movie this evening.

The spontaneity part was giving me a particularly hard time (and for no particularly good reason).

Solution: purchase comfort food for supper, (follow it up with wine), and enjoy the movie and the company.

I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up to No Good OR 16/365

"Of course it's happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?"

-- Albus Dumbledore

It's Just Better Literature

I have read the entire Harry Potter series (more than once!). Sadly, I also wasted part of a summer reading through the Twilight series. It just didn't compare. While I know that many people enjoy the Twilight series--books and movies alike--the sensationalism that surrounds Harry Potter is not just because of great special effects and good-looking actors. It's because those excellent movies have been created from excellent literature. While I felt Stephenie Meyers wrote emotion into her books quite well, I was continually disappointed with the weak plot (that got weaker with each book), and overall lack of... substance (resilience? initiative? maturity?) in the main characters.

Let me show you what I mean.

 

"Harry Potter is about confronting fears, finding inner strength and doing what is right in the face of adversity. Twilight is about how important it is to have a boyfriend." — Stephen King

Well said, Stephen. Well said. 

Not So Different...

Okay, so I recently watched an 80's teen movie called Can't Buy Me Love. It was recommended to me by a friend cuz the male lead is Patrick Dempsey, who is also the male lead on Grey's. From the outset, I knew this would not be a 'substance' movie. I expected 80's cheese, and it was 80's cheese.

But I had to wonder a couple times: if I had been a young adult in the late 80's and had watched the movie 20 years ago when it was new, would I have thought it to be cheesy, or would I have thought it was a feel-good teen movie? A while ago, I posted about how, re-watching some old clips of Lois & Clark, I could admit that it was definitely a bit cheesy twelve years later. But I sure didn't think that when I was sixteen! ...Maybe cheese is relative?

Okay, so here's the final scene from Can't Buy Me Love. Context: geek pays popular girl to go out with him, but even though she ends up really liking him, she blows his cover in a moment of weakness. There's animosity. Can chic and geek really co-exist together?

Now here's the ending scene from the fourth season finale of Grey's, which I was watching this evening. Context: on-again-off-again for the last three years, Meredith and Derek are discovering themselves and what they really want out of relationships.

Really, what's so different about a kiss riding into the Arizona sunset and a kiss atop a Washington cliff in a candle lit house plan? I think it's just time that renders the former cheesy. Clothing trends change. Issues-of-the-day change. But the concept... discovering what really matters in making a relationship work; discovering that there's someone who loves you for who you are; having that true love approach you with the kiss you've been waiting for for who knows how long; having the happy ending... The concept is timeless.

Just Add Snow...

The last 48 hours have been either a test in perseverance or a testament to perseverance--not quite sure which; but what a time has been had!

Thursday evening's weather forecasters were handing out snow warnings on the radio. I hadn't yet purchased new snow boots, because up until this point, there hadn't been any 'real' snow, so I made a point of stopping by Mountain Equipment Co-Op after work, and picked myself up of boots that totally match my winter coat, have faux fur trim, and have an Active Temperature Rating of -40. There was a slightly more expensive pair with an ATR of -100C, but I just felt like that was a bit excessive, even for Canada. :) ...Plus they weren't as stylish.

Anyway, the boots were bought just in the nick of time, as the snow was already above my ankles by the time I woke up Friday morning. Of course, I had to go for a school visit out in a rural community outside of Edmonton. Because this was the 3rd attempt at this visit in the last month, there was not a lot I was about to let stop me from getting out there. So I gave myself some extra time, pulled on the new boots, and headed out. The normally 25-minute drive was 45 minutes, but it was a fairly uneventful trip out. The highway was actually relatively better than the city roads, which were accumulating with snow and creating ruts all over the place. I had bigger challenges moving through the residential neighbourhood of my afternoon family!

I had originally planned to go walking around the Legislature grounds Friday evening with a friend to check out the Christmas lights and listen to a choir, but the snow was still actively blowing by the time I got home from work, so I nixed those plans and stayed home. Instead, I put productive energy into editing photos I had taken for my respite family the night before. I was toast by about 10pm, so I headed to bed. I figured it would be good to get a nice solid sleep, as I was selling photo cards at my church's annual Craft and Bake Sale in the morning. I changed my alarm to get me up at 7:45.

At 8:45am, I woke up. I had changed the alarm time, but had NOT actually set the alarm. Considering 8:45 was when I had planned on heading out the door, I knew I had to move FAST. I bypassed showering, hair straightening, contact lenses, and breakfast, and left my condo in a bit of disarray, but I was ready and out the door in 20 minutes! Because I had actually allotted about 15 minutes to run an errand on the way, I skipped the errand and still made it to the church on time!

Now, keep in mind, the snow had kept falling throughout the night, so now there was a good foot-and-a-half of snow behind my car. If I didn't have to be out today, I wouldn't have been. With my neighbour on stand-by (who happened to be shoveling himself out at the same time), I put my car in reverse and gave 'er. My little Honda cut through that snow drift like it was butter! I was SO impressed! It was definitely more of an effort after this to work through the ruts and drifts and snow banks on the way to the church hall, but not nearly as treacherous as I was expecting, and my little car did not let me down!

The craft and bake sale went fairly well. I had never sold or even attended one of my church's craft and bake sales, so I had no idea if or how much the snow (and recession, for that matter) was impacting the number of people that came through. In five hours, I only had about 25 customers, which isn't a lot, but it worked out to over 100 cards (mostly sold in sets of 5). I made way more cards than I needed, but certainly better than not making enough! (If you need Christmas cards, let me know--I have a box full! ...Proceeds go towards a Kenya mission project.) I consumed several cups of tea throughout the course of the day, watched the snow from the inside, and marveled at the fact that people were buying my work!

The drive home was just as drift-filled, plus the added bonus of higher traffic volume, but again, I was not let down by my car. I would have gotten stuck in my parking stall if I'd tried to force my car in, but I let my neighbour shovel my spot out instead. This evening was supposed to be another outdoor Christmas venture with a friend, but she and I both agreed that it was not worth it, and opted for an evening home instead. I got yesterday's edited photos onto a CD, downloaded some Christmas tunes for the child I'm working with, and started some Christmas baking.

Tomorrow I am headed to JP's place to watch "Up!" with the girls. It's s'posed to be a cute movie. I follow that up with some evening respite, and then crazy-Christmas-week 2 of 3 starts on Monday! It's s'posed to stop snowing overnight tonight, and then get really cold for the next several days. I'm not sure which I'd rather have. Constant snow fall or clear but COLD. ...Either way, at least my feet will be warm.

Fireproof

Watched this tonight. Good movie. Tough in spots. But overall, I would recommend it.