Log

2505F

Quick note today on thoughts around feeling blocked with photography.

Got into mode of only big, only project, only what matters. No play, no fun, no practice and crucially no building step by step. I want to make a zine, a book, a complete project. Then I feel lost and confused when editing/sequencing. That’s cause I never built up to doing a 10-20 image sequence. I jumped straight there.

Next thought:
Remember Dan Milnor’s picture package videos. Idea is to build a 3-5 image sequence, more conscise, with this few pics it can be more focused, concentrate on a specific event/moment/idea/place. With a 10+ picture set/essay you need more chapters, you need progression. 10 pics about the same thing are boring, 3 are thorough. 1 for context, 1 for the core, 1 for additional detail. Dan’s examples are great, too. Build visually, build content wise, but 3-5 pics don’t need to be a whole story. Or at least not a detailed one. 3 pics can be a glimpse, an impression. 10 pics need to have a developed narrative.

A picpack doesn’t need to be all event, all action. Do detail, do characteristic sections of a bigger thing. Can’t show it all, but show the core and hint at it all. Atmosphere, not documentation.

So I’ll do picture packages from now on. Shoot for them, and only work in packages. Practice, practice, practice. No big finished story, just 3-5 pic packages.

Next thought:
Need to put the picpacks somewhere. fono.day/pics is good for this. Also want to do tangible stuff. Idea: 6-fold zines. Easy to make. Has 4 internal pages -> 4 pictures. Front dated + little text if needed, title or sg. Back can have another couple sentences. Pictures inside. Perfect! Shoot and edit picpacks, focus on what’s at hand, mini stories from my day. (Story, not plot! Not all action.) Make 6-fold of it right away, print 1 copy, fold, rejoice, put in a box. Do this again and again and again. Not much more effort than putting pics up here.

Next thought:
Need a frictionless workflow. Workflow here is great cause I don’t need to faff with anything. Convert to JPEG in camera, transfer to iPhone, select, send to laptop, put in md file, git commit, push. Very easy, focus on selecting and sequencing, don’t need to do anything “around” it. I want a similar workflow for 6 fold zines.
Idea: pandoc to generate PDF from md. Make it similar to this site: I just make md files, link the pics in them, run a command, bammm! it’s built.
Found a guide that could be a starting point. Just need to make a good template to rotate and place the pages, after that I have a script I can run that generates a print-ready PDF for a 6fold from a md. Big success!

Next thought:
Cross process effect on Ricoh GR. And the high-contrast BW effect. Play. Don’t make clean stuff always, not everything is serious business. Not everything is cool, objective documentary work. Look at dirtyharrry. Fenomenal stuff. Playful, but still valid. Why do I feel that anything that has effects or a playful look isn’t valid? Just need to make good photographs either way, filter won’t save a bad one.

Well, anyways.

2505R

A plane and a helicopter crashed into eachother over Washington, DC. Hungary produced 0.2% (!) growth last year so is officially out of recession. My lower back aches, I haven’t been on a longer walk in weeks.
The world is weird today. I’m gonna go walk the dog.

Listened to a conversation with Adam Curtis about Hypernormalization, it feels like a good fit for an Explanation of Everything. Like all models, probably flawed and still useful.

2505W

I don’t like winter. I always forget it, so every year I am forcibly reminded that the cold and the dark saps my motivation and my joy for the winter months.
Some days the weather is sunny and warm or sunny and crisp and then I feel like winter is fun, but I tend to forget that most of winter is cold and grey and dark and wet.

I haven’t been out with a camera, properly out, for two months now. I’ve gone on errands and grabbed a few shots on the way, but I haven’t been properly out. I haven’t felt excited to photograph, I haven’t felt the thrill of the world happening around me, I haven’t marveled at the perfect color of the afternoon light in the city. I miss it, but winter hasn’t passed yet.

Tomorrow maybe I’ll go out on a mini trip, to shoot one specific picture and carry my proper gear that makes me feel like a proper photographer.
Feeling is important in photography. A painter can’t paint without the right mood and a photographer can’t photograph. For me, good light and a camera that feels good to raise are the combination that puts me in a good mood.
Let’s hope for that for tomorrow so I can have a little fun.

Well, anyways.