Dance with Me

Dearest J.,

It’s weird as of late. I’m not sure what’s going on with me but my interest in photography has been reignited. Well, actually I do know what’s going on and why the reignited interest. I’ve been perusing MMRFRO’s flickr page a great deal lately and it’s gotten me juiced up again in regard to photography. Yeah, I can’t resist a binary-based drive by now and then. What can I say? I’m a loser.

Or perhaps more aptly, what’s gotten me juiced up is all of the photos of the half and completely naked men he has as his favorites. It’s funny that someone who claimed he doesn’t think of people “that way” or bases his interest in another on their physical attractiveness has over 300 pages of photos tagged—the vast majority being of nude men who just happen to very attractive. And funny how when I mentioned to him the need for rigorous self-honesty in all relationships including the one with himself.  He made the statement, “I’m sorry you feel I don’t live my life with rigorous self-honesty.” Uh, yeah, isn’t that one kind of self-evident? Pointless apology notwithstanding.

And yet another funny thing, while he claimed to have a degree in Fine Arts in photography. He hasn’t the courage to post one photo of his own to his flickr account. What is that old phrase about “artists” who aren’t producing yet are overly critical of others and are quick to make a negative comment or two about work produced?  “Do as I say not as I do”, maybe? Fits like glove with that one I’d say.

But I digress…

Due to the renewed interest in photography, I picked up a pocket digital camera last week. I’d been thinking about getting one for quite a while, as I’ve wanted the ability to take random “slice of life” shots as I’m going through any day and see something that inspires me. The cameras in both of my cell phones are far too clunky to use and really don’t take photos worth a hoot. And, I just have never been able to get myself motivated to carry around the D60—for those moments, just in case. So, I ran to Best Buy one day at lunch last week and picked up a Canon PowerShot S90.

At its release, it got favorable user and blogger reviews for ease of use and image quality. It also saves files in RAW format which was a very important factor for me. And while I’m beginning to discover some of the limitations of camera (or perhaps more aptly, the limitations of the user due to his inability to focus at any great length on working his way through the manual), I thus far love the camera. It takes amazing shots for being so small. And Canon did a great job with the software as it’s simple to find most of the functions quickly and easily.  That’s one of the other reasons I don’t carry the D60 with me that much. I’ve always found the user interface to be a little clunky.

There is a creative project  I’ve wanted to pursue for several years now but hadn’t the motivation to get started with itwhich is to take shots of the moon rising over DC from different vantage points each month. Then make a calendar out of them. Or if I were to get enough shots maybe a book?

I decided given I have the new camera to cart it along with the D60 down to Iwo Jima on Friday night to try to catch the moonrise. But due to cloud cover associated with the snow storm that was to roll into the area later during the weekend, the moonrise was obscured.

After standing by the Netherlands Carillion for nearly an hour in sub freezing temps, I was just getting ready to pack thing up and leave when the moon began to come through the clouds. But of course by that point, it was far too above the horizon to make a good shot. I however did get a couple shots of the Carillion at night which where kind of interesting.

By the time I got home, the moon was through the clouds, and high in the sky. I decided to take the PS90 and walk around the ‘hood taking photos here and there. The photo above is the best in the series that I took. While the moon merely looks like an amorphous blob, it’s kind of an interesting “mood” photo. I’m not sure if the moon in not clear due to camera shake or the fact I may not have had the camera focused to infinity. Whichever, I’ll try again next month and with a little assistance from Big Momma N. maybe they’ll turn out better next time.

Today, I ran out to Penn Camera at Tyson’s Corner and picked up a cheap studio light kit. It’s funny, each time I go into a camera store it’s like I’m 15 again and drooling over all of the equipment.

I got the lights as I have an idea for a self-portrait I want to shoot. I’ve wanted to do it over the past couple of weekends, but haven’t been able to find the time. I want to paint my face and upper torso to look like a stylized Heyokah. I’ve created a flickr account of my own and unlike MMRFRO I intend to post photos (both recent and past) of my own (and some taken by my father) rather than just tag those of others. I want an interesting and unusual photo of myself to use as an avatar. If I’m able to get a shot that I like, I will use it as an avatar here as well.

Of course as I’ve been exploring all of this, the dominant thought in my mind has been D.’s final little dig of, “What this was, is, or could have been.” as he slinked away. And I do realize it’s he who is missing out as it could have been amazing if it weren’t for the fact he’s such a dishonest coward. IMHO

Jesus, how I soon hope to be past this…

Sending you much love!