REAWAKENING TO LIFE

So my day was pretty great in comparison.

I have a lot of um… fun shooting cycling races. I didn’t know how thick the tension would be when I first started shooting, but seeing racers whip around 90 degree bends on an outward sloping road lends itself to pretty dramatic scenes. Of course, I hope no one gets hurt in all this – on every crash I captured, everyone got up. I will be posting more ‘positive’ images of the races pretty soon on my event website, so hopefully I can expand to non-mainstream sports like this. I am investigating motocross, cyclocross, and mountain bike races for upcoming events.

I am moving into a much bigger place next year, and with that comes a BIGGER basement. I am planning on setting up a darkroom and silkscreening studio, with the intention of it being some sort of co-op for people looking for access to such equipment at a decent price. It might take a bit of finagling <sp>, but I am really excited to get it started. I have had a few people already ask about it, and I don’t think it would take much $$$ to operate since most of the overhead is taken care of already.

Heck! I might even have time to develop some film for your prying eyes to see!

So….  I’m not sure how to bring this up…. but I’ve been seeing someone else.

Yes, it is true.  I have been seduced by another…. shall we say… addictive hobby. This has explained my absence from posting fresh and invigorating work.

Anyway, I have been busy with building up this bike, traveling to new and foreign lands (NYC/Philly/DC/New Hampshire), and meeting with a few wedding clients for this upcoming year. Don’t worry though, I will be posting on a more regular basis, as my guilty conscience has been getting at me.

On a more serious note, I just turned 25. Very serious. Lots of changes in this past year already, and I hope more will happen soon.

I have also decided to stay in State College for around two to four years, as opposed to moving to Harrisburg or closer to my work (which is in central Amish Country, PA). Really, the only thing holding me here is my job, so heck – I might as well enjoy myself while I am here.

Since I became okay with staying here, I decided I need to see a new side of State College – which has some of the best mountain biking trails in PA. I have been out a few times since finishing the bike, and I am really looking forward to some early morning rides finished with bagels and coffee. Perfect for Sundays.

Bike race + fast camera + fast lens = 1600 images to sort through. Digital is great (for this purpose).

So I have been following the PSU cycling club around the east coast on the weekends. The past one in Philly was great. Rain on Saturday and high winds on Sunday. Lots of crashes on Saturday in the criterium, which is an aggressive eight city block circuit. If you’re lucky, you might see a few.

I have processed a lot more concerning church since last post, and this website has helped me out immensely. I was like, wow, this is exactly what I am feeling and can highly relate to this. Agh! The great and wonderful news… Life has become so enjoyable and I feel like I am getting back a lot surrendered vision/passion. Even in simply traveling with the cycling team and taking images and riding and going to work and watching Lost with a few friends… all these things have become so enjoyable again. I don’t feel guilty doing them anymore.

God has already paid the price of my guilt, so why live under it? No more rain clouds here and sunny unreachable horizons there.

NYC. NYC. NYC. I was up there scouting the land and Brooklyn’s atmosphere was so different. Such an amazing place. Canon MKII and a 15mm fisheye.

Right now, I am experiencing a lot of animosity towards the church I recently left. I want to say so many things and ask so many questions, yet I feel apathy sometimes and passion others. What I do know right now is that there is a group of ‘Disbandeds’ here and on the net that have experienced the same that I have. Part of me wants to take up anger and experiences that are not mine. The only binding thing that I still hold with this church is my own word that I would not speak maliciously towards them.

Conversely, I am not bound to speak nice things or strictly good things – I have an obligation to be honest with myself and with others. I was more or less warned not to make conclusions or connect the dots… However, I feel that if I did not make conclusions, I would just be pulling the sheet over my head and continue to be ignorant to the reality of the situation.

Wow… It is so good to breathe.

Ah, yes…. the first post with an image from my Canon Mark II and 24-70mm lens. This was a digital tirade I went on one late night in January. I couldn’t feel my stiff frozen fingers when I finally made it back to the car.

Some daily affirmations: I am who you say I am, and I do whatever I see you doing. I follow you as you convict and lead me, and I speak with you in mind. I am and you are, and we walk together. I remember that you never left me before, and you will never leave me ahead, and I live in constant and confident love.

Nikon 5400, color capture to BW. It does a great job with the ‘bokeh’ – which is the blur quality of out-of-focus portions of the image.

I walked past these arms of dead wildflowers everyday when I come into work. Traveling to get unique images would be great, but great possibilities for photographs are usually in sight, as long as you are willing to look at the mundane with freshness.

A simple quote from my bosses on their secret to photography (who are in Antarctica photographing the endangered icebergs and who were both BBC Photographers of the Year):

“All it takes is vision.”

Maybe influenced by the trip to DC and referencing the nation’s obelisk? A boundary marker around the house where I work. The wonders of shooting in digital color and converting them to BW.

I shot 6 rolls of film this past weekend with the Yashica, and they are sitting in my bag unable to be processed until Wednesday…ugh. I shot a ton of statues and art work in the museums, trying out lighting schemes and dissecting the way the figures approach the viewer (or vice-versa). It reminded me of my time in Italy, and analyzing how heavenly and spiritual subjects are represented in an earthen visual language of statues and paintings.

How and why does gold represent holiness?