Learning Curves

Like the scariest of roller coasters, learning curves can be daunting... but the sense of accomplishment at the moment of enlightenment is not unlike the exhilaration upon conquering a terrifying roller coaster.

Today, I am at an SEO 1 day Bootcamp seminar. I've spent a great deal of time over the last year or so getting educated about websites and search engine optimization, but it continues to amaze me just how much there is to learn about this topic

Just when I think I'm at the crest of a hill on the learning curve, the track levels out and there's another impossibly high hill ahead...

To check out some of the sites I maintain, in addition to this photography website, please visit:

http://www.cornerstonedrafting.ca

and

http://www.dmandzuk.ca/

All three are very much works in progress and I'm always looking for ideas, suggestions and feedback from viewers on any of the sites. Something you'd like to see? Broken link? Please let me know - feedback is always appreciated!

- Paula

Adventures in Time Travel

Ask any of my friends or family what my hobby is and you'll get some puzzled looks and varied responses...I'm not one to stick with something for long, but when I get something in my head, I dive into it with both feet and a hearty "Hell yes!"

I've long claimed to have the attention span of a gnat so it's no wonder I've enjoyed many hobbies over the years, some I still occasionally dabble in...from collecting various items (the most extensive and expensive of which was a 2+ yr craze with beanie babies), clay sculpture, soft sculpture, painting, car enthusiast, and now, photography.

To be fair, photography has been part of my job now for nearly 10 years and a growing passion for much of that, which is really quite amazing - considering photography was the single component of my graphic design eduction in college that I abhorred most...could be because as a broke college student, some weeks the choice was gas to commute to school or pay to get photos printed for an assignment. More often than not, I was present in class, but had no photos to submit for an assignment. It was natural that I would grow to resent that.

Fast forward 15 years later and with the widespread availability of relatively inexpensive digital media, I can click the shutter to my hearts content at a negligible cost. Of course there's a cost, but I won't go into that now - that's not where I'm heading with this posted.

Photography and time travel - whatever could I mean?

Well, time lapse photography, which I am on the edge of diving into with both feet, having dipped my big toe in by doing my first 3 time lapse movies this weekend. They are clumsy efforts, at best, with much room for improvement...which will come with practice, research and the addition of a few additional bits and pieces of equipment.



The biggest negative, I guess, about time lapse photography, is the gross amount of time it takes to create anything of any substantial length. At 20 frames per second (fps), which is actually on the slow side, if you can believe it, this 45 second video took 1.5 hrs to shoot. And I don't have a cable release, a timer or shoot tethered to a laptop...approximately 1500 images...all created by me pushing the shutter release every 3 seconds. Is it any small wonder my index finger is a little tender today? This video is one of three shot yesterday - there was a sunrise, one of afternoon clouds and this sunset. Over 4000 images yesterday alone. My 9 month old Canon 50D rolled over 10,000 shots and climbing yesterday. Whew!

Not sure how long this fascination will last. Given my history, it will be brief, so enjoy while it while you can!

- Paula

2009/2010 Camera Club Season is Here!

Welcome September and the beginning of the 2009/2010 Camera Club Season is upon us.

Next week, I have 2 club meetings, our Port Perry club has it's September meeting Tuesday and our first Oshawa club meeting of the season is Wednesday night.

Tuesday, we are having a workshop on composition, which is really the one and only thing I retained from photography in college - most likely because I also paint and composition is as important in one as it is in the other so I've continued to use it through the years. If there's one thing I struggle with in composition, it's creatively breaking the rules...

I'm excited about the Oshawa club this year. I'm a Team leader for one of the six groups for photo essays this season. We have the opportunity to complete five photo essays over the course of the season and have 2 well under way. We have a meeting coming up on the 13th to review where we are at on our assignments.

Our topics this year are street photography, architecture, Windreach Farm, weather & portraiture and this is in addition to our four clinics this season which are close encounters, weather, panoramas & crazy captions.

I'm looking forward to a very productive & informative season!!

- Paula