I have decided to shut down this blog. Not because I have given up on my writing but i have expanded a bit. So my involvement in photography has grown quite a bit since I last updated this blog. Since then, I have expanded my photography portfolio and also been given the opportunity to do some shoots. So this is not farewell.
Please check me out on my new blog:
HDShootsPhotos.com/blog
Death is a funny thing. Your life can be just chugging away and, like a thief in the night, it can creep up and steal your last remaining breath. Its times like this that makes you hug your loved one a little harder and to cherish the moments that you have with people, because, for real, you never know if today may be your last.
Death and I have an ‘acquaintance’ type of relationship, where we have only met on a couple of occasions. Both instances were when a friend lost a parent and to that I cannot even fathom the pain that they may have endured at that time. It may not have been me that lost someone but in both occasions the remnants of lost and anguish thicken the air to the point that all can feel the pain as if it was an immediate lost within their life.
Today, I will say so long to not just a great and caring boss but to a thoughtful friend.
Someone once asked the Dalai Lama what surprised him most about humanity and he answered:
“Man..Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices moment to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never lived."
*Recent shoot I did at Fitzgeralds here in Houston. The band is called Leatherface and opened up for Free Energy and Postelle. I have never heard of any of these bands but it was worth checking out the show.
I have been slacking pretty badly with the blogging, but by no means have I been slacking on my resolutions. Between doing a little snowboarding trip to Utah and trying my best to shoot every day, I have been pretty busy. One thing is for sure, I have been putting away blog ideas away in my head, preparing myself to unleash the contents that I have stored up. So I will slowly try to get them out as best as I can.
The one thing I wanted to address in this blog post is the renewal of photography within my life. Back in January 2008, I bought a DSLR in hopes to document the many adventures along this trek around the world I had planned for myself.I envision taking pictures of all of this amazing places I only saw in the history books and wanted to see them first hand. At the time I was living in Houston and was preparing a road trip back to New York. From there I was to board a flight to fly half way around the world to live in a small city in South Korea. I taking pictures of everything. From the side view mirror as I cruised in and out of states to the wild streets of New Orleans for Fat Tuesdays, the camera was glued to my hand. For the first couple of months after that, I documented every little thing that struck me as beautiful. Flowers. People. The ocean. Everything i thought that needed to be documented there was a snapshot attached to it. Than as always, I began to leave my camera behind when I went out or I was too shy to shoot. It got to the point that I would only whip out my camera for family gatherings and half the time it wasn't me shooting, but rather friends and family who took it upon themselves to play around with my camera. So the camera sat in my bag collecting dust until halfway through 2009 I was wondered what is about photography that made me want to pick it up to begin with. I started to connect the dots, going from my love to capture moments between people to and the culture of music that I wanted to get into concert photography. So from that point on I decided to really learn the ins and outs of what it takes to become a photographer and have been aspiring to become one ever since. Whether it be reading up on technique or learning the various books associated with Adobe Photoshop, I have kept on pushing myself one way or another. So this year I made it a point to take that focus and dedicate myself truly in this passion. I'm talking about trying to shadow fellow photographers to going to random shows to get use to shooting in that type of environment. I am trying to do anything that will help me develop myself as much as I can. That is why this New Years resolution is important to me. After reading the book, Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, I realize that the only way to truly be an expert on anything is to accumulate 10,000 hours in experience in that particular topic, whether it be through reading or hands on experience.
So that is my goal.
10K hours in experience.
Whether it be a year or 10, I will make sure that this is something that I finish.
* Trying to get myself together on this Sunday evening.
Now that we have finished up on the first month of the new year, I felt there was a need to do a little run down of the progression of my new year's resolution.
Photography – No I haven’t creeped anyone out with camera in hand but I have slowly started making plans towards my goals in progressing as a photographer, especially reaching out to a local photographer in order to shadowed him and pick up on some useful techniques. Also, I decided that for me to become a better concert photographer, I need to start going to shows again to develop myself. So, soon enough, there will be plenty of random photos of various artists on the site.
Writing – As you can see my there have been a few more post this month. I have written as many post this month (3) than I did last year (4). I would say that is progress. I feel that this year, there will be a lot more post coming from me. I have a wedding to look forward in October and I will definitely be documenting the experience.
Patience/Passion – This is the one area that has been tricky. So I have been patient in my work life but everywhere else I have let the lack of it get the best of me. I know it won’t happen overnight. I will continue to practice patience and not give up too quickly. Lets hope for the best.
1 month down and 11 more months to go. I have notice that my focus is getting clearer and I know what I need to do. That is after only 1 month of dedication. I have slowly realize what needs to be done by me to push me in developing myself and maintaining these resolutions.
