Today’s prompt: Write about a photograph you remember, even if you don’t have it anymore.
While I was an exchange student in Finland, I took a photography course, figuring it was something I could do to communicate with people without having to speak Finnish, a difficult language to learn, especially when you don’t want to. I bought an SLR and started walking around taking pictures instead of going to class.
(more…)This isn’t going to be a very exciting post, it’s mostly for me to keep consistent with my posting daily goal.
Apple released its Creative Studio yesterday, which I was excited to subscribe to. In December, I decided to cancel my subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud in an effort to save some money. While the Creative Studio subscription isn’t cheap, at $179 CAD a year + tax, it’s no the nearly $60 a month I was paying for Adobe. Of course, it doesn’t have all of the software but it should be more than enough for what I need.
I’m curious to see if I’ll start using more Apple tools. I mean, I have already been but this may tip the scales some. Keeping track of where everything is and maintaining a cohesive system is not so easy when I flip systems.
It’s just something a little exciting to look forward to, I guess. Something new to learn and discover. I would like to get back into editing photos and videos. As with everything, it takes time that I can’t seem to carve out right now.
What colleges have you attended?
Listing off the schools that I’ve attended probably won’t be all that interesting to read. Well, I guess, it might be more interesting than what you’re about to read if what I write next is not of interest to you.
The most interesting schooling experience that I’ve had was when I was attending a photography class in Finland. I don’t speak Finnish. The instructor didn’t speak English. We were developing film in a dark room. I didn’t fully appreciate just how interesting my life was at the time.
I stole a book on photography from a classmate. Accidentally, of course, but I did take it. She lent it to me because it was in English. I lost it the following year, somewhere in my dorm. There were negatives tucked into the back of that book that’ll never get processed. I remember there being pictures of boats being stored in a wooded area behind the house of my host family.
Photography was important to me during my experience as an exchange student. Given the language barrier, it was the most effective way I found to express myself. People were able to read into my photographs. They saw something that I didn’t, perhaps because they were looking at a piece of me.
I’ve been humming and hawing over buying a lightbox for several months. It’s not the cost so much as the idea that it’s a bit unnecessary. I thought I could build my own or just use a large sheet of white poster paper. I tried both. Both worked. The lightbox just feels more convenient. I haven’t used it yet.
The plan is to take pictures of the products for SANA Stationery & Gifts. I’m really hoping the lightbox will give me more consistent lighting and that it’ll be easy enough to set up and take down that I can build a better workflow.
I have to put in an order for more pen turning supplies soon.
I made this pen about a week ago. I like it but it’s not a style of pen that I would use, I don’t think.
In other news, I’m not sure what’s going on with the YouTube algorithm but my view count is way up. I keep checking it, thinking it’s not right. I’m excited to be making some headway, though.
Finally, the situation with the Ford government and CUPE is just absurd. I’m shocked that the government would act this way, like playground bullies. I also don’t like that online learning is now that workaround. I think that’s absolute horse shit.
I was only able to make one pen today. My lever for the tailstock of my lathe broke just over a week ago. It’s an easy problem to work around but it’s a nuisance. It took me at least a couple of hours, I think, to fix my self-centring vise today — the knob to tighten and loosen the jaws came loose. Still, I was able to make a pen today.
I made the pen below a few weeks ago but just got around to photographing it. It’s walnut with the RAW aluminum fountain pen kit. I used a CA finish on this one, something I’ve been doing more of lately.
Oh, and I put together a lightbox today. I’ve been using a large sheet of white cardstock, which has been working well. I thought that putting together a lightbox might help me control the light better. These pictures turned out okay but I’ve got to try a few different things.
I’m planning to go to Scriptus tomorrow. It’s a stationery show at the Toronto Reference Library. I’m actually quite excited for it.
Fountain pens are just fantastic. I think everybody should own one. And, use it.
One of the nicest things about making and selling pens is that it brings together a lot of my interests. Taking pictures of the pens I make has proven to be somewhat challenging. I’ve fallen into a bit of a pattern — developing a style — but there’s still plenty of room for improvement.
It dawned on me this morning that I haven’t been posting pictures of my pens on my blog. I haven’t really been posting about making pens at all. I think I probably should be.
Here’s the first step. The pen is made with wenge wood and RAW brass hardware.
My dad and I went on a road trip to the Maritimes. Neither of us had been before. I’m planning to post some pictures as I edit them.
One 4×6 photo cost me $600. It’s a picture that I took. I probably won’t even put it in a frame. I even printed the picture myself.
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