52 Week Project

June 23, 2012

So, I thought I’d post random entries on this blog here on out. There is so much I want to talk about. The last time I’ve updated my blog was on February, which was 4 months now! And during those 4 months, alot of things happened! After I updated my blog on February, I was asked to shoot a wedding in Winnipeg. I couldn’t go after I got there because my fckin arthritis was sooo bad! I felt so bad for not going. A few weeks later, I found out my camera was stolen for drugs. I was sleeping at my cousin’s place in winnipeg. I woke up to look for it….I started freaking out! My camera bag was no where to be found! I was fckin pissed off! sheesh. Stupid Assholes. Anyway, Nikon D2x got stolen for drugs. So I wasn’t able to take pictures these past few months. As soon as my graduation came around, I told momma and pa that I wanted a new camera after I graduated (I told them this a few back). So last month I asked them if they still could, and they said yes. So I started looking online which one I wanted. I didn’t know which one to get. But all I know is I wanted a Full Frame Camera. I came across to Canon EOS 1ds Mark II. So, here I am not taking pictures again! heh heh heh heh. I’m so happy I get to take pictures again. I was talking to my sister in law about photography and how much I love it. I told her “I love photography, just like how you love your kids”. She said “I kinda already knew you loved photography. Even your brother knows that. He knew that you didn’t really care if you made any money off from photography. And he sees that you’ve spent a huge amount of money just for it.” heh heh heh. I dunno. I just love it.

So anyway, These kids asked me to take pictures of their Group for their music. So I did. They made me laugh most of the time we were shooting. But I had a good time taking pictures with them. They all liked the results and so did I. I never noticed how much difference there is with a Full Frame and a Cropped Sensor. But of course, I’m just realizing that now because this is my First Full Frame Camera. heh heh. More Pictures will be uploaded! But for now, CIAO!

February 12, 2012

HA! So today, I went out and took pictures with my strobe and umbrella. I picked the wrong day to be taking pictures outside! It was soo windy and my umbrella kept falling. These are the kinda of style I want to get into more. Only if I actually had someone to photograph lol. It’s (still) my nephews I photograph and their awesome funny acts. But sometimes they say no because they’re always having their picture taken bahahahaha. Braiden walked into my room while I was uploading one on facebook, and he saw the picture. He just stood there all smiling haha. Braiden is the one in the middle. They’re all growing soo fast!!!

Side note ~ Thanks again to Tony who did an awesome job at editing this picture. 


And the other reason why I haven’t been really updating and taking pictures is because most recently, I went to see a doctor a few weeks ago. I was told that no news was good news. But turns out, I got news. Apparently, I have arthritis. I can barely type at most times and I try to avoid typing lots because it hurts as hell haha. That explains why I’ve been aching so much all these months. But the medication I’ve been prescribed are helping me alot. Thanks to it, I got the moves like Jagger!

Week 48, November 17th, 2011

Another Week went by. But it seems like it went by so slow. Last week My brother got beaten up from lifeless crack heads here in our reserve and was sent out on emergency. I practically had to wait freakin 12 hrs to be seen from the doctor. Bleh. But he is in good shape now. His jaw got fractured and is now wearing plates on both sides of his face, and clamped his jaw shut. So he has to wear the freakin wires for freakin 6 weeks! HA! But too bad for him. It’s his own fault that he got into this mess.

Other then that, I am feeling overwhelmed from what’s been happening in Wasagamack and other nearby reserves. I’ve been feeling really gloomy and sometimes I just want to break down and cry because of it. It’s such a tragedy.

Here are a few links you can read.

http://winnipeg.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20111109/wpg_boaters_111109/20111109/?hub=WinnipegHome

http://winnipeg.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20111113/wpg_missing_teen_111112/20111113/?hub=WinnipegHome

http://winnipeg.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20111113/wpg_boater_found_111113/20111113/?hub=WinnipegHome

Sadly, they found the last body that was missing. And Funeral is being held tonite in Winnipeg.

So, I’ve spent my past week in Winnipeg, and when I saw my camera when I got home, I realized how much I missed it! haha. I felt so inspired and wanted to learn something new. So I “stumbled” and found tutorials of lomography. And that’s what I’ve been doing for the past 2 days. Lomography lol. It’s awesome. What I learned that there are no rules for lomography LOL. Just kidding.


I know this isn’t lomo, but I like this picture. It’s my cousin Linda, and My Aunt Bertha, and my Grandma Agnes. I always wanted to take a picture of all 5 generations.

Week 47 - November 4th, 2011

A Whole month with no updation. School really has taken over for the past few weeks. I seriously can’t wait till I’m done. Ugh.


I’ve put my camera and stuff away. They’re now sitting in the closet helplessly feeling unwanted. Other then the dust that falls on them, the dust is the only thing thats getting along with my inanimate objects. I wonder what they do when I close the door O____o;

This past week, some of the boys from school tried burning down the school. They started a fire in the boys washroom, and I don’t know what happened after that. I think all the students got sent home because of it. And again, 2 kids tried starting a fire at the school yesterday evening. I was at grannys visiting, I was just about to drive off until I heard the school’s alarm system go off (You can hear the school’s alarm system all over the reserve). My cousin and I decided to drive over to the school, and there were alot of people there trying to stop the fire. 10 minutes went by, already a few more dozen people showed up. They managed to put the fire down though.

I think it’s sad how the kids think it’s really cool to be really gangster and shit. I think one of the kids said “I don’t like going to school”. Hence, the reason why trying to burn down the school. And there were parents complaining to the school and yelled at the…I’m not really sure who they yelled at, but probably the Principal or Vice Principal. The parents stated that their kids were simply “Not like that”. Defending their kid’s bad behavior and attitude will make their kids do more bad things because they don’t see anything wrong with doing bad things. Because they don’t see the consequences. I know some parents who do that, who don’t say anything to their kids and defend their kids because they are good angels. My parents always yelled at me if I did something wrong when I was a kid. I know not to do bad things to other people, and not vandalize other people’s property because that’s not who we are. My parents raised me with discipline. They still talk to me about these things because it’s wrong to treat people with negative actions.

I dunno, It just pisses me off how the kids are always trying to burn the school down these days. They think it’s a joke.

Anyway, Enough about my rant.



My cousin Karen, got married last month. Again, I wanted to go to their Reception and shiz, but I didn’t. It’s kinda complicated for me to explain why.

Week 42 - September 29th, 2011

Wow, 2 weeks just flew by. I’m not online as much anymore. School has taken over bahahah XD. My head feels like It’s going to explode pretty soon.

No new pictures this week…or….I went out a couple of days ago and took pictures of the Autumn season. It’s one of my favorite seasons because there are soo many colors in the leaves.






Here are a few I wanted to post last week. They’re from early this year. I meant to edit them and post them. But I get carried away sometimes with other things and forget.



And today, my baby giant brother turned 18 today. Makes me feel so old :| ..is it natural? xD

Good Night!

Week 40 - September 17th, 2011

Just sitting here listening to Paramore’s Album “Brand New Eyes”, sipping on my water, and chatting. Just a normal Friday night…or it could be Saturday morning.

I ordered strobe lights on the 2nd of September, and it arrived on the 13th. I’ve been messing around with the lights for the past couple of days. Been experimenting light positions and how it affects the subject. Yenno, shiz like that. Also I’ve been reading alot lately about using Strobes. One thing is for sure that I need a softbox haha.







I’m suprised I am on my 40th week of a 52 Week Challenge. Just 12 more weeks then I’m done! Maybe I’ll start another one after this one? I don’t know. We’ll see about that later. But it seems to me that everything I posted seem to be the same. Which is turning out a little boring right? I was reading an post on DPS about how someone wasn’t feeling inspired and hasn’t been shooting much for the past few weeks. It pretty much sounded like me. There were some pointers there on what to do to feel inspired. One of them was to use just one lens and one aperture and see what you come up with (Prime lens of course).

I dunno, I think that’s it for today. Latur!

Week 39 - September 9, 2011

It’s back to school season. When I was a kid, I use to be so excited to go back to school every year. I’d sleep early, set everything up for first day of class. Today, I don’t really give a shit. Just as long as I get there and complete assignments that are handed to us. bahahahaha. The excitement is gone…

I ordered a Strobe Light Kit for my D2x! I can’t wait till it gets in. I’ll be doing portraits of all kinds. I’ve always dreamed of having my own strobe light kit (tehe, You may say Im a dreamer….jk). Stooooooopid mail! I wish I could just travel half way the country and pick it up myself. Seriously, I would. But then again…It’ll only take 2 short weeks to get here -pulls hair-

School has started, and my classes doesn’t start till the 26th. At least I hope so. No Birthday parties, no weddings, no….no what? I haven’t been using my camera since my last update…or so.

I went through my pictures on “My Pictures”. I found sunset photographs that were taken during the Winter of 2010. I had to re-polish them a bit because my D100 had so much dust on the sensor. Like, literally.

It was very cold that evening. I felt like I wore a dozen pairs of mitts to keep my hand steady avoiding camera shake XD. I’ve always had these sitting here. Maybe I’ll upload more later on, but this will do for now. I’ve got tons of photos just sitting on “My Pictures” tehe.



Ciao

Week 38 - September 1, 2011

September already. Time flies by so fast! Too fast I should say. I was going through my posts the other day and saw a picture of my niece Lily. She is now 8 months. I can’t believe she’ll be 1 in a few months. She’s already trying to crawl and trying to stand on her own. She is so adorable!

I went berry picking with my parents and a few other people last week. We travelled by boat for 15 mins. When we got to land, we walked for another 20 mins or so walking up and down the hills and crap. It was a good hiking though! We all bought buckets to fill. Not many of us couldn’t finish picking berries. It was hot, but windy. I got so nauseous and had a bad headache because of the heat. I couldn’t pick any more berries because I felt like I was going to faint! haha. Oh gawd, it was just a terrible feeling. I am not much of an outdoor person if you ask me. heehee. I kinda got gross out too. When I looked in my bucket, I saw this HUGE ASS green neon colored Spider crawling around!!! I must have picked it up by hand not knowing it was there and dumping in the bucket with the berries. I think it may have bit me because I have this weird looking bite on my hand. Kinda makes you want to turn into a super-hero right? haha just kidding.

When we were heading back, my cousins were fighting each other on the boat with buckets of water pouring it on each other. I had to put my camera away so it wouldn’t get wet haha. It was a good trip though! :)




Here’s a self portrait. I was messing around with photoshop. This dood on facebook taught me a few things on Photoshop. Correcting color, contrast…the works. And I’ve noticed how poorly I edited my photos with just…basic processing. Sharpening and those other guys. Curves really does work like magic! (haha) But I think I may have improved a little bit. heehee.



 I’ll be ordering strobe lights soon. So It should be in by next month. I figured that it’ll be cheaper to buy 2 strobe heads with the works instead of having to buy an SU800, and 2 or 3 Speedlights for my Nikon (which will come to about…hmm…1000 +). And Ebay is cheap! haha, that’s the benefit of it teehee!

I still haven’t started on the Portrait Project I was writing about the other time. I will get around to that sooner or later.

Mhm, So come back for new photos.

Portrait Project

Mhm, I’ve decided to work on another project while I’m working on the 52 week one. This project I’m going to be doing is from a book I bought 2 years ago. It’s called “Portraits”. It has all the information and fundamentals about portraits. In the Contents, there are all kinds of subjects. That’s when it occurred to me “This would be fun if I started writing my in my blog while I work with each and individual assignment in the book. And post up an entry for each assignment”.

Here is a list of the first 2 chapters I will be doing.

Chapter 2 - Working with your Subject

Learn the right from the wrong way to pose people in pictures, how to catch subjects offguard for candid moments, how to get them to express themselves. what you can gain from shooting sequences, and where you can actually find subjects when your friends refuse.

     - Posed Shots
     - Catching them offguard
     - Emotional Range
     - Image Sequence: Child and Dog
     - Finding your Subject
     - Inspirational Candid Images

Chapter 3 - Portrait Types

Discover what effect the length of the portrait has on how you can light it and how the subject can pose. From the simplicity of head-and-shoulder shots to the challenge of making sure a full-length pose doesn’t look awkward and is lit properly. Shoot a formal study, or let rip with an informally styled shoot. Then throw in props and learn how to use them, alone with the shapes that come with the group photography.

     - Full Face
     - Seen in Profile
     - Angled Assignments: Stylish Black and White
     - Three Quarter Length
     - Full Length
     - Props and how to use it
     - Posed: Color
     - Posed: Black and White
     - Informal Styling
     - Arranging Groups
     - Inspirations

I don’t really know how long this will take me. Each and every assignment has it’s own unique way of giving information to you about the subject. Don’t get me wrong if you think I don’t know about Portraits, but I read this book a million times. I just thought it was be a fun thing to do. Or Maybe I should add another page on my tumblr account and Call it “portrait” or something. We’ll see the next time I start doing this. But right now, I’m just getting more information and will start posting as soon as possible.



Can be purchased here.

If you have this book, or will be getting it, and want to work with me. I’d be glad to work with another person who is just as interested, then feel free to leave me a message. It will take some time and a lot of spending time with your camera on your hand and working with people. That’s one of the other main reasons why I want to start this project. Because I love taking pictures. I am not doing this do show off or look professional in any way. I just love working with my camera teehee!

So yeah, I’ll be back with a post of the first subject asap. Probably at the end of the day or something. Latur!

Week 37 - August 23rd, 2011

I haven’t been taking pictures for the past week. I was supposed to take pictures at my cousin’s daughter’s wedding (I don’t know what I’d call her. Niece? :P). I failed as a photographer to take pictures for her. I felt bad afterwards because she asked me nicely and probably thought I was going to be there. But I wasn’t. I was sleeping! Stupid sleeping cycle is gone backwards. Apparently, I’m an owl now. Ya hear?!?!

I’m not doing much these days. Just waiting for school to roll around. Summers are boring in the rez. But I have been doing a lot of baking! I realized I like cooking. Maybe I’ll post pictures of my cooking latuurr!

I’m not an Animal lover but this Dog followed me in the bush while I was taking pictures a couple of weeks ago. I said “Hey you Mutt, Look here!” It looks at me hahahaha. I find myself processing my images to make em’ look a little vintage. I like the style. If you don’t like it, then don’t bother.

See? Stupid Mutt destroyed my view!



My little Sister Madeline. Her Birthday is coming up on the 27th. 20 years old! I can’t believe she’s going to be 20. I still think of her as a little girl who I use to play mud pies with. hehehehehe. She’s schizophrenic. But it doesn’t seem like she is. She’s been prescribed pills for the past 2 years. But I kinda think she doesn’t need em’ anymore. tehe. I’ve been wanting to take a Family Portrait for almost a year now. A Picture of my brothers and sisters. But they say they’re always “busy”.





These pretty ladies are my Aunts and Grandma (Can you believe it? I have tons of Aunts, Uncles, Kookims and Koomshooms). Recently, their daddy passed away. I cried but not long because I knew he was in Heaven watching over us.



And this is Less Silly (Lesly) and John James. Again, my Kookim XD.







These I took while I was taking an online photography course. It kinda seemed like the teacher thought I was cheating using photoshop to correct everything. Basically, we were given assignments on f/stops, Shutter speed, ISO, and every basic things. I already knew those things. But it taught us how to not to try and depend on photoshop to correct everything, instead using your settings to correct it. All I did here was set my camera on aperture mode 2.8, bumped up the exposure compensation to +2.0 (or higher) till the background appeared almost non-existent. The teacher thought I corrected everything on Photoshop.



I didn’t know what to upload. I should start deleting photos from my computer. it’s taking over half of the space on my computer. Or maybe just burn them on a dvd. Put the dvd’s away. TEHE!

Ok Latur! I hope you read everything and not skipped the whole thing. That’s the reason why I have a blog XD.

Week 36 - August 15th, 2011

Congratulations to the Newly Weds! My cousin Harvey and Elaine got married on the 10th of August.

The Bride or groom didn’t ask me to take photographs of them. I just went and took pictures. I wanted to see how my wedding skills would go. But I felt kinda bad for leaving so early. After I snapped a few pictures of them, I went outside and waited for them to come out. I wanted to take more pictures! But nothing was turning out how I planned it out. After I went to the Church, I wanted to go where they were cutting the cake. But Nobody drove me there haha. How sad. The other reason why I sorta went outside was because there were people there saying I was “Hogging” all the…picture taking session. Some people are just mean!

So Here they are!








Mhm! Hope you Enjoyed!

Week 33 - July 18th, 2011

Sometimes, I almost kept typing down “July…2010”. heh heh, it’s weird.

I haven’t been able to update for awhile. I’ve been so busy doing stuff. But I am in Brandon. I’ve been traveling back and forth to Winnipeg. A two hour drive isn’t bad at all. I enjoy just driving back….and forth xD.

Last week the local band from Wass was performing at the Pyramid Cabaret on the 16th in Winnipeg. I think this is my 3rd time photographing at a live show. I don’t have much experience in photographing live shows, but I learn.



And Here are …random pictures. I don’t even know who the band was. But they were playing good music.





…aannndd…nothing. o.o

Okay, Latur!

Week 31 - July 5th 2011

Hmm, What?! A blog? I totally completely forgot about my blog! I’m just kidding, I didn’t. I just got too lazy to update. And I (like always) haven’t been shooting much for the past few weeks. Everything is always the same thing. I’d probably be posting pictures of my nephews, or the same places I always take pictures. But different colors and shiz. So Yes. Trying new things wouldn’t hurt would it? Or…I need to..do more? Go to places I haven’t been before and take pictures there. But I’m too scared to go alone most of the time because a bear might eat me and tear my body into pieces.

OH! I bought a shutter release remote for my camera. I’ve always wanted to do long exposures at night. I didn’t think it would be that easy taking pictures at night. turns out, I need more studying to do with night photography. I don’t know how many pictures I took, it always either comes out too dark or the sky would be too bright. I don’t really know much about night time photography. But I soon will!

Here are a few photos I just took. Before I started writing this update, I ran outside to check on something. I saw the lighting was cool. So I grabbed my D100 and took pictures. I grabbed my D100 because my 50mm lens was attatched to it and I didn’t want to lose the light I seen outside. I thought to myself what exactly I was looking for. So I just went with Textures. There were so many to take but I only took a few.




While I was uploading pictures to my computer, I reviewed them on photoshop. I wondered why I ever neglected my d100. I came to realize that It’s not the camera that makes good pictures. It’s how you use the settings. Well, I didn’t realize that just now, I just reminded myself. Because I haven’t bothered my d100 ever since I got my d2x. heh heh.

Ok latur. I will keep posting from now on!

Oh, and 22 is the new 21. Happy Birthday ME! XD

Week 24 - May 19 2011

I asked my friend if we could go take pictures this evening. She said only if I picked her up haha. So I did, went over to the School dock. I thought to myself that it would be a good spot to take a 30 sec exposure while the water reflects the view. Sure enough I was right. I really like how it came out.

I did a few adjustments to the picture. Correcting the color and Sharpening. This is a 30 second exposure. I did the lighting manually with my SB600.

You can see a little trail on her face. Apparently, she was having a smoke heehee. I told her that there were going to be light Trails on the picture. She gave me a straight face not knowing what I was talking about.



(These were 4 seconds)





Here’s one I took of my brother and his lil family. Had the shutter speed on 4 seconds. It was around 10, thats why the sky is a little bright.




A random shoot I did with my nephew and cousin.



K latur!!