Collages and Video Editing Memories

I've always been a fan of photographs.  With the advent of digital photography, I took a lot of shots and made physical copies of my favorite photographs.  However, a few years ago,  I took interest in two things that also involved media. 

First, I learned to love making photo collages.  I had purchased an iPad 2 for my mom but used the device occasionally.  During my time on the device, I discovered a few apps I liked including one called "Pic Collage".  It was a free app that allowed you to create free form collages.   After using the app for a while, I feel in love.   I loved using the app to combine multiple photographs focusing on one subject matter.  In a sense, it was a digital version of scrap booking.  

Second, I learned how to edit and create digital videos.   The credit for the initial motivation goes to a person I know.  The person was doing some video projects for a basketball league I play in.  It was due to this person that I started investigating how to edit and create digital videos.  As I had a iMac, I realized I had a built in program called iMovie.  It was a simple matter of importing video into the program, editing the video, saving the result to my computer and then uploading online.  

When I first started doing these two things, it was mostly for myself.  I created collages of subjects I liked.  I created highlight videos of my basketball games (though others were involved too).   It was quite fun to do. 

In the past week or so, I was creating a collage for a vacation trip that dated back to 2005.  There were some nice photos and I wanted to share with my friends.   While I was creating the collage, I stumbled upon some VIDEO from another trip in 2005.  After the collage was done, I quickly created the video as well.  

I was surprised at the positive reaction to the collage and video.   Many people thanked me for bringing back some great memories from 2005.   Though I did not realize it at the time, 2005 was both a time of transition for personally and a special time for that particular group of friends.   The group had mostly met a year earlier and hung out a LOT for a few years after. 

Today, the group has mostly dispersed.  Pockets of people still talk and meet up every now and then.  It is not likely the entire group will be getting together like we did in 2005.  However, the memories we shared will always remain and thankfully, I was able to capture them in collage and video form for my friends to enjoy.  That definitely made it worth my time to put them together.  

The Simple Things

A good friend of mine and I usually talk at least once a week.   I'm not particularly sure why we got into the routine but it's beneficial for the both of us.  My friend lives alone and is pretty far away from me so I feel it's good to give them some company.   On the other hand, I like to chat and get things off my shoulder.  My friend is pretty relaxed and gives me a nice outlet to vent if I need it. 

My friend and I had talked briefly on Tuesday.  It's been a stressful time for the both of us so talking a bit was good.  I was a little surprised when my friend pinged me on Thursday to talk again.  We'll talk more than once a week if either one of us needs it.  Thus, when I called my friend back, I was expecting to discuss something serious. 

As it turned out, my friend wanted to ask my opinion about a camera they were looking to buy.  The camera was expensive and we had a long discussion.  In fact, we even looked at some of my photos I took to show what could be done with a good camera.  We had a good time talking and got a lot of laughs.  Before you knew it, three hours had flown by!  

I commented to my friend that the talk was good.  It was good to have some fun and laughs.  I told my friend that lately our discussions have been short plus a little more oriented on stress and other things going on.  Changing up the script was beneficial. 

In today's world where the texting, emailing and other forms of electronic communication are used heavily, never underestimate simply just talking to someone.  I sometimes don't have a choice with certain friends but when possible I think a chat is much better than electronic alternatives. 

Striking A Pose

Yesterday, I made a day trip to my company's offices in San Diego.  I flew down in the early morning before returning yesterday evening.

The purpose of the trip was TO GET MY PHOTOS TAKEN!  To clarify,  my team's Vice-President has asked me (along with several other members of our team) to participate in a marketing campaign to promote and showcase our team.

I landed in San Diego at around 9 AM and arrived at the office around 10 AM.  I said hi to a few folks, did a little work, got some make up on (I'm NOT KIDDING) and went through my first photo shoot at 11 AM or so.  I didn't really know what to expect but it was actually quite fun.  I was a little tired / jet lagged but somehow managed to keep a smile throughout.  

The entire team did a group photo shoot at around 12 PM.  Afterward, we all grabbed some lunch before getting back to the office.  I did a little bit of work before going through my last photo shoot around 2:30 PM.   I hung around the office for a while before departing for the airport at 4:15 PM.  I got on my flight at 6:45 PM and arrived back home around 8:15 PM.

It was great to see the professional photographer work.  I like doing some photography but have never done this portrait type work.  I can see it's a lot of work involving a lot of technical (camera, lighting) and personal skills (keeping the subject / model involved).

From my perspective, I felt extremely comfortable IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA as the subject.   If you're doing candid photos, it's easier to relax.  You don't feel pressure to look a certain way.  In a professional environment, I see why it can be tough to look and act a certain way.

I'll give the photographer credit for guiding me along and I just acted as natural as I could.  In fact, the photographer and his assistant told me that I was the easier guy to work with.  They thought I was just a natural in front on a camera.   I thought they may have been exaggerating a bit but one of the salesperson from the San Diego office repeated that statement to me again today.

It was a fun experience even though flying a plane twice in a day isn't ideal.  I even joked to the photographer that I might have to look into being a model as a back up career.  :)

Mostly 365: One Day, One Photo and lots of beauty at a time

Camera+ had been rated highly by many users but had been removed from the App Store for several months.  The reason for the removal was that the developers had added a hidden feature that violated Apple's guidelines.

However, I was poking around the Internet one evening in late December and saw that Camera+ had been added back to the App Store.  I was thrilled to see this and immediately bought the app for 99 cents.   With the app in hand, what was I going to do with it?

I've had an interest in photography for a while.  In fact, I am armed with my Iphone, two point and shoot camera (one older, one newer) and one Digital SLR.  The Digital SLR was purchased for the express purchase of learning to take better photos manually.  Alas, learning the basics and getting out to do photography can be time consuming.

However, I lucked out.  After purchasing Camera+, I was reading a blog posting by Lisa Bettany (developer of Camera+) discussing a project she called Mostly365.  The idea behind the project was to encourage everyone to take one picture a day for 2011 and share the picture with the world via a website she created:

Mostly 365 Website

For some reason, this project resonated with me and for the past month, I have been snapping away with my Iphone.  Check out my photos here:

coach41's Mostly 365 Photos

Originally, I was doing the project as Lisa had stated.  I was looking around for interesting things to shoot and I would share the picture.  However, a co-worker made an interesting point.  He saw one of my photos  that was shot at a department store and commented:  "Are you sure you want that to be the thing you remember from that particular day?  Try shooting things that would make your day memorable".

Since then, I've tried to shoot things in the locations I have been in.  This could be murals, food or just the scenery.  But the point is I am trying to capture a moment that I will remember at the end of 2011.  I can't say I've had fantastic success with all of my photos but I feel I have some nice shots.

There has been one additional benefit to participating in this project.  With my eye constantly looking out for things to shoot, I have noticed there IS A LOT OF BEAUTIFUL THINGS out there in the world.  It could be the sunset, a mural or just a small flower that maybe you otherwise wouldn't notice.

In our day to day lives, we tend not to appreciate the little things due to stress, work or other things.  With this Mostly365 project, I think I've certainly gotten back to appreciating some of the little things.   Beyond taking pictures though, I think everyone's lives would be improved if they slowed down and appreciated some of the smaller and beautiful things in the world.