12/52 Winter is coming

12/52

Winter is coming. The days are getting shorter, the nights are getting darker and the nights, colder. Cracked pavements and shallow drains have become unwilling cemeteries where leaves get laid to rest. We're entering what is fondly referred to as cuddle weather. This is a transitionary state when one season changes to the next. We're on a journey, we haven't yet reached the destination. I guess this is a bit of a metaphor for where I am at the moment. It's an uneasy feeling. At least with seasons, we know what's coming, and exactly how we'll get there. It's familiar. But with life, we don't know what's coming, or how it will come, or even what it'll look like. We just know that someday we're going to get there and we'll either be completely surprised, mystified or disappointed.

Week 12/52

11/52 Purple Rain

9/52 I ride waves in my dreams

This is the first time I've taken and edited a photo all in one sitting. I usually like to let my photos settle a little before I start tinkering with them, but this week (or las week) I was on a pretty tight schedule.
I thought it would take a few more weeks of uni for me to start feeling the pressure, but we're only at week two and I'm already getting the urge to run for the hills.
I've had this idea sketched into my notebook for a wee while now and I always had the thought that I was saving it for another week further down the line when I was better. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I learned that I shouldn't save ideas, I should just go out and do them and think of better ones for the future. We're all constantly improving and if we attach ourselves to old ideas, it stops us from growing.
Now, who is to say that I can't retake this image later and do it even better?

Anyway, that's me for this week.

8/52

7/52 Colours of the Wind

When I was younger Pocahontas was my favourite Disney princess. That was because at the time, there weren't many, actually, there weren't any Disney princesses that actually looked like me. So I was searching for myself in everything and I found a little bit of myself in her. She was strong, she was brave and she was strong willed which was everything I thought I lacked.

Fast forward a few years and I find out Pocahontas was only 10 years old and it was not John Smith but John Rolfe who sexually abused her and kept her prisoner in England. (Well done Disney) But I guess the essence of Pocahontas is still something I admire, so that is what I based this week's image on.

I also thought I'd take the opportunity to include some links with information about the Dakota Pipeline.

6/52 You can only chase a butterfly for so long

“You can only chase a butterfly for so long.” 

I'm on the sixth week already! I'm not so proud of this one but I was just not feeling it this week. Part of the difficulty of photographing yourself is that most of the time, especially when photographs are concerned, is that you're not very kind to yourself. So I'll just have to fight the self-consciousness and KEEP SHOOTING. But I really want to photograph somebody who isn't me.

5/52 Keep your head in the clouds

“There was a star riding through clouds one night, & I said to the star, 'Consume me'.” 

― Virginia Woolf, The Waves

This one is a wee bit late but I promise it was all completed in time! I've just been so busy working and I like to sit with my photos for a few days before I share them. 

This is also my first go at editing with the Intuos Graphic Tablet! I heard that editing with a mouse is like a painting with a brick, and my brother uses his Intuos Pro for everything, so I decided to bite the bullet and get one for myself. I have to admit, it is absolutely wonderful! It was so much easier to edit with it, just in terms of masking, using brushes etc. and I'm quite happy with how this turned out!

4/52 When men come, set yourself on fire

I decided to post both of these because I like them both equally but for different reasons.

My body is still aching from this shoot. I walked all the way down to the reserve near my house and somehow I got stuck on the hour trail after having already spent an hour scouting and shooting in different locations. I had a book of photo ideas I'd sketched out but I just happened to walk past a small stream and that song "I keep, going to to the river to pray" came into my head and I was like okay... Well, now I have to take the photo.

Coronation 3/52 Weeks

There is freedom waiting for you on the breezes of the sky, 

And you ask "What if I fall?"

Oh but my darling,

What if you fly?”

e/h

I did It guys. I've been going through a real downturn in my self-portraits. I did quite a few shoots this week and they all didn't produce anything I was happy sharing but I had this image in my head though okay let's give it a go. To my surprise, it actually came out halfway decent!

2/52 You think I'll be the dark sky so you can be the star?

You think I'll be the dark sky so you can be the star? I'll eat you whole - W/S

1/52 Your warmth attracts parasites

“But sometimes your light attracts moths and your warmth attracts parasites” - Warsan Shire

So i'm giving the 52 weeks project a go, maybe this time I'll stick to it. I've been a little disappointed in myself because I haven't been taking as many photos as I used to and I haven't been creating as much in general. It's easy to use University as an excuse but when I think of all these people working 2 - 3 jobs, studying and keeping a roof over the heads, I really have no excuse. So here's to a year of challenging myself creatively and fighting procrastination.