Pho Tog Graph Fee

Today I went out taking photographs with my DSLR (Canon 550d, 50mm lens, for those who wanna know). Something I haven't done in ages. And ages. And ages.

Even though it was fairly gloomy/ overcast out, it felt great to be out taking photos again. I really enjoyed it, so it'll be something to try and keep up- definitely a little out of practise! I used to ALWAYS have my DSLR on me. Hope to bring that habit back.

Above are two of the results.

Photo Fun!

Recently I've been minimalising my [material] possessions. This is to free up space, make a little bit of money (maybe) and most importantly, to focus on the NOW and what I've already got.

After doing quite a bit of reading on the subject of minimalist living, I decided it was a road I'd like to be on.

Something I got rid of was my analogue SLR camera. WAITWHAT?! I used to enjoy using this, but recently it's been feeling more of a burden than something of a benefit. It's fairly heavy, so taking it on long walks isn't all that fun and developing these days isn't how it used to be- and I'm not even talking about thirty or so years ago, I'm speaking around about six.

I've got an Instagram account and I use it for less serious photography, but I have a side of me where I still really enjoy using analogue equipment. I suppose this is my passion of photography shining through.

I bought an Instax Mini 70 {modern day Polaroid} and it's really, really fun!

Not a great photo of some photos!

It's small and light, so fairly portable and you don't have to wait for it to get developed- goes without saying! The downside is the cost of the film, but that's also an advantage as you tend to waste less shots and consider what you photograph more carefully.

In the future, I'd like to go back to using film, but for now, I don't need anything more.

Music Video

Look! It's Monday and I'm doing the blog like I said I would!

Sooo *I MADE A VIDEO* here's the video, mentioned briefly in last post:

First of all, it feels nice/ good to have finally completed an animation from idea to end product which wasn't just a thirty second or so test piece- something I haven't done in a while. I remember having this idea last November-ish as I felt I was in some kind of a "rut"- I was in a job that I disliked and I needed to be doing something creative..! 

The film panned out (no pun intended) a little different than I initially planned (for the better)- I was going to do the whole thing like the start section, but when editing I realised it needed more. I had loads of footage/ painted animation frames left over from a previous project that I didn't finish and I didn't want it to go to waste so I decided to use it here instead #recycling

I love the style in the video and it's definitely something I'd like to develop even further and in different ways. It's interesting to see what I do now with the medium of rotoscoping- an animation technique I've been using for almost five years now- crazy!! If you'd like to have a look at my past (and current) work from way back when, head over to my YouTube channel here.

Hello!

Hi, hello, how are you?

I'm starting a blog. Again. And hopefully this time I'll keep it up..!

I'll be writing mainly about filmmaking, films, art, animation, poetry, photography and anything & everything creative and maybe even a few things that aren't... We'll see.

Monday mornings will be the main day/ time when I plan to post something new WITHOUT FAIL (public note to self!) and perhaps I'll enjoy the process so much that I may end up posting more frequently. Today is a Thursday in fact, so I'm already one step ahead! Go me.

So, who the hell am I (and what am I doing here)?!!

I wonder this frequently too, but for the purpose of this blog and the fact of this being my first post, I don't want to scare you off straight away. Existentialism can wait for another day.

I live in the sunny [joke] North West of England with no pets, but one teddy bear.

I mainly make animations/ films, but I also do lots of drawing/ painting/ graphic design/ photography... I'm guessing you've got to this Blog through my website, so I guess you may already know that stuff, but if not, please click on the link to view my work.

I'm currently working on an animated music video, deadline this Sunday :O help! I will let you know how it goes...

I want to use this blog as a way of narrating my life so I can pretend that I'm in a film like Stranger Than Fiction, but also [and by no means limited to] discuss and evaluate my work/ the makings of my work/ other people's work I find interesting/ inspiring etc and hope we can all get something useful from this blog, whether it be reading/ writing/ contributing in any way, shape [triangle] or form...

My favourite film is Buffalo '66, Vincent Gallo (1998), though my favourite directors overall are Ken loach and Michael Haneke; I play Tenpin Bowling on my own and my favourite music to listen to at the moment is Bright Eyes. Check 'em oot. I'm in the process of becoming a minimalist (is there an end point?)/ leading a minimalist lifestyle and I go walking for fun. I write more than I read and the majority of the books I own are A-Z street atlases to various places around the UK.

I also wish I was Tim Vine:

Why was the typeface thrown out of court?

Because it was in the wrong case.

Peace + love xo