ellipsis…

for someone like me, who’s life doesn’t categorize very well, disconnecting is a bit of a problem. i’m always on; always thinking about a new project, the current project, what to do friday night, who i haven’t seen in a while, who i need to cold call next, what to have for dinner. i don’t know if it’s the same for all creatives.

for the most part it’s a pretty good thing to have as a creative. “my life is my inspiration.” everything melds into one, work is play, play is work, so and so forth. but there are times where one or the other needs to be turned off. at my age, being young and impressionable, having my work float around my personal life is ok. i have the luxury of not having the obligations of family, and my friends are usually keen on bouncing around ideas. it is more of trying to shut off my personal life that is hard to do, especially when i comes to emotions and rocky times. i find myself constantly being distracted by the current state of a relationship, or an argument. always working through it when i should be working.

the past week or so has been hard that way. life has thrown me a couple of bones i wasn’t expecting so soon. that’s life for you. i’m slowly learning how to turn off. i tell you it’s not the easiest thing to do, but necessary if i’m going to get any work done at all. so far, it’s the most intense mind-over-matter task i’ve done thus far. to focus so tightly that everything else disappears.

i’ve always had a thing for going to the gym, though i tend to not be very consistent with it. over the last 6 months i have (pat on the back for me!). i finally realized that the gym is the only place in the world that i completely disconnect. i never bring my phone to the gym. my ipod is always plugged into my ears. and my mind becomes void of all personal or work issues. just me and a dumbbell i’m trying not to drop on my head. it’s a place that i can take a break from everything, if only for an hour or so. i’m hoping this little epiphany about myself will probably keep me more consistent. the results from the gym are nice too :)

most of the time, disconnecting is viewed as a bad thing. in this context, i think it’s a very healthy thing. i’m sure there are exceptions and limits to all of this, but i’m trying my best to keep myself focused. as one of my best friends always says, “life is good, you just have to change your perspective.”

i was just reading over Chase Jarvis’ blog. Chase is an amazing photographer, and he’s always has great tid-bits of advice. over the last couple of months he’s been writing about the creative process and the work & drive that it takes to keep your creativity fresh.

the “Creative Gap” is the difference between the artists visual concept of a project and the actual end result that is created. at times that gap feels like the Grand Canyon, and those times usually makes most of us want to throw our camera against a brick wall. i know i do. the solution… (a grueling one at that), is to submerse yourself in work. making projects and deadlines for yourself. working through the brick wall after brick wall, never giving up. Chase found a good video from Ira Glass explaining both the problem and the solution very well.

got my custom (well as close to custom as possible) Karau pouch today! i’ve been looking for a new case for my Sekonic L-358 for a long time; one that doesn’t require me to strip off my belt every time i want to carry it around and one that isn’t that terrible gray color. in comes a guy named Tim Karau from Karau Products. the guy hand makes the cases/pouches himself!

the pouches are make of 1000D Cordura Nylon, with a soft cotton liner, and an awesome leather Karau patch on the front. the patch itself is almost worth getting the pouch!he’s go a couple different bags/cases/pouches that mainly apply to grips. he’s got a new website coming, so only a small assortment of products are actually on his site. you can find more of his products at FilmTools. Tim’s an awesome guy, had my pouch make and shipped in a week. and for any old school Hassy shooters, he’s even got a pouch that holds an A12 back!

you know there’s a show when you catch the gay pride parade! and so i did last weekend in calgary. the drag queens are always a riot! brought my new fuji f40 with me. the colors on the “chrome” mode are pretty good. that’s the one things i missed from my canon sd1000. the nice thing with the fuji is that it doesn’t completely saturate the reds in skin tones like the canon.

Brian Mason, leader of the NDP party, the only politician that showed up.

last month i shot my first project for the new book that i’m working on. something new and different than what most people are use to from my lens. this is work that has been stewing around in my head for quite sometime, i just needed the guts and a swift kick-in-the-ass to get started on them.

with some inspiration from The Baby Cakes Baby Shoppe and a gas mask, this shoot came together after hunting for a dress for almost 4 months. a big thanks to marina and maria from the bake shop for letting use the space, to nik for being my always gorgeous model (thanks baby!), jan for doing an amazing job with the makeup and hair, and shiv for assisting me with all of the setup and finer details.

more craziness to come!

the crew! me, jan, nik & shiv.

(if you are ever in the west end of edmonton, treat yourself to a cupcake from Baby Cakes, they are AMAZING!)

[Update] Baby Cakes Bake Shoppe is now under new ownership, and unforchunately the cupcakes are not as good. i’m kinda sad.