focus

Friday already...

since there haven't been any cat photos in a while

Ivy's done. Almost. It's been sitting in my knitting basket all week waiting to be seamed. Have I mentioned how much I dislike seaming? As a result, the almost finished sweater has been sitting there in the basket, while I avoid all thoughts of setting in sleeves and sewing up seams. There's also a tiny bit of neck band that needs to be added once the shoulder seams are done. My goal for today is to get the darn thing put together. Tomorrow I'm on the hunt for buttons -- after much deliberation on the buttons versus tie issue, I've decided on the buttons. How I'm going to make the buttons work, I'm not quite sure of yet.

So, instead of doing the finishing up on Ivy, I've been spending a lot of time on flickr. As I learn about my camera and photography in general, I find myself spending more and more time looking at other people's photographs. I've been adding to my favourites like crazy. Viewing the EXIF data on these photos is also helping me learn about the settings used to create the image, and how I might achieve similar results. Since a SLR is not in my immediate future, right now I'm trying to learn the basics of good photography and all that my little Powershot has to offer.

I also find myself noticing framing, focus, and lighting more in movies such as Volver and Munich, getting lost in great shots that contribute so much to the overall effect of the film. I'm beginning to understand the relationship between ISO, shutter speed, and aperture and get a sense of how some of these shots might have been created (although I know nothing about movie cameras, I suspect that the same basic principles are at play as those in film and digital cameras).

Looking through some of my flickr favourites, it's clear that I tend to be drawn towards certain colours and types of subjects. Green, orange, and brown are not surprising, but pink and purple show up a lot, too. Lately I'm also fond of photos of laundry on clotheslines, spring flowers (maybe since we don't have very many around here, yet), and dogs (yes, I have puppy lust). Anyway, since I've rambled on enough for now, I thought I'd share some of my favourite photos from the past while:

Things to do 2 (Not number 6, though, at least not the ones I know)
mtl-07 (One of my brother's photos)
untitled (I heart lens flare)
always hiding (Since I'll be flying soon.)
Inbal Looking Down
buddy up close and green
untitled
self portrait with hair tied back
Oh, I could go on forever.

Hopefully I'll have some photos of a finished Ivy soon. Lots of laundry, packing, and cleaning to do, too, before my trip to Ottawa on Wednesday. I'll check in before I go.