Alex Vernon.com

Yesterday after spending seven hours at PCNW developing, making contact sheets and going to class I got to make my first print from a negative. I am having a lot of fun with this class. Even though I already know all the basics like exposure, using shutter speeds and aperture etc., the whole developing and printing process is new to me. Yes, Photoshop is much more powerful but there is something special about traditional printing. As one of my fellow students said “It has a magical quality about it.”. I especially enjoy the hands on aspect, it’s more satisfying to me than computer manipulation. That being said I’m not giving up digital since it has many advantages, however my film camera well get much more action in the future. It was starting to resent me from sitting in the bag for a few years.

What was the picture? A bunch of rocks that my roommate made a walkway with. Doesn’t sound like much but I think it’s pretty cool. Once I buy a scanner or find someone that has one I’ll post it.

Friday night I went to see a lecture by Jonas Bendiksen at PCNW. I hadn’t heard of him before but I knew he was a Magnum photographer so I knew he must be good. I have to say I was very impressed. Not only were his photos excellent, he was a great speaker and his slide show was very entertaining. He also had immense knowledge of his subjects the people of the former Soviet republics. To top it all off he is only twenty-eight years old, which depressed me a bit, especially because I’m going to be thirty next month. It also inspired me as well because what he accomplished. If you live in Seattle check out his photos at PCNW. If you don’t check out his book Satellites.

As I mentioned in I’m lost I really need to start creating things. Plus I need to occupy myself so I don’t go crazy, especially since I don’t have a steady job yet. So to accomplish this or at least start on the path I have signed up for a Photography class at PCNW. I have taken some photo classes before (check out The Showcase School if you’re in Atlanta) but have never learned black and white. I’ve been shooting digital for some time now and this would be a nice change. Learning how to develop my own prints will be a lot of fun as well. I have also signed up for Spanish lessons. I have been wanting to learn Spanish and Japanese for some time, I’m starting with Spanish though since I figure it will be easier plus it’s more useful as well. Then in March I’m taking some Go lessons. Go is another thing I’ve wanted to learn for years and I’ve bought books but never had the discipline to teach myself. Taking a class and having people to play against should help me a lot. Finally I also purchased a guitar. A Simon & Patrick Woodland Spruce for the curious. BTW the picture does not do it justice, it is beautiful. Playing guitar is also something (start broken record track) I’ve wanted to do for years. One of my roommates plays and I also have some self study material. I almost signed up for lessons however I thought better of it because three classes a week then four in March might but too much strain on my assaulted brain. I will probably take some lessons after my photo and Spanish classes though. So there we have it, music language and art I also want to start sitting (Zen) and take Aikido again to round things out. Aikido is going to wait a little while though or at least until I can see how I handle my schedule. As I’ve said before I’m tired of thinking about things and not following through. I have decided (sorry Dubya) to stop fucking around and get some things done. Now to see if I have the discipline to measure up.

Colorful skull

Originally uploaded by Alex Vernon.

On Saturday my girlfriend and I went to the Asian Cultural Experience at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. We had a great time although we spent most of it looking at Niki’s pieces. I put some shots up on Flickr, you can view the here: Niki in the Garden.

Seattle Pride Parade 7

Originally uploaded by Rob Gruhl.

Check out Rob’s shot from the recent Seattle Pride Parade. Killer makeup.

Just a quick update, I am now a contributor on Metroblogging Atlanta. I also updated my Gallery to 1.5 RC1 soon to be 1.5 RC2. It has a couple of cool new features so check it out. I also have a post coming up about a Green Day concert I went to on Tuesday, look for it soon. I promise I will start blogging regularly again soon.

As you may or may not have noticed I have switched to WordPress from MovableType like some other bloggers have done. Mainly because of all the comment and trackback spam, plus I wanted to use a blogging package licensed under the GPL. I also upgraded my Gallery software and put a new Twelfth Planet gallery on my site. It is located here. I also posted one new abstract photo here. About the only thing I haven’t been doing is blogging. And that’s not going to change, at least until next Wednesday. I’m headed to the Bahamas tomorrow morning. This is the first time I’ll be leaving the country if you don’t count my multiple trips to Tijuana (which I don’t). I promise to have an update when I get back and lots of photos.

I put a couple of new galleries on my business site. Check ‘em out.

Twelfth Planet at 10 High

http://alexvernonphotography.com/gallery/10High

Brother Henry at Red Light Cafe

http://alexvernonphotography.com/gallery/BrotherHenry

Received this lens today. I wanted a portrait lens so I was looking at the 85mm f1.4 but since I shoot mostly digital and there is a 1.5 multiplier on my camera it would make the 85 an effective 127.5mm which is a little long for portrait work. So I went with the 60mm (90mm effective) f2.8 macro lens. I have been wanting a macro lens for a few years now so this is a good way to kill two birds with one stone (who kills birds with a stone anyway). Some people say the lens is to sharp for portrait work, however I shoot with sharpening turned off so I don’t think it will be an issue.

While I’m on the subject why do they call the lenses macro (Nikon calls them micro)? Micro would be a more accurate description. Is it because macro sounds cooler? The first company to make them mislabeled them and it stuck? Maybe because they make small objects appear larger? Maybe the world will never know…. (The rest of the world probably doesn’t care anyway)

Here is a good article on macro photography by Philip Greenspun for the interested. Macro Photography

Look for some macro and portrait shots coming soon.

Update: Check out this quote from the aforementioned article: “I have a 1.5 inch long penis; I think I will buy a big SLR like a pro. But I don’t want to spend money on frills like lenses so I’ll get a Tokina zoom.”

Probably only funny to photo geeks, it’s an overcompensation reference.

Last Sunday I was calibrating my flash and TTL sensors for a class I’m taking. One of the things we had to do is take a picture of a black object against a black background. Of course I waited to the last minute and threw together what I had in my room. The ironic thing is the background is a meditation Zabuton, not the first thing you think of when you see a H&K P2000 and a combat knife. I think it turned out pretty cool, so I’m posting it.

-Alex