It’s been a couple of years since I’ve posted anything here. New house, learning guitar, music on vinyl, meditation practice and work took most of my time. Saying that, pretty severe ankle arthritis and knee issues kept me from walking any real distance. Photography without walking isn’t much of a hobby. That’s finally shifting though. I’ve dropped some weight and I’m getting 10 to 15 thousand steps in on a good day now, which will only improve. I’ve found the motivation again, and I’m excited about it.
I’ve never really excelled at art, but photography has always pulled me in. It feels less like a skill I’m trying to master and more like a form of meditation. You have to be present and aware. You can’t let your mind wander somewhere else, or the shot passes you by.
Living out at Pigeon Lake makes it harder to just head out and shoot, but we’re in town often enough that I can make the time. My goal is once a week, at minimum.
This time around I want to keep it simple. Manual focus on my Voigtlander 40mm Ultron, B+W JPEGs straight out of camera, maybe the odd crop. It gives me more of a film feel: you get what you capture. I’ll try different film simulations eventually and maybe build my own, but for now let’s focus on one thing at a time. I want to lean into contrast, layers, highlights, and slow shutter motion… more of a minimalist approach. I’m still finding my style, and a focused practice will help train my eye to look for these things.
I managed to capture a couple of decent shots at the University of Alberta while I was waiting for Nick. I only spent an hour, but it was a lot of fun.
