@DailyShoot – #ds592 – What’s the first thing you think of when you hear the word “deadline”? #ds106

This is actually the second thing I thought of, July first, my imminent departure for the United Kingdom, and all the things that must be completed before then.

The first thing I thought of was an EKG flatlined, the ultimate deadline. But I don’t have access to one for photography, so this calendar will have to do.

@DailyShoot – #ds589 – Make a photo around the number three today.

So what are the three? Well in my mind, they are the Devil’s Claw (an Arizona plant I’ve always loved), the dried gourd, and the eye of the sculptor who thought to combine them with stain, carving and painting to make something wholly other.

@DailyShoot – #ds588 – Make a monochromatic photo.

My mother-in-law’s embroidered rendition of basil.

@DailyShoot – #ds587 – Make a photograph today that illustrates attraction.

My big fluffy cat is attracted to the lap of anyone wearing black.

@DailyShoot – #ds586 – “Make a photograph of two complementary objects arranged to show their relationship to each other.”

My daily shoot today isn’t all that visually. I admit to being tired, cranky and possessed of a terrible headache. But I’m really excited about the two objects!

I made my study abroad students this little pocket sized field notebook to use for brainstorming and sketching during our trip to the UK. It contains digital camera tips, digital photography tips, and a bunch of writing prompts, drawing prompts, photo assignments and even a few audio assignments. I also had these “Trust Your Story” silicone wrist bands made. They can be used to keep the notebook closed or worn as a reminder to create every day.

You may be wondering why I made a physical paper notebook for a digital storytelling course. I could give several but I think it comes down to the fact that our brain is hardware in our physical body that is out there experiencing the world. Sometimes writing or drawing is a great way to get past creative block, and it will work even if there is no power outlet nearby. Any drawings or collage work done in the book can be photographed or scanned later and become digital.

@DailyShoot – #ds585 – Work the angles today. Make a photo that gives us a unique perspective on an otherwise ordinary scene

A tree I see from a distance most days on campus. So I got up close, personal and low to the ground.

@dailyshoot – #ds584 – Make a photo of a pair of subjects today.

Why these Things? I’m thinking about taking them to the United Kingdom with me as my travel buddies for July. They don’t eat much and they fit in my suitcase. And they make me smile.

Plus there is something tickling my brain about duality and identity. And culture, otherness. They might need to represent the dissonance I sometimes encounter in my own head. Of two minds.

What do you think, can they help me figure out who I am?

If nothing else, it will be fun to pose and photograph them around London.

Make a photograph of water in one form or another today. #ds583

I know some would call me out for shooting something easy/obvious, but the point is to shoot something, right? If I start mucking around picking just the right thing, I’m back to not getting it done and moving on to the rest of my homework.

Via Flickr:
@DailyShoot – #ds582 – Illustrate heat in one of its many forms in a photograph today.

This candle has been lit since Father’s Day. The knight and pipe represent my father in law. My mother in law is pictured in the photo. We have a place for our ancestors in our home.

Via Flickr:
Used Photoshop’s Set Stack Order command on a Smart Object created from all the iPhone snapshots I took in May 2010. I left out the stack orders that left a white screen. Images posted are titled with the stack order that produced the result.

This began with me wanting to learn how timmmmyboy did that Averaging Concepts Using Flickr assignment over at the ds106.us web site. So I completed his tutorial and realized that in addition to mean there were a host of other statistical concepts Photoshop can apply to a stack of photos.

I wanted to remember what the different choices looked like when I go to try this again so I created this as a visual reference for comparison.

I consider the day I changed my major from Engineering to Fine Art to be the day I became an artist. Because I made a conscious decision that I would pursue questions over answers.

Tyson Crosbie

I just realized that Phoenix artist and photographer Tyson Crosbie started a new videoblog about art and being an artist: Lying to Tell the Truth (current popular abbreviation L4T … hmmm, I like L=t⁴).

I met Tyson at the first PHXedit. He showed me a book he was about to publish of his photos of Phoenix, and I was, well, utterly lost in them. I was torn and conflicted, because I wanted to get lost and mesmerized in the images, but I was hosting the event and so I felt like I had to talk to people. Meh. I hate that. I mean, I love talking to people, and I love looking at art. What I hate is when life hits me with a wrenching choice between the two. And Tyson’s work does make it a wrenching choice, rather than a trivial choice.

So I’m now what you might call a raging stalker crazy insta-fan of Tyson’s vlog, because it looks Real (as discussed recently by my friend Heath), and because Tyson’s talking about art, the value of art, what it means to be an artist, and he’s willing to struggle with those questions in front of us all. With his dogs, too.

Check out Tyson’s vlog and his other work. If you’re the kind of person that would read one of my posts to the end, I can pretty much guarantee that you won’t be sorry.

David Howell kept telling me (via Twitter) to shoo everyone out of the room when his video came on. Since the reality was that his video was the one getting people interested enough to have a seat and watch for awhile, I asked one of the visitors who told me she liked it to say so on camera – so that’s near the end of the clip.

It’s long, this video, I’m sorry – but I am way too exhausted to edit it further, and I’ve got PodCampAZ today – gotta spread the good word about showinabox.tv. Have a great day everybody!

NaVloPoMo!!!

It has the potential to be so great, but right now it only works because Rachel can afford the rent. Neither of us have the time to write grant proposals or run around marketing the thing with every breath we take. We’re just doing what we can, when we can.

I can feel the time we have slipping away already, even though we just started. What if I am not doing enough? What will we have to show for our efforts besides these little videos I’ve managed to make so far? Will I end up being a crappy partner? Will I let my friend down? Will I ever have more time and energy than I do this month? I worry about those things. But I’m just doing the best I am able. I don’t know how else to learn what does and doesn’t work.

As it happens, another good friend and talented photographer, Rachel Woodburn, was ready to lease studio space, so Garfield Galleria Suite 201 changed hands but remains very similar in spirit. I’m happy to be a part of Rachel’s venture! I’m going to be one of her co-conspirators in this collaborative space, which will finally give a brick and mortar home to Node101 Phoenix.

Please check out the new 2See gallery and art studio. It’s going to be a wonderful creative space for local artists. We open our doors this Friday September 7! Visit 2seestudio.org for more information.

Again, this one is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 2.5 license, and you can get a 640 X 480 version over at Blip.tv. Attribution should read: “time lapse video by cheryl colan” and a link back to this post would be nice if practical. Also please note the music is licensed separately and attributed in the video.

As with previous time lapse posts, this one is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 2.5 license, and you can get a 640 X 480 version over at Blip.tv. Attribution should read: “time lapse video by cheryl colan” and a link back to this post would be nice, if it is practical. Also please note the music is licensed separately and attributed in the video.

I bought a ten foot firewire cable and stuck my iSight camera out a window, rigged it to a tripod, and taped up the window in order to get a view of higher up the tree. There are two more of these to go, and I’m trying to figure out how I can record them to give a better view. Maybe my neighbor across the street will let me record from his house. There is no way I am taking my nice shiny new MacBook Pro outside during this stuff.

Again, this video is licensed as Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial, and the 640 X 480 version with attribution info is over at Blip.tv.

The video represents seven hours of recording, and I couldn’t bring myself to edit away much of it because I really enjoy watching time lapse photography. It’s very meditative.

Three more trees to go. I bought a longer firewire cable today because I want to try to get a better angle, especially for the tree with all the branches hanging over my house. It’s a real engineering problem for the guys to remove it without damaging my roof. The cool thing is, whether they drop a huge branch into my living room or just take the tree down, it’ll be caught on tape. Stay tuned.

P.S. I finally got the 640X480 version uploaded to Blip.tv, along with the attribution info. It’s licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial.

This is sad. A few years ago we bought a house, and were initially delighted that over 30 years ago the original owners had planted a circle of five pine trees in the front yard. They gave us wonderful shade, and the wind whispered to us through their delicate needles.

Unfortunately these trees are not indigenous to the Sonoran desert, take more water than we should be allowed to use, haven’t grown healthily, and have a nasty case of termites. The most termite-ridden of them was planted way too close to the house, and all its enormous branches hang ominously over our roof. We hate to remove them, but they really must go.

The recording was made with my MacBook Pro, iMovie’s time lapse setting and an iSight camera aimed out my front window. I captured one of every fifteen frames. I didn’t check my start time, but I’m pretty certain every minute of video represents about an hour of the work crew’s time.

I’ll be doing this again tomorrow, and every day until the trees are gone. It breaks my heart, which makes it special enough to document, in my book anyway.

This video is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license. View the attribution information and get a 640X480 version at Blip.tv

Blip.tv on PBS

Originally uploaded by hummingcrow.

I photographed my TV screen. You gotta hand it to Bill Moyers – his producers are hip. Blip.tv showed up on this laptop screen for ten seconds about a half hour into the October 18, 2006 airing of Moyers on America: The Net at Risk. Go watch the episode at PBS.org (have to have Real Player – ugh! – or Windows Media Player – ugh!). You can also go straight to Chapter 3, the segment with the Blip.tv logo – it appears about 9 minutes 10 seconds in. Then go tell your U.S. Senator and Representative and the FCC (fcc.gov) to protect Net Neutrality.

This video was shot on June 26, 2006. The building in the background is part of Puniho Pa in the Taranaki region of Aotearoa (New Zealand). The mountain you will see is Taranaki himself. Enjoy the view!