Are you Versatile?

I was thinking I might produce a podcast tonight - then I had a nice cup of coffee and decided that this would have been simply daft. Instead, whilst watching the first 20 minutes of the Bombers getting thrashed, I decided that, these days, we need to be more versatile... Like photographers wasting their time complaining about  convergence rather than learning how to shoot a bit of video, like film photographers saying that they're not switching to digital... Or am I confusing stubborn with versatile there, anyways, doesn't matter - I'm rambling!

What I think I mean is this... If we're not willing to try different things then we may become stagnant... I was only into photographing live music until a couple of years ago, the music was what I was after, those moments... I didn't want to really try anything else, I mixed in a little bit of boxing, a little bit of corporate portraiture, some of this, some of that..., but nothing "serious"  I was happy with music...

Meanwhile, I was firmly in the "I'm never photographing a wedding!" camp - that was tooo much like hardcore pressure! Seriously! One shot at getting someone's photographs right?! no thank you very much....

I penned that I am constantly surrounded by inspiration, and that this is both a good and a bad thing - sometimes.. Well, that inspiration is also responsible for me wanting to try new photographic things. Recently I signed on as a second to Elise Garner to photograph an Ironman event, it was lots of fun and a great learning curve all at the same time...

And, amidst all of this I was pushed to be a second photographer on a wedding or two, too, and I'm really glad Katie persisted! I've had a lot of fun with weddings and I'm off to shoot another in just over a week - I don't do a zillion... Recently I did my little brother and his lovely bride's wedding - special.

A lot of people specialise, me, I've sorta gotta mix it up to keep it interesting. Life is too short to be bored, right?

-- Sime

Inspiration overload - the dangers of my job.

Please note - I use very few affiliate links in my blog posts these days, my blog doesn't cost much to run... But if you're inspired or like what you read, feel free to support my coffee habit. 

I posted about a *list* I'm making last night on Facebook. It's of a certain type of photographer, or, rather, a certain type of camera user... Before you get all camera supremacist on my eButt... If you know me, you'll know I couldn't care less if you used an old rock with a bit of broken beer bottle as a lens / camera combo... Do what you like... But I wanted to sort a list of 'smaller camera' users for my own evil* plans...

I don't mind if you use an iPhone or some other phone thing...

Anyways... I was thinking about this list and collecting a few names in my head when I posted that I was making a list on my Facebook page... We were a few comments in when I mentioned being surrounded by inspiration... [here, read for yourselves]

Which leads me to what the hell I'm on about...  'Inspiration overload' 

Like, watching my Facebook wall and seeing my favourite photo journalists, Nick Ut post photographs from his current trip.. He's in Ha Noi for another week, so I guess another week of seeing his images, each of which has a great story attached, won't kill me... But then you take Nick and times him by 1000000 with all of the content coming through each minute... So much! Today I saw the new video from Vincent LaForet with the.... here, watch it yourself...

MōVI - Stabilised System

Stuff from about 40 other photographers caught my eye today too, and I guess that is all part of my job... Identifying photographers that are doing amazing work and seeing if one of the companies I work for can be a part of their life in some way... But I'm an emotional sort and I find it very easy to be distracted by good work... That's fine...

BUT THEN....

There's another element to it, too... I'm one of a zillion try hard photographers. I love technology, I love using it to create images, I love photography and that feeling that looking at some people's images gives me... I love the photography community - for the most part. 

I get depressed by rock stars (the photographic sort) and photographers that think they're better than everyone else. I also slip into a frame of mind that comes with a little voice in my head that says "why don't you just quit and leave this to the big girls and boys?" - Sometimes that inspiration can leave you feeling quite uninspired. Random huh...

Then there's music, food, people's experiences, tech, nostalgia, news... Its all swinging by at a million miles an hour - right there in front of our eyes.

CLICK...

Then, I get to play with cool stuff and mess about - so I can turn off the inspiration tube and go play with this Westcott Rapid Box... Tiny, cute and like a little tiny beauty dish... still, didn't make me into a beauty!

* not actually evil.

LUCIAN BLOMKAMP | EP[IC] + FREE

Lucian Blomkamp is offering an EP for free right now. I'm not sharing this because he's a nice bloke, he is.. Nor because he's dating my niece - I'm sharing this because I love his music...

New stuff comes here sometimes | click

Or simply offer Facebook Love

Day One | #oFB

This is what 103.2kg of unfit looks like after a 7.95km ride at 31c... You can see the route here...

I'm not looking to be Mr. Fitness Australia, I just want to make sure I can get out of bed without assistance for at least the next 40 years... I want to be able to run in the park with my 3yo... He'll be 17 and i'll be nearing 50... I want to be able to go skiing with him and beat his smug backside down the side of Sundown bowl....

That is my motivation. Let's see how long it lasts...

I remember the sound of his voice...

Kurt Cobain... Kurt would have been a year older had he not shot himself... April 5th, 1994... Remember what you were doing?

Born Feb 20, 1967 Kurt was well on his way to becoming an odd child, pretending to be gay, living through a crazy divorce situation, having a handful of girlfriends, some less awesome than others.... Then he went and named a song after some deodorant that one of them used to wear...

Happy birthday Kurt, tell Jeff I said hello...