Journal

Summer cleaning and Buddy, of course

Dawn Oshima — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 09:45:15 +0000

It's summer, it's hot, it's hooky time. I'm not sure anyone noticed but I took a week off to recharge and start the great cleanup of 2010. The dust and clutter in my work office finally set off that timer in me that screams, "clean up and throw out the garbage, fool!" Egads! how much crap can one person hoard?

The answer would be a lot. Sigh.

On a cheerier note, Buddy has adapted to the indoor life nicely and is enjoying a life of leisure. She's still separated from Benjamin Bunny because the rabbit still has issues about the cat. Oh well, at least there isn't fur flying in the worst way possible.

Hope your summer isn't too sweltering where you are. I hope I last through this final month without eating too much ice cream. :)

Project 365: Day 97, or the adventures of Leela and Fry

Dawn Oshima — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 10:30:29 +0000

This week I've been concentrating on capturing the continuing adventures of Leela and Fry, two of the characters from one of my favorite shows, Futurama, newly reborn on Comedy Central. I didn't realize how much I missed this show until I watched the first show of this new season. Boom! Social commentary, sarcastic wit, and sweet and sour characters all rolled into one; you owe it to yourselves to watch. Funny stuff, indeed.

Anyway, I've had lots of fun revisiting the joys of macro photography. Looking for possible settings for the two figures has made me more aware of composition, moving my camera around to tell the best possible story. I may not come up with the greatest captions but I think the photos tell their own stories the best. I'll probably do another week with them before switching to something else.

In the meantime, where will these two end up next?

As always, go to Diurnal Illusions (click on the tab at the top of this page) to see the larger version of this picture. Let me know what you think. Enjoy. :)

My cat Buddy

Dawn Oshima — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 10:30:45 +0000

Since I've been talking so much about my pictures these days I thought I'd share one or two of my favorites every week. This is my cat Buddy. Actually, she's a stray who adopted my mother and me after pronouncing us worthy of her presence. It looks like she's ready to bite but actually she wanted me to keep petting her. Sweet-tempered and affectionate, that's my Buddy. If all goes according to plan she'll be spayed this Thursday and then become an indoor cat.

I wonder what she'll think of that.

Benjamin Bunny, meet your new friend!

If you want to see more of my Project 365 photographs then click on the Diurnal Illusions tab at the top of the page. Please leave a comment or drop me a line. Enjoy!

Project 365: Day 90, or Up the Hill Backwards

Dawn Oshima — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 01:29:40 +0000

Recently I ran across a quote by Douglas McArthur that read, " We are not retreating - we are advancing in another direction". How true, how true. Perhaps it's the weather or perhaps it's the good old reliable "forces beyond my control," otherwise known as RL, but I've only managed one post a week for the past few weeks. WTF? I take one step forward and then it seems like I hop, skip, and jump a few steps back; then again, does it really matter if I ever do another post in this blog again? Never mind that, I've just hit one of those black patches where nothing I write seems worthwhile to share. I'm going to take a break away from any major writing to see what it is I want to do with this journal. Hmmm. (Skip ahead while I rave at my private pity party. Wah wah wah. End of whine. Carry on.)

In any case, I still want to document my progress with Project 365. These days I'm thinking more about photography than writing, how the light and shadows play on the wall and how nice it would be if I framed it just so in the camera instead of writing about how it looked. This week I focused on still life and composition. It was so much fun arranging the little plastic figures of Leela and Fry from Futurama in different places and trying to tell a story in one glance. I suppose that's why I've never been able to keep a private journal for more than a couple of pages at a time and why I gravitate towards poetry rather than novel writing. I want to describe a mood, an emotion, a thought, an idea, that indescribable something in just so many words or within the frame of a photograph. Does it tell a story? Does it make you smile or laugh or think? Do you care about it? I didn't consciously arrange my still lifes with any or all of these questions in mind but some of "me" comes through in the end and that's what matters.

"A picture is worth a thousand words."

Indeed.

Ack, so many words and nothing behind them. All right, enough with the smoke and mirrors. Let's just say that I'm on a journey to find myself through this journal and call it a day. Perhaps it will morph into a photo blog or perhaps it will take a right turn somewhere along the way and turn into something else. Hmm. Already I feel excited about the prospect of something unexplored up ahead. Ha. Figures it would take the scent of the undiscovered to lure me back here. It will be a bumpy ride but it sure will be a lot of fun!

Project 365: Day 83

Dawn Oshima — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 01:48:53 +0000

Hi there! Long time no see. Work's been keeping me out of the loop here but I'm back. I have to say that, if it weren't for my commitment to this project, I would've ditched taking pictures altogether. Looking over the photos from the last couple of weeks I'm glad I stuck with it; even though some of them aren't very good I learned a lot from just taking them. If I don't make mistakes I can't learn from them, or something to that effect.

I'm noticing that I'm moving a lot more in order to get the shot I like; if it means lying on the floor to photograph Benjamin Bunny from a low angle I'll do it. My composition has improved a lot since I started this project. I also know all the buttons and visible controls on my Canon S90 in the short time that I've had this camera. There's something to be said about going out every day and taking that picture, any picture. Now my hands fly to the controls I want and boom! I've got the picture I want, or something close to it. Muscle magic, that's what that is. :)

I hope to pick up my Nikon d90 and go out with my Lensbaby kit sometime soon. I've been hankering to use all my Lensbaby lens and accessories ever since I got them but I've just been too busy to do it. Now that I've got a bit of time open I think I'll be out and about with them, seeing what I can capture on digital. In my mind's eye I know what I want to explore but unless I make time those pictures will just be trapped in my mind's eye forever. I need to pick up my camera bag and go; go out into the world and find those pictures. Even if I don't find those pictures the journey will be worth the effort and patience.

So sayeth the procrastinating photographer... :)

Taking a short break

Dawn Oshima — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 09:30:48 +0000

All right, I did say I'd try and keep to a twice-a-week schedule but I'm have to take a break for a week, starting today. My work schedule is wearing me out and I need a little mental break to take care of things. Working in a community theatre can be rewarding but the push to open a show can be a little crazy. Hence, a little pause...but I'll be back next week for more randomness and chat.

Until then...

Project 365: Day 69

Dawn Oshima — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 10:30:23 +0000

It's been a mixed bag this week. There are more landscapes, more sunsets, with a few still lifes and an animal portrait to round things off; most of the photos are in color because I like the vibrancy it gives to the subjects. As work heats up in the next couple of weeks I'll probably stick with taking shots of various sunsets because I only have to take a few steps out of my office to see the sun setting. Always a good thing.

Overall I've taken very few pictures of people. I do not find any affinity with portraiture or street photography, though I do remember gleefully taking pictures of my friends in high school a long, long, long time ago. I don't know if that's the time I discovered processing and printing the old-fashioned way with chemical developers. Ah, those were the days. I guess I've always had a camera in hand for as long as I can remember, trying to capture bits of my life back when it seemed like the most important thing to do.

Anyway, I'm just not a people person, preferring macro or still lifes to current events or journalistic photography. Maybe it's because I'm older now but I find more comfort and peace discovering my subjects on long walks to wherever my feet take me. Who knows, I have a few more days left in this challenge. Maybe I'll find me some people to record on digital. How about you? What's your favorite subject?

Get Russell Brand to the Greek

Dawn Oshima — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 10:30:55 +0000

Last Wednesday Vince, Margie, and I ventured forth into the dark and took on another movie to celebrate Margie's birthday. We had time so we ducked into Big City Diner at Ward and ordered up some healthy appetizers: spicy poke (there's supposed to be an accent over the e in poke so it rhymes with croquet), garlic fries, and cheese nachos. For dessert we had yougurt. Mmm, mmm, good. That's what I call a celebration!

Then it was movie time. Vince and I chose Get Him to the Greek because it got such positive reviews and it looked funny. It's hard to tell with previews these days; something that looks like the funniest comedy can turn out to be a total dud. It was all right with us, though, we could always tear it down later.

Project 365: Day 62, in Which I Discover the Sky

Dawn Oshima — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 09:30:01 +0000

Another week, another batch of photographs. I've grown to love my Canon S90 after a solid week of carry, point, and shoot; the controls are similar enough to my Canon G9 that I haven't had to relearn a whole new camera system. Some people on various photography sites have noted that the dial in the back is looser than they'd like, that it unintentionally changes settings if you're not careful. It is very loose but I just make sure that I grip the camera so that I don't come near it at all. Good thing I don't have gigantic hands! The loose dial makes it very easy to change apertures with one hand so I don't mind it being loose at all.

When I'm out with my camera I usually do a lot of macro work, mostly with flowers, for a lot of reasons. You can take your time with macro: arrange the elements, move here, move there, take the shot, repeat the process. Usually the flower or rock or some other inanimate object isn't going anywhere and I can think about each shot and how I want to frame it. That's my comfort zone. Now that I'm past Day 50 I wanted to start to explore outside my comfort zone and see what I could find out there in the wilds.

Exercise purgatory (with a little Giant Killing on the side)

Dawn Oshima — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 10:30:29 +0000

For the past few weeks I've slowly altered my diet to include more of the green leafy stuff and less of the brown meaty stuff and I've duly noted most of the edible stuff in my diet app on my iPad. Still noshing the oh-so-delicious chips and swigging the delightfully caffeinated drinks, but I've cut back on the carbs and made myself drink more water whenever I can. The scale never lies: I've actually lost a pound since the beginning of June (well, actually more like half a pound but it's a start). Now it's time for the other half of the equation: exercise.

I'm one of many who are, let's just say, not friends with good ol' exercise. Organized sports were never "my thing" when I was in school; give me a good book and a tree to read under and I'm good. I've always been on the heavy side but it's never bothered me...much. Luckily, I have a job that keeps me from getting heavier but lately I've noticed that it's getting harder and harder for me to keep the weight from staying off. Old age sucks. Oh well, nothing like a little exercise won't cure, eh?