We’re halfway through the year, and what a crazy year it’s been so far. It hasn’t exactly been good for creating new photography, at least not for me, though I know many have continued creating great work. I hope to get back to that at some point, though I have been enjoying working on older images.

Most of the time I might have previously spent out doing photography or seeing friends I’ve lately spent reading. Perhaps because it’s a comfort. Perhaps because I’ve always enjoyed it and now find a bit more time for it. Interestingly, I haven’t read much related to photography, and I don’t know why. As I’ve realized this I’ve begun pulling out photography and art books. Maybe I can slowly get myself back into the swing of things.

Photography

During this quarter I’ve watched several webinars from different photographers such as Thorsten von Overgaard, Joel Grimes, Yaneck Wasio, and Harold Davis. I have mostly enjoyed them, some more than others. But I will warn anyone new to them, be aware they have a dual purpose. One is to share useful information with the rest of us, and the other is to market to us. I have no problem with this, it’s a fair trade. But be aware some will email you offers far more often than others. This does give me pause when considering signing up for webinars, and I do sometimes unsubscribe just to stop the constant onslaught of emails.

As mentioned above I haven’t been out much creating new images, but I have made an effort to keep working on older images and to keep posting to the blog. I feel like these posts are a habit I want to keep. I enjoy writing them and they keep me somewhere on the continuum of creation. Below is a list of all the posts I published this quarter, so please check them out if you missed any.

Before & After

Masonic Temple

Field Notes Updates

Spotted Sandpiper Along Rocky Shoreline

Brown Thrashers & Berries

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Nestlings

Photobombing an Osprey

Photo Failures

Smoke & Clouds

Random Thoughts

Harvesting Gold

Hypnotic Pink

Some Personal Q&A

Reviews

All Aboard the Audiobook Bus

Story Behind Image

Flowering Tree in Spring

Do You Dare Follow the Path?

Techniques

Why Adjust White Balance?

Color Correction When White Balance Isn’t Enough

Reading

Most of my reading this quarter has been fiction. It has always been one of my favorite activities, for as long as I can remember. My folks were readers and I suppose I quickly learned to take after them, and I’m very glad I did. I’ve gained so much enjoyment from the written word. And these days I’ve also learned to enjoy the spoken version of the written word, in the form of audiobooks. I will likely always prefer paper books, but I consume books in any form: paper, ebook or audio. And after answering the questions in the personal Q&A post I realized it’s stories I’m drawn to, and those are available in even more forms, like comics & manga, anime, movies, tv, music, even in artwork like paintings and photographs. And perhaps some mediums pull me in more because they require my own imagination to be part of the creation process.

My favorite reads of the quarter include:

The Two Towers and The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Lord of the Rings was one of the first fantasy books I read when growing up and it’s always been a favorite. This time around I listened to the audiobooks narrated by Rob Inglis, who does an absolutely fantastic job drawing the reader into the world and the characters. I couldn’t have been more pleased with these.

The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury

I have always loved Ray Bradbury. He just had a way with words, and even though many of the stories in this anthology might be a bit dated they still were fantastic reads. I look forward to reading more, and there are still many of his works I’ve yet to try.

With a Single Spell by Lawrence Watt-Evans

Many fantasy books, especially these days, are fairly grand in scope. And though I thoroughly enjoy those, I sometimes find myself craving simpler stories with less world shattering events. With a Single Spell perfectly fits that craving, being about a poor wizard’s apprentice who’s master dies after only teaching him a single spell. How can he survive in the world with a single spell? Go track down a copy and find out! :-)

Made Things by Adrian Tchaikovsky

This was a shorter novella, but it packed an amazing amount of story in its few pages. It tells the story of made things, little dolls imbued with life by an ancient wizard, now left to survive in the world by hiding their presence. I really enjoyed my brief journey through this world.

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix Harrow

This book was absolute magic. I mentioned it briefly in Do You Dare Follow the Path? It is a tale of doorways to other worlds, and of a young woman named January who discovers these doors may be real. A beautiful story for any age.

Kabuki Library Edition Volume 1 by David Mack

Kabuki is my favorite story in comic book form, and it varies much from the norm of that medium. I just love David Mack’s writing and his amazing artwork. Sometimes it’s a little more traditional, sometimes in black and white, sometimes amazing colorful watercolor paintings or multimedia collages. I love these collected editions, and it’s been such a treat rereading them.

Dungeons & Dragons Art & Arcana: A Visual History by Michael Witwer, Kyle Newman, Jon Peterson, and Sam Witwer

This was such a treat for a D&D nerd. Granted, I don’t currently play, but I did for many years back when the 1st edition rules were out. This book provides a beautiful history of the game, from inception to now, with fantastic artwork from each edition, as well as the various offshoots like computer games, movies, tv shows, miniatures, etc. And the Special Edition boxed set is just stunning.

Movies

I watched very few movies this quarter. Most of my movie watching used to be with friends on the weekends, but that’s been put on hold for now. And I’ve been far more drawn to reading than watching, at least lately. But I did manage to watch a small selection of movies.

My favorite films of the quarter were:

Knives Out

A fantastic whodunit sort of story set in the extravagant house of a rich and famous crime novelist who’s found dead. Called in to investigate are the police, and the renowned Detective Benoit Blanc. As expected, no one is quite who they seem. I loved how the story was shown both from each persons perspective and from the perspective they wanted to portray, neither of which ever matched. This movie had an incredible cast.

Jojo Rabbit

Another slightly off story by, and starring, Taika Waititi. I’ve very much enjoyed many of his movies, and this one is no different. A look at Nazi Germany from the perspective of a young boy who’s enamored with Hitler, but whose mother is hiding a young Jewish girl in the attic. Funny, touching, with a positive message.

Music

This quarter I’ve been listening to a lot of music from Japanese artists. I discovered the rock band MY FIRST STORY, who’ve been around since 2011. I find myself really drawn to their rough combination of energy and passion. Below are a couple videos to give you an idea of their style. I really like the visuals in the first.

And I’ve recently started listening to ONE OK ROCK, who’ve been around since 2005. Interestingly, their name in Japan is pronounced like “one awk rock” and is based on “One O’Clock” because that’s when the group used to practice. But here in the US we typically pronounce their name “one okay rock”. They have a great range of music, with some in the hard rock space I spend a lot of time in, but some in a softer more melodic range. I’ve been listening to them a LOT lately. Check out a few samples of their music. The first, Stand Out Fit In, is one of those feel-good sort of songs I could listen to repeatedly, and I love this version with the orchestra. And I love the video for Taking Off which showcases their drummer, Tomoya.

WagakkiBand is a group I’ve been listening to for a short while, and they’ve recently put out a new EP containing a song that may now be my favorite of theirs, or certainly one of my favorites. I feel better every time I listen to it. This group mixes traditional and modern instruments and styles to great effect. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a video for the song, but it appears as the last song (listed as M4) in the sampler below at around 1 minutes and 33 seconds into the video.

And thanks to the set of questions from Lashaaan over at bookidote I spent some time wandering down memory lane, listening to music I absolutely love but haven’t played in some time. Most of these are in the hard rock side of the spectrum. This has me thinking about poring back through my music catalog looking for other styles of music, perhaps some classical. I love variety, but sometimes I do become obsessed with one style, or even one group or one song, for long periods of time.

Life

There really haven’t been any major changes in my life this quarter. My folks did celebrate their 50th anniversary, and it was great getting to see them for that (I love you both!!). There’s still a lot happening in the world right now, but I try to keep this site a refuge of sorts from all that. And so I continue working on photographs and sharing them here. I continue reading, listening to music, and writing. And I try to stay positive, and encourage you to, as well. Keep looking for the beauty out there, for the things that bring you and others happiness. That will help you get through any of the hardships we sometimes have to struggle through.

Thanks for reading. Stay safe. Stay well. And keep smiling! :-)

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