Month: March 2016

2016 Weekly Photo Challenge: "13. Retro" | Reghan Skerry

Weekly Photo Challenge 2016 | Week #13: ‘Retro’

Photography

2016 Weekly Photo Challenge: "13. Retro" | Reghan Skerry

The very first vintage camera I ever bought. It’s mechanically sound (the shutter still fires with a truly satisfying *click!*), but it’s almost impossible to actually use, thanks to the chip in the viewfinder. I’d really love to know how that happened; it’s a thick piece of glass, and those scratches are kind of impressive, and just dropping the camera wouldn’t have been enough do that kind of damage.

(For this particular prompt, I’d hoped to be able to shoot through the viewfinder of this camera with my DSLR. It… didn’t work. I’m going to try again sometime, but I just have to accept that, if I can make it work, it’ll be an abstract.)

Still. I don’t care. I paid less than $10 in a thrift store, and it looks fantastic. (Which was all I really cared about then.)

Sketchbook #10

Writing

On the last Monday of the month, I like to check in and let you guys know what creative projects I’ve been working on, and what sort of progress I’m making.

March has been ok, I guess, but a bit different than I’m used to. I spent the first week or so deep in planning mode, trying to figure out what my creative goals actually are, and figuring out how to go about achieving them.

It’s been… surprising.

Not all of it, of course. Photography is still my priority. The 52-week project is still going well (I’m getting it done, even when I’m not really into it, which is part of the point), and I’ve started looking at some of the other photo projects I want to work on over the next few months. And drawing is still a comfortable hobby—I’m still stuck on the same plateau I was on in February, but I’m (slowly) seeing some improvement. It’s not something I stress about too much.

The surprise is that, apparently, I’m not done with writing fiction.

Which isn’t to say that I’m actually writing again. But when I was thinking about what I want to do, how I want to spend my time, writing kept coming up. And I keep playing with ideas that feel like novels or scripts, and I have this slightly-uncomfortable feeling that, at some point, I’m going to want to start writing one of them.

I really don’t know how I feel about that.

I still haven’t figured out how to go about the whole thing without burning myself out and starting to hate the entire writing process. I’m starting to think of ways to get around my natural tendency toward perfectionism (which is a problem in everything I do, but is particularly damaging when it comes to writing), though it’s not a problem I’ve come close to solving yet.

So.

That’s what March has been like: a lot of thinking about projects, but not nearly enough progress. Now that I know what I want to do next (or, at least, now that I have some ideas), I should be able to start getting some real work done in April.

Wish me luck.

Snapshot #47 | 10 Things for 27 March 2016

Personal

Currently…

1. narrowing… my focus.
2. fine-tuning… my recipe for hot-cross buns. As far as baking goes, this is still my nemesis; I’ve got the flavour where I want it, I’ve just about got the texture right, now I just need to work on the aesthetics.
3. making… baklava. Because that’s no trouble at all. (100% serious, here. It’s surprisingly easy.)
4. hoping… that it will start to feel like spring soon. Lately, it’s just been a snowless winter.
5. putting… my plans in place for April.
6. exercising… remarkable self-control with my budget.
7. realizing… that I’ve been slacking off around here lately. Sorry about that. I’ve been doing some work behind the scenes, but I’ll try to get back to regular posting soon.
8. looking… for good desktop/phone/tablet wallpapers. I’m in desperate need of a change, but I can’t find anything I like. (Probably because I have rather specific criteria for each device. And I’m just picky.)
9. buying… a fabric de-fuzzer. It’s kind of awesome. Which is kind of boring and makes me feel old.
10. feeling… nostalgic for the strangest things. Like long-defunct blogging platforms. (I don’t know why.)

2016 Weekly Photo Challenge: "11. Rule of Thirds" | Reghan Skerry

Weekly Photo Challenge 2016 | Week #11: ‘Rule of Thirds’

Photography

2016 Weekly Photo Challenge: "11. Rule of Thirds" | Reghan Skerry

Sometimes, this project is more difficult than it should be.

I’ve been struggling with both motivation and inspiration this week. Not just with photography—with everything. It’s frustrating, and I’m kind of annoyed with myself, but… meh. It happens. And that’s part of why I started this whole project: I wanted to give myself something to work on on the days when I don’t really feel like it.

Except, it turns out that these really open-ended prompts? When you’re not feeling inspired, they’re kind of awful. I would’ve liked nothing more this week than to have a clear goal, something specific to do. Instead, I’m left with a basic compositional technique and nothing I really wanted to take pictures of.

And bad lighting. (It’s been dark and gloomy and cold and wet almost all week, which is probably part of the reason I’m having trouble.) That, at least, gave me a challenge to deal with.

It usually works out.

Snapshot #46 | 10 Things for 13 March 2016

Personal

Currently…

1. remembering… that I was supposed to get this post up yesterday. Oops.
2. wondering… whether someone at Canada Post has been reading the books I ordered. (Seriously—the package has been at the local sorting facility since last Tuesday. It’s embarrassing.)
3. cleaning… up so many old files.
4. perfecting… a recipe I’ve been tweaking forever. Finally. (I also settled on what to make for Easter dessert, so it’s been a good couple of weeks, cooking-wise.)
5. looking… at fabric. I think I’ve chosen something new for the desk chair.
6. getting… to work. The massive planning session is over, and now it’s time to start putting plans into action.
7. thinking… about perfectionism. It’s been a problem. I need to do something about it.
8. trying… to remember that, sometimes, perfectionism isn’t a bad thing.
9. checking… things off my lists. It’s a good feeling.
10. eating… so many Cadbury Creme Eggs. So many.

2016 Weekly Photo Challenge: "10. Scent" | Reghan Skerry

Weekly Photo Challenge 2016 | Week #10: ‘Scent’

Photography

2016 Weekly Photo Challenge: "10. Scent" | Reghan Skerry

When my original plans for a prompt fall through—no matter what the prompt is—I fall back on taking pictures of food. (Or the cat, when she’s cooperative, but that wouldn’t really work for this prompt.)

That said, I’m actually really happy with how this turned out. It’s happened a few times, now: I end up having to improvise, and it creates a photo even better than the one I had in my head.

I need to remember that.

2016 Weekly Photo Challenge: "09. Blue Hour" | Reghan Skerry

Weekly Photo Challenge 2016 | Week #09: ‘Blue Hour’

Photography

This isn’t Art, obviously.

But that’s not the point, especially in this case. This is about figuring out the quirks of my camera in low-light situations, and playing with exposure settings, and learning to operate my camera when my fingers are going numb, because I was dressed for the (unseasonably warm) temperature but failed to account for the wind.

2016 Weekly Photo Challenge: "09. Blue Hour (Alternate)" | Reghan Skerry

An alternate take for week 9: ‘Blue Hour.’