Soul searching- First post!

It was a couple of months ago, just before my 30th birthday, when I lost it. I mean, I have been working my way up in the not-for-profit world, the environmental and social justice world, the professional activist world, for the last 5 years solid. Now I'm giving that all up. No more campaigns, public education, or petitions. It might seem like the most fulfilling kind of work anyone could do, however, I have seen too much to believe that the not-for-profit industry is actually effective. But this isn't the place for those theories, this blog is the space I need to dive into my new path: photography. Well, I have always loved

(Leah and baby Rosalie, 2009) making art and taking pictures. I have always wanted to learn more about lighting, exposure, and the techniques of quality photography but I never let myself get into it because I was busy playing with all my activist friends trying to make social change and with all that self-righteous 'I wanna change the world' shit.

I turned 30 and decided I was going to make this happen. You only live once and you've got to make it count. I have been too stressed working in front of a computer, organizing people for various causes, trying to always do the right thing for someone else to even notice that I was not doing the work that excited me or made me happy. I will spend the next year learning as much as I can through online courses, workshops, and I will practice, practice, practice. My goal is to become an assistant to a pro photographer (or cinematographer*) in a year. I am going to build my portfolio and I'm going to learn as much as I can about the techniques of good photography, and I don't mean retouching everything in Photoshop but actually taking natural, visually stunning pictures that capture the soul of the moment. (Erin, shot on new Canon Rebel T2i April 2010, Kitchener)

I totally respect the things people do to images on the computer, but that's just not my thing. I am fascinated by the beautiful and curious things people do and somehow I will work to capture those moment through my pictures.

I am so new to this. I am learning everyday. I don't expect that every photo I post on here will be amazing, but I am trying to pick the best ones that: a) tell a story; b) expose a reality about a person(s) or a place; c) will make you/me feel; d) are pleasing to your/my eyes.

(Anchor on a ferry, Greece, 2009)

*So why cinematography? Though video/film technology and equipment are different creatures from those used in photography, film is my long-lost love. I made student films when I was young, played with a video camera whenever I could, made a short doc on HD a couple of years ago about young Afghan-Canadians, and a Super 8 music video called ‘Vampirella’. A couple of months ago I produced a feature film with a good friend of mine. The project, a no-budget independent film, was my first real film work but I slipped into the producer/manager role real easy, I guess I get it from all the campaigns, events, and projects I’ve had to manage over the years. My real dream in film is to be behind the camera, hence the desire to work with a cinematographer.