Contributing with Hobbies

Talking with a friend tonight something occurred to me. OK, maybe it's obvious, but hobbies, interests, and passions are important.

From a Biblical perspective, I think they serve a few purposes, and if they serve all three (there could be more), they can become a hobby for a long and purposeful time. For myself, I will use photography as an example.

1) Refreshing.

A hobby, interest, or passion should probably have a refreshing component. This means that it should recharge you. This could be something that makes you feel good afterwards or brings you back to a state of calmness or sharp thought. Photography is a great hobby that I feel like I really enjoy. It is an energizing experience shooting and editing photos and I love going back and looking at my work. It's really fun.

2) Worshipful.

A hobby, interest, or passion should probably incorporate God. I love creating for just God. I love creating in a way that is capturing. In this, I mean that I love to capture what God has put out there and frame it in a new way. It's also a great way to pray or listen to worship music and sermons while I work.

3) Contributing.

A hobby, interest, or passion should probably be fruiphotographytful. This means that my hobby is better if I contribute to society in some way (through service, creating, or sharing). This is convicting, as it tends to mean that video games aren't the best long term version for my life. However, is art and it helps to solidify memories for people. I am able to serve while I'm refreshed and worshipful.

Now, this is an off the cuff thought, but I really wanted to share it and am curious if there are things I'm missing or if these are disagreeable. I'd love feedback.

A photography nugget

One of the reasons I would say that my photos have improved over two-three years is because I'm willing to take more risks (you could also argue gear helps, which I totally will not deny). Both in when I shoot (all the time) and in what I shoot (everything).

Then I have been able take what I've learned about perspective, composition, and capturing light from classes and others, and look at my photos and say, "I did this right," or "That was totally off, and here is why."

Finally, I've taken that set of observations, combined with techniques practiced and gleaned from others, and refine my process.

I see is as iterative; slowly honing in on the specific style that is mine. Now that style will evolve, but it is helpful to know it is being refined. I'm able to shoot things now that I wouldn't have known the best way to capture in the past.

Maybe this is not a super profound post, but I'm shooting my first wedding this weekend, and I'm slightly nervous. I will say though, that I have a tiny amount of confidence, as I've seen my process of iteration and practice develop my abilities.

-- Post From My iPhone

New Taking Back Sunday

I'm not sure how I completely feel about the newest TBS album, but I hope to figure it out soon, as it has been playing on my iphone like crazy. I believe it to be really promising though. Faster paced. Only thing so far is that it is over too soon.

One great thing though is the album art (seen below). I'm a huge fan. As a photographer, I like an image like this taking the whole cover. It even looks like good usage of HDR. Simply put, visually, I can't think of an album cover I've liked this much in a while.

-- Post From My iPhone

I return...to talk about...3.0

So, I haven't written in many moons. I believe the primary reason for this is that it turns out full time work, 3 hours commuting, dating, and being an active member in God's mission make you pretty busy.


However, I have a couple minutes...so, iPhone 3.0. The biggest thought I have:

This new software will allow third party devices to be connected to the phone and communicate with applications. CANON! Listen to me! Create a remote app. Use a simple cable. Make the phone a remote for extended and distance exposures. Make it a device to change settings away from the body. Give the capability to go straight from camera to places like flickr through the phone. Allow the user to use the phone as the extention to the camera. Heck, throw some editing software on there, let a person give it some quick fixes, and share photos immediately (in many resolution formats, including iPhone all the way up to full 15 MP images). The phone's screen is already a 9:6 ratio, so it is perfect for viewing (maybe another option for live view as well).


I don't know how possible all of this is, but man if some of it comes to fruition, I will be very pleased.

08 in Photos (part 2)

This be the continuation of Alan's photo journal of '08. This batch of 19 images is from the summer. My summer was spent in Alabama with a short vacation stint after that with the family. There were events in there that were definitely interesting (weddings and good times with friends at home), but I didn't catch much in the way of pictures there. So here are the pictures from the second portion of Alan's year.

On one of the first weekends in Alabama, I went exploring and ended up in Huntsville. There I saw the Saturn V rocket you see in the picture above. I would make a return visit later in the summer to actually explore the facility.

While living in Decatur, AL for the summer, I took a couple photo walks. This and the next couple images are my favorites from the times there walking around. This is from an old worn down train depot in town.

These are my shoes (Sanuks) that I loved so much up against the rocks on the edge of the Tennessee River.

My second light painting attempt was I believe a bigger success. I was in a slightly more controlled environment and this was my favorite picture from the batch.

This is a Fred's shopping cart in the parking lot for the Fred's and the Aldi that I visited frequently for my grocery needs.

The Ave Maria Grotto in Cullman, AL was another neat excursion on my visits around the area. This place had many miniatures of buildings and scenes built in the grotto. This particular one is the representation created for the Tower of Babel.

This is from my first Arena football game. The Arena 2 league has a team in Huntsville called the Tennessee Valley Vipers. Here they are huddled up before the next play is called.

On my return visit to the Space and Rocket Center I was able to obtain some neat pictures of the facilities inside the fence. This includes this shuttle here. I also coincidentally learned a neat editing effect that created a painted/drawn image while messing with this image. It has become a fun part of my repertoire since.

One of the few shots from inside the steel mill that I worked in. This is a hot slab of steel with a part of the project that I worked on for the summer. I definitely could have gotten further on the project looking back on it, but it was a good summer regardless, and I will hold that mill in a special spot in my heart.

Our family vacation took us to many places. This major one was New York City. This is waiting for the Washington Bridge to get onto Manhattan Island.

This is on Manhattan as well, in the Harlem region while driving to visit with my cousin Mark.

The look down a canyon of buildings to see the Empire State Building. I really enjoyed the edit job I did on this particular picture.

Buildings on the beautiful day we experienced on our second day in NYC. These are on the south side of the island and I love how they truly popped against the sky.

You know, the Statue of Liberty and such. Not my favorite picture with it, but since I'm limiting this to pictures that I snapped and edited, this ends up being the best one.

One of the towers in NYC that bears the name of Trump. I truly enjoyed seeing the sky and the building meld into each other.

Our journey of the summer also took us to Maine. There, along the coast, we got a chance to experience a culture you just do not get to see in the Midwest. This is a foggy morning along one of the many peninsulas of Maine.

This shot really pops to me and I enjoy the stories that go along with it in my head. This was taken right before we left on a very pleasant boat trip along the coast to see lighthouses.

In downtown Bar Harbor, this building takes a prominent point along the coast. It was a tough shot to get with the low lighting, but what can I say, I just can hope for a better low light performing camera (*cough* Canon 5D Mk II *cough*)

Taken just to the left of the building this four masted boat caught our attention as well and the night really made for a beautiful and pleasant scene.

Outside of Bar Harbor (on the ocean side) we took a trip to watch whales on a massive boat. This was a fun task for me, if anything, to be able to capture these majestic animals in a sports photography type atmosphere. I just wish I had a higher zoom lens for this moment.

While traveling back from Maine, we stopped in a beautiful state park in New Hampshire near what used to be the Man in the Mountain. This park had a beautiful gorge we were able to follow the trail right up into. This shot also fit into my new high contrast painterly style of edit.

I thought this would be a good typical car commercial shot and with the high contrast, it gives it that fake car commercial feel. This is taken while on Mount Washington, which is the highest peak on the east coast. It was cold, windy, and foggy up there. Fantastic.

A church in Vermont that I found to be particularly beautiful.

We closed up our vacation hitting up Niagara Falls. The best part about this part of the journey is that I accidentally drove us into Canada. The Canuks didn't have a problem with this though, as we had dollars to bring, and we sure as heck didn't look threatening. This wasn't initially my favorite shot of the falls, but as I look back at it, I love the incorporation of people into the shot and the motion blur they bring to the shot.

Up next: The Fall Semester!

08 in Photos (part 1)

Well, it seems to be the trend to review the year when it ends, or so it appears to me. I think this really is something fantastic to me, as you could spend a lot of time looking forward and easily forget where you've been. For me, a huge part of reviewing the year is looking at my photography. This includes looking at it documenting events, as well as developing my abilities to shoot. So, starting from the first second of the new year, all the way to the end of an era for Alan, here are the shots that defined 2008 (part 1).

On the strip in Las Vegas watching 2008 being rung in. Then we were off for a night of driving to Los Angeles.

The kickoff for the Rose Bowl Game 2008. Illinois vs. USC. That's all I'm going to say. The kickoff was exciting.

The Presbyterian Church in Clinton, IL taken in my first days with my Rebel XT.

Sunset over the football practice fields in Clinton, IL.

The Alma Mater and Altgeld Hall at the University of Illinois. Taken during a cold night walk on campus.

Calvin on the slopes at Orchard Downs during our epic sledding journey.

Rockets shot off on the Engineering Quad during Engineering Open House.

The cups full of water on the stairs prank at the Danger Zone.

Evan setting his Osama effigy on fire for Bin Laden's birthday.

Fixing a home during the Illini Life Memphis Mission Trip over the University of Illinois' Spring Break.

Bernie Mac (RIP) and Sam Jackson filming a scene for Soul Men on Beale Street in Memphis while on our Spring Break trip.

Russ playing drums for the Rock for Honduras event during the Spring semester with Illini Life.

A dew covered leaf out in nature following the Mandate event with Illini Life. One of my early attempts at Macro photography.

Wrigley Field, back when the Cubs had hope. They laid into the Pirates on this day early in the season.

Alan experimenting with light painting. This is definitely early in the process. Hopefully there will be future attempts with the knowledge had that will help these shots improve.

Depauw University and their beautiful campus while visiting an old friend.

My first people photo shoot for the sake of photo shooting. This is my now roommate Matt looking for some promo art for his music.

This is another shot from the shoot with Matt, but definitely different and wanted to give it a show too as it is really something I've liked a lot since I shot it.

The Treehouse Sessions, Spring 08. Later this year, I took some newer versions with a subset of Treehouse ladies. This shot, however, is special to me, as these girls have been dear to my heart for a long time.

From my second Cubs game of the year. This was a loss to the Padres, but it was still neat to see a team that was tearing up the Majors. Unfortunately, that wouldn't last. This is the last shot of the 'spring semester.' Part 2 will bring you the summer and beyond. Feel free to let me know what you think, you see, etc. I love critique.

These Hands

Companion (pt. 1)

This semester, as you might know, I was in a photo class.  The course, ARTS 260, at the University of Illinois, is the introductory photography class.  The first half of the semester involved learning basic techniques, styles, and how to shoot.  We turned in a midterm project based upon four major themes (light and shadow, perspective, depth of field, and motion).  Then the second half of the semester started, in which we were to create our own project with a theme.  This project was to be 10 shots that fit into this theme.

Months ago, while in the shower, thinking about my day, the idea came to me that I needed to tell The Gospel with these pictures.  In some way, th

is story, however I could do it, needed to be told, again and again.  As I thought and prayed, it felt more and more compelling to tell the Gospel story from this perspective of photography and art.  As well, it felt more and more necessary to tell them in a contemporary style.  I couldn't just reshoot in photo form the paintings of the Renaissance.

As the project came about and started to develop, the idea was presented to me to use part of the body to tell these stories.  This started with a great night of drawing the Parable of the Four Seeds on the skin of my friends.  It slowly evolved from this into me telling stories from the four Gospel books with the hands.  Gone was the seeds parable and in was the Good Samaritan.  Gone was using marker for drawing and in was using it to write Hebrew on the body.

I told five stories with these images and I'm still working on how exactly I would present them, but what I do know is that I now have told five tales with these images.  Each pair of images with the same name tells a story.  There is writing on Hebrew on the skin, and in the title of the photos is the meaning of the word.  I hope that this project may stimulate you, regardless of your lifestyle, beliefs, gender, color, or love/hate of art.  This project is dear and close to me, and I hope that you are able to see the effort I put into it, trying to create these situations and communicate as effectively as I can with just two images per story.

Companion (pt. 2)

Here is the flickr link to the art project "These Hands"