Category / Thoughts

Free-Writing to Free my Mind

Don’t worry, I promise not to post this kind of thing everyday. I don’t use it everyday, but I plan to get back into it and see if I can beat my 30 consecutive day record. The point is that freeform writing really helps my free my mind from certain thoughts. The act of writing gets the surface “stuff” out and lets the deeper creativity rise to the top. In freeform or free-writing, you just keep writing. I pretty much do it for a lot of my blog posts too, unless it’s at nuwomb.com and I’m trying to write better.

If you are interested, the site I use is called 750words.com and it’s based around a book called The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. Julia encourages you to write 750 words each day. It’s not as easy as it sounds but amazing things can happen when you do this. Another author, Mark Levy, recommends this type of freeform writing as well. He wrote a book called The Accidental Genius: Using Writing to Generate Your Best Ideas, Insight, and Content. I’ve read parts of it.

Bottom line is that I was reminded, today, of how much it can help to free me from certain thoughts.

Now I can get on with my day!

PS. I noted in my last post about moving nuwomb.com to WP Engine and shared a screenshot. Well, if you were to go to nuwomb.com now, the page is a hint different. This means it’s now on the WP Engine server. I’m working through a few of the site niggles (I love that I learned this word via WooThemes) and the site will be up again tomorrow morning!

Circles and Circles

Going in circles. I’m still stuck on Nuwomb.com and zeroing it in on a topic. I could easily define it around it’s most popular topics right no but that doesn’t feel genuine either. You might remember that I talked about working on a new logo for nuwomb in another post (here) and I mentioned the idea behind the logo:

The idea behind the logo is totally aligned with my initial ideas for Nuwomb as well – it’s about refinding or rediscovering what makes you feel alive: photography. It’s like seeing yourself within photography or which a new lens on life.

While this is part of nuwomb, it’s not the whole of it. To find the whole, higher or central purpose is something that might require me to be in a room away from all electronic devices and contact from the world. A time for God to speak to me and for me to listen. To not come out until I’ve reached a point to exit the circle and move forward.

As it stands right now, I’ve started this post to get something out of my head and into note form. I see my website as an incubator for photography culture. This is making the most sense to me as this moment because it encompasses so much of what I originally desired but leaves room for expansion. I want to help our photography culture in more ways than one. This centers the site around photographic content that is to help develop, nurture, nourish our soul’s cravings.

I don’t chose these terms lightly: incubate, culture, womb.

Knowing these thoughts and exploring them more helps greatly. I hate that I get stuck on wanting to display it graphically in logo form. I get hung up on this when creating photography and other content would be more important.

This was some free writing and I clearly need to do more of it. Getting these thoughts out has helped today and I’ll soon stop going in circles.

Self Sabotage

I think if there was one thing I’d have to say I’m amazing at, it would be self sabotage. How do I get past it? There are a number of things in my life right now that I don’t know how I haven’t fully sabotaged yet. I’m not purposely out to sabotage myself but it I am just drawn to it.

I am broken and fragmented. I am trying my best to get past my issues but days like today become so hard. The smallest of things can set it off too. Even reading books on self help and such never seem to do anything for me. I feel like there is hope and then it fades faster than it ever came.

I don’t pretend my life is perfect.

And I don’t care if you know it.

I’m trying to not continually sabotage good things in my life. Everyday I try and find ways to eat better, exercise, do what I love, and more. I just have more trouble – especially during winter. I question why I live in London, Ontario but that’s a different post.

Print Products and Nuwomb

I’ve tried to sell prints in a number of ways with little success. Actually the success is pretty minimal but that’s okay and it’s never stopped me from shooting more photography. At the same time, I would like to make it simple to grab a print of mine if someone is interested. In my eyes, sometimes they just need to know they are available.

At the same time, I’ve always had a mindset that I don’t want to laundry list my prints. If someone is interested in a specific photo that’s not listed for purchasing prints, they will always contact the photographer anyways; however, the prints I display in a store setting means that these are my favorites. These are some of my works that I really love.

I’m working on an integration of creative life transformation on nuwomb.com that has a focus on photography. I intend to have some print products and who knows what in the future. Im still planning it all out. The closest thing I can compare the vision to is photojojo / digital photography school / art of non conformity. It’s a blend of so many things over the past few years. Think creative epicentre for life re-alignment with a purpose. What surrounds a life in that place?

Anyways, the image I shared here is from me snapping a shot for one of the print products that will eventually be up in a store.

Landscape Architecture in the Veins

[dropcap]Landscape[/dropcap] architecture still runs through my veins. I was out taking some photographs of the Community Centre in Komoka this morning and I was easily reminded of my love for architecture. I was reminded that my schooling was not even close to a waste even if it means I’m not practicing architecture or landscape architecture.

This is a perfect example of God moving in my life today. Everything is connecting and He is showing me as long as I continue to be open and receptive. Here I am sharing architecture photography.

I went out to snap a few shots on a short time line and I was sucked in by the amazing work done to create this structure. I couldn’t pull myself away from taking photo after photo – some with my iPhone 3Gs too. If I had only spent a couple minutes at the site, I would never have gotten this shot shown here. This shot shows off some architecture and part of the grasses in the concrete planter. I shot it with my 50mm after I had put my 10-20mm Sigma away.

Just because you might not be doing what you studied in school doesn’t mean it’s not still living within your DNA somewhere.

A Favorite Wedding Shot

[dropcap]I[/dropcap] have this massive interest for more abstract wedding photography. I shoot many more images that have the bride and groom in focus, but it’s these shots that start to fascinate me behind the scenes. I see them as something one could keep hanging for a longer period. I can tell it’s a wedding photo but I can’t tell if the bride/groom look really dated or not.

Just something I felt. I will be posting more of this amazing Fun Country Wedding on Flat White with a revamp of the site. I’ve just had my head down finishing up a whole slew of shoots! I have never been so overextended in my life ( massive flashbacks to architecture school at Ryerson ). Weights are lifting though!

Feel free to share what you think of the shot in the comments!