Another journal

I have accidentally become someone who collects little novelty digital cameras. They’ve all been gifts so it wasn’t intentional, but I’m not complaining. A few years ago Chase got me a Canon PowerShot S200, which was what reminded me that I just like to take a snap. It immediately became my go-to for park trips, replacing my nicer DSLR. I mean, I’ve been shooting for nearly 30 years, I love messing with settings, but there is just something about a point-and-shoot.

Chase and I take pictures. It’s what we do. And I have a very distinct approach to things, I like shitty pixel quality, I like the flaws of a camera. So then they got me another. This one, the Camp Snap, is styled after a those disposable cameras. No screen, simple as can be, the colour profile of the images it takes is exactly the vibe. It’s my pocket camera often, because it doesn’t need the ageing batteries the PowerShot does.

It is easily overwhelmed by the sun, which is a funny thing to happen here. I love the yellow, watery way it handles light.

Then, a friend let me know about the Charmera, a cutie from Kodak that has a design inspired by the old 110s (a camera I ALWAYS wanted as a teen). It’s keychain sized and has goofy filters. It’s a hard one to get but Chase pre-ordered two (one for the person who told us about them) and when they arrived we’d forgotten that they existed, so it was extra delightful.

The photo corners are to hold “filters” (interesting pieces of plastic to shoot through. The designs are blind box and pretty cute. It also gets a little overwhelmed by unadulterated sunshine (which I think is just what this size and kind of inexpensive sensor does). The silly filters and size make it a delight.

Okay so, these were all gifts from one person (Chase, thank youuuu), but it’s not like I have picked up a gimmicky little camera myself yet or anything. Only, apparently this is now something I am known for and my amazing and wonderful manager got me this as a holiday present:

Yes! The screen is on top. YES you can crank the side to take video. There’s two filters: regular and black and white. It has two focus options and, like all little gimmick cameras, is overwhelmed by direct sunlight. The trigger button is where it is supposed to be, and the proportions hit that sweet spot of just small enough to squee over but not too small to easily handle.

The way you shoot with it should make it easy to hold a filter in front of the lens, so I’ll dig through my bins and find one of my heavier neutral filters and see if that helps it handle the sunshine. I do love that the silver of it absolutely reflects into the lens, causing some interesting artefacts.

Anyway, now I guess this is my Thing ™. Which I am delighted by. Taking pictures is fun and it is joyful to have fun things to do it with.

I grew up in a small town in South-ish, Central-ish Willamette Valley. Then I moved to another small town and lived there for a long time. While Chase and I lived in Forest Grove I documented the places we went and the drives we took. Part of me always wanted for the WPA to happen again, or to figure out a grant for us to just drive and document.

Now, we get to (or, more properly, Chase gets to and I get to assist and document) be part of Project Dayshoot. July 15^th will be the 30^th anniversary of “over 90 photographers spen[ding] 24 hours capturing daily life throughout the state of Oregon.” There’s even a book, One Average Day, full of photos taken by photojounalists on a day when I was a couple of months old.

Nobody shot in the town I grew up in (or, more properly, that I grew up just outside), because it was just a little place with a mill. Not that it super matters, those photojournalists did a fabulous job documenting the “people, places and pastimes” of Oregon in the early 80s. It’s a costumer’s dream, because the smaller towns still dress late 1970s on the edges. But here is Project Dayshoot’s statement:

On July 15, 1983, over 90 photographers spent 24 hours capturing daily life throughout the state of Oregon. Project Dayshoot was the name of this venture, and it produced a book entitled One Average Day.

To commemorate the 30th anniversary of Project Dayshoot, the original photographers—plus new contributors—are being organized to capture images throughout Oregon on July 15, 2013. This page, in conjunction with the e-mail address below, is the location for all information related to the project.

Any proceeds from the sale of materials relating to this project will benefit the Oregon Historical Society.

Chase, being a professional photojournalist for the past eight (nearly nine) years, was asked to participate. And, because we already do stuff like this for fun, we have a plan. Other than two scheduled-ish places we’re going to hit, the only goals are the little nowhere towns on the way to and along the coast.

A lot of people, after Chase told Dayshoot where he was going, decided to hit the coast, interestingly enough. It doesn’t matter because we’re not going to stay and make love to the popular places, the biologists, or the noble logger. We’ll be on the move all day (starting at midnight tonight), finding and shooting the things we like to shoot.

And then, when the day is done at midnight on July 15^th, we’re on a mini vacation. Not that we’ll stop taking pictures. You can’t break a combined thirty year habit of photographing everything you can.

Fair warning for those following me on social media, I’m cross-linking everything all day tomorrow. So you’ll be able to see what I can upload whenever I get a signal at:

Flickr
Tumblr
Twitter
Instagram

And, if you feel so inclined, document your part of Oregon and hashtag it #dayshoot30. Be part of history and support the Oregon Historical Society! Just remember to note when, what and where you’re shooting.

Mirrored from Journal of a Something or Other.

This and the writing focus month have totally been the surprise easy months. I did not expect to be able to finish all my projects! And I totally took a picture every day (except for one).

The only not-quite done thing is that although I’ve made one of these books and have the stuff ready to make the rest, I haven’t made all of these little pink and pearlescent books.

Which is okay! Because I finally figured out how I was putting them together.

Yay for a productive focus month! I needed that after the last one. Now next month will hopefully go as well!

Mirrored from Journal of a Something or Other.

For this focus month one of my projects is to take a shot each day based on an image from my Flickr that was taken or uploaded the same day within the past five or so years, if there is one.

If you click through to Flickr, the new images are there with more info.

Mirrored from Journal of a Something or Other.

For this focus month one of my projects is to take a shot each day based on an image from my Flickr that was taken or uploaded the same day within the past five or so years, if there is one.

If you click through to Flickr, the new images are there with more info.

Mirrored from Journal of a Something or Other.

For this focus month one of my projects is to take a shot each day based on an image from my Flickr that was taken or uploaded the same day within the past five or so years, if there is one.

If you click through to Flickr, the new images are there with more info.

Mirrored from Journal of a Something or Other.

For this focus month one of my projects is to take a shot each day based on an image from my Flickr that was taken or uploaded the same day within the past five or so years, if there is one.

If you click through to Flickr, the new images are there with more info.

Mirrored from Journal of a Something or Other.

For part of my monthly focus I am trying to finish projects. This is another one involving those developments I’m obsessed with, only this time mixed with a little bit of another obsession, the Heavy Metal film from the 1980s.

The loc-nar, some sort of cell shading and maybe a touch of how I love Cool World.

Mirrored from Journal of a Something or Other.

For this focus month one of my projects is to take a shot each day based on an image from my Flickr that was taken or uploaded the same day within the past five or so years.

If you click through to Flickr, the new images are there with more info.

Mirrored from Journal of a Something or Other.

For this focus month one of my projects is to take a shot each day based on an image from my Flickr that was taken or uploaded the same day within the past five or so years.

If you click through to Flickr, the new images are there with more info.

Mirrored from Journal of a Something or Other.