So my life is in boxes... again. The wife and I are moving back to Rexburg, Idaho so she can finish up her degree in music. I was talking to my grampa this morning as we were taking apart our four-poster bed and moving furniture and I thought that the topic of our conversation would make for a good entry. The main reason is so that I have a record of the direction I'm taking.
My Composition
As I've mentioned before, one way to look at photography is composition and lighting. I think I've got a really good handle on composition. F 'n PARC as I used to teach it in my graphic design lab. Proximity, Alignment, Repetition and Flow. The rules of design, illustration and layout carry over into video and stills very well. I used to look through the lens and layout the shot as if it was in the computer in my mind. Anywho, I feel I can compose a good shot more often than not.
My Lighting
Now lighting is a different story. Thus far I've spent most of my lighting time reverse engineering the lighting set up of Evanescence music videos by looking at the shape of the reflection in Amy Lee's eyes. I was also unaware of Strobist until recently and thus, was unaware that I didn't have to take out a loan to be able to afford lighting equipment. I'd bought a couple of light discs to reflect direct sunlight into people's eyes for extended periods of time. This worked pretty well if you don't mind very well lit squinting people. I experimented with white core board as an alternative, but thats bulky and on a windy day you're basically screwed. So after a while I was left just to pray for a cloudy day so that when I popped open my reflectors I wouldn't be creating a large SOS signal mirror.
Renewed Vigor
I've gained some renewed excitement about light again. After reading some, I've rediscovered light. I've got composition under my belt (there is always room to improve and learn) and now its time to get serious; I'm going to learn lighting. Next year at this time I'm going to be not only much more knowledgeable about lighting a scene, but I'm also going to be fast. I'm giving myself a year to hone my lighting skills. I'm going to read everything I can get my hands on and experiment several times a week with different techniques. I'm going to keep a lighting journal. And I'm going to run myself through drills. At the end of 2008 I'm going to be better than I am now.
So if you happen to see me climbing a tree and bungeeing a strobe to a branch, don't call homeland security, I'm just running lighting drills.
