First Month of Photo A Day

At the start of the year, or rather the end of last year, I decided I wanted to once again try the whole photo a day thing, except this time stick too it. I’ve tried once or twice before and it never lasts long but wanted this time to be different. Something that I’ve got better at recently, sticking to my own plans.

So a month in and I’ve managed it. Has been a lot of fun so far trying to make each day a little different from the last while swapping up what I use a bit to take the photo’s. I wanted some of the photo’s to represent my day or almost be a memory to that day looking back at it, while others are just pictures I took which I liked. Some are also just silly. (Sure that will happen more and more).

There’s one or two I would happily replace, but can’t, however for the most part I’m happy with how the first month of photo’s went.

Have enjoyed playing around with different Hipstamatic set-ups as well as using a couple of my old favourites. Find it very interesting looking at the images side by side as well. A photo diary of my day almost.

Fully believe I’ll keep this up for the whole year. I know it will start to get more difficult to keep things fresh and interesting with the pictures, but that’s part of the fun.

Below are my favourite five for January, along with another I like above as my featured image. All can be found on my Instagram page here. The information for each picture, including what was used to take it, is within the descriptions and tags of the individual photos.

Hope you like.

Stephen.

3/365

 

4/365

13/365

22/365

25/365

 

 

Blog about the Blog

So this is a bit of a blog about the blog.

Have changed and added a few of the pages at the top and really am looking to change the direction of the blog slightly as well. Want the blog to focus more on all my creative endeavours and stuff I like, rather than just writing.

I know blog’s are meant to be more of a niche subject wise but just have too many ideas in too many area’s at the moment and am keen to do and share.

So I guess it’s slightly turning into more of a journal but will still have blogs about particular subjects or insights into past experiences.

Am hoping to build on the blog plenty this year with regular updates and new content. Am excited to share things in my future which I’ll go into when the time draws closer. Feel there’s a lot I want to achieve and this blog is a good way of recording some of them ambitions and sharing the experiences. (And hopefully offering some advice or transparency to things as well).

So yeah… that’s my super short blog for today.

Stephen

Blogging Next Year

So for the first time I’ve managed to keep my blog going for a year. Was a little gap in the middle of the year when life got in the way but I’ve mostly updated it regularly and feel like I’m improving and expanding with it.

My question to myself is what would I like to do with it in 2017.

Am always looking to improve the quality so would like to spend a little more time on the posts which I believe I can do, and maybe look for a set amount of posts a week along with certain set days that they come out.

Have a lot of ambition for 2017 that isn’t just scriptwriting so think that the blog will end up being more than just a scriptwriting blog and would cover a lot more of my other creative endeavours, but feel it’s already going that way anyway.

Know that it’s best for a blog to really centre around one core thing but that’s just not the way my brain works.

Would like to write more about past writing and filming experiences so will look to do that. Will keep up to date with my script writing and any thoughts I have on the subject along with trying to be as transparent as possible about my script writing career.

Have plans on making plenty of music videos and short films next year so that will become a bigger part of the blog along with a little more about my photography. Alongside this I’m looking to put a lot more work into the film review channel so will write about, and promote, that more which I’m sure will also lead to a couple more bulk review blogs.

The idea of the blog was always to track my creative progress and give a little insight to who I am and that remains the main idea. I want to share anything I learn and experience in the writing and film world while also sharing stuff I love and am passionate about.

Feel like next year has to be a big one for one, although I do feel that every year. Have a few things lined up that could really make that happen and will share as much of that as possible. Recently finished (I hope) a new feature script so will be looking to do something with that later in the year and have another one ready to get out there.

Going to make things happens, one way or another. Feel more confident about my writing and where I’m at with it and have made big steps forward this year behind the camera so now need to do something with that. So have my sights set firmly forward.

So thank you to everyone who’s been reading this year. Have had far more readers than any other year, in fact probably all the previous years and blogs combined don’t come close to this year so that’s been awesome and hopefully will only get better.

Stephen.

(This my final blog of the year most likely, but will be back super early next year)

 

Photography Challenge

So a few times in the past I’ve considered the whole photo a day thing. Even downloaded an app last year but never kept it up. But think it’s time to give it a go. Might wait to the start of next year but seems like a good time in my life to try it.

Find myself using the camera on my iPhone nearly every day. Use Hipstamatic and Snapseed every chance I get. Love my Canon 700d and any opportunity to use that is one taken. Have a Viewbug account that I update regularly and enter photo contests and challenges all the time. So why not?

Certainly my life doesn’t feel exciting enough at the moment for their always to be the opportunity for great pictures but guess that’s part of the challenge. Have to find something other than my costa coffee’s and laptop to take photo’s of, but am sure I will.

Will try and take the photo’s on a range of different camera’s, at different aspect ratio’s. Will try as many of the lens and film options on Hipstamatic as I can along with trying some different editing styles on Affinity. Alongside that want to try a few different techniques as well, but we’ll see how it goes.

Think Instagram is the best place to show the photo’s (unless anyone knows of anywhere more specifically suited) and will load the best ones onto my Viewbug as well.

Have found photography has helped me a lot this year both on a personal level but also when it comes to filming things and making videos. I’ve learnt to fully use my camera and moved away from auto settings a long time ago. Feel like I have control with my camera now and can capture the pictures in my head rather than just getting close. Have a bit more to learn with Affinity but I’m getting there and have several apps that I’m very comfortable with in post as well on my iPad.

So I guess the question to myself is do I wait until the start of the new year and make it a bit of a 365 challenge, or do I start from tomorrow as why wait? Not sure the answer yet but like the idea of starting afresh in the new year.

Stephen

Musical ambitions, Without being able to play anything… At all.

As the last blog seemed to go down so well (Thank you so much for all the support) I’ve decided to write another one (or probably another few) about the work i’m looking to do with music video’s and band promotion in general.

So the other day along with making a music video we also recorded an interview about our influences in the Taiwan indie music scene, how we got into the bands and what we’d like to do. This blog is a slight expansion of that, along with a few other thoughts.

I love music from Taiwan, from Hong Kong, from South Korea and Japan. Asian Indie music and folk music is just top of my list of things to listen to at the moment. I’ve always been a music fan, but never more than at the moment. Just so so many Taiwanese Indie bands that I love and can’t get enough off.

So with that in mind I started watching a lot more music videos, and really caught the bug for wanting to do some myself and started to consider whether it could be a career alongside my feature script writing. I started watching acoustic sessions and mini documentaries and live gigs and looking at gig photo’s and just wanted to be a part of all of it. And think I can.

I’ve worked seriously hard of late at bettering my skills and learning new ones and know that I have a way to go, but am trying every day towards that goal. Any time i’m not writing, or watching films, Music takes over and its beginning to be a huge part of my life. These bands and songs just connect with be in a way other music hasn’t and ideas constantly run through my mind of what I could do with them in an MV. It’s like the film part of my brain and music part of my brain have come to some sort of agreement that theres enough love their to share my passions.

I’ve never been able to play an instrument. I dabbled a little and owned a drum kit once but when the choice arrived on what to really put my mind into writing won out and that time set aside for learning to play was replaced by watching every film I possibly could (as my blockbusters account would prove). I would have loved to write songs but having a terrible voice closed that idea for me and again it was all about film.

But now in life I find myself in a position to focus and enjoy it all so music is definitely back in a big way and sharing equal billing of late (Although you can’t stop the signal, I will write every day forever) and dreams of moving to Taiwan and spending time in other areas of Asian seem very plausible.

I’m working hard to get myself in a position where that can happen in the next year and making sure that the time I spend earning money and clearing debt is also used to sharpen skills and learn new ones, all the while discovering new bands, making new videos and loving the music every day.

It seems the more creative I get, the more ambitious I get and the more I want to do. But I truly believe I have room for it all and definitely have the passion and energy for it all so it will happen.

No plan B, Just a lot of plan A’s 🙂

Stephen