The Panic Monster

An amazingly good TED talk by Tim Urban. He is one of the authors on a blog called Wait but why. He is a self confessed procrastinator and his talk is an excellent kick up the ass for upcoming deadlines and how he has handled them in the past. I can identify with his narrative on The Panic Monster and the Procrastination Monkey, I would like to think that perhaps I am getting better though...

Needless to say it is a funny informative talk. He also blogged about how he "prepared" for this talk, which is also extremely funny. I think both the video and the story may be useful for those of us who may have an upcoming deadline, you know, say in August...

Pi Day

I usually remember Pi Day but it escaped my notice until I was walking home after practical class today! My second to last assessment was handed in this morning and my last assessment was handed out this afternoon, for further spatial analysis. It looks interesting, cluster analysis.

It was a cold clear day in Edinburgh which made for a great magic hour at dusk. I also deviated from my usual way home and snapped a shot which I added to the Edinburgh gallery. I actually shot a lot on the way home but this was the only one I was happy with. It reminded me to try and walk places in a different way everyday so that there is a chance to see new locations and original ways to compose photographs.

This photograph was taken at the back of the Edinburgh University College of Art. I like the scene with the corroding sign on the wall and the back of the castle in the background.

It seems that the academic year is passing very fast with my last class being next Monday afternoon. After that I will be working full time on my dissertation which currently has the title "Identifying the potential for Glacial Lake Outburst Floods in north-western Nepal". It's a pity there isn't any fieldwork allowed... Perhaps I'll go after the course finished.

Zombie like apocalypse

My current bedtime reading has finally caught up with books that I purchased last year (in paperback). The author Henry Carroll released 'Read this if you want to take great photographs of people' last year and it coincides just in time with my current thoughts and projects of photographing people. I am a big fan of Carroll's plain talking explanations of photography basics and his deconstruction of photographs. I think I have in the pastrecommended his first book 'Read this if you want to take great photographs'.

My current project photography project revolves around shooting people that are looking down at there smart phones while walking. It has occurred to me that I if I am out walking the majority of people are walking zombie like staring at a phone. I am not saying that I am not guilty of this, just that there are scenes of zombie apocalypses from The Walking Dead that look eerily similar. I hope to capture the emotion of receiving a message or news from the facial expression of the subject. I was thinking about using a smaller camera than my DSLR to shoot photo's like that as it is large, but it then occurred to me that perhaps no one would notice. ;-)

I deliberately used the bold font with the word hope. I was told not so long ago that you should never 'hope' when doing a project. During a presentation about actually setting out and planning a project I found it very difficult to not use the word hope. I have thought about this for quite some time now and decided that I am okay with using the word hope. You can plan every detail of any project and still have it go wrong. But you can always hope that it doesn't.

Henry Carroll's books are available on Amazon and I recommend them both if you are starting out or are an experienced photographer. You will not find photography books that are more useful than these for under £10 (although they are £12.95 rrp).

Old College

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Old College, Edinburgh University

Today brings with it the last module of classes for the M.Sc. that I am undertaking, Further Spatial Analysis. Five weeks of classes and the taught part of the course will be over. It seems like just yesterday that I was in the introductory lectures.

Have started the research for my dissertation now as well. I have decided to look at glacial lake outburst floods; the conditions in which they form and if it is possible to predict the formation of lakes when glaciers retreat. I will be using remote sensing and GIS to do this. Large projects always make me a little uneasy, there is always a little nagging doubt that I'll never get it done.

The weather in Scotland has been horrific since, well, October. I think I have seen the Sun a couple of times since then but I am thinking that I will have to start taking a Vitamin D supplement. It has curtailed taking most photographs that I want to take so far or the ones that I am composing in my head..  You can never wait for the right weather to take photographs though, sometimes you have to suck it up and make the best with what is going on. I did manage to get this picture a few days ago. It is the entrance to the Old College and the Edinburgh Law School at Edinburgh University. Was walking past at the right time of the afternoon.

Tea Cups and Rainbow Cake

"Large streams from little fountains flow, Mighty oaks from little acorns grow" - 14th Century Proverb.

@florenceandgeorge (Instagram) is starting an afternoon tea and cake service and asked me if I would take some photographs for her website, and if I would help with the testing of the products! How could I say no? I am known for having more of a savoury tooth than a sweet tooth, but I never pass the chance up to take some pictures and learn some new techniques in the process. I thought I would upload my favorites from the first shoot onto the website.  I have put a gallery up here.

I am always inspired by people who 'break out' to do something they love instead of something that just pays the bills. I need to think carefully about this idea over the next few months. My mind wrestles a lot, of late, about this year I have taken out of my career to dip back into academic learning. I was hoping the time would also give me a chance to see what was really important in my life and what I really wanted out of it. I am yet to draw any conclusions which I find frustrating. I am usually more decisive.

Of course, it's a first world problem wondering what to do with life while in many regions of the world, at best, you either work or go hungry. I am thankful that those are not the choices that I have to make. But everyone, whether in a privileged position or not, have to make choices. I am no exception to this rule.