2011 in Review

This year-in-review post is a little late as we are nearing the end of January now, but better late than never right? Let’s see, 2011 was a pretty big year for me and my family. I think the biggest things that happened are pretty obvious but let’s try to go through things chronologically shall we.

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January 2011
Dave and I announced our engagement. Since Dave proposed on the 30th of December in 2010, we did most of the announcing early in 2011. Our families and closest were informed that day after he proposed, but the world found out through Facebook and this blog in January.

February 2011
This was a big month for me. Not only did I learn that my brother would be having a boy (and I would therefore be getting a nephew), but on February 28, 2011 I officially started Stephanie Beach Photography as a small business. I got a domain name, website host and design and got an official business number from the Province of Ontario. It was an exciting and somewhat scary time for me, but I am very glad I did it.

March 2011
My birthday happens every year, but this year, as I turned 27, I think I might have moved from mid- to late-20s. It is a scary thought, but I think I am getting old!

This was also about the time when I got my own office. An office at work with a four real walls and an actual door. It is still pretty awesome. My own office came with a larger workload and much larger jobs to manage. Though I had shadow managed jobs before, I started working on even larger jobs as a shadow project manager around this time as well.

April 2011
April was the month where Dave and I searched for and purchased our first home. We wouldn’t get possession of it and move in until later, but the exciting purchasing process definitely happened here.

April was also the month where Dave and I joined Goodlife Fitness and signed up for personal trainers. It was (and still is) expensive, but we have been going ever since and I am glad we started and stuck with it.

May 2011
Though it may not seem like much, May 2011 was when I learnt that my 2009 accident had come full circle. An advance green light was installed at the intersection where I was t-boned. It left me with a weird, but satisfied feeling.

May 10, 2011 was the day my baby was brought to me…my Nikon D3s arrived in the mail! It was a wonderful evening and the next few months allowed me the time to really learn the amazing abilities that my full-frame camera has to offer.

June 2011
Dave and I got our house! It was purchased 6 weeks prior to us moving in on June 15, 2011. At the same time, my brother purchased his house (literally we put offers down on the same weekend and ended up closing on the same day). We have been here for over 7 months now and I still love my house! We have done some work on it, mostly painting, organizing and decorating but we are planning more significant updates later on.
July 2011
Jackson Robert was born on July 19, 2011. He was (and still is) adorably perfect and I love him to bits. My only wish is that I had more free time and could go visit him more, perhaps I will plan a trip to go see him in the next couple of weeks.

July was also a big month for my photography business as I shot my first wedding as the sole wedding photographer.

August 2011

As Dave and I had combined our bank accounts when we purchased our house, I had been spending the months following that event making sure all of my automatic payments, etc. had ceased or been transferred from my old account. August was the last of my ‘student plan’ capabilities at BMO and I therefore closed my very first bank account. My mom and I opened my BMO account when I was 12 or so as I had  gotten a paper route. I remember going to South Keys or Meadowlands with Chris to get to a BMO ATM when we were in school and getting a PLoC for when Dave and I bought the Honda Fit (though we didn’t end up using it then). Good memories, but the account wasn’t worth the bank fees. Seriously, why would I pay bank fees?

September 2011
This was the second quiet month for The Great Abyss (and my other blogs too). I was struggling to keep my head above water. To be honest, I still haven’t figured it all out and have been getting more and more comments from friends, family and even clients about how I manage to do everything that is currently sitting on my heaping plate. I could be doing much better if I focused on one job rather than the two official ones I have. I could be organizing my wedding in a much more timely fashion if I so chose. But I have chosen to try and do a great deal right now and I am doing okay at it (in my opinion).

October 2011
October was primarily spent trying to get things straightened out. It was the first time in my life that I knowingly carried a balance on a credit card and ended up having to take money from my personal line of credit to deal with it. This didn’t last long as before the year was done, any debt Dave and I had was taken care of, but it was an uneasy and uncomfortable time for me.

November 2011

Dave and I put chose our venue and put down the deposit, making our wedding date officially September 29, 2012.

November was also the month in which I finished my first conceptual photography series. I am very pleased with how 99 Luftballoons turned out and have received many great comments/reviews from friends, family, classmates and followers on the internet (aka strangers).  The final product and the responses from everyone have inspired me to think of more conceptual ideas and work towards getting them completed. You can view the images on Flickr (link above) and there will be a series of posts on my Photography Blog shortly.

December 2011

After a long search (I may have been looking for all of 2011), Dave and I selected our wedding photographer. We put down the deposit and are very happy with our choice.

December was also the month in which I finished my last course of the Algonquin College Digital Photography program. Though I got my grade in January, the last class was in December. I am very happy to be done with the program and have learnt so much. More to come on this later on my Photography Blog.

And of course, Dec. 30, 2011 marked one year since Dave and I got engaged.

 

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So that was pretty much 2011. Some of the items above are a little forced to be able to get something in each month (you may have noticed). The big ones are obvious as I said before. Announcement of our engagement, birth of my nephew, purchase of our first home and starting my business officially. I started working towards my photographic dreams by starting as a wedding photographer and a conceptual photographer. I also started taking on much larger jobs at work as a project manager and shadow managing on even larger jobs earning myself my own office.

My goals for 2012 are pretty simple. I want to have a great wedding that everyone enjoys; continue advancing my photography business; continue working on my conceptual photography ideas; get closer to achieving my health goals; start my travel goals; and continue to make our home truly our own. I am also looking forward to watching Jackson grow up and really get his own personality.

How-To Tuesday: Make An Elf Ranger Costume

Last year I blogged about Dave’s Kisame Costume and it seems to be a rather popular post, though this may just be because it is based on a character from a fairly popular anime series. Either way, Halloween is coming up and being a big fan of the holiday I decided that I would do another Costume How-To.

My costume this year is more-or-less the same as last year, an Elf Ranger. I created the cape in a similar fashion to Dave’s Kisame cape by using the Simplicity pattern 5840. I made it using a heavy green material. I purchased a gold tassle for the hood and a wooden button to hold it shut (the loop was made with gold cording). I sewed gold cording around all the edges (around the cuffs, bottom edge, front opening and around the hood) and gold ribbon around the chest for added detail.

I got elf ears from a costume shop here in Ottawa, Malabar, and after gluing them on I put cover-up/concealer over them and my ears to blend the two together a bit better. (the trick to the ears is not where to buy them or how to get them on, but rather getting them off at the end of the night. It was a true ordeal last year that was incredibly uncomfortable, but apparently not too bad as I am wearing them again this year.) I

wore black yoga pants and a black shirt. I would have liked some sort of dark brown vest with a slot for a knife, but couldn’t find anything and ran out of time to make it myself.
For a bow, I actually used Dave’s bow but brought no arrows to the party as it is an actual weapon and that mixed with alcohol could have resulted in some very bad things.
I will be wearing the same costume this year but with the addition of

fantastic brown boots I purchased from Town Show at a discounted price recently. I may even get around to finding/making the vest I wanted last year.
Perhaps this year I will actually get around to taking some photos of me in my costume…but I wouldn’t place any bets on that.

Haiku #7 - Sweaters

Sweaters weren't for me,
Time passed and tastes have evolved,
Sweaters are now daily.

Limericks

Hiakus are easy, as previously mentioned, and quick. On average, they take me about 3 minutes to write and would take me less time but I triple-check my syllables.
This past weekend, Chris mentioned I should try my hand at limericks, which are still on the easy side of poetry but aren't as simple as haikus. I think this suggestions stems from the fact that she does not like haikus and probably doesn't want to read too many of them on my blog.
So according to Wikipedia:
"The standard form of a limerick is a stanza of five lines, with the first, second and fifth having eight or nine syllables and rhyming with one another, and the third and fourth having five or six and rhyming separately. Lines are usually written in the anapaestic meter, but can also be amphibrachic."
Since I really only a couple meters and neither of those mentioned ring a bell, "an anapaest or anapest, also called antidactylus, is a metrical foot used in formal poetry. In classical quantitative meters it consists of two short syllables followed by a long one". And "an amphibrach is a metrical foot used in Latin and Greek prosody. It consists of a long syllable between two short syllables".
An example of a limerick, again from Wikipedia, is:

"The limerick packs laughs anatomical
In space that is quite economical,
But the good ones I've seen
So seldom are clean,
And the clean ones so seldom are comical."

So I will try it out, maybe make one this weekend and see if it is any good. If not, then at least we all learned a little bit about Limericks.

Haikus

When I was in elementary school we learned what a Haiku was. Basically it is just a short poem consisting of three lines. The first line has 5 syllables, the second 7 syllables and the third 5 syllables. I wrote them every now and then and always chose them as a poetry form when choice was given. When I was in residence at university I covered our bathroom full-length mirror in Haikus and silly phrases and didn't have much difficulty thinking of them.
I am writing this post because I want to start writing Haikus again as they are creative and thought invoking without taking a great deal of time or effort to create. I want to try of write at least one Haiku each week for a little while and see how it goes.

Two Eyes

I love photography. Recently I have come to a conclusion that I seem to have to very different eyes. One sees the world normally, as everyone else does, but the other sees the world as if through a camera lens. I do not mean this in the sense that I watch the world go bye or do not partake in the events of my life - I believe I enjoy life full-heartedly. My second eye simply sees the world as if through a lens in a creative way. I am always on the lookout for a great photo and believe that I see things a little differently than most, not all as there are many great photographers out there and to be quite frank, most of them are light years beyond me in not only talent but experience and know-how. I love my second eye and I love feeding it by placing the camera in front of it and allowing it to go to work.

Creative Rights

I am starting to think of my photography more and more seriously lately and in doing so I have actually become more and more frustrated. I sometimes feel as if my creative rights are forgotten and my talents in general are taken advantage of. Many people 'borrow' my photos from Facebook or other sites and it has always bothered me on some level, but recently it has really struck a nerve. There is only one person who ever credits my work (for which I am very grateful, just so you know) while others do nothing of the sort. In fact, some don't even ask, just right click and save image. I realize that in posting my images online I have lost protection of them, until the day I learn to limit right-clicking that is. I realize that when people are in photos, and they like the photo of themselves, they will want a copy of it. I completely understand that - and I am glad people like my photos of them. But, shouldn't some credit be given to me for taking a nice photo? I know the legal rights, I have taken courses on them and understand them for the most part, so the logistics of it are not in question on my part. Just because I understand the legal aspect of it, and just because I have a strong respect for others art, does not mean I will get such fair and just treatment in return.

In short, if you use an image of mine, wherever you got it from, please credit the work. If you are in the image, yes you have a right to have a copy of said image, but if you like it, if you think it is good, do you not think that perhaps a mention or a thank-you to the photographer would be polite? Perhaps I am being too sensitive, perhaps I need to just shut up, sit back and let others do what they want to do. Perhaps I am being too bitchy, perhaps I am asking too much. I know I am not thinking too highly of my skills, for I know I have a far way to go before I could ever do anything with them professionally - I have plans to better my skills but at the same time, I know I am no longer a beginner. I like to consider myself a serious amateur photographer and her way to becoming a serious professional photographer. Perhaps I need to wait until I have some sort of degree, diploma or certificate to request recognition for my work. Perhaps I should not post this, but as there are few people who read this - I will.

oh also...

I have also been looking for s tore or business or something that will make greeting cards and whatnot out of personal photos. I know places like Wal-Mart and whatnot do it but they ahve tacky borders and other things that I do not want. I want just a white border (or no border at all) around the photo and haven't been able to find a site that will do that. I suppose I could get a program that would do it...but then I would need a decent printer which would mean I would need some decent ink cartridges all of which would cost money and I am not really fond of spending lots of money...so yeah any ideas for that would be appreciated as well...thanks.

Photo Posting Ideas

OK so I have looked up website options and determined that the free sites don't have large enough data transfer rates available to be able to have a photography site. I have thought that I could create a new blog in which I only post pictures...but that isn't exactly what I want. I could also fork up the 5 to 20 bucks a month to have a decent sized website of my own or I could use one of those kind of tacky photo album sites which is also not exactly what I want.
So I have put up a poll (a new feature on the blogger site) so that everyone can vote anonymously - so please vote :)

Creative Release

For my birthday (a few months ago) Chris gave me a gift certificate to the Mud Oven - a place where you can finish ceramic pieces, paint them and then get them glazed and fired in a kiln. I have made three pieces so far. The first piece was a vase that was painted with basic red and blue shapes on it, the second was a sugar bowl (which I am adapting into just a storage container for small items) which I painted blue-grey and walnut brown with pussy-willow like flowers on it and the third piece was a bowl I painted with a Davinci style background and brown designs of helicopters on it (obviously for Dave). The third piece is my personal favourite because it came out exactly like I wanted.

A Place to Post

I have been thinking recently that I want/need a place to showcase my pictures. I really love photography and have so many pictures but they just sit on my walls, computer or inside albums where no one can view them and love them like I do. So I want to show them on the net - preferably on a website but the problem is I can't seem to find a free one with enough bandwidth available to be able to actually have people be able to view them. So I am asking everyone who reads my blog (I am told it is more than just Chris - though she is the only one who comments) if they know of any such sites, or of any other alternatives that would be good.