checking for updates

I took a vacation from blogging for those of you who might have noticed. It boils down to a lack of inspiration. My camera was breaking down, and my spirits with it. As a result, I haven’t been shooting much, and the point of this blog in part is to show what I’ve been working on lately.

Also, I feel like I need to reassess my relationship with the web. Honestly, it can be a real time  waste you know? I’d rather be, taking pictures, instead of twittering, for an example.

If you want to know the truth, this whole web 2.0 business is overated in my opinion. I know some of you out there are going to straight up murder me for saying this, but its true. It’s a fad. MSN Messenger became myspace, became Facebook, which spawned Twitter, which will beget something else. Yes, they are good networking tools. But as my friend Dave say’s, coffee, sushi, and beer are networking tools as well. Probably better ones, more meaningful ones. Or at least more enjoyable ones.

Seriously, people should just do what they do, you know? If you’re spending more than an hour a day twittering, or blogging or whatever, you’re spending too much time away from whatever it is you actually do. Now, I guess if you dont really like what you do it’s a brilliant distraction. Me, I like pictures. So, I’m done here for today, and guess what? I’m going shooting!

And I love it.

Love Always

Adam

ps: everyone say Hi to my new camera, Nikon D. Sevenhundred. Sorry Canon, it was good while it lasted. I Love you, I’m just not in love with you.

waiting

Well, I think the gaping wounds in my mouth have finally healed. Healing, at least. I still chew very cautiously, and I still can’t drink from a straw or blow my nose. Why? Because the little chunks of my cheeks they stuffed into the holes in my sinus will explode.

So I eat my milkshake with a spoon

In other news, my car is still in the body shop. We’re rounding 3 weeks and 10 grand of repairs. I saw it yesterday. It looks like I looked after surgery. belligerent and sleepy. Probably wont get it back til next week.

Asides from that, life is good. The sun is making a comeback, and that always puts a smile on my face. Especially because it opens up alot of opportunities for some location photography I want to start doing.

Of course, sometimes, it’s raining, and the sun has already gone down. This was the case on a maternity shoot I did a couple weeks ago. I came over to a little basement suite with my lights and a few backdrops. As much as I like location work, sometimes doing portraits in the comfort of ones own home is a big advantage. You can put on some tunes, share some food, and just have a fun, creative evening. On this shoot my fiance Alicia assisted me, and we had a great time. And, it always helps when the people you’re shooting are awesome and gorgeous!!

a

hey jude

Here’s a sampling of the ten million pictures I just took of my new nephew, Jude Alexander Loewen. Weighing in at a wopping 8 pounds 9 ounces, Jude is as healthy as he is lovely. This is my sisters 3rd boy and she’s shooting for one more. How she does it… I may never know. I am however on toddler duty all day tomorrow while she, her husband and Jude take it easy at the hospital. Little do my other two nephews know that they are about to have a day long photoshoot

Which reminds me, I feel like I just became a child/baby/maternity photographer over night. It seems everyone around me is either pregnant, or just gave birth. Which is great. Any way, I’m off to a maternity shoot. Short entry today, but an entry non the less!

The Dark Room Part II: Sheep and Goats

When I think about it, I do feel very fortunate to have started my photographic escapades with film. I feel like The Last of the Mohicans, but I wouldn’t even go that far. I’m just glad I got a taste of that world before it went the way of the Dinosaurs, Do-Do birds, and Steven Segal.

But it actually makes me kind of sad when I think about it. It’s not that I think film is the pure art form, or that digital doesn’t compare. It’s more that film demanded a level of commitment and dedication that digital erodes more and more with every new 15 mega pixel, anti red-eye, automatic face recognition point and shoot. With film, a photographer was a photographer. With digital, anyone with camera and basic Photoshop knowledge is a ‘photographer’.

This is where it gets personal.

I’m what you might call a ‘long term listener, first time caller’. I’ve been taking pictures for a long time. It was about a decade ago that I first stepped into a Dark Room. I got my first SLR when I was about 9. But I have only recently (relatively) taken the step (or leap) from hobby to profession. And if I can get real with you for a second, sometimes the only thing that keeps me from running back to my old job is the sheer terror of becoming just another kid with a DSLR who thinks he’s a professional. It’s down right motivating.

It scares me.

Digital is a many splendid thing. I do, as they say, embrace the digital revolution with arms wide open. But it is a different world for photographers today. I’ve heard it said that this recession will be good for the industry because it will separate the sheep from the goats, the men from boys, the photographers from the phonies trying to make a buck.

If I do nothing else, I will do what I do for only the love of it. I will pursue it as though the very wind of hell chased me. I will feel blessed for every day that my art feeds me. I will move forward from a place of hope and optimism, not expectation and entitlement. If I do nothing else, I will love photography for being photography.

camera shy

The other day I got to do and engagement shoot for my friends Alan and Ashley. It was pretty fun, but not without it’s challenges. Like a fool, I agreed to do the shoot at high new when the sunlight casts the harshest shadows. But fighting the light was really the least of my problems. One member of this lovely couple was what we call camera shy…

A lot of people are camera shy eh? I know I am and I bet you are too! I always tell people that the reason I became a photographer is because I hated being in front of the camera, so I decided I had to get behind it. So far it’s worked out pretty good for me.

But shooting camera shy people is always tricky. You can tell people to relax all you want, but at the end of the day, they actually have to feel relaxed. I find that after between 30 – 60 minutes of shooting, even the most camera shy people get over themselves. But even then…

Anyway, if it was easy to get a good shot every one would do it and I’d be out of a job. At the end of the day I like the challenge, I like that I’m always learning, and I love seeing people get excited about there pictures.

On the other side of the coin, I had just bought a new step-up ring so I could put my polarizer filter on my 50mm. This was an example of something coming together beautifully. I was able to get beautiful blue skies and nice definition in my clouds. I often gripe about not having the latest, greatest, whatever piece of new camera gear I want that day. But this weekend, I found contentment from a $15 piece of metal.  Reinforcing my belief that you don’t need to spend thousands of dollars to be a good photographer; gear will never equal quality alone.

If you can’t make it good with what you have, you wont make it good with what you don’t. There’s my little nugget of wisdom for the day.

And the winner is…..

So after a long, sleepless night of deliberating, I have made the hard decision of who will be the winner of the HAIKU CONTEST!! There were some beautiful haiku’s written, and I would be lying if I said they didn’t bring the occasional tear to my eye. Some honorable mentions are in order.

Jon M.

I appreciate this blog.
I love the pics of Al Schram as well…
And Tony.
Both legends.

Was this a Haiku? Of course the answer is no. But was it an attempt at one?? We are dying to know Jon. A valiant effort, none the less. You come in at 3rd place for trying… maybe. No prize awarded

Adam R.

I was tempted to give you the prize for sheer bulk of haiku’s. You posted what, 12?? Sadly though, I had to disqualify you on account of writing Haiku’s that had nothing to do with the theme. I know you are a poet, but that kind of shameless, self promotion has no place on the adamloewen photography blog or, for that matter, on its parent site www.adamloewenphotography.com (tell your friends !) You get 2nd place. Also, no prize.

Finally, last, but certainly not least, the winner of the great HAIKU CONTEST!! is….. (drum roll)

AMANDA E.

the t-man don’t know
his hair doth blows in the wind
gazing intensely

alan stop staring
you’re nice but you need to stop
uncomfortable; me

jeff needs to shave now
where is the rest of his head?
sing the scruff away

adam i can’t write
about you; no picture
perhaps tomorrow

Well played on all accounts! Points for the following:

• Promptness: You wrote these the same day I posted. That made me happy!
• Thoroughness: Not only did you write one for each image, but you went the extra mile and wrote one for me. That also made me happy!
• Creativity: They made me laugh, they made me cry, and over all, I think they just made me a better man

So congratulation Amanda. Who is an AWESOME artist, by the by, and everyone should check out her blog and commission her make you art. I’ll get you that gift certificate ASAP! GO FREE COFFEE GO!

Well this has been fun. Let do this again sometime. And again, way to go Amanda! I hope you look like this right now:

Caffiene + Creative People = Awesome!

Does life ever just feel like being caught in a tornado  that’s heading out to sea? Like you’re running so fast you’re tripping over your own feet? If so, welcome to the last week in my life. Here’s what I’m finding about becoming a photographer; I’m not really a photographer. Not exactly. Primarily, I’m an entrepreneur, a business owner who offers a service of Photography. This has been a bit of a shock to my system, a learning curve, to say the least. At times it’s fun, and I’m finding  I really enjoy the business aspect of things. On the other hand, it can feel a little daunting at times. Anyway, thanks for letting me vent a little. You’re such a good listener!!

OK, I’m going to try to wrap up what was my attempt at a Creative Community week of blogging. I know, I dropped the ball towards the end. But, I make no apology’s for it, because I was actually out in my creative community, meeting with some great artists! It’s always better to live it rather than to just write it, you know? Anyway, it’s was an exciting few days. I went out to Abbotsford to meet with an awesome up and coming musician/artist Erin Martins about some creative collaborations (more on that later!). I also got the chance to do a portrait shoot with one of my favorite people in the world, Adam Roper. He’s the dude in the pictures in this post. He’s a sensitive poet with a heart of gold, and yes, he is single ladies (Insert Beyonce’s ‘Single Ladies (put a ring on it)’ song here). Finally, I spent the afternoon Sunday doing an engagement shoot for my good friends Alan and Ashley.

As artists, we talk a lot more than we do, don’t you think? We talk about getting up at the crack of dawn to take pictures at first light, but we conveniently forget to set the alarm to do so. We muse about that grandiose painting, but never seem to have a big enough canvas to do it. We speak about recording that demo, but when push comes to shove, we just… don’t… do it.

It’s a curse, I know.

I too fall victim to this deplorable plight all the time. So for my final post on the Creative Community,  I urge you, in true Nike form, to just do it. For the love of God, stop talking, stop staling, stop blogging,

OK, never stop blogging…

I want you blogging.

But you get the point. We all have excuses not to pursue our creativity more seriously, but if you are serious, band together. Find other creatives and start meeting once a week at a coffee shop, or at someones house. You don’t have to make a big hoopla about it, just start being intentional about meeting together. I garanttee you, you wont have to force it.

Caffiene + Creative People = Awesome!

When you surround yourself with other creative people, you will be inspired, you will be pushed, and you will be held accountable. But just remember, it’s never primarily about what the creative community does for you, we’re not consuming a product (I just thought of some yuppie dude buying art from Ikea and me beating them over the head with a rolled up news paper yelling “Bad Consumer, BAD!” Hehehe). Rather, it is about creating the community. Where everyone brings something to the table.

OK, thats enough. I’d be interested to get some feed back about all this. Am I off my nut? Are you doing this? Do you want to? Let me know.

Finally, today is the last day to get your Haiku’s in for the great HAIKU CONTEST!! So all of you who have been dragging your feet, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and get your haiku on! You have nothing to lose and free coffee to gain!

I’ll leave you with a few more shots from the Roper Shoot.

i get by with a little help from my friends

Instead of writing a really lame blog post involving Battlestar Galactica (as I just did and deleted respectively), I’m just going to give you this link and let you read a moderately interesting article. Look out for the words ‘Creative Community’. Ya, you get it.

I’m going to dive a little bit deeper into this Creative Community  rant if I may.

• Support
• Promote
• Represent

You may have noticed (but likely didn’t) that I recently added a new page to this blog entitled ‘sites i like’. On this page, you will indeed find links to… sites i like. My God, it’s just that simple. These sites represent people I know that are in one way or another, a part of my creative community. By throwing their sites up on my page, I can (in a small way) show my support for them, promote their talent, and represent! Because they rock, and you all need to know it!

Wouldn’t you like to have people support, promote, and represent whatever it is that you are doing? That’s much more likely to happen if you are already doing that for other people. But we are a culture of consumers, aren’t we? So we have to do some serious paradox shifting, so follow along:

• Community was passed up for individualism a long time ago
• We now see community as being at the expense of the individual (it will cost me)
• Community is only flirted with so much as it can be exploited and consumed for personal gain

This is a sweeping generality, but I believe it is rooted in our culture more deeply than we realize. So the paradox shift is from ‘that’ to something like…

• The individual benefits from the community
• The Individual is one resource for the community, as the community is many resources for the individual
• Community is no longer consumed by individuals, it is created by them.

So how are we creating the Creative Community? We are going to the shows of our musician friends. The image above is of a little creative community cluster (or CCC as I will now call it!) from the last jeff hawker show at SFU. We take these CCC’s and go to plays and ballets, art shows and blog posts. We hire local talent, and offer the gift and talents we have to others.

Anyway, think about it. I’m going to add some more links to my sites i like page. You have a site I should add??

Oh ya, and keep on writing those Haiku’s. We have a few up already so go check them out!

Here, I bought you some marzipan

So, has anyone put together what’s happened here? In my last post, I announced that I was going full-tilt photography, throwing caution to the wind, laughing in the face of fate (hehehe). And what happens? I don’t blog for two days. Two whole days!! I wouldn’t be lying to you if I said I’ve lost sleep over this. But I certainly wouldn’t be telling the truth.

The truth is that once I made the choice to be a photographer, a few things happened:

1. I quickly began shamelessly marketing myself. Adds needed to go up, but mostly, I needed to meet with some key people that could get me a foot in the industry
2. I started getting some responses, which meant I needed to solidify my pricing packages and…
3. I needed to get organized FAST!

Writing it down now it doesn’t really seem like that much, but trust me, I hit the ground running! This is really just my excuse of an apology for not blogging. I feel like I’m trying to convince you and you’re not buying it.

“Baby, it’s not like that, I’ve just been swamped at work, real swamped.”

“Oh ya? To swamped for one little blog? I waited up all night for a blog and I don’t even hear a tweet form you??”

” I’m so sorry sweetie, I’ll never let it happen again, I promise! Here, I bought you some marzipan.”

But seriously now, thanks to everyone that has been following my journey (cliche alert!) thus far, reading, and commenting on this blog. Your thoughts have been very helpful for me to process through some of this stuff. So thanks 🙂

I’m really excited about what this next season of life (cliche alert again!) will bring. Here are a few things for you to look out for in the coming days on this blog:

• An adaptation of the phone call where I told my old boss to take his fancy job and stuff it! (Based on a True phone call!)
• A continued narrative of my experience as an artist taking a stab at making a career out of my craft.
• And a BIG surprise. Real big. Which will be announced next Tuesday, March the 24th.

That’s right. BIG surprise!! What is it? You’ll have to wait and see…. hehehehe

And now, for two pictures that perfectly encapsulate how I feel about my decision to be a photographer. What makes you feel this way??

I ‘Heart’ Daylight Savings

Why do I ‘heart’ daylight savings? Because the sun rises an hour later, which means I get to sleep an hour longer when I go out to shoot the sunrise! So if you are a photographer, and like me you’re a lazy sod who hates getting up early to get nice dawn pictures, strike now while the iron is hot! If you live in Vancouver, sunrise was at 7:40am this morning , which is about as late as it’s going to get. Remember, by June sunrise is at 5am, which means you’re up around 4am to get the shots you want! Here’s a little site I like to use to check up on the times of sun-up and sun-down.

After my failed attempts last week to get some morning shots, I thought I’d try a new approach last night, sunset! What a novel idea. Why didn’t I think of that earlier? I haven’t gone through the shots yet, but hopefully I can post a couple this week sometime. But even though I wasn’t shooting at an ungodly morning hour, it was still no walk in the park (well, OK, I was technically walking through a park, but that’s not the point).  I was on the ocean where the wind was howling, and bitter cold.  On multiple occasions it nearly knocked my camera and tripod over. My ears and fingers were numb and stinging unmercifully, and I, in my infinite wisdom, had just spent all afternoon copious drinking coffee. Which is fine, unless you’re going to a park with no public washrooms and a lot of families out walking their dogs, enjoying the sunset. But I digress. The challenge was kind of the fun part. Baring the elements, with a gale in my face a passion in my belly; it was just me and Poseidon! And again, the nice families walking their dogs, enjoying the sunset.

I used to want to be a Rockstar, and when that didn’t pan out, I turned to photography. A close second in this humble bloggers opinion. Think about it. They travel the world to exotic locations, they are likely to be seen hanging out with super models, and their pictures are praised by hoards of adoring fans, screaming for more in sold-out stadium events. OK, maybe not the last one, but I still think photographers are the Rockstars of visual art. If you haven’t already, check out Media Storm, particularly the Evidence of My Existence video. That’s what I’m talking about. That’s a great site by the way to get inspired, whether your a photographer or not.

I’ve talked a bit about my fiance, and I think it’s time you guys met her. She is flat out, the most beautiful, intelligent, talented, and amazing woman in the world! What she’d doing with me, we may never know. Happy Daylight Savings Day.

Alicia