Here's to 2011!
2010 has been a fantastic year for me both personally and professionally. I have been lucky enough to meet wonderful people, work with some amazing artists and learn from a variety of talented experts -- all of which I feel has given me a great stepping stone for 2011. When I look back I'm gobsmacked at all the opportunities I've been given. There's one dear friend in particular who opened the door to all this as well as to a fresh start on my livelihood and to her I shall always be deeply grateful.
At the beginning of 2010 I made the jump from my beloved Flip camera (a basic gun-and-run digital video camera) to a Canon T1i EOS Rebel, a consumer level digital SLR camera that can produce both standard photography as well as HD movies. Much to my dismay, I was a little late in the game in acquiring this device as it had been out on the market for about a year. Within a month after making my purchase, Canon's flagship DSLR was upgraded to the T2i model that I really, really think I MUST HAVE! ;)
The idea in getting the camera was to create better quality content for my blogs. However, while the T1i can do some pretty amazing things I couldn't bend it to my will like I can most other technological devices and I quickly got frustrated.
The difference between a point-and-shoot and a DSLR is ginormous. I found that learning to express myself and communicate the world that I saw through the lens of my new camera to be extremely difficult. The thing is so infinitely complex that I began to regret my decision to buy it in the first place. At one point I was so disheartened with the camera, I had to put it down and revert back to my Flip.
After a several months I picked up the T1i again and began to experiment with the attitude of "just have fun with it". The learning curve was steep but the challenge was engaging. With my new philosophy of "fun" it wasn't long before I quickly got pulled into its tractor beam of delightful exploration.
Some of things I did with the camera was make some time lapse videos and full spherical 360° panoramic photography like the image you see above. It's the interior of the Portal of the Folded Wings Shrine to Aviation in Burbank, California. The shrine is a 75-foot-tall structure of marble, mosaic and sculpted figures, and is the burial site for 13 pioneers of aviation. It was built in 1924 as the entrance to Pierce Brothers Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery which also happens to be the final resting place for my maternal grandparents who immigrated to America in the 1950s.
This image is what's known as an interactive panoramic image, a cutting-edge form of photography used to capture an entire space in 360° along the horizontal and 180° along the vertical. In this instance, you'll need the QuickTime plugin installed on your browser to view. Click and drag within it to experience the entire space. Use the CTRL and SHIFT keys to zoom.
In looking forward to 2011 I hope to develop my chops in 360 photography, learn to lens a better "Give Thanks" video and try my hand at Final Cut Pro after pushing the limits of what iMovie can do for the amateur digital media creator. I hope you will join me as my journey continues to unfold.
Happy New Year!
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