The late-late-late blog!

"Can you hear the drums, Fernando?"

That song has been stuck in my head today. Always a nice one to have around. ;)


These days I have been on a bit of a writing rampage what with my blogging and my work on mapping out some short stories that have been in my brain pool.
Okay so my blogging doesn't REALLY count but it's still a plus!
I wouldn't call myself much of a writer, yet it's a dream of mine to complete a book of my own. Recent evaluation has lead me to believe that I'd do better at attempting a collection of short stories before an actual novel. Best to start slow it seems. ;)


Today's photo was originally supposed to be edited with a texture but after lots of CS3 noodling I felt that a simpler, mild light enhancing edit would suffice.
I'm one to lean towards minimum processing for images when possible but because of my insufficient command of the actual photography side I find myself having to depend on my edit to create the image in mind. I'm happy to say that for this shoot I had captured almost precisely what I had imagined so very little processing was executed!
In my defense, ever since my G9 fell into my lap my photography comprehension has vastly increased (going from zilch to handfuls :p) so I feel confident that these sort of occurrences are becoming more than mere coincidence. :)
Oh but I did darken the door to make it look more dramatic. The door in the original image was rather light.



This image 'Purgatory' reflects strongly of past years that I've spent in waiting. What was I waiting on you ask? Everything.
To give you a little insight on the topic, for me, it reproduces that feeling of empty anticipation, to wait on everything and nothing at the same time, because time has been on a stand-still for such an extended period that you submit to accepting your life as a permanent state of purgatory.
Melodramatic? Perhaps.
Maybe I feel with an unhealthy intensity. Maybe times actually were that bad. Whatever it was, observe it's echo.

As for the additional image in my post; my landlady's puppies decided that they wanted to contribute so they stampeded in on the frames and knocked me about, resulting in some very funny outtakes. My favourite being the one below:



I'm quite happy with the way that this shoot went. I have one more possible post from it which I will let you know about if I decide to post it! :)

In other news, I did not see Rhianna as she was not one of the listed performers at the event I attended. After suffering through a catastrophically tone deaf performance by a local band I found myself ready to bury my head in the ground like an ostrich, so I asked to leave.
The rest of the night was fantastic though!

Well, back to work!
Have a great one!

AArchibald

Sunday Bloody Sunday

This morning I am being forced to sit through a slightly offensive religious mass on the television. The message today is that Christians should not take council from non-Christians. I couldn't believe my ears...
I'm a non-Christian and I don't see why what I have to say is crippled and inconsequential just because I am not a believer of the Christian faith. I know that I harbour respectable morals in my character and I certainly am not out to convince others that Christianity is a lie just because I, personally, found no peace in it. I have more sense than trying to tell individuals how to regard other religions and their followers and I certainly do NOT think any less of someone's council simply due to their choice in faith!
I also took into offense that they insinuated that all non-Christians are going to demote your level of faith if not entirely diminish it. Quite unfair. Sorry, but I don't think that we secular folk will be handing out pro-atheist pamphlets anytime soon.
I know that not all Christians think this way mind you. I know that this is not the case AT ALL.
This is just one of the many services that are going on this morning. I do however feel very strongly about the error that I stumbled upon in this pastor's words.
I am not anti-religion. I think that religion is a wonderful thing that provide many lives with a safe hold and a place of peace. I simply have not found one yet in which I can find sanctuary and I don't feel that I am any less of a person because of this.

Boy I have been ranting a lot these days!! Hahah
Well at least I have something to write.


So...I may get to see Rhianna in concert tonight. Not really my music scene but it will still be fun!
I'll let you know how it goes!

Have a great Sunday!

AArchibald

The Block Button

Another Saturday morning in the office.
Pretty slow thus far which isn't so bad because it gives me time to write a line or two!

So my latest posts were inspired by none other than (bet you'd never guess) Tim Burton and his recent musical masterpiece of the play Sweeney Todd.
I'm one of those people that is really happy to watch the same film over and over again for days if I like it so my mind was swimming with Sweeney Todd-esque ideas. I figured since it was around Valentine's that I should dedicate them to you!
The shoot was done in front of my closet door with a pashmina stapled to it. It's the same pashmina that I used for my Halloween shot in '06 actually.
The dress was bought that day and the rose is from a dusty box under my bed. It was one of the lovely roses in my sister's wedding bouquet. Always a good prop to have around roses are... :P
So once tried with my brunette wig styled by yours truly I wanted to see how it would come across blonde so I styled my hair in a way that it looked positively 'emo'.
Not really the scene that I like to get into but the hair works.
I still felt that the brunette worked best but much to my surprize there was a pretty sizable request for the blonde version to go public.
So I let you have it a couple days later. ;)





I think that they work well together as a series so I am grateful that you convinced me to post the second one. :)



Now you are probably wondering what the title is about. Well recently my cursor has been in hot pursuit of the block button on accounts that seem to be wandering into my stream. This has been happening a lot more than usual and it troubles me.
I'm just going to be frank about this. I hate pornography with a passion. I hate it to the point that it makes me physically repulsed. It strikes up an anger in me that I am happy to answer for. I am incapable of accepting pornography and I am also unable to let it into my life on any level.
So when those Flickr skin collectors go on a fever faveing run in my stream I cut them out completely. I hate the thought of someone using me as nothing but an instrument for self satisfaction. It leaves me feeling violated and dehumanized. I know that to some people I am just another woman in a photograph for their sole viewing pleasure but I work to remind such people that I am a living, breathing individual with real perceptible emotions. When you use me; you disrespect me, you degrade me, you hurt me.
Remember that.

I am sometimes tempted to leave Flickr altogether because I feel that I need to protect myself. It's still in the cards, however, I love photography so much and Flickr is a great way to get positive criticism and useful feedback to help me improve. Not to mention I have also come across very wonderful people on Flickr that I am honoured to know. For a while the positive over shadowed the negative sides but these days I'm not so sure.
To my Flickr friends, you are all extraordinary and remarkable people and I am happy to know you.
To the Flickr scoundrels, leave me alone. -or I'll make you do so.



So anyways, just letting you know what's going on with my stream.

That aside, I have another selfie in mind which I am excited about. I was hoping to get it done on Thursday but a work meeting got in the way. Also I was having too much fun taking care of my partner who is a bit under the weather. I'll probably get it done on Monday by the look of things.
Here's a spoiler: I'm planning a black and white shot. ;) Are you shocked? Hahah

Been a busy week, lots of running up and down with the prints and other errands. There's also been a move in the right direction for my music but that's a story for another day...probably a day in March :P

Well...AArchie out!
Have a good one!! x

Okay so I Fibbed

Yeah yeah yeah I know already. I haven't been updating this thing at all! Hahah
Sorry guys! I just don't ever feel like I have that much to say.
BUT
Conscious effort to try to do better!

So here I am at work with band-aid endowed fingertips due to my lame-o skin being too sensitive to hold a cotton ball with nail polish remover on it.
I's swear that I should be in a bubble on most days.

I've got two possible self portrait ideas that I will try out tomorrow as I have most of the day to my disposal. Actually, three ideas if I bother to do laundry tomorrow. I can't exactly do any hand washing. :P

So I finally got Photoshop thanks to my very special someone along with a tutorial book that weighs more than my head. I've tried it out on my 'Pan's Arrival' image seen below.



I just did some work on my skin and added in some light treatment. Pretty simple edits at this point but I'm still learning. I look forward to being able to really harness the power of the CS3. hehehe

Also, as you probably know, I have original prints available for sale! I'm so excited with being able to present this to my viewers and in addition, I can't help but swell with pride when I see how beautiful that the prints are coming out. The available images are subject to change so if you have a particular image that you'd really like to have printed just let me know and I'll see what I can do!

Anyways, back to work!!!

Will write more soon.
*fingers crossed*

AArchibald x