It's Been A Successful Year

Mt. Wilson, October 2015

It’s been an incredible past year.   I moved out of my parents home, I went out of the country for the first time, I had my first taste of alcohol, I joined the Cinematographers Guild, I worked on my first union movie, I worked on the Warner Bros Lot, I got paid to fly on a chartered flight, I bought a van, I moved into a van, and in two weeks I’m going to Japan! 

If you read that list it sounds like an incredible successful year and it has been.  But I’ve noticed that it has all gone by so quick and there hasn’t been much time for me to think on it or to decompress what happened or what is happening.

Because of this I have decided that I am going to start doing morning pages again.  This was a practice that I did in high school and I found that it helped me decompress on a daily basis.  And even though I rarely read my old morning pages writing it is very helpful to be forced to slow down every morning and to do a ritual of writing for 30+ minutes.  

This morning was the first time that I sat down and did my morning pages in a year.  It was hard! 3 pages is a lot but after I finished I felt so good! It is such a wonderful way to start the day.  

I am going to start sharing some of my morning pages on this blog.  Even though right I only a couple hits a day I feel it will be a good practice.  It won’t be a lot but it will be thoughts from my morning pages.  

I'm in a slump/ Story behind photos

I wanted to write a blog post today but I didn't feel like writting something that I would then proceed to edit it into perfection and edit the realness and imperfection out of, so I recorded an audio clip.  

Size Matters

“That’s what she said”

— Michael Scott

This is my favorite video camera.  The Canon S100.  It takes horrible photos, the gps takes 5 minutes to connect, and the autofocus is loud.  But that all falls to the wayside when I use it.  

When I use this camera it feels like an extension of my eyes attached to wrist.  It captures the moment and for me that is all that matters in a camera.  If the camera is able to capture what I see in my minds eye, it has done it’s job. 

Two years ago when I started taking photography seriously I convinced myself that I needed to buy a “professional camera,” that mistake cost me $3,000 (plus tax).  I bought the full frame camera, the fast prime lenses, and the overpriced pieces of glass they call UV filers, but that didn’t change the fact that I did not know how to take a picture.  Yes, I knew how to click the shutter button but with a $3,000 camera around my neck it ended up hurting me more than it helped me.  

As a young 20 year old without a trust fund, I don’t have a lot of money (can you believe it!?!).  So having $3,000 swinging around your neck is a major distraction.  I found myself thinking more about the preservation of the camera and less about using the camera as a tool.  As a result I ended up leaving my expensive toy at home and going out without a camera or picking up my small Canon S100.  

The S100 is what I use for my day in the life videos (or vlogs).  Even though it is years behind in specs and has a sensor the size of my baby finger nail, it is a great camera for what I use it for.

At the end of the day I recommend you buy whatever camera will help you take more pictures.  

And with that being said just remember that the pictures of my wonderful small Canon S100 were taken with my $3,000 (plus tax) camera.

The Setup

Only a couple more days till I launch the site and I am putting the finishing touches on it.  Well actually by the time you read this the site will be up and you will most likely be reading this on the site so I guess this sentence is pointless.  

I have been brainstorming the introduction video for "Made By Spencer" and I have some pretty good ideas. It should be live within a week so be sure to check back.  

The main setup of the site has been to setup social media, design a website, and pick a mission for Made By Spencer.  Setting up social media was mainly busy work, just forms and the usual.  Designing the website was much easier.  I decided to go with Squarespace for hosting and I started off by using one of their prebuilt templates.  Picking the mission for the site is the hardest part.  This site is dedicated display my photography, writing, and films along with the occasional video or link that I find interesting. 

Thank you for checking out Made By Spencer and enjoy!