Procrastinate the Weekend Away

Here it is Sunday night and I have managed to procrastinate the entire weekend away. That doesn't mean I didn't achieve anything. On the contrary, it was a most productive and social weekend. What I mean is that my long list of things to do (which is still in my head as I didn't get around to actually writing out the list) is no shorter now than it was at the start of the weekend. Or, the start of last week if I must be frank.

And I'm not going to berate myself over not getting done all the chores that need doing, as I know I will get them done. Sometimes I tend to leave things to the last minute, feel the panic, meet the deadline and then enjoy the sense of relief of another job well done, and ticked off the list, even if it is only in my head. Imagine not having the urgency that deadlines bring. Imagine just breezing through them. Pfffft...to that.

So, what does this pear image have to do with this post? Well, that's one of my little drawings I sketched using the Procreate app and then textured in Snapseed app. How fabbo is that Procreate app!! I drew the pair of pears today when I really should have been doing at least one of the many other jobs in my mental To Do List. Never mind. There's always tomorrow.

Oh, and I'm testing the Blogsy app with this post. I have no idea if it's possible to add links, or where that pear image is being uploaded to, in fact, I don't even know if this will post correctly to my blog. I'll soon find out when I hit send....

Have a great week doing whatever it is you choose to do :)

 

Posted with Blogsy

Week 31 ~ Books

 

Late again in blogging about The Project and now of course my mind is formulating Week 33 (which is proving trickier than I had thought). The theme for week 31 was "books" and you would think I'd have plenty of them at home to choose from, but I wanted to include lots and lots more books - and without having to empty the shelves and stacking the books nicely in just the right position. That would involve dusting  the shelves at some point and I'm pretty sure that's not part of The Project.

So it made sense to go to a place that has oodles of books, stacked floor to ceiling and in piles on the floor. There are quite a few second hand book shops here in the Blue Mountains and they're run by people who are passionate about their books. For this particular week's photo, I chose "Blue Dragon Books" located at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Diane is the owner, and Blue Dragon has been in Glenbrook for about 4 years, it's tucked in a little arcade and you know the doors are open by the big trolley full of books stacked by the door. I've been in a few second hand bookshops over the years and I have to say that Blue Dragon is well laid out, beautifully stocked and well lit. You can also read a great review for it here.

I set up my little corner, and tried to visualise what I wanted the final image to look like. By the way, I think this is really important  - to be able to visualise what it is you're trying to create. In my case, if I didn't do this, I think I'd still be sitting, pondering in the Blue Dragon, working out how to shoot "books".... anyway, while I was setting up, customers came and went and chatted with Diane about various titles and the merits of reading. What a great way to spend the day!

The book I'm holding up, and weighs a tonne, is titled "Faces - A Narrative History of the Portrait in Photography" by Ben Maddow. What a serendipitous find! I had asked Diane if she could think of any large book she may have in stock that would have a woman's face on the cover - and she came up with this. Not only is it perfect for the shot, but I now own it, as it's just what I had been looking for. The original owner of the book was Colleen, and her parents had given it to her for Christmas back in 1982. I'm sure she pored over the pages in the same way I am.

Camera details for the shot - I used the nifty fifty lens with the 430 exII flash mounted and bounced on the ceiling. f5.6 and iso200.