it's all starting to come together

i am currently in a very good place emotionally. my last couple of experiences with my dslr have been quite personally satisfying. i really feel like i am becoming quite proud of the images i am capturing. don't get me wrong, it is still a process and i am still making mistakes but even with the missteps i am still producing images that prove that i am moving in the right direction.

that of course is not to say that i am still not ridiculously hard on myself, that is a character flaw that will likely be a constant. the upside of my flaw means that i will likely will always be striving for improvements. i will always be trying to learn new things and will always be trying to gain new experiences.

the other positive is that i am starting to have discussions that could potentially lead to 'professional' opportunities. people are seeing my photos, liking my photos and are approaching me with potential photo shoot opportunities. at this point, the opportunities are all still in the discussion stage but even being in the discussion stage is exciting. some of the opportunities have prompted me to spend some time gaining the required knowledge to ensure that i can produce the best possible product. that said, even if the opportunity never materializes that new knowledge will be mine forever. and you can't beat that!

i feel like the next phase in my 'growth' is to expand my 'world'. currently i shoot by myself or i go out occasionally with the poorboi. i have learned and will continue to learn tons from him but i also want the opportunity to shoot with other people, simply because there is so much more to learn. to that end i am hoping to start going out on photo walks with a local organization and i have also started a flickr account.

photographic social media sites like flickr and instagram provide photographers with a community. it can provide opportunities for critiques and other forms of interaction that i could only benefit from. the decision to start a flickr page was a difficult decision that i laboured over for some time. is my 'work' good enough? will the critiques be positive experiences or will the general consensus be to take up knitting? only time will tell.

i put up six images that i feel, at this time, are my best images and now i just need to wait and see what, if anything becomes of it. the challenge of course is to not log on every 38 seconds to see if anyone has stopped by yet.

things are currently going very well on the gym floor as well. i seem to have been able to consistently maintain a body weight of under 170 lbs. i believe that 165 lbs would be the best possible off-season weight for me and without too much effort i have on occasion tagged just over 166.5 lbs.

i am currently running a dead lift protocol. i still intend to best my p.r. of 405 lbs. the few times i have pulled that weight in the past has been only for a single rep. it has been a long time since i last tried to get that much weight up off the floor. in two weeks i hope to either be able to match my p.r. or best it by a single rep. the interesting thing about 405 lbs. is that the first rep comes off the floor with 'relative' ease but on the second rep it feels like somebody is standsing on the bar. i end up pulling like a mother f%#ker but the bar never even clears the floor. at this point my goal is to film that workout in the hopes of nailing the lift or at the very least discovering where the form break down occurs so that i can fix it. i will keep you all posted.

and now a few of the images from my last couple of photographic adventures... and as always enjoy!!!