I actually did my final video for Intro to Broadcasting based off of this poster.

My Ron Swanson Political Ad.

(Source: masterofkarateandfriendship)

The other day I finally bought some Wolverine 1000 Mile boots.

They are the nicest thing I’ve ever owned that wasn’t a camera or computer.

I keep opening the box and staring at them.

These are now my premiere ass-kicking boots. 

Possessions #50 - My Cameras.

(This is going to be super long, because it’s the story of all my cameras). 

When I was 14, my mother gave me a Fujifilm point & shoot film camera she’d accidentally bought a duplicate of on eBay, and my father gave me 99 rolls of film he didn’t need anymore as he’d quit his job as an insurance adjuster. They were kind enough to pay to develop anything I took, which in hindsight was incredibly generous because I had a habit of taking panoramas. My father would develop the film and see 24 almost identical pictures of the Levee, and ask me why I wasted the film. I’d grab some tape and tell him to wait, and come back with a crudely assembled panorama longer than I was. He’d shrug his shoulders and we’d do it all over again the next week.

For my 17th birthday, my mother bought me a Fujifilm point & shoot digital camera (the kind made to look like an SLR and fool idiots) that she’d seen on QVC. I was rather confused by the gift, because I didn’t particularly like photography, it was just something to do. I now realize it was probably because they were tired of paying to develop so many pictures of mostly nothing. A few weeks later I got a text from my friend Parker saying his grandfather had given him a bunch of camera equipment and that we should go on an adventure and figure out how our cameras worked. It could be said that was the most significant day of my life, as since I have become an adamant photographer, enthusiastic adventurer, and fond lover of Fort Worth. 

I soon got a Canon AE-1, like Parker’s, because it could get depth of field I just could not with my pitiful Fujifilm. But after less than a year with those cameras, they were all stolen. Someone had broken into my car in the middle of a hailstorm and stole the majority of my equipment, as well as Parker’s and my English teachers, (I later realized they didn’t steal everything because they noticed the blood stains and rotten flesh from a zombie movie I was making). Luckily with my dad’s experience as an insurance adjuster, I knew how to fill out the claim to get everyone’s stuff back and finally be able to upgrade to a real DSLR.

I rush-ordered a Canon Rebel XTi just a few days before prom. (I really wanted the XSi, but it didn’t come out until the very next week). I had the kit lens, a 50mm f/1.8, and 135mm 2.8. Sadly the 135mm broke after only a month. It fell out of my camera bag during a photo shoot and tumbled down a mountain. I have taken it to get fixed three separate times, but the pictures still come out slightly fuzzy, so I almost never use it.

The 50mm broke during an exploration trip, as I was joking about people stealing our cameras, and that we should just hide them under our coats. That’s when my camera fell out from my coat, landing lens first, splitting it in two. Lolly was kind enough to mail me her extra 50mm, and that was my first hint that she liked me.

My favorite and most prized lens is my 85mm f/1.2. It is my baby. While accompanying my friend Jenna on her senior picture shoot with her commercial photographer father, he asked me to try some lenses on my camera, at the end of the day he said I could borrow all of them over the summer. When it came time to give them back, I couldn’t part with the 85mm because it was the most glorious thing I had ever seen. He said I could keep it, because it was going to sell it anyways. That is a $2,800 lens.

A similar thing happened with my Kowa Six medium format SLR. I was shooting in the studio at Tarrant County College, and asked the equipment guy if I could use the Kowa Six. He said “You don’t want to use that. No one knows how. The instructions are in Russian.” I replied with “…but it looks so cool!” He said “Fine. Give me some film.” And went off to go try and load the camera. 5 minutes later he came back and said “It can’t be done. This thing is useless. You might as well let it collect dust at your place.” And it was mine. It’s not without it’s problems, but I’ve mostly got it figured out.

I was also given my Yashica by the dear Stacey Svendsen. I mostly wanted it because of the little atom symbol, and because it’s a sharp (though not very functional) camera. It decorates my bookshelf, as does an instamatic camera my grandmother gave to me, and a couple of Bolex cameras I was given for Christmas. They all work, but not particularly well.

My camera backpack I got in Virginia, on the road trip where I met the Pulleys and Chrissey Hansen. I had this subtle fear that the three camera bags I always carried would pull on my neck in opposite directions until they decapitated me. I was excited to be able to fit everything in one place. Little did I realize how inconvenient camera backpacks are. I always have to find a safe place to set it down, and keep returning to it for every lens. Not to mention how heavy it gets and how much it makes me sweat. Now I’m looking for a shoulder bag.

My newest lenses are a 50mm f/1.4 (Kristin Manson’s signature lens), and a Sigma 30mm f/1.4 (Lauren Marek’s signature lens), which is actually so wide you can see the edges of the lens. I thought it was cool at first, but sometimes I get tired of seeing it.

Last, and certainly not least, is my Canon 5D Mark II. Being a filmmaker & photographer, I was so endlessly pleased to combine both worlds into one piece of equipment. The trouble with such a magnificent camera though is that I can no longer blame any lack of awesomeness on my equipment. I have the best camera I’m likely to ever afford, fantastic lenses, a good amount of experience, and plenty of spectacular locations and lovely models. If I can take a good picture with all that, I just plain can’t take a good picture.

This concludes my Possessions Project. Thank you for reading.

Possession #49 - My Car.

When I was 18, my dad told me I needed a new car, but I didn’t want a new car. I liked my 1986 silver Volvo stationwagon. So I decided I’d just get the exact same car. I looked and I looked, but whenever I’d find a car I liked on Craigslist, it would be sold before I could even ask my dad about it. One day, when picking up Natalie from an art show, I parked next to this 1998 silver Volvo stationwagon. I left a note on their windshield telling them I’d been looking for exactly that car and asked if they’d be willing to sell it.

A few days later I got a call from Tom Riddle (his real name), who actually sells Volvo’s. He was happy to sell it to me for a reasonable price. My bank let me take out a loan without any credit, and I paid for the rest with cash. When I bought it the mileage was 60,000. Today it’s at 180,000. I have driven this thing twice as much in three years than it had been driven in a decade.

Since I’m constantly adventuring around Fort Worth, driving back and forth to Denton, giving people rides, and going on road trips every chance I get, my car takes quite a beating. This is why I’ve become good friends with my mechanic Jon at the Volvo Clinic. He works on my car about once a month, usually for free, and helps me take good care of it.

I’ve been in one hit & run (you can see the dent on the back door there), and been rear-ended twice (the first time the guy hit me so hard his license plate was imprinted on my bumper). I’ve had the head gasket explode on me due to a coolant leak, which ended up costing half as much as the car in repairs.

I’ve driven this car from coast to coast, through deserts, on the sides of mountains, through dangerous storms. I’ve slept in this car more times than I can count, I even have the seat programmed for sleeping in the front seat, or in the back, because when you put the backseat down, it is the perfect size for laying down.

I call her the Enterprise. She is my ship, and I am her captain.

P.S. If you see this car, you’ll know it’s me by the Starfleet logo on the back windshield. 

Possessions #48 - My Computer.

I have saved the most important three for last. I would be nothing without these things.

I got this computer in December 2009. At the time, it was top of the line, the best computer for all my needs (video editing, photo editing, massive internetting, and occasional gaming). I was the first person I knew with Windows 7, the first person I knew using Google Chrome, the first person I knew to dual-screen, and the only person I knew with the Adobe Master Collection. I genuinely felt like my computer was from the future. I was so proud of it.

The left screen is my main monitor, a widescreen LED, and the one on the right is my back-up, a fullscreen LCD. They work perfectly together to show me what photos, videos, or websites would look like on various screens. And I cannot possibly emphasize how important dual-screening is to the amount of multi-tasking I do. At any given time, I am usually running at least 5 programs, and have about 20 tabs open on Chrome. In fact, recently my back-up monitor has broken and I feel utterly crippled. I forget I can’t multi-task like I used to without a severely cluttered and overwhelming screen.

Even though the CPU has a ton of storage space (1 TB), with all the RAW photos and HD video I take, it’s not quite enough. So I have two external hard drives, both 1 TB each, and an automatic back-up (because if I only back-up once a week, I could potentially lose over a thousand files, that’s how much I use my computer). I’m actually terrified at the thought of losing all my data. This computer has every project I’ve worked on since I was 14. Every photo I’ve taken, every short film I’ve made, every project I’ve ever written, and everything I’ve ever designed.

I often spend a third of my day on this computer, and I miss it when I’m out of town. It is precious to me, and I don’t care how weird that sounds.

Possessions #47 - My Red Plaid Tie.

Red plaid is one of my favorite patterns. In fact, if it were socially acceptable to wear all red plaid, I would not hesitate to do so. When I saw there existed a red plaid tie at Target, I knew I had to have it, despite being quite broke at the time.

I was surprised by the fine quality of it, and it is the most perfect cut for a half-windsor knot (in my opinion, the only tie knot that matters). It is my most favorite tie I own, and the instant I put it on, I feel like I can fly to the moon, punch a hole in the wall, and charm the pants off a lady.

Possessions #46 - My Levi’s Shoes.

While in San Francisco, my only non-dress shoes broke and were useless. Meaning I needed new shoes, but I was not willing to pay more than $30 for new shoes. This proved to be quite a problem because nothing decent existed in that price range, no matter where we looked. On the trip I saw some of the best stores in the country, but I was far too cheap to buy nice shoes.

Finally I find these Levi’s shoes (made to look like Vans) at a Shoe Factory in Phoenix for $25. Just a month later they started falling apart. The glue came loose, the cloth inside the shoe rubbed off and started making a squeaky sound with every step. That when I learned what a fool I was. I had passed up shoes that would last a lifetime, fantastic shoes I might never see again, and ignored fantastic stores I might never get to visit again. 

I find it funny how many phrases I know but don’t learn from. Simple ones like “you get what you pay for”. This isn’t a one time problem either. All too often I buy things I need because they’re cheap, but they wear out fast, and I have to keep buying them. If only I bought the right thing the first time, I wouldn’t be having this problem. Lesson learned.