January is always the month we slow down, step back and assess. I must admit, it is not only the official new year but my birthday falls early in the month, so inevitably, I end up going through a bit of emotional angst as I take stock of my successes and failures of the previous year. This last year, I surprised myself and just about everyone who knows me when I tapped into my artistic creative side. I started painting. Not little canvases filled with nuanced realism. Absolutely not. Since I have no training and no real talent, I chose giant canvases and filled them with abstract shapes and swirls and pops of color. I used sponges, fern leaves and paper plates in addition to traditional paint brushes to create my “masterpieces” and always add a bit of mixed media to personalize them in some way. I loved every minute spent painting and am not sure what to do now that most of my walls are filled with emerging artist “Evie Jean” originals.
So what’s my point? I thought it might be helpful to understand the emotional impetus behind today’s post. These photos by Canadian photographer Joel Robison, widely known on Flickr as Boy_Wonder, caught my fancy. I love, the photography. I love the manipulation of images and the fact that the images tell a compelling story. And I am equally impressed that Mr Robison decided one day to pick up a camera as a hobby and ended up pursuing his dream. The fact that an imaginative photographer can land a world-tour dream job at Coke is inspiring and simply worth sharing.
If you want to try your hand at photography, here are a few DSLR cameras you can pick up on Amazon and are currently on sale. Although no where close to the $120 Joel picked his first camera up for, this Canon EOS-M originally priced at $999.00 is on sale for just $339.99 + free shipping with Amazon Prime. They also have an Olympus E-P2 reduced from $1099.99 to $359.99 and a Nikon D80 priced at $2000.00 new, can be had for just $279.95 in good used condition. All great options for an inspired hobbyist and budding photographer.
Dare to be Great!
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