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November

11/30/04 7:30pm - - - Just returned from a couple hours shooting downtown, a little cold but not too bad. Now here I sit, cat in lap of course, listening to some old school Pearl Jam. A good evening. So going back to my removing the partial thumbs in my galleries-It seemed to work in that people(today at least) who visited did actually spend some time looking at the images. Which is all I want. Speaking of my cat, Peggy, here's a shot I took of her in my last apartment sitting in the window. Being an ex street cat, she prefers to stay anomymous.

7:30am - - - Why is it some weeks seem like they will be longer than others? This am I've learned that sometimes drinking tea is almost as good as coffee. The Mets are going strong after Pedro now. They're offering a 4th year option which Im not sure the Sox will match. The Celtics actually looked really good last night. How much laptime do you think cats average a week? Mine would go for 24hrs a day if she could? She even sits on my lap while I'm sleeping sometimes. Another month down the tubes. We're looking forward to new episodes THE SHIELD which comes back on in January, great show to check out if you get FX. Its also out on DVD, each season is kinda connected to the next so start from the beginning if you rent them. Gotta get to work- if I can get the cat off my lap. Gonna try shooting on my lunch break today.

11/29/04 11pm - - - Made some minor changes to the site tonight. I eliminated the partial thumbnails on the galleries because I found people were stopping there and leaving and not viewing the full images in the slideshows. Now they will be brought directly the the photos. Will this make a difference? Who knows. I think theyre worth seeing, but what do I know? I'm not exactly impartial I guess. Also got rid of one of my links because it wasnt connecting to anything. Its weird, one day a website is there and the next its gone. Maybe there was just a tech. issue. If it comes back online I'll relink it.

11/27/04 7:35am - - - We've decided to go to the Bershires this am and not last night- its a 3hr drive and we would have arrived there quite late last night. Its an easier drive in the daylight anyway. I was just looking at the visitor stats for my website and it seems that some people are stopping at the thumbnail pages for my 4 galleries and not looking at the actual full images in the slideshows. So Im thinking of eliminating the thumbs all together so when you click on gallery 1,2,3,4 you go directly to the slideshow. Maybe the partial thumbs are throwing people off for some reason or maybe its just too many steps to be bothered with when surfing around on the net.

Time to go...dont think Im bringing a camera with me this time. Its good to take a break for a little bit once in a while. Plus lately when not in the city Im just not that inspired to shoot. What is it about the city.............?

11/25/04 11:15pm - - - Happy Thanksgiving!!! I'm heading out to the Berkshires for the weekend and I'll be back Sunday night. See you then. Its been a busy week so not much shooting was done. I'll get back to it next week. Oh yeah, thanks Robbie for keeping an eye out for me, talk to you soon.

11/24/04 6:30pm --- hmmm....holiday wish list of a few things to buy for my photography you ask? or maybe you didn't. Anyway, its something to do.

I'm sure there is more, but my budget being what it is I'm trying to be somewhat realistic with myself. This list is probably too much for me to handle right now. Of course film is a must, so I think the print dryer will be my next big purchase. Of course any contributions made to the Paul Shelasky Photography holiday gift fund are most appreciated. Hey, can't hurt to ask, right? I did recently sell my two broken down Canonets and am awaiting payment, so that will be buying me a good amount of film.

Anyway, got our first holiday party of the season tonight to get ready for and we've got some Chinese food coming so.......

11/23/04 10:41pm

“I have a vision of life and I try to find equivalents for it sometimes in the form of photographs.”-Stieglitz

-I made these photos of the moon after reading about Stieglitz's Equivalents images and what photography meant to him.-

Read more about Alfred Stieglitz

11/23/04- One of the things I love about photography is that I can to do things like take pictures of a basement hallway light just to see how many different ways I can shoot it, and print it.-sorry about the bad scan, i was rushing to go to work!

11/22/04

7:30pm- This was from a Yahoo news article today:
According to market research firm IDC, 845,000 digital SLRs were sold in 2003. The firm projects sales to more than double to 2 million for this year.

You can have 'em-that just leaves more film for the rest of us. As long as they keep making film.

Add to holiday list: TriX in bulk

11/21/04

10:00pm- Here is the first print I made from the Yashica Lynx 14 camera I just bought. I am pretty happy for the most part. No filter was needed to print this image. There were a few frames where the meter overexposed, but that was probably my fault.

6:45pm- Found this print dryer from Adorama. Maybe a holiday gift to myself is in my future.

4:35pm- Paw # 25. 3rd straight week, not bad. Ive got a few more images to post once they are all washed and ready to go. I get anxious once I get out of the darkroom to post stuff, but dont want to rush it. For the photo of the week I couldnt wait, so I blot dried it and scanned it before it was fully dry. See what this website stuff does to you? I'm thinking about looking into buying a heat dryer. How much is that? Maybe there is a used one out there somewhere.

Also, I just bought a new book by Brassai. He was known as "The eyes of Paris" and did some amazing night photography.

11/20/04

8:15pm- I just developed the first roll of film from the Lynx 14 and it looks really good. Negatives I can print without a filter are a beautiful thing. I didnt even bracket at all, so the meter looks to be right on, although most of what I shot was in pretty even lighting today. Subject wise nothing earth shattering, but I'll print tommorrow and post some stuff. At least a new PAW. Maybe I'll start putting more photos in with my journal entries. I have such a tough time deciding how to put the website together. Anyway, the plan tomm., other than printing, is to get out there and shoot more film.

By the way, did you see that brawl on TV between the Pistons, Pacers and the Detroit fans? That was nuts!

11/19/04

11:25pm- Finally bought the Lynx 14 today. It seems to be working just fine, I even shot about a half a roll of TriX on my lunch break today. Im gonna get up early tomm. and go out to do some more shooting.- at least I'll try to get up early. I like what I have now for cameras. Three Yashica rangefinders, The Electro 35, 5000e and the Lynx 14. All in working order, which is saying something for cameras form the early 70's. I was going to stop downtown after work tonight, but realized the light meter on the Lynx doesnt light up, so I cant see it at night. So maybe I'll use the 5000e for night shooting because the meter does light up and I'll use the Electro when I want to shoot mostly people shots since its partially auto'matic and is quicker to shoot with. The lynx will be my main camera since it seems the most rugged of the three and its fully manual. Maybe Im over thinking the camera thing, but its fun! No more camera buying for a while, i'm pretty well set for now.

I saw on Amazon.com there is a new Kertesz book coming out soon to go with a major showing of his work. I think the show is going to Washington DC at some point. Could be a fun road trip.

11/18/04

8:27pm- Ok, Ok, so I couldnt stay away from my journal very long. I guess I just needed a break for a bit. Others who do this will tell you its pretty addicting, but its also somewhat daunting, because here I am writing stuff about myself not knowing who is checking in(except in some cases). Which is fine, I enjoy the fact that there are people interested in what I might have to say or what I am doing with my photography. I also think I was feeling a bit overwhelmed because if you have a passion for something (like photography) and you start really surfing around the internet you see how many people there are out there with differing opinions and ways of doing things. There are tons of Blogs, mailing lists, forums for photography and its easy to get sucked into these and be influenced to the point where you start to question your own work. At least thats the case with me. I HAVE found a few fellow photographers whose work I admire, as well as the way they go about what they love to do, take pictures. That needs to remain the focus. Fearing how others are judging my images and telling me that they really arent that interesting or that "Ive seen that before", cant sway me from continuing. There have been so many POSITIVE comments and so much encouragement as well. I love doing this and thats what counts, if someone wants to judge let them judge. There are certain types of photographs I dont like and thats fine. Its all just opinion.

I think the other reason I was frustrated with the journal is that I was wondering if people were checking in just to read this and not really caring about seeing the photographs. Maybe that was because I found myself doing the same thing on other photographers' blogs at times. It is fascinating to me just to read about what is going on in people's lives. I guess its our nature to be curious about that. So I've decided just to be a bit more selective about where I go on the web. If you check out my links, these are the photographers I admire most out there and I visit their sites often. Some of them I email back and forth once in awhile for advice or just to talk photography.

What is most amazing to me is the fact that here I am almost 38 years old and I began taking pictures around 12 years old. I still love it now as much as then and I respect it so much more now because Ive learned about the history of it and about the greats like Stieglitz, Kertesz, Callahan, and others, and why they did what they did. The important thing to remember is that we dont need to be one of those historic figures in photography to take pictures and feel fulfilled by it. Maybe thats an obvious statement, but true. Its really about what is it that feeds your soul and makes you feel whole that matters.

I dont know exactly, but I took this photo around 12 or 13 years old in Northampton, Ma., where I grew up. I remember a friend of my parents asked for a copy to frame and hang on their walls. I wish I had kept more of my stuff from back then, but for some reason I didn't.

One more note: Ive decided to take the plunge and buy a Yashica lynx 14 from a coworker. Not that huge of a plunge actually because its costing me all of $70. Normally on ebay they go for around $90 and up, so its a pretty good deal. Unlike buying from ebay, I know this one is in full working condition. It features an f 1.4 lens which I cant wait to try out because I love shooting in low light. Oh yeah, and its fully manual.

11/7/04

11:09pm- Ive just posted a couple new photos linked from my home page.

5:00pm- Paw #23

9:15am- So I developed some film from this week. As far as the Sox parade photos, there's not really much there. A lot of movement in photos since I had to use a slow shutter speed because it was rainy and kinda dark. Maybe a crowd shot or two are worth printing. Its always a letdown when youre anticipating more from your negatives and when you pull them out of the fixer to look, there isnt much to work with.( I really need to shoot more film). I also shot some night stuff in Providence and I'm happier with those negatives. Im heading into the darkroom soon to print and will post some stuff later today or tonight.

Note: Im about to hit 5000 visitors to my website. Thanks everybody, especially those who keep returning!

11/5/04

7:30am-I dont have a whole lot to say today, not that I usually do. I just wanted to get a new month started. Ive been trying to shoot more, went and did a little night shooting one night after work. No tripod, just wandering downtown using the available light where I could. Ive got a roll of film to finish off today and then come home tonight to process and do some printing tommorrow and Sunday. Then I'll post a new set of images if I've got enough stuff that I like. I guess I have to go to wor now-very tempted to call in sick, but whatever sick days I dont use I get paid back in December. They call this our bonus?! Gotta see this: Original Babe Ruth sale contract on Ebay