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I’ve been thinking about doing this for a long time, but I’ve never been quite that comfortable doing it because I hate picking favorites. So boiling it down to just ten pictures, eesh,  I felt a bit like Henry the Eighth picking his wives then plucking their heads off. There are more pictures I’m really proud of, but I picked these because I feel these are one’s I would not mind having hanging up in my house. Most of these are found on my Flickr page, but one distinct one is found exclusively on my Facebook Fan page, and under the photo I’ll provide links for them. And if you would like a print of them, I’m sure something could be arranged. So let’s get this party started.

1. Bulb 2. This was an idea that at the time I was wanting so bad to play with. I kept seeing pictures of people drawing or writing things out using just a long exposure and a flashlight. But me, being me, I did it my own way. I had a pretty nifty background on my iPhone that was a pinup in a latex suit, with a bright pink background and a bright Tardis blue dresser. A few hours into it I was getting pretty desperate for something I was happy with. Different motions, different brigthnesses on my iPhone, I wasn’t getting anything I liked. I was damn close to calling it quits and scrubbing the entire set until I just hit what I wanted. It was about five or so in a row that I got that I was extremely happy with, and Bulb 2 being the one I was most proud of.

An experiment in using the Bulb exposure and my iPhone.

Bulb 2 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/ian_munroe/4084717394/in/set-72157604612632926

2. Mill 2. I had just bought my Nikon D40 maybe a week before this picture was shot. This was the first time I was home on leave from Germany and it was about two years after Katrina. I was driving around the Thibodaux, Louisiana area with my parents when in the distance I saw this, what looked to be like an abandoned factory of some kind. It could’ve been a fabrication facility, sugar mill, something. I don’t really know. But what I did know is that I wanted to explore the area and see what I could get. However, I was extremely limited in what I could do. I didn’t have a tripod so I couldn’t really do any long exposures of the darker areas. I didn’t have a stand alone flash to brighten up the dark areas. And I was still learning how to use my brand new little DSLR. So I was at a bit of a loss. However there are a few shots I’m really proud of and surprised that came out, and this one of the back of the main building really got my groove going.

From my first location "shoot".

Mill 2 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/ian_munroe/2424641112/in/set-72157604612632926

3. Venetian 1. During my first trip home, I fell head over heals in love with the “historic” area of Thibodaux, Louisiana. I only had my little Nikon D40 and while I took some awesome shots of the downtown area, the stuff I really wanted to do I felt limited with what I was using. When I had the opportunity to upgrade to a Nikon D90, I jumped on it and I made a list of what I wanted to reshoot with it. One of them was The Venetian Bar in downtown Thibodaux. Situated right on a corner on Jackson and West 4th street, and home to the best bar room and doughnuts in Thibodaux, I just had too. The first shot I did was at night, and from inside of my car, it was raining out, generally miserable, and I was flying back to Germany a few days later. So I really couldn’t get the shot I wanted the first time, so I made sure on the second go around that planned it out a bit to get what I wanted. One thing I didn’t count on, was that I hated every single shot I did, I must’ve spent hours on each one trying to get each one where I could be decently happy with it. But I just couldn’t, and on a whim I just a did quick black and white edit, and WHAMMO!

In black and white I find this picture amazing. In color, not so much.

Venetian 1 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/ian_munroe/3598709043/in/set-72157619104587054/

4. Dirt Road. Now we get to one where I got educated on. Not because of the content, the style, shot, edited, or anything like that, but on the title of the picture. My Great Uncle Norman who grew up in the area, who was wise beyond wise made sure I learned the difference between a dirt road and a gravel road, which this one is (which I cover greatly in a Eulogy I did for my Great Uncle Norman). The amazing part about shooting at my Aunt and Uncles house in the country, is that the weather is always spectacular. Between the sunny days and the stormy days, there is always something to shoot, and that day was one of the most amazing days I ever had to shoot. I think I walked away with at least 15 or so keepers (including my next one).

Dirt, gravel. There's dirt in it, right? I fail to see the difference.

Dirt Road - http://www.flickr.com/photos/ian_munroe/3633361321/

5. Union Pacific. If you are every gracious enough to visit my Aunt and Uncles farm, you’ll notice that you have to cross some train tracks and go down a dirt (or gravel ) road to get to their quaint cottage. One day I was driving with my Grandmother Alice back to her apartment to help her with a computer issue when we had to wait at the train tracks for a slow moving train. There are trains always going this track since it leads to a coal-fueled power plant in Lawrence, Kansas. So when a train goes by with a full load, it can take around ten to fifteen minutes for a train to pass, or at least that what it feels like. Luckily for me I had my camera with me and I just started snapping shots at the slow UP train chugging on by, I wasn’t really counting on any keepers since I thought that the railroad sign I got in frame was going to ruin it. But it just kinda grew on me and the bright yellow just seemed to make the picture pop more.

I think every one on some level likes trains. I really do.

Union Pacific - http://www.flickr.com/photos/ian_munroe/3638897983/

6. Brittany 3. This is a picture while I’m okay with it in digital form, it really pops for me printed. Literally taken on a whim, with her totally oblivious to me being there. I was just snapping away as Brittany was painting her headset. I nearly died twice taking pictures, because I kept tripping over a bench and nearly biffing my head on the solid concrete floor. And while not this particular edit, this photo kinda got me known around base. Which is nice, it’s nice being known as a photographer and not as a guy with a camera.

While we may not be as close as we once were, I'm still thankful for her.

Brittany 3 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/ian_munroe/4946244395/

7. Senior Airman Davis – Once you make Staff Sergeant in the United States Air Force, you have to do some “Professional Military Education” as they put it. Your first step to becoming an NCO is going through a four week course called, Airman Leadership School where you learn the basics of being a first line supervisor, writing performance reports, letters of reprimand/counseling, etc., etc. It’s basically a four week vacation from your duty section where you get to meet others in different career fields and pretty much have a blast. My class was pretty baller because it was mostly maintainers (like myself) and a few medical, we were lucky in that all the other classes were filled with cops and such. One person (of three) in my class that caught my eye was Senior Airman Davis, his quick whit, off the cuff humor and unique perspective helped make the class more enjoyable and the debates we had a bit more exciting. This photo was taken during our Thanksgiving dinner in the hallway outside of our classroom, I had no flash, the lighting was horrible and my camera was having a fit ALL day long, but this picture came out with minimal editing which is a HUGE plus for me.

This picture personifies the man perfectly.

Senior Airman Davis - http://www.flickr.com/photos/ian_munroe/4120260808/

8. Dane Ryder: early takes & mistakes. This was a cold day in Germany, bitterly cold. My buddy asked me to take some pictures of him for his debut country album, titled, “early takes & mistakes” (which you can preview on Reverb Nation). We were at a semi-abandoned railroad station just down the road from base, trying to stay warm and not get ran over by a damn train. We were a bit hungover from the night before, and when the sun kept poking out, it made sure to find our eyes and make us feel it. This is also part of the exclusive set I have on my Facebook page as well.

Boy has talent, legit talent.

Dane Ryder: early takes & mistakes - http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150166765782506&set=a.10150163175067506.363810.232703517505&type=1

9 and 10. These two aptly titled Cuties Pies and Picking Berries with Cosmo are two that I have long given away the rights for. If you knew me in or around 2008, you would know that it wasn’t a particularly good year for me. My first deployment and several other very stressful things led me to making some pretty bad decisions with someone I was with. Things ended, badly. Very, very badly. But, it was in these two pictures that I decided that I wanted to become a real photographer and not just one that does it part time. Real genesis. You’ll notice that these are not in my Flickr photostream, and that they will probably never be there, but I’m okay with that. I know who shot the pictures, that’s all that matters.

A typical fall German day.

First picture I took that I fell in love with black and white.

Cutie Pies - http://www.flickr.com/photos/18590873@N06/3140465302/in/photostream
Picking Berries with Cosmo – http://www.flickr.com/photos/18590873@N06/3140470382/in/photostream

And it’s begun.

Step One: Study what you like. (Check)
Step Two: Acquire  the goods you need to do what you like. (Check)
Step Three: Practice. Continually, and if need be, Goto Step One. (Check)
Step Four: Go. (In process)

I’m working on Step Four, I’m laying the ground work. I’m moving forward, giving up certain security for a career that most likely leave me as a starving artist. Why? Because I’d rather be happy and broke rather than rich and miserable. Besides, I’m taking a risk I wanna take and that might contribute to society a bit.

If not, well. Hell. I ain’t gonna let that happen.

So.
It’s 2011. *chirp chirp chirp*
In so many words and ways, 2011 has been a year of failure and disaster. Which, I thought was meant for 2012. Is it possible that the Mayans got the year wrong, or is this preface? *scratches head* I don’t really know.
I still find myself in the grip of a creative block. I’ve written, taken pictures, and even started dipping my foot into film, nothing really worth posting or talking about. There have been spurts of creativity, but most of it literally stems from me, taking my D90, placing it on my left arm as I’m driving, and shooting out the window while driving along. I don’t pay attention to where my camera is pointing, I place it on the Action/Fast Motion point on the dial and just shoot a series of photos. We pay too much attention to what’s in front of us, we never take the time to see what surrounds us as we buzz on by. Pull off to the side of the road.
Look left.
Look right.
Repeat for five minutes and close your eyes.
Soak up the world.

Of course, I should heed my own advice. The days pass, and I don’t even realize it, each one that passed is too similar to the one coming. There’s no motivation, there’s no thrill. Success is private, failure is public. I hunt and peck for the little wins, hard to find, but they’re there.

I really haven’t been the same since December, I don’t like changes in dynamics, and I really don’t like it when I say one thing and don’t mean it. But in reality, it is what it is. Just keep trying to find my new dynamic, where I really belong. I read my tech blogs,  I pass along bits of advice on what to buy and what not buy, and I stand behind my camera with one eye opened, drinking my RedBull.

Snap, sip.
Snap, sip.
Snap, sip.
Snap, sip.
Snap, sip.

I have a new pet project. For the first time in weeks, I put my camera in my bag and took it to work. Portraits, while people work. I’m tired of seeing seeing stages sceneries, fetish and fashion photography. And while all of it is good, and make great wallpapers for my iMac, iPad and iPhone, get a little boring after a while. This is why I have always had a special place for photo-journalism in my heart. Every picture, a different story to tell.

That’s all I have ever wanted to do with my life. Tell a story. I know I can’t write (screw grammar!) worth a damn, like my beloved Uncle Norman (God rest his soul). But I know I can sure as hell take a damn good picture. I don’t know where the next few months will take me, I really don’t. Personally or professionally. I would say I’m scared, but that would mean I’m feeling something. But I’m not. I’m just numb. Numb, with my camera at my side and my drink in my pocket.

I’m gonna go massage my knee.

Hmm.
I know right, I’ve hit another road block in my writing. I’m tired a lot more lately, my Red Bull consumption rate is up to epic proportions, but it never really helps. Most days I stare at my camera wondering when I’ll be able to take the shot I wanna take. Until then, I sit in my chair, with Aperture open editing past photos.

I really only imported 56 photos from my camera for the headset series, the rest I was not even satisfied with importing them.

I think I’ve touched around, 150 of the over 5000 photos I have taken in my library. The bulk of the edits are from a set that I’ve posted only 4 photos from, and they’re of a friend painting a headset. I was inspired from how intensely she was into painting her headset, we sat around for a few hours talked about the design, a little compromise here and there, and then it all came together. I broke out the paints, I did a little work. Then I let her paint the rest, it was obvious something was going on and that she was looking for a distraction.
Of course I enabled.
I reached for my camera as she was painting away, and started taking shot after shot after shot. All told I took around 130 photos with various lenses, including my beloved LensBaby Muse. However, the 56 shots I took with my 55mm FX lens were the ones I was most pleased with. The only time she ever knew I was shooting, was when I fell over nearly breaking my neck and camera. She saw what I was doing, smiled when she saw I was okay, then went back to business.
I went back to business.
I think from that point to now, I have only taken… Five photos. Other than being not inspired, my camera suffered a nasty Red Bull induced accident. Where an entire 16 ounce can was spilt on it. The camera itself still functions fine, however, all the buttons are all… Sticky and hard to actuate. To this day, I still spend an hour a day cleaning my camera and the accident happened over two months ago. I think I get it all clean, and then a button sticks and my OCD kicks in. I should get it professionally cleaned just to make sure there was no sensor damage, but I just haven’t got around to it.
Like everything else.
I’m actually interested in entering a photography contest, I have the entry form and rules sheet in front of me right now. There are six categories I could enter, well, three real categories subcategorized into colour and monochrome. I have 35 possibles I can enter. I know I could run away with every category, but I think I’ll stick to monochrome for two entries and one color. Black and white carries so much more than colour to me. I just think back to all the books I have collected with various shots from photojournalists, and the bulk of them are in black and white. I think back to my preference to vinyls rather than CDs or cassettes, the sound carries better on vinyls, plus you get that super awesome hiss and scratching.
I dream of a shot almost every night, little bit here and there comes more clear. I suppose every photographer has that one shot they want to take. Whenever I talk about it with anyone, I feel little bit like Captain Ahab, going after my white whale. For a while there, I was testing bits I wanted in the photo, different times of the day, different lens options, different camera settings. I had to stop myself cause I was driving myself a bit mad, so I started drawing the elements on paper. Then I just doodling placement options, model positions. And I had to stop myself again because I was going against my own fundamental principles.

Just wing it.

I’m sure someone somewhere just read that and cringed. I hate overly planning my photography, I hate analyzing every little detail, I hate making it perfect. I don’t want perfect. One thing I have always preached about my photography is that it is an extension of me. Broken, flawed, yet oddly lovable. I know my philosophy will probably not bring me much work, but I don’t really care. I’ve read too many blogs from too many people researching to get that “perfect shot”. That’s not me, it’ll never be me.

So I sit here, in my chair. Aperture is open, and when I’m done writing here I’ll go back to editing my photos. Admiring each quirk I find, each flaw in each photo. Playing with the quirks and flaws to see what I can create.

PS – The title came from tonights musical adventure thanks to The Jimi Hendrix Experience.

The piece of advice I try and give to people who need it, is that you need to pursue what ever it is that makes you happy. Everyone I know has always had this one idea/dream/passion, that they just kind of let it sit there. I am one of those people.
But why though? I never really went after my passions before because I knew the road ahead was gonna be tough, and I had the typical want of having instant gratification. And let’s face it, that only happens to a few and I just told myself that my time would come and every thing would come back to me in the end. A few years goes by, and I begin to think that my rational is very, very flawed. I could wait for a thousand years and nothing would ever come about. That’s not what I want. I want to be happy, not wait around for it to come to me.
If you want success, you have to work your ass off. You have to do things you aren’t normally willing to do, and I think this is where I (and many others) balk at the idea of chasing our passion. I’m sure Thomas Edison sacrificed a lot in chase of his thousands of patents, not to mention probably got shocked to hell a few times. But you think that would deter him what he ultimately wanted to do? Pfft no.
Since I bought Nikon D40 two years ago, I have toyed with the idea of opening up my own studio. I have always had this intense passion for photography, and everywhere I go I always have a camera on me. Hell, sometimes I get the feeling I annoy a lot of people I work with when I talk about photography. But it’s what I love, I know if I could have my own studio, and just use a camera all day, I’d be happy.
During my deployment, I bought some studio equipment. I asked around, and I eventually settled on some pretty decent stuff. I was getting pretty stoked. I was prepping for what I really wanted to do. I also began to read about different photography techniques I was interested in, and I even began to collect photos I wanted to recreate in my own fashion. I kept reading, and toying. I wanted to do this, I wanted to do it right, and most of all, I wanted to be happy.
I balked for a while after that. I doubted myself, and I thought I wouldn’t be able to compete on the stage I ultimately wanted to get too. So I slowed down the tone of which I was going. I often wonder if this was such a good idea, but I doubt I’ll ever know. I also didn’t know if I wanted to reenlist in the Air Force, something I’ve been debating for over the past year. It took a text message conversation with someone who I regard as my Spiritual Advisor, for me to realize what I really needed to do. So I picked up the pace a bit, still a bit hesitant about it. I was and am still seeking active advise, but I’m not gonna let my pace slow down any more than it is.
Then.
I started to read/listen to a book by someone I follow on Twitter. His name is Gary Vaynerchuk. If you don’t know who he is, then I suggest you visit his website, www.garyvaynerchuk.com. The man is good at what he does, from his website:

Gary Vaynerchuk has captured attention with his pioneering, multi-faceted approach to personal branding and business. After primarily utilizing traditional advertising techniques to build his family’s local wine business into a national industry leader, Gary rapidly leveraged social media tools such as Twitter and Facebook to promote Wine Library TV, his video blog about wine. As his viewership swelled to over 80,000 a day, doors opened to a book deal, several national TV appearances, and a flurry of speaking engagements around the world. Gary’s dual identity as both business guru and wine guy has made him the “Social Media Sommelier.” His impact on the wine world has been commemorated via his inclusion in the 2009 Decanter Power List, an index of the 50 most influential figures in the industry.

To say the man loves wine is a bit of an understatement. To hear him talk about wine, you can just grasp his passion for it. You know this is what he wants to do, and you also know that he wants to be on top of the world with it. As you can tell from the blurb above, he used different ‘social media tools’ (God I hate that phrase), to let his passion be known through out the world. And in a way, I want to do the same thing.
So I started to read Gary’s book, Crush It!. I didn’t really take it in at first, because I had the notion it was some dopey self-help book that’ll help you get the instant gratification that we all wanted. So I put down the book and got the audiobook version where he was the one reading it. It was then that it just started popping together. The same passion he does with his WineLibrary TV stream, he does with the audiobook, and I really started to get what he was saying. And he kept it real. He repeated what I said above, you’re gonna have to work your ass off. It’s a little different hearing the advice you know and tell yourself from someone who a few years ago was pretty much in the same pot as you.
And even though I’m only half way through the book, I’m pretty stoked again about what I wanna do, what’s gonna make me happy. It’s not gonna be easy, it’s gonna suck for a while, but I’m sure I’ll have what I need in place to get the job done, done right, and let me keep my passion afire.  I already have some ideas what I’m gonna do, and how I’m going to do it. Hell, I already have some in place.
I wanna Crush It!

(First Chase Lisbon, now Gary Vaynerchuk. Who’s gonna be next on my list of pure awesome?)

Everyone has lists, if you say you don’t you’re either dead or lying. I have quiet a few, but there’s been a few more I’m making. One is of places I’d like to visit and capture with camera, there is of people. The places are unimportant right now, I’m still making the list. The list of people, well, that’s rather complete. A list of “celebrities” (meaning a list of people more famous than me, which is 90% of the population and also pretty much Geeks in their own right), and a list of friends. But, now that I have a list of people the idea of how to capture them is well beyond me.

The List of “Celebrities”

• David Tennant
• Scott Bourne
• Violet Blue
• Andy Ihnatko
• Leo Laporte
• John C. Dvorak
• Apnea
• Chase Lisbon
• James May
• Adam Duritz
• TripleSix
• Greg Easton
• Scott Kurtz

List of Friends

• Lyssie Almaguer
• Adam Thurloat
• Chelsea Pullin
• Renee Scofield
• Jenn Thomas
• April Davis
• Ian Kelly
• Jerry Vo
• Ski

This list will change, like every other list in the world. It’ll get longer, and longer, and longer. Hopefully though I’ll be able strike through names and add more to the list than just add names to it. Though, I can imagine the celebrities list will be a bit harder to knock out. Basically, I’d like to capture some of the more unique people out there, people who I find interesting. It’d be nice to show the world how I see them.

Hopefully I wouldn’t disappoint. :s

I was never comfortable in front of a camera, and just about every photo of me I was there with my awkward ass smile, and this stupid goofy look on my face. Usually if you were close enough to me, you could listen to me talk under my breath, spewing my disdain for being in front of the camera.
But now that I wanna devote more of my time behind the camera, is it really important for me to be comfortable in front of the lens, as I am behind it?
I just think it might be. To me at least, you would think that if you had some experience in front of the camera, you can better relate to what you want from behind the camera later on. I mean, it makes sense. For you to be good at anything you wanna do,you’re gonna have to relate what you want/need to someone. And to a photographer, how can you be any good with models, if you don’t/can’t relate/describe what you want/need.
When I have a free moment, I toy with the idea of me actually getting in front of the camera and just having several small series done. Few headshots, general shots, but a small set, by different photographers. Mostly to see how they act and relate, but also you can only do so many “MySpace” shots. Those don’t count, they *never* do.

But, I’m also very interested in what others say:
A) Is it important to know how to relate what you want as a photographer, and how much?

and

B) Who would be willing to take photos of me with the risk of their lenses breaking?