Gray Spring day in Minneapolis. Rain pings the windows of my Casket Arts studio, wind rustles the frayed telephone wires. I’m staring at a city shrouded in fog. A Westclox Big Ben on the table next to me ticks away the minutes; the first quarter of 2010 is history. March in Minnesota was one of the warmest and most snowless in 100 years.
In the context of a whole century, the 90 days I’ve persevered with the BlackBerry 365 Project seems like a small effort. In busy human terms, it feels like forever. Some days, the photographs are grayed out snapshots with little focus. Other days, I can see the image framed and hung on the wall. It’s the nature of creative effort. And the boundlessness of living.
Once a quarter, I’d like to acknowledge this strange little body of work with a slideshow of my favorites. The project makes me keenly aware of the passage of time. Endings. New beginnings. I am learning patience, the consistent ability to show up for myself, progress not perfection.
I am grateful for the support. Thank you. And if there is anything you notice about the photography — subject matter, framing, content, I’m all ears. What seems lacking, what’s appealing? Sometimes we are too close to projects and practices to see them clearly. Hearing from others can help tap into new veins of work.
Best Of BlackBerry 365 — First Quarter, favorites from 90 days of shooting & posting a phone photo a day, January 2010 – March 2010, all photos © 2010 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
Note: the full BlackBerry 365 set is posted on my Flickr account. Along with a daily commentary of little details about the photograph, where I took it, what I was doing that day. I’m excited to be heading into Spring. Expect days to move from white, ice blue, and gray to seaweed, azure, and copper green.
-posted on red Ravine, Friday, April 2nd, 2010
-related to post: BlackBerry 365: Things Loved, Things Learned
Gorgeous! So many caught my eye as they flashed past. All are wonderful. The white squirrel is outstanding — an albino?
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Thank you, ritergal. I so appreciate it. The white squirrel appeared on our deck that day. I think it was one of the first shots I took. We see them once in a while, but never that close. It was after the birdfeed. And those red eyes, WOW.
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So interesting, QM. I watched the show go through several times. Such a great slice of life series. So wintry–but then expected considering your location. Yes, I too am ready for the “seaweed, azure, and copper green” colors. We do love them more, I think, when we must earn the spring colors with our patience. Not that there isn;t beauty in the winter blues and icy whites, but I seem to need the greens at this time of the year. I used to not mind the winter colors as much, but I get weary of the colorless so much sooner now.
As for your photos, I’m drawn to the colorful ones, especially the ones with a vintage theme — the bowling pin, the neon signs, mermaid, the drawings on walls. They seem to really speak out.
And I loved the colorful peppers–that was so nicely composed and the stoplight colors–nice. And dear Kiev–ah, taking photos of black cats is hard! Nicely done.
Ha! I am such a photographaholic! (Is that a word?) 🙂
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I watched the whole slide show…a delight! I noticed all the winter shots, all the ways people put art into the world. My favorite was the candle shot.
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Oh, QM, how wonderful to see these together in a slideshow. There are so many that I missed after you stopped posting in comments, I realize.
My favorite is still the opening shot, A Study in Orange. The simplicity of that clementine against the blue. And then like Bo, I loved the buildings like the bowling alley, the ice cream shop, the A&W Root Beer sign that seemed to come from an era that we’re losing more each day. It’s good to know that in Minnesota, these landmarks are still alive and well.
The shots of the kitties, and the serene shots, too, I noticed. Reminded me of your slow self, your ability to see beauty where others might in their haste miss it.
Well done!
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Love these! What BlackBerry are you using? I am a frequent phonetographer too; I think I got better results from my 2 MP LG flip phone than I do with my theoretically better BB Storm 2 camera but I am still experimenting.
Your photos are fun, haunting, striking, luminous. Love the kitties, white winter squirrel, the snowy owl (how patriotic in red, white and blue!!!), the ice dam, moon shots and cranes — many others. This inspires me to keep shooting!
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Bo, I think photographaholic is a great word! Me, too. I’ve really been into my photography this year. As a practice, and with the projects I am focusing on right now. The BlackBerry practice keeps me awake to what’s around me every day. And, strangely, it does turn out to be a snapshot of my daily life. I kind of like that.
I appreciate hearing what you liked in the photos, too. I’m a big history and vintage fan so I’m sure I’ll keep shooting those areas of town as I run into them. I was telling Liz yesterday that I want to go back and photograph a few of these places with the Canon (and she with her Olympus SLR) so we can capture them in RAW images. I really like that about this BlackBerry practice. It teaches me what I’m attracted to. Then makes a note of it so I can go back later. Kind of like a visual voice recording.
Thanks for stopping by, Bo. Oh, BTW, I have been craving bright colors and vegetables and fruits like crazy. I am ready for Spring this year. It was a long hard Winter in the Midwest. Cold. And Spring is here early. I expect lots of green to appear, and bursting blooming buds and color in these shots!
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Teri, thank you for viewing and letting me know which shots appealed to you. I appreciate it. That candle shot was taken during a moment of silence and dark during Earth Hour. I didn’t even know if it was going to come out. I like to shoot night shots. And, yes, I love shooting the ways that people put art out into the world. I’ll keep doing that as I run into it!
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QM: Thanks for putting these shots into a fabulous slideshow, and it is your variety of subjects which makes it particularly wonderful. My favorites are your close-ups: Chrysanthemum, Eye on Whiskers, He Who Keeps Me Company, Ice Oaks, My Familiar – Kiev, and Pepper Faces to name a few.
Congratulations on completing the first quarter of your 365 project. You’ve really got something to show for your effort! Please, continue … under all circumstances.
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Lesley, I have a BlackBerry Tour. Liz and I both have them and love them. We spent hours researching and looking at phones in the store when our contract was up before choosing these mobile devices. We did look at the Storm but ended up liking the Tour better. I can’t say enough about it.
The BlackBerrys are pretty compatible with the PC world we live in, which I like. They don’t have as many apps as the iPhone but BlackBerry has plenty of apps for what I want to use it for.
I used to take phone photos with my regular phone and was never that happy with them. With the BlackBerry Tour mobile device (they don’t call them phones anymore) the pixels and lens on the camera features are really pretty good. But I found I had to learn to compose and frame the shot within the limitations of the phone.
Some limitations: there’s a zoom, but you can’t really get macro shots; sometimes the camera menu gets in the frame and throws off my compositions; you have to learn to work the white balance settings to get good shots at night or in half-light conditions.
That’s what I’ve learned so far. The upside is the clarity, wide angle shots, ease of shooting. It’s like any camera — you have to get to know what it can and can’t do. I appreciate you stopping by. And thanks for letting me know which shots you like. Those are some of my faves, too. Glad it inspired you to keep shooting!
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ybonesy, thank you. I hope to post one of these slideshows each quarter. I’ll probably do some kind of print art project with these at the end of the year. It’s to be determined what that will be. So far, I am enjoying this practice.
I didn’t know you liked the vintage pieces. That’s cool to learn. I’m really drawn to what’s old and probably going to disappear. I see buildings get erased every day on my travels around the Twin Cities. Sometimes whole blocks are wiped out to make a parking lot.
Thank you for what you said about my “slow self.” I really am a pretty slow moving person. And I seem to reach my goals slowly. But I do persevere. And see things when I’m moving slowly that even I might miss when I’m rushing around.
You know what’s funny about these shots, too, is that my sense of humor comes out. It’s kind of iconic, like Spider-Man or the Great Root Bear. Reflecting all parts of myself back to me. We’ll see what happens in the second quarter. Thanks, yb.
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breathepeace, thank you! Those close-ups are sometimes the hardest to capture. Shooting close with a phone camera is a challenge. But those are some of my favorites, too. Usually on those, I have to take my time and it shows in the photos.
It’s really amazing that you remembered the names of the photos that you liked, since they were rolling across the screen. I so appreciate that you took the time to check out the names.
When I look at each of these photographs, I know exactly what I was doing when I took it. There’s a memory associated with each one. Something I love about photography. It captures a moment in time, however fast it’s flying by.
And thanks for the reminder. I will continue under all circumstances to the best of my ability!
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One of my very favorites, btw, is Cemetery Fog at Workmen’s Circle. I love the way the fog has pinks, purples, blues in it, kind of like Northern Lights. Beauty!
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ybonesy, I really like that one, too. I love that cemetery. It’s way back on a big hill (big for MN anyway) with lots of land around it in a busy city. I remember that morning clearly. I had been up there to shoot the Workmens Circle Section sign before on a clear morning. But this one was foggy. So I took a dip in at sunrise. The subtle color you are seeing in the fog is probably the sunrise refracting off the sky above. Since the cemetery is on a hill, the fog rolled and stuck there. A few miles away, there was NO fog at all as I reached the lowlands and it was a lot sunnier. Amazing.
Oh, Bo, I forgot I wanted to mention about photographing black cats — it is SO HARD to get a good photo of Kiev. Liz and I try all the time. And because she is solid black, the details always get lost. They are a little lost in this photo of her, too. But her eyes really stuck out which saved it. Liz and I will continue to try to get good photos of Kiev but it’s so much harder than with Mr. StripeyPants!
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QM,
Very nice slide show! I’m probably the only one, other than Liz, of course, to have a twinge of nostalgia over the lid of the Schultz Dairy pint size container lid. It was the first try at having something with a signature on the product. Looks pretty kitschy now! It might have held cottage cheese or sour cream. Our ‘fridge always held several of them, and the size was so handy for bits of leftovers; the only drawback being the necessity of opening them to see what little surprise they might hold. Sometimes they got shoved to the back and were never opened until someone would cry out, “Eeeyew, what is this fuzzy green stuff in here?!” and pitch it out. Oh, the joys of having four teens in the home for several years. Usually the cry from the kitchen was, “There’s nothing to eat in the house!” (said by one, staring into the fridge crammed with food.)
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oliverowl, thank you. I’m fond of the lid from Schultz Dairy. One of the first things I knew about Liz was that she was from North Dakota and that she was from a dairy family. Hard to image 4 teens in the home at the same time. I guess my mother probably went through that as well. But being the oldest, I missed some of the time when the siblings would have been teens together. I do, however, remember staring into the fridge and thinking there was nothing to eat! I guess that meant nothing that I wanted at that one moment. I’m so glad you’re back on red Ravine. I’ve missed your rich comments. Thanks for stopping by!
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Well QM, I watched several times. My faves are very different from the others but I’m looking for certain things in a photo. The Skaters, Pouring Ice Spout, Corrugated Honeycomb, all the cats but Kiev is the best in my opinion and a study in orange. I like the mysterious, the familiar or the graphics elements. I like your close observation of things. I can smell that pizza
I’m going to give you some wisdom passed on to me long ago by a legendary photographer (A Weston). It’s in regards to these 3 shots that are already good: Riding the Rails, Como Conservatory and the Vintage Bowling. I was told if a photo had a horizon (land or water) or a strong vertical or horizontal line that stood out: find it and keep it straight. I adhered to the rule religiously unless it has a subject that lends itself to being at an odd angle. Some of the more modern shots of models are used angled.
yb had an excellent photo a while back…something from Vietnam…and I wanted to tweak the horizon line to make it absolutely perfect. Now that I’ve mention this, you will begin to hear Mr Weston’s words in your head like I do 😉
I especially love your titles. Titles are so important to get people to “Look”.
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That’s great advice, Heather. I know exactly which one you’re talking about. I went back and looked at it and saw that the line was ever so tilted. I think that was unintentional. I’ll definitely keep that in mind. When did you get a chance to talk to Mr. Weston? Curious minds want to know.
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When I first started in Commercial Printing (when it was sane and there were fabulous designers with large expense accounts), I was very fortunate to work for a company that produced books and limited prints for Ansel Adams, Georgia’s estate, The Getty, all the Westons and many other artists. I met Brett Weston (Edward’s son) in the press room ( I was the annoying little QC girl). (I think I told this story to QM a year back). He had black fingernails from years of printing his and his very famous Father’s work. He signed a press sheet for me with a hated red pen (he only used black). I may have charmed him with my odd sense of humor (or possibly my much higher, smaller, tighter ass) HA! He set me straight about the horizons and I’ve never forgot. Sadly, before he died, he destroyed all of his negatives. He was a wonderful, yet dark, man. I greatly enjoyed meeting him.
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Heather, thank you for the comments. You are right, I will think of your words of wisdom the next time I shoot a strong horizon or vertical line. I’ll have to think about it during the composition. Some of these shots are taken quickly, on the run, on the road. I’m lucky they come out at all. Others are more thoughtful and I really have time to check out the composition.
You know what’s strange sometimes, too, is that I’m using my phone. A totally different feel than a camera. I always love when you comment on the photographic elements. You have a ton of wisdom about it. Some from mentors you mention like Weston. You are so lucky to have met some of the greats.
I remember well your story of the red pen. But, you know, I didn’t remember that Weston destroyed his negatives. What is it with writers, photographers, artists, that destroy their work, their letters? I don’t get that.
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Oh, Heather, I forgot to mention, your comment about photographic titles…so true. It’s a good way to put it. They can sometimes direct people to where you want them to look. To really see. A gentle nudge. Titles mean a lot.
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