To introduce my background in photography, I grew up taking pictures as a kid with disposable film cameras that you mailed in to develop. Then I had a cheap, plastic camera that I used for a darkroom class I took when I was about 8 ears old, then never really used it again. When I was in middle school, my mom got a digital point & shoot that I would borrow so often, I probably used it more than she did. (It fit in an Altoids tin, why not take it to school?!) After that, I was exclusively digital, and more and more addicted to photography, buying my own point & shoot, then my first DSLR, and now I’m on my second DLSR, and getting back into film photography for my black & white film class this semester.

And now onto my comparison:

I think digital photography is a faster and easier process but you don’t learn as much or get as in depth in the settings as you do with film. For example, my professor explains people who learn on crappy digital cameras today; they take the picture and if it doesn’t turn out, they keep taking it until they get what they like and just delete the bad ones. They don’t know the settings or what they do or why they work. They aren’t making the photographic decision. It’s trial and error with buttons and settings, not really knowing what they’re doing. With a fully manual film camera, you have to really know your manual settings and record them, so when you develop and see that you over- or underexposed, you can see what you did wrong and calculate how to fix that the next time.

I also really love the “magic of the darkroom.” It’s so much more hands on than digital editing, which is just pushing some buttons and moving your cursor around. Getting a good print in film requires so much more skill in developing the film, exposing the negatives correctly, having the right paper, using the chemicals long enough, burning and dodging right, etc. etc. It’s a much richer experience than “open this image file, tweak, save, close.” I’m not sure if they’re even too comparable. I’m beginning to think they are more like cousin art forms… sort of like comparing a watercolor painting to a printer print-out. Not that there aren’t some very high-end and beautiful art works that were printed on fancy printers, but painting is just a longer and older process that is much more hands on, get dirty in your raw materials as compared to the completely virtual process of digital imaging. You basically never have a tangible piece of art in digital photography until it is printed. Whereas with film, you’re working with tangible mediums with your negatives and your paper.

In the end, digital is a much faster and relevant process for today. Especially for portraiture, where you’re expected to have lots of images in a short period of time, and need a fast turn around and lots of options for paying clients. But I still see a use and a need for the film process as art and as documentation. Silver prints still last decades longer than ink-based digital prints. Personally, I would like to use film more, if darkroom and printing sources were more available after I am no longer taking classes.

Comments on your preferences in film vs. digital? What’s your experience?

Yay, holiday season! I’m on a three week break from school, and Christmas is soon approaching. I’ve made cute little mugs of candy as gifts for my friends. They’re easy to make. You just need to arrange the following:

• A Christmas Mug
• Peppermint Patties (in the bottom)
• Giant Christmas Kit Kat Bar
• Skittles or M&M Tins, containing their respective candies
• 2 Sweet Tart Candy Canes

And you’ve got yourself an affordable and enjoyable gift for many people. I think this also sort of counts for one thing my list of 101 Things to do in 1001 Days; #28. Make Christmas presents. This counts, right? Sure….

It is my hope that everyone enjoys this holiday season. (And really… who can’t have a nice time with all the pretty snow, music, lights, and happy friends and family about them? If you can’t, you are a grinch. And I’ll call you out on it!)

A note to Santa: I would like my own Santa Hat this season so I don’t have to Photoshop one onto my head each year. (P.S. I’ve been a very good girl.)

Happy Chrismahanukwanzakah!

~Ellen

So there are two new minors this year at my university that I am interested in, the Entrepreneurial Minor and the Writing Minor. The problem is, I don’t know which to pick, if any, or if I could handle both. The deal is, I’m already looking at being here four and a half to five years with summer studies to stay caught up in my art studies. AND I’m trying to study abroad. I don’t know if I can fit it in, let alone handle the insanity of a double minor.

Considering I will pick one, I’m balancing which would be more useful versus fun. Entrepreneurial would certainly be useful. I can see it being creative and fun. I mean, being an entrepreneur means starting your own business from scratch and being your own boss. Keeping a business like that takes a lot of creativity. So I think I’ll be okay, just as long as it doesn’t get all technical business lingo-y on me; that’d just be downright scary.

Writing, however, I would probably pick mostly creative writing classes since that’s what I enjoy the most. I would love to take some Creative Writing classes or Intermediate Poetry. But writing can also be useful. So many people don’t know how to communicate effectively with the written word. Or their grammar makes them sound like they’ve just graduated from Primary school. Just the other day, someone posted on facebook, “I don’t want to go to class either but I already have went to one.” That makes my die a little inside, each time I read that.

Anyway, writing is a big part of communicating properly on the internet. You can’t be there to explain your services to someone on your website, so you have to be good at communicating effectively in writing without getting too long, or complex. I tend to be a little bit long winded (as I probably am here, but it’s my blog and I’ll rant if I want to), or I can’t think of enough to fill the space.

Winding down, I still can’t decide. I think next semester I will start some Intro classes for each and maybe that will help me decide. Until then, any input from readers would be great! Anything I’m forgetting to consider, ideas, opinions, your experience with college minors? Thanks!

So it’s been my first week back on campus. I’ve been reuniting with friends and wandering the campus again. And I’ve started a new flickr album for the many more photos sure to come this fall as I run the Photography Club for it’s first full year.

So I’m moving back to school in less than a month (woot!) and I’ll be in my first apartment along with my roommate @Amralove. I’m really excited about this because for one, it’s not an 11×14′ cinder block box like my dorm room last year. I’ll have a tiny kitchen (with a dishwasher!!), our own bathroom, the bedroom, and a nice sized living room. All of it furnished. Though I’m getting some of my own furniture as well, which is where I’m coming into some shopping trouble.

So I’ve been going to WalMart lately and have been passing this “Off to College” section they’ve rolled out that has bedding, bathroom stuff, mirrors, lamps, kitchen equipment, and some furniture. And I’ve been walking past these storage ottoman things… and yeah. Now I have two of them. In purple. With micro-suede. Mmmm. So nice. But I love them! A fifteen inch cube you can put stuff in! It’s brilliant! And they’re comfy! So yeah… that’s what I got.

Then after I brought these home, my mom remembered she had some gift cards that Bed Bath & Beyond gave her when she was buying wedding presents for a relative’s wedding. She said I can have them! So I’ve been stuck in the Bed Bath & Beyond website for two days, browsing through all the stuff they have. It’s awesome! Problem is, I don’t know how much is on the gift cards yet. Probably not very much, so we’ll see what I can actually get. (Instead of that nice $130 bookshelf, settle with $20 in throw pillows or something.)

Well, I’m still thrilled to be moving back to school! As predicted, I’m getting tired of being stuck in the ‘rent’s house. College, here I come!!! Again… !!!

EDIT: I just found out, you can totally play tic-tac-toe on the top by “drawing” in the suede! Woohoo!