oh, the stress

Due to last week's storm, my plan was to go home this weekend. However, on Tuesday Karen went over everything we had to do for History and the upcoming show at City Hall, and by the end of class I'd decided not to go home until the end of term (the twenty-ninth).

Last Sunday I came down with a cold. However, said cold has been unbelievably mild, and I haven't missed a single day of work (which is very important right now).

Monday: This is where the Photoshop class breaks with that program: we're putting a magazine together in conjunction with the Nova Scotia Community College's photography program, using Adobe InDesign (a layout program). It'll be published via MagCloud, and could possibly become an annual thing. The magazine will be available as a PDF download (free), and as a hard copy magazine ($$). This is a two-week project, and we're to have a mock-up done for this coming Monday.

Each of the students has six pages to play with, and we're to include a bio and artist statement as well. I'm using four of the photos from the Holga assignment from back in the fall (a photo of the stop sign at the corner of Brunswick and Church Sts., with Cathedral Memorial Hall in the distance; a photo of Church St. taken across from Christ Church Cathedral; a photo of King St. from the block in between Carlton and Regent Sts.; and a double exposure of NBCCD and the Barracks), which I scanned on Thursday morning with Drew's help (he even installed the software for the studio's scanner on my computer).

Tuesday: Here's where things started to fly out of control. The morning class was okay, and I even managed to get my homework done right then. However, during History, Karen went over everything we have to have done for her in the next two weeks, including both stuff for History and for the show at City Hall. Oof. The next two weeks are going to be one heck of a roller-coaster ride. However, I'm not alone: all the students (both FVAs and first- and second-year diploma students) are feeling the crunch.

Wednesday: This week, Re-Presenting Ideas wasn't so much a class as it was a group meeting to talk about our projects, and the photography program as a whole. Peter put us into two groups, left the room--and the students discussed the photography program, and how it can be improved.

When he came back in, we went over the things that had come up. He also asked us how we were doing. My main issue as of Tuesday is end-of-year stress and time management, which I mentioned. Peter reassured me and the rest of the class that he's there for us, and if we're having problems and need to talk/vent, he's one of the people we can go to.

This week, the Professional Practice class overlapped with prep for the show at City Hall: our assignment is to create a poster (11"x17") and an invitation (5"x 7"). Since the City Hall show is coming up and Karen wants us to make our own individual invitations for it, Peter decided that the invitations/posters should be for that show. Oh, and said class was a field trip to the UNB Art Centre (to meet one of the guys who works there, who's a former Photog).

Since we ended early, I took the opportunity to print some photos on cotton sateen for my independent study project. Hour-and-a-half = done (three photos).

Thursday: Workworkwork. All day. That morning I scanned the negatives for the InDesign assignment, and since I'd never used the photo studio's scanner, I had Drew help me out. Not only did he help me, but he put the (free, downloadable) software on my computer. So I can now hook up my laptop to the studio's scanner and scan to my heart's content.

Late in the afternoon, I had a photo-shoot at Backstreet Records (for the "shopkeeper" assignment for History), which is a music store about a block from the school. And when they say "records," they mean "records": pretty much all that's sold there is vinyl. I signed out two of the studio flashes, umbrellas, and related gear a few hours before the shoot, and then lugged everything over shortly before five.

Eric (my "model") was really cool to work with, and we talked music throughout the shoot. Since there are music posters and stickers everywhere there, I made sure to use them in my photos. This was my first time using the studio flashes outside the studio, so I had to pretty much relearn how to use the flashes. But neither of us minded.

I actually find the studio too predictable and easy sometimes. Yes, learning how to get the results that I want has taken a lot of work (I'm just now getting the hang of it--just when the year is winding down), but at the same time it has that air of predictability, which I don't always like. What I really like is using natural light as often as possible because it's so unpredictable: there could be some gorgeous light at 5:00 PM--but it might be gone by 5:10 PM.

Friday: My group is almost done the furniture project--one more week should do it. Next week is the presentation, and I still need to pump out a few hundred more words in notes.

After class I peeled the backing from, and ironed the photos that I'd printed on Wednesday before meeting Mom for lunch (I was supposed to go home this weekend, remember). After our visit, I went back to work until about seven, including printing my tablau vivant for the City Hall show (which has been aptly titled tablau).

This weekend I'm pretty much living at the college, working on assignments (I'm heading over after I take a shower) and listening to the opera (there are some things that I will not compromise. This week's opera is Le Comte Ory by Rossini, with Juan Diago Flórez in the title role. **swoons**). All I need now is a Therm-a-Rest, sleeping bag, pillow, toiletries and a change of clothes--and then I could actually stay overnight (now that would be an experience).

PS: After a couple of years of thinking about it, I'm now the proud owner of a point 'n' shoot camera! Thanks, Tom!

PPS: Good luck, FVAs! As a reminder, during the next couple of weeks, please remember to BREATHE (a reminder that I think we all could use right about now)! And though I'm stressed right now, I'm still cheering you on--I remember what it was like last year (one word: PORTFOLIO).

The to-do list that I taped to my dorm-room door. The blank spaces are for assignments/assessments that haven't been talked about yet. This was one of the first photos that I took with my new camera (this is actually a cropped version).