Day 6 of 365

Between Hotels, campsites, and the open road 2 things remain constant.  My camera is always glued to my hip and coffee is always the second thing I reach for as I roll out of bed.  More often then not it is shit coffee, sorry McDonalds but your coffee tastes like watered down burnt hair.  Luckily for me this was one of the more decent cups I had on my last trip, I conjured it up in a hotel in Wyoming.  I doubled the coffee grounds and used some powdered cream and sugar and I was pretty surprised how much better it was then any of the roadside coffees I had in days prior.  Funny how you can remember the little things because they make such a big difference in your day.  And thats just it for me the little things almost always lead to bigger things.  Even things like taking the time to make my bed lead me to a more productive day.  I'm letting my small daily goals lead me to bigger things.  

JUST START DOING forget how small the task it, trust me it will lead to something bigger.  

DAY 3 of 365

Today is a twofer I took a couple photos for fun. 

The hat featured below is a product from Lemon Creek Creative, a company a buddy and myself started.  We marinated on the idea of starting a visual branding collective for just around a year.  After our ideas for the most part stayed the same we figured this was something we really couldn't sit on any longer.  So far Lemon Creek consists of 3 photographers myself, @uparts and @instabaeth.  We also have a couple designers we are working with and some guest writers.  What we do as a business is work together internationally to obtain work in more ground and we create visual stories and content for brands.  We are a community of creatives that flat out get shit done.  If I have a shoot for a brand and I need help ordering the photos or creating a story board I can reach out to one of the members and vice versa if they need help with an invoice or contract they will reach out to me.  As Lemon Creek progresses it is redefining my idea of a competitive market, I think it shows a fractured and inaccurate view of the creative industry as a whole.  Everything from movies, to marketing and fashion doesn't need to be a competition.  There is enough room for every single brand out there, every photographer out there etc.  I firmly believe that.  I know I am not the best photographer in the world let alone the best in this state, but I don't seem to scrutinize myself when looking at other peoples work anymore.  Instead I just admire what their work and consider it homework for my creative journey.  My creative journey will be defined by progression, my own personal satisfaction and my ability to deliver a top notch product not if I am number 1 number 2 or if I am dead last.  It just feels good to be pushing forward just for the sake of the process.    

@LEMONCREEKCREATIVE

Day 2 POV

Next to meeting new people and traveling hiking is one of my favorite pass times.  Hiking alone helps me clear my mind unfortunately the more I hike in my home town (Wolcott, Ct) the more trails I find littered and closed down.  It really baffles me how difficult it is to find any form secluded hiking in Connecticut.  If its not a state park it is usually illegal which is sad and if its part of the Appalachian trail in CT there are usually a good amount of people there.  Hiking is an escape for me the seclusion helps me think about one thing and that is hiking,  and I really enjoy that mental break.  I have been blessed to have a trail in my home town that is relatively empty most of the time and it has been very accessible to me and my friends over the past 10 years.  Over the past 3 years we have seen the number of visitors and the amount of trash sky rocket.  Finally the inevitable day came the trail is now gated up, still plastered with no trespassing signs and the newest addition it is officially a tow zone.  So if you park at the service entrance to the trail you will be towed and prosecuted for criminal trespassing.  Unfortunately for the DEP this is my favorite place in the entire world, and it only took me about 20 minutes to find an alternative entrance.  I have camped, swam, hiked almost daily in the summer, and even taken routine trash pickups on this trail over the past 10 years.  Excuse my french but I can give 2 fucks if you give me a thousand tickets for trespassing on this land.  I believe if you love and care about something it is your duty to see it get what it deserves.  I don't think the DEP guy who sits in his truck and never gets out to hike the trail really cares about this area.  I also doubt he has hiked there as much as I have or picked up as much trash as I have.  There are somethings in life you just can give up and this spot is one of them for me.  I took this picture yesterday on my trip to find an alternative route into the trail.  It was a twice as long as the usual hike about 4 miles each way but I saw tons of wildlife and that will never get old to me.  I wish I could propose a solution to this problem but I think making this a state park would only ruin the land further.  I think maybe making it a private park with seasonal permits with a hefty price would deter a large quantity of people from going there but would ensure that people that really love this place willing to pay for there visitation and for maintenance may be the best solution to getting rid of the legal and literally issues this trail has.   

 

How to find your Dream job.

I understand myself more and more when I face adversity.  I know I am not where I want to be right now in my life but I know everyday I wake up and I push myself to progress.  If I wasn't struggling I wouldn't be progressing.  If things are really easy in your life right now trust me you are not progressing and that to me sucks a lot more than struggling.  I've been in that place before and it was the shittiest feeling not knowing what I wanted to do with my life and I still have so much of my career path open to change.   Whether I get into photography, media, marketing or anything along this creative path I know I will be happy if I am challenging myself.  I didn't come into photography as a career I wanted.   I just had a genuine interest in making cool memories while traveling so I can fill shoe boxes with photos to look back on.  While I was traveling I remember pushing myself so hard to find a career where I could make something tangible.  It didn't work, I thought opening a distillery was my answer after reading a few instructional books I thought that I could do that, then when I got home I realized I just like drinking whiskey not making it.  The whole time the answer was staring me right in the face and it might be for you as well.  At that time I was spending all my time taking photos in total ignorance of my love for photography.  My camera literally never left my hip, and it still doesn't.  

 

If you you have no idea what you want to do with your life don't worry thats a blessing in disguise.  That means you have the freedom to do whatever you want right now just as long as your willing to face some adversity and get out of your comfort zone.  For me once I found what I wanted to do I was able to identify what lead me there in 3 steps.  

1.  Be a yes man/woman.  Start saying yes to going to places, and doing things with people that you might not hang out with everyday.  (Don't be done with this one no drugs, no drug dealers I mean good people and fun and different opportunities.)  This may lead you to some boring events but trust me it will lead to more amazing experiences. 

 

2. Recognize what you spend most of your time doing.  If you like painting eggs every night well odds are you'd be really happy being a professional egg painter.  (Yes its a real career look it up)  This goes for turtle walker, kazoo player, or wine connoisseur, if you spend your time doing it odds are there is a career for you out there.  If it hasn't been done create the career yourself that is how our society advances.  

 

3. Travel, Travel Travel.                                                                                                                        I know travel is expensive I travel a couple times a year and it is not easy.  I work manual labor jobs in the summers to afford traveling and I budget my money.  Stop spending $100 at the bar every weekend and put your hard earned money to a good use.  Save every penny you can and don't let money leak out.  That means no $3 dollar coffee every morning until you can save up about $2000 dollars for a trip.  The key to learning through travel is going alone.  There is no more immediate way to understand yourself, what you love and what you absolutely hate then traveling alone, on a budget.  It pushes you to go out of your way to meet new people.  You realize so much of what you take for granted, and it makes you realize just how much you love your friends and family.  My last piece of advice for this don't go to a resort that is not travel that is like drinking at your local mall except your local mall probably isn't by a beach or blue water.  Finally travel for as long as you can afford, 7 days isn't long enough to understand what makes you happy in life, and if it is you are one lucky person.  

 

This is just what works for me so if it doesn't work for you I'm sorry.  

Below features photos involving some of my biggest interests.

Don't be the Victim.

      When faced with adversity often times people take the easy route or avoid the struggle.  I am hear to tell you that if you want any meaningful success in life this is the exact opposite of what you should do.  The struggles I have faced in my life have been very minimal compared to many people but when I stopped saying I can't do this or this isn't fair and I switched my mindset to this has to get done and it will get done, it has always gotten done.  Every struggle since has been a progression.  I compare it to building muscle, without any struggle or any resistance you will never build any muscle.  If you want joy in your life you are going to have to put yourself through meaningful work.  In our society we value jobs that are the most difficult to obtain, if we say the exact opposite we have no value for the easiest jobs.  This to me means we do not have true value for anything that comes too easy.  My life up to this point has been about aligning my interests with a career I value, and hopefully in return this will lead to joy.  Which I believe it will because I am more than excited to wake up every single day.  One of my biggest tools for motivation has been my parents.  The adversity of growing up fatherless is something that really pushed me in my high schools years and is now something that is motivating me in an entirely different way.  What I find of value in adversity is working through the struggle not just accepting it and letting it consume you.  Ex. A child's father is an Alcoholic so instead of striving to avoid this addiction they accept that it is inevitable and proceed to become an alcoholic anyways.  Nothing is 100% guaranteed in the life except death so do not accept playing the victim and do not accept permanent failure.  To avoid this I make small goals daily on top of bigger goals weekly, monthly, and yearly.  Do not accept the weaknesses people place upon you instead recognize your strengths and build upon those.  I can't tell you how many times my best photos have come from shooting almost identical photos over and over again and making slight changes over several months.  Lastly don't accept what politicians tell you daily, that you deserve everything to be handed to you.  No matter how rich, or how poor your parents are no matter what advantages somebody has been handed, and no matter what things you are missing you cannot fake WORK.  The Universe only lets you deserve one thing and that is what you work for.  Find a way and go demand what you work for.  

Failing in New York.

Last Sunday my friends and I spent our Saturday night in with hopes of progressing individual interests and skills in New York the following day.  We woke up at 6am that Sunday, went to breakfast and got on the road to LES Skatepark in lower east side Manhattan.  I spend most day trips like this taking a ridiculous amount of photos but this time I decided to focus on shooting Video.  I am a complete beginner when it comes to video which is a bit in contrast to my photography habits.  I would say I am an intermediate when it comes to photography but when it comes to video I am totally a beginner and that scares me. A couple weeks ago I was afraid to go back to being a beginner at something.  I felt it would make my image as a photographer look bad.  Despite my fears I took the risk and bought Adobe Premiere a video editing software essential in processing my videos.  This introduced another learning curve but after learning a few features it became an exciting process.  I shot about 90% video in New York that Sunday and a bout 10% photos.  I tried several times to make a finished product look good for a video, but I ended up with 4 videos that were totally lacking essential pieces to the equation.  The shots were mainly way too shaky, way to close to the subject, and several other things.  The video I tried to produce was a failure, but not a total failure.  I learned that next time I need to shoot at a wider focal length, and I need to use something to stabilize my camera for video.  

     What I took from this.  Failure is good, without failure you cannot learn, and with out learning you cannot succeed.  If you can identify great work you most likely have good taste you just don't have the skills yet to achieve that great finished product yet.  My advice to anyone struggling with learning anything, "Create as much shit work as possible and keep learning because,  it will lead to better work and then eventually great work."  Like Malcolm Gladwell says "10,000 Hours".  

Since the video didn't go so well here are some of the few photos I took last Sunday. 

Waiting to be processed.

Back in February I had to photograph some of the hardest things I have ever had to take pictures of.  Life and death has a weird relationship especially when it comes to photographing the loved ones left behind.  People don't like to be photographed when they are morning and trust me I don't enjoy photographing it.  It feels invasive, rude, and disrespectful to name a few aspects of photographing such events but to me it is essential.  Not photographing Death is like cutting off the end of a documentary and in the simplest way I can put it Not photographing death is ignoring a huge part of life.  Without death life would lose a part of its meaning, and if we lived forever we'd probably take everyday for granted.   I didn't photograph every aspect of my friend Dustin's passing.  There are times when the camera shouldn't be present and there are moments in life where you just need to take the moment for what it is and be there for the people you love.  There are also times where we need to remember in order to learn, in order to love, and in order to grow.  This is one of those times.

I chose to shoot most of those moments in film because for me film seems to be something left behind, but we remember it for its nostalgia and its appealing colors.  There are people and times I wont forget, these moments featured below are exactly that.  Photographs burned into my mind forever with people I wont forget.  Go D.

The Importance of Collaboration and Community.

Yesterday a friend and photography mentor David Apuzzo http://davidapuzzo.com/ asked me to come out for one of his lifestyle shoots and take some photos for myself.  I often shoot lifestyle but I don't often shoot with female models or in a city, regardless I knew it would be a great learning experience.  Watching somebody like David shoot is really magic because he never stresses when he is using his camera and it almost feels like a dance between himself and his subject.  David also knows a ton about the business side of photography a particular part of photography I am not as well versed in.  On that note I am a firm believer that you can not grow if you don't constantly get out of your comfort zone for me thats weddings and business.  The other principle I believe in for growth is collaboration and through community we can find such collaborations.  I believe you can learn from somebody who is an expert like David and you can also learn from somebody with no skills what so ever because they may have an opinion that is in essence the most simple which lends a view resembling the average population.  Especially with photography I personally cannot progress unless I am collaborating in some way, I need critiques, I need social interaction with my camera and I need to push myself out of my comfort zone.  To sum the purpose of this blog up I heard a quote on a Ted talk this morning that went something like this, "Alone a hunter can only catch rabbits but together the hunters can kill elephants."  Now I am not one for hunting but to me this means you can either starve alone or live like a king if you work together.  Don't be an asshole artist who believes they have the secret to success, collaborate with people who have their own unique style and share tools to help them and yourself progress your style further. 

 

Davids Instagram:  @davidapuzzophoto

Model:  @SaraTray

Photos and editing done by @AtticusRadley

First or Last....never in between.

Now I am Warming by the fire...Here I am last man on the trail again, its just me and the swan.  I am either first or last but never in between.  I am stimulated by the coming and going of light.  Only once I immerse myself in the absence of humans and man made landscapes do I feel at home.  My responsibilities take a leave of absence as my thoughts seem to slowly creep into a creative state where nothing is forced.  Only ideas flow to me like the creek I am sitting beside...Lemon creek,  the endless battle with my brain in and out of social expectations.  The way she works makes me romanticize what it must be like to function like this daily.  Only just now am I scratching the surface of her perfect working environment.  I don't know specifically where it is but I can somewhat describe what it feels like.  You see my brain falls asleep my eyes sharpen with such a heightened sense of vision, emotions start to flood and thats when she comes out.  Its like every absolutely clear "AHA" moment I have had has come from a mellow only felt while being outside.  I wasn't made for a desk...as I transcribe the notes from my journal to my desktop.  I am a hypocrite by default.  Now I am warming by the fire.  

 

There is a level of risk that comes with chasing what you love.  At the end of the day you either hit your goals or you fall flat on your face, either way no one is going to hold your hand to success and I am slowly but surely realizing it is a solo journey 99% of the time.  

Up the coast for a day. (Portland, Maine)

     Last week with only a few days left of our spring break Meg and I headed up to Maine.  Although I had been to Maine I had never been to Portland and I heard it was good for photographs (it really wasn't) it is basically a small city...but the surrounding areas were amazing.  We are broke college students still so we decided to only stay one night which made me worried about having enough time to get content for myself as well as photographs for the company's I am working with.  The first day up there we couldnt find anywhere to shoot in Portland so I ended up with a whopping ZERO photos day 1.  Although I did end up with a full belly and I had the hands down best coleslaw I have ever had in my life at the Little Tap House restaurant.  Basically being in a food comma after dinner Meg and I made our way back to the hotel and got super drunk and watched Tarzan as I looked up photo locations for the next day.  Super awesome tip for how I found the locations listed below, Search the place you are looking to find photo spots at on Instagram  you are bound to find awesome scenic spots because people love to geo tag.  If the spot you find on instagram doesn't have an address look at it on google maps and try to distinguish where the photo spot is in relation to surrounding landmarks.  This really helped me for these spots below because some of the places I was looking to find didn't have addresses.  Other than that just hiking, exploring and shooting should eventually lead you to your own unique scenic places.  Yeah instagram can help but it does get pretty boring seeing 20 photos of antelope canyon and horseshoe bend shot in the exact same frame every single day.  On to Day 2 I woke up super sick with such a shitty head cold, but I wasn't going to leave Maine empty handed.  That day was freezing cold raining sideways and everything was iced over not to mention we only brought light jackets because we figured it couldnt be too much colder than Connecticut.  We hit 3 spots that day and I took about 2000 photos, and I shot about a roll and a half of film.  We also ate more seafood.  Needless to say we will be going back to Maine and hopefully for a bit of a longer trip.  The sea food was amazing,  the hotels was only $86 a night with tax split to $43 a person and you can easily find cheaper hotels.  Hope this helps anybody looking to get into photography, or just to explore some new spots.  

Here the restaurant we loved in Portland      http://www.littletaphouse.com/  

The Pennant that says "Explore" on it featured in the photos is for a photo collaboration I am working on with      http://oxfordpennant.com/

Work, Working alone, and Unlikely Projects.

Currently I am waking up to a small snow drift in the middle of Connecticut.  I am just about to head to Brooklyn for the day but I wanted to squeeze this Blog in before I head out.  Its about work, working alone and taking on unlikely projects.  I am a huge proponent of collaboration, I think photography itself completely relies on it. Whether you collaborate with people, objects, the land or the sunlight photography in itself is one large collaboration.  One thing I noticed since I have moved home is that I work alone a lot.  I have camped out twice alone, I have hiked several times at 4 am just to catch the sunrise and sometimes there was no sunrise at all but rather a thick sky full of grey clouds.  I know I have a drive and obsession over this medium that wont let me rest until I am creating work I am proud of, and unfortunately I am not there yet.  I don't want to end up only shooting wedding photography or photos of children in a school, I understand I may have to do that now to survive but eventually I want to end up working on Ad campaigns that reflect my personal work.  The struggle and the hustle isn't easy but I do thoroughly enjoy it.  It has really pushed me to work with more brands around the country and to take on jobs I would have never expected to be photographing.  Recently one of the videos I filmed was the opening clip on the show Tosh.0 which is a client I had never expected to have, doing work I never expected to do.  I am striving to push my everyday work to look like quality of the brands and photographers I admire, but I am also looking to keep my passion, and creative twist on my work.  Unfortunately this leads to me working alone a lot lately.  I take photos every single day no matter the situations so I really appreciate when I get to shoot with friends or other new subjects.  To end this on a good note, keep shooting, don't be afraid to work alone... a lot... nobody is going to hold your hand to success, say yes to things you normally wouldn't do and you'll be surprised what you will start coming up with.  

 

Dustin Paolino

“Every man's life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another.” 
― Ernest Hemingway

I read this quote and cant help but to reflect on my friend Dustin's life, who recently passed away.  Although the thought of Dustin comes up in my head several times a day I haven't let myself ponder the severity of the situation.  It's like I can't face the music I can't Imagine not seeing his face one last time without his smile coming back at me.  His laugh and voice are burned into my mind.  Even now just thinking of memories I don't know whether to laugh or cry, both of which I see as a correct response for someone who knew Dustin.  Dustin was the type of guy to be there for anyone who needed his help whether you were his friend or not I think he really prided himself on being able to help anybody.  Just to give you an example of what I am talking about, a group of about 14 of my friends went on a vacation together and the first night in the house I kicked a door down.  The next morning Dustin hid the broken bits of the door in his truck, we went to home depot bought all the stuff to put in a new door (A much bigger process than we realized) and in no time with Dustin leading the crew we had a door put in that looked better than the original.  Dustin's loyalty and guidance went far beyond this.  Every girlfriend trouble over the past 5 years he has listened to me bitch and calmed me down,  and I can't count on both hands how many times he has kept my ass out of trouble.  The memories go on and on and thats what I am going to hold onto and cherish.  The night of Dustins passing 2/6/16 was the last time I saw him, I had my camera on me but put it away early and unfortunately I didn't get his picture that night.  I guess that would have been my way of holding onto Dustin as he most currently was.   And in some sense photos are my way to cheat death, that until the day I die life can't take away the photos and the memories I have shared with the people I love.  The world lost a great man this week, and my friends and I lost a great jamming buddy, one whacky SOB, and most importantly a loyal friend.  You will forever be missed D wish we could have had one last ride together.  

The Morning Will Find You.

I watched a Ted talk this morning about a guy in his early 20's who decided to wake up at 4:30 AM for 21 days.  He did so because he wanted to be productive and he had found research that showed evidence that it takes 21 days to form a habit.  Coincidentally I have been thinking about taking a break from drinking and I think a month away from alcohol could really do a lot for my productivity.  With out alcohol mornings are a lot easier and I am quiet the morning person.  Mornings are when I am most productive for answering emails, and taking most of my photos.  So I guess the point of this blog is to highlight a method that I think is a big key to success which is "Eliminating Obstacles"  Right now in my life a lot of wasted time and money has been spent at the bar with friends and although it may be fun it is far from productive.  With that being said I am looking forward to a month of no alcohol and finding more productive means of entertainment.