Creative inspiration

For the last week or so, I've had this itch to do something creative. I can't seem to scratch the itch by writing, but I did hop on my bike and pedal around Santa Monica with my camera this evening.
It hasn't quite satisfied the itch, though - I feel like a lot of what I've been shooting lately is stuff I've shot before. Nothing new. I need to find something new to try, an idea that takes me in a new direction.I've been tempted to take a class on welding - I could see myself as one of those eccentric sculptors who welds giant piles of scrap metal into something hideous. I could use that as an excuse to surround myself with vast piles of junk. Wouldn't THAT be fun?

500!

I think most peeps who read this blog are aware of the 366:2008 project and my 365 project from last year. Yesterday, I passed a small milestone; my 500th day of shooting a photo a day. I posted the day's 500th photo(s) over on 366:2008, but I also made a little 50 second video with the 499 photos I shot before it.
499. from steve lyon on Vimeo.

Interview Time!

Maliavale graciously kept up her end of this interview bargain by sending me these questions. If you'd like me to do the same and interview you, please ask. As Maliavale so eloquently stated: "Them's the rules."

1. The eternal brunch question: Sweet (french toast, pancakes) or savory (eggs, burrito)?
Yes, please. And I'll take seconds on the french toast. And the eggs. Oh sweet Jesus, do I loves me some breakfast. Any time of the day. Pancakes, bacon, sausage, eggs, hash browns, croissants, breakfast burritos, waffles, omelets, crepes, fruit, bagels, TOAST, english muffins, bloody marys, and screwdrivers (with beer chasers).

2. Sudoku, crosswords or the word jumble?
First time I looked at Sudoku, I thought "Pfft! This is easy!" Then I looked at it again. Hey, this is not easy. I don't have the patience for that. Nor do I have the attention span for crosswords or word jumble.

3. What's one of your favorite earliest photos of yours, once you got into photography? Show us and tell why.
This isn't one of my earliest, but it is about 11 years old. I shot this picture on my first visit to Los Angeles, and while it's an odd shot, I love it. I was working at a photo lab where I got to do custom black and white printing at the time, and when I first saw this image on paper, I knew I loved it. So I immediately printed a full-frame 20"x30" of it that hung on my wall for years.

4. What has been your favorite nickname? Your least favorite?
Favorite nickname is... Dub. Started in college when I used to wear a Washington Senators baseball hat with a big red "W" on it. A friend started calling me "doubleyah", with a hard southern drawl, which got shortened to "Dub". I don't really have a least favorite nickname, but I dislike my full name: Stephen.

5. So you say you don't want kids, or at least don't know. What's up with that?
Oh, I know. Having children just doesn't interest me in the least. I know I'm firmly in the minority on this opinion, and I have no problem with other people having lots and lots of kids, but they're just not for me.

Artists At Work...

My pictures for Artists At Work were hung on Thursday. Following The Other Girl's suggestion, I went with a theme of parallel lines, and I think it turned out pretty well.
These are the pics I chose:

Artists At Work?

I got an email today from a fellow Machinery, Inc. employee telling me that I was picked to show some of my photography in a little mini-gallery. The setup is called "Artists At Work", and it consists of two small walls on three different floors in the TPS building that they've set up to exhibit art created by the creative folks at Machinery, Inc.

This leaves me with a little quandary... what pictures do I choose? I've told them I will be submitting six 8x10 prints for my section of wall. These are a few I've picked:






Thoughts? Opinions? I'll need to do some cleanup, color balancing, and cropping on these before I get them printed for the display, but I think they might work.

However... I'm open to suggestions. Help me out here, people!

Shootin'

I went out to shoot pictures late last night, and ended up near St. Anthony Falls and the Mill City Museum. Took about 75 pictures, ended up with 2 that I really like.

Click here to see my Flickr album with the rest of the pictures.

Fog.

Today was a foggy one in Minneapolis, and I was up in the middle of it at work. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays my office is in the TPS building, and I'm up on the 29th floor - up in the clouds on a day like today (click for larger):This picture looks a little bit like I felt today.

Rainy drive.

I went for a drive in the rain with my camera last night, and set it up on a tripod so that it was looking over my shoulder as I drove (click for larger).I like how the windshield wipers almost disappear. If you look close, you can see a slight shadow where they change direction at the top of the sweep. You can also see that I'm speeding a little, if you look close.