aaron schwab

when i have a day rife with little thoughts and observances that i think would fit well into a long-overdue blog post and then promptly lose my day-long train of thought when i get a chance to sit down with a blank slate/new post screen. i’ll get an iPhone one of these days and rectify this problem, i’m sure — or perhaps someone will invent an alternative to blogging that’s more spontaneous, spur-of-the-moment and intuitive. oh, right.

anyways, my main over-arching issue of late has been the hunt for a new car. a new used car, more specifically and, if i can get more specific still, one that will last me for longer than my poor van has. i’ve come to realize a bit of a love-hate relationship between my van and myself; no matter how much it still smells like cigarette smoke and no matter how on the brink of mechanical failure it’s constantly teetering, i feel as though i’ll miss it in some capacity. though i’m sure that’ll be outweighed by the ease and joy of driving a newer vehicle, the van is and was my first vehicle, after all, and it’s helped me out in many ways (it’s fucked up royally a number of times too, but i’m trying to forget that.) that said, i’ve test-driven eight different vehicles in the past few days and am going to look at a ninth, which seems like it’ll end up being the most promising of the bunch, tomorrow afternoon.

on an art-related note, i spent a good chunk of today riding shotgun to and from Toronto and Mississauga with Joe on a couple different errand runs, and we talked up and down about the concept and execution of various art projects that have the cognitive wheels turning for the both of us. i can say with confidence that i have about four distinct projects i want to bring to fruition this year, or at least begin work on. it’ll feel nice to start laying the groundwork for them as the weather gets warmer closer to the spring. hopefully i can independently publish a coffee table book of at least one of them. nothing’s satisfying quite like seeing the result of a labour of love become something tangible and shareable.

okay, perhaps not quite. i am, however, super stoked on my new LX3 which just came in, as well as on making photos with the 6×6 Kiev/Hasselblad knockoff that Joe is presently lending to me. i’m also excited over the fact that i’m excited over two drastically different cameras for different reasons; a compact digital point-and-shoot with the option to automate every aspect of its operation, and a fully manual (right down to the aperture blades) medium format SLR that predates most people i know. naturally, both cameras demand different methods and techniques of shooting, and i’m excited to see how differently each shapes my style. soon enough, Joe and i will be sending a package of 120 film (and some 35mm black and white film, if i ever get around to running it through my Pen EES) to a lab in Mississauga that processes both.

as for the LX3, i obviously haven’t gotten it out into the world for a proper first use, but i did test out a few of its features at home tonight. i won’t ramble on about them, but suffice to say i’m impressed with the macro capability. (that’s f/2 @ 1/6, ISO 80. and that’s the start and end of my tech babble for tonight.)

tonight was also the first art history night of the year that Joe hosted at his place — it’s Joe’s intention and desire to host a get-together at his house on the last Saturday evening of every month for at least this year, during which everyone he works with and their friends/family/significant others are welcome to attend an art history lesson, taught by Joe himself and featuring colour slides of samples from whichever art era we’re discussing that night. also, featuring Joe’s homemade coffee (Joe’s joe, if you will.) tonight’s lesson focused a little on impressionism as a counterpoint to realism and how both compare to each other. it was really nice to attend and felt refreshing; it’s as if i’m taking a class (and in an informal way, i am) about something i’m actually interested in, without the confines of a curriculum or a rubric or marks. hated school i did, but i love learning.

James and i recently had the privilege to see Between The Buried And Me at the Opera House on guest passes (and a photo pass, in my case) from Load magazine. James had clearance to interview Tommy from BTBAM and i to shoot the band’s set, both with the aim of putting together a cover story for the next issue of Load. Load is a fairly young publication that would definitely benefit from some momentum behind it, but it feels nice to contribute to that momentum, which is a task that wasn’t as easy as i thought it would be in this latest instance.

when i picked up my photo pass at the door, i was swiftly told the regulations of “first 15 minutes, no flash.” the first 15 minutes was no problem, but the no flash put a bit of a damper on my plans (colour me foolish, as i know most large venues don’t allow flash photography, but i’ve seen flash used at the Opera House before, so perhaps i’m only half ignorant.) also, there was no crowd barrier, which sucked a little for me. i ended up in the middle of the pit, a meter from the edge of the stage, with my camera and 12-24/4 held above head level, trying not to let it get crowdsurfed into. thankfully, BTBAM was generously spotlit from the front, so i think i got away with a couple dozen gems at f/4 and ISO 1600.

it’s safe to say i understand why some ace concert photographers pack their bags with f/2.8 and faster glass, and it’s something i’d love to equip myself with in the middle of a dark, backlit set (along with an FX body with unnecessarily high ISOs, but i’m in fantast land here.)

i’m getting really tired of important devices and pieces of machinery shitting the bed on me — first my phone decided to stop working and then my computer’s power supply went (which was probably a sign.) i was able to score an old Blackberry from a friend to substitute for my malfunctioning phone and a $40 power supply from Computer XS. my van, however, simply isn’t starting right now. it’s not that it’s stalling; it’s that the engine isn’t even turning over. no revs or anything. looks like it’ll probably be new car time sooner than i originally thought.

on the upside, i’m stoked on a few photography-related happenings. aside from my website nearing completion, i’ve got a 6×6 medium format SLR sitting at my place to play with, on loan from Joseph. it’s pretty neat-looking; the brand name (translated into English) is Kiev, and it looks like a Hasselblad knockoff. i’ve never used medium format film before, so i’m excited to set it up for some portraits or landscapes to test the waters of it with soon. i’ll obviously post the results once i get a roll or two through it.

after another five hours under Jeremy’s needle at Tall Ship, my rib piece is finally done. the outline was done on the third rose to start off before the shading and colour on all three roses got finished. a huge wave of (relative) relief came over me when he finished up on my ribcage and waist and did the flower that spills onto my back; i got to lay on my stomach with my face through the massage table’s face-hole and everything.

right now, i feel like a complete bag of shit — the feeling of getting tattooed needs no explanation to those with tattoo work on their body; on the other hand, it’s almost imposible to explain the sensation to someone who’s never gotten one. i can, however, accurately describe that i feel as though i have a full-body hangover, and nothing seems more appealing than a warm blanket and sleep. the last thing i want to think about right now is getting tattooed in the future, but that’ll change right around in a week or two when i’m no longer feeling like someone stuck sewing needles into my thorax and left them there.

enough about how much the ribs suck — the finished result looks unbelievable. the camera portrait is just as it was before aside from a couple outlines that Jeremy went over to make it stick out from the roses more, and the roses look, well, like Jeremy’s roses. they’re huge and with plenty of leaves around them, and they totally pop. they’re done in somewhat of a traditional “Sailor Jerry”-esque style, but the purple and yellow detail in them looks great.

i didn’t want to post a picture of it here before taking the bandage off tomorrow morning, but i suppose i’ll put one from my phone up (but not onto Facebook!):

now, to get back to editing and eating and sleeping. cheers!

i’ve spent the past couple of days at Joseph’s place taking care of camera-related miscellany – packing bags for grad shooting, testing and cleaning cameras and lenses, et cetera. among the D100 bodies that Joseph recently plucked off of eBay was one that curiously came with a 2GB CF card. even more curious was the fact that it had someone’s leftover images on it. after checking the EXIF data on them, i immediately figured the camera was used by someone who had no clue how to use it, then sold it without bothering (or knowing how) to clear the card. all of the shots were taken at 1/8 second at between f/22 and f/27 and ISO 200. fortunately, the files were NEFs, so i was able to recover what i think is an astonishing amount of data from them. here’s a before and after of one of the files:

i had no idea NEFs could be brought back to life so much from an almost-black frame (the files still look like hell, mind you, but it’s quite the improvement.) the other photos showed the face of the dude sitting on the ground there, but somehow, i don’t feel like posting those right away. the condition of the room, coupled with its electronic contents, make me wonder if the gear pictured is stolen goods. the D100 these were taken on might very well be as well, the fact 15 pictures like these were taken haphazardly and then the camera discarded only serving to strengthen that suspicion. i wonder!

other than that bit of dead-end sleuthing, Joe and i did a little Ken-style lens battling today — we got out the collection of old lenses and camera bodies that he recently acquired on eBay and set up outside on a tripod to make sure everything worked okay. there were a couple old FE and Nikkormat cameras and a bunch of old lenses that all worked perfectly well, even though some had serious battle scars (a 35mm f/2 AI that looks like it’s been golfed with and a pre-AI 105mm f/2.5 that was missing its focus ring grip entirely.)

there’s something sublimely satisfying about taking the time to properly meter for and manually focus a 35mm or medium format SLR and i can’t wait to do some portraiture projects with either or — i have tonnes of ideas for them and i’d like for it to get warmer out now, please and thanks.

even though it’s just another year, arriving right on schedule, it seems weird that we’ve passed a decade since 2000/Y2K/MM. lots has changed since then, both globally and personally, so it makes me wonder what lies in store for 2010/Y2KX/MMX and beyond.

before i dredge up last year’s highlights, i’d like to start off by congratulating Chris for hosting the best new year’s party i’ve been to (i originally anticipated a “small friend gathering,” but the two dozen or so attendees qualified it as a “party,” i guess.) lots of food and drinks for the taking, lots of good company (and a tiny amount of annoying company,) lots of good conversation and a display of singing/guitar playing/songwriting mastery from Dan. Cagney and i got home late last night and slept through most of today’s daylight, finally getting up at two in the afternoon. pictures from last night off of my usual camera will be up once my Windows machine raises from the dead, but i managed to get a couple masterpieces out of my phone camera:

before i get to my list of aspirations for 2010 (which is a much cooler way of saying i’m arbitrarily refreshing my list of resolutions simply because the calendar year changed,) i’ll recap on 2009’s resolutions and how i fared:

exercise more – about par for the course in a quantitative sense; probably a slight improvement in a qualitative sense, likely because of the stairs in our building.

get tattooed more – this happened twice. though my half sleeve by Travis at Thrive Studios still remains as is (and will hopefully go full this year,) Corey at Way Cool (now at Adrenaline in Toronto) did my sacred pizza and Jeremy at Tall Ship started my Nikon/roses rib piece this past week. fun fact: all three tattoo artists who’ve worked on me are Way Cool Kitchener alumni. coincidence? ironic?

(in the same vein as tattooing, i finally got my nose pierced this past October, fulfilling my desire to have something done facially — in my opinion, the one that would suit me best.)

a band – Phineas Gage dissolved early in the year and the budding project between myself, Anuj and Kyle never went anywhere due to priorities, finances, schedule juggling and such. though i don’t know if a rock-oriented project is something i’ll find my self a part of in the new year, Anuj and i, along with my OG bandmate Matt, have found places as the backing band for Kelly Preto, whom Anuj has played backing guitar for for some time now. my gigging total with Kelly stands at three as of now — an outdoor volunteer event this past July, a night at the Victoria Park Boathouse and a private function at the 360 restaurant at the CN Tower. playing with Kelly is awesome and i hope to keep doing it; it’s exactly the amount of musical commitment i’m comfortable with right now, given other goings-on, and Kelly is an amazing singer and great friend whom i’m happy to support.

take a road trip with Cagney – this happened at the beginning of August, and also included Chris and Mel for a four-day stay in Montréal. [1 2 3] even though the trip wasn’t anywhere out of Canada or anything, it’s the most fun i’ve had on such a holiday, and i shared it with three of the most important people to me.

photo projects – i definitely upped my shooting volume in 2009 with Paul and Laura’s wedding, live bands, promotional photos, models and casual snapping. i’ve been brimming with project ideas that i can’t wait to get to once the weather becomes a little more conducive to outdoor photo work.

reading list – er, i’m not going to touch this one; suffice to say, i read a book called Fuck this past year.

now, a few goals for 2010 (equal parts fantasy and foreseeably achievable):

finish rib tattoo – this one will get a big, fat check mark after January 13 (yes, putting this on this list is cheating.)

skydive, finally – no “not enough time” or “too expensive” this year; i want to fly, so i’m going to fly.

more photo projects – because people pay me to, but — more importantly — because i want to make great images. i can think of a handful of specific people i want to make portraits of this year, and i see no reason why i shouldn’t call them up to ask them to pose.

increase usage frequency of (and become more adept at) film – 35mm colour and black and white, large format view camera, medium format, rangefinder usage. i’m lucky to have a close friend and incredibly competent teacher in my “boss” Joseph, and i can’t wait to share art and wisdom between the two of us over 2010.

vegetarianism – this may require a consultation with a nutritionist so as not to inadvertently deprive myself of X, Y and Z nutrients, but the ideal of not consuming meat is too strong to ignore (as delicious as Jack Links’ beef jerky is.) if i can execute this over the following year, maybe i’ll get really ambitious and put “veganism” on my 2011 list; who knows!

new computer – i can’t deny my desire to join the cult of Apple in practice as well as in theory, plus i need a new machine for work (and, yeah, for play.) money is constantly being squirreled away, so we’ll see how this goes come summer. i have some faith that the Intel i5/i7 processors recently put into the new generation of iMacs will trickle down into the Macbook Pro models this year, which gives me motivation to wait and save.

continue being awesome to Cagney – well, dug; i love the girl (and of course she deserves mention on this list!)

i’m sure i’ll amend this list if i think of more, but i’m looking forward to new achievements in 2010. i suppose i should mention some top points and best-of moments of 2009:

overall highlights of 2009 – moving in with Cagney, adding Rodney to our lives, visiting Dan’s cottage at Lake Simcoe in May, visiting Sauble Beach on an unusually cold July day, helping Joseph transform his hayloft from a pile of chaos into a functional storage unit and future project area and making a timelapse of the labour, photo-taking in general.

2009 music review – no new Glassjaw album yet.

2009 movies review – Star Trek: Star Wars Edition.

(i realize i’m slacking on the music and movies points, but c’mon — i bought two CDs in 2009 because i’m poor or cheap or something and i’ve avoided downloading a tonne of music this past year for some reason or another. it’s not a moral qualm at all, nor is it a lack of desire to hear new music. maybe it’s hard drive space restrictions, who knows. i’ll get on that more this year, though. as for movies, i simply needn’t say more.)

this post has dragged on long enough, i’m sure. i’m looking forward to hanging out with Cagney and Rodney for the rest of the evening, hopefully sliding Wii Tennis or I Love You, Man into the mix somewhere.

i could live on the stuff, really; even just the stovetop stuff. it was a welcome sight on the dinner table at Cagney’s folks’ place this Giftmas and an equally welcome sight in a leftovers margarine container.

the rest of the Giftmas/Christmas holiday went fantastic. after spending the night at my parents’ place (the first time i’ve done so since my bed hasn’t been in it) and waking up to Xmas morning with them, i drove to meet Cagney at her parents’ place in Stratford, where gifts were generously exchanged and food and desserts were consumed with joy. we ended up staying there until yesterday afternoon, which made for a nice little visit. it’s a cozy house full of good food made by a family i’m grateful to feel welcomed by. also, there’s something satisfying about being able to lounge in pyjamas and my brand new purple housecoat for a few days on end; it’s a luxury i’m not often afforded!

even though the season isn’t only about material goods since Giftmas is entirely about material goods, i was glad to see the gifts i gave go over well with their recipients, and i’m delighted with what people ended up giving me. my family, girlfriend and girlfriend’s family are all super considerate! among the gag gifts which i actually find practical (a banana guard and Virgin Mary holy toast stamp) and underwear, socks and marzipan were a few books i’ve been looking forward to, two of which were inspired by websites and/or the internet in general:

(that’s Chase Jarvis’ The Best Camera Is The One That’s With You, The Visual Miscellaneum and Juxtapoz Tattoo. not pictured is my big, fat, heavy, hardcover copy of Photo-Wisdom: Master Photographers And Their Art.)

i’m psyched to read through all of these, to say nothing of the paperbacks i have still to mow through (to say even less of the books i still have on order.)

all in all, this Giftmas/Christmas/Xmas/Festivus was my best to date, due in large part to the company i was around. new year’s should prove to be fun, and tomorrow should prove to be a blast in itself, albeit a painful one …

the holiday season is upon us again and everyone has different traditions based on what they believe in and celebrate at this time of year.

Giftmas is a time for reflection and spending time with family, friends and loved ones. also, it’s a time for celebrating the birth of Santa and for buying useless shit for the people you love (as long as it’s pretty; if it’s not pretty, it better be useful, but then you’ll be labeled the “practical one” and thought of as boring. and someone will probably get you socks.)

if you’re still shopping for Giftmas presents on today — Giftmas eve — then i feel sorry for you. if you finished your Giftmas shopping in October, then i probably think you’re a little strange, but it’s only because i’m envious for not having thought of doing that myself (well, we’ve all thought of it, then “i’ll do it next week” came to mind. granted, i finished over a week ahead of the screaming deadline, so everyone stuck in a mall today at five in the evening can eat my dust.)

last but not least, let’s all rejoice with our favourite songs of the season, both traditional and modern (yes, Josh Freese is a classical composer in my books. and in your books.)

merry Giftmas to all, and to all a good night!

my Samsung cell phone, after countless drops, finally shit the bed today. it was fine last night, but this morning, three buttons decided to stop working and the screen started cutting out. after going into Rogers and refusing to spend $84 on a new handset, i put out a desperate tweet calling on anyone looking to get rid of a Rogers phone. i figured i could toss someone a few bucks for an old phone they might have laying around, but i lucked out when my old high school friend Ash sent me a facebook message offering me her old BlackBerry Curve 8310. i snatched it up from her this afternoon with a surplus of gratitude, popped my SIM and micro SD cards into it and, presto — it works perfectly, and is in flawless condition, to boot. it’s definitely worlds better than paying for a base-level phone. the only downside as of right now is the fact that, well, i own a BlackBerry.

(i also got Jesse to put a ring into my nostril piercing in place of the original stud on Tuesday, as you can sort of see here.)

i’m seriously jonesing for my phone contract to expire next summer so i can upgrade to whatever the newest iPhone is (4G?) but this Curve will work better than just fine for the time being. my BlackBerry grudge is pretty much totally ceremonial and only comes along with my growing affinity for Apple stuff. still, it was a pleasant surprise for Ash to pull through for me like this, and in remarkable time.

with the exception of the cheesy Christmas photos i took for James and Kiera tonight, this is the first time in a long time that i don’t have any photo editing on my immediate plate. i feel like i need to come up with some chores to do for tomorrow to fill time with productivity instead of loafing around (though i might loaf a little, but only if i finish all of my Christmas shopping for sure.)

other than my new little gadget, i ended up having a nice little visit and hour-plus long chat with Rob at his office today, which always happens when i stop in to give him a cheque or piece of malfunctioning technology, so that felt nice. i really ought to catch up with Rob more, seeing as he’s my webmaster and also a really solid dude all around.