Be excited about learning; don't be weighed down by performance

"You will have to sign up for a university class" is what the bank's financial adviser told me when I'd asked to reactivate my student line of credit a few months back. I found that pursuing courses with a private school, however helpful or interesting, did not constitute "education" for the great bureaucracy...


Naturally, this left me feeling disappointed in our government's educational system rules and regulations. Who decided that photography or sound engineering weren't valid fields of study? A friend of mine was refused a loan for choosing Canada's number one sound engineering class. But I digress. I also felt like I'd lost a battle. Here I was, after having graduated from university, landed a job (well, quite a few in 5 years), returning to school to widen my scope and perfect my abilities and I'm told it's "not recognized". How invalidating. Why not encourage a young professional trying to stay relevant, trying to get an edge.

My new tool. Toy?

A few months went by and my reason for requesting this at the bank did not change. My job however, has changed in the last year. I am now in a management position with only minimal experience and absolutely no theoretical background on administration and management. I am competent but struggle a little more than I would with the proper basic knowledge. I thought: "Why not take an introduction class to administration?" But, did I really want to sit in with a bunch of kids straight out of highschool and have to work on team projects? I did not have the time, nor the patience as I'd been there before and remembered how my focus was very different... Get the grade, get the scholarship, get the portfolio... Take, take, take, perform, perform, perform, expect, expect, expect. Oh, and have fun. But school and fun were exclusive.


I've "paid" my share and followed the rules; I went through the system once. Now, it's time to look at it differently. 


Taking a class as an auditor has most of the benefits of taking a class - at least the most important one, which is learning, and none of the unpleasant ones - remember assignments? So here I go, back to university for a class. Learning - or at least the prospect of it - feels so thrilling when it's not weighed down by expectations and performance.


While I'm at it, I might even take an interest class, just for the pleasure of it! And with my new ipad, this second round in class might be more fun! Speaking of which, I just about loooove that new gadget. How handy is it to have a multitude of books (my primary reason for this tablet), management/lifestyle aps (allrecipes.ca anyone?), entertainment aps (Itunes, CTV, CBC) and games (Sudoku queen in the making) all in one nifty tool? That's not just luxurious, it's genius! Really, it's both eco-friendly (I will finally use/buy less paper!) and finally allows my long awaited de-cluttering.


Aaaaah.

Exhibit & Holiday Spirit

Mostly because I've had a break through.

Amelia (c) Mercedes Déziel-Hupé, 2011

This coming week-end, I need to edit my hundreds of photos down to my favourite 15 or 20 (but I'll aim for 15). I finally have a venue and an approximate date for my first exhibit: the Avant-Garde Bar & Gallery will welcome my Ballet in the Streets/Ballet en marge project in January 2012.


It's crunch time now to select my favourites and polish them up, nice and pretty to be printed and framed.


Part of me is terribly nervous, but I'm also very much excited about potential developments regarding this project. So I will be diligent in adequately preparing this first exhibit.


***


I will however save time to savour the festive feeling in the air. I can't help but be swayed by the sparkles, reds, golds, lights and bells I see in store windows, the Christmas music I hear in the mall (or to be more exact, on my internet radio) and the sweet and spicy smells that fill the air around coffee shops...

I can feel the inner child beaming...

I embrace the holidays, and Christmas in particular. Not because of the presents, and certainly not for the insane amounts of dollars people spend on a few days a year... No, I love the holidays because to me, it's a celebration of life and I realize how many wonderful things sew my life into this beautiful quilt of memories, experiences and people. With each Christmas, and each year, a few more squares are added to this masterpiece that I can cherish.

Ballet in the Streets/Ballet en marge

Amelia. (c) Mercedes Déziel-Hupé, 2011

I have been buried in work, both at the Ottawa Art Gallery, as well as at home. I'm one of those people who just isn't feeling at ease if I don't have at least two ongoing projects outside of a day job. I mentioned a few posts ago, that I was working on my first photography exhibit. Naturally, this is a lengthy process...


I can say that I've been enjoying every minute of the shooting phase; I have worked with fellow dancers and friends and met some new and interesting people along the way. I've found and created beautiful images and built up my confidence. I feel physically tired, but much in the same way you would after a day of enjoyment, whether it be on a trip, during market day or a pleasant evening with friends. This project is a combination of two of my passions: dance and photography.

Tea time. (c) Mercedes Déziel-Hupé, 2011

I am now entering the editing phase, which promises to be the longest, most detail-oriented and possibly frustrating part of this project. Skimming through hundreds of shots, discriminating, sometimes coolly disregarding the hours of work that went into a series of images, tweaking what I thought was nearly perfect. It seems never ending. But this is part of the craft.


I have not found a home for this exhibit yet, nor do I have dates, but I have decided to be kind to myself and to truly respect this project, by focusing on every step, as I take them.

The Camera Doesn't Make the Photographer

Amelia. (c) Mercedes Déziel-Hupé, 2011

When I first started shooting, I was very intimidated by photographers with fancy gear. I remember Angelina McCormick telling me that she constantly reminded her students: "The Camera doesn't make the photographer". I remembered thinking, sure, but, the camera must play a role in the quality of a photo, right? Well, that's only partly true.

You see, the camera is a tool and sure, with good tools come great possibilities, but photography is a science as much as an art, and it requires knowledge of the tool (however fancy or expensive) to properly use it and produce great pictures. Sometimes, removing the technical aspect allows the photographer to focus on what's on the other side of the camera: the subject at hand.


I recently started photographing with my camera phone (and toy cameras as well, like the Mini Diana), just to put this theory to the test. Could I in fact produce interesting, technically good and even breathtaking photos with a low quality camera? You can judge for yourself, this portrait was taken on my cell at the end of a photoshoot - just for fun - and the results were exciting.


Try it for yourself: take a point and shoot (or if you're feeling bold, take a camera phone) and concentrate on your subject, the background, the colours, instead of the camera and you'll get wonderful and surprising results.

Swing Explosion's 2011 Jitterbug Contest

Scott & I dancing lindy hop together. Photo by Kristina Jensen

I probably should have blogged about this contest I entered with my buddy Alec back in September. Life got a little crazy, but my dance school wrote about it and posted a nifty video. For those of you who suspect I may be all talk, you can actually see me dancing in this one. The contest showcases a few all skates, but also a slow competition and a fast lindy competition. This video is the finals of the fast lindy segment. Watch the Swing Explosion Jitterbug finals 2011. There are also more videos of that competition on Youtube.