Long exposures, photos of Canada. I don’t remember seeing the country like this when I lived there. Just stunning.

It seems I’ve been looking at a lot of surrealist photography lately. They keep popping up on the “interestingness” page on Flickr. Some of the photographers are so good (and so young it makes me wonder what the heck I was doing when I was fifteen, like this girl seriously. Fifteen?!? WOW)

I am absolutely dying to try self-portraiture, but my vanity only goes so far. As in, maybe the mirror. I’m far happier behind the lens than in front of it. In fact, I’m not quite sure I would know what to do with myself standing in front of a blinking timer. But taking a break from some of the images I’ve been browsing, I came across this collection and I e-mailed my brother the star wars nut. What a great sense of humor

Some favorites:

“A cunning plan”

“Like father like son”

“For the last time, there’s no magical wardrobe!”

Some of these images reminds me of David Levinthal’s work with figurines, ranging from cowboys in the wild west, Hitler to romance and even erotic images, all with toys! Suffice to this gives me due cause to play with (my brother’s) legos..

There are so many times where I come across images on Flickr that just leaves me utterly astounded at how much talent and creativity is out there.

I’m not sure whose work I came across first, Rosie’s or Aaron’s, but I found it amazing all the same. Individually they are both incredibly talented but put them together and… wow. Holy dynamic duo, batman!

Some of Rosie’s work reminds me of Francesca Woodman’s in its ethereal nature and themes. Aaron’s is just out of this world

But the romantic in me found their compilation Sunday photographs the most touching. From the description, Rosie lives in England and Aaron lives in the States. Every Sunday they each take a picture and “put themselves together.” For anyone who’s ever been in a long distance relationship, particularly one separated by multiple timezones or an ocean, I think we can all relate to this. All together now: “..aww…!”

Now I’m not sure whether Flickr has made some changes to the images properties, but I can’t seem to imbed images into my post. So I’ll leave you to peruse their awesome work on your own. But this has definitely moved and inspired me. I wish I were brave enough to actually stand in front of the camera like that. I’m sure I’m not the only photographer who’s actually camera shy. But who knows, maybe one of these days.

My Strobist DVDs arrived a few days ago! I’ve only watched the first one, but I feel like I’ve gotten more out of it then perhaps half a semester of sitting inside a classroom. I’ve gotten a few ideas for potential projects – I need to learn the discipline of picking up the camera and creating something regularly. I still haven’t figured out my personal style.. it ranges very much from Steve McCurry-ish (ha! well, I wish) portraits to well.. I’m not entirely sure what. But I sincerely can’t remember the last time I caught the bug – where my mind gets completely obsessed with a creative project, be it writing, web design on photography and how awesome it feels to execute and be satisfied with it. Rosie and Aaron, you’ve definitely inspired me!