Oh, Ruth.

I just can't seem to get up the motivation to take a photo of myself.
I have a tutorial tomorrow, but I want advice on how to get more people rather than to be told what to shoot. I think I'll be able to get into the swing of things once I have my first shoot out of the way this weekend. A couple of friends from Coombe are helping me out, they're probably the only other half-Chinese people I actually know apart from myself and my sister. I can understand people not wanted to get involved because what if I wasn't who I said I was, apart from I am and it makes this project pretty frustrating.

I've not been lacklustre in terms of taking photographs, I'm quite liking my D90, but I don't feel as though there is a great deal of difference from the D60 apart from the feeling of it being less easy to break. I've never been much of a pixel-person before but jobgivers can be so it's a bit of an insurance.

I'm sure my work ethic will improve once I've actually had something at Uni (tomorrow) - and I'll get back into the swing of things eventually I'm sure. Although this procrastination is pretty worrying when I have a dissertation due in in January and I haven't even written an opening line.

I would like you to enjoy and notice the difference between the first photo on the left and the second photo on the right. That is a onesy.

© Ruth Johnston 2010.

Egg & bacon cups.

I made these yesterday, next time I make them I'm going to change the recipe.
Recruiting half-Chinese people isn't going as well as I'd hope it would, but at least I have two shoots arranged, I should probably get back to the people who did reply to coming.

© Ruth Johnston 2010.

Ikea.

These are from a few days ago, I only got internet back yesterday.

© Ruth Johnston 2010.

I bought some Ikea biscuits, they taste like Golden Grahams and are small enough to have as cereal, but they're still biscuits, I wish they were all different letters.

Most of my new equipment has arrived and I'm too scared to try it out but I have to do some sort of shoot of myself this evening to make up some flyers to give out at the Freshers Fayre tomorrow. I think I will do that and then get some proper postcards to leave around the University. It's one of the best ways to do it and the email thing doesn't seem to have come to light yet, but I guess I'll send another one of those round too.

I am the proud owner of a D90 and have put my D60 up on eBay, I feel a bit bad really though because my D60 has been pretty good to me and it is a pretty great camera, it's just that the D90 is much better and can do more. Plus its decrease in price was too hard to resist. I'm looking forward to testing it out properly when my project starts to get intense.

It's been quite liberating to not have internet, but I'm glad it's back and now I don't feel like I have to be on it 24-7.

My timetable has infuriated me and it's too close until my dissertation deadline. Umf.

Ikea Cats. ♥

This is my favourite advert at the moment.
I love cats and I love Ikea, so it was only natural.

#420.

Here are some photos of my sister getting her hair dyed. Her hair is now blue, but will most likely be a swamp green by the end of the week - I speak from experience, but it looks nice now.





I was also asked to take a few portraits of my cousin, Louise. My Gran wanted a nice recent one that she can frame, I'm going to print and post them when I get back to Portsmouth.

© Ruth Johnston 2010.

I'm currently making the move from iPhoto to Aperture, which will make some nice space for my projects and future work I've found some pretty annoyingly good deals on DigitalRev.com for D90's, I'm so selling my D60 for one, I feel like it's worth it in the long run. I have a few other camera related things to shove on eBay too, including my Diana, I've never used and it and it was more of a novelty thing, so even though the one I have now is the one Moon bought me to replace the one he broke, it doesn't mean I shouldn't pass it on to someone who is more willing/has the time to learn how to use it - although realistically I'll probably back out of that one because it's so cute.

I've got some of my timetable up for this semester, it's literally empty and I'm only in on Thursday, for two sessions. I don't mind as it gives me lots of time to write up the dreaded dissertation, and plan shoots for the half-Chinese project, but I worry it will make me lazy.
Another thing I'm investing in is a set of basic studio lights so I can do some shoots at home and at the weekends making it easy for subjects to make it down. I'm also going to use it for the birthday party I'm shooting in October - which I'm both excited and nervous about.

MOVING ON THURSDAY, AHHH!

Woah.

At the moment, I look like this;

I'm so tired, but I can't bring myself to go to bed.

I have some nice photos to show you, brb.

Summer book.

So with exactly a week left until I move back to Portsmouth, it means that Summer is basically at a close.
With that in mind, I've created a book on Blurb with their BookSmart programme, I could have used InDesign but it's a lot of effort to go to to do essentially the same thing and BookSmart is an alright programme to use anyway.

It's 276 pages of lovely photos that I love and judging by the great job they did on my 'Lovely Life' book, I've got high hopes for the way this comes out and it's a great way to store photographic memories without the hassle of finding 'just the right' photo album - which is a pretty big deal. Plus I'd have to sort through 500 photos physically and I might find some that actually aren't as great as I first thought.

I'm going to order it in a few days so it arrives just after I move down rather than before, which is something I'm worried about (we have the tiniest letterbox ever).

S'all me, me, me!

I did my makeup a bit differently a couple of days ago, I think it's a nice nighttime look.

Here is a photo of me looking fat and enjoying some gummy teeth, it never ever fails to crack me up.

Moon is down in Devon for a couple of days so I feel like I've not got anything to do, but this time next week I'll be packed and ready to move back down to Portsmouth, so I imagine the first half of next week, even if it will probably be spent without Moon, will be pretty hectic.

© Ruth Johnston 2010.

Brilliant.

Dissertation written.
"For every photo of Charles Taylor on the stand there have been several million of Naomi, does this mean that Naomi is more evil than a man accused of cannibalism?"
(Hadley Freeman, Wednesday 11 August, 2010, The Guardian.)

This makes for a pretty sweet chapter about the influence of celebrity, but it will probably go under the chapter in which I talk about the lack of representation. Ta da! Naomi!

Giveitago.

Today's the day that I try and stop biting my nails. I'm fed up with ugly hands.

Eat it.

© Ruth Johnston 2010.

I think I'm having one of those 'everyone is better at everything than me' days. It's a little bit annoying.
This blog isn't helping, she's like 10, and she's brilliant.. ☹

A series called "Breakfast".

This could be an interesting idea to look at, I really want to get some cool fabrics from Ikea to make some neat backdrops.

I think I would quite like to try avocado, it intrigues me.

© Jon Huck, 2007.

I also really like his project, "Couples", it's like a neat guessing game, they have features like this in magazines all the time, it might be a good starting point for my second self-led project, but that's ages away.
I've still got to get the half-Chinese one done, it should be fun, I just have to get some responses as I've only got 5 confirmed subjects so far despite having such a relatively large response initially.... I think it will get easier when it gets closer and I can be better at organising things.

#411.

I've had a pretty relaxing weekend.
I've made some tasty food and watched some nice films.

I also bought this plug with a hand, and it's pink to go with the new kitchen. £1.49 from Steamer Trading Cook Shop.

Hello 3rd of September.

12 days until the move. Oh em gee.

© Ruth Johnston 2010.

#409.

Is Tumblr the new 'thing' to have when it comes to social networking?
I think I do quite like it and I can see why other people like it too, but really it's even worse than Twitter.
It just seems to be an endless stream of 'reblogging' and you always find really neat photos on there that have no credits or information because the reblogging has diluted everything so much.
It does have some pretty nice templates and the designs are a bit smoother than other blogging websites, but even with a constant overload of repeated opinion on standard sites, at least there is some original material somewhere.

I think it's because it's for 15-17 y/o's who like to think they're photographers/artists/different. I hate them. I hate everyone who isn't my age because they appreciate next to nothing properly. I think I would hate Me at that age, I don't see why anyone else should stand a chance.