Category: Core
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November 2, 2016
Just back from a cold walk – with Ruby who was pinballing all around chasing sights sticks and smells.
Had someone reach out asking about the Short Creek zine I put out a while back. This was the push I needed to set up https://store.trent.photo.
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We had a great fovi8 meeting last night. I’ve pretty much finished with the back end and now the ideas are flowing from the team. It’s great to be involved with three brilliant people.
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It’s funny how you want thingsNot going there.
With all of the recent hacks going on, it’s gotten to where you don’t really want to write anything down, especially in an email or text.
That’s definitely the direction I”m going. Why put anything down that reveals the a*shole that we all have inside of us? It’s not really who we are, but it comes out with quick expressions of opinion.
After watching a couple episodes of Black Mirror season 3 yesterday, I taped over all of the cameras on my devices. I don’t use them anyway, so why have an exposed window that is out of my control? Seriously.
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Eli told me that UNPA results are all finalized, but I”m still waiting on them arriving in my inbox. Yes, in November we still don’t have results from the contest. And we haven’t had a get-together to hand out the awards.
Big credit to Eli, though. He’s been handling a lot of contest work for a dozen years. He’s finally done after this one. I just need that email and he’s done.
I have moved the UNPA winners gallery site to https://unpa.trent.photo, which isn’t optimum. I don’t like having my name in the URL, but I’m no longer in the business of buying too many domains. At least, I hope those days are over.
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October 22, 2016
Did I say something in the last post about taking my obsessions and doubling down on them?
I made a second PGO user and as of 16 hours later it’s at level 8. And a diff team than my main player.
On the walk this morning I realized why stop at two players? Why not a smurf of each team? If I can get them up to level 8 in less than a day…
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Double down.
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Fovi8 backend is going to go through a major testing phase when this writing session ends. New photos from a variety of users, entered into a contest, judged, and stats calc’d.
Major advances.
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Photographed a singer yesterday who has left the neighborhood meetings. He was still very raw over it, releasing a very emotional album that really puts himself out there.
Courageous, and at the same time I’m sure it will upset many of his fans still in the neighborhood.
He got choked up talking about parts of it, as he still hasn’t figured out what will replace the neighborhood in his life.
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A friend from the neighborhood: “I was wondering if you’d mind if we could grab some lunch or dinner this week someplace. i was hoping we could chat about where you are in relation to (neighborhood). I really miss seeing seeing (sic) you and your family there and know you’ve told me a little aboiut what’s going on but I wanted to just talk and get a better sense of it all if you don’t mind. If it’s too personal I understand and this isn’t like some well thought out discussion with an agenda. I honestly just think there are things you have to offer those (neighborhood) and vice versa.”
We had that dinner the other night.
My thoughts are, it’s interesting how the more progressive and open-minded people are curtailing their neighborhood involvement. This means the neighborhood meetings get less and less open minded.
The time we previously spent in the neighborhood meetings is now spent walking seven miles in City Creek Canyon together. It is breathtaking, and I am madly in love with L, 27 years on.
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The other day we had my little nephew over for the day. I tried to find kure kure takora on youtube, but it wasn’t there. So I found the greatest show for a little boy – MXC.
He was laughing at the people falling into the mud and getting crushed by giant boulders. I was laughing at the double entendre’s that give the show the added edge.
Then my other nephew showed up, who’s a teenager. And he laughed at the people falling into mud as well as the double entendre’s.
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Yesterday I published the ninth custom-design article for the main client.
Lots of thoughts on this, lots of frustration at the slow pace of improvement there.
The office is a place of silence, some of mFocusing on the work. Photographing two soccer games today. Will be a good day to clear the mind.
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October 20, 2016
P-GO – still playing, level 28. It seems to give me, I mean I’m doing so many things at once right now and pushing myself mentally. P-GO keeps the wheels spinning.
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Been building the back end of Fovi8, and it’s going to be killer. It’s the fifth time I’ve built the concept and the programming is better than ever, cleaner code, faster system, APIs, etc. Very excited to be coming to the end of the process and move into the next phase.
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Work is all about the philosophy WWJD? And it ain’t about Jesus, it’s about putting the focus on producing great photographs and getting them in faster and at higher quality than anyone else.
Sent a bunch from my phone from an assignment the other day, even with the knowledge that no one in the office was in any position to receive them, and the writer on the story would probably not have a story in until 4pm or so. Still, I was sending ready-to-publish images out of the D4 as the event was happening. Want to continue that all the time.
You’ve got to push yourself, and that’s been my thing this year. Oh, I’m getting overwhelmed with images out of the Narrative Clip that’s taking a shot every 30 seconds? The solution was obvious – triple the amount of photos it’s taking by lowering the interval to every 10 seconds.
Flood the system.
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Watched the third Presidential debate this morning, on youtube playing at 1.5x speed.
What a bizarre place we’ve all come to, where we yell at each other with such hatred and spite. It used to be all under the surface, and now people just throw it out there.
On my walk I found a sticker posted close to the ground (dog level) with Donald Trump’s face and the words “Please Pee on Me.”
Brilliant sticker work. **Not expressing an opinion on Trump**
Go through my posts and there is a long tradition of photographing street art of various positions, various statements, etc.
It’s about making a visual record of the world.
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Lately I feel like I’m living in the movie Groundhog Day. Every day seems the same, with the morning routine, the dog walk, working on code, photography, watching a show with my love.
It’s a great thing, and I go to sleep every night looking forward to it starting all over again. My love and I are alone in the house, having raised two of the most amazing children the world has ever known. We are so proud, and lucky to call them both dear friends.
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And I always come back to the thought of these writings here in the Daybook. The thought of posting them, the pros and cons of such action.
I think as of today they will continue to remain offline.
The way the world is, with such a capacity for hate and shame and derision, I don’t see posting these at this point.
But I realize that eventually I will succumb and they will be out there.
Of course, there is no loss in delaying that action. This is for me not you.
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October 1, 2016
This weekend is when the twice-yearly neighborhood meetings take place. They kicked off last weekend with a women-only event, where one speaker posited the idea that people in the neighborhood are being too sensitive to those with same-sex attraction, those who aren’t married, those who can’t have children.
It was nearly a year ago that the neighborhood organization came out with a hateful policy toward the LGBT community and their children.
I’ve rarely been prouder of my family – the four of us – than in our unity on this issue. Tolerance, love, understanding, hope.
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July 26, 2016
Back from RNC – biggest memory I guess is that they used a wire photo on the front page instead of my photos. I had a great one, too. I got seriously f*cked by my own org. Thanks!
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July 13, 2016
I’m really down on a lot of the major tech offerings. I’m completely off goo now. And as far as facb, it’s so dominant now that I need it for research/journalism purposes (but not going to post there anymore, or read).
Observation: there’s a group of PJs on facb that is always posting about copyright infringement, rights grabs, and generally judging everyone. It’s natural, as the money in pj has completely evaporated…
…but my main point about the facb pj group is this – > why are they on facb? of all places to talk about protecting your IP, controlling your destiny?
And why are so many others there? I think back to the 80s punk rock philosophies that defined me so much. DIY, own it, control it, don’t go in for these multinational corporations (who are always corrupted in the end).
Why are there huge groups of punk rockers (old school punk rockers) on facb.?
I need to go completely open web.
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I keep thinking about starting up a new WP blog at trent.photo. Somewhere I could throw all kinds of things that I collect along the way – photos, screenshots, stories.
I think WP is one of the tech companies who has not lost their way – still believes in the customer.
But I keep nearly pulling the trigger, because the people on this planet are all producing way too much content. For some reason people (including myself) think that they are being read, that their photos are being looked at, etc.
Junk content. I’ve done pretty well avoiding it lately. The worst app for it in my life is the web browser. I need to block some sites so that they are impossible to reach. I get nothing from them.
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The amount of data input is still too high. I need to spend more time and thought cycles with less content. I need to filter out the noise and gain better focus. It’s coming.
Also, I just finished Vanderpump Rules Season One. Wow. Junk food too tasty, apparently.
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July 10, 2016
Being a dad – you get laughed at because you still haven’t fixed the rear view mirror of your car. But -
July 5, 2016
This trip is about over. The sun is rising and I’m about to drive home.
For all of the homesickness I felt on the trip, the photos were good. Even the parade that I didn’t expect much from produced at least a couple of interesting photographs.
And Short Creek was a good time. Was able to connect with some good people and hear their amazing stories. They are so generous in sharing and I owe them a lot of gratitude.
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I’ve cut out a lot of junk food media, and spent the morning reading from The Digital Antiquarian, a blog collecting histories of the development of early computer games. Very fascinating, taking me back to my teenage years when I would spend hours glued to a screen absorbing these games.
In those days I had a focus so clear
that I would nearly reverse engineer the gamesNow my memory is more spongy – sucking in more data than ever imagined, yet a little sloppy recalling the details.
Maybe it’s age, but I think a big part of it is the amount of data consumed. It’s sunrise and I’ve already checked in with a variety of sources, reading dozens of headlines. It’s the kind of intake that would have been impossible without current technology and networks. And I don’t know that it’s terribly good practice. Something I’m working on -> consuming healthy, nutritious data.
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TV: Black Mirror Seasons 1 and 2. Episode 2 of Season 2 was 5 star. Wow. Truly disturbing and brilliant and bleakest of comedy.
Though I should say this is a trap I constantly fall into. When I’m alone on the road experiencing no social interaction, at my lowest, I find myself reading a book about prison or watching a show like Black Mirror.
Or maybe my media tastes are just always bleak.
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Driving back we listen to AM radio – fascinating. Did you know there’s a cure for cancer that’s just flaxseed oil and cottage cheese? Order now!
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July 4, 2016
4th of July.
It’s my third morning waking up alone in a hotel room. The sunrises are beautiful and I’ve made timelapses of a couple.
But being alone so much can crack you. I’ve been ready to go home for a while now.
Looking back, I came down … I mean I came down here for good reasons – the photos were there. But I need to be home now.
Today we are covering the parade in Hurricane, and then we’ll hit Short Creek for some of I don’t know what. That part doesn’t seem planned out. That’s why I came earlier.
There was a huge gathering in Short Creek on Saturday, and a small fledgling parade through town. I got some great photos.
As always I check in with myself – never mind.
Daybook posts are supposed to be where.:.
The big issue I’m dealing withI’m taking in too much content. I’m too isolated. And when I’m around people my mind is busy computing all the data I’m taking in.
Inputs are -> web, podcasts, longform articles, ebooks, music, video.
I need to cut web drastically. I read so many articles and pages. But the same information comes to me in a better, nuanced way through podcasts and longform. Even books.
Podcasts? N asked me how many I listened to regularly. It was 38, and has grown since. I need to start weeding out the ones I don’t really care about. At least the episodes. No harm in subscribing…
So I can listen to more music. Because when I’m listening to music my mind is processing all the data it has taken in, and coming up with ideas.
As far as video, I’ve experimented with YouTube over the past week – it’s mostly garbage, at least the stuff in my feed. Nothing would be missed if app was deleted.
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Mostly I need to be writing here.
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June 7, 2016
Not sure when I’ll upload all these recent writings.
Because a few things – why the need to share? questioning that whole idea of social sharing.
Really the important thing is what you create as an artist. The behind the scenes, the thoughts and opinions? Not so important. The focus should be on the work.
Also, the way everything is recorded and tracked and monitored is on my mind. Considering the idea of simply posting the photographic work without words, a la Gilles Peress.
Words today seem like traps that you set for yourself, giving others a snare.
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Do need to start posting photographs.
Feel the need to get off Facebook, and disconnect from Google services.
Wondering why do many artists and punk rockers and iconoclasts are helping build up the world’s wealthiest men by posting on and using these company’s products.
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I’ve been listening to Tim Ferris’ podcast. Lots of interviews with people doing incredible things, pursuing a lot of ideas and goals similar to me.
Efficiency. Pure, cold efficiency.
Need to take an overview of everything I’m doing and trim a lot out.
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June 2, 2016
Now, seemingly always, drowning in content.
Reading like three books, in the middle of a film I’ve seen before, and also now converting all the longform articles in my reading list to PDFs (400+ so far) so that I can read them.
Because I’ve now got two iPads – one for movies and one for books/PDFs.
It’s out of control, a race I’ll never win. If anything, it gives my brain a problem to work on – the cataloging and sorting of the content. I spend as much time on that as anything else.
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Over 10,000 photos from the Narrative Clip 2 so far, mostly all unusable. Still, another thing to keep the mind occupied.
Ideas about how to keyword those – timelapse, then I don’t know. Do I actually edit this stuff or just collect.
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Back on the idea of building a panoramic rig. I had this idea a couple of years ago, and the only problem was the cost. Now that two years have passed, maybe the gear I need for this project will be less expensive. Maybe.
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Sent out an e-mail yesterday about a project. No response from the team. I think that particular ship might have sunk.
And yet I spent an hour coding this morning. Probably time to put it on pause.
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New owner at the main client.
Much better transition than the previous new owner.
Then -> this newspaper was sh*t yesterday, but now that we own it it’s gold.
Translation: everyone who works here except us new owners is sh*t.Now -> you’ve done a tremendous job throughout all of the previous drama.
I’m hoping that we can move ahead, lose the PTSD that a lot of us have from uncertainty and drama.
I’m hoping for new projects to spring up (including the ones I have pitched months ago).
I’m hoping for communication and accountability. Two things we are in desperate need of.
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April 5, 2016
Filling in at the office today.
First stop – sharpen three pencils, grab some index cards.
Now to see what’s on the schedule. It’s 9am..:.
Scheduling takes seven minutes. One new assignment, one time change, a few switches to be made. Now 53 minutes until morning meeting.
One of the assignments simply reads:
Third south is not in compliance with fire code.:.
Out of meeting at 11:15 – it went long – chartbeat demo
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Meanwhile…
+ backing up photo archive to another external drive
+ downloading newsgroup materials
+ upload to overcast.fm/uploads
+ calibre: download metadata for ebooks
+ eat energy bar
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I thought my Meanwhile list would be a lot longer, but work was a full shift putting out fires and scheduling things. Everything on the Meanwhile list was pretty much background tasks.
But, there were some great moments.
+ Still on the budget of stories being worked on months later, the item “LDS Water Bottles.”
+ We sit through a demo of a new live tracking web stats system, which shows that our most popular piece of content today is a cake recipe.
+ I find a box of floppy disks, one labeled “Minority Job Fair.” -
March 4, 2016
Where to even begin?
I’m at work right now as a photojournalist for the biggest newspaper in the state, at the height of my abilities and with the best technology and equipment, and my biggest concern is where to be prop up my iPad so I can watch a movie in my car.
I heard a quote today on the LPV Show podcast that was right on target for my current situation:
“Survival isn’t just having money. Survival is psychological and feeling like what you’re doing is valued.”
That quote is by either Susan Meiselas or Kristen Lubben.
Further, “You’re in a place and you’re motivated and you can reach out.”
Yeah, that is very difficult right now.
I remember seeing people who were burned out and not comprehending how they got to such a place. I still don’t, really.
I’m not burned out on the job, or the work, or the process. It’s two things killing me off.
1. A complete lack of feedback. From the main client, from the audience, from friends, from family.
2. I forgot what number 2 is, because just typing number 1 takes so much energy.
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Maybe number 2 was some kind of reference to the current state of hate and distrust and loathing directed toward journalists and photographers from the public.
I photographed a rally against police brutality this week and the largest cheering and applause came after an activist (with a gun strapped to her hip (and this was a left-wing rally)) said, “Don’t put me on your cameras, all you media who spend so much air time de-humanizing us!”
That got the loudest response, never mind the fact that a protest rally is an event specifically constructed for cameras. Without the recording of such an event, it might as well have never taken place. Because even if you activists of any stripe think that you’re your own media, you are only reaching people who believe the same thing as you – people who’ve subscribed/followed your feeds or joined your cause. My photos hit a diverse (though shrinking) audience.
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February 27, 2016
As I finished the last entry two days ago, I grabbed my iPad and got into the shower. Started the hot water and a film, Marshland. Started shaving.
Then a text appeared on the screen – “Call me it’s urgent.”
Immediate reaction – frustration.
Another text appeared from a second person – “They want you and I to go to Hurricane now! Please call X or me!”
We were soon on the road down to photograph a food bank outside of Short Creek.
Since we didn’t know how sensitive the situation would be for photographs I went in with just the Sony RX-100. It turned out to be a great decision, from an artistic standpoint as well as its ability as a small camera to not raise concerns from anyone.
Beyond that it was invigorating to photograph with a small, silent camera with a viewfinder showing the scene in black and white. I find myself working the light and the moments. The black and white images were beautiful, and it was a shame to create color versions for the main client.
I need to remember this moment, as photographing with this one small camera for that hour or so was such a good experience. When the next version comes out, I’ll have to upgrade.
As for the people, who are more important than the camera, they were all great. I saw a lot of people I had met before and made some new friends as well. There were some hesitations and some people who did not want to be photographed. For what I thought was the best shot, I got permission to use the shot but not to use names.
It was a nice situation – the best for me, really – where I am invited and accepted into a situation and I can just work quietly, unnoticed, finding angles and moments.
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We drove home that night, arriving late being the penalty but having our own beds the advantage.
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One thing about this trip. When the federal raids resulting in the arrest of Lyle Jeffs and nearly a dozen others happened the other day, there was a need to decide how to react. I was in the middle of covering the basketball tournament, but on the phone I could hear a lot of doubt that there would be anything worth getting if we went.
That skepticism could be applied to every single assignment. We never know what we’re going to get. That’s why you go.
They decided not to send me, and you know, I can see the reasoning. It’s possible that law enforcement had already left Short Creek by the time they were even talking about me going down, and I wouldn’t arrive for five hours or so later. So part of my reaction is this impotence to do anything – we missed a big story here, at least the photo side of it.
They said part of the decision was that the top leaders would be in court in SLC the next day. But it’s federal court, so no cameras inside. And then another photographer was assigned to the courtroom, leaving me to hang out at home.
At a certain point, just wanting things to be done the right way is not enough. You have to take action.
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I had nothing Wednesday, the court stuff was over, so I went over to the basketball tournament to back up another photographer. Shot three games, got some fun photos. I’m really stretching in how I shoot basketball, resulting in some cool moments.
One of my philosophies has been to shoot very tight, often too tight. This results in a high failure rate, with a large number of frames being completely useless. But once in a while everything clicks into place and I have an image that no one else has.
The other philosophy is big data. I shoot thousands of frames. I’ve written before about people who insist that shooting less frames is somehow a purer form of the art. But in an action situation, the human mind is not fast enough to react to chaotically changing situations. Like when I’m playing with my dog, the dog gets his mouth to target moments before I can react to change its position or pull away. Sports photography is the same.
So I expose thousands of frames at every game, most of them completely useless and thrown away. But I’m increasing the odds of capturing the unusual moments that everyone else misses by simply capturing every moment.
I’m also keep the lens on players longer after the plays, catching more reaction and emotion.
I’ve been using absurdly long lenses for basketball, like 400mm and 600mm. Normally you’d use a 300mm lens. But since the far end of the court results in so few usable images, it is ripe for taking more chances with an ultra-tight lens.
On the close end, I stick to the 70-200, which is the one essential sports lens. I try to shoot tighter than others would and, while the competition locks in with mostly vertical photos, I shoot almost everything horizontal. This gets me a different look and often results in a better composition that the horizontal would have. I crop as needed, many times to a square or vertical.
And some games I shoot both ends with the 70-200, which allows me to have the camera on the game at every moment, instead of missing things while switching between two bodies.
I’m about to photograph Utah vs. Arizona basketball, and plan on two cameras – 70-200 and 400mm lenses, with a bias to using one camera (the 70-200) to ensure I don’t miss any action in transition. The 400mm will give me the reach I need for tight faces, coaches, etc. Space at the Huntsman Center is tight, so I’m planning on arriving two hours early and, since Arizona is ranked higher, securing a spot photographing Arizona for the first half and Utah in the second.
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February 25, 2016
One obvious thing is that I’m not writing enough.
I’m too busy moping, feeling isolated even as I work to isolate myself.
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A couple people from the neighborhood came over and asked why we weren’t so involved in the neighborhood anymore. My son and I told them, and a couple days later the neighborhood council called to set up a meeting the next day. So I guess word travels fast in the neighborhood.
What we told them, what I told them is that it’s become very difficult for us to be associated when the neighborhood has become such a focal point of social conservatism. And when the flag of religious freedom seems to be more of a justification of using the same flagpole to beat down others than anything else.
One of the guys was at least listening and the other guy was pretty bowled over. It was a polite conversation but it was obvious that something large had happened.
What my son told them is how disturbed he was at the sharp increase in calls to the suicide hotlines after the neighborhood’s policy regarding people in same-sex marriages (and their children).
One of the two hadn’t heard of the policy, but the other had.
There’s this big message that you should pray for the confirmation that the policy is correct and inspired. That message has – no, that’s someone else’s story to tell.
I’m reminded of sitting through a Sunday School lesson on Abraham obeying the commandment to kill his only son, a lesson where my only thought was, “why are we studying this?” If I was commanded to kill an innocent, it’s not happening and I’ll gladly suffer any next-life consequences.
One of the two said he was disappointed that people with our opinions weren’t at the neighborhood meetings to voice our opinions. But after years of experience, my feeling is that such opinions are almost always “corrected” by older fundamentalists who feel they have more authority. Let’s face it, you’ll never go wrong expressing a fundamentalist/conservative opinion at a neighborhood meeting. But go the other way and some dinosaur someone will make sure to “correct you.”
One of the two also said that just today in the neighborhood meeting someone brought up equality in genders and a comment was made by a dinosaur, “And now they’re asking for equal pay, too.”
The fact that the teacher replied with, “And they should get it!” doesn’t really cure the discomfort that sitting in that meeting, hearing such statements made, brings.
A while back I missed a neighborhood meeting where the teacher was advocating bland dress and bland haircuts, saying anything stylish was prideful behavior. It boggles my mind. And it always has.
The neighborhood. Wow.
One important thing about the course we have taken for our family regarding the neighborhood – it’s a very sad thing.