Jamaica, Cayman Islands, & Mexico

Hello! I haven't done a post in forever. My life has been so busy and hectic that all my free time was spent on myself. Lots of reflection and thinking, especially with photography. I am making an effort to focus all my attention towards photography and bettering myself. 

I had the past week off from school because of Mardi Gras, because of that I was able to take a cruise to three different countries. When we first arrived at the port I was very apprehensive. I'll be honest, I didn't want to get on. I have never been on a cruise, as a result I was very nervous and had a lot of anxiety. But once I was on and had my stuff settled I was fine. We left New Orleans on Sunday and spent the following two days at sea towards Jamaica. 

Waking up in Jamaica was really weird. We spent 48 hours at sea and that was the only thing you could see outside the windows. At night it was pitch black with no lights anywhere. It was relaxing and nice, but also very scary and almost lonely. There was no internet or cellphone service once the ship left dock so I had no connection to the world whatsoever. Being disconnected and put in the middle of the ocean with no other people around for miles was something I have never experienced.

We woke up at Jamaica and had to go through customs before we were allowed to enter the country. Once in we spent the day at the beach. We had Jamaicans play a variety of pop music on steel drums. Including p!nk, Katy Perry, Adele, Beyonce', and Rihanna. All the people there were so nice and friendly. 

We were only allowed so much time off the boat before it left for the next port. When we went back to the ship some of the military of Jamaica sang for us and escorted us out the port which was very nice to see. All the people we were encountered with were extremely friendly and helpful. It was a pleasure to be able to visit the country and I would definitely want to visit again.

The second stop we made was in the Cayman Islands. The water was crystal clear and bright blue. The pictures were not enhanced at all, the water was that color. We got off the ship and got onto another boat which took us out to the reefs. We snorkeled for an hour and found some really nice shells. After that we got to swim with stingrays on a sandbar. They were 'wild' and we got to hold them and feed them squids. It was very fun. Also a huge change from the "two finger" petting at the aquarium! 

The food was very good and the people were very friendly and nice and showed us many different things with the island.

The whole boat ride through the marina I was blown away by the architecture. The homes there were beautiful.

The last stop we made was in Mexico. I've never been in Mexico but I had the stereotype of it. I have to say, it is a lot different than you picture. But, at the same time a lot of the things I pictured were there. We had a tour of the Mayan Ruins which was amazing and very stunning to see in person. Along with the whole '2012' gist. But the walk from the cruise to the bus there were tourist shops. 

There were a lot of citizens standing on the sidewalks trying to sell you stuff. At first glance it was very sad and humbling to see these people beg from money and try to sell things, but once you walked by it became just plain annoying. They shoved the items they were trying to sell in your face and yelled prices in your face. When you said "no thank you" they became more persistent and would lower the price and follow you. It was scary having all these people in your face that wouldn't leave you alone. Aside from that the ruins were very beautiful.

It was a very enjoyable week and I got to shoot a lot, as you can tell. I didn't intend to have a post with so many pictures but I figured what the heck! When I got home everything was still moving. When you are on the ship you can feel it move because of the waves, and since my body was accustomed to that movement for seven days, I still felt like everything was moving. Which made me sick the first day. But it went away by the end of the second day. That was the only issue I had. 

For those who have never been on a cruise I would highly suggest taking one, even if it's the only one you will ever take. It's a great way to travel while staying safe. Also a nice way to get away for a week! 

xx austin

Project 365

     So for the past year I've been working every day on my project 365. If you are unfamiliar with the project it is when you take a picture every day for 365 days. It is not easy by any means and was very difficult to accomplish. I've been a user on flickr for about 5 years. It seemed like everyone was doing a 365 or have completed one in the past. For this reason I wanted to do one myself. I first tried in 2009 when I got to about day 97 and stopped. I started again in the summer of 2010 when I got frustrated with my work and there for turned it into a 'summer 100'. After the summer 100 I had stopped taking pictures for a good 3 months. I didn't give up on photography but I knew I needed a break from it. When new years rolled around I decided to give the project one last try, but instead went in with the mind set of not being forced to take certain pictures to gain likes or comments. This is probably the main reason why I was able to finish it. 

     When you go into something preparing to fail or giving yourself unrealistic expectations you will never accomplish it. This is why, if you go through my 365, there are a lot of pictures that aren't necessary "good" by the standard view. But to me each and every picture holds some type of meaning in my life and for that reason they are all special. I will admit that I did loose a lot of likes and comments and views over the year, but in reality non of that matters. Views, comments, and likes are such a big deal on flickr; but they do not make your work anymore creditable than an others. I think that is something most users frequently forget. When doing a project on the scale of a 365 you need to be doing it for yourself and not for others. When you heard about how everyone completes there 365 and have grown so much and ect. It's because they did it for them and gained something out of it. 

     I personally have gained so much from this project. But I think what I gained from it is different than what others gain. I gained an appreciation of time. It also taught me to be dedicated and it gave my deadlines and restrictions. Self discipline is a huge thing I learned. No one was making me continue the project but myself. I had to motivate and keep myself shooting and it made me realize that photography is something I am truly passionate about, other wise I would not have dedicated an entire year to it. The self gratification it gave to me for completing it was something I have never experienced before. All of these personal achievements have taught me a lot. Now as an artist I have grown so much. Taking pictures everyday for 365 days has taught me what works and what doesn't. And what to do if something doesn't turn out right. And how to work with other people. Many life lessons were learned through the year. I can honestly say that I have changed for the better thanks to this project.

     I would suggest to anyone that is contemplating starting a 365 to do it. If you can say that you are doing it for yourself, and will stay true to yourself as an artist then to go ahead and do it. Just remember to have fun and enjoy photography as an art that can be interpreted many other ways than the flickr stereotype.

     Now that it is over what am I going to do? Well, I am obviously going to continue shooting frequently. I have given myself a few weeks to rest and went on a school retreat and did some self discovering. I am starting to shoot again and will be posting a blog post on those shoots in the next few weeks. I am hopefully going to be releasing some sort of book this year so I'll be working on that frequently. But I promise to keep everyone updated on what's going on. I know this has been a long over do post but I didn't want to move on until I did it. I hope you will gain something out of it. Until next time.

xxaustin