ok i'm a king kong fanatic....the original is one of my favs of all time and i'm super pumped for the remake coming out on the 14th...

but my god did this make me laugh...

http://www.kongkicksass.com/

thanksgiving was good...it was such a relief, honor, and privledge to do something totally different.  usually i head home do the entire family thing...blah blah.  i mean, it's fine and good and fun i guess but i dunno ... something about it always ends up being a let down.  i really think it's my parents.  they are the most un-family oriented people on the planet.  it kills me to see the way they treat (or i guess in their case non-treatment) and talk about their family.  at the end of the day, week and year all you truly have is them [family].  they are you backbone....they are why you exist and you shouldn't shit on that. 

so for the big TG i went up to Atlanta w/Katie and spent it with Chris and Kim and their families.  it was awesome!  for the first time ever i was able to stand outside on a porch wearing jeans drinking a beer watching turkey fry in fryer.  mmmmmmmmm fried turkey ... first time ever! if you EVER have the chance to have fried turkey HAVE SOME...it's fuckin awesome!  we got to just hang out too for a few days doing nothing, taking a much needed breather.  

now i'm home consuming what will be the first of MANY Foster's and PBR's.  i've spent the past few days relaxing, cleaning and playing xbox.   i told myself i would take this entire week off and do NO work...i was starting to get burnt out big time at the end there and all i could think about was doing anything but work....but it's in my blood...my lifeblood.  i love what i do so here i am teaching myself Combustion.  earlier today i met with rodney to disucss a project he and I are going to work on this break.  at least it'll be at my own pace, ya know? i'm pumped needless to say.

so...the semester is over in 3hours...crazy. it flew by but was a good one. lots was learned lots was accomplished but i always am putting the pressure on myself to take things a step further. visual effects is a tough industry to crack but more and more i feel success in my grasp. i\'ve got a friend of mine that is not even a year out of school here and already he\'s working on stuff for King Kong. the dood is living my dream not only job wise but getting to work on the remake of one of my favorite movies of all time.

i\'m pumped for a break but at the same time a sense of emptiness has come over me. i have felt this same feeling numerous times over the years....however, it\'s been a while since i\'ve felt it. i hate the sense of leaving. i hate it when people that are close to me leave. Javier, probably my best friend that i\'ve made here, decided to not return to school here. this past saturday i said my goodbyes. our friendship seemed so short. i mean i know we\'ll always be friends but once people move away it always changes the way things go. and it\'s not just Javier...other buddies of mine are leaving too. people that have become familar faces to me in the labs and hallways are graduating. soon the grad lab will be full of unfamilar faces.

hopefully we\'ll all meet again when the circle comes \'round.

i got a B in photography. i passed by the skin of my teeth if you can believe that. as a grad student i have to get a B or higher for a class to count and I got an 83. it\'s kind insult to injury that a person already with a degree in photography barely passes an undergrad photography course. regardless, i don\'t care i\'m happy with my work and with what it means. she doesn\'t get it and from judging her own landscape work(if you can call it that) she has no understanding of the landscape. but whatever whats done is done....i\'m happy and i made a new friend(Nadine). so ha!

FYI - stores, bars, merchants, etc ARE NOT allowed to impose minimums for credit card use. they cannot say, for example, $10 min. credit card purchase. i don\'t know if it\'s the south or because of the fact that i live in a tourist town, but EVERY store thinks they can get away with it. I\'ve gotten to the point where i\'ve started to tell them and i always get the same bullshit excuses. even when i tell them that i know the rules because i used to work for one of, if not the biggest, bank in the world(MBNA) they still think i\'m on crack. so to make a long rant short I was in a bar last weekend and I started a tab. when i went to close my tab the guy was like you only have $5 on here we have a $10 min. and being broke, I was like fuck that i\'m not buying another drink i want to go home. so i told the guy they can\'t do that he looked at me as if i was retarded. he got the manager with whom i preceded to argue with. she went and talked with the owner after which she still refused to give me my card. after much talking she realised i wasn\'t about to give up so she cashed me out and said, "next time just observe the bar rules and see the signs we have up (which i didn\'t see and regardless of whether i did or not they\'re still wrong)" .... i shook my head and kept telling her doesn\'t matter.

i was quite pissed and finally i had had enough. the next day i called the credit card and indeed verified that i was in fact correct with all the facts that i know. they told me to call Visa directly....and I did...so I reported those motherfuckers! haha...and if it happens again they go and take their credit card machine from them....haha....it\'s been awhile since i\'ve done anything to stick it to the man...but fuck i\'ve had it with that whole thing.

alright....time to go

ok now that photo is done i can start to geek out since my major is an MFA in visual effects. 

i can't wait for thanksgiving/xmas break...oh man i'm gonna chill harder than 2 doses of viagra.

i'm completely in love with what I do but have been going non stop since last spring.  i didn't take a break between spring and summer quarter.  i kept on working on stuff.  i didn't take a break between summer and fall....and i've busted my ass for the past 10weeks.  once it's over....it's gonna be me, the confy recliner, my PJ's, my xbox, and a cold frosty Fosters in hand(regardless of the time).

man i'm so burned out right now i can't think of what else to write so i'm gonna sign off! 

if you haven\'t yet please check out my photo webpage and please leave a comment here

well....this is it. the last blog entry. not forever. i\'ll def continue to write and i\'m sure this blog will also be used for my senior thesis project (for visual effects). but this is def the last one for photo class because tomorrow i hand in my body of work, journel(this blog), artist statement and a few other things.

photography wise - overall - it has been a good semester. there were some highs, some lows but ultimately i came out happy, proud of my work and with the desire to keep on shooting. i took way too long of a break prior to this class and i must not let that happen again.

i went and spoke with my prof yesterday regarding the letter she wrote me that i was unhappy about and fortunatly we had an awesome conversation. i\'d go into it in more detail but i\'m still digesting it. but i\'m really happy that we talked and even happier with what came out of it.

i keep looking back at my work. the more i look the more i feel pulled in...which is good.

i don\'t know what else to say! so i guess i\'ll end here

hey everyone...

if you have time please take a moment and visit

http://studentpages.scad.edu/~jshuma20/photo.html

or just click here -->Lazy Link

please leave comments....tell me what you think. any detail that you can leave would be much appreciated.  positive or negative don't be shy i want to hear it all

thanks 

***this is a long one...if anything please just read the paragraph with the "******" next to it! THANKS!

the truth about you....sometimes I sit back and ask that question about myself. I wonder. I ponder. who knows.

last week sucked...it was the worst week i had had in a loooong time. monday my photography prof wrote me a letter that really left me baffled. tuesday i almost killed my dog and then my programming prof blew me off. thursday a prof that i don't even know was a dick to me for no reason except that he didn't want me, a student, proving him wrong about something. and friday sucked too.

So yea, the photography thing. i've calmed down a bit. i was totally enraged at first. it's not easy hearing some of the things that were said....but I guess in the end i should be glad that someone is totally honest with me even if it is just their opinion. nothing like this would ever be said to a student at montgomery(the vsfx dept) and that is partly why I decided to take a photo class as an elective.

when it comes to photography I go with simple, basic, easily digestable ideas. i don't take pictures to change the world. i'm not trying to make you get up and join greenpeace because we're destroying the landscape on a daily basis. if that's how you feel after viewing my work, than good! great! i'm so glad that you were able to take it to that level...but really i don't put the pressure on myself to do that.

i can sit here all damn day writing the most brilliant complex mind boggling world changing artist statement and then go out and take pictures to match my idea when what it boils down to is that one day my work may be hanging in some gallery located in ibijuanahanualtmala where some dood from suburia is gonna stroll in and look at it. is there gonna be an artist statement to read? no...and even if there is you think he's gonna care? no..probably not. he'll look at my work and either like it or hate it...bottom line. i'd say it's safe to say that at least 90% of this world has had little to no formal art training or history. are those people going to get it? no probably not....not unles the idea is basic and simple. it can be powerful and meaningful but it has to be basica and understandable.

i'm so sick of the "my life is this tormented eggshell and i'm gonna show you how I was beaten as a child...i'm an artist let me show you how artsy i am...weeeee" photography. that's not me.... i really think she just doesn't get my work..

*********so before I go on any further and ramble more i'm going to say this....some of you have asked to see my work. well, my portfolio is due wednesday. and i want you to know that i'm going to put it up online for everyone to look at. all i ask is that you respond with a comment to my blog. i don't care if you have a PHD in art or whether you deliver the mail everyday i'm just curious as to what you all think. be as honest and truthful as you can....trust me i can take it. i would like to try and prove my point to some degree. this blog is actually part of the requirement for the class I just chose to do it in an online form for conveniance(and because I have really messy handwriting).

ok back to rant....she keeps wanting more from the landscape. more detail more depth...etc etc and i'm like if that's how you feel you dont get it. I will flat out admit(and be the first to do so) that some of my work this quarter hasn't been good....i've had a few bad shots, a few bad rolls of film and few times where i had to figure shit out technically ... BUT SHIT...that's the name of the game that's how you go from A to Z when doing a body of work(and having to do it in 10weeks!)....and ya know what so has just about everyone in the class. so if i go out into the night to shoot and just illuminate everything than whats the point? the landscape has been glorified. i might as well shoot during the day then! if i don't give people a least a taste as to what nighttime really is then i'm not being true to how i feel.

you'll see what I mean when I post my artist statement online........

Art is so subjective and I guess i'm slowly learning that because here I am at another place being given a completely different set of opinions :-)

man i am thirsty as all hell.  i've had 3 glasses of water in the last hour.  i really need to start remembering to drink throughout the day.  heck i need to remember to get up and go pee when my bladder starts to hurt.

the class and the prof dug the new roll of stuff which made me happy.  it's been kinda of an up and down semester photography wise.  as far as my work is concerned i'm pleased but not overly estatic.  i def feel as though the training wheels were put back on in the beginning of the semester.  but that was my own fault since i haven't shot anything in several years.  

the one thing that really irks me during crits is the constant see-sawing.  its like one person will be like I like those photographs and here's why.  then someone will speak up and be like actually i hate those ones i like the ones that you just said you disliked.  blah blah.  i'll be honest, while I totaly enjoy the crits and enjoy having feedback given about my work(especially when compared to the crits in monty) i really haven't listened to much of what people have had to say.  don't get me wrong...there have definatly been some very profound eye opening things said that have helped me but for the most part what people have said has passed through me. 

Nadine rawks.  I'm gonna miss her.  The girl is SUPER talented and when she speaks it's like holy shit! mother has spoken!  i'm glad she was my partner...many of those profound statements that I mentioned above came from her.   

I went out tonight and shot what will probably be my last roll.  Time is running out and there's lots to do.  I just placed my last order with B&H....sigh.

time to sleep i need it... 

the roll i talked about in my previous entries came out awesome.  def the best so far.  i'm happy and some of that negativity I expressed earlier has lifted a bit. 

 well time to get back to it...i'm in the lab right now and I'm sure something is coming out of the developer as I type...

just got back from finishing up a roll of film. I pray it comes out because I found a SWEET location. It was more woods like and allowed me to venture out into the landscape. Many of my previous locations prevented me from doing this because there'd be like a swamp or death like 10feet in front of me. I also pray that this roll comes out because down this trail was DARK and fuckin scary as shit. I mean pitch black...the glow of the night sky was usless because the trees were so tall and had such a thick canopy. It was def a step in the right direction I think as far as shooting locations now all we need is stuff to show up on the negative.

Man I don't know why this has been so hard...maybe its Savannah. Savannah isn't the safest place in the world and that kinda creeps me out....Ithaca was easy I mean you were in the fuckin' hills 5min away

Thanks for all the comments...especially ladygrace..you rule and I don't even know you! :-)

The night ended on a downer though. I pulled up to the gate at my apt complex and punched in the code and as I pulled away and turned more towards the gate my fuckin car scraped along the little pole that the keypad is embedded on. I thought it'd be just a lot of scratches and a little dent. OH NO NO....talk about shredded! not good. ahhh I'm not gonna let it sweat me stupid car has 80,000 miles on it and was only worth about $1800 bucks anyway. fuck it! rawk n roll!

my vsfx work though is coming along nicely...I'm definatly becoming known as a "good" compositer which makes me feel good. I'm starting to get half way decent at matchmoving. the list goes on.

been busy...really busy!  but good!  Last week was awesome...it was a quick week.  I took a few much needed days off from school and drove up to ATL to visit my friend Chris.  We hung out and saw Local H, Riddle Of Steel & Clutch that evening...nothing beats friends, good music and a cold PBR in hand.  Good times were had....the next morning I awoke and Chris and his wife Kim had already left for work.  I got ready, let their dog out one last time and got ready to leave.  On my way downstairs to let myself out I passed by Chris's drum room where he keeps all his stuff.  There set up was the "INJECTED" drumset.  It was sad....because Injected was my favorite band. And Chris was a KILLER drummer....but they are unfortunately no longer together as of a few weeks ago.  Stupid record labels....they are all fucking stupid.  I took the liberty to bang on his set for a few minutes before leaving.  damn.

Photography has been killing me a little bit.  I've lost a little steam and gotten a bit frustrated.  Sadly, I have been reminded what it is exactly that I hate about photography and I guess to go even further - art in general.  I'm sick and tired of putting up my work and being told wow, neat, never seen that before but then being smacked upside the head with --- why? what are you trying to say? blah blah....it's like I have to justify my work with some 10page artist statement which is just ridiculus.  If this stuff were ever up in a gallery any deep thoughts behind my work are going to be completely unknown to the viewer.  Don't get me wrong I enjoy the crits usually...its a nice change compared to the lame crits that happen in montgomery.  

I dunno....it just pisses me off to no end.  and on top of that 6weeks into the semester I'm told "you should be shooting with 4x5"....ok where was that 6weeks ago?  I hate to say this but I'm not doing 4x5....I haven't done it in about 6years.  I just dont have the time to relearn the craft when as of now there are now 3weeks left. 

ok back to tcl/rsl