Category Archives: project day zero

A Year in Pictures

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As I write this I’m just two or three pictures from completing my first years 365 project.  So I thought I might look back with nostalgia over the year which pretty much flew by.

December – My equipment consisted of a Panasonic FS4, as big as a medium-sized matchbox, my software included photoshop-7- but really I didn’t know how to use it.  The Robin picture sums up where I was at last December – except it doesn’t I cheekily cropped it and made it brighter this afternoon – he was lost in a patch of empty snow. 

January – I picked this one out of 1.5 gig of pictures because it has a naturally occurring light leak and I grew to love – much to my followers chagrin – such lomography-style flaws on my pictures – often destroying perfectly good pictures with flares and sickly colour tweeks.  This is a macro – using my FS4, on my way to work in the morning light.  Really a type of photo which dominated the first half of my project.

 February: Well over 2 gig of photos taken in February – practice makes perfect.  Still using my FS4, with a growing knowledge of photoshop and some lovely bright days – my photos develop.  Countryside still dominates, and ‘pretty’ scenes.

March - I picked this photo of the Bridgewater canal for March. 

It represents two things.  I began to gather followers on the 365 project website – most of them from the dominions, more recently known as Canada and Australia.  And I became interested in portraying my locality - and what was for me – its fascinating history.  Industrial architecture, cotton industry, mining, bad housing – to represent the North of England to the world.  I also began to understand photoshop.  At 3 gig of photos taken, March might represent my career high!

April

  April I discovered HDR, and a few other bits of software.  Looking back I think I began to lose interest a little in the project.  My FS4 was still going strong but 1.5 gig of photos and most of that heavy processing and duplicate images – The work was hotting up on my MA so I began spending more time writing.

 May

 May saw a miserable holiday in Marrakech.  If I needed any more proof that I loved where I lived, and in fact – that it is the best place to live, in the world – this was it.  Osama bin Laden ‘bought it’ as they used to say, much to America’s enjoyment – and I cowered in a Muslim country which smelt of wee, trying not to look American.

June:

 

 

 Oh to be in England…or Wales – where this was taken.  2.2 gig in my June file says that I got about a bit and took lots of pictures.  I really got to grips with Oleneo HDR software, which is why I picked this picture to show.  HDR does fancy things with the highlights and darks to make a really super picture (RSP) which is what it should be called.  I was still loving my local area and using the Panasonic FZ7, a step up to an SLR style superzoom.  My FS4 sadly had passed on to the scrap heap in the sky.

July:

July represents a change in my photography.  I began going into Manchester more and really discovering what a great city that was.  Armed with my FZ7 and various friends who’d agree to trawl around the place I snapped buildings, railway stations, busy squares and trams.  This panorama is a hugin-HDR picture of Piccadilly station.

August:

Who can forget August?  It seems hard now to believe the men of North London

were taking up arms and marching the streets during the night to make up for the sheer lack of enthusiasm the police initially showed as our cities were invaded…invaded!  If I hadn’t learnt to love Manchester this year then I would now.  Apart from my politics momentarily veering over to the right with shouts of ‘Hang them all!’ ringing around my house – I also made a habit of getting into town once a week to take some photos and have some lunch and a general mooch around.  Joining book clubs, writers groups, writers courses and a walkers organisation in Manchester this year also encouraged me to get in as much as possible.  This panorama and the one above were done on hugin software which stitches four or five pictures together to give this format.  August though only saw 500mb of pictures taken and marks a low point in pictures.

September:

 The music festival in the Northern Quarter – Like August not many pictures taken, but since I had a camera phone – new this month – I was able to snap whenever the desire took me.  The 600mbs I did take were processed through pixlr-o-matic and photoshop.

 

October:

 

 

In October I did two things, I asked for volunteers on my Facebook page – looking for people who’d let themselves be victim to my photography.  Basically I was tiring of buildings and streets.  Heritage has had its day, there is only so many mine shafts and terrace streets.  It even felt as though I was running out of Manchester scenes.  I wanted more journalistic pictures, more street scenes full of people, more portraits and exciting things.  At over 2 gig of pictures I was back on form - the reason:  Well I had a dream I owned a Canon DSLR, and when I woke up I was sad…so I went on ebay and bought one!  Yey.

November:

I know you only saw this picture last week, but it represents November.  The first of my facebook volunteers – and a change in tack for me.  It’s tough taking portraits and people shots, or I found at least – it requires a bit more bravery and quicker thinking.  I began shooting on manual this month (the success of the whole year really – going from a point and shoot compact to shooting manual on a DSLR)  I purchased 4 lenses this month and dug a couple more out of my own film camera collection and bought a Pentax ring adapter so that I could use them all on my Canon.  My camera bag became quite huge and I felt as though I finally knew what I was doing.  12 months have gone by and maybe you can’t see my progress from these 12 but if you could browse the sometimes huge - sometimes not - files on my hard drive you’d see that my output has changed.  I have learned to not overwhelm my pictures with post-processing, and I am looking for light effects and compositions which I know will make a good picture.  I’ve taken 2.5 gig of pictures this month with my Canon

Feel free to take a look at my other 350 odd pictures in what has become a diary of the year.  This is another challenge ticked off the old 101 project too.  Feel free to comment below if you have any feedback.  http://365project.org/chewyteeth/365

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The Portrait Challenge!

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(A second attempt – WordPress you swines, I don’t ask you to publish a portion of what I wrote, but all of it!)

Well winter is here – how do I know?  Well my car breaks down (last week I turned the ignition key with forty-five minutes to go before I had to be at work – six miles away – and it sounded like an angry donkey remonstrating.  I subsequently ran back to the house, threw on more suitable gear and pelted it on my bicycle.  I got there in time but spent the rest of the day sweating and wheezing.)  Also I know winter is here because I get an awful cough, always.  Oh and the final indicator that the bad weather has arrived – our bathroom becomes mouldy.  So basically things work less well (car-me-bathroom ventilation).

If you’re looking for the upside, it’s here:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also completed one of my challenges last weekend, number 18, portrait photography.  My model and I wandered Manchester in the quickly declining light and I tried my hand, feeling like a real beginner.  People photos always look more interesting than buildings and streets – and equally they require a bit more thought.  I shall get there, but I think this set of pics shows it was my first time.  Feel free to comment on the pics, and lovers of mince pies feel free to wax lyrical.  I would have posted some writing but I’m at a schism – I’m reading lots and learning lots and hopefully in the near future I’m going to apply it in some wonderful shiny and sparkly way and create something superb.  That’s the theory.  Thanks for reading.

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November Challenges

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What would you say to writing a novel?

I expect you’d say it sounds nice but how would you fit it in?

So, if I said you have to write it in a month that wouldn’t sway you?

No, me neither.  But some super-writers are having a go, and for most of them I get the distinct feeling it isn’t the first time.  This November is National Novel Writing Month, stunted to the ugly NANOWRIMO.  Hmm, catchy.  Where you’re expected to write 50,000 words in a  month.  No, you’re right, that isn’t a novel, or at least it’s a very short novel, but I’m sure the people at NANOWRIMO would reply – feel free to write more! 

Craig Pay isn’t taking part, and what with the MA I don’t know now if I’ll bother.  I would have done it to meet like-minded individuals – They are using space at MADLAB for intensive writing sessions starting on the fourth – but the group seems a bit tight already.  Lots of whooping and high-fiving over tales of how last year went.  So I might be skulking at home after all, scribbling short stories.

Last night I went on down to The Castle on Oldham Street and sat through a very pleasurable night of readings.  Bad Language is a collection of three writers who have been organising an entertaining open-mic type night at the Castle for a year now.  I really enjoyed it, they have a Facebook page and meet one Wednesday a month.   The quality was great, and talk about value for money (it was free) there must have been ten or twelve readings. The headliner was Emma Jane Unsworth, local published novelist who read from her latest novel, and also an excerpt from a future novel.

Also regular readings are still taking place at The Octagon in Bolton, one tonight for instance! (you can ring the box office on 01204520661)

So, there seems to be lots of writing being done, whether you plan to lock yourself away for November, or not.  I will be ambling along, and since I write a lot when in the mood, I might dash off 50,000 without meaning to.  It has been heard of.  What stops me signing up in a formal kind of way, is ideas…and stamina.  The two are needed in bucket loads and after a few months writing short stories and poems I’m not in practice.  All I can say is good luck to everyone who has a go…and the disconcerting news…that the real work begins after you’ve written the 50,000 words (in my experience)

Also good luck to those who grow their facial hair for November in a bid to raise awareness of testicular cancer.  Someone at work this morning announced they’d just been diagnosed, and since I grew a month-long beard for October Project Day Zero, I might as well keep it for another month in support.  It is, after all, keeping my face rather warm.

Writing and Challenges

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It was really nice to get into Manchester at the weekend and enjoy the festive atmosphere.  It was the N4 street party in the Northern Quarter.

I ate a burger, and two soft cookies stuck together with white chocolate cream.  Yes it was as good as it sounds.  Beer in plastic cups and live music, and the weather was ace.  Bliss.

Writing wise it was a successful weekend too.  I wrote six stories, 12,500 words, which is more than I’ve written for a while.  I’m trying to link the six up thematically to form some kind of coherent collection, but with a twist.  I don’t see myself sending out a collection of stories in the long term, I think I’ll still rely on novels to get some exposure in the future, but it’s good practice to link my stories and find themes which run through them. 

Challenges wise, the 101 challenges in 1001 days now appears to be a slightly more manageble 89 challenges in 973 days.  Simple.  

I got Vistaprint to print some business cards for me (95) They were cheap and cheerful and might come in handy if I remember to carry them around with me.  Basically it’s just a good way to remember a long winded blog address.

The same company very kindly sent me a special offer (only ever buy from vistaprint if you want to recieve daily SPAM emails for the rest of your life!) to print a t-shirt, and as challenge 96 mentions blog merchandise I thought I’d be crazy to say no.

Finally Challenge 86 – Get a phone I can email from:

I got it a few weeks ago, and have been emailing like mad from it, so job done.  I’ve never ventured far beyond the old text and ring type phones, so there is a lot to take in but I’m getting there.  It comes in handy the most when I get too involved with a book on the train home and can check on the maps app and see where the heck I am, and whether I’ve missed my stop already when I return to reality.

There is another challenge I thought I’d be ticking off this week.  Number 20 write a press release about my work.  I wrote a nice email to my local newspaper a few weeks ago, since I knew I was having several pieces published for free on the internet, and in books, and I wanted to publicise the fact a bit.  I also had the month long critique of fiction (challenge 49) which I thought local writers might take advantage of.  I listed the local interest elements of my work, the fact that one LA published podcast was about local history and was free to download, the fact I go to the local university and am all about the heritage and culture of my town.  I pictured maybe page ten or eleven ‘Local boy published stories in US’ come on this is a paper which can run, as its front pages, newsworthy items like PIGEON POOS ON STATUE.  You know the type.  But to no avail.

Then one night last week I happened to be sitting in the pub talking to a twenty two piece jazz band and drinking 10.5% cider, as you do.  I asked one young lady what she did, and she said I’m a journalist for the — paper.  Oh right, I said, remembering where I knew her name from – I sent you an email about my work.  She rolled her eyes,  meh, lots of people send me emails…  What do you do? she asked, and I said, oh, this and that, I write.  She asked my influences, baring in mind I’d had a couple of ciders by this point.  I said Raymond Carver and Miranda July.  She insinuated those people didn’t exist, but in her infinite mercy said I could email her again for a second chance.  Bless.  Well next time I email her it will be to CC her into an article submitted to the TLS, or when the Guardian reviews my novel (yeh right, I can type that email tonight in my dreams).  Anyway I’m confident I’ll get a better offer in the next 2.5 years.  Talking about writing, my friend and fellow MA student Craig Pay just won a national award for one of his short stories.  I haven’t published anything for about two months I need to start sending things out again and being proactive. 

This year is rolling by too quickly.

Challenge number 42: Pasta

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Manchester’s Artistic Son?

I don’t know where that came from, I really don’t.  If you’ve ever sat staring at the registration page of WordPress or Blogspot, you’ll know the feeling.  It’s a bit like getting a tattoo – what could I put up with, what represents me? So I turned ambitious.  Manchester’s Artistic Son represents not where I am, perhaps, but where I will be.  I hope to achieve big things, and even if I don’t I want the satisfaction on my deathbed of looking back and knowing that I tried.  Getting a novel published these days is tough stuff, everyone will tell you.  Making a living from writing almost impossible.  Making a living from art, as a working class northerner appears to be even harder, despite a First Class with honours.  So I’ve set myself a tough task and I’m thinking big.  Manchester’s artistic son, that’s me – the next…..Mick Hucknall, or….Anthony Burgess, Stephen Patrick Morrissey…or even Bernard Manning.

So changing subject slightly – aswell as writing I’m going to have to start blogging about two other things.  More of my art/photography – I’ve got a few projects in mind, and whilst I journal and collage often I never seem to scan it in and upload it.  Secondly, I’ve signed up to the project day zero, (see the tab at the top of this page) So I will also be recording certain recordable challenges.  Like – for instance – making pasta (tick it off the list):

My afternoon making pasta:

Apart from a big surface, a pasta machine with tagliateli and spaghetti cutters, a rolling pin a sharp knife a mixing bowl a hand blender, tubs plates and lots of cutlery (and an hour of your life to waste) what do you need?

600g/ 1lb 6 oz Tipo 00 flour (fine, plain flour)

Fine Semolina for dusting

6 whole eggs or 12 yolks (the latter being a very rich and yellow alternative)

Into the flour break your eggs, then mix in a bowl until it’s lost its stickiness.  Turn out onto a surface and knead like bread dough until it is homogenous, yellow and springy – 10-15 minutes.  Cover in clingfilm and put in the fridge for half an hour.  During which time you can plan your amazing pasta based meals.  If you want ravioli or tortalini you can prep your filling, if bolognaise or lasagne cook your meat ragu.

Then put your rolling machine onto the widest setting, mine was 9.  Take a quarter of the dough and roll it into a rough elongated piece about just less than 10mm thick.  Then put it through your rollers.  If you have a third hand, and have wondered all your life what use it could possibly be, you’re about to find out.  If you have a partner use them now (to turn the handle).  Then adjust the rollers two down, I jump a setting so go from 9-7-5-3 and I stop at 3 because 2 and 1 are too thin in my experience.

Right you have created the food equivalent of sellotape.  Now put semolina everywhere.  Do not let two pieces of pasta touch else they will fuse.  Repeat the whole process until all of your thickness-3 pasta is rolled out.  Now add the cutting attachment to the machine, and put the turning handle in place.  Lift your first piece carefully into place and turn the handle whilst lowering the pasta sheet into the cutter.  Use your third hand to guide it out underneath so it doesn’t pile up and stick.

You’ve created tagliatelli/spaghetti. Drape it somewhere dry, it is important you don’t let it clag up and form lumps.  I’m using mine tonight but in theory you can leave it to dry for the rest of the day, and overnight, and can then keep it in your store cupboard indefinitely.  In theory.

For lasagne obviously cut squares out of your thickness-3 pasta without cutting it in the machine, lay the squares somewhere to dry where they aren’t touching, or use immediately. 

For stuffed pasta I improvised because I had very few ingredients in.  I blended to a paste sundried tomatoes, mozzarella, pesto, fresh basil, salt and pepper, fresh parmesan and garlic oil.  I put the attractive brown paste in lumps onto two equal sized strips at regular intervals and used two other equal sized strips to cover them.  Then trying not to spread your filling press a circle around the pasta until it is tucked in.  I used a cookie cutter to cut them into circles.  Boil the ravioli and pasta for a few minutes, not as long as commercially bought stuff, and serve with butter, herbs, olive oil and any number of sauces.  If you successfully dry the pasta then the cooking time in the future will be slightly longer.

Finally ask yourself, other than a project zero challenge why on earth would you spend an hour and £3.00 making something which costs £1.50??