Summer Projects

June 30 Day Film Challenge

I mentioned at the end of my last blog post, that I was committing to 30 days of filming for June with some fellow classmates of the Make Films: 12 course.

Determined not to fail, I have taken some extreme measures. I made a list of four daily prompts, compiled from four different photo challenge lists. This gives me a starting point for each day. I don't have to do all four, one or two are a great accomplishment.

I have written the four prompts on a 3 X 5 card for each day, and placed them right on my desk so I will see them multiple times per day. Usually by lunchtime, I have crossed one off the list, so the next day's prompts are moved to the front. This gives me time to dream up an idea for the next day.

I have also made a note in the app Evernote for each day with the four prompts. A reminder pops up every morning at 8 o'clock.

Most days I have multiple clips filmed for the day. This could present its own problem down the road, overload of too many choices or a five minute film.

Abandoned Artifacts

Each summer, I do some kind of photography project. Last year it was The Meadow, which extended well into the fall and taught me so much about photography, patience and good light.

June 2015

A few years ago,  I did a summer project of photographing items people left behind at the beach. This was before I knew to call this sort of thing a project. But I did find some pretty interesting things.

The other day as part of my 365 photography project, I posted a "find" on Flickr, where I am keeping my 365 photo album. One of the people that "follows" me reached out with a comment, saying she would love to collaborate on a project like this. So Kristine Ortega and I have decided to collaborate on the summer project Abandoned Artifacts. We are also inviting those who want to play to join us.

Fishing line

The rules are pretty simple.

• Take a photograph of a "found by you" abandoned man-made artifact, preferable taken where you find it. But sometimes good light requires a mild adjustment :) 
• Use whatever camera you have - phone, dslr, or point and shoot
• Process however you want
• Share it with us, and the story behind it, if you want. 

Fly in a bottle

Where you can share...

• Flickr group - link is here
• Instagram with the hashtag #abandonedartifactssummer2018
• Pondering a FB group - trying to cover most social media.

By the end of the summer, I expect I will have a collection of mismatched sandals.

My goal with the project is to create a scavenger hunt for the summer. Something fun to build community, make new friends, share some stories, and get outside with your camera.

The Secret Life of Sadie Powers

Prompt: Citrus

August 2015, I participated in Susannah Conway's August Break, a published list of daily prompts meant to build community on social media. You were suppose to take a picture each day that somehow symbolized that prompt and then post it on Instagram or FaceBook. Always the overachiever, I decided to take the list and do thirty-one days of self-portraiture photography.

Prompt: Sweet Delights

My blogging adventure began after taking the NOW YOU e-course on self-portrait photography, that was six years ago. My personality is not one that should like being in front of the lens, although INFP's top two professions tend to be writer or actor...hmmm. I chose photography in the first place, for my life after work, so I could be behind the lens. But something from that very first class sucked me into this creative, alternate world.

Prompt: In the Distance

That August, I fell head-over-heels in love with the challenge of story creating, finding my best body angles, mastering focus, and scene set-ups. I gave the series it's own hashtag #herlifeinvignettes. I began to think of myself as a character.

Prompt: Notebook

One morning while writing in my journal, my character suddenly had a name...Sadie Powers. I have no idea where it came from. I don't know any Sadie's or anybody with the last name Powers, but Sadie Powers it was.

She seemed to come to me as a muse, a cross between my favorite great-aunt Viola and Vivian Maier, the reclusive street photographer, who I had recently learned about. My great-aunt instilled in me a deep fascination for an earlier age, a love for unique(old) places and things, hard-to-find treasures. Vivian's photographs emulated that era of curiosity for me. There are actually a lot of similarities between my great-aunt and Vivian Maier, both never married, both were devoted to children, both loved to travel, both documenters of a vanishing time through collecting memorabilia and photography.

Prompt: Two

Initially, I thought I was suppose to write a book about Sadie and her adventures. But, if I have learned anything about myself in the last two years, it is that while I am capable of writing, I am not capable of sitting for long periods of time at my desk. For over two years, Sadie has been patiently biding her time.

Since I began making short films at the beginning of this year, Sadie has snuck down out of the attic, ready to start her adventures once again.

The following is Sadie's film debut...


Idle Hour from Sarah Huizenga on Vimeo.

 It will be interesting to see how her story unfolds...

Prompt: Close Up

I have returned to prompt lists found on Pinterest, hunting down costumes and props, and developing the story.

Endless Winter

I tend to be a glass half-full kind of person. But, lately even my rose-colored glasses have begun to slip. Here we are almost a month into spring, and the number of days I have not had to wear my winter coat is exactly one.

Granted, the last time I had to snowblow the driveway was in February, but still each week there is another white reminder of the season past. Either flakes in the air or a coating on the ground. At this point, if I could just take a walk without wearing my mittens I would be really happy.

I think this weariness of white made me choose my #the100dayproject prematurely. Every April the organized project starts (you can read about it here). I have declared a project each year since 2015, but only completed one. Failure never stops me from trying again. This year's project was to be #100daysofcolorhunting and I made it ten days before I grew weary of it.

So what about the other ninety days? Well...what I should have done in the first place is declared I was doing a project, but then let it evolve in its own time. I thought I wanted color, but I didn't ask myself the right question...that question should have been: What do I want to learn?

On the eleventh day while walking at the beach, I realized that yes I desperately need color in my life, but I want to learn more about filmmaking, and in particular filmmaking with my iPhone. What held me back from declaring this project in the first place is knowing I can not produce a film every single day. But I can shoot clips everyday, and some days I can put them into a 15-30 second film, and some days all I can do is share one quick clip, and that's ok.

I have been experimenting with an app FILMic Pro that gives me so much more control than the native camera. I want to learn that app. There is also an app Lumafusion for editing that I want to learn, but for the moment things will remain edited in iMovie. No point in overwhelming myself, one step at a time.

So the revised project is #100daysofmorningscenes. I am a morning person, that is when I am most creative. Just like my 365 Project, where I can look back and see where I have been in the last year. It will be fun to look back at these 100 days and see what my mornings have been filled with.

Daughters and Butterflies

Daughters and butterflies; beautiful, delicate creatures that we want to hold in our hands and protect from the world. But, if we hold too tightly, we end up damaging their fragile wings. Instead, we must provide a firm foundation for them to strengthen their wings upon. Then, when they are ready, let them go to soar upwards toward their own bright blue sky.

My daughter, Mallory, took a day off from work last week and suggested that we go visit the butterfly exhibit at the Frederik Meijer Gardens in the city. I had been wanting to go anyway, and it is more fun to go with someone, especially when that someone is your daughter.

I rarely get the chance to photograph her, being a stubborn child who prefers to stay out of the limelight. But trapped in a building, and with momma paying, she had little choice.  The outing also gave me a chance to use my 85mm lens, a lens I fall in love with every time I use it. Why don't I use it more?

There are over 60 species of butterflies from Asia, Africa, and Central & South America in the exhibit this year.

This is the Common Morpho butterfly. The underside of the wings have the most intriguing brown coloring and "eye" spots, but the topside of the wings are a breathtaking iridescent blue.

For the breath of a second, one landed on my sweater.

I made a short film of our day, much to my grumbling daughter's protest. If she only knew the joy that it brings to my "momma" heart to have this time together. Soon enough there will be someone else special in her life. I want to remember these fleeting, iridescent days.


Butterflies and Daughters from Sarah Huizenga on Vimeo.

Adventures of a Wanderer

Last fall, unhindered for the first time in my life, I made the most of my days. I tried to get out at least once a week for an adventure, and at long last did an overnight solo adventure. I revisited all my favorite places; how had a year gone by since I had last seen them. I also discovered some hidden gems.

Then last November happened. My mom collapsed from an aortic dissection, had emergency surgery and spent a month in the hospital and rehab. When I was in the midst of it, I was sure that I would never be able return to my adventurous life.

Eventually though, the fog cleared and everything returned to a new normal.

One good thing that came out of that time was the conversations I had with my dad as I drove him back and forth to the hospital to visit mom. After the initial recounting of details of how it all happened, we settled into conversations about his growing up years, and about his parents and grandparents. I had always known that my great-grandparents had lived a lot of places, but I didn't know that it was all my great-grandpa's idea. He would start a business, run it for a few years and then sell it, move someplace else, and start a new business, repeating the cycle over and over again. He even earned the nickname "the German gypsy". This was a glimpse into my soul.

Spring is here. I am still mostly unhindered, except for the cell phone that is always tucked into a pocket. Let's go explore some of my favorite places...




I hope that everyone has a joy-filled Easter next week. I will see you in a couple of weeks.

February

The other day while washing dishes, I glanced out the kitchen window at the gray, gloomy, soggy backyard and noticed the silhouette of a robin hop between two spruce trees near the edge of the pond. Seeing that robin hop made me happy for two reasons: First, the hope of spring. Second, I am learning to see movement.

For the past six years, I have trained my eye to look for stillness, actively seeking calm. Don't we all want more calm in our lives?

 As I embark on this film making journey, I am learning to see differently. Short films of still landscapes are not the most riveting to watch.

Findley has been a willing participant in my films, but I have to get over my fear of filming my family, afraid of their reaction to being on film. I am also learning that I can be in the moment and also capture the moment.

If you know anything about me by now, you will know that to me a little knowledge is good, but a lot of knowledge is so much better. In that spirit, I signed up for a second Xanthe Berkeley film class, Make Films: 12, which actually dovetails extremely well with the first class Make Films. This second class expands on what is learned in the first class, and we work on different month long themed projects.

After my summer in the meadow last year, the joy and satisfaction of working on longer projects really took root. I love not feeling rushed, taking the time to tell the story to the best of my ability.

Here is my first project film - the theme is Audio is the Hero...

February was: snowy, filled with friends and a trip up north for a wine tasting weekend, snowy, and a kitchen make-over begun. Hoping March has a little more sunshine and less snow. February 18 was Findley's birthday. He is two already, can you believe it? If we aren't friends on Facebook or Instagram and you haven't seen the slideshow I put together of Fin's first two years you can watch it here...

End Notes

I would love for you to visit my blogging friend Jill Ruskamp here. Jill is taking the Make Films course too. What she is doing with black and white is fabulous, and I have already seen so much growth in her films. She made this one to celebrate her 54th birthday. I will be 50 in June and I want to do something similar. What a great way to document a life event.

The kitchen remodel began this week. Old countertops and backsplash out. New countertops and sink in the next day. Sink hooked up the day after that. Cabinets refreshed on Friday (they look amazing). Backsplash coming next Tuesday. I may have found new pendant lights, that will be determined this weekend. Next steps: electrician, ordering the flooring, new half bath vanity, and order the refrigerator. No going back now.

Soundtrack of Life

Coming of age signifies that moment in your life when you get to make at least some of your own decisions. Granted they are not always the best decisions, but that's part of the journey. I came of age during the 1980's. The decade of big glasses, big hair, tight leather pants, bandanas and jackets with upturned collars.

One of the decisions that I was finally be able to make was what music I wanted to listen to.  No longer did I have to listen to my mother's country western music in the car or on the home stereo. I had my own car, a rockin' four door Chevy Chevette, and I had my own portable tape player in my room.  I bought cassette tapes of some of my favorites bands that I heard on the local rock radio station, then I made mixed tapes so I could have all my favorite songs on one.

On my mixed tapes were some of the big hair bands: Def Lepard, Motley Crue, White Snake, the Scorpions and Bon Jovi.  But at heart I was a punk rocker, there were posters of Billy Idol all over my room. I would sit and listen to White Wedding and Dancing with Myself for hours.

At my own White Wedding in my coming of age season, we gave a small nod to traditional wedding songs, and were also overly kind and let my grandmother sing a special number (so glad that's on video tape, said with sarcastic voice), but we also played a ballad by a big hair Christian rock band called Styper. We may have only been eighteen and nineteen, but we knew what we wanted, and we were going to do it.

Quickly transitioning to a wife and full-time working adult, I hung up the black leather pants, and the chain belt that went with them. I threw away the hair mousse, the heavy kohl eyeliner. I folded the bandanas and tucked them into the back of a drawer. There were no longer hours on end to listen to my favorite music while doing homework. Instead it was go to work for eight hours, come home cook supper, walk the dog, do some laundry and collapse into bed exhausted. There was no music.

Music stayed nonexistent until the mid-90's and the birth of our daughter, Mallory. Like any good first time mother I wanted her to fall asleep to the sounds of lullabies. I am not blessed with a melodic voice, so I bought her a portable cassette player and found a couple wonderful lullaby tapes. The best one was by Nicolette Larson with a song on there called Mallory's song.

Parenting through the 90's brought lots of classic Disney films on VHS,  mornings of Barney the Dinosaur, and The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round stuck in my head.

When Mallory outgrew Barney, music faded away again.

Late elementary school and we found something we all liked - Christian rock. We went to concerts, big outdoors festivals, listened in the car, on the computer. Eventually though we progressed, and Christian rock did not.

College years and Mallory's own coming of age. She brought home her own sounds, influenced by others. It was new and exciting indie artists like Josh Garrels, Death Cab for Cuties, The Black Keys, and Bon Iver. It was a whole new season of music again.

Over the last six years, I have drifted in and out of songs, playing some like Adele's Hello time and time again, and then leaving them completely to obsess over podcasts or audio books. But this new filmmaking adventure has brought me back to music; new artists to explore, new music sharing sites, all so I can find that perfect soundtrack for my life.

End Notes

These are some of the artists I enjoy listening to at the moment: Lord Huron, Gregory Alan Isakov, The Lumineers, Jake Bugg. Interestingly, almost all my artists have a haunting quality to their voices.

Pandora Radio is a great way to find new to you artists.

I have been using Soundstripe for the music for my films, endless choices.

My new car came with Sirius XM radio free for the first four months. I don't plan to renew once the free period is over, but I have been loving the 1940's station, and the big band sound.

I am an eclectic mix.

A Winter Walk at the Beach

I wasn't going to do the homework assignment for this week's Make Films class. Slo-mo, that wasn't my shooting style, and I saw no need for it. Part of this attitude was influenced by the fact that it is winter and so far I have only been shooting inside. There is nothing I could do inside that would need slow motion. Also, Findley and I were working on our next film, and I wanted to put my available time into that.

Tuesday afternoon I watched the class videos, and Xanthe said something that changed my mind. She said, even if it isn't your style or you don't see a need for slo-mo, make the film, watch how things move, learn from it. Point taken. Still I had no idea what I was going to shoot. Then I watched her inspiration films, and had a thought. What if I took you all on a photo walk with me. I have shown you photographs for years of the state park near my house with the big red lighthouse, what if I actually took you on a filmed walk of it.

Thursday morning was clear and still, even if it was only 29 degrees. I loaded up my gear: two dslr cameras, a tripod, a poetry book, my iPhone mount that fits in the hot shoe of my dslr, and my phone. It was fairly early and cold, so there weren't many people around, but the glassy stillness of the water was perfect.

Let's go on a walk...



Xanthe was right. I did learn a lot from filming this. I thought a lot about movement, and found delightful surprises when I was editing it all together. Little nuances that I will bring into future films.

This entire film was shot on my new iPhone 8 Plus. I have been talking about upgrading for the last year. In the last couple of weeks I have been doing lots of research, mostly comparing which would be the best to use in film making. The decision was between the iPhone 8 Plus and the iPhone X. Yes, there is a price difference between the two, but I also budget for a new phone every two years, and it has been three years since my last phone. What it ultimately came down to was how it felt in my hand, and the iPhone 8 Plus felt right.

Only three weeks into the Make Films class, and I already feel I have learned and grown so much.

End Notes

Glen and I have three days to go on our Whole 30 food cleanse. The first week seemed like an eternity, the last three weeks have passed in a blur. I would definitely do this again, it may become a January tradition. 

In researching slo-mo ideas on Pinterest, I came across this YouTube channel. It's all about photographing and filming on your mobile device. These guys are young, hip, and funny.

Have a great week!

Mornings with Fin

Most of you will know this face, either from here on my blog or if you follow me on Instagram, and especially if you follow me on Flickr. He has become easy prey for my 365 photography project this winter. If you haven't met him before, this is Findley, my grand puppy. Although he isn't much of a puppy anymore, since he will be turning two in one short month.

I take care of Findley a couple days a week to help break up his monotony while my daughter works. Plus it helps satisfy my dog itch, a least for the moment.

The one problem with these adorable photographs is that you only see one facet of Fin's character. But trust me, there is so much more to Fin, he really is Mr. Personality, and has been from the beginning.

To showcase his true nature, Fin and I have been working on a short film for the past couple of weeks.

Have a watch...
 

This also happens to fulfill the homework assignment for Week 2 of Xanthe's Make Films e-course.

Three years ago, I tried to take a year long Xanthe film course. I never made it past the first month. I realize now why I failed; I was too new into the journey, I was trying to find out who I was. I wasn't confident enough to stand up and do the assignments my own way, I thought I had to do them like everybody else, but I wasn't like everybody else, so I gave up.

Now at the start of 2018, I know who I am, I know my style, I know what I like and what I don't like. I am hungry to learn more, to take who I am and express it in the truest way.

This course is also teaching me why I struggle with sitting down and writing a story, I need a visual story. It's the same story just told in a different way, with a lot less sitting.

I use to be a daydreamer, creating elaborate stories in my head. This helped to make the boredom of my receptionist job tolerable. I would often carry these daydreams into my sleep, my imagination working on its own while I slept. But then motherhood and sleepless nights replaced deep sleep, and I was too tired during the day to daydream anyway. Eventually, if you stop using your imagination, it goes into hibernation. But it can be reawakened, you just have to start using it again, and that is what making films is allowing me to do - use my imagination again.

I love taking a subject or theme and creating the scenes to go with it. I love editing in iMovie. I love the challenge of finding the perfect music to accompany the film. I love how the films capture the essence of people/dogs and places, so much more than a still photograph can. I am also amazed at how much I can say in a one minute film clip.

Well, it's time to start working on my next film, I have some ideas floating around in my head. Stay tuned...

End Notes

My husband I have completed twenty days of our month of Whole 30. I would say by mid-way through week two it became so much easier. There are still a lot of eggs, and a lot of dishes to wash each meal, but it's worth it. All my clothes are fitting looser, and the tight yoga pants are now the only yoga pants that stay up nice and snug. I still miss my chai lattes, and a bit of sweetness in my drinks. I don't miss melty cheese or bread (too much). We definitely are never hungry.

I just completed day 140 of my 365 Photography Project. January has been a little tough with all the cold and snow. I miss being outside.

Also, if you missed it on Instagram here is my Make Films homework/completed film for Week One. 

Fin is starting to demand a higher salary. I guess I will be going back to the Pet Store for some more biscuits.

Have a great week.

A Haunting Tour

"By resisting the beginner's mind, you make yourself more prone to repeat yourself than to create something new. The attempt to avoid failure, in other words, makes failure more likely."                                                                 ~ Ed Catmull - Creativity, Inc. 

On December 27, 2017, I embraced the beginner's mind. I signed up for Xanthe Berkeley's Make Films class that starts January 9, 2018.

I gave myself plenty of time to think about the class, almost a whole month, and I couldn't stop thinking about it, so I knew that I was making the right decision.

In preparation, I took this class on how to use iMovie so that I had some clue what I was doing before the class starts. I know that Xanthe will teach us on iMovie, but sometimes I get so hung up on the technical stuff that I never get to the creating part.

Thanks to that easy to follow class and a trip to Traverse City a couple of weeks ago with my husband; him for work, me for pleasure, I visited the insane asylum with my iPhone and shot some clips to put together into a short little video.



This captures a sense of the buildings that captivate me, more so than a still photograph or even a series of stills could ever do. You feel the eeriness of the broken windows, the tattered curtains blowing in the breeze, the warning signs.

I think I failed in my previous film making attempts for two reasons:

1. I was already pretty good at photography, so I figured I should be pretty good at making films as well. When I wasn't, I viewed it as failure and quit, and went back to what I was good at.
2. I invested money to learn, but I didn't invest time to learn.

Pride and impatience, two things that don't belong in the world, and especially in the creative world.