April 30th from • Home in Vancouver, BC
Tomorrow is May 1st??? It’s crazy how fast this year is going. Except on days when the Vancouver weather forgets we’re fully into spring and decides to break our hearts with crappy weather. Can’t complain too much though, since we’ve had great weather on the photowalks I’ve led this last couple of months.
Speaking of the last couple of months, I’ve mentioned it everywhere online but if you haven’t heard the news, I launched a new online photography club called The Lightbox Club. The Lightbox Club is a welcoming and creative community for photographers of all skill levels.
Whether you just picked up your first camera or you’ve been at it for years, this is a place to grow, stay inspired, and connect with others who share the same passion. No question is too basic, there are monthly challenges which are a great excuse to pick up your camera, and we’re about to do the first live stream meetup of the club.
If you’re interested in joining the club, you can sign up by clicking the link below.
In other news, I participated in the Reddit Print Exchange Spring event for the second time and I highly recommend it. Twice a year, a group of photographers from all over the world come together for a print exchange. It's totally free to participate and you get to send some of your prints to someone around the world and receive prints from others. These are the prints I sent last week:
Go check it out and join by clicking here: r/printexchange subreddit. The next exchange is in the fall.
There's not a lot more to share since most of my time the last couple of months has been focused on The Lightbox Club launch and recording two new courses that I'll be releasing soon. So with that said, on to the media diet of the last couple of months.
Media Diet Highlights
Audiobooks
I’m on my second listen of “14” by Peter Clines and it won’t be my last. It’s a short story with this basic premise: “As the tenants turn into amateur detectives, they discover the building's purpose is rooted in fringe science”.
Read
“Annihilation” by Jeff VanderMeer
This is an incredible book. It's not interested in giving you clear answers to the plot. It's so weird and it will make your brain twist in new ways. I've seen it described with terms like "cosmic dread" and "hauntingly beautiful." There is so much subtext in the story that I'm sure I missed a lot on my first read. It's told from a first-person perspective, which adds to the anxiety since we only know what the protagonist sees. I just got the second book in the series on Libby and I'm excited to dive back in. I really enjoyed the movie with Natalie Portman for its weirdness and didn't mind knowing the overall story, but the book is very different in some ways and that adds to the experience.
“Twelve Months” by Jim Butcher
The return of Wizard Harry Dresden after 6 years of no new stories. I'm sad to report it's not as good as the other Dresden Files books. It's slooow, gloomy, and not as fun as the other 17 books in the series. Yep, I said 17, and they are worth your time if you're into urban fantasy and detective stories.
Movies / TV (Speed round edition)
The amaze, amaze, amaze category
“Project Hail Mary”- I read the book and looooved it. The book has more of the science stuff, but the movie was a perfect version of the story. Ryan Reynolds is undefeated in the comedy, action, heartbreaker actor pantheon. Rocky was brought to life exactly as he is in the book. Saw it twice in theatres and I'm tempted to go a third time.
The very good category
“Wake up Dead Man” - 4 / 5 Another fun ride in the Benoit Blanc universe.
“The Rip” - 3.5 / 5 - I enjoy the chemistry between Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. This is a goofy crime thriller with decent action.
“One Battle After Another” - 4.5 / 5 - Just for its weirdness and the performances it’s worth watching it.
“Black Bag” - 4.5 / 5 - I'm a fan of Soderbergh's movies and this slow burn thriller is a good one.
“Predator: Badlands” - 4 / 5 - Super fun action movie with the Predator we all love and Ella Fanning. Breaks some of the tropes of the genre in a really fun way.
TV
The obvious: Shrinking, The Pitt, Will Trent
The newcomers: The Detectorists (slow burn brit comedy), Rooster (with Steve Carell), Jeopardy! (addictive), Fisk (Australian goofy comedy)
