A change of pace

Time for a break from the music reports. Things are changing around here, I haven't even really had a good time to finish my Coachella recap, my mind is definitely preoccupied with all the changes taking place in my life right now.

First let's start with something fun. I purchased a new camera recently, a pretty serious DSLR (my first ever) I plan to use both for movies and for photography which I am starting to get more into. It's the Canon 5D Mark II, definitely a big step up from my little point and shoot Canon that I take to shows. Thing is a beast, and it does shoot incredible video but definitely lacks the complete package of a nice video camera. The lack of auto-focus I can deal with in most instances, but not being able to change any aperture or image controls when rolling can be annoying. Also the lack of an articulating screen hurts the overall usefulness of the camera, but I'm still learning. My first video on it is due out soon, May 17th probably, delayed in many parts because my inexperience with the camera (and lack of lenses) really showed in a lot of the stuff I shot. But with a couple of new purchases (most notably my Canon 100mm 2.8 L macro lens, fucking amazing) and some more shoots I'm getting in the groove. Still a big change, but a definite welcome addition to my arsenal. Here are a couple of random photos:

macro nail

Melba

Part of the reason for acquiring new gear was to distract me from the other shifting realities of life. Getting a bit personal here, but I've been dating the same amazing girl for nearly 5 years now. If you know me personally then you know who I'm talking about, if not then you'll just have to imagine. We've lived together in different places for almost 4, the past year in her Mom's house back in Nashville which we were renting from her. Were being the operative word, as currently we are just about moved out of the place. Moving always holds a special kind of suck in life, but never has it been this terrible. For this time the move is taking us to different places. While I'm staying put (for the most part) she's moving to New York for grad school. And while I completely support her choice and the new path this will lead her down I cannot escape the fact of how much it sucks. Distance may be something we need for a while, we have talked about it before, but as the reality sets in it is still very hard to accept.

Which is probably why it's a good thing I've got a lot of stuff going on while all this is going down. I'm about to embark on my most serious travel expedition of my life. It's nothing really that crazy, as I'm pretty inexperienced when it comes to foreign travel so it doesn't take a lot to make it a serious endeavor. I will be exploring a new continent and hopefully distracting myself from the tough to swallow changes in life with new experiences. On May 17th I will leave for Korea where I will rendezvous with friends from Nashville who are working there teaching English. I don't even know exactly what I'm going to do, mostly I just hope to see new things and get a different perspective on life. And also to take a lot of pictures, you can bet that beast of a camera is traveling with.

So distractions are in order, I feel if I stick around Nashville right after she leaves I'll be miserable. Better to be moving around. Plenty of that going on, I'm currently in North Carolina with said amazing girl on a mini-vacation before we depart. Then on to Chicago for my brother's graduation for 4 nights. Return on Monday, hopefully wrap up some work which has been hanging over my head for a bit. Then Tuesday it's off to the other side of the world. A definite change of pace this will be.