These Aren't The Droids You're Looking For...

These Aren't The Droids You're Looking For..., originally uploaded by powerpig.

Chris has created an image to coincide with his most popular t-shirt design, which is now up for sale on Qwertee until the end of the day tomorrow (March 11/2011)!

Everything you do is a balloon

Everything you do is a balloon, originally uploaded by Fanboy30.

Its been a while would be an understatement, lets face it its been like forever since I blogged anything. I did start a Live Journal which has basically gone the way of the Dodo but I am trying to bring it back alongside my blog here.

My photography has suffered greatly over the past year and that is mainly due to lack of inspiration. Yes I was still posting to Flickr but half of it was content just to keep people interested. I could quite happily delete a lot of it and not batter an eyelid.

I have struggled for years that self portraiture seems to be my biggest crowd puller online and I tried to fight against the grain to see what other niche I could adopt. After a long time of pushing out work I wasn't happy with I thought what the hell am I doing? Why turn my back on what I was good at? My self portrait work was never really about me I was merely using myself as a vessel for ideas and situations.

Viewers could read my work as something personal or take whatever they liked from it and make there own conclusions. So I am now returning to a lot more of me on Flickr. That said I am still considering finding more people to help me achieve larger scaled set ups and scenarios because there is only so much of me I can take let alone my viewers. Also there are times I require men/woman of different ages and sizes to get an idea across that wouldn't be believable if I was to feature (my acting and Photoshop skills aren't THAT good).

Basically please bear with me as I find my feet once more and if anyone is still out there who even sees this then I appreciate your support and patience.

Watch this space.

Oh Canada

It's official, I finally became a permanent resident of Canada after a long 7 month wait.
I couldn't be more pleased although the reality still hasn't sunk in yet due to the long wait of not knowing. The last part of the process was an interview at the local immigration office in town with a friendly lady who put us at ease very quickly. She asked me some routine questions and checked my passport then got me to sign some paperwork and it was done, I have the same rights as a Canadian.

The funny thing is the residency lasts for 5 years before you have to renew it but out of those 5 years you only have to reside in Canada for 2 which seems bizarre to me. You would think it would at least be the majority of the 5 but I don't have any intentions to leave just yet due to money and the state of the UK.

Its weird to think that at last I can relax and enjoy the comfort of knowing that I am allowed to stay. I guess I should learn the national anthem now.....OH CANADA......um???

The Past 5 Months (not so great)

After Christmas I started to get pain in my jaw but I have wisdom teeth forming so I was used to it. I think I had a mild case of TMJ which is like lock jaw where the joint swells a little making it hard to open your mouth wide at times. Anyway, I started to sleep on my back so I wouldn't sleep on my face at night making things worse. I started to complain about pain in my legs and shoulders which I just put down to sleeping funny.

As time passed (month or so) the pain and stiffness in my legs and arms got worse and I was having trouble getting up out of chairs/bed and walking was even slow at times.
I then started to get pins and needles in my hands and wrists which I thought was just RSI because I am always on a computer or playing xbox.

After 2 months we thought I should see a doctor as things really weren't improving and were clearly getting worse. I was ordered to have some blood tests which revealed I had some issues with inflammatory arthritis. It sounded insane as I am so young but its not unheard of.
With a lot more blood tests and an X-ray on my hands which by now had pretty much swollen and one was nearly unusable I was referred to a Rheumatologist.

I was told it would be a 6-9 month wait, but within 3 months i got a call for an appointment which seemed odd. Last week (now 5 months of suffering) I saw the specialist who confirmed that I have Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) :(
I have it pretty bad, almost in every joint. Its rare in men and usually a lot worse than woman and that's why I was called in so fast after they saw my blood tests. Finally I was being listened to and getting the help I need. Right there and then they drained fluid from both my knees and injected me with a steroid.

If you treat RA aggressively within the first year of it showing up there is a chance of it going into remission for a while before surfacing at older age. Seeing that I am so young they want to try and give some quality of life back before I have to deal with old age. So my treatment will be weekly injections in my arm of a drug, 2 pills of another drug daily, physio and sessions in the pool.

Its going to be intense but by the end of Friday the steroid had already started to work wonders and over the weekend I can now open jars, dress myself and walk up stairs with no problem. I am in the best care now and I am 30lbs lighter as well because all the stress caused me to lose weight.

Its been a shit 5 months but finally I am getting some relief, I am not cured but I am being treated by the right people.

Avatar

11 - Avatar, originally uploaded by Mr. Moog.

I saw Avatar last night in Real 3D and it is the first time that I experienced motion sickness from a movie. The action sequences were amazing and you can forgive the predictable story and corny one liners because I found the whole world mesmerizing. I tried to find fault with the effects and was amazed at how realistic the characters of Pandora were, the motion capture was the best I've seen. Many times I was moved by the emotion and situation the people of Pandora went through and these computer generated aliens showed more emotion than most real actors.

The only problem was I found some of the action so fast paced that in 3D my eyes couldn't focus on what was going on. I had this same problem with the recent Transformers movies although not in 3D, I doubt I could have swallowed the mass of spaghetti metal fighting out of the screen and into my face.
When the credits started to roll I stood up and had a moment of disorientation and feeling of sickness. I looked across at my friend and he had grabbed the seat in front because he was off balance, we both laughed and started shuffling for the exit.

I have also read that some people have become depressed and even suicidal after watching Avatar because the world of Pandora was so idyllic in comparison to the world we live in. I can't say that a movie could ever really have that much effect on me and you would have to be suffering from some sort of chemical off balance beforehand

Tis the season

Tis the season, originally uploaded by Fanboy30.

Its that time of year again for Lego festivities in the shape of an advent calendar. This time it is Pirates because lets face it even guys on the seven seas have to celebrate too.

I am documenting each day on Flickr so why not keep popping back to my photostream and see where the antics of Jolly Captain Roger and friends will end up.


ARRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!

Trick or Treat?

Trick or Treat?, originally uploaded by Fanboy30.

I just wanted to wish you all a Happy Halloween.

I won't be dressing up but I will be experiencing a true North American Holiday which should be a lot of fun.

Animal Activity

Animal Activity, originally uploaded by Fanboy30.

On Wednesday night we ventured through the cold to go see Paranormal Activity at our local Empire Theatre. Since the hype online many weeks ago we have been eagerly awaiting this movie to come to Halifax, I even went to their website and joined in the polls to request it come to a city near you (clever marketing).

For those of you who are unaware of the plot its basically about a couples struggle to try and document what seems to be a haunting in their own home. All the footage is by a hand held camera and has some premise that it is a true story similar to how Blair Witch was introduced to us.

The movie itself was very minimal, we would get dialogue from the suffering couple trying to find out what is going on in their house and at night the camera is placed on a tripod in their bedroom to watch what happens while they are asleep. Most of the sequences at night only amount to bumps and noises, doors moving and lights turning on but these create a wonderfully creepy build of tension.

I won't go into details but Paranormal Activity was fun but it fails on one major level and that having a cliche horror Hollywood ending. After the movie I read that the director had shot a number of different endings but the one that was released was heavily influenced by Steven Spielberg no less. The movie had managed to tell a story without being too obvious, the audience was left to decide what was going on and to discuss what they saw or didn't due to the poor quality of the camera.

The ending basically ruined the whole film for us because after such an increase in tension it felt like it was rushed to get to a simple conclusion.

Paranormal Activity works because when you think about it sitting at home you start to become aware of all the small noises a building can make. the cinema setting was crowded and noisy, chatty scared girls, cell phones that weren't switched off and rustling popcorn bags ruined this movie for us because the movie requires silence so you hear every subtlety.

If I was to recommend it to people I would say wait for DVD, curl up on the sofa and turn the lights off and scare yourself silly because I think it only works if you are experiencing it in your own home. This is a place that is supposed to be safe, your own private fortress, and what better thing to penetrate that than something otherworldly?

The Simple Life

The Simple Life, originally uploaded by Fanboy30.

It never gets old seeing little Frannie as she collects nuts for the winter. She has become such a character with no fear as she climbs and jumps all over us looking for her bounty. Her personality shines through and I would like to think there is a bond between her and Chris, she appears to be very loving and intelligent.

I took this video as Chris shot his latest image which you can see on Flickr. This marks probably our last interaction with Frannie until next spring so watching it I have mixed emotions. Who would have thought one so small could entertain so many.

Wanna Dance?

Wanna Dance?, originally uploaded by Fanboy30.

A couple of weeks ago I received a message on Facebook from an old friend from college called Natasha referencing my recent 'Other Worlds' work on Flickr. Her boyfriend Chris had seen them over her shoulder and was pretty impressed and then continued to badger her about asking me to work my magic on him. When she told me this I happily responded as I do to people who show an interest and let them know that all I require is a self portrait shot against a blank background.

Not long after that I got an email with a shirtless picture of Chris in a strange pose, it was then disclosed that he wanted to be turned into Wolverine from the X-men comic series. Yesterday I started to tackle the picture which didn't take long at all with only a few minor finishing touches needed today before uploading it online.

I have yet to hear from either of them if they approve but I am sure Chris will be happy with his new physique :)

Thundercats HO!!!!!!!!

Currently enjoying photographing my friends retro toy collection. Many of these action figures I had myself as a child and wished I still did. Unfortunately sometime in my early teens i accompanied my mum to a local car boot sale where she had a stall for the local club she was a member of. I saw all the people there making money and thought to myself maybe I could earn a little something as well. So the following week I decided to sell all my toys (something I now regret).

Lion-O, originally uploaded by Fanboy30.

I was lucky to accumulate a large collection of toys from certain series like He-Man and Thundercats so my little folding table was crammed with colourful little figures, weapons and accessories.

I recall a man circling my stand with a suitcase until he finally came up and said "How much for the lot?". I looked over the array of different collections trying to put a price on them because until now they had been priceless to me. "Fifty pounds" I stuttered "Done!" the man said, handed me the cash and threw my childhood into his suitcase and walked off.

There had been no time to process what had happened and for the moment I was overjoyed, thinking about how I was going to spend the money. It wasn't until I got home and reality sunk in that nearly all my fond memories of playing had been exchanged for such a measly price. The man was clearly a dealer and would make three times as much on my immaculate collection. I think it was that moment that defined the value I have on personal possessions and probably why I try to collect toys at any given moment.

As an adult I am always on the look out for new and exciting action figures, but now my excuse is for photography. It gives the object another purpose, almost making it into a new art form. When you look at my 'Retro Plastic' collection or the 'Transformers Animated' series they bring memories to the viewer of a time that have forgotten. Its for that reason alone I love doing what I do.

You can find awesome retro Thundercats T-Shirts

at Tees for all

Teefury - ONE DAY ONLY (Oct 2nd)

Hi everybody

First of all sorry for the spamming if you already heard, but Chris (powerpig on Flickr) has one of his awesome T-Shirts (concept by me) on Teefury.com for ONE DAY ONLY!!

The shirts are only $9 each of which he only receives $1 so please please take a look and hopefully buy one or two for you and your friends.

Thanks for your time, its nice to see him being recognised for his hard work and talents.

Wedding Bells

Just over 2 weeks ago I did my first major wedding shoot for a friends cousin. I had never met Jeff & Megan until the day itself which made me extremely nervous because I know how important it can be and the fear of ruining someones special day never left my mind. The wedding itself was a small affair of about 150 guests situated in an apple orchard in the north valley of Nova Scotia.

Everyone made me feel very welcome and I was treated like a guest with a place at a table and a meal from the buffet. The day was long, shooting for at least 6 hours, and my legs and back ached due to the constant crouching to get the right angles. I left the event feeling positive as I had glimpsed at a few shots before packing my kit away.

Megan & Jeff, originally uploaded by Fanboy30.

All that was left to do was edit down the 1000 shots to 200 and process them, a task that I only just finished today (hence the blog post). People forget just how much work is involved to make a perfect image, no matter what they tell you, 99% of the time it never comes straight out of the camera.

I use a couple of processing techniques in Photoshop incorporating layers and colour treatments to saturate and highlight the important parts of an image. Luckily most of the photos required the same minor tweaks and patch ups because they were shot in the same lighting conditions. All in all I am happy with the results, I posted a few on Facebook so Jeff and Megan could get a glimpse of what was to come, I heard good things back from them so that put my mind at rest.

Its hard to say that this is an area of photography I want to do often but it sure can pay the bills.

B-Day Boy!

My Birthday Gifts, originally uploaded by Fanboy30.

I would simply like to thank everyone for their comments and well wishes on my Birthday last Thursday. I had a lovely day and received some great gifts. Who said growing older meant no more toys? Pfft

We Feel Fine

Day 54: Close to hand and heart, originally uploaded by Fanboy30.

"Since August 2005, We Feel Fine has been harvesting human feelings from a large number of weblogs. Every few minutes, the system searches the world's newly posted blog entries for occurrences of the phrases "I feel" and "I am feeling". When it finds such a phrase, it records the full sentence, up to the period, and identifies the "feeling" expressed in that sentence (e.g. sad, happy, depressed, etc.)."

I have been lucky to be featured on the website with my 365 image about my Mum, where I used the sentence " I feel I have lost one of my best friends, a super mum that touched everyone she met. ".
Over the past couple of years a book has been in development and I was lucky enough to be asked to be included.

The book is titled We Feel Fine: an Almanac of Human Emotion and is scheduled for a December release. It will be published by Scriber and a launch party will be held in New York. The authors have been very good at keeping me informed and promising me free copies and invites to the party (although its unlikely I will attend due to work).

It's always a boost to the ego when your work is recognized and this particular image means a lot to me so I gladly share it with the world.

Check out their website for more details

The Carleton

The Bar, originally uploaded by Fanboy30.

Recently I was contacted by a graphics company called Concrete Orange which I had spoken to around the time I moved to Canada last October. They were currently redoing a website for a local bar/restaurant called The Carleton and needed some interior shots. I gladly took the project even though my style of photography is usually about detail rather than the wide open spaces.

I took two cameras with me, armed with a wide angle, 50mm and zoom lens because you never really know what you will be faced with when entering a shoot blind. I met with the owner Mike whose background is in the music industry and on MTV. He welcomed me warmly and was very excited after seeing my website.

The main areas to shoot were the bar, restaurant and function room so I set up my tripod and composed some test shots using the wide angle. The place is an L shape so it was hard to get the whole space in a single shot so I suggested that if needed I could composite two shots later on Photoshop.

It's very hard to give a still room life, so we added some candles to the bar area to create some ambiance. This was repeated in the function room because the only room that was fully lit was the restaurant.

After two hours and three hundred shots I decided to call it a day. I managed to send Mike eight shots fully processed which he was extremely happy with and asked for a disc of the rest.

The image you see on this post was used for an advert in an in-flight magazine so maybe I will get to see it when I fly home in October for a holiday?

Update: Did another shoot for them this week, this time at night to capture the place busy.

Other Worlds

Swollen, originally uploaded by Fanboy30.

I am still accepting portraits for my current Photoshop project called 'Other Worlds'.

Basically the rules are as follows: Shoot a self portrait (either head and shoulders or full body) in front of a blank wall or fabric so its easier for me to mask in Photoshop.
Then send me the full res image (raw if possible) to my email matt@matthewjamesparsons.com

So far I have had a lot of fun and its great to never know what image I am going to receive. Why not take part and try to surprise me, give me a real challenge.

Red Bubble

Finally I have got around to trying to sell my work through a site called Red Bubble which is an Aussie site with distribution in many places including Germany and America. The site seems simple enough and works a lot like Flickr in the sense that you can add contacts, add to groups and comment on other peoples work.

Currently I am still uploading images but there is a small collection available already. Please take a look and link my bubble page to anyone you might think would be interested in owning a piece of Fanboy30.

Just click on this button to head over there.



If there are any images you want to purchase and I don't have them on Red Bubble then let me know and I will get right on it, thanks.

Lets All Go To The Lobby!

Lets All Go To The Lobby!, originally uploaded by Fanboy30.

Chris challenged me last night to create a vignette from Lego with a movie theme. His actual words were "build something with people waiting to see a movie" and after a number of ideas I came up with a brightly colored foyer filled with eager customers.

A ticket booth is on the right with a sweet kiosk to the left. The screen entrance is at the back of the model with a number eight above and a movie poster to the side suggesting that this is a multiplex. A couple in the foreground collect their tickets and the girls Popsicle drips on the floor much to the annoyance of the usher behind cleaning up spills.

I am very happy with this fun little set which allowed my imagination to run wild. There is bound to be more to follow considering the amount of Lego collecting in the apartment.

I wonder what movie they are going to see?

Autobots Roll Out!

Keeping it very simple (unlike the movie) I see no point in harping on about what I didn't like about Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen because lets face it most of the internet is doing that already.


Young art in its Prime, originally uploaded by Fanboy30.

The movie left me thinking about my childhood and why I continue to think that all these remakes and screen adaptations are souring those fond memories. What I should be asking is are these movies simply evolving over time and trying to attract new and younger audiences?

Its true that the toys are aimed at children and the fanboy's who have been brainwashed into collecting anything associated with robots in disguise. I read noticeboards about where waves of toys have been spotted so fans can race to purchase them, it seems that they aren't fazed by the poor quality of the Fallen toys compared to previous series. I have to admit I even look at the toys each time trying to find some essence of appeal, so far I have resisted.

The series of toys I collect are from the latest animated series which has now been canceled a long with the range of toys. For me this has been a short lived hunt as I only started collecting since Christmas and now that fun has been taken from me. Hasbro are concentrating on the Fallen range until 2010 so its fair to say that in the Transformer world I won't be purchasing many more for quite some time.

This summer also sees G.I.Joe hit the big screen, the movie looks a lot of fun and I collected the toys but my memories of the show are foggy. Its this reason that makes me realize I shouldn't be so judgmental about Transformers, ultimately its a summer block buster made for 12-25 year old boys. Over the top explosions and slow motion boobs bouncing up and down with some large fighting robots thrown in.
There are rumors that Michael Bay will bow out for the third installment which could save the series but could also reflect the X-men trilogy. Destroying everything that has been built up just so it ends with little possibility of return, this is the power and fickleness Hollywood has.

In the end they still win, because no matter how bad I thought this movie was going to be I still got in line and paid my $9 for 150 minutes of entertainment. The fanboy in me clearly has a louder voice than I give him credit for.