The Conversation - Episode 6

Treegonk vs. An Apple a Day

Hello Apple. I hope you are sitting comfortably because I have to interrogate you now. Look into the light, count to five slowly, and sleeeep. In a moment you will tell me everything....

Why are you called An Apple a Day?

An Apple a Day keeps the rust away! I liked the idea of taking an image daily and the name just popped into my head. I really wanted to keep my shooting and photoshop skills from getting rusty and blip has done that better than I ever expected. Since I joined, my blip-name has been shortened by most blippers to just "Apple" and I have grown to really love it.  It reminds me of being crisp and fresh.

I've enjoyed your blips since the early days, so I feel that I know you a wee bit... I seem to pick up a sense of calm and a down-to-earth, caring sort of person. Am I anywhere near?!

Down to earth pretty much hits the nail on the head, and blip has been witness to and part of my process over the last two+ years to become even more so day by day. Mr. Apple and I have slowly but steadily been changing our lifestyle and I have many blips about that. Calm?!  Ha! I almost never feel calm but it's something that I actively seek. I have learned some ways to find it from people here on blip (usually involving a beach scene!). When you asked me this question, and I thought about it, I realized that I am at least calm for the moment or two that I pause to see, compose, and click the shutter.  A fraction of a second, perhaps, but that must add up over time!

What inspired you to take up photography and what does it give you in return?

I took a weekend workshop in early 2001 and by Saturday night I was hooked. I went out in a Boston blizzard the next morning to shoot my first roll of film. Looking back, my Dad loved photography too and it was probably in my blood. He gave me his old Pentax K1000 for my first camera. Photography has taken me many places I would never have been or seen - and I mean that in a grand sense like Paris and in the smallest sense like dark parking lots, etc. It gives dimension to my thoughts and feelings. It is a friend that's always there for me day or night.

When you feel like you have lost your inspiration to take pics, what usually pulls you out of that hole again?

Usually it's just time. I keep slogging through the tough times and eventually I realize I am out of the slump. But one trick I love is to try to find a blip in the style of another blipper, "inspired by" if you will. It challenges you to do things differently, it gives you a blip on a slow day, and eventually you start to see other people's blips everywhere.

What are your ten favourite blips and why? (I think that's a standard question - you've only 800 to look through - I'll have a couple of beers. Let me know when you're finished...)

10 out of 800... that basically means I don't like 99% of my own blips?! Ha! I was pleasantly surprised to realize that it was hard for me to narrow it down to ten.
 
The highlight of the day (for both of us)
My first ever blip, which means it's still the most important one I've ever made.  I still love it.
 
A good omen
One of my most popular blips.  It was the beginning of a year full of wonderful things.
 
Out in the Boondocks
Before blip, you drive by things and are often too busy, too embarrassed, or too distracted to stop and make a photograph of what you see.  You know you're hooked when you have to stop the car, get out, and stand in the middle of the road to make a portrait of a dog.
 
New Haircut
I was so afraid to post this self portrait to blip! I love it because it's all about the contrast between white and black and the simple shape of my face.
 
Mr. Apple
The process, the pictures, and the story.
 
A Day in the Life
This was a breakthrough blip for me because at the time, it hadn't really ever been done.  Each moment is exactly what blip is about for me. Finding an image in every single thing.
 
Shoes
My first ever TTV blip and proof of evolution.  TTV is something I got exclusively from blip and the openness of the blip community.  Since this very early shot where I had no idea what I was doing, TTV has probably changed me as a photographer more than any other single thing.
 
La Mer
A lightbulb moment, and a portrait that I love.
 
Blip
A lucky little find, and it was one of my Dad's favorites.
 
Home
I love self-portraits and reflections and shadows. You don't need to see anything to see everything.
 
Are you sure about those? No, sorry, that's not a question...

Ha! Yes, pretty sure.
 
What did you have for breakfast?

Coffee with lots of cream lots of sugar, and yogurt.

If you could start blipping again as a new blipper tomorrow, would you do anything differently?

Not really, no. For me, blipping has always been about the entire experience, the entire relationship with blip so there's not much I would change. The bad is just as important as the good. But, I wish I had taken more portraits of the important people in my life. I am trying to be better about that now.

Are you a country girl stuck in a city, or a beach babe waiting for summer?

A little of all three? I am a get-my-hands-dirty country girl, who likes living in Seattle, and a beach babe if you mean "Pacific Northwest" jeans and jacket beaches. (or Scotland?! I want to come do a tour of those gorgeous beaches you have.)

What is your next sweater animal to be? (I hear sweater rats are the next big thing...)

A custom made sweater rat would be tricky!

What would be your ultimate photograph if you could jump anywhere in the world now, and go back or forward to any moment in time? (Sorry!)

My favorite place to photograph is a ghost town in Montana called Bannack. My ultimate photograph (with your wonderful lack of constraints!) would be a double exposure with the first shot taken in the late 1800s, with the town as it looked then, and the second shot from today - a ghosted image of a ghost town.

Can I have Fergus please?

There's a moment in every single day where the answer to that question is "Yes".