Get over yourself. You are not "original"

It saddens me to tell you, you are not original. Your ideas didn't come from thin air, you are merely remixing ideas you have been exposed to.  I know I was saddened by that fact, I want so badly to believe that some of what I do is truly original. But alas, it's not.

Are you following me.....I thought not. Let me show you with something I copied from the internet. Everything is a remix [vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/14912890 w=1000&h=700]

Everything is a Remix Part 1 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo. [vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/19447662 w=1000&h=700]

Everything is a Remix Part 2 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo. [vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/25380454 w=1000&h=700]

Everything is a Remix Part 3 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo. [vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/36881035 w=1000&h=700]

Everything is a Remix Part 4 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo.

These videos are, to say the least, enlightening. I'll take for example, one of my most viewed photos on flickr.

This is not original in the least. I took the idea from a similar photo and extrapolated it to my family. In fact, I even collected all the similar examples in a flickr gallery to show you.

The same goes for a seemingly unique person. They are not unique in the pure sense, they are just a collection of characteristics that different people have.

After watching the above videos I felt relieved that all the stealing ideas I had done in the past was not unusual. It was the most common thing done by humans. We steal each other's ideas and improve upon them to further civilization. That's how we progress as humans, by copying and remixing.

So steal away, blatantly copy an idea. Call it your own. But it will never be. Because you are just remixing someone else's idea.

To be creative is to know which ideas to steal and transform.

Have a good day!

Lighting with LED's

I have been working on a special LED light array the past several months. An aluminum frame, that swivels up and down, with 4 LED strip-lights arranged on a square frame. I had originally planned on using it as a normal lamp, but it occurred to me that using it as a photographic light source would work as well. The inspiration was derived from having a home made ring-light. But usually they are much smaller than what I wanted. Their effect was not profound enough to be worth buying one or making one that works better than the one I have.

From the front it looks like this:

With just a little kick of light from a Canon 430ex flash to give the head some form, I got these photos of my siblings.

Having on glasses gives the photos an edge. The reflection of the light looks 'modern'.

The reflection in these glasses are particularly interesting. No, she doesn't normally wear glasses, they are just for her amusement.

Having the array of lights almost 2x3 feet renders the reflection larger than the normal small light sources I used to use.

Without eye-wear the reflection and effect of the light is also pronounced.

In this self portrait the little square in the eye doesn't seem to be natural, at least compared to all the photos I have shot in the past. Generally The reflections are not as crisp, and usually seem more like a haze of light rather than a thin white light.

When turning down the brightness of LED's with a dim-able transformer, you can see the construction more closely.

The original application for the lights was as an ground-light on a firetruck. Which i help build. But we had major issues with them burning out or breaking, so we stopped using them and I got a couple of them. The aluminum frame was cut on a water-jet machine which I operate and formed to a frame by my co-worker.

I love DIY.