Solar lights!

I love the ever growing solar options for energy.
There is an abundance of energy all around us.... and if only we captured it daily, every second that the sun shone.. that light is available.. we wouldn't be headed the way we are headed.

This is all coming. The capturing of the sun. And in a way, it's nothing new.

All I want to do is to make my power needs dependant on solar, and natural forms of energy..

I love the new solar china balls. I like seeing the lights on at 4 am and knowing there is no "grid" power behind them.. and that I am not paying for it.

What grabs me is the feel that the solar light emits at night. The light from the bulbs feels like moonlight. Maybe it's the LED's or maybe it's the way the energy is stored and released. What is that quality exactly? It is soft, like moonlight.. in a quiet way.. it is gentle, silent and still. Strong and steady.. in a non aggressive way. The energy is sublte. Different than a light bulb which seems like such a waste to "burn" energy. Bulbs "burn" and light shines. Solar lights "emit" light. or release stored energy (light waves).

The light is quiet. It does not flicker. It is not intense, bright or uber "on". Its just glows. Not like fire. Like a , low glow and feels yet, like a steady stream . Quiet reliability. Just enough to see. Not super powerful.
Its' the most beautiful new quality light I think my eyes ever saw. I feel so lucky to live now... where we have learned to use such tools. I can't wait till it all is in this direction... and it's old news.

I love that the solar panels are getting more and more sophisticated. The newer panels and it's photons are now designed to pick up different wavelentgs of light, colors.. to 'capture' more energy. This allows panels in cold climates to pick up different wavelenghts of color... thus more energy.. where there is less light in the winter months.
I love thinking about how many colors.. there are to pick up.. within visible light.
The older panels.. that are around.. are used to only pick up light in one color spectrum. Wavelenghts of light emit all different temperatures and colors. They will evolve to pick up more and more wavelenghts.. it seems.. from what I've read.

I'm excited and inspired .. by our future.. at least, closer to capturing the endless and complex energies of the sun from ultraviolet to infared and beyond either.

Misanthropy

Do you have days where you can't wait to be away from everyone? Is it because we, the camera people cannot escape people. Maybe because I live in NYC these days and you can't escape after or before work into the privacy of your own car. People are all around the camera in a 360 degree formation. If you take a birds eye view.. people are definately around the Cinematographer (who is often near the camera) in a 360 degree patterning. Today at lunch, I escaped as soon as I turned off the camera. Slipped out the set door to the street to bask in the sun and check my cell phone..It wasnt the most friendly choice.. but, I felt I needed immediate relief from constantly having to interact. I wondered why I bolted like that. No drama happened.. I just sometimes.. wish set could be quiet and we all did our thing and didnt' talk. There would be more concentration on set and people more in touch with their craft. But, instead there is constant chatter and interaction needed.

Dp's are a breed where we have to interact all the time and we therefore have a need for chunks of time alone.. to recharge. We need to be hermits between sets sometimes.

It is a very social position and a craft that must be done with a team

.It is not for the hermit, the loner, the misanthrope.

I think, like everyone else. it's ok to have bouts to be misanthropy and to hide... on breaks from set. People expect DP's to be friendly all the time and it they arent.. they are assholes. It can be the most central position and everyone talks to the DP. It's like being the mayor of set sometimes... when all you really want to do is the photography. Survival for our breed.. is to hide between shows. It took me a long time to realize this. I think for our breed to hide is ok and doesn't mean we are assholes. It's so we wont' be.

I know a DP who keeps a place in the desert. Between shoots.. he goes out there to hide from people. He tells me it preserves him and his creative mind to not interact with others for periods of time.