Gone for the weekend, but still shooting.

We had an extended Thanksgiving with the family. I didn't have everything I needed to post, so I'm posting it all today.

Another gray day. Linds says we'll have lots of them.

For some reason I find it easier to get a good black and white print out of  ay like today than a color digital file.

Oh well, here goes:

There's nothing like freeing oneself from one's obligation to make "good" photos.

These are just goofing around. And it feels pretty good. Like being an intro, student minus the intimidation of being asked to perform. And all of this is done in-camera or with bridge, not photoshop as such. Just for the record, all I did was take Dr. Drew there straight from the TV.

One decent shot (1st) and one (2nd) on a borrowed iPhone.

Me and symmetry.

I was just looking again at the 4th photo from today's post. I don't really love the way the grass looks. In fact I'd tinker (more like tinker/cagefight) around with that for days if I were printing it. But I love the symmetry. Or, to be more technical, the asymmetrical balance.

My brain, which, apparently, thinks it's very funny, has been running this through, um...itself...while I shoot lately - "What immortal hand or eye could frame thy fearful symmetry?" Not that I'm shooting tigers, but I do want to capture fearful symmetry. My version is more like boiling a tiger down to one, balanced, perfectly quiet ear rather than leaving the claws and teeth on. I may have to use that line as an entire artist's statement at some point. It's more honest and does more in the way of explaining my photo work than anything I've written so far. 

Here's William Blake's  poem in it's entirety:

 

The Tyger

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright,

In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire in thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder, and what art?
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand, and what dread feet?

What the hammer? What the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? What dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears,
And watered heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb, make thee?

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright,
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

It's late, but not "never."

Another gray day. It turns out I kind of like gray days.

I forgot that when I first started the MFA program, I shot on cloudy/foggy days for a couple of quarters in a row. It meant I had to hit everything with a 5 filter to get any kind of black. I also had incorrect development times..ahem Prof. Fischer), so I was printing for really low contrast.

Anyhow, here are today's:

Gray, gray, gray, gray, gray, gray day.

Well, I have a pic ready to upload, but the page editor won't let me. This may be the shortest-lived photo-a-day blog in the history of the internet.




Oops...nevermind. It works now. Thank goodness.

3 Pics Today.

I thought I'd better start by just playing around. No expectations. Not too much second-guessing myself. I have no idea why the first one seemed like it needed to be in a super-saturated Betty Crocker palette/.

All right...here goes..1 photo per day.

Inspired by my friend Cynthia and her daily drawings, I'm going to try to shoot then post one photo every day. Knowing me, I may forget now and then, but by this time next year, I hope to have well over 300 photos. Now, I know these aren't all going to be brilliant, but I'm going to do my best to get a decent, color-corrected image by midnight every day.

Some of these are probably going to be terrible. In fact, a LOT of them may be. They may also be trite, sappy, expected, cliché and uninspired, but ****it, I'm going to put them up here.