Nov 7, 2014 |
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When the idea for these photos struck me I imagined exactly how I would do it. I daydreamt of twirling around like the lady from The Sound of Music; minus the beautiful hills and plus dodging headstones as I deathgripped my camera.
When it came time to shoot, I’m sure I looked more like a dizzy delinquent high on LSD than a blonde nanny in a musical. Luckily, though, only the dead were around to criticize and they don’t say much.
It wasn’t long before I figured out that moving my camera had to be a lot less carefree than playing ring around the rosie with myself. I settled on 1 second exposures (rather than the 4 that I started with) and panned the camera slow, steady, and straight across the horizon.
I got kind of addicted to the process and the surprise of seeing the resulting blend of color. The rainbow background above was my favorite surprise. Below is a snapshot reference of the scene before I spun it away in my camera.
What do you think?
The scene that I motion-blurred into a rainbow background for the photo above.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Oct 31, 2014
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The air was as crisp as the leaves that crunched below my feet. I weaved between gravestones and the wind whipped up a storm of static in my ears as the leaves shivered against one another. The wind’s cool caress has always evoked an unusual calm in me.
Hypnotized by the wind, I didn’t notice that I’d come up to one of the paved pathways and I stumbled over the edge. I juggled my camera from hand to hand and eventually held onto it long enough to save it from smashing into the asphalt below. As I caught it, though, I hit the shutter by mistake and took a photo.
The photo below is what I found when I developed the film. I couldn’t tell you what other photos I made that day, but this one is forever etched in my memory as my favorite mistake. The tilt, the long shadows, and that one leaf that flew into the shot are all so magical to me.
The photo of the week, above, was made in the same cemetery more than a decade later… it seems like time can blow away so quickly with the wind.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Oct 24, 2014
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For eighteen seconds we jerked the crossbar of yarn around, not at all in sync. My side went up and Nick’s went down, my side got stuck but his side kept moving smoothly. Anyone watching us might have thought we were fighting over the background rather than moving it together, haha. I thought we’d have to redo the photos.
I intended for this scene to look windblown and chaotic, but my plan to use my blow drier on a bunch of hanging strands of yarn totally bombed. Not nearly enough power for the stormy look I was going for. Instead I asked the BF to help me raise and lower the background to blur it.
I was pleasantly surprised at the results, although it was far more serene than I expected. I decided to stop looking for chaos and enjoy the peace I’d found in the storm.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Oct 17, 2014
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Tangled up in numbers
I try so hard to clutch.
Moments slide right past us,
Every schedule like a crutch.
Tell me what to do, with all this
Invisible stuff.
Make me believe this substance exists and
Each second I get’s like a drug.
Time is freedom;
It’s what we trade away.
Monday through Friday I’m counting,
Eager for day to fade.
Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock.
I’m counting and counting tick tock.
My prison is real AND imagined.
Everything run by the clock.
Tumbling through MY minutes,
In a race that I can’t slow.
Magically at the finish line,
Endings like these always blow.
Turning a dream to reality,
It’s crazy, you might say.
My time will one day be all my own
Every. Single. Day.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Oct 10, 2014
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I twisted the crystal wine stopper above my set. It was like looking through a Kaleidoscope. I rolled it between my fingers until the colors and shapes called to me; they said red wine spritzer.
The last time I thought of committing such a crime to a glass of wine a customer asked me to do it. Just like my confusion about the point of keeping a wine stopper around, I was always perplexed about why anyone would cut their wine with seltzer or, even worse, 7Up. Just ask for a grape soda next time.
I bet you didn’t know I was a bartender in a couple of my past lives (okay I know one of you knew-but you’re the only one Ray!). Thinking back to my bartending days is much like looking through a Kaleidoscope too. Some colorful characters popped in and out of my world and left so many impressions on me.
There were characters I wanted to jump up and hug for getting me through college, and there were characters I wanted to strangle for keeping me well past closing time slurring, “jussonemore.”
If only I had my wine stopper back then!
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Oct 3, 2014
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“Don’t forget to take your favors!” Melissa, the bride-to-be at the shower, shouted. “Here, you want a wine stopper?” She shoved it into my hand and grabbed a handful of boxes from the dainty basket that held the rest of the favors.
“Wine stopper?” I said, “why the hell would I ever want to stop the wine?” I was the the cynical bridesmaid, and I was determined to make myself laugh at every opportunity ‘til the day my friend wed. I even got a chuckle out of the waitress.
It was more than a joke though, it was a personal truth. I’m not afraid to admit I’m a lush and I certainly do love my wine. The wine stopper, although practically useless in my mind, was pretty, so I took it home.
Here it is up close. It’s just one more layer on top of my black lace and pink louffa (yes that’s what the pink tint in last week’s photo was). I look right through the wine stopper and it looks a bit like pouring a glass of wine; from white, to pink, to magenta.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Sep 26, 2014
We’ve all been there, and by there I mean right smack in front of someone who just doesn’t see you. Maybe it was a teacher you were trying to impress in grade school, a crush who sat behind you in high school algebra, or that rude co-worker who doesn’t even glance in your direction when you give them a cheery “good morning.”
We all have those moments when we feel invisible and under-appreciated sometimes. But even when someone looks right through you, you are still coloring their world. My camera isn’t focused on the pink in the foreground, I’m looking right past it to the black lace below. It’s blurry, but it’s there, and it makes the lace so much more exotic. Don’t you think?
P.S. Can you guess what that pink thing is that I’m looking through? Give me your best guess in the comments below!
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Sep 19, 2014
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I was ready to give up. They say the hardest step to take is the first one, but for me the 101st step is even harder; especially when nothing seems to be going right. I always have to remind myself that the first 100 photos are shit. I have to convince myself that if I take just a few more shots, I’ll stumble upon something magical.
There are only so many photos I could take of a backlit leaf, so I had to let go of it and move on. I hummed “Mad World” to myself. The lyrics repeated in my mind, “look right through me, look right through me-e-e…” What else can I look through? I wondered. This lace called to me, and this was that magical moment in this series.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Sep 12, 2014
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While most people are oooing and ahhhing about the crisp weather and the beautiful bursts of color that fall brings, I’m in my own little corner, cringing. I can’t help it. To me, autumn is a disease that spreads over the land and kills it. Winter is a cold, dark, dry death, and I dread it.
Throughout this project my eye often finds images that go beyond my visual perception and seem to reflect how my head twists the world. Here, in the unnatural light behind the leaves, I see snow. I feel winter coming and it makes me sad.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Sep 5, 2014
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Want this hanging on your wall? Click the photo to buy now
I was looking closely at the leaf that was supposed to be my background, when I noticed some discoloration surrounding the main veins that branched out inside it. Rivers of decay were running through the leaf, washing away the bright red to reveal a dull yellowy-brown. It was like seeing fall descend upon one leaf. What beautiful decay.
You get two photos today so I can show you the difference between a vibrant, just plucked leaf and one that is on its way to disintegrating into nothingness. Funny how death can be both beautiful and frightening in the same world, and through the same eyes.
Can you think of any beautiful decay you’ve seen in your life lately? Tell us all about it in the comments below.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
