Well, thinking on what to do for final project was a little harder then I thought it would be. There are things like the weather. Is it going to be snowing project? The chances are good that it will. But I did come up with a few ideas. I’m sure it will change by the end of November. But here they are. I was thinking of maybe some street photography. Maybe finding some interesting details of buildings and the people that use them. My friend also has a farm. I thought it might be interesting to photograph some of the old and new equipment that is around the farm. Along with him and his family. I’m sure I will add to this list as the month goes on.
The Photograph That Got Away
I don’t know if it is the photograph that got away, but as I was shooting my half an hour before up to a half an hour after dusk, I came across something that caught my eye. I was shooting in down town Provo and saw three trees in front of a building. The building framed the trees and I thought it was a nice composition. The uniformity of the trees and the rectangle shapes within the building really made the trees pop, so I took a light metering and looked through the viewfinder to compose the photo. Everything looked good. I felt that I checked all the angles and found just the right composition, so I snapped the shutter. I felt that everything was good.
I decided to go to the lab on the Monday before class and process my film and do some prints. As I developed the roll of film, I was a little nervous. The first roll I shot got kinked and some of the frames were ruined. The second roll I did came out just fine, so I knew there was hope. So I started the developing the film and went thru the motions. Finally the ten minute wash was over, and it was time to check the film. The three tree shot had been one of the last photos of the evening, so it was at the end of the roll. When I started to pull the film of the stainless steel reel, it was looking good. Then I saw it. The shot had been kinked. Of course it was the end of the roll that got ruined.
Now, I’m not sure if this photograph would have been the one. It could or could not have been. I’m not sure what I could do to avoid this in the future, except maybe to practice with some dummy rolls. I have processed countless rolls of film. When I was in High School, I worked in a One-hour photo lab. We used the plastic reels, and I was really proficient with those. I would like to be just as proficient with the stainless steel reels.
Even with the short time we have been in class this semester, I am already looking at things a little differently. Recently, I conducted an experiment with one roll of film. I set up the camera on a tripod and started a half an hour before the sun went down, and took successive shots approximately two minutes apart. I have always known that there was good light a little before and after dusk, but to actually see it change as the time passed was really educational.
I’m sure the incident in involving the film of Provo won’t be the last time that something happens to a photograph, or that I miss something because I don’t want to take the time to stop and take the photo, or I don’t want to wait at a location till the light is good. However, I’m getting into the good habit of stopping and looking, not just hurrying and taking the photo and then moving on. There is a lot to be said about having patience and seeing something creatively, and also for taking the shot rather than saying I’ll capture it when it comes around again.
As I write this assignment it reminds me of something that happened to me when I was around ten. I think that this pertains to what has been written. I had a paper route growing up, and at the end of the month I would collect money from the customers, pay the newspaper company, and the rest was mine. When that time rolled around I would head up the road to the Storehouse Market and get junk food. As I walked to the store, a few houses from mine was an empty lot full of rocks, and one caught my eye. It was shinny gold and reflective. It was fools gold or iron pyrite about the size of a baseball. I picked it up and held it. It was a pretty cool find.
Instead of doing the smart thing and picking up the rock and taking it home (just a few houses from where I was), I decided I would pick it up on my way home. After all, it was in a pile of rocks. So, I went on my way thinking of the rock off and on. After overdosing on candy and soda, I made it back from the store and there was the rock pile. The only problem was I couldn’t see the rock. I looked and looked with no luck. I felt like I looked at every rock in that pile. Finally, I had to give up and go home. To this day I’m not sure what happened to that rock. Did someone else walk by and pick it up? Did it just blend in with the other rocks? Did Big Foot come and take it? I don’t know. I do know that every time I walked by those rocks I would spend a little time and look, but I never found it. I guess if I look at my photography like that rock, and do the smart thing and take the photo right then, and not on they way home, I’ll have a better chance of taking “the” photograph. The point is, if you don’t take the photo, you’ll never know what you missed out on.
Next Saturday (Sept 25th) - Lecture
Everyone will meet together next week and here's what I want to see Saturday at 8:30am:
1. A contact sheet and one 8x10 print from Assignment #1. DONE
2. A contact sheet and one 8x10 print from Assignment #2. DONE
3. A blog post about another article in popular media dealing with photography.
"Czech Photographer's Cameras Made From Trash Still Captures Pretty Ladies Just Fine." Link to article. DONE
4. Some Peanut M&M's to share with the class during the lecture/critique
I want to critique the images that we made today, talk about some photographic theory and generally get back onto the same page. The second half of the class will be a lecture about contrast control and a darkroom demo. This week we learned how to control density and the amount of black, next week we will learn how to control the amount of white and contrast apparent in the overall print.
Homework: The Young Victoria
If you can rent this, please do so. The Young Victoria is an amazing movie...not just in terms of history, acting, etc...but it is BEAUTIFULLY filmed.
There is a LOT you can learn from watching this movie, watching the framing, the lighting, the focus, the camera angles, but especially the lighting.
Amazing light in this movie. Many, many shots were done in that sweet light in the evening and in the morning.
It's a buck from Redbox, and I watched it tonight. If you can get a copy of it, please watch it. Your photography will be better because of it. DONE
The lighting and depth of field is amazing in this film. The nice thing about this film (besides the cinematography) was it was a film my wife likes so I was able to watch a movie with my wife and do homework at the same time.
Assignment #2 - One Hour of Time
-Shoot One Roll. DONE
-Pick a morning -OR- an evening to shoot. DONE
-Find out when the sun crests the horizon. DONE
-Shoot during the 30 minutes before & after the sunrises. DONE
-Subject matter is open (but please shoot outdoors). DONE
-Don't shoot cliches. DONE
-Tell me a story. DONE
Assignment #1 - Your Introduction
1. Find your cameras instructions and read them. Become familiar with your camera (nongraded). DONE
2. Create a blog (nongraded...but if you don't do it you can't turn in anything else to me...). DONE
3. Find an article in the popular media. DONE
Here is an article from NPR called Modern-Day Cowboys Frozen in Time. The photographer is Robb Kindrick.
Here is a link to some of his images.
Here is a video on the Tintype process.
4. Shooting assignment - shoot one roll of 36 exposure film. The subject matter can be whatever you choose, but the theme and message of the images needs to be a window into your life. DONE
