January 28 ~ color and grotesque beauty

Here, again, I didn't have a specific daily project in mind but felt like pursuing the idea of photographs that need not be so photographic. I wanted these to look more like the nature of a painting or drawing, but with the knowledge that this was something that physically existed in the form of light interpreted by a piece of glass and photographic sensor. I'm really interested in theories of photography regarding truth, by the way.

The particular image above doesn't exactly follow the painterly photograph idea, although it does have its merits there, but I also had in mind the notion of the beauty present in the grotesque. That evening my seminar met and discussed some related ideas. So, while I was pursuing a vague interest of abstract colored bokeh beauty, I also appreciated the strange resemblance this image conveys as a set of odd, discolored unhealthy teeth. That's not, of course, what the subject is, nor does it exactly recreate that look, but it's one thought that crosses my mind every time I look at it.

Gear: Nikon D90, Nikkor AFD 60mm f/2.8 micro

January 27 ~ flowers

At the end of the day I was picking up dinner at a grocery store, near work, when I noticed some flowers for sale. I'd had a hankering for wine and had planned to pick up a bottle already, and these colorful petals caught my fancy immediately. So, as I told my coworker friend, Erin, when I stopped to let her smell the flowers as I cut back through our workplace to get to my car, I bought the wine and flowers to create a romantic evening for myself.

Gear: Nikon D90, Nikkor AFD 60mm f/2.8 micro

January 26 ~ swans

I just wrote the Beginnings description for this blog where I stated that two images per day was my maximum allowance, and already I'm breaking the rules. But, it's my blog so I can, dangit.

At any rate, these three images are pared down from two or three hundred total, shot in the period of about half an hour at the Monticello Swan Park. It was a mighty cold day and many of them were nestled in clumps, burying beaks deep within their downy feathers. I enjoyed the many textures among the various shades of white, but was particularly drawn to the curve of their necks, especially as it created a rhythm throughout groups of them.

Gear: Nikon D90, Nikkor 80-400mm VR

January 25 ~ trees at night

After work I attended a gathering of art tour guides, and I came home wondering what kind of photograph I wanted to make with what time was left in the day. I felt the restrictions of self-confinement to small (image) spaces and decided to branch out a bit, but I didn't want to leave the house again.

So, I looked to my own backyard. It was outside the style I'd been working within, a change of scene different enough to stretch my photographs in a new way, and I didn't have to drive anywhere.

First, I played more with way a porch light illuminated a stand of birch trees. I wanted to expand up on the panning painterly look from the fern image (January 11th posting). The colors and soft tendrils of deeper shades were a pleasing result.


Then, I decided to push the photographs even further and combine a few images. Ever since I began shooting the images with the TLR/DSLR combination, I've wanted to put together several landscapes into a single image document, but I haven't made time to do that yet. The idea of overlapping and working on an image with the physical marks of my own hand, however, was not something I had been pondering much. I was thinking about drawings and paintings when I worked with this, and it evolved not from a master plan, but fluidly, of its own volition.

There is no right way to make a photo. Who's to say what should or should not be in focus, or that anything needs to be? I'm not pleased with every aspect of this image, but I like the concept enough that I will probably work on it some more.

Gear: Nikon D90, Nikkor AFD 50mm f/1.4

January 24 ~ edamame

We've been talking a bit about the beauty of the grotesque in an arts seminar I'm taking, so I originally approached these delicious soybeans with the notion of displaying their finite hairs in a twisted green light. But, I find it difficult to make things ugly. I want things to be beautiful. There is beauty present in any manner of ways. This was the result.

Gear: Nikon D90, Nikkor 60mm f/2.8 macro

January 23 ~ rain

I was originally more interested in the way the light shone through the water droplets, but pulling back to show more of the scene revealed a nice aura.

January 22 ~ inspired thinking in the shower

I'd noticed the opaque transparency of my shampoo bottle in the morning, and decided to take a closer look. One ceramics instructor I've had has said that if you want to please people, make it big or make it blue. Well, when I posted this image on a social networking site, it generated some response, in digital comment form as well as in person.

One friend said, though (not so much related to the notion of the popularity of creating large and making things blue, but the idea of inspiration in the shower):
"It was in the tub where Einstein did his most profound thinking. Contemplating upon the bubbles."

I like that.


Gear: Nikon D90, Nikkor 60mm f/2.8 macro

January 21 ~ a new semester

Ah, books. So compelling, yet so daunting.

Gear: Nikon D90, Nikkor 60mm f/2.8 macro

January 20 ~ light runner (or, the trudge of resolutions)

Although not a new concept, light writing is something I'd never tried. I really enjoy some of the witty ways photographers manipulate quick figures, and the treadmill seemed an apt stage for an attempt at a figure study.

I had a hard time with these simple stick drawings! With a time-frame of seconds, it was easy to turn legs in awkward positions and flip feet the wrong way or bend limbs impossibly. One college figure drawing instructor suggested that drawing quickly can result in more accurate form because one needs to respond so fast that there's no time to doubt. I enjoy drawing figures with ink that way... there's no going back, just flow. When you can only see a point at a time it's hard to judge what you're doing, though, so these results were mixed with the flow of instinct and luck. Toward the end I began to get into a better groove, but there's only so long that I want to devote to each of these daily photos.

Gear: Nikon D90, Tokina 12-24mm, laser pen, flash light

January 19 ~ (looking back as) time passes

The month is moving quickly. My 9th grade civics teacher told us that now (meaning, then) was the age when we would begin to notice time passing faster and faster. It's amazing how the more time we accumulate, the more smoothly it slips by.

I enjoy the way multiple mirrored images create depth. Visual tricks are fun to try to decipher, as well, so it was curious to apply that illusion with the concept of time.

Gear: Nikon D90, Nikkor AFD 50mm f/1.4

January 18 ~ milky mock sunset

Sometimes looks can be deceiving.

At this point in the month I'd spent some long evenings perfecting a few projects (smoke and water droplets as well as the TTV shooting preparation, for example) and was feeling the wear. Working full time doesn't easily allow four and five hours to be spent on a new photograph angle every day. So, this evening I looked around me for inspiration in my immediate vicinity. For this image I closely examined how lamplight reflected vague shapes and shadows in a mug of milk, and then played with the color.

January 17 ~ water

We've had an unusual mix of weather this January, with several slushy rainy days and several days when the temperatures hovered around zero. Precipitation found its way into a lot of the images I made, but, I would have tried out this project regardless of weather.

I don't usually use an external flash, but it was necessary for these shots.
Gear: Nikon D90, Nikkor 60mm f/2.8 macro, Nikon SB-600, Manfrotto legs/head, water, glass bowl, turkey baster, colored scarf

January 16 ~ sledding

The act of sledding was much more chaotic than this simple still. Five intrepid 30-ish year-olds braved the frozen tundra of Minneapolis's Powderhorn Park on this lovely Saturday afternoon. What wins when bravado braces against the threat of more than a bruised ego? Well, typically we played it safe, although Brian did make one agonizingly slow epic jump, viewable on youtube here, thanks to my friend JP. In response to the amazing video documentation Dan declared that any future sledding endeavors should require everyone to go down the hill with a camera in hand.

Hot beverages were enjoyed, fun was had and just about everybody was hurting the next day and beyond.

I don't make a lot of documentary style imagery, but couldn't pass up this shot. The hat's owner is a mystery. It was no one from our group.

This was the photograph I submitted to the MIA Foot in the Door 4 show.


Gear: Nikon D90, Nikkor AFD 50mm f/1.4

January 15 ~ a plethora of scarves

Winter time calls for scarves in action. These are all hanging off the back of my bedroom door, but there are more, oh yes.

This may be one of the less innovative images thus far, but that's all right.

Gear: Nikon D90, Tokina 12-24mm

January 14 ~ more reverse macro

You've seen this subject before, on January 2nd.

I'm pleased with the composition, as a line mimics a road sweeping back toward the horizon. The soft bokeh achieves a painterly effect as well, furthering the illusion of a grand landscape rather than a minuscule study.

January 13 ~ procrastination

After an unexpected 12-hour shift at work, rather than working on other projects, I played more with reverse lens macro before winding down the day.

January 12 ~ reverse lens macro

This image mimics the tone of the skinscape-like series I made for my BFA, which is interesting since I used the same lens to create them.

Nothing competes with the glass quality of a solid macro lens, but reverse lens macro is a fun method. You can get really close (I was touching or almost touching most subjects) and there's such a shallow depth of field. All you need are two lenses, at least one of which is fast. It's just what it sounds like: reverse one of the lenses. To do it properly you should use adapter rings to attach the lenses to each other, front element to front element, but I just held them in place with my left hand (the front lens has a smaller front diameter which is why there's vignetting). I used a 50mm 1.8 in front (the front lens is supposed to be the fast one) and had a 50 1.4 mounted on the camera. Use manual focus on mounted lens, set to infinity. I'm not sure if you also "need" to set the mounted lens to the widest aperture, but that's what I did. There's probably lots of room for adjustment and playing to get the look you want. Voila... close focus distance, wonderful different way of viewing the world.


Gear: Nikon D90, Nikkor 50mm f/1.4, Pentax 50mm f/1.8

January 11 ~ fern

The wispy tendrils of this dried fern are so lovely that I'd been thinking of photographing it all month, so I was pleased with how it worked with a panning long exposure. The soft painterly look is something I plan to explore more as I push images beyond typical documentation.

January 10 ~ smoke

I shot a few images of incense smoke about five years ago with 35mm film, but this was my first shot at digital smoke imagery. The process was very much the same, although I did enjoy altering the color.

January 9 ~ painting with light, blue

Depending on interpretation, one could argue that this isn't painting with light because I did not move the light sources, but rather moved the camera as a brush.