It's been an interesting and busy couple of weeks.
I did a self-pledge to take an image
everyday for a year..."JKP 2015 Project 365." I quickly found out that
getting the camera out and creating an image everyday is a bit harder
than I first thought. My photography work tends to be in large
spurts. A photo job here, self assignment work there, an event
happens and I get several good images from it. Then the “off”
days I'm at this computer editing pictures or typing away writing.
Some days the light outside is really really nice and pictures come
easy. Other days it's cold, windy, dull and dark gray and my
motivation to pull out the camera is easy to push aside. Still, I
feel guilty on those days that I'm not depressing the shutter button
to zap pixels from thin air. I feel the need to download something
off my camera to show I at least did something that day.
Back in the days of film cameras, a
roll of film could sit dark and comfy in the camera for days, weeks,
even years. Processing could get very expensive, so picture taking
was reserved for “special occasions.” It was always exciting to
get the sealed yellow package of developed pictures from the
drugstore photo counter or Fotomat drive-thru kiosk, and just as
disappointed when the film didn't “turn out” and the pictures
were bad.
Working as a full-time photojournalist
during those film days, film didn't sit very long in the camera. It
wasn't unusual to run through 4, 6, 12 rolls of film during a full
day of assignments. I'd take the exposed rolls of 35mm film into the
darkroom and lock the door behind me so an accidental opening would
not leak light in and ruin the light sensitive emulsion. I'd carefully
wind the film onto metal reels, making sure the film didn't slip off
one of the spirals that kept the film apart and allowed the chemicals
to flow through and develop the images. Not a good day when film
stuck together and those precious images were lost.
I don't want to make the idea of
shooting an image a day to become a dreaded chore, but I don't want
to just stick the camera out the door, fire off a few frames and
call it good. For me, the Project 365 is more about thinking pictures
as much as it is actually taking pictures. I visualize images in my
head before I ever pull the viewfinder to my eye and punch the
shutter. I map-out, if you will how I'll approach a photo. What's the
lighting setup – natural or speedlights? What's the background?
What mood am I trying to achieve with the picture? What story do I
want the image to tell?
Who do I want to photograph next? You?
Sure. You! And why not! Do you or someone you know do those gritty,
dirty jobs? I'm talking blue collar, wrenches and busted knuckle kind
of work??? Please let me know. I'd love to come out to your (their)
workplace and make some awesome photos! Drop me an email at
jeepinjoseph@hotmail.com.
My self assignment list contains ideas
for photographs like a rural animal vet working on location so I can
get images to submit for a national farm magazine; A railroad crew
that works switching grain cars for a CHS bean plant in Mankato for a
national train publication; An agricultural implement equipment
mechanic working on a huge combine, steam fitters in hard hats making
repairs at an ethanol plant, A local family that makes boutique soaps
from the milk products they get from their flock of goats.
This past couple weeks I've gone inside
a muffler shop and done multi-speedlight studio lighting portraits.
I've been outside in the dark gray wind and cold lakeside with a
single softboxed speedlight to experiment with white balance shifting
and gelled light source to get a colorful dynamic portrait image.
I've gone into my basement model railroad world to photograph a
project for a magazine article.
I sent an image off to my lab for a
client's ordered 16x24 enlargement. I just wondered around the
building of my “day job” on breaks looking for a nice scenic or
winter shot.In-between times, I've been watching videos from my pro
photo icons to glean bits of technical and creative motivation to help
me be a better photographer.
Did I pick-up my camera everyday and
have a photo to show for it? No. Did I have days where I did a lot of
pictures and had many good images to show for it? Yes.
