I just came back upon Don Giannatti’s “Project 52” web site. I had seen the site several months ago, but it slipped from my memory. I have been a member of the flickr group for a long time, but, I can’t remember the last time I actually visited the group page. On this site, there is a weekly photography assignment. The assignments for this year start on February 1. So, I looked at the 2012 assignments.
The first assignment is to create a Vision Statement. This is basically a statement describing why it is that I take pictures. As described on the web site, “Tell us with a single paragraph what you want to be able to do with your images. Tell us what you do without telling us you are a photographer. Accompany that message with a single image taken around your home.”
To me, the reason I enjoy photography is it differs from other modes of expression, and there is something that is transcendently stimulating when I see a really great image I have taken. In 2012, my Aperture Library has over 7700 images. Every once in a while, as the image would come up on the screen, there was a moment of awe. Kind of, “Oh boy. That is good!”
It is becoming easier to take technically perfect images – those with proper exposure, composition, lighting, whatever. I can look at those and think, “That’s a good image.” But there is the added, intangible element that is included in an image that is really great. I take photographs because I enjoy that feeling of producing a picture that is really great.
Now, what kind of image around the house can I make that illustrates that?
I had a session with Heather Lynn Johnson in Harker Heights. We went to a local park for the shoot. The problem was the sun was absolutely terrible. It was mid day, and bright. Since there were no leaves left on most of the trees, there was little actual shade. It was almost like a fight. I kept trying to get her to turn her head for decent light, but every time I did, she couldn’t open her eyes because the sun was so bright. It turned out that I was able to get some good pictures. So, it wasn’t a total loss. The one above was somewhat of an accident. Out of the camera, it was way overexposed. But, in Aperture, I reduced the exposure, and the result was this picture.
I got some pretty even lighting on this one, and I really like the way it turned out. There was a tree that forked at the ground, and she could lean into it and lay her head on it.
She brought several changes of clothes, and from the beginning, she said she had a black dress that she thought would be really good to twirl around in. The problem was the terrain didn’t suite wearing heels. She did several twirls, and some of the shots came out great. Then I had her walk towards me, and this was one of the best of the day.
