Synopsis of Spring

I have to admit it was a slow start to spring for me.

Not many daffodils and cherry blossoms featuring in my work.

I guess that reflected my state of mind at the time. 

I did manage to make time for the great stretch of fine weather we had late October.

I had been hanging out all year to get warm days, finally time to break free from the hibernation.

With the start of night shift shortly, sunsets were a priority. 

Very shortly I will be limited to weekend sunsets, and speedway will suck up some of that time. 

I am happy with the results.  Pictures in my mind are becoming realised.  

There are always tweaks to be better, but that is part of the journey.

That is part of the thrill.  Getting better.

I was surprised at the feedback I was given when I asked  "No flash or flash?"

No flash was a common answer.  That perplexed me.

I see my way forward is doing things others cant do.

Not just to see the beauty of a moment, but to get the best of it.  

To capture the light nature provides, but to facilitate the issues that exist between our eyes, and what the existing technology can capture and reproduce.

A silhouette can be captured by a cellphone camera.  Anyone can do that (or can they?)

But to dismiss a silhouette as only average, is to dismiss the intangible aspects. 

The part that cant be measured by 'rules' or facts, sometimes only opinions matter, and it means different things to different people. 

Beautiful doesn't have be technically correct.

Sometimes I just have to suck it up and see what is good in the image, instead of what is wrong.   That happy median between Asperger logic and the artistic merit. 

Maternity has a place in my future.  My baby girls are turning 19 this month.

It is a time of my life I will be 'Nandad' in the coming years. 

Just quietly I am quite excited about the prospects.  

It is a time for redemption. 

All the things you could have done better as a parent, can be made amends with the new generation in your life. 

In life sometimes the only way you can learn is by doing it, and grandparents get a second go.

That starts with treating the mum to be as the amazing person that she is.  

I have to be honest.  It is out of my comfort zone, I am a guy.

Wardrobe is hard for me, I have given up op-shopping for female clothes. 

But when i see this, it makes it all worthwhile. 

I am reminded why I am doing it.

That night was a 'practise' shoot.  

It was to build both mine and subjects confidence.

Hell, this young lady doesnt even own a dress, she was wearing my wifes clothing.

It is a process.  I have to gain your confidence.  Gain your trust. 

Show you what I already see in everyone.  

We have rescheduled, we are going to involve her partner. 

I am dearly looking forward to it, with her new found confidence. 

That is what drives me. 

When I see the happyness, it makes me happy.

When people feel special, I feel special.

It is about me finding my niche.  To fit in.

There is fek all normal about me, but sometimes, just sometimes, I can fit in. 

Shoots are social events. Shoots are memories to be made.

I encourage chaperones. It is about going out and having fun. 

Even for the simple reason that if you are goofing with your mates, the smiles and laughs are natural.  It doesnt have to be freaking serious.  

In the past I have I have done quite a few shoots around water.  

Until this point I have mostly confined myself to the bath tub. 

It is warm and it isnt dependant on the weather. 

The biggest constraint of a bathtub is space.  This summer I am breaking out.

I am going big.

I have constructed a 4 meter by 4 meter paddling pool in the back yard.

I have access to power points, so eventually I can bring the studio lights on board.

I can run hot water from inside via a hose (But dont tell the wife lol)

The trial run has been a success.

Teething issues have been highlighted, and now can be addressed.

I would never try a maternity shoot in a tub. 

It would be too restrictive, its all about the belly, and I dont do squished.

The pool will enable visions to be brought to life in a controlled manor.

No cold rivers, no shitty wind, no dirty ponds.

Milk bath.  Yeah, we can do white.

Arti farti colour.  If you are game, we can do paint lol

We can do floral.  We can do bright and cheerful.  We can do dark and morose. 

We can tailor it to you.  One size does not fit all. 

There is always the continual experimental process. 

Taking inspiration from overseas and developing ideas until I am confident in replicating them when it matters.  Taking conceptual ideas and making them commercial.

Expanding my conceptual tool kit.   Doing it with the camera.

I am a photographer, not a graphic artist. 

Ring of fire:  Purposely reflecting excessive light into the lens in a controlled manor to achieve a lens flare in pleasing effects.  Its going to take allot of work. 

Easily over done, it has to compliment the image, not dominant it. 
Free lensing:  Removing the lens from the camera and tilting the lens to achieve a unnatural depth of field.  It is hit and miss.  Removing myself from the electronic support of the focus system of the lens, it is very much old school.

Add the complexity of a tilting focal plane, it is quite a skillful enterprise. 

Double exposure:  Over laying two exposures into 1 image.  Probably the easiest as the camera handles the technical side.  Only the composition needs thought. 

I can see huge potential in all the techniques, highly situational, but when the time comes I will know. 

I am excited about the summer months.  

There will be dissappointments.  There will be comromises.  There will be successes.

And only one way to find out.
 

#notmanyifany #artifartime  #exordiumphotography