Monday 11 February 2013

Going Beyond [2B.1]

Wow . . . what a learning experience this has been already!! . . . and on so many levels.
This truly was a challenge for me right from the start . . . 

Kim said: “Set up your own scene”?
I have always been a sort of spontaneous shooter - I am rarely without a camera . . . 
I see something I like - I shoot it!! 
Yikes!! I question my ability to actually even ‘set something up’ in a way that is visually appealing . . . 
I have always been a proponent of the great photographer Diane Arbus, who said:

"I work from awkwardness.
By that I mean I don't like to arrange things. If I stand in front

of something, instead of arranging it, I arrange myself."

 . . . this was exactly what Kim was asking us to do!!  Arrange ourselves, not our subject
 . . . and that is why I am here . . . too learn, to stretch, to grow my creative talents . . . 

So I set up my scene.   Sort of . . . I added the flowers to the red vase

The Scene






































Kim said: "try taking 10 different shots"
No problemI have pretty much always used what is affectionately known as the ‘spray and pray’ approach to photography . . . 
I think I took over 100 shots . . .
  
This is likely why I have always found the next steps to be a huge challenge . . .

Kim said: "Take note of 1 or 2 of your favourites"

Did she say 1 or 2?? 

Note to Self: Learn step 3 in Kim’s ‘Photo Workflow’ - Cull/Sort

I confess. I find it so hard to delete rejects . . . 
I wince, I hesitate, I rationalize and, when I finally force my hand, I apologize profusely to the offending photo . . .

Oh yes I definitely need to be here . . . and now . . . I need this so badly!  I am far too embarrassed to admit to myself tell you how many photos I have saved . . . all over the place . . . or how much time I spend waste looking for them

So today I will turn over a new leaf . . .

I inspected, I culled, I deleted (ow, Ow, OW)
I realized that I needed to adjust my idea of ‘the scene’
I had too many components to ita bouquet, a stack of cups, a Ball canning jar. . . In my mind I thought I would use each part in the collage . . . I broke it down and decided I would make three collages! One for the bouquet, one for the cups and one for the Ball Jar . . .
Then I decided that was rationalizing and made a valiant attempt . . .

et voila



Kim asked: "Did I enjoy the challenge?"
Absolutely!!

Kim asked: "Was it difficult to find time for the exercise, did you feel rushed…"
No, not this time because I set aside the whole day (yes, I am lucky that way) to get up to speed . . . which didn’t happen but I will get there . . .
I know I can’t spend a whole day on every assignment but I am so excited to be feeling inspired again!!

Kim suggested: ". . . printing a small version of your fav and . . ."
My fav?????   Uh oh . . .
Okay. Okay.  I'm working on it . . .


Thank you Kim!!
For allowing me to join late and for igniting the creative spark and kick starting my photo mojo . . . 

Love, Janet xo

P.S. I LOVE Ommwriter!!




Beyond Layers

2 comments:

  1. Hi Janet! thank you for your kind comments re my flickr photos! Do you still live in Canada? Thought you might live in the UK because of your surname, but maybe your ancestors were from here? Love your work and looking forward to seeing more! Julia

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  2. Lovely post and collage of photos. I too found it hard to cull my shots, it was only when my "large" hard drive became full about a year ago (after taking a photo a day for 3 years!)that I made the plunge and started deleting. It is amazing how much space is created. Now my workflow is fairly similar to Kim's, although time wise, as I am still taking a shot a day I do tend to do a full cull once a week rather than each time I shoot. Thank you for your comments on my Flickr account too :-)

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