Multiplex Thunderclap-Day 6

It's been a long time since I did any multiple exposures. Probably not since my junior college days back at Johnson County. Back then I was using 4x5 film and/or a Pentax K1000. Now in the digital world multiple exposures have to be done in photoshop. I will attest that they are not as fun. I'd almost rather do it in camera and be done with it.

Today's first big adventure was arriving at the butterfly preserve only to find that I had forgotten my phone, which in the 20th century means I had forgotten my clock/watch thing. So, all the way back I went. One must adhere to the arbitrary rules of one's experiment. The next big adventure was getting lost in the sinews of the trails in the woods. Which is fine, it's where you want to be on day 6, but not when you have to get to class in half an hour. I felt a little like Rambo running through the woods, jumping over fallen trees, wading waist deep through a pond. At one point I thought I would have to gnaw off my leg. I killed a squirrel for sustenance, which in retrospect was a bit hasty on my part. However, all was not lost and I found my way out and made it to class on time. The End.

Day 6- 9-10am, 103 frames.

Wonderdome Thunderhose-Day 5

Today I decided to take a completely different approach. I wanted to do something I hadn't done before to see what other possibilities the subject could offer. I reached into the art history bag and came out with Pictorialism, an early movement popular in photography at the turn of the 20th century. In other words, to knock some of the cobwebs off I put a cobweb-like material over the lens just to keep things interesting. It must have worked for me because I shot more images today than any other day.

Day 5 Stats- 3-4pm, 165 frames.

Butterfly Thunderdome-Day 4

I'll start this post off with a quote from Paul Cezanne, "A work of art which did not begin in emotion is not art." It is a good reminder of what is more important than LOOKING, it's FEELING. The looking supports the feeling and then lastly the technical stuff supports the looking. Honing into the feeling of a place is not usually an easy thing to do, in this case, and perhaps many cases, it involves listening more to the birds. Today the flash made it out with me again (what has become of me?) though this time I used it more of a supporting role. I used it subtly to fill is some of the shadows and not to call attention to itself. Today I also wanted to step back and show more of the environment. Over the last few days I've been taking environmental shots, but they really weren't working. Today they felt better. More shots from the day, and all the days, can be seen here.

Day 4 stats- 132 Frames, 6-7pm.

Butterfly Thunderdome-Day 3

Today went better than yesterday, at least in my mind, as I was back on track with just LOOKING. Today was overcast and a bit rainy so I decided to take my flash to see what would happen. Though usually mixing nature and flash is something I consider sacrilege today seemed like a good day to break some self-imposed rules. I think it came out well. I liked being able to just sprinkle some light out there. Now  the question is, would I do it again? By breaking my own rules have I set forth a series of events which will be the cause of my own self-destruction spiraling me into a world of debauchery, immorality, and chaos? Yes, that will probably happen. Still 4 more days to go!

Day 3 stats- 7:30-8:30am, 144 frames.

Butterfly Thunderdome-Day 2

Already the project has a new name! Day 2 was a bit more of a struggle. Maybe because I went in with an agenda or maybe it was just the wrong agenda. I went in with a preconceived idea that I was going to concentrate on the ol' "shape, line, texture". I kept trying to impose my will and the subject was not having it. I spent most of the time second guessing myself. It felt like I was on a time limit and had to shoot and shoot to make sure I got something instead of like the first day where it was much more of a relaxed thing and I just LOOKED! It took about 59 minutes to overcome this hurdle. It was a good reminder to just let things happen sometimes. We'll see just what happens tomorrow!

I thought it might be interesting to include some stats too.

Day 1- 10-11am, 55 frames
Day 2- 8:30-9:30am, 157 frames
Ah, the digital age where frames run like water! My goal for the final day is to only shoot 12 frames. There may only be 12 frames left in the world at this rate.