I say this is an ode to Scorsese’s “The Big Shave” only because of the obvious content. I didn’t intend on the connection, I only really thought it would be an interesting photo. I drew the comparison while I was taking the sequence of photos that led to this final cut. Scorsese’s short was a commentary on the US occupation in Vietnam. My photo is not trying to say anything. Honestly trying to say things through my work has been kind of slowing me down since college. I spend so much time conceptualizing an idea, and how to portray that in a photo or series, that I find it impossible to get some projects out of the incubation stage.
That’s what’s so great about this daily. I make sure to take a picture everyday, and some days I really like the result. Some days I don’t but that’s okay because there is always tomorrow, and then I’m just going to do it all over again.
Seriously wish I wasn’t exhausted. I remember having something to write here, but it’s totally gone at 3 A.M. Maybe I’ll write more when I wake up with my coffee.
Coffee is phenomenal. You know what else is phenomenal? Sushi. There is a very short list of things that I think are better than sushi. I won’t get into them in the here and now, but maybe at a later date. There is something so wonderful about sushi, it feels so clean and pure. It’s probably the only food I can gorge myself on and not feel crappy about myself after. The waitress came over as I was taking this photo, and just kind of smiled and walked away. I’m sure she thought I was a psychotic. I want more sushi now.
Spent my morning volunteering at the bouldering competition at The Cliffs. Took 540 pictures of peoples backs, gonna try to go in tomorrow and get some overhead shots. I had a hard time choosing a photo for the day. Anyway happy trails.
Are high tension wires my newest fetish? Possible, I know a couple of spots where I’ve wanted to take shots of for quite a while now. I saw the way the light was streaming through the storm clouds, haloing the tower, and I pulled over on the Taconic. Glad I almost got some daylight into this daily. Oh by the way 1 a Day is 3 weeks old! Later kids.
Definitely darker than my mood dictates. I’ve been avoiding shooting my back up shots, just in case I can’t figure something out to shoot for the day. This one came to me on my ride to work today. I almost didn’t shoot it, and wasn’t happy with it til I saw this one on my computer. Dig the deep blacks and the rim lighting on the figure. That’s it, I’m tired, happy thoughts everyone!
My neon love affair may be ending prematurely, its such a get an exposure without lighting it… May take a different approach to shooting motels. It feels shady as fuck, by the way, creeping around at night at shitty motels.
Have you ever been in a somewhat unfamiliar place and turned a corner or came out of a clearing and realized you had been there before? It’s a strange feeling, especially when the last time you were there was when you were a little kid. I went for a run today, but I didn’t go to my usual route. I went to a park close to home, that I had been to once or twice to smoke pot during my senior year of high school.
I was kind of going through the motions following the pavement that led through the park, when I noticed a side trail. I knew the route was shorter than my usual so I decided to take the path through the woods. I was having trouble navigating my way over the the tree roots and gravel, because I kept getting distracted by the late afternoon light streaming through the rustling leaves.
When I came to the clearing in the woods there was this boat house by the reservoir, and the memory didn’t so much come creeping back as it came rushing up to meet me and stop me in my tracks. The last time I was here I couldn’t have been more than four or five years old.
I was with my Dad and one of his friends, and we came here to rent a row boat and just get out on the water for the day. I had on a life vest and was running on the docks, when I tripped and fell face first onto the weathered wood, and it tore my lip open. I did what most four or five year olds would do and I cried like one. That’s it, that’s the extent of the memory.
It was something I pretty much forgot about, but finding this spot twenty two years later, made the memory come back from the ether. It may not sound profound or amazing, but for the rest of the day I felt connected with that little person. A person I barely remember being, and certainly don’t feel any sort of connection in my daily life. It was kind of a nice reminder to try and look at the world in that way, and stop being the jaded guy every once in a while.
Needless to say I came back later to get the shot. It was gated off so I tried to take some shots from behind the gates, but I wasn’t happy with it. So I jumped the fence (a lot easier after 4 months of rock climbing).
So I worked all night taking pictures. And took a bunch that I like better than this one, however, I can’t use any of them, because they all are being used/belong to my job… They have no use for this picture, so I’m going with it, this is the crew breaking down the merry go round. I’m going to pass out now, its crazy late.
Yet again, profession my apparently undying love for neon signage. This sucker was flickering and off all over the place, and the storefront was completely unlit. So during my 15 Second exposure, I ran around with my speedlight, and pumped some light in. If you look for it, I’m sure you can spot where I was popping flashes.
