Tag Archives: living

Oct 10

One Word Project: Close

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One Word Project: Close

The focus for the One Word Project for September was the word “Close.” I wasn’t sure what I was going to do for this one and then it dawned on me…ping (light bulb)…I should take a roll using my telephoto lens. I was kind of excited about this one because one of my favorite qualities about photography is the ability a camera has to capture an ordinary object in a new light.

I enjoy seeing the world through the eyes of a camera lens because it gives me the ability to focus in and also to crop out. I enjoy seeing the beauty that the things in our everyday lives posses and to me a camera captures that beauty so well.

So, here are some things I see in my everyday life. I walk past them all the time and rarely take time to notice the beauty they really do hold…from a worn out volkswagon bug to sunflowers in my garden, here I’m taking a “closer look” at the everyday.

 

 

 

 

The black and shots of the peppers below is my ode to one of my favorite photographers, Edward Weston. He’s well known for his series of black and white images of peppers. Love the form, shadow, shape, and all those lovely elements of design that are displayed in the little guys in these images.

 

 

Shelly’s is coming soon! http://blog.shellygoodmanphotography.com/

Sep 7

One Word Project: Shadow

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One Word Project: Shadow

The One Word Project continues and for August…yes August (Shelly and I are a little behind, but September is already coming along) the word is Shadow. I was really excited when I heard that it was shadow because I’m so drawn to high contrast compositions and a composition with an emphasis on shadow, in my mind naturally thinks of high contrast. For these shots I decided to take a trip down the street to the small down town of West Dundee on a sunny afternoon (the perfect makings for shadowy shots).

The photo above is what I would call my classic style of shooting…not so much about what I’m shooting as the composition that is created through the lens of my camera, one full of pattern, line, and a highly contrasting range of shades and tones.

While shooting for “Shadow” a new revelation popped into my head, as my ordinary eyes put on their shadow-finding-filters. The realization was that shadows really are like mini alternate realities of everyday objects. Shadows are beautiful compositions in of themselves as they are an altered version of the objects they mimic. With this realization you can see how my view shifted from focusing on the shadows pouring from an object, to focusing on the world of the shadow and the object as a secondary character in the story. So, hence the shots below of the table and chair sets.

 

Above: One of my favorite photos of this shoot.

Below: I love the way the shadows play on the facade of this old building.

Some of my favorite subjects are old buildings…it must be the architecture side of me coming out. I really enjoy how classical buildings have beautifully thought out detail work that truly is illuminated and made more pronounced when put in daylight that allows shadows to both shade and highlight these details all at the same time.

Hope you enjoyed these Shadow photos! Please check out Shelly Goodman’s photographs for Shadow this month at http://blog.shellygoodmanphotography.com/2012/09/07/one-word-project-shadow/. Shelly is shooting with medium format film and I can’t wait to see what she has!