August Book Club, "Photography and the Art of Seeing" by Freeman Patterson. Week 1 Exercise: Chance. "Have somebody -- anybody but yourself -- choose three seemingly unrelated objects for you to photograph together." Minimum requirements: 20 pictures.
I asked my husband to pick out three objects one evening, and the next morning, these three were on my placemat by breakfast. The pinecone is from a trip to California, the shell from a beach in Australia, and the basket from a local crafts show in our town. Objects have such strong memory associations: a day trip in the mountains prior to a three-day professional conference, a friend's 60th birthday celebration, a craft show that my husband, @taffy and I particularly enjoy.
I photographed them from many angles, even looking straight down on them. I liked how each of the objects had such different texture (the basket is made out of sandpaper) and I placed them on the stones in our outdoor seating area. I like how there were brown bits of yard debris mixed in with the stones since brown is a unifying color for all three objects. At first, I wished I'd shot this at a different time of day so I could have had the shrubbery and trees as the backdrop rather than the bench legs, pot, ivy and part of our house as the back drop. But looking at it again, I like the mustard yellow of the house along the back.
@aecasey -- I always have fun with exercises (of the photographic kind any way . . . ) as it pushes me to do things I might not have done on my own. I had to hurry to photograph this before the light changed! @steampowered - yes, Bill chose wisely and I only wish I had been able to feature the texture on the sandpaper -- but it was much more subtle in photograph than the other two items. @anazad511 -- my husband is not on 365 but certainly participates as a 365-spouse. @taffy is one of my best friends and she is the one who first told me about 365 so we started together. She's a wonderful photographer with hundreds of photographers so you might want to take a look at her album. @mara19500 -- thanks for taking the time to read my long narrative!
What a great arrangement and narrative--love the push and wish I could join in on the club these days! Glad I get to see what you have done. I'm a huge "object-association" person. I told someone one day that my house is filled with memorable moments--and that's why it's so eclectic!
I'm glad you mentioned the small basket is made of sandpaper! I can see it very well if viewed large. I wonder what different light would do to the same arrangement, but I like the background. I see that the aperture is a low number (more open), and I don't think you can get much lower right? I thought that may soften the background more for a bokeh effect.
I love the texture of the pathway and the brown bits. Seems almost fallish. The shell is just stunning. A beautiful set of memories. I'll have to follow what y'all do next!
This is so beautiful, and I just love the story too, not only behind your process but behind each of the objects. Love how you set them off outside against all those blurs and colors.
It's obvious that your husband put a lot of thought into selecting great objects for you to work with. This is a very effective shot, and it's interesting to read the background information. I find it terribly difficult to get the kind of backgrounds I want: my garden is small, so I always get unwanted stuff in the background if I go out there, and I don't seem to have any blank walls inside where it is light enough often enough to take photos without flash.
@anazad511@jyokota
Awww....thanks you two!! You just made my afternoon! I wasn't allowing myself on 365 because I have to work, but I thought I'd check a few 'mentioned' in my list and found your comments. One of my best friends, amazing to describe my photography -- I have a big smile on my face and if I were allowing myself to be on the site instead of working, I'd show this to Jim (my husband, Ana). :-)))
Great still life Junko! I remember the basket from the craft exhibition. Too bad I won't be back in time this year. But financially, much better that I don't go!
Sorry to ask, is @taffy your husband? Or their is a typo?
@steampowered - yes, Bill chose wisely and I only wish I had been able to feature the texture on the sandpaper -- but it was much more subtle in photograph than the other two items.
@anazad511 -- my husband is not on 365 but certainly participates as a 365-spouse. @taffy is one of my best friends and she is the one who first told me about 365 so we started together. She's a wonderful photographer with hundreds of photographers so you might want to take a look at her album.
@mara19500 -- thanks for taking the time to read my long narrative!
I'm glad you mentioned the small basket is made of sandpaper! I can see it very well if viewed large. I wonder what different light would do to the same arrangement, but I like the background. I see that the aperture is a low number (more open), and I don't think you can get much lower right? I thought that may soften the background more for a bokeh effect.
I love the texture of the pathway and the brown bits. Seems almost fallish. The shell is just stunning. A beautiful set of memories. I'll have to follow what y'all do next!
Awww....thanks you two!! You just made my afternoon! I wasn't allowing myself on 365 because I have to work, but I thought I'd check a few 'mentioned' in my list and found your comments. One of my best friends, amazing to describe my photography -- I have a big smile on my face and if I were allowing myself to be on the site instead of working, I'd show this to Jim (my husband, Ana). :-)))