106/365: O is Old-School.

Well, I've been having troubles with the old 365 blog lately...They are good problems in a way, mainly being so busy with other photo and video work that by the time the day is over, I'm too tired of shooting or being on the computer to conjure a new photo for this. The other half of that problem is the current theme, the alphabet, and my desire to make the images conceptual, rather than literal. As in, A was Authority and not Apple. I know I threw all that out with 'K is Keith' but still the desire persists. But I'm finding that creating a new conceptual image everyday, based on that day's given letter, to be a real challenge.

Not to mention, it's April, and from what I hear, historically, a lot of 365 projects have fizzled out in their fourth month. Must be like thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail, when you get to Virginia after a month of hiking, about a quarter of the way to Maine. Many would-be thru-hikers get taken down by the 'Virginia Blues,' a combination of homesickness, boredom with the hiking, the realization that you've only just begun, and who knows what other mental traps you can mold inside your head as you walk down the Long Green Tunnel all day, everyday. The old blog is nowhere near as difficult or time-consuming, but there's a love/hate thing going on fo' sho'. And I have definitely wondered how in the world I'll be able to do this till 2011 and keep it interesting, for me, for you.

Well, I plan on pushing thru, not too worry, but I may do something a little different, like post 4 days worth of photos in one post, all using the same setup! Allow me to demonstrate.

 105/365: N is Neutrality.

Hee hee. I found this hat in the Lost and Found box at a theater I used to work in, circa 1999. Not to get too detailed, but my girlfriend and I had ducked into an unused stairwell to, ahem, pass the time, and there was the Lost and Found box, with this sweet Swiss flag hat on top. Perhaps it was wrong to take it, but some of my friends may argue it was this hat's destiny for me to find it, considering it's been around the world with me and is on my head right now.

As you can see, these four days of pics are all shot on a white seamless. We have some product shots to shoot for a client, and I had to leave the 'studio' up in my living room for a few days. A white seamless is basically a sheet of white paper, the professional versions are usually 9 ft wide or half that. About 12 yards of it is rolled up on a glorified toilet paper tube. To create the 'endless white room' effect, you drape the paper such that it curves gently from vertical to horizontal, eliminating any seam or horizon line. This can be done on a large or small scale, and for small stuff, it's really easy to do at home with white poster board from a craft or art store. The main consideration is that you want to light the paper as evenly as possible to create a uniform white. In these shots, I used a very large shoot-thru umbrella directly overhead to light the subject and the paper evenly. If you look closely, you can see that I haven't actually accomplished that: the paper is hotter near the umbrella. This can be seen in the next shot, which I didn't edit in post as well as I could have.

104/365: M is Music Makers.

You can see the white is off in the lower right here. This can be fixed afterwards in Photoshop or Aperture or your choice of program, but it's better to nail it as close as possible in camera. This is my harmonica collection, though 'collection' isn't right word, since many of them will be blown out within the year. Most of the harps here are 'working' harps, as in, I play them when I gig, but the Echo Harp up front, and the most awesome Trumpet Call, live at home, the latter in a badass wooden case. Thanks Mom for that one, it's the sweetest harmonica with trumpets sticking out of its ass I've ever seen.

103/365: Lee is L.

And finally, I didn't want to set up the 9' seamless to shoot a full length portrait of a person, so I opted for someone smaller. Some kid gave me this in Carolina Beach last year. Looking at him this close, I'm not sure it isn't Grant.

-llg