Killing the Roll

I tend to get impatient with film when I have photos that I need to develop for a class. I finish what I need for a project, then take random pictures to make up for all the left over frames, or I will take project unrelated pictures between project setups to relax and refresh my mind. These miscellaneous photos are also helpful with the creative process. They usually give me some sort of idea of what I should do for projects or sometimes, something completely unrelated (Like the last picture of the hand holding wild sage. For some reason that frame gave me the idea to photograph an armpit).

Kitty Bank (Studio Light Table)

Kitty Bank, a photo by Let It Be Raw on Flickr.

This cat is so cool. Look at that bow tie! Also, besides all the game tokens that were inside it, I found about 3 dollars in quarters that I had forgotten about. This kitty has been with me for as long as I can remember.

This is the one of the more simple studio shots that I did. That cat is classy, detailed, and needs a good polish. It stands on it's own with a simple white background.

Meow.

Whiskey Decanter (Studio Light Table)

Whiskey Decanter, a photo by Let It Be Raw on Flickr.

Ah yes, the glorious whiskey decanter. I love whiskey and my man knows that I love whiskey, so having a fancy-ass bottle to put all that whiskey love in is more than awesome. I don't think I've ever been smitten by glass such as this before (say, except for Penelope).

So that was strange.

I added a rose and orange gel to the back light behind the table to try and recreate the color of the decanter while using both a main and fill light. I think it came out quite lovely and perhaps a little romantic.

I could so do a whiskey commercial with this decanter like Bill Murray does in Lost in Translation. Whiskey it not just thirsted by old men with beards who smoke cigars, but by young and eccentric women in their 20s.

Avon Fish (Studio Light Table)

Avon Fish, a photo by Let It Be Raw on Flickr.

So this is an Avon fish that still has the goo in it and everything (smells weird). I found it in an antique store in Gilroy among a lot of other cool things like a silk scarf and (Nick's glorious find) Bruce Campbell's movie The Man With The Screaming Brain.

This is the second studio project for my photo class. For this assignment I had to chose some items to do product or subject shots using a light table, studio lights and sheets of color gels. For the Avon fish I used a turquoise color gel sheet to make it more ocean-like. Fake fish or not, blue made the most sense to me for a background color.

I know I'm a strict film user, but using digital for studio lighting saves a lot of time so that I can concentrate on printing the final project.

Nick Ghost

Nick Ghost, a photo by Let It Be Raw on Flickr.

This is an older picture from three years ago. I haven't been to many abandoned places since then. The places that I used to frequent have been either destroyed or have been given added security like a large fence. I knew they wouldn't last forever because they were so decrepit, but I always assumed there would be other abandoned buildings. There seem to be much less now in my area. I need to find them before they're all gone.

Last Polaroids

Bedroom Wall, a photo by Let It Be Raw on Flickr.

These are my two last Polaroids that I took a couple weeks ago. The film had been in the camera for possibly three years or more, so that explains the odd coloring and random markings.

I don't know what I'm going to do with my old Polaroid camera now. It's useless but sentimental.

Edit: Found a 07 expired 10 pack of Polaroid film. THAT will be my last pack.

Road Trip Revisited

I don't know why I didn't post these pictures earlier. I think somewhere along my quest to place all my photos in order I over looked these. I'm pretty sure this from a road trip to Arcata that happened in spring 2008. The first and last picture were taken in Whiskey town, while the middle picture was taken along side the Eel river.

I crave the sun in those pictures! Curse you May and your fickle weather! Summer is the best time for pictures because it's bright enough for film and the weather is safe enough for cameras and the subject matters is adventures.

Photo Project Part IV

My Father's Scar, a photo by Let It Be Raw on Flickr.

This is my favorite and best photo that I have made so far for my final project. I added eye shadow to my father's scar to make it more noticeable on film.

Scars say a lot about beauty, especially large ones because they attract curiosity and tell more of a story about a person then other concepts of beauty do (such as long hair, muscle, or shaved legs). For me, part of the story and curiosity comes from the lack of control a scar presents; make up and out fits change, but scars will always be there.

Studio Portrait Project

This blog has become full of projects lately. Anywho, this is the lovely Meghan! She was kind and patient enough to go with me to the college studio and pose while I stressed and experimented over different lighting situations. I also used a Nikon digital SLR for the first time and had a lot of fun playing with it. I'm so used to having a completely manual camera that I was thrown off by new technology for a few minutes. Luckily, I had played with DSLRs back when I worked at a camera store and soon figured it out. These are the four best from that session (studio work is not my forte).

100 Leica Mystery Slide Show with Old Metal Storage Box Nice Vintage Photography

Well that's an interesting idea. I'm sure there are some really neat slides in there and that it would be awesome to layer and scan them, but the one being held up has almost nothing on it still. These would make for a cool lamp or window decoration. (Like what this guy created).

I've been playing around with that idea for a while because slide film does not last forever and should be seen on a window or lamp until it fades away.

This is a beautiful piece of camera eye candy. This is a Kodak six-16 Rainbow Hawk-eye. I am serious, that is it's name. According to the owner the bellows are "soft and supple". One thing I will always love about film cameras is not only are they sexy, but that they will out live me. This camera was made in the 1930s and it still works! A good digital camera will last maybe 5-7 years or more if you take good care of it while a manual camera like the Nikkormat SLR (which my dad got about 30 years ago then gave to me) will probably be passed down to another generation.

I don't have any photos to show you except for this picture that my dad took with the Nikkormat:

Photo Project Part III

Mud Head, a photo by Let It Be Raw on Flickr.

This picture is the one that almost made me change my entire project to be about texture. I was thinking all kinds a weird ways to get odd texture in hair like eggs, mayonnaise, jam and more. I might try and do one more of those pictures anyways and somehow sneak it into the project.

I can still use this for my project because of the texture of her hair was created to change her hair color. It's henna, a hair dye, and it looks like mud. The process looks terrible, but the result is a change. I don't really have anything coherent to suggest with this picture. I just love the texture.

Photo Project Part II

Mums Hands, a photo by Let It Be Raw on Flickr.

This is a photo idea I'm still working on for my project. It may or may not make it into the final 10.

I was trying to make beauty seem out of context in this photo by distracting the simplicity of hands with rings, painted nails and a silky patterned back ground. It almost works for me, but I'm still tweaking the composition. I want to make all the objects considered beautiful as more of a background so that my eyes are drawn more to the simplicity of skin.

I'll be posting individual photos for a while unless two work well together so that I can brainstorm my ideas about them. I have to be able to write a cohesive paper and talk about an idea when I present my work to my peers, so this is good practice.

Beginning of the Photo Project

Nick, a photo by Let It Be Raw on Flickr.

So, putting my color film project aside for my photo class, I am now working on a new project in black and white.

I'm trying to make a project that consists of taking aspects of beauty or daily activities that people do to make themselves reach a certain standard of beauty, then presenting these ideas out of context.

My idea for this project isn't very clear with this picture alone, but as I post more I'm hoping it will become something that can be interpreted without explanation. Will see.

As always with these projects, they seem to turn on me at some point and become something else. This 10 picture project isn't due until the middle or so of June, so I suspect I may have an entirely different description for this project then.

I was trying to do something that represented the beauty of a clean mouth (both in language and hygiene) and beautiful lips. I used mint leaves for taste and mustard flowers for beauty. I wanted to make sure the plants were edible so Nick wouldn't choke.