Yesterday I spent an hour or so wandering the woods behind my house. It was a fairly warm seasonal spring day here in the good old Granite State.
That was yesterday.
This is today.
April in New Hampshire wouldn’t be April in New Hampshire without a snow storm or two. Or three.
Who knows, because well, it’s April in New Hampshire.
This morning, as I have done every morning for the previous 13 mornings, I took a walk out back in search of inspiration. A few things caught my eye, I made a few photographs, but I wasn’t overly enthusiastic about any of them. Returning inside I made myself another cup of coffee and sat down. As I was sitting in my recliner, attempting to find something to watch on Netflix, I happened to notice the way the light through the living room window was illuminating the tips of a few of the leaves on my prayer plant.
Exposing for the light on the plant leaf allowed the background to go black, and todays photo was born.
Sadly, my Isolation Project may be coming to an end, at least in it’s current form, for tomorrow I’ll be heading back to my day job. After having closed down for the past two weeks my boss has decided to reopen the auto repair shop where I work.
Though it’s back to the daily grind for me, I’m going to do my best to continue with this project for as long as I can. Whether it’s making new photos each day, using some of the photos I’ve made thus far that haven’t yet been shared, or some combination of the two, stay tuned to see what I can some up with.
It’s Day 13 (at least I’m pretty sure it’s Day 13) What “day” it actually is, I’m not entirely sure. Now that my wife is working from home one day blurs into the next.
After being stuck in the house due to two straight days of rain, it was a joy to look outside and see the sun is finally out, and the wind blowing. As I sat down to enjoy my morning coffee I thought about the wind, wondering how it would effect the images I would make today.
As my friend Juls so thoughtfully pointed out, “you can’t control the wind and sunlight.” So, rather than fight the wind, I chose to embrace it. So along with my camera and tripod, I grabbed my 10-stop neutral density filter and headed outside.
Let’s see your Isolation Projects. Post a link in the comments so I, along with everyone else can see what you’ve been doing to keep yourself occupied while we socially isolate. You can also follow along on Twitter and share your photos using the hashtag #IsolationPhotoProject
For those still wondering what my Day 12 image was of, here’s a better look.(Pay no attention to my bare feet 🙂 )
Day 12 already? Where does the time go? As the rain continues I only had to venture out onto my back deck for todays bit of photographic sanity.
Anyone care to take a guess as to what today’s image is? I’ll post the answer along with tomorrow’s Day 13 image.
Lets see what you’ve been doing for your Isolation Project. Post a link in the comments. It doesn’t have to be a photograph either. If you’ve been baking, catching up on some much needed home improvements, whatever has been keeping you sane during all this may be great inspiration to others, so share away!
You can also follow me on Twitter and share your photos using the hashtag #IsolationPhotoProject.
Be well. Be Safe.
As many of you have noticed, or will come to soon, the shrubs that boarder my yard, known as sweetfern (Comptonia peregrina), have been and probably will continue to be the subject of many of the images in my Isolation Project. Maybe it’s a lack of vision or imagination on any given day that keeps me coming back to these wonderfully aromatic shrubs, or maybe its that I simply cannot resist the way the gorgeous morning light illuminates them?
One things for sure, you haven’t seen the last of my sweetfern.
How about you? Is there something in your backyard or apartment that keeps you coming back to photograph one more time? Let’s see it by posting a link in the comments.
Follow me on Twitter and share your Isolation Project images using the hashtag #IsolationPhotoProject.
Which I know to some of you that’s nothing. Some of you have been cooped up for twice that, and more. I sincerely hope all of you are able to find something to do to occupy your time. I have no idea what I’d do if it weren’t for my camera.
One thing’s for sure, some days have been a lot harder to come up with images than others. Yesterday it started raining, today it’s still raining, and based on the forecast you can expect photos of and in the rain pretty much all week. I guess it’s a good thing all of my Fujifilm X-Series cameras and lenses are weather resistant. On the plus side, dreary overcast days are great for the way colors seem so much more saturated.
I hope you enjoyed my image for Day 7. My apologies for it being a day late. Think of it as a rain delay 🙂 (Stay tuned for Day 8!)
Now lets see your Isolation Project images. Post a link you yours in the comments or follow me on Twitter and share your photos using the hashtag #IsolationPhotoProject
I have a feeling that by the end of all this there wont be a leaf, twig, tree branch or rock that I don’t know intimately.
Are you creating your own Isolation Photo Project please post a link in the comments so I can see what you’re all up to! You can also follow me on Twitter and share your photos using the hashtag #IsolationPhotoProject
So, you want to play along but you live in a small apartment or are otherwise unable to get outside? You think because you don’t have access to a big, or even little back yard you won’t be able to make a good photo?
These images are for you and I hope they’re able to inspire your creativity. Each and every one of them was made without ever leaving my house.
I realize that none of these images is destined to win any awards, but that’s not the point. The point is that you don’t need a big back yard like mine. All you need is a camera and your imagination. The rest is up to you!
Join me on Twitter and share your Isolation Project images using the hashtag #IsolationPhotoProject.
Let’s see what you got!!
What Is The Point?
When I first became interested in photography, a little over four years ago now, I used to see so many people working on a photo project. 52 this, 365 that, and I wondered, “Why?” What was the point? Aren’t you just going to burn out and start shooting crap photos of whatever happens to be in front of you then just to meet the goal? Seriously, a new photo every day for a year, that’s nuts!
Open The Creative Flood Gates.
Then it clicked. A photo project was a great way to exercise your creativity. By forcing you to create a new image to meet a specific theme or time frame, be it daily or weekly, a self-imposed theme, or one provided for you, it gets you shooting, and that’s never a bad thing. Hopefully all the while your creative drive is in full gear, helping to see things differently in hopes of not “burning out and shooting crap just to meet the challenge.”
Currently, I’m participating in the Lens Pro To Go, 52 Week Photo Project. LPTG is a photography gear rental company based near Boston, MA. My first experience with them has earned them my business for any and all future gear rentals.
I had placed an order for a lens rental through their website, and the next day was contacted to tell me they were out of the lens I wanted, in this case the Canon 17-40 f4L. Would I mind if they upgraded me to the 16-35 f2.8L at no extra charge? Then, because the 16-35 had an 82mm filter thread, and my 77mm circular polarizer wouldn’t fit, they threw in a circular polarizer too, also at no extra charge. That is some serious customer service! Thanks LPTG, you’ve earned a loyal fan!
Now, back to the photo project. The idea was simple enough, they would send out the themes for each week to all who signed up, then by the end of the day on Sunday we all had to post our images to the LPTG 52 Week Photo Project Flickr Group .
There is a lot of great talent sharing to the Flickr Group, well worth a look, so check it out when you get chance.
Rather than simply go digging through my Lightroom catalog to find images that fit the weekly theme, which would defeat the purpose entirely, I decided early on that to get the most out of the challenge I would create images specifically for each week. For the most part I’ve been successful in that, but there have been a few times life has gotten in the way and I’ve used a previously shot photo. But not often.
Aim For Daddy’s Head.
We have just reached week 29, a little more than half way through the 52 weeks, And I think I’ve gotten a lot out of the challenge so far. Below is a gallery of my first 29 photos, a few you may have seen before, most you have not. I had a lot of fun making these, the “Paper Airplane” theme was the most fun. “Aim for daddy’s head,” is what I told my daughter. She laughed, and then did her best to do just that!
So if you’ve been in a creative slump lately, find a photo project to take part in, or make one up for yourself. You might be surprised at how much fun it is.
From a photo project springs a thought about not giving up.
I’ve been so busy lately I didn’t have time to go out and make an image for this weeks theme of “Blue,” for the 52 Week Photo Project, sponsored by LensProToGo, that I’m participating in. I’ve tried to create images each week that fit the weekly themes, but as mentioned in my last post, I’ve been a little busy with another project, so it was off to the archives.
After searching through my Lightroom catalog I came up with this one, an image I titled
“Moonlight Cruise.”
While deciding to use this image, it occurred to me just how close I came to not being around to make it.
Is moonrise without the moon really moonrise at all?
I had planned the shoot down to the last detail. I knew what time moonrise was supposed to be, most importantly, using The Photographer’s Ephemeris, I knew where it was going to rise and where I needed to be to get the shot I was after.
I headed to the coast in hopes of capturing the May 5th “Super Moon” rising behind the Isles Of Shoals, a small group of islands off the coast of New Hampshire. But the moon seemed to have other plans.
Unfortunately, there was a large bank of clouds out on the horizon as I arrived at the coast. That was not going to be good for the photo I wanted to make. But I didn’t have a plan B.
Patiently I waited. Moonrise came and went, no moon. Five minutes, ten, fifteen minutes passed, still no moon. My wife texted me to see how it was going, and I told her I might pack it in and head home. I was going to give it a few more minutes, but since the shot I wanted wasn’t going to happen I didn’t see the point in sticking around.
Peek-A-Boo!
With one last look before I started packing up, I thought I saw a glimmer of light in the clouds. So I waited. Sure enough, the moon overcame its stage fright and gave me a little peek.
Then a little more…
This was starting to get interesting.
Almost all there…
Unable to distinguish the clouds from the sky due to the light, the moon seemed to appear out of nowhere. If I hadn’t seen the clouds on the far horizon when first arriving, I would not have even known they were there.
Finally…
The “Super Moon” finally comes completely out of hiding behind the curtain of clouds. After all the waiting, I didn’t get the shot I came for, but I left with something totally unexpected, completely different, and I think better, than the shot I had originally planned for. I had absolutely no idea that ship would be in the area, that was a bonus I hadn’t even considered.
That few extra minutes, that’s all it took to make what I thought was going to be a wasted trip and turn it into a very successful one.
Persistence pays.
Jeff Sinon Photography 