Lent 2015 project update

The negatives, prints, and low-resolution scans for the Lent 2015 double exposure project have arrived. K. Sekelsky and I will now be reviewing them, cutting the negatives, scanning at high resolution, and producing final edits. We thank you for your patience.

Introducing the Lent 2015 project

Happy Lent!

Regular readers of this blog, if they existed, would know that for the past few years I’ve undertaken a photographic project during Lent. By this time of winter, I’m tired of being cooped up, and need some motivation to get out and shoot. The first project was in 2012, when I shot with only a single, fixed-length lens. In 2013, I designed postcards, some more serious than others. And last year I fired the shutter once and only once each day.

This year, I’m pleased to announce that my dear friend K. Sekelsky, an illustrator and photographer, will be collaborating with me. We’re each going to shoot a roll of film in our cameras, then we’ll trade the exposed rolls and shoot them again. Each frame will be a double exposure created serendipitously by the two of us.

I’ve started with a roll of Superia 400 (“Process before 2007–6”) in my beloved Canonet QL17 GIII; she's got a roll of Reala 100 in her Holga 135.

Because of the nature of this project, we won’t have anything to show you until after Easter, when we’ve had the film processed and had time to scan it and evaluate the results. Since the frames from our two cameras probably won’t line up, there will be some interesting creative decisions in how to present the finished work. I can’t wait to see what happens, and I hope you’ll be excited to see our results too!

One Shot #37 | Jagger Bush

You only get one shot.

Ash Wednesday

I used to race in autocross, a form of motorsport where you race against the clock on a short, but challenging, temporary course marked by traffic cones in a parking lot. You get to walk the course on foot, then you get three full-speed driving runs, and the fastest of those determines your place in the standings.

Over the course of a few years, against strong competition, I gradually improved from abysmal to mediocre. On a good day, I might finish mid-pack. But I noticed one thing: I usually improved a lot from my first run to my third. And on practice days, where we might get 10 or 15 runs on the same course, I would keep improving all day, and end up fairly close to the top drivers.

The best drivers were better than me by any measure, but I think the biggest component to their success was that on their first run, seeing the course at speed for the first time, they could drive at nearly their best. It took me a lot longer; I had to work up to it.

In photography, I feel like I shoot the same way that I drove. When I review my shots in Lightroom, I usually find that my best shot of a subject is at the end, after a bunch of awkward approaches. For most of what I shoot, that’s not a problem, per se, but it gave me inspiration for this year’s Lenten project. Like my first project two years ago, I think it can be helpful to impose constraints on yourself, to develop your skills. So from now until Easter, my plan is each day to take one shot—and only one shot. One exposure per day.

I’m not saying that’s a good way to work—for me it will almost certainly yield worse results than normal. But I think it could be a useful effort, forcing me to slow down and think about whether everything is just right.

This summer, I’ll be going on vacation to Banff, and the photographic opportunities excite me. With limited time in good light each day, I want to make sure I’m thinking clearly and not wasting my chances. And so, for better or worse, here we go.

Lent 2013: Introducing the Postcard Project

Oh, wow, I have a blog! I almost forgot.

Last year I did a photography project for Lent, shooting with a single lens. Once again, I’ve found the winter to be slow for shooting, so I wanted to do another project. This year, I’m taking my lead from Blake Andrews:

Eugene Greyhound Terminal, Blake Andrews

That’s right, I’m doing a postcard project. Each week during Lent, I will produce two postcard designs. One will (I hope) be a “good” postcard that visitors might actually want to buy. The second will be more like Blake’s example above, or those found in Boring Postcards USA (Phaidon, 2000). The cards are due on the blog by Sunday night. At the end of the project, I’ll get a set printed at Moo.

Last winter was remarkably mild, making outdoor shooting quite pleasant most of the time. This winter has been more typical, with cold snaps and a good bit of snow. Not “picture postcard” weather by any means, but we’ll hope for some agreeable days as spring marches on.

To whet your appetite, here are some Johnstown postcards currently for sale on eBay:

OMG LENT! | 28 | 2.8 | #01

Today is Ash Wednesday, on which we celebrate the partial combustibility of plant matter, and begin 40 days^* of sacrifice and all-you-can-eat fried seafood. I’ve decided to observe Lent by simplifying my photography. I will use a single lens, forsaking^** all others: the smc PENTAX-A 28 mm f/2.8. And though I’m not making a firm commitment, I intend to make and post a photograph with the lens each day of Lent.

There is one small problem with starting the project today. I don’t have that lens yet. I just bought it from a fellow PDML member, and it’s not going to be delivered until tomorrow. This leaves me with a photograph to make, and no lenses to use. What to do?