Saturday, August 9, 2003
I've been on hold with any thoughts of trying to get a show together for several months. The train images I've shot in the past have all been a part of the B and O Railroad Museum's collection. For one reason or another, possibly due to the fact that their roof fell in last winter and possibly due to my general wimpiness in failing to follow up, I hadn't heard any reply to inquiries about their photography policy. They have claimed the rights to ask for usage fees and preapproval or any commercial usage of images of their collection. I've got no problem with that as they've put forth a great deal of effort to assemble and maintain a fine collection of railroad equipment. I just wanted to clear up how they would interpret a small show and (hopefully) sale of a limited edition of prints by a local amateur photographer.
Well, I heard from them yesterday and it's all clear on their end. Now the only excuses I'll have for not dragging my work around on the gallery circuit is my own laziness and incompetence. That and the always nagging feelings that my stuff just isn't good enough yet. No.. not looking for compliments, please. Just that basic insecurity and scared feeling I've heard many claim to have about the validity of their work and talents.
So it's time to sort through the slides, see what else I need to shoot since I last did a slide session, trim and edit the unworthy, get dupes made of the better ones and shove my butt out the door. That last part's going to be the hardest.
Posted by coldmarble @ 09:34 AM ET [Link] [blab]
Wednesday, August 6, 2003
My butt's dragging this morning from a way too late night in the darkroom. It's a good thing the only clock there is a timer on the wall or I would have left long before I'd finished a few prints from Saturday's trip out to Kilgore Falls. The muddy infrared negs yielded a bit of silver after some effort and I'm glad I burnt a bit of midnight oil to get them printed to my satisfaction. My only regret is that my scanning skills when I'm exhausted aren't up to par and some of the delicate highlights in the lith prints just don't work well online. If you're in the neighborhood, I'd be delighted to bore you with the actual prints.
Posted by coldmarble @ 08:38 AM ET [Link] [1 blab]
Sunday, August 3, 2003
I was almost tempted to blow off a planned trip up to Kilgore Falls for some infrared photo play yesterday. The morning weather was heavy overcast, with low clouds scudding before a southerly wind and enough humidity in the air that the idea of rain was completely superfluous. Hardly ideal IR conditions and barely adequate for photography of any sort.
Being an incurable optimist, almost a requirement for working with IR in the first place, I set out for the falls with a couple of rolls of Kodak HIE tucked in my bag. The long drive up didn't do much to boost my hopes, with the sky keeping its thick dark gray and revealing little evidence that the sun had even risen. The valley in which the creek runs was full of mist, which might have been a pretty sight with some sunbeams streaming through it, but merely served to lower any interesting contrasts without a good light source.
Rather than just sit on my tail and hope for an improvement in the weather, I decided to conduct an impromptu experiment in infrared phtography in overcast conditions. The first half of the first roll was shot in very cloudy light and shows it. The negs are a sort of dull mud, with the only redeeming feature of having some discernable elements which might be pulled out in later printing. But I'm a silly optimist, remember? I don't look at it as a waste of film, but as an education in when not to try shooting IR.
The weather did improve throughout the day, with even some patches of blue breaking through the layers of gray clouds. I have hopes for some decent prints from the shoot when I next hit the darkroom. Some long exposure play around some rippling water and rocks, ferns caught in a beam of sun, and an intricate interweaving of fronds from some plants along the bank of the creek.
It's an amazingly beautiful section of water to photograph, with dappled sunlight streaming through the trees. The lower section of the creek, down by the bigger falls, is always filled with a crowd of locals splashing about or just sitting in the mist rising from the cascading water. Take a short walk upstream and you're in your own private world. No one ever seems to walk the short distance through the thick woods and brambles, although enough must do it to have created the faint paths I followed. I'll treasure it as a private and secluded, yet surprisingly convenient, location for more photo trips.
Posted by coldmarble @ 09:43 AM ET [Link] [blab]
