Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Been Away

Been out of the studio for a couple of days so it was good to get back. Didn't work on much other than some writing I am doing for a friend and a little reading.

The last time I was here I was trying some exposure tests using the White Lightening 3200. It will only work at it's very lowest setting and then I am looking at f/16 or f/22. I was hoping for a little more flexibility so last night I sit down and ordered a couple of the lowest output Alien Bees. I need them for the copy stand anyway--can't use the four halogen lamps that Janet used for years--would cook me alive in this small space. Well, maybe this winter if it gets as bad as is predicted.

Decided to do a bw conversion of one of the tests. Now to get a model with some visual interest. LOL Anyway I am happy with the ambience (dark with a darkness to affright to quote Fawsett) of the image so I shouldn't complain. But I am looking forward to more flexible lighting set up.


The October Open Studio is coming up on this Saturday, October 25th at 6:30pm. I will be a little late getting here because I have portfolio review, The Price of Christ, in Katy at 1 to 5pm. I still don't have anything hung but I do have almost thirty prints framed lining the walls in the studio ready to hang when I get the system installed--and more on the way. I ordered two more sets of rails and a few additional hangers a few days ago to accom- modate al the prints

In November I hear there is going to be an Exotica Show. Well, I hardly do exotica but I do have some nudes of a friend, David, that I shot some fifty years ago that I think I can find one or two manipulations of those to hang--one anyway, Anonymous Nude in a Blue Landscape. I printed that up for the camera club a few years ago. And I have nine prints of a series I did back when I first started doing manipulations, Into That Locus of the Last Lost Souls. Neither the photos of David or the Lost Souls series is particularly erotic but then again who am I to determine what people find erotic. I am very pleased with both and glad to finally have a venue to exhibit them.

The only person that I ever showed the Lost Souls to, other than Janet, was Roberta Britt, a cyber friend that taught creative writing at Tarrant County College. The series includes writing along with the images. I like using words with photographs--well, with images.

Although they are not erotic I have several images from a very early series where I first used writing with the images, Friends, Romans and Countrymen, that I would like to show if the images are high enough resolution to print. When I first started I used lower resolution images because it was faster and I never expected to show them to anyone.

My very first manipulations were relatively simple compared to what I am doing now--more dot in space stuff--very non objective abstracts. Friends was the first series that took the form of people and I think some of it was pretty good. Lost Souls was the next series and it combined the use of multiple images along with drawing on the image. I forgot the Dream Of series. Only did three images in that series but The Dream of Fear includes a nude that I could add to the exotica group. The Dream Of and Lost Souls are both about dreams. Should do a series on my dream last night where I found myself in a revolution--my side and Nazis. I have lots of nightmares that I greatly enjoy--last night not so much. Had to get up and watch TV for a while to turn it off. I love my nightmares because they last for hours and I keep trying to find resolutions and rewriting them. Probably accounts for the series Images I Do to Make My Psychiatrist Happy. As Avedon said, every photograph I take is of me. Well that wasn't exactly the way he said it but that is what he meant. It applies to my manipulations as well.

There was a time before I joined the camera club when I did stuff that I consider interesting even if a little strange. I really enjoyed that. Think getting back to the Bedtime Stories where I am combining the freaky toys shot in antique stores with wittings from children's books is going in the right direction. That got interrupted with the move and I will get back to it when I receive the new lights for the copy stand. Who knows I might even try erotica--in my fashion. Then I have a couple of ideas, one using Karo syrup and the other with cooking oil that might prove interesting. Let me explain--neither the Karo syrup nor the cooking oil involves erotica. Felt like I should mention that. That might be too freaky even for me.

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