Day 23 - Project 365

Ahhhh!

The only way to sum up today is… Ahhhhh!!! The picture mirrors my feeling to a T. I started out so solid as the carnival was in town and I wanted to find that stereotypical carnie and produce a surreal and stunning carnival shot. Well, after scouting the carnival during the afternoon I quickly realized a few things. The carnie's just don't look like the ones in my head. In fact they look pretty much like normal people. Well, almost normal. I also realized that I hate carnivals. I hate the carnie's that taunt you to play then act offended that you pass. "but its my last day, I need to eat" Blah, get a real job!

I had a plan B and even a plan C today. Let's just say that well… This is Plan D. A plan I never hope I see again. After the carnie shot wasn't going to happen I decided to keep the Carnival theme, borrow my friend Kayla's daughter and re create a shot from the movie Despicable Me. The scene where the little girl wins the stuffed unicorn and says the hilarious line "Its so fluffy, Im gunna die" I just thought a cute little girl with a stuffed animal, composited against a long exposure of the carnival in the background would have been amazing. Well, with any shoot staring a child you must account for sudden mood swings and tantrums. Well, I received a text shortly after 8pm saying that Dani Lynn was not cooperating and her grandmother took her home. Well, on to plan C, I was already at Erikas with Shawn and Rocy and figured why not use Erika. She put the kids to sleep and jumped in the shower. I wanted a shot of her in the mirror with a towel on, Looking wet and sexy. Well, I can't say it was her as she looked great. I just couldn't get the angle or lighting right. I was working with a bathroom no bigger then 8 feet by 5 feet and just didn't have room to manipulate the light with the gear I had. I had packed light as I thought the carnival shot was a definite. I suppose if it wasn't near 10 by the time we started shooting I could have got a little more creative. Shawn had fallen asleep on Erikas bed due to his late night partying the night before. Now I'm alone, frustrated and producing shots well below my standards.

When I started this project I said… "I will not take pictures of my shoes, or cell phone. I refuse to snap a shot of a over cooked porkchop or a ripple in a pond." I want to show a years worth of the human subject. 365 pictures of emotion, form and beauty. I will do it.

Well, after I loaded a the handful of pics of Erika and realized that although they weren't "bad" they were not at the same level as the other images in my project so far. I decided in a last ditch effort to salvage the night… take a picture of myself. A reflection of my feelings for the night. I don't really agree with this but I figure at least it has the lighting, sharpness and clarity that I've come to expect from myself.

Well, Plan D is the least desirable plan so far. However, I'd say its better than plan H. Ashlee has signed on to aid me in capturing Day 24. I hope that plan A is the only plan I'll need for the day.

Lighting:

AB800 Beauty Dish boomed over head and slightly camera right. Triggered via magic mouse and 5 sec delay tethered to my computer.