Photo Blitz!!

               Being the recluse that I am, I preferred to stay in my apartment for the photo blitz.  Knowing that I have way too many hobbies and a reluctance to throw anything away, I figured it would be a breeze. Before I took the photos, I began to devise a plan complete with a thorough reconnaissance of the area. I’m not quite sure if that was against the rules. In fact, I was going to go so far as to make lists of the intended subjects, and even considered taking practice pictures from different angles. Realizing I had fallen into another typical tendency of mine to over-think things, I eventually just decided to go for it.

               I started with a concept of openness and took a picture which featured four open doors. The shot is rather narrow, taken in portrait mode almost in rebellion against the instinct to find the obvious vast, open landscape. Take from it what you will.

               I then moved on to my album collection, featuring slivers of different colors, figuring a close-up would take away any accurate perspective and make a good abstract. My original intention was to leave out any band names but in my haste to finish, I didn’t notice the print until after.

               I then went into the basement and took a picture of the spokes on my bike being a classic example of converging lines. Again, I’m not thrilled with the way the shot turned out, but it works.

               My surf board being right behind it, I figured I could take a picture of the deck from a low angle and have it look cool. The lighting in the basement being what it is, again I wasn’t satisfied, but it works.

               I didn’t find too many shadows in the house so I went outside and quickly found a pipe arrangement (I’d be damned if I knew what it was for) casting a cool shadow on the back of the garage.

               I went up to the apartment and quickly threw the toaster in the tub (it was unplugged!) …because those don’t belong together silly!!!

               Then I found my cat and took a pic of his paw.  I tried to get creative and find a cool angle but he wasn’t having it today.

               Hardwood dominates any view in my apartment so I figured a low angle picture would show the dominant color pretty well.

               I lieu of taking a selfie after working up some tears, or playing a ham for my own camera, I decided to take a look around for secondary pics of human emotion. The photo of Billie Holiday which I use for my screen saver has always been a favorite of mine because of the incredible emotion she shows on her face. The photo is a testament to the passion of music and what it has come to mean for humanity.

               The exercise seemed to be not only of interpretation but of expression as well. For many pics, I was torn between simply taking a pic that works, or racking my brain to be as expressive and creative as possible. The time limit more or less leaves the outcome to chance and choice of setting. While most of the pictures did not turn out to be as compelling as I had hoped, I did like the shadow pic on the garage. I believe if I had another chance at the bicycle wheel and the surfboard, I could have added better lighting and made them look better, but I think they served their purpose.