Kayla’s Senior Portraits and an Abandoned House

These portraits are of Kayla (the ones after the house), a senior in high school and a student who found me on Facebook and asked would I be her senior project facilitator. It’s been great to spend time working on her project together and helping her learn basics of photography. She is a very sweet person, full of life and is a joy to be around. She also asked could I shoot her senior casuals. Looking at some photos I took in an abandoned house, knew that was the location she wanted to start with. So we ventured out to it and then drove around the local back roads looking for spots to capture some great moments. 

Creepy place. It does look like the residents just left. It reminds me of the movies where people just vanish and things have just sat for years. They took the furniture, well, except for a work bench, sofa and I think a chair in the basement. And the creepy chair at the window in the attic.

There was so much stuff just laying around that it made for a fun exploration into a life this house once held. Shoes, clothes (children’s included), a pillow if you needed a nap were included in the find. The floor was also littered with school papers, books, notebooks, magazines, checks, prescription, bank statements, and a few family photos of a rafting trip. 

And you could find some lingerie too; bras, panties, stockings and some things you couldn’t tell what it was. At least they were nice enough to provide a hanger for my use.

Looking back to both times I’ve been here, I had a completely different mind set for shooting. The first time I didn’t think much about the life this house once had. I wanted to show the state that it was in and make it as foreboding as possible. The second time gave me the opportunity to bring the life back and make it look like there was more than just deterioration.

But enough of the portraits of the house...on to the portraits of Kayla.

Just think, at one time a family went up and down these stairs. There were coats, shirts, maybe toys in this bedroom closet. And this fireplace once warmed the living room. Someone was, maybe still is, a Korn fan.

Once I was able to get the front door open, the ambient light through it and setting sun light that filtered directly through a bedroom to the left made the shots on the stairs just beautiful. It makes this house look like a home again.

Like I said, a joy to be around.

Then we went upstairs, in the attic, where the chair had been moved to face the window overlooking a long since functioning pool. Once again, coming through this window was the best light. It made for some beautiful portraits of her sitting in the chair.

Once we left the house abandoned again, we headed out to drive around some of the local back roads. Our first find was an abandoned (see a theme here?) subdivision that only had a paved road and  plumbing stubbed up where houses were to stand. It gave us the perfect place to shoot with the sunset behind the camera, it’s last rays of light shinning on the hills in the background.

The only non-abandoned place we stopped. Although that could be debated with as little that was actually around at this location. We made a quick stop at this three rail fence we found while driving around.

On our way back, thinking we were finished, we saw this gorgeous field of yellow flowers on the side of the road in an abandoned lot where only the foundation remained (told you there was a theme). We pulled in, and spent what time we could with the last light of the day fading very quickly. Being so late it did make the yellow flowers standout from the darker surroundings and made for a incredible place to complete the session that day.

 

The Sky's Where I'm Headed

That’s where I’m headed. I at least feel my head is there sometimes with the ideas I come up with. I’m 189 days into my Project365 and I still can’t imagine where I’ll be even in 11 days at 200. Looking back on the images, I can’t believe where I’ve been. The more I shoot, the more I’m amaze myself with what I come up with. Inspiration does come from some strange places.

Sometimes you’re out for a walk in your neighborhood and you end up watching the ISS traverse the sky and fly over the moon. In itself is just amazing to watch something moving about 17,000 mph, 200 miles above your head.

Other times you utilize the silly t-shirts you have. I have several that I’ve not explored the possibilities of incorporating yet. I’m sure several more will make their way into this group of images in the future.

Then one day you’re looking at a book of portraits by Marc Hom and are inspired by an image he took of Johnny Depp to try out your new strobes. I love the light in this images. I love working with strobes or Speedlights. Many of my images have given me the opportunity to test what I can do with light. It has been great practice doing this project and being able to test ideas. I’ve learned a lot about how to utilize bouncing light, diffusing it and even shooting it directly.

And then when you have a lapse in ideas this happens:

The Shoot That Almost Wasn't

Khryz (Chris) Henry is a musician who’s unique worship music drawn influence from a sub-genre of neo-gospel. He is getting ready to release his first album. We had the shoot planned and everything was confirmed the night before. We met up, drove to the warehouse and as it’s said, “Something wasn’t right.” As we pulled in there was someone painting the street facade...strange, but maybe they just want a pretty, abandoned, run down warehouse. As we pulled up to the end of the side we see the plywood over the door that just a week ago was wide open. Then the “What to do now?” began to set in. After a while of thinking, talking, several phone calls to find out if anyone knew of another place and a lot of looking around, we found a roll up door that we could squeeze through. To everyone’s relief, we were able to get the shoot done. I was at the point of calling the whole thing off so we wouldn’t sacrifice quality for something thrown together out of desperation at the last minute. We had a blast during the shoot and came away with some what we intended to get.

The graffiti in this place was amazing. It was great for a background. I could spend days in this place just photographing the artwork alone. The floor littered with the spent spray paint cans added so much to the images.

I love the framing the two foreground pipe gave and the way he was able to pose with the others. The paint spatter on them added just the right blending with the rest of the image, while the lack of it on the others helped him stand out since he and those three post are about he only things in the image without paint.

I just love this silhouette against that graffitied wall. I debated was it better to have him in focus or the wall. I’m still not sure, but this one edges out.

I have no idea what this room was used for, but I love it. The doorways wouldn’t allow for anything very big through them. Those concrete supports have great shapes from the wear on them. It also made an action shot like this look cool. I love the flying braids and swept back arms. He was such a sport to accomplish this shot.

He mentioned doing a shot with his braids flying back like this. I saw the word “SNAP” and that arrow and there couldn’t have been a better place to do this shot.

The Future of my Project365

On Monday 06.21 we found for certain we are expecting. Of course, there's the excitement, happiness, anticipation, etc., that comes with that news. You begin to figure out how to adapt your life, your thinking is altered, your view on life becomes different. Amidst all this I’m thinking photography. I’m excited in all the ways a person can be about this journey to come, but I have the warped perspective of a photographer. I’ve learned about myself that I not only want to be behind a camera, but feel I have to. So with that in your mind, one of my first thoughts was of how incredible this is going to be to document photographicly. I have a twitchy shutter finger already. As all the thoughts began to spin in my head, it occurred to me that this will all happen during my 365 days. Wasn’t that timing great. My project has completely and suddenly changed. It already was this insider look into my thoughts during each day, but now... I am going to be able to not only show me growing and changing throughout a years time, but now I’m going to be able to show that growing and changing from being a husband to being a husband and a father. There’s going to be almost a month from that moment until the end of of the year. I’m not only going to have the 40 or so weeks, but I’m going to be able to also show the transition for that first month. How amazing is that. I’m going to be able to show the complete transition from it not even being a thought, life as normal, through what our lives will become after the new year. All of it in the medium of photography. The first of what is to come...

A Ghost in the Mirror

This is and older image, but one that’s still exciting for me. In September 2006 my family took a ghost tour in Savannah, GA. The tour company we chose was Hauntings Tour and it was worth it. The guide was very interesting and did a great job talking about some of the haunted history of the city. The route takes you past the 17 Hundred 90 Inn and Restaurant. As the guide was talking, we watched the staff leave and the manager lock the doors. I walked over to one of the windows where I could see the night lights left on and dim, the tables set and atmosphere provided by the brick and wood architecture. I just pointed the camera through the glass, not even looking through the viewfinder and ‘click’...walked away and didn’t think anymore about it. While reviewing the images from that night, it was realized there was something in the mirror. I’ll leave it for you to decide what it is to you. There is a lot of paranormal activity at the Inn and it’s been investigated by some of the most notable ghost hunters in the world. I’ve provided a copy of the image to both the restaurant and Hauntings Tour. The tour had to request a new copy because the first was so worn out from people handling it. Evidently it’s become a centre piece of the tour from what he told me. When talking with the owner of the restaurant, they confirmed at the time of the photo, no one would have remained inside. When we saw the doors locked, that would have been the last person out. If you want to read more about the 17 Hundred 90 you can visit their site or the multitude to be found in a Google search. There several others on the tour that had orbs in there photo. I’m just excited to have captured something completely unusual. Whether a believer or not, the images are for you to enjoy and ponder about.

 

My First Post - project365

I thought what could be a better way to start a blog than with something I've decided to dedicate a year on my life doing. On March 4th, I took my first of 365 self portraits. Being the photographer I have few photographs of myself. I've always tried to take a photo of myself when I'm out somewhere, but that usually doesn't get done. So when I decided to do this project I knew it could only be self portraits. To say the least, I've had a great time doing it. It has been a great way to push my creativity to another level. It keeps me thinking. I have to admit most of my shots are not planned out days or usually hours in advanced, but shot on a whim at that moment. That's probably why I usually find myself thinking "I need to take my portrait today" at 9, 10 and even 11 at night. One thing I've learned about myself is how my creativity comes from the most simple things. Something I see laying around the house, or like the image above, my t-shirt. It's proven to me beyond a doubt an idea can form out or almost nothing and result in something you're amazed it came out of your head.
The think that has been the most incredible to me is the response I've received from people about what I'm doing. Family and friends have given me the best compliments for going on this adventure. As a member of a photography club (Cherokee Photography Club) I'm surrounded by very good photographers all the time. When I receive their praise and encouragement, it blows me away because many of them have been shooting almost as long as I've been alive. It means a lot to me to hear them to say what they do. It makes me try harder and harder to come up with the next, often crazy, but good idea. It is so amazing to have someone tell me they just can't wait to see what I'll come up with next. When one photographer told me when they look at my work it makes them feel inadequate, I realized I have people looking up to me for inspiration. I had been doing the looking for so long, I've never realized what it was like to be on the receiving end. I hope through this project I can only keep encouraging others to strive for better images, be more creative and just keep shooting.