Mr. & Mrs. Link

Three quarters of the way though Project 365, and I’ve hit a wall.  I’ll confess that there were days I didn’t take photos this month.  It’s happened before, but always because I got busy and forgot.  This time, I just couldn’t get up the enthusiasm to go find another subject.  I made up for it by going on photo hunts where I find a few shots that are different enough and take them within a few minutes of each other, but that is sort of a violation of the spirit of the project.

So what’s my problem?  A few things.  First, routine.  After the excitement of Montana and the summer, it’s hard to get excited about walking through the same darn streets every day.  Second, techniques.  Without new equipment (a new camera or more flashes), there aren’t any more mountains to climb.  I’ve already achieved almost all of the goals I set for myself when I embarked on this journey, and while I can refine them and get better it’s not the same.  Learning RAW was exciting.  Practicing it is (important but) tedious.  Finally, its a question of competition for my time.  I’ve only just started the 2010 Link Yearbook, and that’s a 60-hour monkey on my back.

So anyway, the photography this month suffers.  There are good shots.  Almost one great shot.  But nothing really exciting.  Like the month itself, it was over before I got my hands around it.  So here are this month’s honorable mentions go to: Stacked Chairs II, Mom and Russell.

September’s Third Best: Classic Car

I came across a car show being set up in the parking lot near Lowe’s in Columbia when I went for an early morning supply run.  Even though they weren’t open for business, they let me come in and shot some pictures.  Everyone was very friendly and they loved showing off their cars.  I wound up with a lot of really good pictures, but this one – a detailed close-up of an antique car light in front of the exposed engine – stuck out, especially when I converted it to black and white.

One of the reasons I like this shot so much is the detail that’s visible in at high-resolutions and the sharp contrast in the chrome of the light.

September’s Second Best: Tie Me Up

Again, this shot really needs to be viewed at full-resolution to appreciate it.  This really is a simple shot, but making it required me to know how to control for the fact that the camera’s meter wanted to blow out the ties in order to properly expose the empty space above and below the shelf.  Once that was done, it wasn’t too hard to capture the awesome texture of the tie, and to draw the focus by cutting the depth of field.

The credit for lighting and set-up goes to Andrew’s Ties at Union Station, where the manager didn’t mind me shooting a few shots.  I got chased out of a few other stores who were worried that I was spying on them or stealing their secrets.  Pretty silly of them.

September’s Best: Congressional Cemetery

I visited the Congressional Cemetery after a friend brought his newly purchased Pentax DSLR there to test it out.  It’s an off-the-beaten path location east of the Capitol.  It’s got a unique history, and is now maintained by a group of D.C. residents who wanted a place to walk their dogs off the leash.  So, after work one day I jumped in the Metro and went for an adventure.  I only had about 45 minutes before I’d miss my next train, but that’s okay because the sun was setting and I only had about that much good light anyway.  Again, I got a lot of great shots, but this one stands out.

And in a way, it’s painful.  I love the composition.  The lighting is perfect – the setting sun was orange during the ‘golden hour’ at sunset while the cloudy sky overhead was cool and blue.  The subject was at once a positive angel (warranting the warm light of sun) and a negative grave marker (justifying the cool background).  This could have been one of the best pictures of the year.  And it is… unless you view it at high-resolution where it becomes clear that the focus wasn’t quite right and the angel isn’t as sharp as I’d like.

September’s Worst: Cajun Cowboy

How does a picture with oysters, rocky mountain oysters, beads, and a beer wind up as the months worst picture?  Call it bad lighting, and boring composition.  What this shot really needed was a much shallower depth of field, a much more unidirectional source of light and, in place of the Sam Adams, a PBR and a Mint Julip.  Maybe I’ll get it again next year.