A new year brings reflection, goals and some new direction. I turned 50 on the first day of this new year and I wasn’t too excited about it. I don’t think of myself as old and 50 has always sounded old to me. I don’t want to belabor the point of turning 50 but I do want to say that I am more confident at 50 than I was at 40. There is a liberation that comes with self confidence.
I’ve been thinking a lot about how much I like abstract images and conceptual, composited digital art, and wondering why I haven’t explored these directions in my own art. I recognize some fear of exploring creative directions that may limit the size of my favorable viewing audience. My New Year’s resolutionImage resolution measures the number of pixels in an image as it is displayed or printed. Pixels Per... More is to tackle this head on.
Abstract Captures
I jump-started this new direction when I spent the day at Disneyland with my family on December 30th. It was an incredibly crowded day. Thankfully I brought my camera along for entertainment.
My goal was to create a set of low light, slow shutter speed, abstract type images. I shot mostly on rides or in line for a ride. The plan worked well, because I didn’t have to worry about my family wandering off into the crowd while I was composing an image.
Walking Into Space Mountain
Pirates of Caribbean Ride
Submarine Ride
You can view the rest of the set on my google+ album Shapes and Colors of Disneyland
Photoshop Compositing
Last weekend I went see Digital Darkroom at the Annenberg Space for Photography, curated by Russell Brown. It had a significant impact on me. I hope I can make a return visit before the show comes down. My husband commented when we left, “It’s like what you do, only more.” More, was a major understatement.
The truth is, that I believe I have the skills to create the same quality of images, but I haven’t even begun to explore what that might be.
Next month our PAG group has a show titled “Pathways and Portals” and I’ve been evaluating my catalog for appropriate images. Here are a few I was considering.
I asked for some feedback from PAG friends and got this honest response, I am not a big fan of canyon photos in general, not yours specifically. I just feel I have seen too many of them.
I appreciated and agreed with that statement. Though I don’t have many canyon images of my own, I’ve seen plenty of everyone elses.
The show curator, Larny Mack suggested that he saw a face in the wind cave image and maybe I should explore that direction.
So I took that idea and ran with it.
Creative Portals
During the editing process I shared it with a friend. Her responses were, …it makes me sort of dizzy… and I don’t really like the feeling it emotes…kind of creepy.
I’m okay with that.
Through her comments I discovered a fear. I don’t want to explore creepy things. I don’t want to uncover anything dark or disturbing while I create, but I accept that I can’t let the fear stifle me. Yes, I think turning 50 has freed me.
Besides, this image does not creep me out. Maybe it’s a little disturbing at first glance, but the closer I look, the more beauty I see, and that is interesting to me.
This is just a first step on a new path. I’m excited to see where the path takes me. It’s going to be an exciting year.
