My Every Day...At Night
I've been totally unsuccessful at blogging daily this year, as I endeavored to do after a positive experience with NaBloPoMo, and it's why I've been hesitant to join any of the "photo-a-day" groups that are so popular on Flickr.
Even after spending weeks being inspired by Lori's My Every Day set, I resisted the urge to try something that required a daily commitment. About two weeks ago, however, I finally caved. I became so entranced by the little windows into Lori's daily existence that I decided I couldn't *not* try it myself. I know Lori started her set mainly as a creative exercise, much the way writers force themselves to write *something* every day—and I can really see how it *has* helped her photographic eye—but what I get out of it is that little window into someone else's life. (With the lens vignetting on some of her recent photos, I feel like I'm literally looking through a window, too. :)
I started my My Every Day set not with the goal to become a better photographer, but to provide that little window into *my* life. So far, I think I'm accomplishing that goal—I've kept up with the daily-ness of the exercise, and I can see patterns emerging when I look at the thumbnails. What I didn't count on, however, was that it would make me want to experiment more as a photographer (or, at least, make me want to pull out the tools I used to experiment with years ago but haven't had the time or inclination to fiddle with recently). In other words, I think I started at the other end of the stick from Lori, but we're both ending up in the middle.
Last night at around 8pm I realized I hadn't taken my daily photo yet, and I resolved to take the tripod outside after I put the Beaner to bed. Never mind that I was already in my pajamas; I'd just throw on some yoga pants, my Dreamweaver hoodie, and a pair of clogs, and I'd be good to go.
I ended up staying out for about an hour, roaming around my neighborhood looking for interesting subjects on which to test long exposure times. The results may not be spectacular, exactly, but they represent a stretch for me, which is good.
Today on the way back from dropping off the Beaner at sharecare, I found myself fantasizing about film. Maybe I'll buy that 35mm-modified Holga (I have no patience for film bags). Maybe I'll try some experiments with my old friend the Minolta x700 and the expired 400CN and Portra VC film I've got lying around, and worry about how to share the results later. I know I'll definitely be going out with the tripod again, that's for sure.
