Today was a wonderfully rainy day in Phoenix. I had a great mountainbike ride out in the desert which was super fun. But pictures outside today? Maybe not so much - not till I have a good way to keep my gear dry. Instead, a little indoor shooting. Roots in water was my subject of choice.
Okay - I realize the material here lately has been reduced to only two subject matters - self portraits and photos of Shannon. I am going to switch that up here pretty soon and start in with some new projects. It's just so easy to fall into the trap of working with what is at arm's lenght distance. I am going to have leave the comfort zone of my little cocoon and start bringing some fresh new stuff here starting with my next post (let's see how long that takes).
I did some more experimenting tonight with my do-it-yourself strip lights. I really like the light they create and expect to try to push the limits of what is possible with them. In the meantime this is what I came up with.
Tonight I finally got around to building two do-it-yourself strip lights using the long boxes my light stands came in. I lined them with foil, cut a long rectangular hole out of front of each, lined the holes with 3 layers of wax paper to diffuse the light, shoved my flashes in the ends of the boxes, and voila - instant strip lights (okay not instant - more like an hour).
There is an overpass under which some pretty cool and colorful murals are painted - ya know the whole 'beautify-your-city' kind of stuff. Anyway, I have thought for a while that it would be a good spot to take photos using a mural as the backdrop. So I took Shannon down there, shoo'd away a few homeless ladies, and set up my lights. You can imagine the looks from motorists sitting at the red light at the end of the highway exit ramp seeing us out there with light stands, umbrellas, tripods, etc. instead of the usual folks with their hands out looking for some cash.
Liz and I had the good fortune to be invited to white trash themed New Years Eve party. Everyone was asked to dress up accordingly and it was great fun for all. Liz's getup was comprised of sweatpants, slippers, headband, and a shirt that said 'Bun in the Oven: Marlboro Kids - 100% More Nicotine'. I wore gym shorts over sweatpants, boots with no socks, an acidwash denim jacket, and a Jagermeister hat. Alost everyone dressed up and the outfits were all pretty outrageous and included lots of blue eyeshadow, side-ponies, half shirts, Jack Daniels shirts, short cut-offs, etc.
The title only works because Shannon is 8. If he wasn't, I would have had to do some mental gymnastics to title this one. ; - )
