Yesterday I finished re-post-processing all the photos for my show at Wink. It was cool to go back and look at the original RAW files again (some from 2 years ago), and realize that now I actually know how to use the Photoshop RAW dialog box for good and not for evil. I’m excited to see the prints, because they are usually so much more beautiful and detailed than what I see on my monitor. (I use Adoramapix.com for printing because they will print 8×12″s and they use nice paper.) Some day when I am rich and famous, I will be able to print at whatever damn weird aspect ratio I want to, and pay for custom framing.
I was surprised by the things I saw in my photos while editing them for a show where I’m hoping to sell them. It felt different to produce something for someone else’s consumption, rather than my own collection. I just couldn’t see anyone wanting to put a photo of laundry on their wall. Actually, the reason I pulled that photo was because I suddenly noticed the utility lines everywhere. Usually I’m down with utility lines, but in this case… no. I could not see someone else loving the photo like I love it. I think I tune out the utility lines because I see them everywhere, maybe…
A few weeks ago I got a new point and shoot and I’m in love with it. Now I can compulsively capture every arrangement of objects in my surroundings whenever I want. I was using my crappy cell phone camera for this purpose, but it did not take very nice pictures. At all.
Here’s an example of the type of photos I like to take while walking around my neighborhood (taken with my point and shoot). This is an alley in the north part of the University District. It looks basically like every other alley here. I love it because it is comfortable and homey to me. I love alleys… their worn textures, tight spaces, strange perspective lines, little mounds of dirt and weeds… You can always find surprises in alleys. (Hopefully not a mugging.)
2 Comments
Congratulations on the show – that’s awesome!
Just a tip on selecting photos to show: Sometimes a certain photo will make the rest look better even though it itself won’t sell.
Imagine the towel or linen section of Target. You step into the aisle and all the colors make you like the towels immediately. When it’s time to choose one, there are some colors that are out of the question, but if Target didn’t display them, the whole presentation would be less attractive and you might not have been enticed into making a purchase.
Woah, that’s a really interesting point. I have never thought of that. It seems especially right if you think of a photo as one color in a color swatch…
Hmmm… hmm!
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