Good day to you all. I hope this post finds you in good spirits. My last class of the day was cancelled, and in all honesty, I haven’t really known what to do with myself. I’m used to learning from 3-5 on Mondays, but instead, I’ve watched cartoons (like that’s anything new) and let myself be distracted by Yahoo! articles and such. Nothing like killing time before rehearsal. I’m also more than appalled by the instant hit my 21 Favorites post was amongst my readers. I am always so overwhelmed by the support I get every time I post for you all. It makes me feel accomplished. But enough about that. You’re here for a new Monochrome Monday! I shall oblige below:
My initial reaction to this photo: Ahahahaha! You got your umbrella stuck in a tree and now you can’t reach it!
Of course, this was completely planned, but you never would have known this had I not just told you. To me, this photo feels really busy. Why? The branches. And the fact that the sunlight is directed solely at Kylie, so the umbrella gets lost in the branches and shadows. But let’s back up a second.
This is another one of Kylie’s photos from my winter break photo shoot (man, how I miss those 3 weeks of no obligations). If you recall, she used this shoot as a creative outlet for her love of Tom Waits. Dressing like a hobo and cutting up umbrellas seems like a very viable use of one’s time, especially when it produces amazing results as this experience did. What I love so much about this experience was that most of it was Kylie’s idea. I didn’t have to work hard to come up with things for her to do. She did them naturally. This photo, like the others of her, was her idea.
Kylie is responsible for walking about and saying, “Oh look, here’s a tree. Let me throw my umbrella into its branches so it will get stuck. Rhonda, take a picture of me struggling to get my umbrella back. Make it look like I’m not tall enough to reach it, like I’m having a really hard time, you know, because I’m a drunk hobo and I have no clue what the heck I’m doing.” You just simply cannot get any better than that. Especially as a newcomer to one of my photo shoots.
What do I love about this photo? I love the struggle (that comes in the form of Jack Sparrow swag). I love the look of being disheveled, of having no idea what’s going on. The fact that it was a super sunny day and Kylie’s character has this torn umbrella that wouldn’t shield anyone from the (nonexistent) rain. These are Hobo Problems. And though I am still a bit bothered by the misdirection of light and items getting lost in shadows and the busyness of the branches, I still can’t help but to be thankful that I didn’t have to work too hard to get good photos on this day. It’s nice to get to work with people who are creative all on their own. And then to pair that creativity with my own…you get some rather interesting results to say the least.
I’ll keep it simple today. I’ve finally begun drafting another Pumped Up Kicks model reveal. It’s only been, you know, a month and a half since the actual photo shoot, but hey! I’m getting there. Besides, I’ve got to spread this stuff out. Winter tends to be the lull period in my photography until things pick back up in the spring. But worry not; I’ll keep finding things to post. I enjoy posting too much to let you guys down just because it’s finally feeling like winter outside and I have no time to go out and take pictures. Anyway. Have yourselves a merry little Monday!
McClish Photography Studios 