Reflection

It’s been a while.  A lot has happened since the last time I sat down for a blog entry.  My daughter Jordan was born for starters.  That miracle has taken up a lot of my time to say the least.  I didn’t think someone else could come along and effect me the way Julia did, but I was wrong.  I look at Jordan and feel everything I felt and still feel for Jules.  They are my girls, the most important people in my life.  With all of the commotion that comes along with having a newborn in the house, you would think that photography would have to take a back seat.  As much as I would have liked to have taken a break, I couldn’t.  Clients depend on me to follow through with projects regardless of the circumstances, understandably. I slowed down a bit, but some projects continued to motor.  For example, I ended up taking off for a whole issue at South Magazine.  I didn’t want to do this, but it was the easiest thing for me to set aside for a while.  My commercial projects got the most attention and everything else had to take a back seat for a few weeks.  I did find time however for a few editorial shoots, one of which really moved me.

 Richmond Hill Reflections wanted to profile some of the photographers that work with the magazine.  So myself along with two others were assigned a simple task.  Interpret the word “reflection” through photography.  That’s it.  We could do pretty much anything we wanted to as long as it was our true interpretation of the word reflection.  This was very appealing to me.  I could now develop an original idea, plan it, execute it, and deliver the results without any oversight.  It was also very daunting.  I wouldn’t have an art director or editor to lean on for help or guidance.

My idea came very fast.  Actually it began to form while I was learning of the assignment during the production meeting.  If I was to reflect back on a period in my life, a period of some significance, what or who would I see?  I couldn’t just look back at my whole life and form an image, I needed to find a slice that meant something to me.  A part of my life that contributed to who I am today.  That was more intriguing to me and allowed me to narrow the picture and focus.  After I decided what part I wanted to visualize, I need to figure out the how.  This was going to be a literal look back at myself.  I needed a model/subject to be “me”, I needed a location that spoke to this period in my past, and an action or gesture to communicate how I felt.  I had to move quick on these things because the ever present deadline was looming.  Using the powers of FaceBook and a network of local friends I secured a model.  I found a location nearby that worked well for what I wanted.  Scouted it.  Prepped it.  Scheduled the shoot and everything went off without a hitch.  I speak vaguely in regards to the logistics because I would rather let the images below do the talking.

The model is Dean Harrison, a great local 9 year old who had a blast helping me.  The location is the woods behind the playground in the main-street sub-division in Richmond Hill, GA.  The uniform is mine.  Dean did a fabulous job of conveying my boy hood imagination and competitiveness.  I was so pleased with this photograph and the overall response to it locally is very positive.  What makes me most happy is that this was born completely from my mind with no outside influences other than the assignment word.  I felt a real sense of satisfaction and completeness after finishing this project.  All of this is the essence of personal work and it is clear to me now that I do not do nearly enough of it.  This theme of boyhood adventure and imagination has cultivated a few more ideas in my brain that I can hopefully find time to explore.  Another great side note to this photo is that when developing the ideas and concept for this photo there were two external references I used as inspiration.  Two of the first conversations I had with others about the photo revealed that both of those references are evident and easily communicated.  Can you guess what they are?

For the strobists out there and anyone else keeping score the setup is pretty simple.  One large main light, a AB800 in a large 30×60 softbox camera right very close to Dean.  The softbox was actually bigger than him.  Two AB1600s rear camera left in the trees gelled warm.  Shot with the Nikon D700 and the 24-70mm f/2.8. 1/40sec. @ f/4 ISO 400. Post done in PS CS5.5.