Thursday, March 31, 2016

Last "3" photo of the month

The last “3” in the wretched “post one ‘3’ per day throughout March, the third month of the year” project. I thought this was going to be easy. Luckily for me, it wasn’t.

Luckily? Well, yeah. Because once I got going, I realized I didn’t want to post just old stuff; I wanted to add new images to the mix, or look at older images with new eyes, use newer skills, and just experiment and play. Nothing like a little challenge to get the photo mojo moving again.

And of the 31 photos I posted, 16 of them are either new or re-worked images. Not bad. I messed around with the cellphone camera, created a “3” made out of Scotch tape, pumped up the color on a khaki-colored building, found a “3” in a pinball machine, created a very cool “3” using polka-dotted tissue paper, made a super-colorful “3,” put a “3” behind bars, shot a scale in an antique shop, walked a boatyard to find a “3” atop a building, turned Queen Elizabeth purple, tried some Nik filters, took an out-of-focus picture of an image in a magazine and turned it into a cartoon-like shot, and hung out at an elevator on the third floor of a hotel.

Not a bad month.

What about this “3?” Well, when I work with papers and paint and glue, I put down brown kraft paper on my counter to protect it. I use the paper to remove paint from brayers, from paintbrushes, to look at ink colors, to scribble on, and to test out rubber stamps. Once the paper is pretty much covered, I photograph bits of it to keep in the computer, and then use the original paper in collages and to make envelopes.

What you’re seeing here is my brush-cleaning paper with a lot of white gesso on it, some rubber stamps, some scribbles, and a big ol’ “3.” The “3” was added digitally. It’s a photo of a rubber stamp that I just added to the mix as a focal point, more or less. The rest of the stuff was all on the paper.

There you have it. Thirty-one days of posting a picture of the number “3.” Could you do the same thing? (What? Are you INSANE? Who in their right mind would want to?) I don’t regret it. It pushed me in a variety of directions I otherwise probably wouldn’t have gone in. I made a “desperation collage” that gave me an idea for a project I’m working on, which is good.

And maybe I’ve possibly inspired one or two of you to give yourself an assignment and see if you can follow it for a month. It’ll drive you crazy, but it will definitely make you a better photographer!

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!