Friday, November 30, 2007
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Polaroid Portraits
I’m very excited about this technique I’ve started to use for photographing children. It uses a 4x5 camera which is basically a lens and a film plane connected by lightproof bellows, you have to hide under a dark cloth to be able to focus it. It’s big, bulky, slow to use and requires the subject to be still! Not the best choice for photographing children but if you get it right, with the right subject the results are unbelievable. I shoot them on Polaroid 55, which gives an instant positive and negative. The negative will often have quirky, unpredictable “imperfections” which add to the edgy feel of the medium. A straight print can be made from the negative or it can be scanned, manipulated and put onto canvas.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Thursday, November 1, 2007
2007 Pumpkin Carving Contest
Out of Africa and Into First Place.
First time carvers Amanda & Steve brought their big game and captured top honors at this year’s Pumpkin Carving Contest with a magnificent multi-media piece.
It was a slasher movie of epic proportions with the pumpkins as the hapless victims. The tops were cut off and innards removed as more than 30 were re-invented by their sadistic carvers.
“Out of Africa’s” pipe cleaner mane and full audio roar, devoured the competition
but we had to halt the Thwaits’s enthusiasm before they started re-enacting the famous Streep/Redford hair-washing scene.
Deb & Rob Stone, the defending champions, used no less than five pumpkins to create “Aaaargh”, an effort that would have made Jack Sparrow proud. It deservedly took the craftsmanship title thanks to the unique flaying technique but was ultimately left in the lion’s tracks.
The Randall’s twisted and cynical last minute effort, “Amy Winehouse”, quite rightly lacked support from the junior voters but snorted up the bronze.
It wasn’t just on the judging slips that our children made their mark, they produced a number of beautifully carved pumpkins, further emphasizing a need for a “pumpkids” category next year. A special mention for Allison Fridkin, who’s “Coyote” finished eighth. An up and coming whittler to watch.
The ’04 winners, Leslie & Dave wooed the voters by the sheer size of “Joe” but this is the ATL not Texas, maybe Bubba would have worked better. Joe left with third place creatively and fourth overall.
But no one embraced the family spirit of the event more than Caiah’s parent’s; they teamed up to create the “Spider”, which spun its way to third in craftsmanship and fifth overall.
The candles have gone out, the pumpkins have shriveled and we are left with only the distant roar from the king of beasts. Thanks for playing, see you next year!
Official 2007 Pumpkin carving contest results:
1. “Out of Africa” 148 points
2. “Aaargh” 110
3. “Amy Winehouse” 94
4. “Joe” 69
5. “Spider” 47
6. “Dick Cheney Goes Hunting” 45
7. Richmond 36
8. “Coyote” 30
9. Posner 19
10. “Charlie Brown” 13
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