Hunting Seasons

On the way to Redifer Commons, I heard the crunch of leaves.  The crunch of leaves, that for me, signal the true start of fall.  Other than the enjoyable two weeks of 60 degree perfect weather, autumn offers some great chances for photographers.  The green leaves that have made the trees their home for so many months are finally moving on, and changing color on their way down to the ground.  The hues found this time of year are ideal for instant photography, where color is so integral in conveying a message through a tiny piece of film.  Shooting outdoors and taking advantage of natural light, finding that perfect time of day for a shot, taking that breath of fresh air before squeezing the shutter.  Those are the moments that make photography worth doing.  Unfortunately, with each crunch, I'm reminded of the dwindling time I have for shooting film outdoors... at least the way I'm used to.

As I've mentioned in a previous post, film is finicky.  It doesn't like the extreme heat or the extreme cold which means winter is a death trap.  When it gets under 42 degrees Fahrenheit, say goodbye to proper development.  Film warps, turns blue, or ends up jammed in the camera.  Try wearing gloves and peeling apart some film with sticky pink developer getting everywhere.  Imagine shivering hands trying to shove a piece of film in a pocket to keep it warm enough to develop.  The struggle is real, but I'll work with it.  Expect some (lots) of pictures of snow.

In other news, my double exposure (see previous post)  taking skills are improving.  Look here:

Can you guess what I used?

I've tinted the picture slightly to make the fusion more obvious, but I started with a recycling bin.  Using the dark background of the bin and the contrasting white recycling symbol, I was able to isolate the symbol to stand out against the second exposure.  Maybe I've embraced my inner tree-hugger this week, or some blog has gotten to me, but I chose to capture one of the greatest recyclers at work—earth.  Those crunchy leaves have got to go somewhere and it's good to know they're in good hands.  You know, "Green2Go" only does so much.

As this last burst of summer comes to an end, I thought I'd try something indoors as well:

I'll have lots more time to shoot indoors in the coming weeks, but I've gotten a head start capturing this double exposure.  This time, a ceiling lamp dominates the center of the image, washing out most of the lockers that lay behind.  The mailboxes in the Simmons recreation room are abandoned but still hold some charm.  Look closely and you'll find mailbox number 106, representative of the date I shot this picture.  Oh, and that black dot in the middle of the photo is just the lens reacting to intense light—in this case, the flash.  I have yet to take a picture straight into the sun, but I assure you this camera lens handles the sun by blacking it out completely.  

Whether its evolving shooting style or bracing myself to face the colder weather—I've gotten to the point this year where I am embracing change.  It's going to get cold and snowy, but we might as well have fun with it.