Project 365 still going — Fujimoto Potpourri

Even though I haven't posted about Project 365 in a while, it's still going on. I haven't been able to completely fill the past several weeks due to either Kellen or Tynor (or both) not being available to upload photos, but hopefully I'll be able to back-fill either later this month or early September.

In the meantime, I thought I'd feature some pictures I find notable for various reasons, along with stories behind some of them. There aren't as many from Tynor in this post since there are relatively few pictures from him (at least until we can connect and get the others off his camera). I'll do another "favorites" post in another few weeks, and I'm guessing Tynor will have more spotlighted pictures than Kellen or I do.

Bursting in Air, Kellen, 7/4/2009. Kellen shot several hundred pictures at Gas Works Park on July 4th. I think he did a great job with the fireworks, keeping the camera very steady. The small bursts at the bottom offer a good counterpoint, too.

Kohlrabi Man, Kellen, 7/8/2009. Kellen and Josie were over for dinner one night and we started chopping up kohlrabi. Josie decided to give one kohlrabi some hair with greens, eyes with green onions, and a mouth with a piece of kohlrabi. I like the low angle of the picture, and how you can see different stages of kohlrabi prep. But my favorite aspect is the reflection in the bowl, both of Kohlrabi Man and Kellen, who's distorted enough you can't really tell that's his reflection.

Floating, Kellen, 7/18/2009. Kellen happened upon this leaf hanging from a strand of silk which you can barely make out. The framing (including the trees) is nice, and the fact that everything else is blurry really draws attention to the leaf. It also has a Schindler's List thing going with the bright red against relatively muted colors in the background.

Invisible, Kellen, 7/31/2009. Kellen naturally took his camera with him to Portland when he went a couple weeks ago, and found this opportunity on the street. What pulls this image together for me is his choice of title, which turns a couple flip flops into the only clue that there's an invisible person standing there.

Gallop, Tynor, 7/7/2009. Tynor went on a camping trip across I-90 with his mom, younger brothers, and grandpa/grandma, meeting with his aunt's family (who started from Michigan). They saw some barrel racing (I presume they also saw other rodeo events, but I'm not sure) and he got this great panning shot. Tynor said that was the first time he had tried the technique, and he nailed it.

Freshly Fallen, Tynor, 7/19/2009. Tynor made a great choice with the point of view in this picture. The way the trunk implies a vanishing point draws your eye in, while the wood where the tree broke brings it back to the foreground.

Last Drag Before Boarding, Tynor, 7/22/2009. Tynor said he wanted to experiment with depth of field, and this was one of his attempts at having a foreground object in focus and the background blurry. How much blur ends up in the final shot depends on the size you're viewing, and things worked out great for this shot. I also like the way the concrete is at a slant. He said he didn't even think about the bus in the background when he took the photo, but I like its position and how it could become part of a story, which ended up being reflected in the title.

Walking the dog, Frank, 7/22/2009. There's a foot bridge going over Ravenna Park on the walk home which I scoped out several times to figure out how to get a picture of a tree from above. The conifers seemed like they would be visually interesting from the top, but there were none close enough to the bridge (let alone short enough) for the view I wanted, and the deciduous trees didn't seem as interesting from the top. The day I chose to take pictures here, I saw bikers and joggers going through and decided to try to get them in the shot. What a headache! They move quickly, and it's hard to be on the right side of the bridge at the right time. Fortunately, this couple's dog was examining the side of the trail and I was able to get into position for when they started walking again.

The ripening, Frank, 8/4/2009. Taking one picture every day can be approached in several ways. One is to go through your day, take pictures of things that strike you, and pick one at the end of the day. A more obsessive-compulsive method is to plan out potential pictures ahead of time, keeping a few ideas in your pocket if it's getting later in the day and you don't have a picture yet. I was trying to choose which in-the-pocket idea I was going to use while walking home, then my eyes caught sight of these…things. I have no idea what they are, but I really loved the bright colors and the wrapping around them, almost like scarves.

Hot off the grill, Frank, 8/8/2009. We had gotten corn in our weekly farmers market bag so I grilled it to have with dinner. While doing so, I started taking pictures of Japanese Maple seeds (the ones that look like little helicopters). I was having trouble getting them to be the central focus of the picture (it was hard to blur everything else since there were leaves in the same plane, no matter what angle I used), then it came time for me to take the corn off the grill. One of them looked perfect for a picture, with the charred kernels and silk. I especially liked how it looked on the serving plate, next to the cob with the full husk. That's the shot I ended up using for the day.

Tower of power, Frank, 8/11/2009. I walked across the University Bridge one day to South Passage Point Park, on the south side of the ship canal, and came up with several picture ideas. This particular day I chose the electrical tower, which doesn't have any barriers, allowing you to walk completely underneath it. I eventually stumbled onto this orientation, and the combination of order and chaos was what I was looking for. I lucked out that it was an overcast day, since I felt the few areas where you can see blue sky added interest to the picture. Those, along with the power lines being on a diagonal and the ladder, keep the shot from being completely symmetric.

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