Took some photos with my friend Chris last night. I think it is good to not only do fun crafty art, but also see things from another perspective, from behind the lens. I’ve got a fun project in the work for some of my photos, that I plan on sharing on here soon. I really love the idea of crafting with photos. It’s so much fun to compose an image, then make something tangible out of it.

Anyway, here’s some photos from our excursion. I plan on sharing once a week photos of this and that that I take and the stories behind them and where I was at and where my mind was when I took them. A little insight that’s swell. Hopefully you will find it inspiring? I hope so.

Roadblock

There was a street with a lot of construction near downtown Lex that was pretty vacant. It was also situated next to an old building with a lot of distressed brick and character. When I saw the spot and the way it was illuminated, I got Chris to pose. He did a few poses, including laying in the road…well, I wasn’t much of a lookout (he told me to tell him when a car was coming). Right in time, I told him, and turns out it was a cop car!! Ha ha…I guess he saw we had cameras and were only doing it in the name of art. Anyway, I like how this image turned out. It was originally orangy and a bit grainy, so I turned it into a black and white. Black and white always has a way of setting the mood. I think it ends up having an uneasy, old horror flick kinda vibe. Perhaps not knowing where to go or where to turn next? I also tilted it in the frame a bit so I think that adds to the tenseness.

Heart Attack

I was feeling a bit down, cause the series of photos I took before this weren’t exactly working out, so I guess when I took this I was kinda feeling it. I took this straight neon-like, but the insides of the business (it was a dry cleaner) were blah, so in a last ditch effort, I decided to twist my lens as I took the picture to create a zooming effect. I think I salvaged a blah photo and turned it into something interesting and I have to pat myself on the back for that one.

Proceed with Caution

Since it was dark when we took photos, I had to work with what little light I had, so I scoped out interestingly lit areas. One such place was the loading dock of an old factory. I really dug the yellow and black emergency stripe (I heart yellow and black together). Anyway, Chris was all about working the pose. He’s really good at posing and coming up with unique ideas, so I just snapped away at this lifeless position. I did darken around around the whole picture to further capture him as the focal point. I really like the blue windows as well. It makes you wonder what exactly is going on in there.

Bella Rose

A local clothing shop had mannequins with roses for heads (well, it actually makes sense, cause the store is called Bella Rose). They made for a nice presentation. I snapped a few, but was struck by this one the most. I really dig the blue/grey background tone next to the red and yellow. I don’t know if you would immediately recognize it as a mannequin, but the roses, jewels, and ruffles, definitely bring out a feminine vibe that make you have to stop and take a look.

Well, off to bed now.

Until we meet again tomorrow, Swellions.

Alexa

All content/photos copyright, © Alexa L. Westerfield, 2008