The first question before I began to do
the Solo Photo Book Month, or SoFoBoMo, was what camera I was going
to use. It is a good question because I have several camera: 2 Holga
120N, Holga 135BC, Pentax K1000, Casio Ex-10 and I have access to
several more like the camera on my phone. To be sure, I spent several
minutes deciding which camera to use. If I had ample time and ample
money, I would use the Pentax. In fact of all the cameras I've ever
had, and there have been dozens over the years, the Pentax is my
favorite. And when you shoot on an old 35MM film camera nowadays,
people think you're crazy.
Coming up with nothing, I decided to
move on to the next question: what am I going to take pictures of?
First of all, this challenge took place between July and August, so
my time would be limited. I spent my summer days with my son, and the
evenings took me to work. If I've learned anything about taking
photos, it's best if done when alone.
I also thought about the end goal,
which was to have 35 pictures for the final project. 35 pictures may
not seem like a lot, but it's bigger than you'd think. I could take a
whole roll of 36 exposures, and just use those, but I have never had
a perfect roll of 36 perfect pictures. Also, I tend to study a
subject. I'll take ten pictures of one thing: a rusted paperbox, bowl
of lemons, etc.
Ultimately, I chose to take pictures of
an entire day. I chose this because I had been listening to The Who's
Blue Red and Grey. “I like
every minute of the day...” it seemed like a great concept and a
good place to start. After all, I knew my time would be limited. I've
also scoured my little town and all the surrounding towns with various
cameras over the last four years. And to be honest, I really find
where I live to be pretty ugly. There are not many layers of things
to see here. The days are bright white and the lack of plant life or
city makes for wide open vistas. Although there is a certain beauty
in this landscape, so I'm told, it doesn't translate well to images.
The
concept was to start with very muted colors early in the day, and
then move to very gaudy or lurid colors in the afternoon and then
move into grainier monotone at night. So, “Blue Red Grey” was
conceived.
And
with that I went with my point and shoot Casio Ex-10. This is a very
basic digital camera and it's over ten years old. It's small enough
that I would be able to keep it on my body at all times. It does well
enough at night. And being digital, I shot nearly 400 images for the
project.
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