CHEAP CAMERA/10 SECOND TIMER SELF-PORTRAITURE

Monday, September 6, 2010

The Gentle Winds of Hurricane Earl


(Snapped on 9/03/10) 

By last Friday evening, I was feeling sorta guilty about the fact that I hadn't taken any new pictures for four...whole...days - especially since my kids are back in school now...and I have gobs of free time during the day to indulge myself. Thing was though, after a successful shoot at the local fire station on Monday, I felt that I'd ended on enough of a good note, to justify taking a short break from my self-portraits, so that I might (maybe? please?) stay on task creating this new photo blog. And let me just say, that it's no small feat for me to squelch my natural inclination to jump around from project to project (translation = Adult ADHD) and focus on any one of 'em for an uninterrupted period of time...

The weather on Friday had been a bit of a mixed bag...mostly grey though, with brief, intermittent periods during which the sun managed to somehow burn through the heavy low ceiling. I tried comforting myself by blaming another day without pics. - not on my still yet-to-be-unveiled photo blog, but instead - on conditions so unfavorable, that I probably wouldn't have taken any...even if I coulda. Nevertheless, utter discouragement for essentially having nothing to show for the last few days, had begun to override my tenuous positive outlook. I turned my face away from my Mac as I began processing my growing disgust with myself, and out of the window I was surprised to see that the sun had found, and was filtering through several tight chinks in the thick, rolling cloud cover - it's intense rays vividly contrasted against an otherwise deeply shaded group of trees in my yard. Simultaneously, a playful breeze blew in through the open backdoor, and scattered papers from my desk - all over the place. I jumped outta my chair to go outside and see what was up with this dramatic change in the weather, and immediately I knew that it would be practically irresponsible of me to not drop what I was doing and mastermind some way to snap photos amid that insanely gorgeous light and mischievous wind...and FAST!

Powerless to arrest or even slow down the descent of that fantastic evening sun, I knew that - in order to take advantage of it, I'd have to hurry the hell up...which ruled out the option of driving to a specific location. I settled on - hopping my across-the-street neighbor's fence, and hoofing it up to a high spot on her rolling cow pasture...yeah, that would work! There was no time to take a shower, which sucked since I hadn't shaved my armpits or legs since the last shoot (I'd just have to be mindful and not raise my arms over my head). I did have to do something about my hair though, and so I wet it under the faucet and slicked it back and in place using an absurd amount of gel and hairspray (pretty standard fare, anymore). While applying my usual, heavy-on-the-black-eyeliner "stage make-up" - I racked my brain to come up with what in the world I should wear...hmmm......Well, in order to catch a hold of those surprise winds "It needs to be something flowy", I thought as I raced upstairs to rummage through my closet. I chose a dress of lightweight fabric, with a nice full skirt and a long black sash. A minor hissy fit triggered by an uncooperative zipper, threatened to derail the entire process...but a few long, deep breaths were the solution to my agitation and just like that - I zipped my dress and was all set to go! All that was left was to grab my gear, and to get my ass out there before it was too late...

I took the first pic. that night, at 7:17...and the last one was snapped at 8:05...I never dreamed that the sun would afford me 48 whole minutes, to shoot this impromptu set of pics., made possible by gentle Earl and his generous contribution.........awesome...


I reckon I was pretty immersed in what I was doing, because it wasn't until I started packing up my things to head home - that I realized I was encircled by a herd of curious cattle....evidently they aren't really bothered by the color red...whaddya know...

1 comment:

  1. Isn't the feeling of the inexorable setting of the sun excruciatingly awful, especially when the light is good and you are not quite ready! I suddenly gain an extra 10 fingers, each of which conspires to frustrate the original 10.

    Lovely light, although I am not quite sure about your pose. Its still amazing that you manage to get anything I think. I love the way your dress has billowed in the wind.

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