Cameron Creative

2006-12-07T22:54:00.000-05:00

I've decided to move my blog to http://roncameron.vox.com/

Please visit me there if you'd like!

Analysis Paralysis

2006-10-27T22:31:00.000-04:00

Ugh! There's nothing like having a photo assignment and then getting mired down in analysis paralysis.

I signed up for the Tips From The Top Floor 72-hour Photo Challenge where other members give you a random word and then you have 72 hours to interpret that thematically in a photograph. Well, I thought I was doing pretty well with the assignments, having shot my take on "childish," "five," "game," and "friendly." I had the idea for the shot, did the photos and then voilà. Quick, no pressure, pretty good work (I think). A breeze.

But the wrench in the machine finally came: someone challenged me with "fast food." Easy, I thought. But then I started coming up with all sorts of ideas for a shoot. My initial thought was to have a friend dress up as the Grim Reaper, offering a hamburger with their skeletal hand. Then I thought maybe I'd shoot some garbage, then a hamburger, and do some collaging in Photoshop to make the burger look as if it were made of garbage. Then I had about a dozen ideas for takes on the idea of food that is fast...as in moving fast. Finally, I decided I'd shoot a burger with a long shadow going up a wall, but have the shadow be that of an obese person.

I can see all these shots in my head, but everytime I start to take the shot, I have more ideas! Then I get mired down in how actually to do the photo technically. Lighting, the right burger, backgrounds....jeez, you'd think I was working for some high powered ad agency. Sometimes being imaginative is frustrating.

I'd still like to do at least one of the shots, or maybe even all of them, but fact is, I've missed my 72-hour deadline by a couple of weeks, so part of me thinks to heck with it anyway. Even so, I think I'll get around to it one of these days.

Resurrection Jar

2006-10-08T01:22:00.000-04:00

Resurrection Jar
Originally uploaded by Mussakka.

This was one of those "nothing" photos I took while walking around an old graveyard just snapping pics. I was focused on a particular monument that I thought was really cool—a marble cross but carved to look like it was formed from two perpendicular logs—when I saw this stuck in the tree above. It was clearly placed there by someone, whether just as a joke or for a purpose, so I didn't move it. It seems that strange little quirks like this make for good photos and in my mind I had conjured up a whole backstory for the little jar and how it got in the tree and who placed it there, a tragic love story of sorts. Anyway, I took maybe two shots of the jar and then moved on to shooting other funerary items.

Months have passed and I still recall this photo and finally got around to processing it in a way I thought suited it. Something about the photo just speaks to me and touches on some sense of pathos that I think the dark sepia treatment helps bring out. I also like the littlest spark of light within the jar, suggesting it contains something more than empty air. Spirit? Memories? Hope? Forogotten love?

For me, the fact that this was in a huge oak tree on a massive low-lying branch covered in resurrection fern made it even more poignant. The fern looks withered and dead until it gets moisture, when it bursts open green and full of life. It's frequently found in oak trees, in cemeteries, so it too has this symbolic timbre that adds even more to my conjured up story.

So, suffice it to say that I love this photo and the thoughts it brings to my mind.

Artsy Fartsy

2006-08-13T10:58:00.000-04:00

I was playing around with macro photography in my mother's back yard. I'd been looking for bugs and other critters, mostly, when I came across a group of small calla lilies. I just loved their elegant simplicity, blushing ever-so-gently against their green leaves. In the early morning light, the flowers had a calm, ephemeral quality that I thought would make a fantastic photo. I snapped of a few shots, despite the puppy gnawing at my heels and trying to grab the neck strap of the camera for fun. Here's the result:

And here's the little devil that was causing all the trouble. Her name's Maggie.

Time Flies in the Heat

2006-08-02T00:07:00.000-04:00

Jeez, time sure flies when you're busy trying to keep cool. With the combination of 95 degree plus days and high humidity, any thoughts of doing photography outside have been cast to the steaming wind. Plus the fact that I've been absorbed in another project and my creative batteries are in serious need of a recharge.

But have no fear! I plan to get back into the swing of things and post more, heat or no heat. I did take a few shots inside my partner's ceramic studio this past weekend and once I've processed those, I'll post them.

Grandma's Backyard

2006-07-10T20:53:00.000-04:00

My grandmother's backyard is a special place. Things have changed over the years, but there's always been a long, narrow pond behind the house that spills over into the shallow expanse of Soccee Swamp. As kids, my aunt and I used to dig for worms, hunt tadpoles, and go on adventures in the swampy woods during the day. We rode bikes and pretended to be mountaineers on the dirt hill beside the pond, mounded up when the pond was first dug.

At night, we'd sit in the porch swing and listen as crickets abraded the night with their melodies, punctuated by the clicks and whirs of cicadas and the chirps and gurgles of frogs. Occasionally some unidentified animal would rustle in the bushes, causing us to run into the house wide-eyed and hearts pounding.

But the call of the yard drew us back again the next day, eager for more adventure.

Here's a current photo of the swamp behind my grandmother's.

And here's a backyard shot of a very photogenic dragonfly:

Independence Weekend

2006-07-08T09:15:00.000-04:00

Went home to South Carolina since it was Fourth of July weekend and I had some extra time off. Despite my best efforts to sleep in, I got up at the crack of dawn on Saturday and went out to take some photos. Proved to be more of a challenge than I expected, mainly due to my mother's new puppy...she wanted all the attention (the dog, not my mom). I did manage to get this shot of a daylily, though.

And here's a shot of Maggie:

Let's Start at the Beginning

2006-06-29T20:27:00.000-04:00

Clematis Seed Pods

This is the first real photo I took using the digital camera my partner and I share. Actually, it's his camera, but I end up using it the most.

Photography has always intrigued me. I'm a visual person by nature and I find the idea of not only capturing a moment, but transforming it to depict or communicate my vision of the world extremely appealing. For years I regarded it as a hobby too expensive to consider seriously, but with the advent of digital cameras and the ability to learn, experiment, and express without the costs inherent to traditional photography, a whole new world opened up.