I posted a couple of the photos I took in the last week, which I developed this morning. I've been working on trying to make my compositions more compelling, to add something to the photo that is more than just something pretty, so you feel like you want to look at it for a while.
I've also been trying to take photos for my series that could stand alone. I like the graffiti series, but when I make contact sheets of the photos I take, I'm never quite sure that they stand up to scrutiny as solo pictures. As a series, they're quite interesting, but alone? Not really. I have dozens of photos of tags, now, and most of them are really not worth developing. Something is missing.
On the other hand, the passages series has really taken off. The best photos from this last roll were for that series, and they have a bit extra to them, something compelling. I think the very animal part of us that is seeking pathways helps with that. I especially like the serendipitous appearance of humans in one of my shots -- I waited for ten minutes for a clear view of this scene, and at the very moment I hit the shutter release, two people stepped out of the shadows into my shot.
It's also becoming clear to me that I need to spend some time shooting somewhere other than on campus or at home, because I've shot most of what I thought would shoot well in both places. Spending half an hour shooting on Laney College's campus was really freeing. Too bad there are so many people around, though. It makes those Cold War industrial emptiness shots hard to catch.
