For week 8 I was determined to get outside to shoot- I'd been going a little stock crazy, and if I'm unable to shoot outside for prolonged periods of time, no one has a good time! I also find it refreshing, and somewhat inspiring. Everything somehow looks and feels more magical when outside. I'm sure there are still a million other concepts I could come up with to shoot inside, but my heart was pulling for something outside!
I had originally planned on doing some form of giant key concept last year, however things went askew and it eventually fell onto the back burner. So, it was the perfect idea to pick up for this week! I decided Friday night that the Key was my prop, and created the base with bits found around the gallery! The tube once held canvas, and the blades are scraps from a frame! My dear coworker Chad was kind enough to trim them down for me to the perfect lengths!
I have a (few) giant bags of flowers kicking around the house, and found the perfect vine to wrap around the length of the key, and I spent a few hours pooly hot gluing the tip to make it look magical. If I could figure out how to get less glue-hair-strand like bits when trying to do tiny detail work, I'll be content!
I had no idea what I was going to do for a base, and then I remembered the first 52 when I used the giant wind up key, and thought that would be perfect- and it would have!.. only I couldn't find it anywhere. Tim claims I gave it away, and while I half believe him, I still think I'd be silly to have let it go! But it was nowhere in sight so I had to get creative. After 3 hours of poking through every room in the house to find something I could make work, I stumbled upon this old broken light fixture under a workbench in the depths of the basement. The wires had been cut, and the bulb fixtures were so old they just fell apart, so the rest of the wire was cut away and then (with Drew's help) we attached it to the inside of the tube and secured it into place!
Two cans of rose gold/bronze spray paint later, we had the finished product!
The keyhole was created from a scrap piece of black foam core, and I happen to have bags of googly eyes and dragon eyes, so decided to attach one and see what would happen!
The air was quite crisp, and it was by no means warm (note I opted for a cape- that wasn't in the original plan ;) ), but the area I chose to shoot was well sheltered from the little breeze that was creeping around, so we could take our time just a little! Drew managed to tape the keyhole to the stone wall, and we were all set! Super shoutout to my darling Louisa for being my cape wrangler when it would try to keep my arms protected from the elements and I needed it not to <3
I've had people inquire to my creative process and the stories I tell. While shooting, I do indeed have my own versions of the tales my photos speak, but they're only for me! I truly love leaving the images completely open ended, to allow for the audience to get creative, which is why I super love the Flash Fiction Engen Books has been doing with a selection of my pieces! So, tell your own stories! You don't need me to tell you what's happening!