Ordinary Objects
By Ryan Darcey
5 Aug 2008
I've spent a lot of time developing my style with a local photo realistic painter, Nick Flatt. We've been good friends since he moved to San Francisco and have worked together on a handful of projects. Our most recent series is called "Ordinary Objects". It's something that I started w/ a great deal of skepticism, and finished w/ a new level of respect for Nick's artistic vision.
When I went to shoot the objects, I thought, "This is terrible. What's Nick thinking?" I grabbed the bag Nick picked up from the hardware store, pulled some paper out of my computer printer, turned on my desk lamp and started shooting. I immediately had trouble getting the shot w/ my 50mm lens. I couldn't get in close enough to frame it right. So, I swapped it out for my zoom lens and kept moving.
When I got through all the objects and imported them into Lightroom, I noticed more problems. There was no consistency in the exposures. I was in a rush. A lot of the objects were out of focus. I had moved in too close. The paper I pulled from the printer had an off white color that muddied up my "canvas". I didn't come close to the quality I was shooting for. I closed my laptop and resigned to finish another day.
On the second go I got closer. I used paper from a sketch pad that had a cleaner tone and I changed out my desk lamp for a stronger spotlight. Then, soon after I started shooting I got a phone call from a friend letting me know that he was ready to meet me. I had planned on spending the next hour shooting and processing the photos, but now I only had 15 minutes to finish the shots and would have to process them after I returned home. I rushed through each object and ran out of the apartment.
When I returned to import the shots into Lightroom for the second time, I found myself just as disappointed as I was the first time around. I made all the same mistakes. My setup had improved but I finished the shoot outside the moment, distracted w/ finishing on time. It was late, and I was tired. No time to try again.
I returned tonight determined to get it right. I got home from work, phoned my family, finished some chores around the apartment and cleared my mind of all distractions from the day. By the time I turned on my music and setup the shoot, I already knew I had it. With a new focus, I shot and processed all the objects within half an hour.
Shooting "Ordinary Objects" highlighted a lot of my shortcomings as a photographer. It wasn't until I stripped my subject down to a matchbox that I realized I move too fast, get distracted too easily and have a lot to more to learn from Nick.
