A Worthwhile Pursuit - Rolls 119 & 120

During these last couple of days, I've struggled to begin writing this blog post; not only have I been busy with work and life, but I've had a hard time figuring out how to discuss the next two rolls that I shot during my "Black Flash" week last October. I set myself up for failure, I suppose, talking in my last post about how I was living and breathing photography, locked in and shooting beautiful photos at a steady pace. It is true that overall I took many great photos at that time, but those successes didn't come without a fair share of duds—for example, in these two rolls I'm talking about today, I only shot three photos that I consider to be really strong images. With that said, I still consider that day and those rolls a success, and not just because I did get a few nice photos. The act of photographing itself is a worthwhile pursuit to me, regardless of how many solid photos I make; I got to spend some time with my partner on a gorgeous fall day, and I learned some things that have continued to help me grow as an artist even now!

I love visiting new places and adding them to my mental map of a region, not unlike unlocking a new part of the map in a game like Skyrim or Assassin's Creed. The town of Stevensville is one such place that was a gap in my knowledge, despite its close proximity to Berrien Springs, where I had lived for seven years by that time. Malia and I decided to visit the town on a Sunday morning, looking for coffee and poking around side streets in the hopes of finding interesting sights. Walking along the railroad tracks that run parallel to the main street, I encountered a building that had several cool signs, the most compelling of which was a faded "Drink Nehi Beverages" sign on a corner of the garage. The composition that I chose plays this sign off of two other sets of text in the neighboring streets, the sign for Bert's Breakfast Corner and some lettering on a boat advertising a local charter. Focusing on signs as a subject is nothing new in the history of documentary photography (I recently encountered Walker Evans' excellent photos of signage at the beginning of his seminal American Photographs) but this photo has a particularly Eggleston vibe to me; perhaps it's the style of the Nehi Beverages sign that is reminiscent of the subjects he often chose in his shots of the the South. I don't remember if I consciously made that connection as I took this photo, but I always enjoy seeing the different ways my influences spill out as I photograph!

Stevensville, Michigan.

After exploring the town a bit further (not finding any coffee shops open by this time, disappointingly) we drove around somewhat aimlessly, letting ourselves be guided by the road and keeping our eyes open for other places to shoot. Soon I remembered a place to try out, and we drove over to Hess Lake in Baroda Township, a lake I'd photographed once before, in January 2022 during the dead of winter. When we arrived Malia was happy to discover lots of activity on Pokemon Go, and while she played I made my way out to the water, finishing the roll there and beginning another one. The day was perfect by this time—fuffy white clouds hanging over brightly colored trees, the lake mostly calm and reflecting the surroundings beautifully. Despite this, I only got one photo that I'm really happy with; the others are pretty but lack a strong composition that would elevate them from just "pretty" to "great." This serves as an important reminder to me that it's not always enough to simply show up, as I talked about in my last post. This may be an obvious point, but it's my intentionality as a photographer, bringing to bear my knowledge of composition, subject, and exposure—along with my particular vision—that allows me to make strong images, not just being in the right place at the right time. I feel blessed when that does happen, and I don't think the photos I took at Hess Lake that day are necessarily "bad." But they don't quite reach the goals I had in mind for them, and I'm alright with that; the day became not just a beautiful experience but also a teaching moment, showing me what I need to focus on as I create. In the photo that I do consider successful, I once again placed my subjects along a grid, letting lily pads take up about a quarter of the frame and utilizing negative space in the rest of the reflection to balance out the scene. This gives the photo a sense of order, strengthening it beyond what I did with the other shots here while still conveying the beauty of that location.

Hess Lake, Baroda Township, Michigan.

By this time Malia had joined me again, and we took a stroll around the adjacent park, taking in the fresh air and enjoying each other's company. Here I found my last great photo for the day—a set of three trees clustered together, each with a different color of leaves. A straight-on composition made the most sense here, as everything from the trees to the fence to the path run in parallel across the frame. The foreground of neat, trimmed grass and evenly scattered leaves helps accentuate the different shapes and colors of the trees, forming an pleasingly simple foundation upon which I placed my subjects. Here I was presented, as I was at the lake, with beauty in its raw form, ready to be guided towards a particular purpose, and this time I met the challenge, even if it was an easy one (there are only so many ways I can think to compose this scene, although individual verticals of each of the trees might have been nice). Either way I am happy for that moment and for the whole day, even the times that I didn't get the photos I wanted; the worthwhile pursuit is to meet those challenges head-on, unafraid to try things out and fail if need be. I still came away from that day empowered, still felt the drive to create more and more, and so I have no qualms about stating confidently that it was a great experience and another good piece of that whirlwind of a week!

Baroda Township Park, Baroda Township, Michigan.