Motivation needed..

Bad Dreams (from the series: Bad Trip – Sad Trip)

…as I have always known, I do a little better with some motivation! My wife will probably agree (and maybe toooo quickly) that I do procrastate, push off something till a little later. Thus getting the tonality of the series Bad Trip – Sad Trip had to be done, but there were some newer images to work with, new CS3 features to learn and stay current with my blog reading. So I was updating the series images at a pace to post with this blog.

Then I received word of the Texas Photographic Society’s TPS 16 National Competition, entries due in three days. Yikes! Michelle Dunn Marsh jurors statement by  was really in line with my series. And if I was going to submitt 5 or more images from this series, then I needed to have them consistent in tonality. So my month of July project became a July 3rd project for 8 images. And so far, two image now have been re-created from the original RAW files using the CS3 black&white filer adjustment layers.

The memorial that I photographed above is frequently knocked down and a mess, just like you see it here. So as a part of my process, I tidy everything up and make it look nice and presentable, then photograph it. After thinking about my process, I realized two things. First, what I arranged may have put the things where I think they should be, not where those who have placed these symbols where they wanted them. Perhaps I was meddling or introducing my thoughts? Second, I am realizing the real image and possible message was the mess that this had become. This image better represents the on-going antropy, symbols of decay for life & the bodily remains and the memories of these two young women. This accident has become a really bad dream for their parents, families and friends.

Best regards, Doug