On Taking Assignments #41 - Three Shot Story

Jason Faucera August 19, 2015

Just like the Assignment instructs we were to shoot a three shot story. While not terrible successful, this series does tell the basics of the day.

Every year my city holds the Pumpkin Regatta where giant pumpkins by the dozen are brought in and turned into makeshift boats. My three shot story attempts to infer how the idea for this crazy ritual might have come to light.

Starting in the bottom left and working clockwise, you find a floating pumpkin, then a floating boat and pumpkin, and finally a floating pumpkin boat. While it isn't of the same caliber as Tolstoy's "War and Peace" (my plot is a bit lighter on both substance and character development), I think it achieves the idea of the Assignment well enough.

On Taking Assignments

I frequently listen to the On Taking Pictures (OTP) podcast, which I highly recommend to anyone looking for good conversation about creativity, especially as it related to photography. In January 2014 the hosts, Bill Wadman and Jeffery Saddoris, began a new segment of weekly assignments that they gave to listeners. Results of the assignments are posted on the OTP Google Plus group. I decided that I would commit myself to the assignments for a year without interruption, and that I would complete each one before the next assignment was announced on the show each Tuesday morning. My 'On Taking Assignments' blog posts are the culmination of my year-long focus on these assignments.

Ideas and Imagery #82

Jason Faucera August 19, 2015

When you are in a field of flowers, it can be really difficult to get past how beautiful they are and to resist taking 100 pictures that all look the same. In case you are wondering, I shot plenty of pretty flower shots as well, but of all of my shots from the day, this was my favorite.

This is a dahlia bud on the verge of changing colors and blossoming. You can see the beginnings of the red tips of a few petals, making them look like painted fingernails. What caught my eye were the beautiful leaves with their curved shape and their texture. I also thought the contrast of the bright sky really brought out the shape of the flower.

I like to challenge myself when I am in a situation where it is easy to just shoot what you have shot a hundred times before. I like to try and find at least one shot that isn't like anything else in my catalogue, and on this day I felt like I was able to do just that.

On Taking Assignments #40 - Empty Street

Jason Faucera August 19, 2015

There is no shortage of abandoned industrial area photos. It seems there is always transition in these places as technology and business changes faster than production can keep up.

This shot is one I had been looking for a reason to shoot for some time. I could never really figure out what it is that I wanted to frame. I was finally able to distill the area down to two elements, the stop sign and the railway.

This upside down stop sign is prominent in a few of my shots of the area, but the empty street assignment forced me to take the surroundings out and focus on the street. In other shots the sign is part of the larger groups of buildings and elements, getting lost in the clutter.

Sometime you need a little external influence to force you to get closer and simplify and in this case I liked the result.

On Taking Assignments

On Taking Assignments #39 - Transportation

Jason Faucera August 11, 2015

I didn't pre-visualize very many of the shots I took for this project, and all but one of those I did pre-visualize were shots that I set up. This was the only shot where an idea that came to mind when the assignment was given, actually ended up as my shot.

Transportation is a broad topic with many possible outcomes, but as I had already shot automobiles to satisfy previous assignments that were automobile related, I wanted to shoot something with a different interpretation. For whatever reason a kid in a wagon came to mind.

This shot was taken at an orchard where people were carting out apples by the wagonload. The wagons were available to anyone that needed one (what business wouldn't sell by the wagonload if they could?), and there were as many kids riding in the wagons as there were apples.

There's something about little red wagons that make kids want to ride in them. I remember my little Radio Flyer well, and I considered it my first car when I got it.

This boy was taking advantage of the good graces of his mother, who was willing to pull him on a hot day. Of course he was doing his part as a little boy, dragging his hand in the dirt along beside. When I saw them pulling away I snapped a few frames and my assignment was in the bag.

I love it when an idea becomes an image. It doesn't happen often, but it's great when it does.

On Taking Assignments

Ideas and Imagery #81

Jason Faucera August 8, 2015

I've sat in this spot on numerous occasions and just watched the river flow. Nothing quite sums up the geology of this section of the Columbia Plateau like the deep river canyons and steep rock slopes that give it its look and feel.

This is the Deschutes River flowing north toward the Columbia River, and the green of spring lives a short time before the summer dries out the landscape and bakes it to all shades of brown.

This scene speaks to time and processes that started before us and will remain long after us. I think that is why sitting here seems to make time slow down. I think that is what I miss most about the area.

When you are sitting and watching something that has had the same shape for thousands of years, you don't particularly feel the need to hurry. You allow yourself to just look and listen to the wind, which is the only sound you hear.

On Taking Assignments #38 - Independent Study

Jason Faucera August 8, 2015

On account of an inadvertent duplicate assignment, we were given free reign with an independent study. With this assignment I shot completely independent of a solid subject, most likely because shooting weeks of assignments on end can be a bit confining.

For 37 weeks prior to this assignment, there was a box that my shots had to fit into, at least loosely. I can't think of a box into which this shot would fit, but I find myself drawn to its disparate elements. Each one seems to come from a place independent from the rest, but as a whole it works.

I like the faded colors, the geometric shapes of the building, the Tetris shaped holes in the siding, the trailer with the bright green stripe that lines up with the car and leaves a gap for the tree to grow through. The car is the strongest element in the frame with its curves and color, and the tree in the foreground adds some life and depth to an otherwise flat scene.

I was happy with the chance to shoot unencumbered, and it was a perfectly timed break from the rigidity of the assignments.

On Taking Assignments

On Taking Assignments #37 - Still Life

Jason Faucera August 5, 2015

Prior to this assignment I had never attempted to shoot a still life image. It is an interesting and unfamiliar concept to me to stage inanimate objects to achieve a final product. It's not to say that I haven't ever staged a photo, but I am more attuned and interested in extracting images from what's around me.

This is why assignments can be a good thing. It can be really rewarding to step out of the familiar and try something you have never tried before. There were numerous instances where the assignments pushed me out of my comfort zone and into shots that I never would have taken otherwise.

The idea of this shot came on the last day of the assignment. I had no ideas coming to mind, and as you can see from other assignments, I try and shoot what's around me when ideas are in short supply. I am surrounded by toys, and for some reason this small plush rabbit seemed to stand out in the room as a strong and simple element that could stand as its own subject for a photo.

Once the rabbit idea occurred to me, the rest of the image came easily. I moved the table and tea set near a window and started building my scene. I was very happy with the results, and that this tea set/stuffed bunny worked well in the composition.

While I likely won't transition to shooting still life photos extensively, this assignment changed my opinion of still life photography as a foreign and unworthy topic. The subject matter here is engaging and reminds me of the simple joys a stuffed rabbit and toy tea set can bring if you are willing to stop for a moment and play with them.

On Taking Assignments

Ideas and Imagery #80

Jason Faucera July 31, 2015

This shot was taken on a drive this past spring along Highway 219 near St. Paul, Oregon. I was driving along and the emerald green moss on these hazelnut trees stood out through the fog like a beacon.

The gnarled branches look almost like hands emerging from the ground with twisted fingers, and the sheer number and regular spacing made them look like an army in rank and file.

I pulled off to the side of the road and shot a few different angles, but liked how this angle showed the spacing well and didn't allow you to see the end of the rows. It's almost like your eye is trapped in the scene and forced to move from tree to tree.

While I like a pretty shot as well as the next person, I do enjoy more ominous shots in equal measure. This shot definitely qualifies as the latter of the two.

On Taking Assignments #36 - Selfie

Jason Faucera July 31, 2015

This picture of me for the selfie assignment was taken at Mi Famiglia, an Oregon City restaurant last fall where the owner was gracious enough to allow me to display 13 photos on the wall.

Conveniently enough, the selfie assignment corresponded really nicely with setting up my display. My shot of the Oregon City elevator is hanging on the wall above my head.

Mi Famiglia has great wood fired pizza and does great business. Their location in downtown Oregon City is the perfect place for me to display my photos, and I think that the restaurant is pleased as well to have local art on the walls.

If you are in downtown Oregon City, stop by and have a pie. You won't regret it, and you will get to see what my photos look like on the wall.

On Taking Assignments

On Taking Assignments #35 - Angles

Jason Faucera July 28, 2015

Inspiration for the angles assignment was easy enough to find, and difficult to make interesting. I took at least 15 different shots that I thought were interesting, but I just didn't think others would feel the same.

In the end I settled on this shot of a fence along the siding of an apartment complex. I liked the sheer number of angles it created with its intersecting lines.

The gradient and lines of light also added some visual interest and helped separate the background from the foreground. Lastly the rolling fence top with its angles made the photo less static and added a good sense of movement, which is what caught my attention in the first place.

I liked the result of this photo and it was well received on the Google+ group.