Slinky the Reliable

I’m taking an introductory film photography class this term for a few reasons. One, I like the instructor; two, I want more darkroom time; three, I like seeing how “new” photographers deal with the concepts that are so familiar to me (depth of field, the exposure triangle, etc.). If I do go to art school, Introduction to Photography is likely a class I would teach. Getting a lot of early-level experience is really helpful to knowing where people trip up.¹

However, since I’m in the class (and taking it for credit) I, uh, actually need to do the work. I’m finding this more difficult than I expected, mainly because I’m trying to make pictures that meet the assignment that are also interesting pictures.

The current assignment is “Motion” — stop motion, slowed motion, panning… stuff that’s all pretty easy to accomplish if the weather is decent, and is a pain to do if you’re stuck inside. Like I have been for the past week.. and need to have a roll to develop tomorrow…

I was trying all sorts of things: bean pours (like a beer pour, but with beans), fake waterfalls, bouncing balls… and nothing was working. Either I wasn’t able to make an interesting composition or I didn’t have the right sort of light to get the effect I wanted. In the end, I turned to my old friend Slinky.

Slinky is a wonderful subject — it can move, it can be still, it can look super abstract, and often all in the same image. The pictures here are digital; I’m hoping I have similar (or better!) ones on film.²

I suppose I’ll find out this week! 😉