From: faux_eonix	Date: February 21st, 2007 03:33 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Intimidating.
You are.

The challenge as well.

	From: komos	Date: February 21st, 2007 03:40 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Fear my "Cigarette in Snowbank."

	From: faux_eonix	Date: February 21st, 2007 03:45 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Actually, I really like that one.

	From: komos	Date: February 21st, 2007 03:46 pm (UTC)		(Link)

If only it had lipstick on it!

	From: faux_eonix	Date: February 21st, 2007 03:49 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Nah. Too cliché.

	From: komos	Date: February 21st, 2007 03:50 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Precisely.

	From: faux_eonix	Date: February 21st, 2007 03:53 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Are we supposed to comment on subject, form, composition, color?

Because there are pieces in each that are really interesting.

	From: komos	Date: February 21st, 2007 03:58 pm (UTC)		(Link)

No "supposed to." Just comment as you see fit.

	From: inahandbasket	Date: February 21st, 2007 03:43 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Awesome exercise... I'ma try it too.

	From: komos	Date: February 21st, 2007 03:46 pm (UTC)		(Link)

I was thinking of firing up an lj community for this.

...and then I remembered that it has been a very long time indeed since I posted to 7shots.

...and then I remembered that with this exercise, I'd probably come up with at least a handful of images that I could post to 7shots. Maybe ghost_signs and bathtub_madonna too.

	From: inahandbasket	Date: February 21st, 2007 03:48 pm (UTC)		(Link)

yes indeed.
I'm keep saying I'm too busy to shoot, but it's just not true.

I'm too lazy to carry around my SLR, and my cell phone takes crap photos. Less lazy = more photos. Must toss it in bag every day...

And I couldn't find my 2gb CF card on monday, not sure what happened to it and now I'm in nyc. *grump*

	From: komos	Date: February 21st, 2007 03:53 pm (UTC)		(Link)

More and more I'm starting to feel like I've outgrown my camera, which is weird because I don't know how to use half of its functions. My issues are big ones, though - I want to be able to go to manual focus, and I feel like I need more megapixels. The 4.0 augmented point and shoot is starting to feel limiting.

	From: watchamacallit	Date: February 21st, 2007 03:44 pm (UTC)		(Link)

20 per day? That's quite a feat. The first set are certainly a good start!

	From: komos	Date: February 21st, 2007 03:48 pm (UTC)		(Link)

I have issues with a number of these. In fact, under normal circumstances, they wouldn't see the light of day. On the other hand, there are a couple that were pleasant surprises.

Just have to see how it goes.

	From: watchamacallit	Date: February 21st, 2007 03:54 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Yeah, well, all of them are better than anything I would shoot out there! I'm hopelessly bad at photography.

	From: komos	Date: February 21st, 2007 03:58 pm (UTC)		(Link)

I happen to love your sock shots. :P

	From: plumtreeblossom	Date: February 21st, 2007 03:45 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Love the gumballs!

	From: komos	Date: February 21st, 2007 03:50 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Thanks. I wish I had more megapixels for them. The larger versions are hopelessly grainy, though I might be able to get better resolution if I can catch them in natural light. Maybe grab a polarizing filter while I'm at it.

	From: missmelysse	Date: February 21st, 2007 03:50 pm (UTC)		(Link)

I like the idea of this exercise. Maybe after 40 days of 20 shots I won't be so suckful at using my camera.

	From: komos	Date: February 21st, 2007 03:57 pm (UTC)		(Link)

There's an anecdote from Art & Fear (I still want to know where that come from, btw) that talked about an experiment that was conducted in a ceramics class. Half of the class was told that their grade would be based on the quality of 3 pieces that they'd have to present at the end of the semester. The other half was told that they would be graded on 30 finished pieces and how close they came to that number.

Can you guess which half of the class produced better work?

	From: missmelysse	Date: February 21st, 2007 04:08 pm (UTC)		(Link)

While I suspect the question is meant rhetorically, my instinctive answer is the "quantity" group - and not just because it would prove the point.

I just looked up the book, btw, and I think it's something I need to read. The title alone is compelling.

Thanks!

	From: komos	Date: February 22nd, 2007 01:14 am (UTC)		(Link)

Curiously, with practice came better technique. ^^

Glad to help. Check out laughingwoman's recs below, too.

	From: cinemama	Date: February 21st, 2007 04:06 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Great, great idea. We all need constraints to make us more free. (Well, you know what I mean by that) Now you'll be forced to see just how creative you actually are!

	From: komos	Date: February 22nd, 2007 01:15 am (UTC)		(Link)

I liked it a lot when I saw it. Scares the hell out of me, though.

	From: cinemama	Date: February 22nd, 2007 02:08 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Good. That means its something you care about.

	From: sassyinkpen	Date: February 21st, 2007 04:24 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Wow...That's some impressive stuff there, M'dear. The top six are wonderful - possibly because of the combination of them together like that, but I also really like each one on it's own. I also like the bok choy or whatever that is. You have a really nice eye for things like that.

I may just try this challenge myself - I had a LOT of fun playing camaras in England and come up with some stuff I was really pleased with. I wonder if I could come up with 20 shots a day that aren't of the inside of my shop....

	From: komos	Date: February 22nd, 2007 01:17 am (UTC)		(Link)

Thanks much.^^

Please do. I think with a handful of people joining in, it will help keep me honest. I'll probably need to encouragement around day 14 or so.

	From: laughingwoman	Date: February 21st, 2007 04:25 pm (UTC)		(Link)

this is the sort of thing i need to to kick myself into gear. i'll be your art-support-group partner if you'll be mine...

the ones above that resonate with me? first selection: broken lock, cement brick in snow, half of dilapidated stairwell with mailbox.

and art and fear is a great book. other great ones that it occurs to me to recommend to you (if you've not already read them) for some reason is: i send you this cadmium red by john berger and john christie, another way of telling by john berger and jean mohr (berger writes compellingly and in a particularly nuanced way about photography and color; and these two books represent the best of what i find about collaborative writing), and leonard koren's book on wabi-sabi, a book i've given multiple times over to friends i think think about these things without knowing they are.

thank you for your industry in beginning this! i can't wait to see more.

	From: komos	Date: February 22nd, 2007 01:59 am (UTC)		(Link)

You don't need to ask twice. We'll see where this takes us.

Thanks for the recs.

	From: technocowboy	Date: February 21st, 2007 04:45 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Hm. I might have to give this a try. Maybe gear myself up for a March-ful of photos, just to see what I come up with. I guarantee nothing, not arty, not well composed, not The Next Ansel Adams. Just snapshots of my life. And maybe that'll give me a reason to use my Flickr account and get used to using it before we go on The Move. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

And of them all, I really like 1-12. The hard artificial glowing green lines next to the dark organic softness of the tree and night give a very cool contrast.

	From: komos	Date: February 22nd, 2007 02:09 am (UTC)		(Link)

No guarantees necessary. This is all about doing the work and getting past caring about being the next Ansel Adams. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do. ^^

Thanks. I'm pretty sure I'm going to give that another try soon, just to clean up the angles a bit. I really liked the effect, and was surprised that it came as well as it did.

	From: starboogie	Date: February 21st, 2007 05:21 pm (UTC)		(Link)

I think I could take two hundred pictures every day for a year and not compile twenty as pleasing as yours.

	From: komos	Date: February 22nd, 2007 02:17 am (UTC)		(Link)

I still think I get very lucky, but thank you.

	From: randomlikejazz	Date: February 21st, 2007 10:56 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Those first six shots work really well together. And I love the green with the skytree outside:)

I think I might do the twenty shots thing, don't know whether I'll post them though. I'm not too happy with anything I'm doing at the moment:p

	From: komos	Date: February 22nd, 2007 03:17 pm (UTC)		(Link)

^_^

Please do, and use the exercise in a way that works for you. I like the sense of fun that you bring to most all of your images. I'd love to see more soon, but certainly understand the frustration that comes.

Your question to InfoTube hasn't been forgotten. I just haven't found what I'm looking for yet. Soon, I hope.

	From: lastcallforcorn	Date: February 21st, 2007 11:37 pm (UTC)		(Link)

what a fantastic exercise.

	From: komos	Date: February 22nd, 2007 03:17 pm (UTC)		(Link)

It feels right, and more importantly, it feels right now.

	From: schizohedron	Date: February 22nd, 2007 02:16 am (UTC)		(Link)
	You are the k-i-n-g KING!!

I was humbled and gratified to see my quote and your opening day of photos! 20 x 20 is an excellent beginning and I know you'll produce wonders. I like the clean power of that title, too. "The 400." Righteous.

The bok choy is quite beautiful and looks delicious. I'm also in love with the contrast between the rusted hinge and latch and the clean pin holding it shut.

1-19 (OPEN) will no doubt get a few hotlinks to it from blogs and such. I like the slightly receding angle you gave the sign.

1-20 (devi) suggests the prow of a ship. I'm trying to figure to what she might be attached. No pun intended, but she has strong avatar potential.

You have a knack for evocative subjects that make one ask how the scene came to be. Who left the cigarette? How did the lone leaf survive into winter? What force bent the sign at Winthrop and George? They made me want to write, which, for my part, is the creative exercise to which I really need to get back to in force. (Hmmmm . . . 500 words/day for a month?)

Kudos to you for starting this. I hope this helps foster the return of your "seeing" as you described in the parent post, as I for one have greatly enjoyed your photos on this journal. I'll be here to cheer you on!!

	From: komos	Date: February 22nd, 2007 03:29 pm (UTC)		(Link)
	Re: You are the k-i-n-g KING!!

It's a truly fantastic idea, and there was just no way that I could let it sit without doing anything.

I could spend a day shooting produce and vendors in Chinatown. It's one of the few places in the city that still feels personal and vibrant. Two blocks in any direction and you're back to people in suits walking past corporate architecture. It's still a neighborhood down there.

"OPEN" was a desperation shot. I was almost home, it was dark, and I needed a few more shots to close out the day. I can't remember the last time I shot neon, so I clicked the flash off, messed with the aperture a bit, and hoped for the best. I'm happy it came so vibrant.

The Devi hangs in my room, ostensibly chasing evil spirits away. She has a pair of lovely wings, and tends to swing wildly at moments where everything else is entirely still.

Mutual inspiration? I can't tell you how happy I am hearing that anything I've done has inspired someone else's creativity. Thanks for saying, and thanks for kicking this off. It's quite brilliant really.