Had a ton of fun with this week's black and white photo. An old Dodge truck + light painting + a dark smelly barn + running around and tripping over lots of old junk = a spectacular way to spend a spare afternoon.
To sum it up though, I was really excited to see the results of this shoot. Because of the dark interior of the barn, I was able to set my shutter speed really high (10 seconds). And so with my camera mounted on a tripod, and with my shutter set for a timed release, I found myself - flash in hand, running/tripping around the scene adding bits of light here and there in an attempt to add more life to the image.
After repeating this action over a dozen times, I realized that I was missing something. What do you always associate in your mind with old barns and piles of junk that have been in a constant state of decay for the last two-and-a-half decades? Why dust of course! And so with great vigor, I quick grabbed up a pitchfork and started tossing hay/dust/cobwebs/all sorts of other nasty things into the air with the ultimate goal of adding a little atmosphere to the scene, thereby heightening the sense of antiquity (another way of describing deserted, decaying, dirty, old junk) for the viewer.
All in all I had a great time putting this photo together. It posed a great challenge for me, and hopefully conveys what I was trying to portray (that beauty can be found almost anywhere, even in an old dusty barn full of junk). Don't be afraid to look in the craziest places, because sometimes the most amazing subjects are hiding in places we would least expect.
