Sunday, April 6, 2014

Double Exposure

Thank You!
Well, we've reached the end of our project. Thanks to all of you for your support and kind words. We had so much fun doing this blog and we've loved sharing it with you. Also, a huge shout out and thank you to our friend Sandi who interviewed us about our experience doing this year long project. She worked really hard putting it together--Sandi: we are so appreciative! 

Our last theme was to do each other's portraits, so here is our final photo post. Then read on for the fun interview! Thanks again everyone! -Cort and Dina




 And just for fun!

 



Double Exposure – EXPOSED!
Two Friends - Two Pictures - One year

I am blessed to call both of these magnificent artists my friends!  It makes me a little blue to see this project end but I thank you for the close up look at your extraordinary talent. I wish you happiness  on your new beginnings!! There is no hidden agenda to be found when I pick my favorite pics from Dina – your visual poetry was Merry and Bright and Cort there is no Getting Away from Change.
I am honored they asked me to put this together for them-Sandi


How did the blog start?  What was the inspiration?   Self Portrait   ß click links throughout!
Cort:     
The blog started when Dina suggested that I do another year-long photo-a-day project. I said SHE should a photo project. I would only do one if she does. But then I thought a collaborative project would be a nice change of pace for me, but that a photo every day was overly ambitious, so I suggested a weekly photo, and that we take turns suggesting themes.
Dina:   
I told Cort that I missed seeing his photos since his 365 project ended. He suggested I do my own project and then he came up with the brilliant idea of us both doing the 52. I know that my reaction was pure excitement. I loved the idea of cultivating my creativity and seeing how each of us would interpret the same theme each week.

Which weekly topic was your favorite?  
Dina:
My favorite topic is so hard to pick. It would probably be That was Then, This is Now. I really loved how they both turned out.
Cort:
22.  I let my friend Rachel suggest three themes, and I would pick my favorite. I had NO idea when I picked 22 what I would do, but I had so much fun with the execution.

Which was your least favorite?  
Cort:
Thanksgiving.  I prefer the more conceptual themes, and I didn't do anything on that holiday that was particularly photo-worthy. My photo is average at best.
Dina:
My least favorite was probably Detail . I picked the theme but in hindsight, I wish I would have taken a different photo.



What topic was the most challenging?  Did you ever have photo block?  ... like writers block where the topic was a challenge to the very end.
Dina:
I think Squared  was the most challenging. I didn’t want to just take a picture of a square.  I was having a difficult time coming up with something.  I kept singing “Baby you’re so square” and that inspired me to take a square picture of the record.  I thought it would be cool, but I was never sure if it worked, probably because the name of the song was hard to see.

Half the time I would just float through the week, hoping that something would jump out at me. I'd think over different ideas or just hope that something magical would happen.
Often, I had several ideas and just had to see how life, the weather, time, nature would cooperate. But sometimes I was taking the photo at the eleventh hour! Crowded , Zig Zag , Roughing-It and Fun  were last minute photos. And I even chose Fun! Out of all of these tricky ones, I loved the finished product of zig-zag the most.
Cort:
Most challenging (and photo block):  That was Then, This is Now. I struggled with showing the past AND the present in the same photo. I thought about going in severe different directions until I settled on showing MY past and present, but the problem is that most of my "past" is in Omaha, and my "present" is in Kansas City.


Was there a topic you wish you would have done?
Cort:
I wish we did more emotion-based themes. I really liked doing Loneliness
Dina:
The night sky…stars. That takes a lot of patience, and knowledge (and warm weather)…it would have been fun to push myself creatively that way!

Logistics - Do you have any stats on how many people visited your blog?  
Dina:
It looks like during the whole project, there were over 5000 page views. Several of those were our own views, but still, a fun number!
Cort:
I believe we averaged around 40 views a week, with peaks as high as the 90s.




When it was your turn to pick the weekly theme, did you already have an idea in your mind of what you wanted to do?

Cort:
When presented the topic, I would just let it percolate for awhile. I rarely decided right away what I wanted to shoot. Sometimes I didn't know until I saw something and realized in that moment it would be perfect for the theme.
Dina:
If something didn't pop into my head right away, I'd just let the theme percolate in my mind. If nothing was coming to me, I'd look up the definition to see if that would help. Until I made a decision on direction for the week, it was ALWAYS at the back of my mind. The theme 22 was one of those where I counted things all week trying to decide what to photograph. I love that this project brought photography to the front and center of everyday life.



When it was your turn to pick the weekly theme, did you already have an idea in your mind of what you wanted to do?

Dina:
Almost always. Sometimes I had several ideas and just waited to see what would pan out. Often, I would end up going another total direction. When I picked Sunshine , I knew I was going to photograph either flowers, or sunlight. At the end of the week, I was looking through all of my photos and they all just seemed blah. It hit me then to photograph the moon and I love how it turned out. Sometimes it's hard for me to think outside the box, so that was fun to do that and all at the last minute too.
Cort:
A couple times I would have in mind the kind of photo I wanted to take, and I would pick a theme that would allow for my concept. More often, I wanted to surprise myself, so I would try NOT to pre-conceptualize the photos by reverse engineering the theme.

What surprised you about the process/adventure you took together over the last 52 weeks?
Cort:
Boundaries can improve your photography! When I shot a photo every day for a year, I found myself struggling to find New things to shoot, especially towards the end of the project. With THIS project, I shot so many photos that would not have occurred to me without the limitation that the photo must fit a particular theme.
Dina:
First, we did all of this just over the phone and through email. It was fun to be in cahoots in the beginning when we were dreaming this up. I think I was surprised how important it became in my life, which I really appreciate because it helped me to really, really look at the world around me. I also really enjoyed the chance to grow creatively and to continue to learn my way around my camera. And I was glad to be doing this with not only a great photographer, but my friend as well.

Do you know how much I enjoyed this every week?  Why not continue?
Dina:
It's going to be hard not doing the blog.
Cort:
I'm so glad to hear we had an appreciative and admiring audience! And as much as I loved this project, all good things must come to an end. As an artist, you're always looking for a new paradigm to recharge your creative juices. I have no idea what my next creative venture will be, but I hope it's as challenging and rewarding as this one!
Describe your co-artist’s photography style throughout the blog?  
Cort:
It's always hard for me to describe a style by putting it into words. Also, our theme selections were so diverse, that I think it forced us out of a certain style, which for me was kind of the point. But I can tell from Dina's photos that family and connections are very important to her.
Dina:
I love Cort's photography, so it was fun to see his creative mind at work. I think Cort's style is clean and to the point but also layered at the same time. You see this beautiful and moving image and if you keep looking, he's taken the photo in such a way that you see something you missed the first time. I love that his style is clutter free, yet very multidimensional. He really has an eye for what works and it was so much fun to see how he would interpret each week's theme. I appreciated the technical aspect and hard work that went into Cort's Streaks photo.

Which week of your co-artist/photographer’s work blew you away?
Dina:
There are so many favorites of his photos, it's hard to choose; however, I will say that I loved the emotion and feeling that came through on his That was Then, This is Now - that one made my heart happy. 
Another week that I really enjoyed was his Double photo. I love how he managed to get the moon in the picture.
Cort's Loneliness photo of the tree was so beautiful, so haunting and so going to be hanging on my wall some day (Hint, Hint Cort!)
Cort:
My favorite photo of Dina's by far is Double I love how the dark clouds frame the cyclists, and they're almost in a halo of light. I also think that week was one of my stronger photos, so the two of us really hit it out the park that week!

On your perfect day of photography bliss - anything is possible (location, equipment, time travel..). What do you do?
Cort:
Trekking in New Zealand with my Canon 70D, a couple lenses, and my tripod. That's my dream destination, and I WILL get there someday.
Dina:
I love my camera and lenses but wouldn't mind a really serious wide angle for the day and for fun, I'd throw in a lens baby as well.

In the morning, I would like to be in New York photographing all iconic things that scream New York.

In the afternoon, I'd love to travel back in time and photograph my Mom and Dad as young adults. It would be fun to be there taking the photos that exist today of them as young-ins.

In the evening, I'd like to be in my niece's backyard taking photos of them as the sun set, during the golden hour!

How did photography become such a large part of your exceptionally talented lives?  
Dina:
My dad passed his love of photography onto me. He is such a talented photographer and I'm so glad that we have such great photographic memories of our childhood because of him. He also never hesitated to buy me Cameras , even if all I did was take photos of my stuffed animals. So his support and my love of capturing life for a moment in time have helped fan the flames of my obsession …errr…I mean, hobby!
Cort:
I fell in love with photography when I took a black & white film photography class in college. I bought my first digital SLR Camera in 2008, and went nuts after that.

What have you learned from this journey?
Cort:
From this journey, I've learned that it really helps my motivation to get out there and use my camera if I have an assignment, a deadline, and an audience with an expectation that they'll see a great photo every week!
Dina:
This journey has taught me that it's good to think outside the box, to really put some thought into what I am photographing, that light can make or break a photo and to always carry my camera with me!

Was there a week (or weeks) that just didn't come out like you planned, but may have come out better than expected?  
Dina:
A tie: The theme Change …I could not figure out what I wanted to do. I finally decided to just take a photo of change (coins) and thought, eh, this will be super boring. But I ended up really loving how the photo turned out and can totally see it hanging in a home office.

The second was Memories. I knew that I would be getting together with my extended Turco family and I envisioned a fun photo of all of us in front of my Nana and Nanu's house. We took several of those and while they were fun, they just didn't jump out at me. I couldn't get over how much grabbing the door handle brought everything back instantly. I snapped a photo of it just on a whim, but when I contemplated what photo I took that week that would work for Memories, that one was THE one. I'm so glad I took the photo.
Cort:
Silent Night did not turn out how I had planned. I wanted there to be snow on the ground, and the blogger application screwed up the colors, and I couldn't fix it. A huge disappointment.
The biggest pleasant surprise: Snow. It's not what I set out to shoot that day. I thought I would get a great wide shot of the icy creek by my house, but the simple, abstract forms of these twigs really spoke to me.


Was there a week where everything went according to plan and turned out exactly like you envisioned it?
Cort:
The one week when everything went according to plan, and I got the shot I envisioned, was Streaks. I had a detailed plan, which took forever to implement, and after some trial-and-error, I got exactly what I pictured in my head.
Dina:
Yes, the week of Brave . I chose the theme on Sunday and several ideas were in my head about photographing brave people I know. Then, that Monday, the Boston Marathon Bombing happened and so many people were impacted by this horrible tragedy. They lost their lives, their limbs, sense of peace. They, and the heroes of the day showed such bravery, I wanted to photograph a flag at half mast, which would be a small way to pay homage to all those involved. I immediately thought of the very large flag that flies in front of a mirrored office building in Old Mill business area. And I knew that I wanted to see blue skies and clouds reflected in the building. I stopped by in the morning before work and shot some photos, but the sun was on the wrong side of the building. I went back after work and the sun was shining, a crazy wind was blowing that made the flag fly and pushed white clouds across the sky. I couldn't believe that it was the perfect scene…exactly as I had hoped to photograph it.
 
What’s next?
Dina:
I loved the discipline and challenge of a photo project, so I’d love to dream up another one. 

I also want to keep my personal blog a little more updated. 

I want to photograph as much beauty as I can!

Cort:
Photoshop World! On Monday I leave for Atlanta for a photography/Photoshop conference. I get to learn a lot about photography and how to improve it through post-processing in Photoshop, which is an indispensable tool for me and many other photographers.
If you're talking about my next big project, I really want to go on another photography travel workshop. I went to North Carolina about 4 years ago for a workshop on waterfalls and fall color, and I learned a TON about nature photography, and came back with some of my most favorite photos that I've ever done.

            Cortney Christensen Photography