Happy New Year, albeit somewhat belatedly. I hope you have a happy and healthy 2021.
Like most photographers, my photographic output dropped dramatically in 2020. In part this was due to a lack of photographic opportunities caused by Covid19 Lockdown measures but also due to adapting to home working and all the other adjustments we have all made to life in the past year.
I started on this photo a day for a year project on the first of January 2021 but it is certainly not a new years resolution to participate in such a project. I generally avoid new year resolutions, I think that they put a pressure on individuals that they just don’t need. I will endeavor take and post a new photograph everyday but I won’t feel too guilty if I miss a day or two along the way.
I will post my 365 project photographs on a daily basis to my flickr album: 2021 365 project | Flickr
If you want to see more of my photography you will find my regular flickr stream here: Alan Taylor | Flickr
On a weekly basis I will update this page with week’s photographs.
If you have any questions or comments please let me know and please subscribe to my blog to get regular updates on the project.
Day 001
I kicked off the project with a silhouette of a couple of trees and a couple tentatively walking on a slippery pathway in Fernbrae Meadows on the outskirts of Glasgow’s South Side.
I really wanted to capture the colour in the sky as we approached dusk and the couple happened to slide into view as I prepared to take the photograph. I thought that by quickly recomposing I could use them to balance out the trees in the left hand of the image.
Day 002
After a particularly chilly sub-zero January night, a sheet of ice had formed in a large container at the side of my house. There were interesting shaped formed around the edges and I tried a variety of angles to find an interesting shot. The converging verticals in the background are from my frost covered decking and the pale green running through the ice is defracted through the ice from the grass below.
Day 003
The sheet of ice which was the subject of my Day 2 photograph came in handy on Day 3. I set us the sheet of ice on my garden furniture and positioned a ¾ size plastic skull behind it. I shot the skull through the ice and experimented with off camera flash in a few positions until I got an image I was happy with.
Day 4
After three days of outdoor shoots, a home studio shoot seemed to be the order of the day. The sheet of ice from the previous garden shoots came into the kitchen and served as the backdrop from a product shot of a miniature bottle of Jack Daniels.
The shot was lit with an angle poise lamp, hence the warm colours in the highlights in the background ice.
Day 005
Day 5 was another home studio shot and did not turn out as first planned. I intended to write words with the unwound tape. This was partically successful but I had underestimated how long it would take for me to set the shot up so I reverted to the scene you see in the photograph.
The home studio set up was very simple; two pieces of black card as the background and an angle poise lamp for lighting.
Day 006
I am a huge fan of the rock band KISS and have a set of McFarlane Toys KISS figures. This home studio shot was composed by placing the action figure on a mirrored tile in front of my pc screen with a stage lighting image as the backdrop. Again the angle poise lamp was used for lighting.
Day 007
Back outdoors again and it is a cold misty day!
Headed out to a favourite spot on my lunch hour to look out for some deer or foxes in the mist. They were being smarter than me and obviously stayed indoors but I liked this view and the recession caused by the rear lighting this copse of trees.