North Carolina

Just last post I said I was going to post more often, and already I have failed to post on a regular basis. But, I have a bit of work and news to share, so hopefully I will have quite a few posts in the next few days.

Two weeks ago, over Halloween weekend, I went camping with my boyfriend in North Carolina. We were in Pisgah National Forest, just short of an hour south of Asheville. We had planned on leaving early Friday, but of course ended up behind schedule and didn’t arrive at our campsite until dark. It was raining, windy, and cold; not ideal camping weather at all. We didn’t bring a tent with us since we had our hammocks to sleep in, and so we were both dreading what that night would be like. Even though it was getting late, we had to make dinner, so we quickly hung up a tarp between some trees and set the Jet Boil on the ground to get some water going to cook our dinner. While sitting in the car eating our dinner we decided it would be best to just sleep in the car that night, since it was so late and still raining. I slept only a couple of hours that night; it was one of the longest nights I have ever experienced. I remember laying there awake, thinking that it was never going to get light out, ha. When we woke up the car was all fogged up, but the light coming in was amazing. My lens was also fogging up so it made pictures difficult.

I didn’t shoot hardly any digital on our trip, and most of what I did shoot was double exposures for my current series. So unfortunately I don’t have a ton to share as of yet, but there will be more to come once I get the film developed. For now, here are some digital double exposures.

That night we drove to one of the many waterfalls in the area to get some long exposures. It was so dark in the forest that it was a little bit difficult to get a good image without having an exceptionally long exposure. This was around a 5 minute exposure, with light painting (with a flashlight) for over a minute.

We ended up sleeping in the hammock that night, and managed to stay surprisingly warm. I had on a crazy number of layers, and ended up getting hot in the night and needing to take a few off. Though they are not interesting images in and of themselves, here was our camp and our hammock situation.

Blurred

Last Thursday Joy Christiansen Erb came to my school to give a lecture on the Intimate Portrait. Her work influenced the series of self-portraits that I did a couple of summers ago, so I was very excited when I found out she was coming to give a workshop. There was a pretty good sized group there, and we discussed various things relating to portraits and photography for a while. We also did a writing exercise to come up with ideas for self-portraits, which I found very helpful. She then gave us an hour to take a self-portrait, but because I was helping other people (and because it turned out how I wanted it to very quickly) I ended up only taking 5 minutes or so on mine. For being such a spontaneous shot, I was really happy with how it turned out, and felt it conveyed what I wanted it to.

On a somewhat unrelated note, I am going to try to be better about posting here on a more regular basis. I am still producing work, but have been pretty busy and focused on other things. But I feel as though sharing my work here on my blog is important, so hopefully I will be able to step it up. Thank you to everyone who has stuck around lately!

85/365 – Strange Glow

I had an idea for variation of this shot for a while, but haven’t had a chance to get to it. So tonight I decided to just simplify it a bit for a trial run essentially.

75/365 – Fire

Another late (but at least before going to bed) post, because I was hanging out with friends. I can’t believe I only have one more day in Minnesota.

34/365 – Night Creeper

I had been wanting to do a night time self-portrait for quite a while now, and tonight I finally had a chance. This was shot at around 11:00pm, and was a 2 minute exposure. I went out and stood in the field and had my friend pop a handheld flash on me 5 or so times from about ten feet away. He then went back to behind the camera and popped the flash on the overall scene twice more.

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365/365 – El Fin!

The end! I honestly cannot believe that I have actually completed this project. When I started it I thought that I would for sure quit at some point, since I never seem to be able to finish any project I start. But, here I am, 100% done.

This is not at all the picture I originally had in my head, other than the words that I used, and the tinfoil. I wanted an evening shot, but my day got very busy and by the time I was free I had no light left. Luckily Elliot it amazing, and when I got frustrated because I didn’t know what to do with the letters in order to get something interesting, he pulled back the blinds, and got out his flashlights. So, just like last night, a long exposure, lit by two flashlights. And, I can’t decide if the actual tinfoil is in focus or not, so try to ignore that (even though it should be great for my last picture…).

This project has been such an…adventure. It consumed my life many days, and wore me out a lot. It pushed me, and tested my photography skills and creativity. I would like to say that I have improved, but honestly I am not sure, and I don’t know if I will be able to judge that myself. I will say that my ability to spot things to photograph has improved, and I have gotten a lot more comfortable taking pictures everywhere.

I have had a few people ask me what I will do now. Since I had put my 52 week project on the back burner during my 365, I am now going to focus on that, and return to doing a self-portrait once a week until I finish. It is going to be so strange to not take a picture every day I feel, since it is just habit now. But, I want to finish my 52 week project as it should be done, and not have any extra pressure besides that (and student teaching..). Once I finish that project, I may start-up another 365, we shall see. If I do start another 365 I will be setting up more rules for myself, such as specific assignments for each week, in order to push myself even more. But, I will tackle that when I get to it.

For now, thank you so much to all of you who have stuck around and encouraged me during this project. I so appreciate all of you!!

 

 

364/365 – Record Player

My original plan for a picture somewhat fell through tonight (mostly because of my laziness), and I had no clue, or really any desire to take a picture. Which frustrated me since it is the second to last day. I was sitting in my living room and my eye spotted the fantastic record player that my new roommate, Elizabeth, brought with her when she moved in. I had originally wanted to do some light painting with it, and had a very specific idea in my head, but due to various reasons that didn’t work out. But, this is still a long exposure, and is lit with just an LED flashlight.

One. More. Day.

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Cabin

I don’t know why I am just not getting around to posting this, it is from November after all. It is from the same night that I took the moon picture. Elliot’s dad built this cabin, it is such an incredibly great little place. I just had to turn my camera around and get a picture of it as well. I can’t remember exactly but I think it was close to a 6 minute exposure. The light from the windows is entirely candle light (we turned off the generator so that we didn’t have too much light polluting the pictures), and the rest of the light is just from the insanely bright moon that night.

353/365 – Grand Garage

Today was a perfect last day in Stillwater. Lunch with Kelley and Blair, then taking pictures downtown Stillwater with my good friend Alec, and drinking coffee and catching up with Alec and two other good friends, Hannah and Anders. It couldn’t have been a better night. And downtown Stillwater is beautiful.

Oh, and much much thanks to Alec for helping me find places to take pictures, and essentially acting as my creative director!!!

Now to go to bed so that I can get up and drive 13 hours back to Lexington.

Become a fan on Facebook at Abigail Thompson Photography. And be sure to check out the Etsy shop I opened with my sister.

338/365 – Snowy Nights

**Monday, December 13

We got more snow Sunday night and yesterday, and I am just in heaven (though I wish I could have been back in MN to get the 20 inches they did). I had left my camera at Elliot’s apartment yesterday, and so I knew my picture would have to be taken at night, and I immediately thought of the row of lights on a street near his apartment. So around midnight we bundled up and went on a little walk to the spot in mind and I took some pictures. Unfortunately we couldn’t stay out long because I had my art history paper to write, but I really love the few pictures I got.