A tale of two exposures.
Sometimes bad is good. Happy accidents. Kismet.
All that.
I brought a few cameras with me that morning. The location is an intersection of highways just north of Austin, TX called 35/45.
I set-up in a field right next to a car wash, and I was able to safely park in their lot. I asked if it was okay. No problem.
The structure is huge and this vantage point is quite something.
I used one of the wide-and-long shadows cast by the early morning sun to set up the tripod.
I used one of the wide-and-long shadows cast by the early morning sun to set up the tripod. Getting there early worked pretty well.
I had with me a pair of pinhole cameras that had some old film in ’em. My GX8. And I also brought along the Fujifilm Instax Mini 9.
I’ve posted before about the pinhole experience.
I made four instant shots in-between setting up and shooting with the pinholes.
I was quite happy with one particular instant and posted it on my film IG, @dogbonesoup
The other three didn’t seem to capture the story, how I feel, or what I liked about this location and vantage point.
This was back in July 2019. Over a year ago.
This past week I’ve looked back again at the instants from that morning – they’re in a stack of various sized instant shots on my desk I need to organize and store – and what caught my eye this time around was a different shot that was a little overexposed and somewhat blown out.
My position in relation to the sun had changed, and when I moved I lost the shade from the structure.
My position in relation to the sun had changed, and when I moved I lost the shade from the structure. That also means that a couple of these instants were overexposed because I didn’t change the settings on the camera accordingly.
Anyway, today I scanned the two that illustrated the point I’m trying make, here…
Looking at the two scans side-by-side, I am drawn to the dream-like feel of the overexposed shot.
The good exposure, while nicely composed, looks a little tame. Staid. A well documented structure. Very little emotion.
In contrast, the overexposed instant has so much more going for it. I holds a story. Feeling. Nostalgia. Mystery. A sense of wanderlust.
Emotion.
I love that this shot has a toy-camera vibe to it. I guess stepping out of that shadow proved to be a good thing.
Russ Morris. Slightly Obsessed With Photography since 1964. 