Ice piles up like broken glass on the shores of Lake St. Clair, Michigan. Exposure time 75 seconds.
In Issue 104 of Lenswork magazine, Brooks Jensen’s comments for this issue really resonated with me. He goes into describing the process of doing any creative project, and how more often than not, things typically don’t work out the first time around, or the second, or maybe even the third. Once we are accepting of that, failure in any of these steps becomes a bit more tolerable if we keep reminding ourselves that it is expected and quite common. It reminded me of some thoughts I wrote about embracing failure a few years back.
It then seemed like a funny coincidence soon after I read this piece in Lenswork that I was listening to NPR, and heard a review of a reissue of Fleetwood Mac’s popular Rumours album in an expanded edition. Tom Moon played one of the early recordings of their popular song “The Chain” and it wasn’t so impressive to me (or him) except perhaps to the most die hard fans of Fleetwood Mac.
However, you could hear hints of the final song in this early version. Clearly it was a work still in progress, and the members of Fleetwood Mac certainly had their minds set on something better.
Tom Moon said:
Listening to a full disc of demos and outtakes can teach this much: Not every step in the creative process is intended for public consumption. Sometimes the well-known final versions are all you really need.
No doubt musicians, photographers, painters, and poets all go through something similar. The reveals of the steps that came before the final work may not be as impressive as the final product we have learned to love. We see this all the time in photography – the differences between a raw capture and a final image, the difference between images we made years ago to the photographs we make today. If anything, it certainly emphasizes it is messy all around, even for those that we sometimes place on pedestals.
About the photo in this post
This image is one of my very first I have made with my long exposure timer. Beyond the 30 second limit of the in camera meter is a new territory for me. Exposure time on this photo was 75 seconds, and it was quite windy out, helping to blur the clouds and waves in the water. I thought it was an interesting juxtaposition to the stationary ice. It is part of my 2013 goals to get more familiar with these types of exposures. So I consider it an “early work” that may or may not stand the test of time and the messy process of me learning what to do with it.
On an administrative note: I changed my mailing list and added a new signup box in various places throughout my site. I never made much use of my old mailing list for newsletters and such, but am contemplating trying to start something with that. So if you are so inclined, feel free to sign up for that. You can use the box on the sidebar or simply click here.
That photo works for me. Sometimes the early messes are better than the later work.
Absolutely – only time will tell! 🙂
Mark, I’ve always thought in my case, “Creativity is Accidental.” 😉
Those ice sheets are pretty amazing…I say that living in the south nowhere near a large body of water.
Ha, I hardly think so Earl. I do wonder if sheets this clear will return this year. It may have been a one time thing.
The contrast works beautifully to point up the brittleness of the rigid sheets against the dynamic sky and sea. Terrific drama.
“Creativity is messy.” Sums it up perfectly. I think many photographers are particularly susceptible to overlooking the need to tolerate, even embrace, failure. Harder still, probably, to continue improvising with a piece when it is “good enough”. It is awfully tempting to think of a print as fixed. It is far more tempting, as an actor, to allow changes into each performance. I would think the same would be true for musicians.
I signed up for your newsletter and look forward to the first issue. I know it will be an outstanding piece of work.
Thanks for the comments Anita. I like your use of the term “fixed” suggesting that all art is in motion – or a state of evolution.
I really love that image as an abstract with layers of different tones. I think it will stand the test of time because of all the years of effort you have already put in, even if it your long exposure efforts are new.
I think most artists only show what works and not the thousands that didn’t.
I hope so Howard. I really don’t have a good feel for long exposures yet. I kept stacking ND filters on top to get something over 30 seconds with a sufficient amount of blur to the sky and water. I think I would have liked more blur here, but I ran out of filters and low enough ISO!
I like the contrast between the ice & the waves and water – nicely done!
You’re building a great portfolio of ice shots!
– Jack
Thanks Jack. Simply the result of needing SOMETHING to shoot during winter. 🙂
I don’t think that musicians, actors, or photographers for that matter, would be very famous or popular if they should all of their work, including that ‘interim’ work on the way to the final product. I really like this image. The ice sheets are very interesting, in and of themselves.
I often wonder about that Paul, and that question is much of what made me think of this post. We all know actors that have been in pretty bad early movies. I went to a Picasso exhibit once that showed all of his “phases” and the very early works were not what I typically think of Picasso for. So it makes me think that above all, it is the perseverance to continue to build upon what you have already done.
This photo works for me on many levels. I also understand that you may come back to it at a later time and reprocess it. Musicians do this all the time in performances. Some seldom play their work exactly the same all the time and yet it remains their original piece. It’s an artistic licence and it’s a good practice to get into. It can keep your work fresh and vital.
Thanks Ken. I did a variety of things with this particular image before settling on this version for now. Like you stated, who knows if it will remain that way.