last crow composition

i was heads down working on my book all day, and when i finally lifted my head it was 7 pm. so another crow feather composition it is. this is my last one by the way. i have to say, i am rather liking creating in this rushed state. i do not think of myself as someone who is burdened with imposter syndrome, or even a particularly bossy inner critic*. but, clearly i have some of those (or something similar) because i am finding these rushed compositions rather freeing. the expectations are so low–my only goal is to not break the daily chain—even making art is off the table. i am finding it really interesting. i have 10 more days of this. i am hoping some more insights will arise. deliberate, experimental, playful, methodical. rushed. considered. intuitive. intellectual. these are all the words swirling in my head as i type. but alas…it is time to go start dinner.

*although i have been know to say to my husband from time to time “i’m a hack”. he is wise enough to ignore me. and the sentiment is usually fleeting.

crow feathers

when in doubt…

well, you all know by now my love of circles. so, of course i had to try it out with the crow feathers. it’s not my favorite composition, but i do love the way the shaft tips make it feel as though the image is glowing a bit.

(by the way, 10 days until i turn in my manuscript. not getting out much. spending all day on the computer. not the preferred habitat for this particular animal. but it’s temporary. and it’s late winter. which makes it easier.)

crow feathers

we interrupt this broadcast…

okay, so my week of dashed off compositions didn’t really work out like i planned. lol. yesterday, an art consultancy agency emailed about one of my images. i work with several such agencies, but this was a new one. and i really like working with agencies like this, so i wanted to do right by them. but they asked about one of my older images, and then explained that they wanted to print the image at 50 inches. uh oh! the image wasn’t high enough resolution for printing at 50 inches. so, instead of saying “sorry…please keep me in mind for future projects”, i made a new composition, photographed it, edited it, and sent it off to them. all in one hour. even i was impressed. anyway, this is the image i made yesterday. there really is something about being on a tight timeline that totally shuts down all that second guessing, and seems to loosen up the creative flow. i rather like this composition even though—or maybe precisely because—it was dashed off so quickly.

CaaW!-CaaW!-CaaW!

composition no. 2. perhaps my favorite.  if you look carefully, you can see that one feather is face-up, and the other is face-down (more matte). the two sides absorbed the rain differently. i prefer my feather phot0s when the barbs have pulled apart a little–it’s like a gap in one’s front teeth–it adds personality (there’s all together too much teeth straightening today, don’t you agree?)

crow (wing) feathers  (Corvus brachyrhynchos)

a slight change of plans

not even one day after announcing that i would be dashing off my STILL photos for a couple weeks while i finalize my manuscript for my editor, my husband wandered in from his morning walk with a pile of crow feathers (still wet with rain) that i simply had to change my well-intended plans for. so, instead of making critical progress on my manuscript, i spent the better part of the day making compositions with crow feathers–four compositions to be exact. what a delight to photograph black subjects on a white background! it doesn’t get much easier than that. although those pale shaft tips are a little tricky to preserve while getting the right exposure on the dark feathers. i digress. crow feathers it will be for a couple days. i am still a little giddy about these feathers. so beautiful. (although, i am sad for the bird who lost his flight with a raptor yesterday. i think i heard the ruckus while i was sitting in my office yesterday afternoon.)

crow wing feathers (probably from the same bird)