Monday, April 21, 2014

The brain-storm behind the Tempest

I do photo work.  I do a LOT of photo work.  It's become somewhat of a passion of mine...even to the detriment of my wallet and/or credit rating on occasion as I upgrade cameras, lenses, memory cards, photo editing software...and the list marches on.

But, I'm not here to reminisce about my finances (at least, not today) - but to share with you the situation I lived through which started me down the path to this blog.

So...like I said - I do photo work.  A lot of photo work.  My favorite photo work is band stuff, because I have the courage to date a musician (he's got starving artist down to a 'T') and I'm the official photographer of his band.

This weekend - we decided we needed some fresh publicity shots for the boys of The Beltempest, and ended up at a little hole-in-the-wall beach on Lake Michigan.  Now, in Wisconsin, the beach is NOT the place to be in April, because when the weather man says 'Cooler by the Lake,' he REALLY means it.  At least we weren't assaulted by visions of flabby guys in Speedos or women who only THINK they've got a bikini body, but it was cold...not January cold (where it actually hurts to breathe) but cold enough to break out the sweaters and semi-winter jackets.

If you haven't already guessed, in Wisconsin, we have 'levels' of winter wear, ranging from "It's finally starting to get warm," through "it's not that bad if you keep moving" and finishing with "I think I just froze to the sidewalk."

We weren't the only ones on the beach, proving that we're not the only crazy people in the state, but among the minority.

The photo shoot went well, as the water was energetic enough to get some good wave movement, and we could still move in the temperature. instead of freezing to the beach.  The boys were keyed up, too, with the excitement of a day at the beach (we take our little pleasures where we can get them!)

The sky, however, didn't cooperate, being bright, clean, and sunny, without so much as a whisper of cloud in it.  Really!  Nothing visually exciting above the horizon at all!

All things can be corrected in Photoshop, however, is one of the mantras I live by, so this was still a good shoot.

So where does the teapot come in? 

My boyfriend lives with his Aunt to help her take care of the place.  She has been caught in the throes of Spring Cleaning (yes, we do experience a sort of ecstasy at the thought of clearing junk when the weather turns from 'I think I froze to the sidewalk' to 'HOLY CRAP!  It's warm enough to go out without zipping up my parka!!!') and one of the things she had set aside to donate to Goodwill was a little white ceramic teapot.  Nothing fancy or ornate - just plain white.  It was beautiful!

As the name of the band is The Beltempest, I had this wild idea - the Tempest (which, if Lake Michigan was cooperating) and the Teapot, right there in my hot little hands. 

I did get some good wave action shots, and I put the little teapot on the rock enclosure, snapping away.  If any of the boys thought I had a screw loose, they hid it well.  A brief bout with 'Shop later, and I had my first finished picture...which is the banner of this blog.

Now, as I went on to other projects to turn the band shots into something usable for promoting The Beltempest, I thought about that first shot.  What fun it would be to put together a multitude of shots featuring the little white teapot with tempestuous backgrounds?  The possibilities are almost endless, after all, because from the World English Dictionary:

tempest  (ˈtɛmpɪst)
n
1. literary chiefly  a violent wind or storm
2. a violent commotion, uproar, or disturbance
vb
3. poetic  ( tr ) to agitate or disturb violently
[C13: from Old French tempeste,  from Latin tempestās  storm, from tempus  time]
I can come up with a multitude of situations that could be denoted a Tempest.






























































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