Every summer during the warm months when the Chester County Camera Club suspends regular meetings, members are encouraged to keep up their photographic pursuits through a summer challenge. A theme is decided upon, and then a list of topics to illustrate are assigned – sort of like a scavenger hunt. But the real challenge is to visualize the shot we want, then figure out how to create it.
As an example, a few years ago, the theme was “Adjectives”. One of the assignments was “Dangerous” and here are our interpretations. Jim set up a selfie in the spirit of Sam Spade, with dramatic shadows cast by lighting up a venetian blind, and adding a toy gun prop. Betsy had our daughter Alex pose with an axe to conjure up the spirit of Lizzie Borden – you remember her? Lizzie Borden, took an axe, and gave her mother 40 whacks…”
This year, the theme was timely – “ISOlation” , to recognize the unwanted effects of the shutdown due to the pandemic, with a shout out to a well-used camera setting known as ISO. As opposed to set objects to photograph, this was more about capturing an emotion, or a concept – such as “This too shall pass” – the ten assigned topics were much harder than usual.
After sitting around a campfire and discussing the nebulous assigned topics, fortified with some alcoholic motivation, we embraced the concept and added our own twist to the challenge… Betsy would be featured in all Jim’s images, and Jim would be in Betsy’s. We could have the other one dress how we asked them to, pose how we asked them to, all within reason of course! So the wheels started spinning, and over the next few weeks, we visualized, planned, and created our version of the topics.
Here are our interpretations of the ten assigned topics for the theme “ISOlation. We hope you enjoy our images as mush as we enjoyed creating them!
Summer Challenge 2021 theme: “ISOlation”
1. One day at a time
Jim set up a black backdrop and practiced with a blur and flash technique called rear-curtain sync. The shutter remained open for a few seconds while Betsy moved through the frame, then a burst of flash froze her movement at the end. He chose to feature on the calendar the date of August 11 as that was the date of the Summer Challenge screening party, where all participants gather to share images and a few laughs.
Betsy had Jim pose with his feet up on a table surrounded by a collection of used beer bottles. During the height of the initial lockdown, Jim’s check marks began to get shakier as more days and more beers disappeared.
2. Adventure is calling, but I can’t come to the phone right now
Dramatic lighting and an old-fashioned lantern set the tone for the original tin-can phone.
Jim’s father worked for many years for AT&T, and we inherited this amazing old wall phone. Betsy asked Jim to don a vest and a fedora and chose black & white to give this image an old-time look.
3. The only nation I am visiting this summer is imagination
Jim instructed Betsy to pose with a dreamy, wistful look, and he shot this image indoors in front of a white background. He later replaced the background with some colorful wispy clouds to complete the look.This took some preparation. First, Betsy took a trip to the library and lugged home 60 lbs. of travel books. She then carefully removed the protective plastic covers which would create a glare (and later carefully replaced them). Shot with natural light, she had Jim pose with the bottom book on his head. “1,000 Places to See Before You Die”. She then took a separate shot of the stack of books and layered the two images together in photoshop. Butterfly images taken in her garden were added to give the image a whimsical feel.
4. Better days will come
Okay, so now things are starting to get a bit crazy. When Jim told Betsy she had to get in a trash can, she said that was going over the line as our trash cans are too stinky. So he came up with the idea of getting a brand new, non-stinky trash can at Home Depot. When he set up the speedlight during a test shot, he was amazed by the really cool reflective pattern that emulated out from the can – an added bonus. Now, how to get Betsy in the can? Well, she didn’t fit in a normal crouching-down position, so she had to fold her legs up behind her, and Jim lowered her into the can. A pillow was placed in the bottom of the can to make the awkward pose a bit more comfortable. Betsy did her own hair and make-up for the shot. After he took the shot, Jim realized that he could not lift her back out of the can. The solution was to gently tip the can over, then drag it off behind her. Betsy was only slightly bruised, and the trash can survived without a dent and was returned to Home Depot intact.
The Wilson household was hit a few times by falling trees during the pandemic. After extensive house repairs and cars were replaced, we thought we were done with falling trees when one more came down and smashed one of Jim’s canoes. Fortunately, it was an old skeleton of a canoe that was destined for the trash heap anyway. So Betsy asked Jim to crawl under all the debris and reach up for a helping hand.
5. All dressed up with nowhere to go
While Jim was setting up this shot, the neighbors kept driving up the driveway behind Betsy, and she would run and hide in the garage until they passed.Betsy’s turn to make Jim dress up to take out the garbage. The silk top hat is a real vintage hat that belonged to Betsy’s great uncle.
6. Wake me up when we can travel again
The original shot was for Betsy to be laying on the luggage stood up, not on their sides. After numerous attempts of sliding luggage and picking up Betsy off the floor, Jim punted and opted for placing the luggage on its side.This idea came to Betsy quickly, as Jim has the world’s largest collection of maps. Doesn’t matter that we always use a GPS or Google Maps, he insists on keeping a paper map of every place we have ever visited, or intend to visit in the future.
7. Happy hour! Time for a quaran-tini
Do you know how many stores we had to go to to find bendy-straws? Jim actually cut a hole in the masks, and the straws go right through the mask. Jim set this up in our yard under an archway formed by two Rose-of-Sharon trees. One shot in the Summer Challenge needs to include a selfie, so Jim gladly participated in this sweet scene.Betsy brought out the fisheye lens to create a unique, distorted perspective. With a wink, Jim toasted the photographer – “Here’s lookin’ at you kid”.
8. Keep calm and carry on
Jim had Betsy pose in a calming Yoga position in front of a black background. He photographed the colorful carpet separately. A shadow added to the carpet provided the illusion that Betsy was calmly floating.Betsy envisioned a similar image, having Jim sit in a calming pose. She had Jim sit in front of a set she created of towers of toilet paper to recognize the paper-supply panic that occurred early on in the pandemic. It was only later that she realized the shape of the TP towers give the illusion of angel wings.
9. Destination: isolation
Who knows how Jim came up with the idea for this one! And who rigs up a speedlight on a light stand in their shower to throw a spotlight on the toilet?Betsy’s interpretation of the topic was a bit more traditional, but still yielded challenges. It took a few weeks and many dog walks to find an expanse on a hill without distracting buildings behind to provide a sense of isolation. Betsy finally settled on a location very close to their home – the Brightside Trail in Charlestown.
10. This too shall pass
Jim and Betsy took a ride out to Lancaster County to get this image of her patiently waiting while a train goes by. We knew we could find plenty of trains in Strasburg, but alas there was no good train crossing around to set up this shot. The image of Betsy in the car is in the parking lot of the Strasburg Railroad, and the train is the Strasburg train, but they were not actually there at the same time.This is Betsy’s selfie – the only picture of hers without Jim in it. We have a skylight in the center of our living room. Only during the first few days of summer, when the sun is directly above, do we see this amazing shaft of light pouring down into our living room. Betsy quickly put on a long dress, put the camera on a tripod and set the timer. She didn’t have much time, as when the sun moved, the shaft of light disappeared.
As always, we really enjoyed conjuring up these ideas.
And as always, we made mistakes, and learned a few things along the way.
Until next year’s Summer Challenge…. Keep calm and carry on!
