Crystal Vision © 2013 NATE METZ

Winter has finally relaxed its tight grip. Most mornings I’d find my car frozen over with frost, so I used the few moments waiting for the defroster to capture these Crystal Visions.

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Divided Smile © 2012 NATE METZ

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Sleigh-trails on Christmas Day © 2012 NATE METZ

It was a much better way to start out the new year on the photo challenge front. The theme, 5, left me faced with several obvious choices: dice, watches/clocks, hands/feet/fingers/toes, money. I opted for a grouping because it lent more freedom creatively as to how 5 would show up. I was not having much luck finding five of anything in a natural setup without my physically placing 5 items together. Remember I’m not a huge fan of studio work and forcing a shot under controlled settings. In the last few days before the deadline I resigned to sit this round out because I wanted to submit a photograph that fits my aesthetic and my voice. After posting Linear Sunrise, I glanced back through all of my shots and realized that a different frame had five contrails. And as I reflected more on my audience I did tell a white lie and say I took the photograph Christmas Day instead of Christmas Eve because it fit the story better:

Santa’s sleigh left 5 contrails criss-crossing the sky on Christmas!

I received some nice, positive feedback that I had an unexpected approach and that the backstory information was fun. I know this photograph is a success because I managed to keep my point of view and add some fluff that would appeal to a specific audience that would help them to understand my work.

14th Place
Apple iPhone 4
1/539 sec, f2, ISO 80
Post-Processing– PS actions: crop, levels adjustment, hue shift +15, saturation +3, lightness +3, resize, USM, export

My constant comparison of my work to others in the challenges does appear to be unhealthy to you readers of that I am sure! It only appears that way because I’m not sure what else to talk about in these challenge entries. A huge part of the content for my art blog for a challenge entry is the competition, the judging, the comparing. I’m also really just putting myself out there (here) as I define my artistic voice and learn how to present my work. I have an exhibit coming up this summer and this forum has been instrumental in me learning to speak intelligently about my work and my process.

Thanks for reading!

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I captured this on my way to work Christmas Eve morning. You can really see the contrails of Santa’s sleigh criss-crossing the sky on his practice run!

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H me T al H © 2012 NATE METZ – digital collage

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Plastic View © 2012 NATE METZ

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Office Work © 2012 NATE METZ

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