thechrisproject photography

A lot of people have utterly silly ideas about why Photoshop is evil or why digital photography is wrong. I read this quote today and laughed:

You know what ruined photography? The darkroom. That’s the real start of the long, slow decline - I say if the image doesn’t appear without dousing it in chemical soup, then it’s not really photography, it’s more like chemography, or maybe satanic black magic.

That’s right. Think about it: a dark room, with only one dim red light? Obscure potions and rituals? The stench of sulphur? Clearly the work of the dark lords of hell.

From Flickr Central

First, the good. I’m a big fan of the Mad Rollin’ Dolls derby league. A friend of mine has been in it since the beginning (they’re on their third season right now) and I’ve been to a lot of bouts. In the early days it was easy to shoot pictures. As time has gone on and word has spread, the bouts have been getting more and more packed. It became a lot harder to get a decent position or move around at all. I decided to try and get real access to the bouts so I could move around and shoot. I begged, I pleaded, I annoyed, I put together a portfolio of my best bout pics from the past few years, and I finally got permission. I think my pictures turned out pretty well.

I put them up on dane101.com as quickly as I could. It was a fun time and I look forward to being able to shoot the next bout.

My favorite recent shot of mine is this one, taken at the chick hatchery in the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.

Ariel and I went there a few weekends ago to see the Body Worlds exhibit. Unfortunately, they’re real tight asses about photography in Body Worlds. Losers.

I like this picture. The children watching the chicks hatch were fascinating. Some just sat there, jaw agape, staring at the hatching chicks. One girl was crying. I can see why. A freshly birthed creature and a dying one aren’t all that different. The new chicks can barely move or see, and they chirp in a most pitiful manner. They have no mother around. It does seem like a rather cold and clinical place to be born.

I leave you with the ugly. This has rapidly become one of my more viewed flickr pictures. This was also taken at the bout.

I’ve been taking lots of pictures lately but not writing about it. If you’re the feed reader type, you should subscribe to my flickr feed. Then you’ll be notified whenever I post up new pictures.

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