The idea was simple. On 8/8/08 make eight photographs that reflect life on this rare date from the local area. Easier said than done. Dates of a repeated number like this only happen 12 times each century, starting with 1/1/01 and ending with 12/12/12. Though a bit late, I came up with an idea last year in honor of 7/7/07 to round up seven photographers who would make seven photos on that date and then host a gallery Web site with what we came up with. Unfortunately I only came up with three photographers (including myself) who could do it on that day. This year I decided that I really wanted to make this happen and planned to go it alone and see what I could come up with. The inspiration for the project came from the Day in the Life series of photo books, of which I have owned “A Day in the Life of California” for many years. And while I considered doing something more thematic with this — for example have every photo have something to do with the number eight — I was finding in my planning process that just trying to make eight good pictures of eight different things from throughout the day was going to be hard enough. Perhaps next year I’ll do further advanced planning in order to make that happen. So what you’ll find here is essentially what I found going on that day — just a regular day, with an unusual name.
Here are the pix I liked best from the day in essentially sequential order of them being made.
My first stop was down at the north jetty where I found Billy Price fishing for crab. I have to admit I've never seen someone intentionally fishing for crab with a rod before, but he was having success, as I watched him pull up number 3 and 4 while I was there. I thought it was a good way to start things off, though I was not able to make a very good picture, IMO. Despite it's shaky appearance I kinda like the second one better, though I know it would not have worked for the paper.
After the jetty I went home to have a bite and get the kids ready to go to daycare. I made these pix of my daughter brushing her hair in the middle of a plate of eggs-over-medium and a few slices of watermelon. I actually liked either of these better than some of the other pix I would make during the day, but we really don't run pix of family members in the paper if we can get away with it, so....
I think I'm beginning to see a trend here ... I really like this pic for some reason. Yeah, it's out of focus. I'd love to say that it was that way on purpose, but truth is when I pulled the camera up to take the pic of this truck sitting on a road of oyster shell in Nahcotta the camera focused on the window for the first frame. IDK, the soft color looks nice IMO. The one below it of someone's discarded sweater on the pile of shells just didn't quite do it for me.
For perhaps selfish reasons (yeah, I really wanted one of their focacia for lunch) I headed over to Bailey's Bakery in Nahcotta. Their door is right next to that of the Post Office and is a nice little hub of local traffic as people get their mail. I got lucky after a bit as Ginger Bish come out with a handful of mail and a bright pink sweater on.
On the way to my next stop in Naselle I came across Bob Hamley and his friend Bill Farrell picking blackberries on the hillside near the Bear River crossing. WHile I don't think this is a very good photo, I like the find itself.
My stop in Naselle was one of the few planned occasions on the day. The Congrgational Church holds a senior social every Wednesday where people get together and have lunch and play games. I liked this first one best, but felt it was way too much like the blackberry one, so I went with the one below it instead, which I also like for the serious look on her face while she plans her next move.
I figured it couldn't really be a day in the life of the area without hitting up the beach at some point, so when I returned from Naselle I headed down to the Bolstad beach approach. By this time it was starting to to rain a bit, though that didn't stop a ton of people from heading down to the water the same time as me. Some were even brave enough to get into the water.
Before heading over to my last planned item of the day I found Landen Baker busking with his guitar downtown. This kid is pretty good, playing a wide variety of music in the short time I was there. He said he is down there most days before and after work playing music and trying to make a little extra money to pay his rent. Unfortunately, while I was there everyone just passed on by without dropping anything in his case.
Sarah and John Schelling were married on Friday afternoon at her parents house after having their original plans for an outdoor ceremony rained out. The two said they did not pick the date intentionally. Sarah said "It sort of worked out that way. But if somebody else thinks its lucky, that’s fantastic for us.” John said he shouldn't have any problem remembering their anniversary date....
Once again motivated by hunger I stopped off at Bluto's for a small pie with fresh mushrooms and found Bruce Bailey still there hand-tossing pizza skins as closing time was approaching. I shot him making a few pizzas while waiting for mine to emerge from the oven.
This is the last pic I took on Friday night while driving back to the office.
So, I can't say with any honesty that this was a successful project, I think I swung and missed more than I made it to base and I didn't hit any out of the park. But at the same time, in consulting my Day in the Life of California book I found some similar results that I hadn't really noticed in the vastness of the content before. It's all pretty much everyday moments and people. Like I said before it's just another day with a different name. I don't know if I will indeed try this again next year or not. It would be awesome if I didn't have to do it alone I think, as more often than not on Friday I felt like I needed to keep moving in order to fill my self-imposed quota of eight pix of eight different things when in most instances I probably could have made better pix if I had spent more time in some of these places like I normally would. Oh well, chalk it up to a learning experience.
-DKM
