So I placed these in the compost bin a while ago, and the promptly forgot about them. In some spots the image is mostly latent. Nearly completely gone, the staining came out with very interesting patterns on the print. I am happy with these as well just thought it came out well.
So when I was working on the cycles project I made some C-Type prints of all photos I took of the jars. Cycles had always been a project I wanted to go on for a while and it led me to create a small home compost jar for my kitchen waste. Inspired by Matthew Brandt I decided to add the prints to the pile.
I added the photos to the compost on March 1st and pulled them out of the compost on the 5th and was pleasantly surprised by the changes in only a few days. Large swathes of red are now apparent on the print, oranges and yellows are streaked amongst the previously high key greens and browns. The white has been stained in a great umber color.
Overall I am very happy with these results and will do it with the remainder of the prints. I am very curious to see what may happen as the the compost continues to break down will different chemical compounds reveal themselves and effect the print. Also the compost is extremely moist right now and I am waiting to see what will happen as it dries out.
Another trip to Double Peaks Park in San Marcos, Ca. I truly love to shoot here, and have gone to this place multiple times in recent years. Today I came with Art Wolf and Robert Adams in mind. Specifically I was thinking of painting inspired frames.
As I stated in a previous post I started in art as a painter inspired mainly by impressionist and surrealists, so I decided to follow these previous inspirations on this outing. So through a combination of of different camera techniques and post processing I attempted to come up with some more painterly works.
I also tried working with some more traditional photographic type images. The tree at the top of the park is a gem in my world. I really appreciate the aesthetic of trees and this to me is just an amazing specimen.
I also tried to concentrate on the play of light in shadow on the geometric steps of the amphitheater there. The combination of deep shadows and bright highlights, as well as a good angle of light made for interesting texture as well.
Finally using the natural golden hour light a few portraits were created. Portraiture is where I started working in photography and still enjoy shooting portraits. I think these came out well.
Well with in growing the friends in the jar have improved over the last week. I know the post is late, but I swear I have been taking the photos as scheduled.
So bringing them inside helped, I guess some times in life we all need a little shelter from the external elements that are affecting our well being. I think the Compost Jar is at its end point there has been little to no change over the last couple weeks.
I think that the plan for me know is to call this particular project done next week. I will do 2 final photographs next week and then start a new side project, (side project 1 is deceased as stated before, still figuring out how to photograph empty planters). I will combine the contents of the jars into a new vessel, and I will probably start another larger project. Not quite sure yet what cycles 2 will be but I have a few ideas
Cycles is continuing to move forward. The plants are now trying to grow out of the top of the jar so after today I am removing the lid to allow them to grow. This is in a small way putting an end to that micro-environment, Put this whole project is an experiment dealing with where is goes once i started the process. I have noticed that the plants are beginning to require more water than they once did and I am becoming concerned that I am going to have to figure out how to transplant the whole jar.
The compost jar is continuing to move forward as well, opening the jar you get a big smell not of rot but of fresh soil. Its a healthy and clean sort of smell. Although the progress here is seeming to slow down some I think I am going to have to go find some of the worms suggested by the guys at Stone Farms in order to keep it going forward.
Finally the side project is not thriving the small plants i attempted to replant just do not seem to be thriving as much as i would like them to. The weather has been odd here in San Diego this week wet, rainy and chilly at the beginning of the week the towards the end the temperatures soared into the 100’s. I think this may have been part of the issue. Some of the small plants are now wilted and and are not seeming to live a few still have some good color to them, and I hope by regular watering and care they my come around but at this point I am unsure as to where it is going to go. I will photograph them next week wether or not they begin thrive, and either call it quits with that part of the project or not.
I have been monitoring the terrariums daily, watching for changes in the environments. I tried to make some decisions on how i was going to forward with this, how often was i going to photograph them, in order to show change. I decided weekly at the beginning of the project, but as i monitor daily I may adjust the schedule if something exciting happens and choose to photograph at a different time.
So the compost was significantly less volume in one week, and I already have some significant growth of the seeds. I have not needed to water the plants at all the soil is still plenty moist as well as the compost. This is very exciting and seems to be progressing nicely.
I realized in my last post I did not describe what was in the jars.
Compost Jar (from bottom up)- rocks, activated charcoal, organic moss, organic soil, orange peal (fresh and dried), egg shells, tea bags, coffee grounds, yard waste green and dried.
Growth Jar (from bottom up)- rocks, activated charcoal, moss, organic soil, basil seeds, purple basil seeds, chive seeds
The first layer of rocks, activated charcoal, moss, provide for drainage and filtering of the water that is in the environment.
The only thing I have done to these since the beginning is to mix the compost before photographing. After researching compost in order to achieve best results you should turn the pile.
I have Lived in San Diego County for nearly 7 years now, and there is always still so much to explore. I have meant to go to the Botanical Gardens for a while now. Being there on a warm Monday afternoon was amazing, this place is extremely calm and peaceful, small streams flow through the landscapes and birds sing in the trees. My journey started at the bamboo garden, bamboo is to me somehow a relaxing plant, learning that the San Diego zoo aquires much of its panda feed from the garden is also a very interesting thing to know. As i wondered through the property I became very interested in the mexican garden with the terra-cotta planters with succulents and faces of dancers.
I have over the last several months began to question exactly what photography means to me, through this i have begun to explore the abstract in photographic imagery, shooting out of focus, or shooting very small portion of things and zooming the lens while shooting a subject. Plants are a good way to explore this, they do not move and are often very colorful to bring interest into the colors. I explored this a lot on this trip, looking for vibrant colors and interesting shapes over what the subject was.
Also I found the wooden Japanese Spirit Houses interesting was well, some how these went back to my wood project and may be included in that later on. I attempted to recreate the feeling I had while looking at these. They are so small, bird house like but so deep in attention to detail. They are weather worn but still standing strong protecting the ancestors spirits.
Jerry Slough Photography 