eleven pipers piping

one of my workshop instructors told me a year or so ago to never delete any of my images. that a photograph occasionally needs some space before it can be viewed objectively. that oftentimes, we're disappointed in our images because it doesn't match what we saw when we were at the photoshoot, in front of our loved ones, or on vacation. that the reason for this is because all our senses are engaged when we're in the moment - and a photograph can only communicate a portion of the experience.

this is one of those images that grew on me over time. when i originally edited this together last week, it did not match the vision i had in my mind. but i had to leave to catch a flight so i left it as is. i pulled it up to have a look a couple of times during the week and realized that it wasn't as out of line as i originally thought. today i think i might actually like it.



this is the second image in the twelve months of christmas series. my play on the theme of eleven pipers piping is music and while i didn't take any images of pied pipers, i did capture an image that included this lovely old record player. i thought the bokeh looked like they could have bulbously appeared from the giant mouth of the phonograph and that's where my idea was born. i don't think it translated exactly as i imagined but, for some reason, this image makes me sing.

[my friend, belle, and i are doing this project together! check out her lovely images here.]

edited to add some more details:

a) the bokeh. gaah this is what i love about holiday lights. i know bokeh is overdone but i still love it. and always will.

{ canon 7d | canon 35mm f/1.4 | iso 200 | f/1.4 | 1/125 sec | no flash }

b) the phonograph. if you know a little about my style, you'll know i love contrast. new versus old. modern mixed with vintage. high tech versus lo-fi. this is a recurring theme that permeates my home, my clothing, and my photography. i knew that i wanted to incorporate some vintage styling in this project so i made sure to capture some images with my iphone hipstamatic app. i found this phonograph on the cover of a book and immediately knew i had to have it.

{ iphone 3gs | hipstamatic 185 | helga viking | ina's 1969 | no flash }