Time to catch up on darkroom work

I've had a few long weekends in recent months, where I can spend a couple of days just printing, and still have a day to recoup before going back to battle pixels at my part time day job.
After a few months of rumination over many proof sheets,
I have a bunch of new image ideas to work on.
Sooooo, here we go!, turn on the safelight, and step right this way :-)

Storage



The first one I printed was with these bales of hay (shot in '96), under a sheet metal/corrugated roof, they are a kind of storage - horses & cattle can graze on it...
Even though it's been a looong time since i shot this frame, I am sure my intent was to 'do something' with the bales, something that defied the roof, & expanded beyond it's implied limits.
No matter how many skies I have shot, it's still difficult to find just the right one.
I wanted some clouds that felt plump, fat, 'stacked up', just like the bales of hay.
I was pretty happy with the way the one I chose worked, so I did 2 prints of that, and then did my usual "OK, step back, take a break, smoke a bowl, and think about it" thing.
There are definitely two kinds of space here - the one in the distance at lower right, beyond the corrugated roof structure, is very literal.
The other 'space', with the clouds emanating from the bales, is the opposite - indefinite, and open to... who knows what.
I rarely analyze why I make certain decisions, or images, I just do it, it feels right.




You may have noticed I like birds, & since they are capable of flight, they can show up anywhere...
So I added them to both spaces - but in a particular way - the birds at upper left, in the space
that is unreal, are pretty 'real' and make sense w/ the clouds behind them.
The single bird at lower right is in the more literal space, but the bird itself is rather indefinite, & mysterious - is it in front of the poles, or behind? Is it real, or not?
Does this unreal bird want to join the flock above?... or is it unwilling or unable to make the transition?
So many questions, and few answers.
Maybe it isn't that the arriving at an answer is that important, perhaps just asking the question, and pondering, is enough...

As usual, larger images are visible at my website:
www.bobbennettphoto.net/BeachBlog_DkRm_07_08/Bales.html

What makes a montage image 'come together'?

This entry is inspired by a question I was asked not too long ago:
" ..Is the perspective of the elements what ties a lot of the more complex photos together?"
Good question.
My short (ten words or less) answer posted quickly in response was: Yes, definitely. I use that a lot.
But the larger question - "What makes a montage image 'come together'?" - definitely deserves a better answer than 'Yes, definitely. I use that a lot.'

All this applies to traditional/chemical B&W darkroom - once you go digital(photoshop), it's a whole different thing, the sky is the limit, you can make as many layers as you have memory to work with, which actually is as much a curse as a blessing - it's very easy to get lost.
The reason I still prefer darkroom is that it keeps me focused on what's really important.

If you are doing B&W montage in a darkroom, and have different 'answers'?...by all means, do it!
I am offering mine on a 'FYI/FWIW' basis.

Perspective is just one way of bringing disparate elements together into a whole that works.
In no particular order, here some things I have found useful....
(or maybe I should say: "Here are the things I have found 'happening' -
I use the word 'happening', because it implies a certain lack of control,
an open mind to serendipity, which is exactly where it's at for me).
['The best way to do something creative...
is to ask a question you don't know the answer to...'
Francis Ford Coppola, in an interview, 2007]

1 - Similar perspective
2 - Similar lighting/angle of light/illumination
3 - Composition/desgn - shapes & forms that 'blend together', regardless of their individual properties.
4 - Concept - that is to say, a confluence of ideas amongst the individual elements.

In the course of writing this, it became much too long & with waaay too many pictures for this blog, so click your way to: www.bobbennettphoto.net/BeachBlog_8_08_DkrmPerspective/index.html to continue on.
I've spent several weekends the last few months in the darkroom, so that's what the next few entries will be about, for sure.
Happy 'Image Making' to one and all,from Northern California,
regardless of technique!