Long Day
"Long Day" - the first photograph I made. Not the first one I took, not by a long shot, but this is the first photo I thought about and planned to tell a story. Let me lay out the scene - Excited and exhausted, my then girlfriend, now Wife, and I had just finished a grueling 12-hour drive from Lancaster PA, to Savannah GA. On arrival, the weather was rainy - but this being our first time in Savannah, we wanted to make the most of it; weather be damned!
As soon as we dropped our bags at the Air BnB, we hit the streets and found this cool little bar. It reminded me of something right out of the movies - the lighting was dim, soft jazz played quietly over hidden speakers, the bar itself was made of some dark wood, and the bartender, dressed in black pants and a black button-up, was drying glasses with a white towel - there were even white French doors separating a private area from the bar. The bartender greeted us as we sat down. My lady ordered a wine, and I - a Bourbon.
The two of us sat there having excited conversation about what sites we wanted to visit followed by moments of silence, taking in the moment. It was during one of these moments I felt inspiration strike. I wanted to photograph my drink. My initial intention was just to capture my first drink in Savannah, nothing fancy - just a snap shot to throw on Instagram later. I pulled my camera out, a little EOS M10 I think, and took the picture.
When I viewed the photo, I realized this could be something much more artistic. I had spent maybe the last year or so exploring photography and learning techniques - all through YouTube of course. Looking at the snapshot of my drink, I realized I had the elements available to tell the story of a long day (title complete). I had an almost empty drink, soft lighting, a subdued background, and the raised edge of the bar equaled a great leading line. I must have taken 10 photos of this drink, moving it closer to the camera and further away, trying different angles - but nothing seemed to work. Then I remembered - the French doors, they would make the perfect background. To get the doors, I put the camera almost flat on the bar and took a shot of the glass head-on. I reviewed the shot and was happy with it.
Elissa and I left the bar and had an awesome trip. Tons of photos were taken and I tried to put thought and technique into each. When we got home from our trip, I couldn't wait to upload the photos - especially "Long Day" - into Lightroom. This is where I fell in love with the editing process. Sure, the photo itself told the story, was the story, but editing the photo helped shape the story - trimmed the fat, and allowed me to mold a rough draft into something final. I tried many crops - including no crop at all - but eventually landed on the 1:1 (I'm sure it helped that this was perfect for posting on IG). But It also allowed the edge of the bar to pop out of the corner and take the eyes on a journey to the almost empty glass of bourbon. I loved this photo so much that I put my first ever watermark on it (something I no longer do) - Everydaypics - then posted it to the gram.
Looking back, I still feel this photo is special. I know most would probably just see an almost empty glass - it could be positioned better, it could be brighter, the reflections on the glass are distracting - really, this photo could be a lot better. But this was my first real attempt to tell a story, not just take a snapshot.
Anyway - that's enough, here's the photo.
