January Field Notebook

January:

I can already feel my relationship with the sky changing. But that was immediate- maybe not even a change but a a sudden epiphany that started all of this. More surprising, perhaps, is the way I've changed my habits to better serve the project. I began to notice early on how frequently I find myself in the same locations. I now try to find new spots, new views. Some require me to drive miles outside my beaten path; others are only paces from previous shots. I've seen more things from familiar spaces in the last month than cumulatively in the last two years.

As much as "color" and "sky" have been my companions in this endeavor, I find myself more and more aware of my relationship to light. I need enough light to accurately read the swatch. Too much diffused light and the swatch reads too dark. The angle of the sun is important, too. If I try to swatch too early or too late, the slant of the light renders it too yellow, affecting the swatch and preventing a good reading. I do battle with these limitations. I try to cheat my way around them, although it doesn't feel like cheating: we interact with the sky at all times, with all variations, not just during optimal daylight hours.

I wouldn't say I've gotten bored of solid blue sky, (there's something too overwhelmingly gorgeous about the dome of color that surrounds us to ever be "over it,") but as the project continues, I find myself yearning for challenges. Can you swatch at night? What about the colors at sunrise/sunset? The sky is so much more than "blue."

I'm going to need more swatches.

*****

Looking Ahead

 February's challenge is The Night Sky.