Monday, November 12, 2012

Out of Focus

All Hallows' Eve on the Bridge

If you’ve been hanging around here for a while, you have come to realize that I have a penchant for obscure, out-of-focus images. They fascinate me.

Now, it could very well be that it’s a self-delusion mechanism, a way to rationalize the fact that I suck as a photographer, a way to excuse my shaky work, but I find a certain dreamy reality-warp in handheld shots taken in impossibly dim conditions. In their soft indistinction, they come closer to my perception of the shadowy scenes in front of my lens than any crystal-clear photo could ever hope to.

Moonrise Downriver

So these three shots are exactly how I remember this past Halloween on the old Bynum Bridge; an eight-hundred-foot, county bridge spanning my home Haw River, built in 1922 and closed to vehicular traffic since the turn of the century, replaced by the big, sterile four-lane 15-501 just a quarter-mile upstream. Each All Hallows' Eve, the Bynum span, now just a footpath, is decorated, end-to-end, along both railings, with jack-o-lanterns carved by the residents of the county; carvings of all kinds, created with every level of skill, and depicting an amazing variety of expression and perspective. Hundreds of orange globes enjoyed by hordes of folks, many in ghoulish garb, strolling the dark remote bridge, cooing over the creepy creations, and breathing deeply the aroma of lit candles, roasting pumpkin flesh, and rich river mist.

Upstream to the New Highway Bridge

It's a time and a place delightfully out of focus. And here, my friends, are the images to prove it.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Mike, those are gorgeous photos. Wonderfully portrayed.

Mike Sepelak said...

Thanks Austin. Hope all is well, Texas-way. Need to find my way back sometime.

Fontinalis Rising said...

I'm with you on this one Mike. I love taking surreal shots at night. You've probably seen them. Good stuff, keep it coming.

Mike Sepelak said...

Thanks Jason. Your Isle Royale shot of the foggy bank fits the bill quite nicely. Dark and edgy. Nice.

Lisa @ Two Bears Farm said...

A neat way to remember Halloween!

Anonymous said...

Great pics Mike...I loved taking this kind of photo with my Pentax 35 years ago...may have some ...but my ex wife kept all the albums...will try to find one to show it to you...(:
JP

Mike Sepelak said...

An old K1000 perhaps, JP? I'd love to see them!