New index pic

Well, we have our first photographic addition to rhettfoxx.com in the form of a tinted scan of a shot I took sometime in early 2007. Originally shot on 35mm HP5+ with my old Pentax MX, this shot was a do-it-yourself endeavor all the way. I was taking classes at Focal Point at the time and so I took this as a still life for the basic film photography course and developed and printed it myself as part of my homework for the basic darkroom class (gotta love it when you're allowed to double dip!). I think it's printed on Ilford Cool White RC paper - if memory serves, this was before I discovered that Lens and Shutter still had the remnants of a horde of AGFA paper (RIP AGFA, we all miss you dearly).

The set-up was quite simple, being shot in the olden days before I bought any studio hot lights. I have an east facing window that I set up a little table in front of one sunny midday and I covered it with three metres of black satin from my overly large sewing stash and set up the heels on that.

The pink tint was added tonight in Photoshop as the original black and white version, while just lovely on its own and on FlickR, was far too harsh compared to the warm colors on my index page.

I have probably too many pairs of silver heels for some reason. Sometimes I think it has to do with a story I remember reading from when I was a little kid, about a princess using a magic scroll to escape through some labyrinthine fortress and she wore a pair of silver slippers. (I wish I remember the book's name.) Other times I think that's over-analyzing it too much and it's just related to my general preference for silver metallics over gold. In any case I think I have three pairs of silver heels at this time (one pair of mule sandals by Penny Loves Kenny, these pumps by Chinese Laundry, and a pair of mary-jane-like heels with X-straps whose manufacturer escapes me at the moment) and one pair of Steve Madden silver flats. Silver heels are always guaranteed to catch my eye and tempt me.

There are about three or four good shots of these in various configurations from that day, and this is the shot that has proven the most popular on my Flickr page. To date it's received 318 views and been favorited twice - not bad considering I don't really promote my work on Flickr and I rarely even post photos on any of the groups I belong to there. Only three of my shots surpass this total, two of which are other high heel shots. The third, inexplicably, is a shot of a transvestite in a minidress and neon pink thigh-high fishnet stockings from last August's Pride Parade here in Vancouver. (Not even the best transvestite shot I took that day. Your guess is as good as mine.)

Interestingly, my black and white shots are far more popular than my color high heel shots. I suppose despite - or maybe because of - the barrage of full-color images we stew in every day, there is still something magical about black and white photography.