I’ve been thinking about doing this for a long time, but I’ve never been quite that comfortable doing it because I hate picking favorites. So boiling it down to just ten pictures, eesh, I felt a bit like Henry the Eighth picking his wives then plucking their heads off. There are more pictures I’m really proud of, but I picked these because I feel these are one’s I would not mind having hanging up in my house. Most of these are found on my Flickr page, but one distinct one is found exclusively on my Facebook Fan page, and under the photo I’ll provide links for them. And if you would like a print of them, I’m sure something could be arranged. So let’s get this party started.
1. Bulb 2. This was an idea that at the time I was wanting so bad to play with. I kept seeing pictures of people drawing or writing things out using just a long exposure and a flashlight. But me, being me, I did it my own way. I had a pretty nifty background on my iPhone that was a pinup in a latex suit, with a bright pink background and a bright Tardis blue dresser. A few hours into it I was getting pretty desperate for something I was happy with. Different motions, different brigthnesses on my iPhone, I wasn’t getting anything I liked. I was damn close to calling it quits and scrubbing the entire set until I just hit what I wanted. It was about five or so in a row that I got that I was extremely happy with, and Bulb 2 being the one I was most proud of.
An experiment in using the Bulb exposure and my iPhone.
Bulb 2 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/ian_munroe/4084717394/in/set-72157604612632926
2. Mill 2. I had just bought my Nikon D40 maybe a week before this picture was shot. This was the first time I was home on leave from Germany and it was about two years after Katrina. I was driving around the Thibodaux, Louisiana area with my parents when in the distance I saw this, what looked to be like an abandoned factory of some kind. It could’ve been a fabrication facility, sugar mill, something. I don’t really know. But what I did know is that I wanted to explore the area and see what I could get. However, I was extremely limited in what I could do. I didn’t have a tripod so I couldn’t really do any long exposures of the darker areas. I didn’t have a stand alone flash to brighten up the dark areas. And I was still learning how to use my brand new little DSLR. So I was at a bit of a loss. However there are a few shots I’m really proud of and surprised that came out, and this one of the back of the main building really got my groove going.
From my first location "shoot".
Mill 2 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/ian_munroe/2424641112/in/set-72157604612632926
3. Venetian 1. During my first trip home, I fell head over heals in love with the “historic” area of Thibodaux, Louisiana. I only had my little Nikon D40 and while I took some awesome shots of the downtown area, the stuff I really wanted to do I felt limited with what I was using. When I had the opportunity to upgrade to a Nikon D90, I jumped on it and I made a list of what I wanted to reshoot with it. One of them was The Venetian Bar in downtown Thibodaux. Situated right on a corner on Jackson and West 4th street, and home to the best bar room and doughnuts in Thibodaux, I just had too. The first shot I did was at night, and from inside of my car, it was raining out, generally miserable, and I was flying back to Germany a few days later. So I really couldn’t get the shot I wanted the first time, so I made sure on the second go around that planned it out a bit to get what I wanted. One thing I didn’t count on, was that I hated every single shot I did, I must’ve spent hours on each one trying to get each one where I could be decently happy with it. But I just couldn’t, and on a whim I just a did quick black and white edit, and WHAMMO!
In black and white I find this picture amazing. In color, not so much.
Venetian 1 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/ian_munroe/3598709043/in/set-72157619104587054/
4. Dirt Road. Now we get to one where I got educated on. Not because of the content, the style, shot, edited, or anything like that, but on the title of the picture. My Great Uncle Norman who grew up in the area, who was wise beyond wise made sure I learned the difference between a dirt road and a gravel road, which this one is (which I cover greatly in a Eulogy I did for my Great Uncle Norman). The amazing part about shooting at my Aunt and Uncles house in the country, is that the weather is always spectacular. Between the sunny days and the stormy days, there is always something to shoot, and that day was one of the most amazing days I ever had to shoot. I think I walked away with at least 15 or so keepers (including my next one).
Dirt, gravel. There's dirt in it, right? I fail to see the difference.
Dirt Road - http://www.flickr.com/photos/ian_munroe/3633361321/
5. Union Pacific. If you are every gracious enough to visit my Aunt and Uncles farm, you’ll notice that you have to cross some train tracks and go down a dirt (or gravel 
) road to get to their quaint cottage. One day I was driving with my Grandmother Alice back to her apartment to help her with a computer issue when we had to wait at the train tracks for a slow moving train. There are trains always going this track since it leads to a coal-fueled power plant in Lawrence, Kansas. So when a train goes by with a full load, it can take around ten to fifteen minutes for a train to pass, or at least that what it feels like. Luckily for me I had my camera with me and I just started snapping shots at the slow UP train chugging on by, I wasn’t really counting on any keepers since I thought that the railroad sign I got in frame was going to ruin it. But it just kinda grew on me and the bright yellow just seemed to make the picture pop more.
I think every one on some level likes trains. I really do.
Union Pacific - http://www.flickr.com/photos/ian_munroe/3638897983/
6. Brittany 3. This is a picture while I’m okay with it in digital form, it really pops for me printed. Literally taken on a whim, with her totally oblivious to me being there. I was just snapping away as Brittany was painting her headset. I nearly died twice taking pictures, because I kept tripping over a bench and nearly biffing my head on the solid concrete floor. And while not this particular edit, this photo kinda got me known around base. Which is nice, it’s nice being known as a photographer and not as a guy with a camera.
While we may not be as close as we once were, I'm still thankful for her.
Brittany 3 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/ian_munroe/4946244395/
7. Senior Airman Davis – Once you make Staff Sergeant in the United States Air Force, you have to do some “Professional Military Education” as they put it. Your first step to becoming an NCO is going through a four week course called, Airman Leadership School where you learn the basics of being a first line supervisor, writing performance reports, letters of reprimand/counseling, etc., etc. It’s basically a four week vacation from your duty section where you get to meet others in different career fields and pretty much have a blast. My class was pretty baller because it was mostly maintainers (like myself) and a few medical, we were lucky in that all the other classes were filled with cops and such. One person (of three) in my class that caught my eye was Senior Airman Davis, his quick whit, off the cuff humor and unique perspective helped make the class more enjoyable and the debates we had a bit more exciting. This photo was taken during our Thanksgiving dinner in the hallway outside of our classroom, I had no flash, the lighting was horrible and my camera was having a fit ALL day long, but this picture came out with minimal editing which is a HUGE plus for me.
This picture personifies the man perfectly.
Senior Airman Davis - http://www.flickr.com/photos/ian_munroe/4120260808/
8. Dane Ryder: early takes & mistakes. This was a cold day in Germany, bitterly cold. My buddy asked me to take some pictures of him for his debut country album, titled, “early takes & mistakes” (which you can preview on Reverb Nation). We were at a semi-abandoned railroad station just down the road from base, trying to stay warm and not get ran over by a damn train. We were a bit hungover from the night before, and when the sun kept poking out, it made sure to find our eyes and make us feel it. This is also part of the exclusive set I have on my Facebook page as well.
Boy has talent, legit talent.
Dane Ryder: early takes & mistakes - http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150166765782506&set=a.10150163175067506.363810.232703517505&type=1
9 and 10. These two aptly titled Cuties Pies and Picking Berries with Cosmo are two that I have long given away the rights for. If you knew me in or around 2008, you would know that it wasn’t a particularly good year for me. My first deployment and several other very stressful things led me to making some pretty bad decisions with someone I was with. Things ended, badly. Very, very badly. But, it was in these two pictures that I decided that I wanted to become a real photographer and not just one that does it part time. Real genesis. You’ll notice that these are not in my Flickr photostream, and that they will probably never be there, but I’m okay with that. I know who shot the pictures, that’s all that matters.
A typical fall German day.
First picture I took that I fell in love with black and white.
Cutie Pies - http://www.flickr.com/photos/18590873@N06/3140465302/in/photostream
Picking Berries with Cosmo – http://www.flickr.com/photos/18590873@N06/3140470382/in/photostream
beautiful~ i like reading the stories behind each