Thursday, September 15, 2011

Trout Dreams

Dreaming men are haunted men.
Stephen Vincent Benet

I don't know about you, but I sometimes dream about the things I am passionate about, I sometimes dream about my wife while sleeping next to her, I have dreamt about mountain biking, and I of course dream about fly fishing.  I don't remember most of my dreams, but when I do, it's because they are vivid, I often feel compelled to recreate them photographically.   Trying to recreate these dreams is often a slow process, as in the case with the two photographs I am posting here.  The two photographs were on the same roll of film, but were taken years about, about two and a half to be more precise. My dream photographs are usually double exposures, one exposure is of the angler and the other of the fish the angler caught.  I can't really explain why it takes me so long to do photographs like this, I guess they just come to me.  
 
This first one, was literally the first photograph of the 12 exposure roll of film, that was done sometime in July of 2008.  As I recall, I think the first exposure was of the angler, but as all of this time has since  passed I don't remember.  It was taken while fishing my first and only time so far on the Strawberry River, one of Utah's "Blue Ribbon Fisheries".  

 The next "trout dreams" photograph was taken a little more recently somewhere in December of 2010, on the Middle Provo.  I think this one though the exposure of the trout was made first, with the second exposure of the angler.  

Under optimal conditions my technique for shooting double exposures  involves making an exposure of each element on the first frame then reversing the order on the next frame.  I do this so I can ensure optimal dream quality, because the subtitles of doing double exposures can vary. That being said, it's not so easy to do it this way when you want to also ensure that the trout survives, so I have to take what I can get when I do photographs like these.
When I do double exposures I prefer to use a slower speed film, either Kodak's Plus-X or TMAX 100 film, because they can handle a little more exposure.  I have done other double exposures with color film but the dreams I am having about fishing seem to be in black and white. 
I also feel that by doing the entire project in black and white adds a certain time quality, which is a big part of what I am going for with these photographs. 
So what do you dream about and are dreams color or are they black and white?
Brian


7 comments:

e.m.b. said...

I very much like your 'haunts'...lovely work!

Brian J. said...

Awesome-- those pictures are a fairly good representation of what's going through my head when I'm at work...

Brian L. Schiele said...

Thanks for your comments!
You aren't the only one Brian!

Unknown said...

Amazing photography. I always have a soft spot for people who can get it right. Love it.

Brian L. Schiele said...

Thanks Jen.. I recently came across your blog and have been flowing it.
I'm going to add it to my blog roll!

THE RIVER DAMSEL said...

The trout picture is way cool. Nice work as always!

swampfox741 said...

The second shot with the trout fading in the clouds is a real dream. Nice Holga work. I too enjoy using toy cameras (Holga) and fly fishing and tying.
Mostly Fly fishing and tying lately. I do some Holga digital fakes with GIMP.
But the magic is lost without film.

Keep the dreams,

Dave (swampfox741)