Disorientation - Behind The Scenes,

As usual, posting something about the making of last week's shot.
At the top and bottom, you see two initial trials of the setting (but there were MANY of those done on various days). It was a trial and error thing to see how would it look. If you recall from last week's post, the figure was floating in the air above the match. In the initial stages I was thinking of placing the match at the center of the figure as seen here. You might also notice the colors of the figure are different than the image posted last week, and of course, that was done in the post-processing phase.
So in the center, this is the final setting. Maybe it's not clear here, but there is an acrylic sheet that the figure was placed upon. You can probably see the little canisters, those were the "legs" to keep the sheet up. I have to say though, the hardest part of this shot is the figure, which I wouldn't be exaggerating if I say that I've spent months trying to put together. In the beginning I was thinking of gluing matchsticks together, and I failed. Then I thought of using larger sticks (~20cm long) and failed again. Then I thought about magnets! Then… I failed. It wasn't till the discovery of tiny magnets (remnants from my brother's set) when I was finally able to make this figure despite the skew because of the lengths.
You might as well notice how the speedlite here is covered with some tape. This was to focus the light (like a barn door modifier). Even though I do have a snoot and a honeycomb modifiers for this job, but this was the quick solution. With a snoot, the balance between the distance of the speedlite from the set and the power of the speedlite (and the spread of the light) didn't quite work well, so blocking the light by tape made it easier for me to control the power and the spread of light altogether, on low power.

#behindthescenes #set #setting #project #4dcube #tesseract #hypercube #camera #matchstick #goodmorning

تَـوَهـانْ (disorientation)。

In between the continuous clashes with our surroundings for survival, and the self-doubt that hovers heavily in our hearts because of all the turmoil with questions of whether or not we've been wrong all this time about our choices in this life, there comes moments of such discrepancies that I might as well describe as being moments from another dimension where we look at ourselves in the eyes and ask a simple question but without any answer: Where are we?
In fact, this is probably the question at the surface, but the deeper question could be: "Where do I belong?" to begin with. It is kind of a situation where you see yourself here, but also there, but yet you don't quite belong to here because you don't get along with much of what is going on here, and yet you don't feel belonging to there because, again, you don't agree or get along with what "there" represents.

It is such a heavy load that casts its shadow not on the heart alone, but on the whole body; you find yourself sluggish, hardly moving, hardly desiring, hardly achieving, hardly completing the simplest of tasks, and every passing day becomes a story of survival on its own, worrying and wondering how the day will end, instead of living each day for what it is. Meanwhile, the mind thrives to seek the answer to that question: Where do I belong?
For some, the question seems not so important. All they see in this life is to survive. Yet, for those with dreams, and sense of purpose, the question is quite crucial to decide where and what path to sit foot on. It's not about success as much as it is about putting an agitated soul to rest and not to let it roam the realm of the living, like a ghost under purgatory, and until the answer for that question comes, one has no choice, but to undergo the torture of that transcendent dimension which doesn't belong to anywhere…

#disorientation #lost #identity #project #match #matchstick #4d #hypercube #tesseract #goodmorning

أَحْـلامُ الـيَـقَـظَـةِ (Daydreaming).

We talked about escapism before. One essential pillar of that trend, I'd argue, is daydreaming. Years ago, there was a debate on whether "Maladaptive Daydreaming" (MDD) is real or not. Not sure about the updates regarding this, but whatever the case is, I guess we don't have to be psychologists or psychiatrists to reflect on this issue. An issue that many link to creativity, but totally forget about its destructive side.
Personally, I would place this issue at an equal footing with anxiety. Both can be sides of the same coin; while one looks at the negatives of the issue, the other is imaginative about some non-existent issues (and actually this imaginative side is not necessarily happy or positive).
We all are allowed to daydream. Yet, there are cases when such daydreaming takes the mind wandering off the real issues and the real dangers looming directly above the heads.
There is a question, though, that might be hard to answer: Whom to blame? Why would one waste such a time (sometimes hours) in daydreaming? Is it neurological? Trauma? Procrastination? Lack of motivation? Or maybe just all of that? Probably each individual case has its own roots. Knowing them is at the core of helping people to snap out of it, but probably something general can be done; something along the line of showing affection, a pat, a soft word, a song, or even an innocent tease… topics that are usually, but not necessarily, the main theme in daydreamers' minds. Probably, all that daydreaming is just to compensate for some essentials that had been lost in the lives of these folks, and what better way there is to fill in that dreary void but to imagine it is there?
In case you know (and love) someone dwindling in such realms, please hurry up and hold their hands. You just don't know how much addictive (and destructive) daydreaming is…

#daydream #daydreaming #stilllife #still_life #match #matchstick #dreaming #MDD #goodmorning

تَـوْقْ (longing)

When was the last time, when someone asked "how are you?"? When was the last time, when someone asked "why are you sad?"? When was the last time, when someone asked "are you happy?"? When was the last time, when someone told you that they miss you? When was the last time, when you had a pat on the shoulder when you were down? When was the last time, when someone comforted you with words? When was the last time, when someone hugged you? When was the last time, when you leaned your head on a shoulder to cry? When was the last time, when someone caressed you with care? When was the last time, when you've been kissed in any way? When was the last time, when you said to someone "I'm tired (of life)"? When was the last time, when you were able to vent without the fear of being judged? When was the last time, when someone cooked or ordered food for you without you asking, because they know you like that particular food? When was the last time, when someone prepared your coffee or tea for you before asking for it? When was the last time, when someone praised you for something? When was the last time, when someone considered you a choice and not an option? When was the last time, when someone considered you a priority? When was the last time, when someone told you that they love you?
If you don't remember, or the answer was "never," then this is for you; because I care, and someone out there does as well.

#longing #missing #match #matchstick #stilllife #still_life #minimal #minimalism #goodmorning

Escapism - Behind The Scenes;;

For caption (too long for Pixelfed) please check: https://cara.app/post/a1530814-3c9a-479e-9a98-7360f6b4c6e1


#escapism #project #behindthescenes #making #water #match #matchstick #stilllife #still_life #highspeed #high_speed #HSS #motion #goodmorning

Depression - Behind The Scenes;

[...] Full post: https://cara.app/post/15c062f0-d38c-4d04-bd5e-c86dbed173ff

#behindthescenes #set #setting #project #match #bubbles #matchstick #depression #stilllife #still-life #goodmorning

اِكْـتِـئـابْ (depression);

A lot had been said about this topic. In a world where science is leading all aspects of life, almost, it seems that professionals somewhat jump over some issues related to this phenomenon and stick to science. Not to say this is a bad thing, but also don't expect one with depression to just have the mind and the spirit to digest what had been said about the status, or the feeling. Actually, to someone with depression, it is all feelings, and no room for science there.
It is sometimes classified as chronic, clinical, or temporal; but I'll tell you something that always clicked with me in life, so far. It is an old saying from my folks that goes like: "Too much beating dismantles the iron." I'd argue depression works the same, and what is temporal or clinical, can easily turn chronic with no hope in horizon to be reversed.
Genetics are genetics, but when scientists describe the issue as a "pandemic of modern times," it is obvious that it is way beyond genetics for such staggering levels. Idle hopes, broken dreams, shocking disappointments… one burden after the other build up that bubble around the heart, block by block, until one lies there in the blue, unaware of what does it mean to be happy, or what does it mean to expect good in life (if any), or how it works to be an optimist.
The bulk of humanity is placing the trust in medicine and medics, and talk about magical pills and scientific miracles that would alleviate this plague and help one function relatively normal (to the society); yet I wonder how much would these do for the soul and spirit? Meanwhile, no one is talking about a kiss, a caress, a hug, and a shoulder where one can rest a head, and shed some tears without the nuisance of the usual advice that they are so sick of hearing: "you must be strong"…
… trust me, they tried.

#depression #depressed #depressive #stilllife #still_life #project #match #matchstick #feelings #blue #sad #sadness #bubble #psyche #goodmorning

مَـنْـبـوذْ (outcast)
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Now, the technical talk. So far, this is probably one of the hardest shots to create in this project, because of combining ambient light (the fire on the match sticks) and flash (to create the shadows). This image undergone a lengthy "doctoring" to be fixed!
The shoot was done with f/1.6 to create a shallow depth of field centered around the bent match while keeping the other burning matches slightly out of focus (slightly because the distance isn't much between the two); it is just something to serve directing the focus onto the bent match. Because of this, and using a slow shutter speed, I had to use the variable ND filter here to control the light in general (ambient and flash). Otherwise, it would have been blown out. I've planned to overlap two images, one with lit matches and one with normal matches, but in the process this proved to be almost useless. However, one of the most serious issues here is the burn in the foam (the background in which the matches are pinned) because I used a little torch to light the matches all at once, and the heat was great that it affected the foam underneath. This burn mark got me some time to fix in editing. I've planned originally to let this be a regular white background like the rest in this series, but the fire here wouldn't allow for this, so I left it as is, but lot of work was done in adjusting and fixing the light levels in the scene, and colors as well.
So, this is it for now. I'll see if I can post another one from this session by next Friday. Meanwhile, I need to find a new idea to shoot! (Original full post in the link in the comments below)

#castaway #outcast #match #matchstick #burn #fire #displaced #project #stilllife #still_life #goodmorning