Day 29

29/365, originally uploaded by Aaron LaRue.

I ALMOST got this one in on time. In my defense, I took it at about 11:15 tonight. Day 29 is my cousin Lash. 

Lash has had a rough few years to say the least. A few months ago, he began getting claustrophobic at home. He wasn't enjoying school, was having a hard time finding a job, and didn't know what he wanted to do with his life. Not knowing how he was going to get out, he walked into an Army recruitment office. Now, a few months later, he has his departure date and a lot of time to think about the road ahead of him. I'm not happy about his choice, but I hope that when he gets out, he'll have gotten what he wanted out of his experience. 


I'm a huge Edward Hopper fan and I love American Realism. Lash's situation is about as real as it gets for me, and I knew exactly what I wanted to do for his portrait. In doing research for a movie, I came across this Hopper painting that I love, and it inspired this picture. I knew he'd be in Laughlin at this time, staying at my grandparents house (which is where we shot this). It all worked out pretty well. I am stoked on this picture, it being one of those rare occasions where your vision actually manifests itself without compromises.


Hopper had paint and I have lights. For this picture, I stuck a flash pointing straight up into the ceiling to simulate a porch light coming off of the house and to light the area. Then I stuck another flash high and a little behind Lash at camera right to light him, still building on the porch light idea. To bring out the darker areas, I used a 2 second exposure, kind of like the picture for Day 3.