Edit-1297-light breakfast_flat_3000DON JOHNSON 208-939-9397

Yay! It's play time! No more photosynthesis!! For now.

Nothing serious for the next couple weeks - we're going to channel our inner kindergärtner and do fun stuff. Complete with a nap at 3 pm (bring your own blanket), and a snack before recess. We'll track mud into the house, crayon the walls, get cookie crumbs in the sofa, and let the dog chase the cat when mom's not looking. 

But before you do anything else, get up, walk through your house and make sure you have a kitchen. Good? Alright. You never know.

A typical kitchen is a gold mine for photographers. It's full of props, light modifiers, things that go whir and knives to chop them all up with when things don't work out. Some kitchens, like ours, even have running water! I'll bet that would be awesome in the outhouse.

Since you're already in the kitchen, check to see if you can locate these three common articles. They'll come in handy later:

• a roll of aluminum foil
• a roll of wax paper
• a roll of plastic wrap
   

If not, put them on your shopping list for tomorrow. We like happy families, so it's probably best to have your own private supply. We don't want to read in the paper about your significant other going nuclear when they find their tin foil wrapped around poor Fido, or worse, Baby Kate. See, there's a great reason to have your own.

That's just for starters. In addition, you get to use anything you find in your kitchen. For example, forks (useful for road decisions), spoons (which often run away with dishes), copper pots (excellent tripod weights), microwaves (dry your camera fast!), and a refrigerator to keep the wine bottles chilled. Partially empty wine bottles make excellent photographic still life models, especially in odd numbers like 3 or 7. Well, maybe not so still; they tend to move around a lot as they get lighter. 

There are only two rules for this assignment:

> Every shot you make for the next two weeks will require the use of at least one kitchen item. The item may or may not appear in the photo, but it must be utilized in the making of the photo.

> At least one of your photos needs to feature the use of aluminum foil, wax paper, or plastic wrap. [Photoshop filters that emulate these things don't count. You must use the real deal.]

Some things to do with foil wax paper, or plastic wrap:

• Make a tinfoil hat, of course! Extra points if you wear it in public.
• A crumpled foil or wax backdrop
• A bright foil reflector or soft wax reflector
• A foil funhouse mirror
• A foil bokeh wall
• Roll up a snoot (to limit direction of flash output)
• Moody or hazy lens filters (use a full wax paper piece or cut a hole in the middle)
• Paint on plastic wrap with a colored marker - shoot through it
• Form figures and shapes with foil
• Punch holes in foil and light from behind
• Make a pinhole camera
• Wrap a fish
• Flag and limit light with Cinefoil (a versatile black foil)
• Waterproof your camera by wrapping it in plastic (surprisingly often much better than expensive covers and wraps)
• Wrap a tree, a car, a model (make sure she can breathe!)
• Safety warning - wax paper is flammable so don't be stupid. Also, don't lay across train tracks. Or run with scissors.

And so on. The same logic, or lack thereof, applies to all kitchen items. If you haven't had enough photosynthesis, create a photo with a fork, leftover coffee grounds, and that tub of coconut oil on the upper shelf. You forgot you bought that, didn't you? Now we're talking. 

TINFOIL HAT will run for two weeks, from Nov 30 to Dec 13.

Happy shooting!