Project CMYK: BLACK SKY

 Some time has passed and after Yellow City was shot and developed, a long unfruitful winter sank in.  During this time CMYK had one last piece to do, and it was a toss up how the vision of the final part was going to see completion.  Amidst a housing move and an absolute deadline of Spring 2016, some unknown sacrifices had to be made.  One thing was certain about BlacK Sky, it was going to be of the night sky; not just the night sky but a multiple shot long exposure night sky.     Being in Illinois, and moreover a suburb, my biggest obstacle is light noise in the night sky.  Looking around for ideal areas I found Weinberg-King State Park, which had light noise comparable to Joshua Tree National Park; a park I had their pleasure of visiting many times at night and where learned why exactly it's called the Milky Way.  That being the case, the composition was set: long exposure of the lightless night sky taking up the lion's share of the frame bathing the less shown rolling hills. 
 
   

  It's was of course not without set backs; firstly was a move we were planning from our previous house into another one, but within a brief period of time as our former dwelling was sold and needed to move quickly.  Secondly, it was now the dead of Winter and as such certain reservation slots during the winter season were halved, seeing as not a lot of campers come there especially at that time of year.  Third, was the equipment; long exposures of the night sky need something greater than just a tripod.  This required a star tracker, a device that follows the night sky based on the North Star's location.  Without the device, you get what I shot.  Regardless of the set backs the move was made, it was the first "clear night"with optimal light pollution in Woodstock, and I chose to instead of paying for a $300 star tracker to piece together a star trail composition of 6 shots at 30 minutes per shot.  The film was an easy choice, or so I thought.  See there is black and white film developed like black and white film, and there's black and white film developed like color film. The difference other than cost was time, and as time was not on my side, developing the film like color film was my only option.  

BLACK SKY
f/16
6 shots @ 30 minutes each
Ilford XP2 SUPER

... And with that, CMYK a labor of compromise, color celebration, and time being a worse enemy to me than myself was over.  Printed, sent out to those that helped me, and framed for the world to see I still felt incomplete.  Maybe it was only at it's time that it didn't feel right, because I can say with 100% certainty looking back almost one year from when K was shot, this was a huge proud moment and accomplishment in my photography life. Well...on to my next couple ideas I've been kicking around "Local F" and "Meat Your Maker" for 2017, but I suppose my next announcement/blog is to open another accomplishment I'm proud of, and put a lot of time and energy into, much like CMYK.  I guess you could say that this project I have releasing January 10th is...
 
 
 ....Epic