Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! EXTREME picture framing!
Image by out of ideas
An ugly photo needs an ugly frame. Simple. But you're not going to find grungy, trashed frames at the store. They're all clean, straight, shiny or (worst of all) cute. Even at a custom framing shop, it's a challenge. Screw 'em, then. Make your own.
(If you want a project that's time consuming, dangerous, smelly, and has a high probability of failure, keep reading.)
I had two frames, useless for one of my favoite photos. They were plastic, with a powder silver finish, and didn't match anything I wanted to frame. So, I decided to have a barbecue. I found an ancient can of charcoal lighter fluid in the shed out back, and gathered up some sticks from the yard. Showtime!
It's a good thing I had two frames. The first one was a failure, but an educational one. Instead of just obediently burning and charring, it also shrunk like a Shrinky-Dink, and warped easier than I had expected it to. Whoops.
Now I knew what to do, though. For frame number two, I kept the glass in. I rotated the frame frequently, so that no edge got too soft in the heat. The frame developed some interesting warps, but kept enough of its shape to be useful. With the glass in, it couldn't shrink. I was afraid the cheap, paper-thin glass would crack in the heat, and it did. It didn't shatter, though. Good enough. I'd saved the intact glass from the first frame anyway.
I also learned the best way to char the plastic. Don't hold in or over the fire like you're roasting a marshmallow. Drag it through the embers like you're... dragging something through embers. This was another plus to having the first frame not work out - the fire had been burning for almost half an hour, so there was a small pile of ash and glowing red coals underneath. Ash and tiny coals will stick to the slightly melting frame. That's good. Carbon is your friend. It adds texture, and looks appropriately crappy.
Optional - burn the easel!
I don't really recommend this. I'm not sure I'll try it next time. Whatever space-age combination of wood pulp and glue that thing was made up of, it did not want to let itself be scorched. As far as burning is concerned, the easel seemed to have two states - barely turning brown, and "Oh my god it's a massive fireball!". Both attempts to scorch the easel were frustrating, and contenders for a Darwin Award. The first attempt was a failure. The second attempt was worse, in terms of danger, but at least it resulted in something I could use.
The final thing you'll need to do is wait. That thing reeked. A campfire smell may be tolerable, but campfire and chemicals isn't something you want. I left it outside for two days before bringing it in the house. That's another reason not to burn the easel. The plastic didn't smell very bad once it had cooled, but the easel was something else entirely. To my surprise, it still fit together well enough to hold a photograph.
The result is the ugly by-product of poor planning and reckless execution, and I love it.
Memories
Image by Josh Kenzer
269/365
For my birthday, my wife bought me the frame you see on the wall. It holds an amazing 6 5x7s, 6 4x6s, 4 3.5x3.5s and 1 8x10.
Strobist: Vivitar 285hv at 1/4 power camera right to light my face. A Canon 430ex II through softbox at 1/2 power pointed at the picture frame on the wall. Both triggered with Cactus V4.
Creative Corner
Image by melodramababs
I went to Zellers the other day and aimlessly made my way to the back of the store. I have no idea why. I was just in there for a bottle of water. In the back I found a clearance table with picture frames on sale for 1$ . I bought a few.
Now I gotta get more stuff printed. First, I should take some more shots of "not me" to frame.
254/365
Image by ladybugbkt
09/10/08: I bought these super cute picture frames at Target today (on clearance!) for my new desk as work.
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