My friend Joe asked me and some friends to come up to his new house and help build a wall.
I said yes, of course, and thought what a better day to also take care of the May theme for the WE35 project. So I brought my camera and new video camera.
It turns out that Joe was thinking of building a wall going up some stairs. But 3 of us thought it would better to not. And instead, we recommend a handrail.
A wall means closing off the living room a little. A handrail means adding safety up the stairs but keeping the room feeling as open as it currently is.
So we took a trip to Home Depot and figured out what we needed to build a handrail.
Then the fun started.
We determined that we had to cut a 2×4 to properly cut the rail post. Because Joe’s circular saw would go down too far and didn’t have a built-in stopper, we had to make our own. And then sand down the cut 2×4 slightly, so it’s just the right height. That was a two man job.
We also had to cut a hole in the living room’s beautiful hardwood floors, to properly secure the hand rail’s post to joists. And then cut away some popcorned drop ceiling from the basement.
The sacrifices will be worth it in the end, as the hand rail will look amazing, and hold up against the weight of anyone.
I am in no way an extremely hand person. On a scale from 1–10 with 10 being a DIY Network TV show host status, I’m about a 3. I can get things done here and there. I can build some things. But a wall or a handrail is beyond my normal scope. Even so, it was a fun project to be a part of. And I was happy to help push Joe away from building the wall, which would close off the room too much.
The WE35 project for May was to photograph a gathering, in 3 parts.
- Totem (something symbolic of the gathering)
- Capturing a moment
- Portrait
I’ve already shared the totem and moment with you. But not the portrait.
Meet my friend Joe.
He’s extremely handy. Here is just before cutting the next handrail post. I, of course, moved out of the way before he cut as well.
This portrait was a combination of natural light and accidental artificial light.
Directly above and behind Joe’s head is a diffused ceiling light. It added a nice separation from the ceiling above, which was also illuminated from the front door which was open.
Not building a wall was originally published by Scott Wyden Kivowitz.
Originally posted at https://scottwyden.com/wall/
Scott Wyden Kivowitz is a photographer, blogger, father, author and educator. Scott is also the Community & Blog Wrangler at Imagely. Connect with him on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. If you like what you read, how about pushing the ♥ button below? Not only does that give my article more reach, the karma headed your way is awesome.
