An improvement

Last time I said that I really wanted to get a good shot of a snowflake.  So here is my latest attempt. While it is not perfect in the photographic, technical sense, it is certainly an improvement over the previous shots I posted. I don't know how much better I can make it without drastically changing the "set-up" and way I take the shot.  Nevertheless, I will continue to play around with the equipment that I have and aspire to take "the photo."  If the snow comes back, that is.

Here are a few different versions that I have played around with on the computer.  Which do you like?

Snowflake (#3) [version a1, version a3, and version a4, respectively]

Winter

This has certainly been an odd winter so far. Not too much snow to speak of and it is late January, but here are a few shots of the white stuff. I really want to get a good shot of a snowflake. Here are a pair of my better attempts (I won't show you the other gazillion failed attempts), and a shot of a "lake effect" squall that moved through recently.

Snowflake (#1)

 Snowflake (#2)

 Squall

Troublesome questions…

Consistent fits and starts? Foci or follies? Expectation or execution? Vision or vapulation?

I am having some general angst about my photography lately, as you may have guessed from my questions above.  I want to keep this one short, so I think that each of these questions may be topics for future posts. Basically, these questions boil down to this: what the heck am I doing?  At this point, I just don’t know.  I feel as if I am simultaneously trying too hard and not doing enough. I guess I will just leave it at that for now.

Today's image is Solitary.

Tis the season

Just wishing everyone a happy holiday season.  Hopefully I will be finished with work stuff soon and can give some more attention to this!  Thanks for looking, and check back soon...

And a quick shot...

The Grand Opening

First off, many thanks to everyone that was able to make it to the opening reception at RACC. It was great to have the support of so many family and friends at my first exhibit opening. A big thank you also goes out to the RACC, and especially the director, Lauren, for all of the work that went into putting together the show. Next, I must say thank you to the many people who were not able to make it to the reception but wished me well, broken limbs, luck, etc. And lastly, a set of very appreciative thank yous to “S” and to “M” for their generous support on opening night!

I think that the opening went quite well, and the visitors seemed to enjoy the photos – even the people that were not my relatives! I had a lot of fun (perhaps enhanced slightly by the bootleg champagne smuggled in by family), and I hope everyone else did as well. I really enjoyed talking with people about my photographs.

Ironically, I forgot to bring my camera to the reception of the exhibit for my own photographs! Thankfully, others were not so scattered… the photos below were sent along by artist / friend / colleague Steve Specht. Steve’s blog about collage can be found here.

 Me...

 ... with my father, Tom, and my grandmother, Gigi.

Show Time!

So… my first solo show in a gallery (Rome Art and Community Center, Rome NY) is this Friday!  I have had photos entered into shows and contests before, but this is different. In the group shows, my contribution was but a small part of what made that event a success – a whole made of many parts. Here, the quality of the show lies squarely on my shoulders, and that makes me very nervous.

It doesn’t seem possible that the show is about to open.  It has been scheduled for about a year, but way back then it was an abstract notion – something that would happen someday, but not yet. Then a few months ago, I began printing the photos that I thought I might use.  I ordered most of the frames last month.  The last week has been spent with me in a panic trying to decide what photos to use, filling out paperwork for the gallery, assembling everything, and wondering how it could be time for the show already. Perhaps the craziest part of this process is the fact that photos that I was convinced would be a part of the show even a few days ago are not necessarily the ones I picked. I have been obsessing over which photos to use and trying to narrow down the choices. I guess that I was afraid I wouldn’t pick the “right” photos. And then the drop-off deadline arrived, and I dropped off the photos.  The gallery director kindly asked me if there was anything else I needed, I promptly replied that I didn’t know and returned the question by asking if there was anything else I needed, and was then on my way and relieved to be done. Now, I am simultaneously excited to have the show open and horrified at the thought of it opening.

Next post -- the show opening!

Photo of the day: “Absurdity” While this one is not in the show, I only just recently took this photo, it does follow the theme of Light.

A comeback...

Well, it has been a very long time since I added a post… much too long.  But now I am back.  The reason is that I have “just been busy” with work, family, renovations, etc.  The usual stuff… just not photography. In fact, while there have been a few little bursts of activity, I haven’t really even taken many photos recently. And there has been absolutely no work on the microstock front.  That has to change!  It is strange, but I simultaneously miss taking photos and have no idea what I would take photos of… inspired without inspiration.  On the other hand, my efforts over the last few months have been more behind the scenes rather than behind the camera. These include organizing two group shows in galleries, and preparing / fretting about an upcoming solo show.  More on those soon!

Here is the “before” picture of the day. I took this shot of the moon under a lamp post a week or two ago and am in the process of editing and digitally manipulating it. When I am done, I will post the “after” version.