The Maine Thing – Day 6

Day 6 in Maine was fairly overcast, perfect for hiking in wooded areas. The image below was made on a trail starting at Jordan Pond. The trails are mostly for hiking, but also horse-riding and offer wonderful views of rather pristine woodland. What really amazed me was how interwoven  the Plant-life is with the geology. Trees were growing out of stone and even in the nooks of other trees! For example, I saw several fir trees growing out of  bifurcations in birch trees.

For this hike I selected to use a light weight Micro-Four-thirds system again. In this case it was the Panasonic GH2 with an Olympus 9-18mm lens (equivalent to an 18-36mm in 35mm format). Compositionally, I am using the trees to frame the distant view. From a color standpoint, this is a monochromatic piece, so I am emphasizing the different tonalities of green (as I would with grays were this a black-and-white image).

View from trail near Jordan Pond

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North Penn Select Fine Craft Show – March 17

The North Penn Select Craft Show is a wonderful show to find fine works of art and the works of the highest craftsmanship. Personally though, it is also a great way for me start my show year. The show is this Saturday from 9:30am to 4:30pm at North Penn High School in Lansdale, PA. Prepare to get there early and expect to be impressed!

Click  HERE   for more show information!

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How To Survive Middle School……Talks

Yesterday I spoke to two classes of advanced art students at the Boyertown Junior High School West. These talks were pretty casual, that is, I didn’t have a lesson plan. Basically, their teacher wanted me to discuss my process, show my work, and talk about being a professional artist/photographer.

I’ve spoken to groups before of course, including a community college class, but never to any grade school class. So this was a first time experience.  I wasn’t totally unprepared for it though. I do have a 13 year old daughter afterall. And I had previously read How To Survive Middle School a book by a very talented friend of mine, Donna Gephart.

It was interesting speaking about photography to kids who had no experience with film at all. Actually, the classes went quickly and Mrs Stamm was very easy to work with, so it turned out fine. Looks like I may be heading back sometime to work with the librarian who runs the photography club.

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What’s My Line

This evening I spoke to the Bucks-Mont Art League, an arts group with a 60 year history. The group is composed of members working in a variety of mediums with a variety of backgrounds. They asked me to speak about myself as an artist and my creative process. This is something I am pretty comfortable doing and usually just have to be told to stop.

For these kinds of talks I like to bring a Fujica St605n camera, my first 35mm SLR. It’s a model that goes back about 30 years and was the model I learned photography with. I bring it to emphasise both the differences and similarities of the process over the period in which I have worked in the medium. Speaking this evening, I realized again just how much photographic history I have lived through. Photography has been around since 1839, in that time the process and materials and equipment have constantly been changing. At the same time, I am still fundamentally doing the same thing as they did back then; visualize an image and then control the size and duration of opening of an aperture.

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Kutztown Folk Festival – Day 1

The crowd came early today and so did my first sale. I have several new pieces offered so it was good to get some feedback from folk as they came through and commented on my work. This is day 1 of 9 days during which I will be wearing suspenders. It won’t happen again until next year’s show. Work I sold included 3 pieces for 3 boy’s rooms and a birthday gift.

Today’s first print to sell was of a wolf, an image I made at Lakota Wolf Preserve in NJ. The image is titled “Eye Contact”.

Who are You?

Last night I had the pleasure to speak to the Palmerton Camera Club in Palmerton, PA. My talk was autobiographical but with a twist. It wasn’t just about me, but about the process of self circumspection – an examination of who we are as photographers individually. I feel that the process of writing an autobiography is helpful in making decisions about who we are as creative people and where it is we want to go with our work. I also think it helpful to hear how other creative people have gottten where they are and the process they go through to help them decide what they want to do next.

Knowing where I’ve been and being honest with myself about what I really enjoy doing is helpful in directing my next move. Last night was also an opportunity to show other photographers my path. Maybe it is one that others relate to and see as an option for themselves. Of course I also shared some images and spoke to my process and motivation in making them.

Thank you Palmerton Camera Club for the warm reception and well organized meeting.

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