XX POSURE

I recently discovered the in-camera double-exposure feature in my Fuji X100F. I have thoroughly enjoyed using this setting, and the double-exposure photographs of downtown Syracuse have made the city almost unrecognizable.

I’ve been hearing about and watching tutorials that feature “zines.” Zines are creative, oftentimes hand-crafted magazines of artists’ personal work. I’ve been wanting to make a zine for months now. Today, I did!!

XX POSURE Zine: Volume 1, Issue 1 is out for print. While I’m not quite skilled enough yet (or maybe I am and just not motivated enough yet) to make a zine completely from scratch start to finish, I do have a great Blurb.com template that helped me make a beautiful zine in about an hour. I am very proud. This is something I can see as an ongoing project, especially after retirement. Which apparently I’m thinking quite a lot about as well, and wishing that day would get here sooner rather than later.

LaTrenda

Let's See What Happens!

Okay, I do procrastinate when I shouldn’t. Like today. Today is the deadline for the Light Work Grant In Photography submission. And of course, as is always true, Murphy’s Law kicked in! BUT, I won! I completed the application, submitted 20 of my favorite photographs, paid the small entry fee, and I have just entered into my very first real photography competition! Again, I’m not expecting to win the grant, but feedback would be wonderful. It’s hard to judge our own work. We need feedback, constructive criticism from those who are where we hope to be. I’m pretty proud right now.

LaTrenda

My First Photo Competition!

I’ve been thinking about my future quite a bit lately. If I’m fortunate to still be here in December 2020, my 35 year career will come to an end. Retirement will begin. And truly, that day cannot come fast enough for me. It will be bittersweet, but I eagerly anticipate my next adventures with my camera firmly in hand.

Apparently the God of Photogs has been listening in on my creative thoughts and desires. As I’ve said right here on my SYR ART PHOTOGRAPHY web page, I have really enjoyed photographing Syracuse and seeing wonder in the ordinary. A couple of nights ago I was literally thinking how wonderful it would be to have local Syracuse area photographers, amateurs as well as professionals, have their photographs of Syracuse life displayed in a gallery setting. That is an exhibit I would go to see, and would love to participate in. That idea was soon replaced at the disappointing thought that Syracuse would likely never have something that cool.

I come home from work yesterday. At some point I sit down at my 27” desktop. The first thing I do is pull up the template of my Blurb book “BARE.” BARE, when printed, will be a coffee table-sized book of photographic captures of bare trees arranged as mirror images. The book is 436 pages, and will be my 18th or 19th book I will have published through Blurb (all just for me, I’m not a famous published author). After that, I scroll through my email. “Last reminder, your inspection is due.” “Your Amazon order has shipped.” “You have a new log in from an unrecognized browser, just making sure it’s you.” You know, the mundane email that clogs our inbox. And then!! “Light Work is pleased to announce the 2019 Light Work Grants in Photography competition. Light Work began offering grants to CNY artists in 1975 to encourage the production of new photographic work in the region…“ I ‘bout fell out of my chair! CNY artists! Central New York! SYRACUSE!!! It’s not quite a gallery showing for the SYR photog masses, but the selected few will have their work displayed which is awesome!

Okay. No, this is not me giving up before I start. I love how far I’ve come in my own photography journey. Everything I’ve learned, everything I’m continuing to learn; I’m still growing. I have NO expectation that I will be one of the Light Work grant winners, but man oh MAN am I excited to toss my hat in the ring for the first time in a photography competition since my photo journey began. I have an eye. For a long time I would giggle like a school girl and not feel worthy when someone really liked one of my images. When my friends and family would tell me they loved an image, of course I thought they were just being kind. I don’t remember the day, moment, or photograph where I finally realized I had something, but it did happen. I do have to begin taking formal classes in order to strengthen my understanding of the technical aspects of photography (come on retirement!!). And I really want to get into a darkroom for the first time and develop some film images. I am grateful for digital photography though. Without it, I wouldn’t be a photographer today. I wouldn’t know I had an eye. Being able to capture images, see them immediately, come home and edit them, and watch the amazing unfold; I’m thankful for this medium.

For new photography enthusiasts, there is so much information we have available to us to help us learn everything we want to know. Sitting in the comfort of home on a brutal CNY winter day and being able to watch tutorial after tutorial, and documentary after documentary of photographers is truly invaluable. But it is also easy to get discouraged by some of the contradictory conversations. “Digital photography kills photography!” “Why the camera you’re using is giving you crappy images!” Or, you see images from pro photographers around the world and you think, “Ugh! I give up now! I’m NEVER gonna be that good! EVER!! WAAAHHHHH!!!” My message to all lovers of photography is this. If you are curious, if you see what no one else sees, if you want to freeze time, if you want people to know you were here on this earth, TAKE THE SHOT! Press the shutter button. Love that image that you know if you hadn’t taken it, no one else would have. Remember this. It’s NOT the gear. It’s the IMAGE.

LaTrenda

It's Hip To Be Square

I just dig this whole photography thing! Everything a photographer sees becomes a photograph. The ordinary becomes extraordinary, mysterious, abstract… I’m now playing around with different aspect ratio sizes. 1:1 is becoming my favorite! Something about shooting square and really framing up only what you want to see is really interesting. I will say, shooting panoramas are also tickling my photographic phancy! I still get so disappointed when I hear professional photographers who take amazing street photographs, all talk about the work that is their bread and butter because street photography is a passion, but it doesn’t pay the bills. I understand it to a large degree; most people don’t want photographs of strangers hanging in their homes. But I hope to photograph Syracuse in a way that people go beyond seeing strangers or objects, and fall in love with bringing a piece of their city into their home. We’ll see…

LaTrenda

IT'S ALL THE WAY LIVE

Today is Saturday, November 17th, 2018 and SYR ART PHOTOGRAPHY just went live! I am very excited to see where all of this goes; my web page, my photography, my journey. And by the way, look who’s blogging!! So I guess I should add blogging to the list. I never expected that the older I became, the more creative I would become. But surprisingly that’s exactly what is happening and I couldn’t be happier.

LaTrenda