Christmas Craft Sales

Business, Galleries and Shows
Tuesday, November 8th, 2011

Today’s post is brought to you by a cute and surprised mink (Neovison vison).

mink-in-grass

On Thursday, December 15th, I’ll be at the Daffodil Gallery for a few hours in the middle of the day. I may bring some small prints with me to augment the lovely gallery wraps and pendants they already have there. This is part of their 12 days of Christmas where artists will be in attendance.

Edit 1:
Camrose is done and was a great success! Thanks to everyone who came out. I hope you all enjoy your prints and pendants!
Camrose Spirits of Christmas
November 25th – 27th
At the Camrose Regional Exhibition

Edit 2:
This year I’m doing two one more all done craft sales.

Lethbridge is also done. It was good to meet some of you southerners! The show went well and we had a great time!
Lethbridge Big X-mas Trade Show
December 2nd – 3rd
At Exhibition Park

Ermineskin Craft Fair

Business, Galleries and Shows
Tuesday, October 25th, 2011

This year I will be selling photos and pendants at the Ermineskin Craft Fair at 10717 – 32A Avenue Saturday, November 5, 10am to 4pm. Admission is $2.00.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Definitions and Desires

Business, Composition, Macro, Photo of the Day, Plants
Thursday, October 20th, 2011

I get to meet a lot of photographers. I know photographers who shoot weddings for $400, and I know photographers who shoot weddings for $4000. I know people who only shoot one kind of event or subject, and I know people who will shoot anything. There are a lot of people out there clamoring for any shoot they can get.

I often describe myself as a photographer. I don’t make my entire income from photography, but it is a significant portion. I’ve worked hard to get where I am, and there’s a lot of hard work ahead of me. It might seem strange that this month I’ve been turning down paid shoots.

Shoots are bragging rights. Shoots are proof that you really are a photographer. If you have a client, you are a professional. There are a lot of people who want to be a Photographer with a capital P. Photographers, by definition, take photographs for a living. This is so general that it hardly describes any successful photographer I know, but some people seem to want to do anything that involves clicking that shutter. More often, photographers like interacting with people and making them feel good about themselves. Some photographers want to help people remember important events. Some photographers want to travel and share their discoveries with others. Some photographers want to be well known as artists, and photography is their way in. There might be some photographers who just love turning those dials and pressing that button, but that’s not me, and it’s probably not you.

It’s a lot of work figuring out what you love. It takes a lot of experimenting, and a lot of going down the wrong path. Once you find what you love, it takes a lot of work to articulate it. Once you’ve done that, it takes a lot of work and courage to pursue it. I’ve tried a lot of things over the years and a few things have become clear. I love being outdoors. I love playing one color off another, finding a line that curves just the right amount, that leads into the just the right amount of confusion. Creating beauty and adding to the beauty in the world, these are things I care about. (my constantly changing definition of beauty could be another blog post entirely, and I suppose it’s hinted at in every photo I post) I want to find natural scenes that abstractly resonate with our human condition. These goals change over time as I discover more about myself and the world, but they don’t change dramatically. And by knowing these few things, I can continue to enjoy life and photography. And I don’t go chasing after every shoot – I leave them to people who want to make a living doing what they love.

green-willow-leaves

A willow leaf, still green in October, when only the last few yellow poplar leaves are left.

Stand of Aspen on an Elk Filled Fall Evening

Forest, Night Photography, Photo of the Day, Prairie
Tuesday, October 11th, 2011
fall-black-and-white-landscape

This photo was taken in Cooking Lake Provincial Rec Area. Actually the name is “Cooking Lake – Blackfoot Grazing, Wildlife Provincial Recreation Area”, but that’s a ridiculously long name, and I don’t intend on typing it out every time I mention it. Anyway, this is the area just south of Elk Island National Park. It’s almost exactly the same, except it has a few fields and no bison. And you don’t have to pay to get in. All in all, a great area to go hiking.

This was an overcast day, and a little misty. There were water droplets on the grass and a bit of a breeze rustling the leaves too. It was in this muffled darkening atmosphere that I first noticed the elk. The bull was watching me, with his herd off to the side, behind a copse of apsen.

herd-elk-fall-field-2

herd-elk-fall-field

I crouched down and watched them for a while. A calf was still nursing, and many of the elk were grazing, but the bull kept watching me. As the light faded along with my vision, the herd moved off into the trees. That first photo was taken in the trees where the elk disappeared into, after it had become quite dark.

Aspen on a Clear Night

Forest, Night Photography
Sunday, October 2nd, 2011
poplars-and-blurry-stars

This was a 20 second exposure on a clear, still, moonless night in Dillberry Lake Provincial Park. This took some accurate esimating of the distance from me to the tree and a focus distance indicator on my lens. I’m not sure if some modern SLRs could autofocus in this kind of darkness, but mine certainly can’t.

I’m starting to enjoy night photography more all the time. It forces me to slow down — once it’s dark there’s really no rushing necessary. Sunsets and sunrises can be a little more stressful as they’re very time-limited. Finding the balance between enjoying the outdoors and becoming a professional photographer can sometimes be hard. There’s always pressure to get a better shot, a different composition. But coming up with something new is also extremely rewarding.

Aurora Borealis

Landscape, Night Photography, Photo of the Day
Wednesday, September 28th, 2011

Last night at 2:14am, this was the view from a field in Blackfoot Recreation Area. It was absolutely incredible to watch the northern lights swirl across the sky – mostly green but tinged with red.

aurora-borealis-northern-lights

I’ve rarely seen them brighter than this. The only time I remember was when I was 7 years old, at the house in the country where I grew up. I remember my whole family standing out in the back yard, staring straight up as northern lights of all different colors cut through the black sky above us. And I remember hearing a whooshing sound as they moved.