Difference of opinions

After I finished a home project this week I decided to put some of my prints in frames and hang them on the wall in our stairwell. I already had the frames and a lot of prints in sitting in envelopes in a box. The frames are the very simple, very cheap plastic frames you find at a local pharmacy/convenience store in your neighborhood. Most of my prints were 8x12's and the frames were 8x10.

Oops.

I ended up selecting a dozen or so prints that I could trim down to 8x10 size and put into the frames. On the wall, I measured out the start and end frame locations and did my division, then I marked the nail holes. Well, lets just say I got very lucky. I didn't take into account the width of the frames and really by pure luck, I was able to fit the frames in/on the wall side by side.....but only if they were portrait oriented (up and down). The landscape (side to side) frames won't fit on that line on that side of the wall. So I decided to put the landscape frames on the other side of the staircase.

At the bottom of the staircase is our entry way, (where I lay some marble tiles), is an 8 foot wide wall that is about 10 feet tall. I have great plans for that wall, but for now, I will put some pictures there. Actually, three pictures, in one frame. This framed picture set is what the Potter & Raccoon Red Devil Senior Cheerleaders received from me this year. Here is my daughters version.



Yes she's a cheerleader and no, the pictures aren't really that cheery. Sure, it has caused some consternation among the viewers of the picture set. Honestly, I like the fact that those images of her are different. I like different. I also like that it brings about discussion among those that are not afraid to voice their opinions. It doesn't hurt my feelings that viewers don't like it, but not everyone is willing to say how they feel. Well, not to my face anyway. So thus continues my foray into the world of art. It is subjective after all.

One down, many to go

I have v.01 of the poster done. I would love a little critique on it. Good, bad, ideas, something that isn't quite right????? Let me know.

The locations it will display are: high school, coffee shop, burger joint, ice cream joint, drug store, concession stand.

The two rows on the bottom are smaller versions of my business card. They will be scored and perforated so interested parties can tear off a mini card and take it with them. I can somewhat gauge interest by the number of cards missing.

It's not designed to be a high school senior poster. It's more like a a blanket photo poster. A little of everything. I know I don't have any guy picture in it, and I am working on that. Like I said, it's v.01. (v.02 is being worked on and will have sports and wedding pictures on it).

Motivation

I spend a lot of time looking at other peoples images in order to get ideas for my own shoots. When I drive around I make notes of places I would like to return to. Sometimes the season isn't right or even the weather. My favorite places are run down buildings or vacant lots and Industrial areas. Living near Pittsburgh there are a lot of old areas in which to shoot in. I just found a great place literally 200 feet from my house that will definitely come in to use in the future. Currently, it's near perfect for certain shoots since none of the trees have leaves and the ground isn't over grown with bushes. But once the growth comes back, it will change and not be so friendly.

One of the sites I found today was really inventive. So simple, but the execution was perfect. It's a series of portraits of high school seniors that will most likely create images that can span a generation. These pictures will show up in 10 and 20 years for their reunion events. Here they are.

Senior Shoot

I got the opportunity to shoot Brittany's senior pictures last week. I have to say, I thought I was pretty honored to be asked. In this day and age, photography is so much about a good relationship between photographer and subject.
We met at a sports banquet and chatted for a few minutes. Then Wednesday morning, her mom called and asked for a short notice session. I gathered my gear and we headed off to the first of a few locations. Normally I charge for each location, but since the studio is still in repair mode, I waived the location fees.

Now for Brittany.