Well, tomorrow I’ll be hitting the road for the show in Edmonton, ready or not. Despite having known for a while (not as long as I’d have liked, given how late they were in getting back to me that I had made the cut for this show) exactly when I needed to be ready, I’ve been doing my usual frantic last minute preparations to get out of here tomorrow morning.
The van is mostly packed, I’ve *almost* stopped creating new versions of my images in Photoshop and printing and matting them, and yet more business cards are coming out of the printer as I type this. Thank goodness for all these details that can be handled “in house” now. I remember the days when such things as business cards had to be ordered well in advance from the printer’s, and if at the last minute you decided you needed more, too bad, you’d be going to the show with your pathetic few and would have to ration them.
I have no idea how many photos I *should* have for this show. It lasts five days and according to my Alberta artist friends who are regulars, it does have enthusiastic shoppers, so I’m going with what I feel is quite a bit of work. Since this is the launch of my show/sale season, if I don’t move a lot at this venue, I’ll have a good head start on stock for the rest of my sales. If I do sell well, I’ve still got time enough to generate lots more, doubtless at the last minute yet again! Can’t say I’m not consistent.
Part of my problem with all the above has been the ongoing lovely fall weather we’ve been experiencing. If it had been dark, cool and wet (as it is today) in the past month, I’d have been logging a lot of studio time, but since the weather has been so outstandingly lovely, I’ve just carried on with outdoor activities and with getting yet more of those “fall light” shots. We don’t always get into November with such lovely browns and golds and no snow, and I have really been grateful to work with this type of light in my photos. Once the snow has come it will be a whole different ball game as far as the visuals and the light are concerned. I love winter shots, but they pose a lot of technical challenges with the brightness of the snow. Now that I’m shooting manual all the time, I’ll have to puzzle out the best way to handle it when the time comes.
The first three shots today demonstrate the kind of light I am talking about. It is very warm and contrasty–what is referred to as “chiaroscuro” in the world of painting, although come to think of it that’s likely the photography term as well, unless there’s a specific technical one that I don’t know about. My background is in art for the most part so that’s where my terms tend to originate, for better or worse.
Shot number one is the yearlings at a friend’s place, spooking off into the distance in a cloud of dust and golden light. I got a whole series of images of this event, but this is the only one I’ve had time to work with. Actually I did very little–had to adjust the levels a tad but that was all. This reminds me of the feel of Renaissance paintings with the strong contrast and warm antiqued colours. Shot number two is of part of the mare and foal herd at the same place, standing by the hay piles and backlit.
Shot three is a close crop of my friend Darby, sitting on a bale at doorway of the barn where our retired horses live. The vets were out to do herd health for the old boys, and Darby’s job is always to hold Mogo, the mini-Dachshund who belongs to my horse vet and friend, Sue. Mogo has Darby very well trained to cater to his every wish. He tries hard to train the rest of us as well, but some of us have a bit more resistance than Darby exhibits. Again, we’ve got that strong contrasty light, although some of the highlights are a bit blown out.
Shot four is of the little pup I wanted to photograph in my last post, before I got blown off track by Alpac’s herd health experience. I did make it out later in the week to get a whole whack of shots of this lovely little guy. Most of them were taken out of doors, but I liked this one of him cozying up under a chair in the kitchen while we were enjoying a coffee break. His dad is a Boxer, and Mother is a Mastiff (one of the South American mastiff breeds, can’t remember the name) and Bloodhound cross. To me he looks pretty strongly to the Mastiff side of things. Even with my Boxer experience and obsession, I’m hard pressed to see much Boxer in there. That holds true for temperament and energy level as well. This is one calm and deliberate little(ish) guy, not a fast mover or one who is going to get very excited about anything. Definitely not a Boxer, of the sort I have come to know and love, anyway.
Today’s final shot is one of the wolf series I got in the past year. I have a lot of shots of various wolves from Wolf Echo Valley, but as is so often the case, have had limited time to play with them. I did want at least one new wolf image to take to the upcoming show, so I produced this one earlier this week. This is Eco, and you can see Paradox, another of the resident wolves, faintly laid into the background. You can learn more about her and the other wolves I have photographed by checking out the
Wolf Echo Valley website.
Guess it’s time to do the final bits of wrapping of the bigger framed pieces and start to sort out my personal packing. Jim and the dogs will have to fend for themselves while I’m gone, as Scout the cat is the only female that will be left in the house, and she’s not much given to catering to others. Usually various family members take pity on Jim and feed him a bit when I’m away, so he does not too badly for himself. He’s kindly taken it upon himself just now to run out and buy me a map of Edmonton, as I tend just to point in the direction and go, then when it’s too late, I realized that I am lost and don’t really have a clue how to get where I need to be. Not that I read maps well either, but at least if I have a map there might be some hope for me.
©Copyright 2008 by Judy Wood. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit Judy Wood’s website.
Here it is. ‘Buddies’ repainted on Archival 100% acid free Museum quality Watercolor board. This is a paper that is affixed to an acid free paper board.
