Tag Archives: photography

Ups and Downs

March 11th, 2010 | Posted in Karen Baker Thumm


“Scruffy” my horse, Scottie, losing his winter coat

Last week was quite an exciting one for me. First off, I finished up the taxes and delivered all the papers to the accountant. That’s always a source of great relief!

Then the following day I met with a local artist whom I hope to work with for a while to help me with my artistic skills. I’ve been feeling rather lost for quite a while now with my art, knowing that I could be doing much better but not knowing where to start or what to do to move forward. It occured to me that working with a more advanced artist might be just the thing I needed; someone to point the way and help guide me along.

I brought several paintings to this first meeting, including the one hour ones, and he critiqued each one of them, pointing out how I could have improved them and what was done well. I was grateful to hear him say, “You obviously have a lot of talent” and “You don’t need ‘remedial’ lessons” and finally “I’m certain that I can help you to improve the quality of your work”. I left floating on Cloud Nine and look forward to meeting with him again. He studied in Florence as a young man and also spent several months at that time sketching horses at a nearby equestrian center. So, he “knows” horses probably better than the average artist who is not an equine artist.

This week didn’t start out so well. On Monday the vet came to adjust my horse, Scottie, and one of the other horses. I quickly discovered that my horse was very lame in the left front leg and was very reluctant to walk. Remembering how good he was with me when I hurt my knee two years ago, I let him take his time walking from the pasture to the barn and figuring out how to turn around in the barn aisle with the least amount of pain.

The vet couldn’t find anything obviously wrong, like a soul bruise or injured muscle, but he was very tight in the neck and shoulders. She concluded that most likely he was stiff from the icy footing outside and/or from the arthritis in his neck causing pain down his leg. We gave him some bute and put him back outside. On the good side, his back and pelvis were still in good alignment, so we’ve definitely made progress on that front at least.

Yesterday I went out to the barn to check on Scott and was very glad to see that he was in less pain but still limping. I led him around the indoor for a while to see if he would walk out of the limp. It got less but didn’t go away completely. Then I turned him loose to see what he would do. Instead of just standing still not wanting to move or standing by the door wanting to go out, he followed me around as I shot some photos. After some massage and stretches, I put him back out and headed home, my mind a little more at ease.

I haven’t made arrangements to meet with the artist again but will do that soon. I need to figure out what I want from these sessions and he needs to let me know how much he’s going to charge. I’ll keep you posted.

©Copyright 2009 by Karen Baker Thumm. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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Pumpkin the Bee Hunter

March 9th, 2010 | Posted in Jennifer MacNeill-Traylor

It’s hard to believe that the little ball of orange fur we brought home on Labor Day,
is turning into such a big tiger!

The weather has been so nice the last few days, I let the cats out with me while I worked in the garden. The late winter flower blooms have awoken the honey bees and Pumpkin is on patrol to protect us from them…

I can’t believe I got the bee in the last photo. Click on the picture for a larger image,

it’s right around his whiskers.

(No bees were harmed in the making of this blog post.)

©Copyright 2009 by Jennifer MacNeill-Traylor. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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A new foot forward

March 9th, 2010 | Posted in Judy Wood

Another entertaining week on a number of fronts. The good weather has held on, with snow melting fast, so there is lots of water (and mud, depending where you are) underfoot with much more yet to come. I saw a flock of newly returned Canada geese in the field en route to Ebon stables last week, which seemed early to me, but is a definite marker of the changing seasons. I’ve been gathering up supplies for a couple of new art directions (one that will involve my photos, and one of an entirely different sort) and trying to research what to do and how to do it, a process I always enjoy. When and if I get anywhere with either of these directions, you’ll be the first to know.
One other thing of note in my personal realm was the installation of our new dishwasher. I’ve lost track of how old the previous one actually was. It was in declining health for a number of years, although it did get the job done, more or less. Many of the support prongs on the shelves had rusted out and were gone, the thing made a huge amount of noise (it did from the get-go so that wasn’t new), and the door seal had gone so that at several points during any given cycle it would release greater or lesser amounts of water onto the kitchen floor. Usually I would remember to place a bath-towel in a strategic location to contain the flood, but not always. Since I’d generally way rather spend money on things like new lenses, camera bodies, saddles, or almost anything other than household appliances, we put up with it for a long time, but new kitchen flooring has finally risen to the top of the list, and no way was I going to get new flooring while the dishwasher was still spewing water. So the short version is we now have a roomy, flexible, energy efficient, and blessedly silent dishwasher. Next stop, kitchen flooring!

Shot one was taken last week when I went to deliver some photos and have a visit with my Paint breeder friend. For once, I wasn’t out stalking the horses at her place, rather was very taken up with her interesting pack of dogs, especially young Gus, the star of shot one. He is about a year and a half old now, and has grown—a lot–since I last saw him when he was only a few weeks old. He is a Boxer-Brazillian Mastiff cross, and if I hadn’t been informed of the Boxer part, I wouldn’t have guessed it by looking at him. He favours the Mastiff side of his heritage in both looks and in his low-key approach to life, although there were a few tell-tale Boxer moves that I detected in the way he interacts with visitors and with the other dogs.


The next day I carried on with photo ops, this time with my more usual equine subject matter. I had heard from a couple of sources that there was a breeder of Friesian horses newly located in the district. Since this is one of the ultimate “artist” breeds for me, I was of course very interested in getting a chance to get them in front of my camera. With my new camera equipment and the weather finally consistently bland, I thought now would be a good time to start my collection of photos of these horses. I called the owner who was most accommodating and willing to share her horses and her time, and spent a very happy couple of hours out there on Saturday afternoon. Bonus for me was that in addition to her Friesians, she has a Gypsy cob stallion and a collection of Clydesdale mares, since she is branching off into breeding Drum horses as well as Friesians. Couldn’t be a better set-up from my point of view. Shot two shows her Friesian stallion in full flight in his pasture.
Shot three shows the mare herd (and one gelding mixed in for good measure). The Friesians are leading the way, followed by the “big girls”. It was interesting to note the self-imposed segregation of the two breeds, with the Friesians being quite unwilling to mix on an equal (orany) basis with the heavy horses, preferring as they do to stay in their own breed group with minimal interaction.

Shot four shows the two stallions play fighting. They are both very well-socialized young fellows, and have no problem sharing their large fenced area. The mares are quite far away from the boys in the pasture set-up, so they won’t feel the need to compete with each other for attention from the ladies. I’m always pleased to see stallions allowed to live like normal horses, and not confined and treated like dangerous beasts as can sometimes be the case.

Shot five takes us somewhere else entirely, which is to my feet in their new “Five finger” Vibram barefoot shoes. These have recently come to my attention, and when my daughter bought a pair that I could try on, I was quite taken with the whole concept. I’ve always enjoyed the barefoot feel, but never liked the grit my feet picked up (that could get me into vacuum cleaner stories, but I’ll spare you) or having chilly feet in winter. These provide a good work-around for those concerns, and are supposedly ergonomically very good as walking/running shoes. For any who have met me in real life, you’ll recall I’m the farthest thing imaginable from a runner (I’m built for comfort, not for speed) but I think these will be just the ticket for house wear, yard wear and for walking the dogs. Definitely *not* barn shoes, though!!

©Copyright 2009 by Judy Wood. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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SILVER SECONDS AUCTION – Session 2 Livestock

March 9th, 2010 | Posted in Juliet Harrison


The SILVER SECONDS AUCTION – Session 2 is under way.
Not quite the best & not garbage either! These prints are images that I think have merit but are not up to the standards of the work I put on my website and in galleries. That makes them SECONDS. They are all handprinted in my darkroom with the same meticulous care as my first run work. I am starting the AUCTIONS of these prints at $20.00 and bids are to be increased at $5.00 increments. Each auction will last for 7 days. This one will end Noon EST Monday, March 15th. Scroll down to see the photos. To bid on a photo….type your bid in the comments. Shipping price will be based on the winning bidders location. (if your bid does not show up in the comment box, be sure to contact me) http://silversecondsauctions.blogspot.com/

©Copyright 2009 by Juliet Harrison. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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Just Zazu

March 9th, 2010 | Posted in Jennifer MacNeill-Traylor

Some pictures of my little Zazu from the weekend…

“Do I smell bacon?”

“The smallest feline is a masterpiece.” ~Leonardo da Vinci

©Copyright 2009 by Jennifer MacNeill-Traylor. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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Snow Geese

March 6th, 2010 | Posted in Jennifer MacNeill-Traylor

We live about 30 minutes south of Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area and every year, at the end of the winter, it’s a resting point for snow geese in their annual migration.
It was a nice day out today so we decided to check it out. I think there were around 80,000 geese there.




While we were walking along the trail toward the lake, the geese in the field decided to take off for the lake. I turned my camera on to video mode to take a short movie – so sorry for my OMG comments. I was totally blown away by the noise of thousands of geese flying right over my head (and a little worried about poop)!

Certainly not as exciting but I finished the spring mare and foal folk art painting I was working on in the post below. I think I will put it up for sale on the PFATT Marketplace later this week.

©Copyright 2009 by Jennifer MacNeill-Traylor. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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Hard to Catch Inspiration

March 4th, 2010 | Posted in Sue Steiner


I recently read a��blog where the writer mentioned she had�on her ‘To Do’ list to incorporate more creativity in her daily life.� So she added to her list to ‘be more creative’.� 1:00pm – 2:00pm do something creative.� I applaud this person for wanting to bring more creativity into her life.� I am all for that.

I have to tell you my Muse operates a bit like my rescue horse who is hard to catch.� I understand her issues and know why she doesn’t want to be brought into a small, dark space (stall) even if it is for something good in my mind- grooming, feeding etc.� Anyone who has horses knows that hard to catch horses are a pain in the patooty!!� You have to think ahead for vet and farrier visits because if they even get a whiff of an impending appt. you can just forget it.�


My horse�would rather avoid being boxed in.� Small, dark spaces feel confining and restrictive and very uninspiring.� It doesn’t matter if it is freezing rain outside…. she would rather be there than inside– if you are dead set in getting her in- that is.� If I let it be her choice and act like its no skin off my nose if she stays out in the freezing rain I have a much better chance of getting her in (which is where I REALLY want her to be because it makes ME cold and uncomfortable to see her that.)

My muse is like this too.� I would add ‘to be more creative’ on my To Do list if I thought I would stick to a To Do list… but unfortunately my mind doesn’t operate like that.� My muse enjoys coming out when I am doing un-creative, necessary, boring things.� It comes out when I should be doing something else.� Like taxes or bookwork or laundry.� My most creative moments are when I should be doing something else.� By the way I am avoidging those things right now by writing this blog entry.


My hard to catch horse isn’t always hard to catch.� Just like inspiration can come over me like a glorious flood of sunshine…. but most assuredly, if I had the intention of being creative it would bulk and buck and head for the hills!�

Horse people know that horses can sense a person’s intentions.� When I want to catch my horse and time is tight I can not let on to her that I feel strong intentions of catching her and confining her in this (in my eyes) lovely, dry stall with food.� No.� I have to act like I have all the time in the world.� I have nothing on my mind but to hang out, enjoy the scenery and just hang out with the herd.�

When I remove all goals, all expectations my hard-to-catch rescue horse is like putty in my hands.� She’ll follow me around like a puppy dog and I could do just about anything with her.� But boy, the minute she senses a tight time frame or agenda she�wants nothing to do with MY plans– My to-do list.

Same thing again with my Muse.��I got a string of commissions during the late summer and fall�which then�created a waiting list.� (This is a GOOD thing!!) I got backed up.� I usually can only paint one painting at a time.� I generally need to start and finish a painting before I go on to the next.� I wanted to begin to press myself to learn how to work on several at a time– step up my production-� Be more efficient with my to do�list.���Well needless to say this was�not working.� I am slower than I’ve ever been.�

So what to do??� I’ve now decided my artistic side needs to not think about anything to do with numbers– time, money, schedules, lists. The more this creeps in the less efficient I become as an artist.� The harder my muse is to catch.� My muse doesn’t want to be taken into the dark barn and confined.� My muse is a free range spirit.� So basically I need the exact opposite of what it seems every other time management expert recommends for people– goals, expectations, schedules, lists… numbers.

Like the rescue horse open spaces and freedom is where the muse romps.� Now I play.� I feed this free spirit and try not to confine it with too many numbers and an amazing things happens– things flow and get done.� Not because of a to-do list but in spite of it.�

People don’t have a choice in the kinds of brains they have.� One brain type isn’t better than another but some sure can be challenging if they don’t fit into the norm of what our culture and society want.� I am sure the woman who wants more creativity can see the value in the freedom and exhilaration one feels when creating and she is trying to incorporate that in her life the best way she knows how.� My husband and I have talked about this because he is very heavily left brained.� For him to be creative is foreign.� He needs a job description, a schedule, a goal, criteria, professional journals and data….
He feels like a fish out of water as I do when I am forced into his working environment.�Some days I would give anything to fit�in with�a regimented agenda.� To be goal oriented and efficient with time, numbers.� I have felt very humbled the last few weeks because my son, who has a brillant, creative mind also lacks organization.� He needs me to help him with this.� Me.� Okay.. I can do this (knees shaking).� �I will not
in my power allow him to feel badly because he is a creative free spirit but maybe not the most organized person in the world.���

So my point of this entry… be yourself.�� Work with your strong points.� My rescue horse is finding over time that her stall means good things too– food, being able to eat with out competing.�� As a professional artist I am finding too that learning how I need to work (even if it means my work must be play) that is progress.� One way I get paid is when I is to paint commissions so let see how to work this out!� I am stepping out and helping my son feel more pulled together so assignments he does well get handed in on time.� We will find tools, crutches and our own way to do this.� Its okay to think differently.� That is what being creative IS!�

One of the things I really appreciate is being a part of an art community and the people that support this community.� If you are local I will be in my studio painting�my white horse as part of a painting demo during March First Friday in downtown Canton at Second April Art Galerie.� Please stop by.� If you are not local my work is for sale online at http://www.suesteiner.com/ or http://www.abstracthorseart.blogspot.com/� As always I appreciate your interest!�

Take care and take some time to play today!
Sue Steiner Sue Steiner,

Animal and Equine artist
Pet Portraits in Oil
White Horse Studios
324 Cleveland Ave. NW
Canton, Ohio 44702

http://www.suesteiner.com

http;//www.secondapril.org
pet portraits, horses in art, studio or online sales, commissions

©Copyright 2009 by Sue Steiner. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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It’s March!

March 2nd, 2010 | Posted in Judy Wood

A new month, and for the moment it really feels as if winter is giving way. We’ve been getting temperatures up to the freezing level by day, and not too terribly cold at night. I keep forgetting to plug in the block heater on the car and it still starts the next day. The sun is higher in the sky and our hours of daylight noticeably longer. The snow is in retreat, and things just generally feel kind of hopeful. I know we will likely get a few setbacks between now and “real” Saskatchewan spring, which is usually a few weeks sandwiched in sometime in mid to late April, but for the moment I’m enjoying the process. I’m even contemplating switching over to lighter weight blankets for the horse and dogs. Mind you, I’m not going to put the heavier winter ones away for a while, just in case. March and April can be trying months here, since it really seems like it should be a lot nicer a lot faster than is usually the case, but we’ll take whatever little breaks we get and be happy for them.
We had a house-guest for a few days last week in the form of Mogo the mini-Dachshund. He is a pretty regular visitor at our “dog bed and breakfast”, and as you can tell from shot one, he settles in pretty comfortably on the couch (a forbidden zone for our own large dogs) and keeps an eye on the passing scene out the living room window. He and our grand-dog Arrow often coincide in their visits, and when they both go home, reducing the pack from four dogs to our own two, it seems like not that many dogs at all!
My husband went on a birding outing last week with one of his friends. He commented when he got home about the number of ravens they had seen by a riverbank area on the western edges of the city as they were returning home. I quizzed him about the location and time of day, and vowed to make a pilgrimage myself in hopes of photos. I hit the jackpot yesterday afternoon when I was able to view and photograph about a dozen ravens, plus various other species that were in the area. For the most part the ravens were a little far off, even for my new longer lens, but one seemed to be delegated to keep an eye on me and it would overfly where I was standing with the camera about every five minutes or so. The lighting yesterday was a bit marginal for the lens I had, and I want to have another go in brighter light. Today was a super day, with good lighting, but when I went over to the site in late morning, there wasn’t a single raven to be seen. They must all be foraging at the dump (conveniently nearby) for much of the day, so when I go back (I hope tomorrow) I’ll try for the late afternoon again. I’m up against migration patterns here as the crows will likely be back in a few weeks, and the ravens will be departing for parts north, so I have a limited window of opportunity. Next winter I’ll check this site a lot sooner and see if they are back again.
While I was waiting for the ravens to come a bit closer, I was aware of something coming in on my left, and got this shot of the passerby. I knew it was some kind of hawk or falcon, but didn’t know what sort. Jim (birder husband) says it is a Gyrfalcon . A beautiful bird, very calm and focussed in its fly-past. Small birds generally flee in panic and consternation when a predator of this sort appears in the area, but the large and formidable ravens and the gyrfalcon appear to have a “mutual exclusion” pact and just ignored each other completely. There was also a small flock of robins at this site that had wintered over–no migrating robins will be here for a couple of months yet.
A friend and I met at the barn today to turn our horses out together for a roll and run without blankets and as a photo op for me. Alpac turned out to be the one with the most ambition once they got going. Indy ran around a bit but was overall content just standing around watching. This is kind of funny since Alpac will be twenty this year (getting up there as horses go) and Indy is still a “single digits” youngster, so their roles really should have been reversed. Shot four is one of Alpac from today. Backgrounds aren’t as pretty as when the snow was deeper and fresher, but a lot better than it will be when it turns into a sea of mud and disgusting other “organic matter” that has built up over the winter. There are actually a few bonuses to frozen and snow-covered ground!
Shot five is of a cute young fellow I met at the barn today. There is a new boarder who was out checking on her filly, and as they were getting ready to leave, they made a comment about the dogs in their car. Of course I had to know what kind, and then I had to see them and get a few shots. The female is a French bulldog, and the male (pictured here) is a French bulldog/pug cross. What a cute pair! Visiting dogs are not allowed out of their vehicles at the barn, so they were on orders to stay in the back of the Jeep and not jump out to greet me, which was very hard for them to do, although they both achieved it. That’s why this young fellow looks a little put-upon in this shot. He really wanted to jump out and say hello! I hope to get more chances to photograph this pair in future.

©Copyright 2009 by Judy Wood. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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A Week of Weather and Disappointments

March 1st, 2010 | Posted in Juliet Harrison


The week that was!

At least it is over and a new one begins. Last week began with computer frustrations that thankfully got resolved, but not before several storms hit our area knocking out power at our house for over a day. At least we have a gas stove so that we could cook warm meals. But we got cold sitting around here and spent much of our time over at the local cafe, Taste Bud’s, where there was camaraderie, warmth and internet access.

But the weather effected one more important thing for me….I had to cancel my trip to Santa Fe! My flights were cancelled and I lost too many days of the trip to make it worth going even if I could get to the airport to fly out. I will tell you that I am very impressed with Expedia.com, as the customer service person worked hard with the airlines and got me a full refund on my ticket. So I have been able to reschedule for later in April. Perhaps in the end it is all for the best, as the snow will be gone here and there….in fact the desert might even be in bloom when I get there.

So instead of being on vacation, I got to shovel a lot of snow and do some more organizing. Two more entries to shows were sent out last night. I know….I know….I said I was not going to spend time entering shows this year. But maybe the key is to enter so many that I lose track on them and will be less disappointed when I don’t get in. I am being a bit more careful not to enter shows with expensive shipping costs for short runs. Some venues now even have deals where you send the prints and they will mat and frame them there. That is a fantastic idea.

The two images I have on top here are two that I think are my best work and have been entered in various shows. Older pieces from the Equiscape series…Glacial Edge and Waterfall. To see more from that series http://julietrharrison.fineartstudioonline.com/dataviewer.asp?keyvalue=11230&page=ViewCollection&subkeyvalue=19463&startrec=1&displayperpage=9999&displayhorz=3

I think the Silver Seconds Auction went well and will make some collectors very happy. Added some new collectors to the mix too. I will run the next one in a week or two. I will be sure to post it here. The next auction will be Livestock images. So be sure to stay tuned.

I expect this week will see more organizing getting done. We see the accountant on Thursday and I am not looking forward to that. I intend to start posting some object and stuff for sale on my Etsy store later this week. Right now it is all my photographs. If you haven’t seen it yet – http://www.etsy.com/shop/lechevalthehorse

And best of all….I will get into the darkroom this week. My paper is here and I am ready to go. I just need an uninterrupted day. What most don’t realized about the darkroom is that the process is so time consuming. 1/2 to set up….hours to print from just a few negatives…sometimes, just one if it is difficult….and then 1 hour to wash prints and clean up chemistry. So I need a good block of time to do it and it can’t be rushed. I am hoping for tomorrow…so we will have to see. Here is a nice quote about the kind of printing that i do, from photographer David Robin from an interview in LensWork magazine….”What I loved about silver printing and traditional methods,,,was that every single print was a one of a kind. It wasn’t instantaneous…..each one (print) was unique. I like that on-of-a-ind quality form traditional methods. Everything is unique. There’s something to be said for the slow process, the deliberate process that happens in shooting in a deliberately slowed-down process, where you examine each step as it moves along.”

It smells this morning like Spring outside and I have a few early flower buds peaking up along the South side of the house. All good signs that we are coming out of this winter. Enjoy your week. I will head over to the barn soon to brush some shedding hair off of my horse. Things are looking up!

Juliethttp://www.julietrharrisonphotography.com/

©Copyright 2009 by Juliet Harrison. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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Almost March

February 26th, 2010 | Posted in Jennifer MacNeill-Traylor

I’m so excited, it’s almost March, a month with so many possibilities. Will is rain? Will it snow? Is it going to be 50 degrees outside or will it be freezing. Of course it’s the month that contains my birthday (and husband’s) so it’s always been a special time for me.

Any other Pisces out there? I love to meet other artsy fish like me!

So here’s what I’ve been up to this week (I’m really itchin’ to paint a horse, maybe next week!):

Working on turning an image that I’ve painted into a sculpture.
Little bunny in a pumpkin. Nice for Halloween or Easter, right?

Playing around with another rabbit I’ve sculpted. Not sure what direction this one is going in yet. My husband says this bun freaks him out a little.

Went to Landis Valley today and got to hop on a wagon for a ride.

Too cold and windy to stay long but we had fun on the ride!

Finally finished my Dutch Rabbit in the Jack O’ Lantern today!

©Copyright 2009 by Jennifer MacNeill-Traylor. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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Getting closer—

February 23rd, 2010 | Posted in Judy Wood

I had an interesting and ultimately pricey revelation this past week, on the “getting closer” theme of today’s post. Grandson Mark (with me days during the school break) and I went on a photo shoot at the zoo since the weather was quite reasonable and he wanted to try out his “new” lens and camera combo. In truth the lens was a quite venerable (but good) zoom that I had abandoned a couple of years ago, and the camera body (new to him) is my sadly abused Nikon D200, the one I have worked almost to death. Since the old zoom he was using didn’t work on the previous cast-off digital he got from me, this was his first outing with the “big” lens. It was also the first time ever that we were standing side by side taking essentially the same shots and both with zoom lenses.
I downloaded my photos when we got home, and they were about the usual. Then I thought I’d see how his looked. Big mistake!! I had forgotten how much closer you could zoom in with the old lens. It’s a 70-300 zoom (which on a digital SLR actually brings you even closer than the stated top end) while my fancy new zoom tops out at 200. Of course it is a much “faster” lens and has superior features, but darn it, I was jealous of his extra zoom power with the old lens.
What to do? My first thought was “I want that lens back” but really, I couldn’t go there as I had given it to him and he was so thrilled with it. Next step was to start researching what I could get in the way of a new lens. I knew I wasn’t going to be getting a 300 zoom with the same fast capacity as my 200, as I’d priced them out when I bought the 200 and at that time the 300 zoom lens was not only $5000 but so long I wasn’t sure about hand-holding it effectively. I kept coming across good reviews of a Nikon 70-300 lens that wasn’t particularly fast but that had uniformly good reviews on a number of photo sites, wasn’t heavy or enormously long, and was a relatively reasonable price. Even better, when I emailed my contact at the camera store I frequent, it turned out that not only was the price better than I was expecting, but it was on sale, hence an even better bargain. Need I go on to say that I am now the happy owner of this lens?
On to the photos. You’ll notice a change in format here (if you have wandered by this blog before). My husband suggested this might be more user friendly than my previous way of having all the text on top and the photos on the bottom. In truth, when I first started this blog a couple of years back, the “old” method was how it initially presented itself and I was too frightened by the technology to try to mess with it. Then I forgot about the whole thing until Jim mentioned it last week, so this time I’m trying for a more “integrated” approach and so far I seem to have a grip on it. I guess the only question now is whether the text that goes with each picture should be above or below it. My instinct is to put the text below the shot it belongs to, but if anyone out there thinks differently, feel free to make suggestions.
Shot one, unlike most of today’s, was not taken at the zoo, although some people who visit my house might beg to differ. This is my grand-dog Arrow, ready to be let in the back door after her visit to the yard. Most of the other dogs, resident and visitors, bark to let me know they want in. Arrow just rises up on her back legs and stares intently, often a futile effort since I’m not usually in the kitchen which is where this door is located. She got lucky the day of this shot as I was right on the spot, although she had to wait for me to find a camera and get my shot first. And no, she doesn’t end up staring forever if I’m not right on hand. She will eventually bark if she needs to.
Shot two is from the “revelation” shoot that Mark and I did together last week. This is as close as I could zoom in with the 200 upper limit lens.

This shot is one I got today with the 300 zoom. Lion is in the same location, as was I. You can see how much closer in this lens gets. I won’t get into the details of trying to shoot between the wires on enclosures at the zoo, an ongoing vexation that has to be worked around, not always in a satisfactory fashion.


I’m always entertained by magpies, and there were a pair of them working around these sheep?goats? today. I have a feeling they are some sort of European wild sheep, but didn’t note the name so I can’t say for sure. Actually now that I think about it the ram was definitely sheep-looking in the horn department. I watched this particular sheep and magpie for quite a while. The magpie was very busily doing something around and under the sheep, which stood like a statue the whole while, not moving a muscle. Eventually one of the magpies perched briefly on a sheep, but I was in the midst of relocating my position as that happened and couldn’t get focussed quickly enough to get that shot.

This is the “now for something completely different” shot of the day. I’ve been creating unicorns for the past while on an intermittent basis. I was sorting through a bunch of my horse shots for another project when I came across this Gypsy cob foal shot from last spring, and thought how cute he’d be as a unicorn foal, so here he is. I’m still working on this image and it will likely evolve a bit yet, but this is where he’s at for the moment.
I’m off to watch the figure skating at the Olympics now. Go, Canada!

©Copyright 2009 by Judy Wood. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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Taxes and Technology…Grrrrr!

February 23rd, 2010 | Posted in Juliet Harrison


Ah, Monday again. And you have been waiting, I know, for my new post. But I have to be honest….I am not very happy today.

Yesterday I did the prep that needed to happen for us to give our accountant the figures to do up our taxes. We don’t do them ourselves because we have income from many different sources and it gets very complicated. for the last 6 0r 7 years I have been treating the photography as a part of the general business that I do as a freelance bookkeeper and in the past as an eBay seller. Last year was the first year that I did not do any selling on eBay and very little bookkeeping. And it showed in the numbers. I have a sneaking suspicion that my accountant is going to tell me that making art is clearly a hobby, since I spent so much more than I made. Framing costs a great deal when preparing for a large show the way I did last year. And then there were the costs of creating the book. Well at least these are all inventory and are still available to sell in the future. They are not perishable.

Today seemed to be going great…..but now it appears that some kind of virus has attacked my PC and it is down. Got a call into my tech guy. I hope he can get over here and get it up and running. There is a lot I need to be able to retrieve from it. At least I have my laptop….but it has an external cd/dvd drive that also seems to not want to work. I wanted to download music for my trip to Santa Fe on Wed.

Yes I am off for a brief vacation. I have a very good friend who is in Santa Fe this winter and I am going to visit. I have always wanted to go to New Mexico, so I figured this was the perfect opportunity. I am bringing two film cameras and lots of film. I plan to spend some time exploring the landscape and the galleries!

The opening of the CCCA 14th Annual Juried Art show was on Saturday. It was a wonderful mix of work, very well hung in the space at the Hudson Opera House. Frozen and Raindance are nicely displayed and in good company.

Lastly, I wanted to announce my Silver Seconds Auction blog. One this blog, for the next few months I will be running 5 day auctions of some of my Gelatin Silver Prints that I don’t feel are quite as good as my gallery or website images, but are still deserving of good homes. These prints are created in my darkroom with the same meticulous care as any of my prints. Some are older works. The opening bid on all of these prints is $20.00, with bids to increase at $5.00 increments. Take a look….The first auction is on now and will end tomorrow at noon EST. http://silversecondsauctions.blogspot.com/

Ok…I guess that is it for today. I have to take some time now to pack up the two prints going to the Rocky Mountain Horse Expo’s inaugural art show. They have to be shipped before I go away this week. The Expo takes place outside of Denver, Colorado March 12-14.

If I don’t post while I am in Santa Fe….I will fill in about my trip in next weeks blog! Enjoy your week….I am sure that I will. Even with the technology breakdowns….how bad a week can it be when you are going on vacation!?!

Juliet
http://www.julietrharrisonphotography.com/

©Copyright 2009 by Juliet Harrison. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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Signs of Spring

February 22nd, 2010 | Posted in Jennifer MacNeill-Traylor
A huge flock of robins has taken over my holly tree this morning.

They’ve consumed nearly all the berries already!

Watching them tap sugar maples and make syrup at Lancaster Central Park this weekend.

I wish I had some maples in the back yard to make my own.

The maple syrup cotton candy we bought was so yummy!

A sign that spring is coming, primrose for sale at the grocery store.

My husband bought me this one since he knows how much I am longing to work in the garden.

I noticed that the winter aconite is blooming!

I love seeing flowers in the winter!

Hey, how did this get in here?

Snowmen riding snow horses is definately not a sign of spring

but we had fun making him this morning.
Spring is nature’s way of saying, “Let’s party!”

~Robin Williams

©Copyright 2009 by Jennifer MacNeill-Traylor. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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Performance Art

February 22nd, 2010 | Posted in Linda Shantz

There’s nothing like an untouched paddock to inspire equine action worthy of a photo shoot! I’ve been thinking about putting Gracie and Jubie out into the larger paddock that was occupied by the mares before they left for Kentucky. Today, warm with a clear blue sky, turned out to be the perfect day.


Jubie is about eight months along in her pregnancy right now, so she was relatively reserved next to Gracie. Miss Grace, however, did not disappoint, showing off her usual display of moves. I think she tired herself out, because she’s napping quite peacefully in the corner right now!

Just a note – Gracie did not, in fact, strike Jubie in the face in that one shot! I just looks that way! Plenty of inspiration for now paintings here. This is just a small selection of the 200 or so photos I took. And please excuse the strange formatting of this post – sometimes Blogger has a mind of its own!

©Copyright 2009 by Linda Shantz. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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Blogging my Blog

February 19th, 2010 | Posted in Juliet Harrison


Is it OK to blog about another of my blogs? I am sure it is. I have started the Silver Seconds Auction blog.

Not quite the best & not garbage either! These prints are images that I think have merit but are not up to the standards of the work I put on my website and in galleries. That makes them SECONDS. They are all handprinted in my darkroom with the same meticulous care as my first run work. I am starting the AUCTIONS of these prints at $20.00 and bids are to be increased at $5.00 increments. Each auction will last for 5 days. This one will end Noon EST February, 23rd. To bid on a photo….type your bid in the comments. Shipping price will be based on the winning bidders location.

http://silversecondsauctions.blogspot.com/

Session 1 has begun. I will be doing these once a month for a while I think, so bookmark the blog. Juliethttp://www.julietrharrisonphotography.com

©Copyright 2009 by Juliet Harrison. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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Garden Slumber

February 19th, 2010 | Posted in Jennifer MacNeill-Traylor

Somewhere,
under all that snow,
sleeps
the most beautiful garden.
This I know.



There can be no other occupation like gardening in which, if you were to creep up behind someone at their work, you would find them smiling. ~Mirabel Osler





One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it provides. ~W.E. Johns

©Copyright 2009 by Jennifer MacNeill-Traylor. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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Still winter—

February 16th, 2010 | Posted in Judy Wood




Mostly seasonal (whatever that is) weather continues in this neck of the woods. Down to minus 20s most nights, nicer in the daytime, variable windchill, some sunny days, some foggy and frosty ones–pretty well par for the course for where and when we are at.
I’ve been trying to deal with some outstanding concerns left over from last year, including such things as my every-couple-of-years eye exam. It always seems that my own health maintenance schedule call-backs coincide with those of the various dogs, horses and cat in my care, and while I am invariably prompt about keeping the animals up to date health-wise, I can only stand to make and keep a limited number of appointments, so my own usually get deferred. I have to give myself the pep talk that if I don’t keep myself in good shape, I’m not going to be much good to my animal dependents, and that usually gets me to make the call for an appointment–eventually.
I’m getting better (after decades of doing this) about the eye exam. I am *very* near-sighted and have worn glasses ever since I was in grade 3, and in fact should have had them a lot earlier than that. I’m not sure how I got to school in the early years without being hit by a car I didn’t notice until it was too late. Likely it was due to the fact that I walked with a friend who could actually see where we were going. I’m one of those people who, if I had been born in the days before corrective lenses were invented, would have been picked off by natural selection at an early age, either by walking into a predator or falling off the edge of a cliff. Ironic that I now define my role in life as an artist/photographer as being an “eye on legs”.
Due to some miraculous intervention on the part of fate, we had a road grader on our street early last week to level the deep and intractable ruts that we have been coping with. Funny how it happened less than two days after my letter of complaint to city hall. The universe works in strange and wonderful ways sometimes. Shot one shows this rare sighting, likely the last we will see for this winter on our street, despite the fact that the ruts are rapidly redeveloping.
I took shot two as grandson Mark and I were returning to the city from a horse photo shoot. I was attracted by the patterns of the snow and ice combined with those of the structural elements of this building. I’ve found myself noticing this sort of thing a lot more of late, so there will likely be more shots of this sort coming along in the future. I would have preferred this shot to be a bit higher key, but that was one of the snowy/foggy days, and there just wasn’t much light to be had.
Shot three is one I got as I was driving into Ebon stables, the day *after* the snow and fog had departed, leaving a sparkly covering of frost on everything. I actually prefer the more overcast days overall for “mood” photography, but the bright sun and blue skies are definitely cheery and a welcome change after a few days of heavy overcast.
Shot four shows the little Downy woodpecker who is quite a regular visitor to the nut feeders we have in both the front and back yards. This shot is from the front feeder, which is favoured in the afternoons as it is on the south side of the house, hence in the warmth of the sun. We also see a Hairy woodpecker at these feeders, although not as frequently as the little Downy. He isn’t quite as bold as the chickadees and nuthatches when it comes to sticking around for photos, but usually I can get a shot or two of him if I’m patient.
This morning I was on a photo quest in the downtown area, trying for shots of a large flock of pigeons I observed last week as they flew across the front of a large industrial building, casting very interesting shadows across the face of it. Of course that was the day I didn’t have a camera with me, being on a haircut and shopping outing at the time. I’ve been thinking about that missed photo op all week, so this morning I went to lurk in the area with the big lens. Of course the pigeons were not co-operating at all today, so this will have to be added onto my “to do” list of places where I hang out with my camera hoping for the payoff shot. I try to do these shoots on Sunday or holiday mornings (which today was, being “Family Day” and a holiday in Saskatchewan) when there aren’t as many other people in the area as on a regular work-day. With the current weird state of the world, people can get edgy about unexplained lurkers with large cameras, benign though most of us are. I can’t think why a potential terrorist would be taking photos of a prairie flour mill and its pigeon population, but on the other hand I don’t want to have to explain myself to some over-zealous security personnel either. Shot five isn’t of either the pigeons or the flour mill. After I gave up on that project, I found myself working my way home by a round-about route where I came upon the ice sculptures (or what was left of them) near the downtown Farmer’s Market, and that is the subject matter of shot five. I was amazed at the clarity of the ice in these works which was quite striking. Next year I’ll have to try to get some shots *before* the area vandals have had a go at them.




©Copyright 2009 by Judy Wood. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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Back in Control

February 15th, 2010 | Posted in Juliet Harrison


I was watching that wonderful young Canadian mogul skier last night and as he was speeding down the hill over those bumps just a fraction away from out of control….I thought…gee, that is exactly how my life can feel sometimes. This past week was all about getting back in control. So I organized my office. I filed my papers. And more importantly, I found all the paperwork that had deadlines that I needed to be conscious of. And good thing too, because at least three of those deadlines are March 1st. I would have been very disappointed in myself I had let them pass. I have now posted each and every deadline on a calender right next to my computer. And it is a good thing that I did this, as more opportunities arrived this past week.

I sent out the images to be considered for the feature on my work in Rural Heritage magazine. I filled out the entry for Photowork ‘10. It is a juried show at the Barrett Art Center, here in Poughkeepsie, NY. This years juror is an associate curator at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. That one is well worth entering! Filling out the paperwork for the invitational show “Evoking Spirit” to open at the Maplebrook School in Amenia, NY on Derby day. And I need to decide what 3 pieces I want to enter into the New Jersey Equine Artist’s Association’s 2010 juried show. Two more forms need to be thought about..one for a juried show in photography and one an invitational/juried event that will be part of the HITS at Saugerties show season. Those are due soon too.

I got invited to send two pieces to the Rocky Mountain Horse Expo’s inaugural Equine Art Show. It will exhibited near Denver, Colorado in the middle of March. I will be sending two draft horse pieces. “L” and “Strath/Clyde(s)”.
I delivered “Frozen” and “Raindance” to the Hudson Opera House for the Columbia County Council on the Arts 14th Annual Juried Art Show. Here is a link to the press release. https://sp1.actemarketing.com/speasapage.aspx?X=5L0W10RTHV8SRX3800Z8W9 The opening reception will be this coming Saturday, from 6-8pm. I do think that is it funny that this was the year I was going to concentrate on creating and not on getting the work out there. And I have had so many invitations to show the work. I am grateful for it all.

I have been adding images to my Etsy store. B&W and Color giclees. There are several original Silver prints for sale there too. So take a look. http://www.etsy.com/shop/lechevalthehorse . And don’t forget. Just about any image on my website can be printed as a giclee reproduction. Just ask!

Have a great week. I will be getting things moving forward even more this week. And since I just ordered more paper for my darkroom. I expect to be getting some printing done later in the week.

Juliet

http://www.julietrharrisonphotography.com

©Copyright 2009 by Juliet Harrison. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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