Biting the bullet

Ok, so I am going for it.  I am entering a photo in a contest. The criteria is a photo that depicts sculpture taken in NJ within the past two years or presents an image in a sculptural manner.  Here are my choices.  I can submit two. Please help me by choosing the one or two that you think are the best.

Image 1

Image 2

Image 3

Image 4

Image 5

Image 6

Learning New Techniques

I am the perennial student. Although I chose not to continue higher education after receiving my bachelor's degree, I continued to take classes all through my adulthood related to my interests which for the most part are art related.

While I still continue to take one day seminars and some local classes, I am hooked on internet classes. They are reasonably priced, offer flexible times and can often be reviewed (the videos)  multiple times so I can "get" it.

My goal these past few months was to learn some new software and really improve my photoshop skills. I have learned some new "tricks" to fix photos and also create photo collages.


My go to techniques in photoshop have helped me to process my images better. I find that I am constantly enhancing the images by using high pass to sharpen them and adjusting the levels and curves.  I do feel it makes the difference between and good photo and a great one.

Below is an example of the same photo with some very simple processing.

Before Image

After processing

Stop Apologizing

I am not sure that I apologize for what I don't know about photography. To be honest, I really don't care if I call myself a photographer.  I am an artist and whether my art measures up to other people's standards does concern me (I want the gratification of the "applause") but ultimately I define myself as an artist.

 I admit, I am an admiration junkie. I want lots of people to admire my photos and make wonderful comments. So I do critically look at each image that I post (on flickr) and I post what I consider the best of my images.  Some get a lot of recognition and others only a few diehard "friends" comment on.  I wish that didn't matter, but it does.

My paralysis beyond wanting everyone to "like" my work is on how do I get recognition for my art. I want to send in images for juried shows, but I need to push beyond the fear of rejection.  In a past career I dealt with that and it is tough because in some ways, it is a rejection of ME! This is where I feel most inadequate.

There are a couple of people on flickr that I follow whose work makes my heart sing. Each photo is a masterpiece of light, color and amazing locale.  I want to be able to capture light like that.


And I do feel that I need to know more.  I want to understand lenses, focus and even metering (the technical) better. I want to be able to take photos that match what is in my mind when I am seeing something.

I have a vague plan in progress where I am taking both internet and in person classes to learn what I don't know. I will push through my fears and send in work for some juried shows. And hopefully I will be comfortable with what I do whether I get into the shows, or have lots of "likes."

The one thing I do know is that I am enjoying this journey.