The Next Step

The next step with my photography happened already a few years ago, working with Republic Metals, Inc., a small but mighty lead anode manufacturer located in Cleveland's Slavic Village, taking photos of their custom made product for a PowerPoint presentation at a convention directed at and about women in this particular industry and then turning some of those photos into printed canvas work displayed around this newly remodeled and beautifully updated office.  That experience proved additionally very rewarding in that I had never seen my work blown up to such proportions.  It actually looked like work hung in the local restaurants and small galleries around Cleveland that I'd seen, often times of which I had said aloud to my husband, Dave, "You know, I think I could do that!"

The first time I really thought I would like to hang a few of my photos in a small gallery was following a happy hour visit to Lakewood's Pier W on Lake Avenue.  I found the little gallery quite by accident; honoring a penchant for finding new ways around familiar places, I ended up in Winton Place after following an attached underground walkway between it and Pier W.  A flight of stairs up and there was this small gallery along the walkway leading out to the front reception area and into the parking lot.  Looking at the different types of work from paintings to photography over the next few months, again, I found myself saying, "Yeah!  I could do this!"

It was my niece, Amanda's persistent and encouraging voice ringing in my head that finally got me to ask our nephew, kitchen and bar manager at Nano Brew on W25th about the restaurants advertising for local artwork to be hung at their location.  Without a second's hesitation, Billy told me, "Which month would you like!"  I blurted out, "September!" That was back in February and, naturally, I have been a wreck ever since! 

It took me weeks to select from my photos, which I finally ended up choosing directly off of my Facebook postings of my photos that friends and family had "liked" at one time or another.  Finally those were narrowed down by asking Facebook friends and family once again which led me to the Nano Brew Gallery Selection or aka Billy's Fall Photo Project:












The Willow Tree at Edgewater Park, Cleveland

Bridge at Bridal Veil Falls, Bedford

Thistle Downtown

Perfection

Fisherman in the Falls, Berea, Ohio

Daisies Against the Sky

Hilliard Bridge from Hogsback Hill, Cleveland

Two Silhouettes in the Sky, Hogsback Hill, Cleveland

Leaves on a Mossy Rock

Geese Under Canopy

Rocky River Reservation

Rocky River Reservation

Bridge in the Mist, Bradstreet Pier

Fire on the River, Cleveland Metroparks

What happens after a gallery, I don't know.  All I do know is that I'm excited to see the details in the enlarged photos and that I get to get them up on a wall to share with others!  I guess I will just let nature take its course from here and try not to worry too much about it!

Barb






I am prepared to sell the prints that will be hung at Nano Brew during the month of September for $50.00.  These photos will be available for purchase in a framed 16 x 20 size print.

I also have these exact photos available in a 4 x 6 size mounted to a 5 x 7 greeting card stock for $6.00 each plus shipping and handling.

The Reluctant Artist

The Reluctant Artist

"Birds Nest Capped by Snow"

(click on photos to enlarge)

Stepping out of my comfort zone with photography has always been a difficult thing for me.  I have a million photos but not a clue what to do with them so I just share them on mediums like Facebook.

"Composition by God"

My photos are all unedited, a friend used the word "raw".  They come out the way I am introduced to and see the scene before I raise the camera to my eye.  The only thing that gets adjusted is how close I am to the object physically.

"A Print"

When I hear statements like, “Gee you should do that professionally!” or “People would love to see your photos, why don’t you donate some of those for our spaghetti dinner fund raiser” my heart beats rapidly and breathing becomes quite difficult.  That feeling about my photography has gotten me called the "reluctant artist."

 

"Dinner On A Blustery Day"

 

“Seeing” and lining up a shot, taking the photos, getting up close and personal with things, that is my comfort zone with photography.  It has brought me a great deal of freedom of expression and has become a form of necessary therapy.  When I am at a function taking photos has given me the ability to make my way around the room, sometimes noticed, sometimes not. Sometimes I get good or silly poses, sometimes people shy away from me.  Other times I've been referred to as "sneaky" getting candid shots from far away. 

"Silver Streak"

"The Long Driveway"

 

Where my photography shines, though, is outside and with nature, where I enjoy being most. My other favorite hobbies are biking and hiking and those two things get me out to do the photography more than anything.  Nature isn’t always the perfect poser, either though, and some creatures are not only uncooperative, I find that I have to be sneaky with them as well!  Most of my favorite photos to take are micro and macro shots.  Anybody who knows me knows I like to get really close to and touch everything.

"Moon Flower Seed Pod"

"Busy Bee"

"Milkweed Seed Pod"

"The Day The Lake And Sky Matched"

"Angel At Woodland"

"Nature Revolting Against The Dead"

Troop 421 spaghetti dinner marks the very first time I’ve chosen some of my own photos, found a medium on which to mount and share them to let others see what I see through my camera.  For that I have Cher to thank.

 

"Mockingbird In A Savannah Courtyard"

"Like An Old Time Postcard - Huntington Beach"

"35mm or Digital, That Is The Question!"

"35mm or Digital, That Is The Question!"

I was all about 35mm until 2008 when my Scoutmaster handed me his digital camera and said,

"Here take it on vacation with you!" I was not thrilled, one, about the responsibility of the camera in the sandy, salty environment of Florida, and two because I was leery about digital and so I balked many times, but eventually the Scoutmaster won and I took it.  

It's not that I didn't want to stop using 35mm it's just that I did not know what to want in or what to expect from a digital camera. Additionally the prints I'd seen of digital photos always made me cringe. I've been accused of being prissy about my expectations of prints, but always strongly felt that the end result of a shot is the actual print!  I knew what I saw before I raised my camera, always managed to get exactly that through the lens and so I especially wanted to see that on a print.

I took that camera to Florida with me. I used both my 35mm and the digital cameras equally for about three days. As I took the digital shots I put them all directly on the computer immediately so I could really see the photos up close. So far I was pretty pleased, but I knew I needed to see the shots developed into prints before I would feel more comfortable about giving myself over to it.  I selected about 40 shots and went to the local drugstore to the 1 hour development stand. I chose a few different print sizes so I could really see and waited. 

I kid you not, when I got those photos back I cried.  The digital photos were absolutely gorgeous and for the first time I was experiencing details I'd never seen from my own 35mm photography.  They almost looked professional!  The lady at the counter said that they were truly outstanding photos.

Needless to say for the duration of the trip the digital became my new camera of choice and the poor 35mm has sat in its case since then.  I took hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of photos and spent the rest of the trip learning only just a few of the capabilities of the camera, micro/macro and photos taken in quick succession being my favorite with all the flowers and flying wildlife, it was like a whole new world had opened up for me.

Not long after we returned home from Florida the digital went home to the Scoutmaster, but not before my hubby gave me a surprise early birthday gift, its twin.

My nickname is Bugsie and here at this Blogspot you eventually might find a gallery of the images I have captured over the last few years - hence:

The Bug Shot Spot

Photography - It's a family thing.  At family functions for as long as I can remember there was always a camera in someones hand taking photos.  It really was a family hobby on both sides.  One day my dad put into my hands a Mamiya-U series 35mm point and shoot camera and I never looked back. 

Nature - Another family thing.  I recall stories going way back of grandpa feeding animals along the canals in Florida with my father; my mother hand raising animals for pet stores and as family pets; me passing along all that love for nature to my own family and then to the Scouts.

Artistic Perspective - Again, a family thing.  There are artists of all types running through the trees on both sides of the family so there is bound to be some genetic disposition.  Hearing "You have an eye!" or "You should show these somewhere!" have been just some of the heartwarming comments about the images I've captured so far.  I've never put a name to it I just know what I like seeing in a photo.  Being able to experience and share all of nature's expressions has been the blessing for me.

If you put all of those elements together, love of photography, love and respect for nature and some artistic perspective, you get a lot of loving, carefully considered photos of nature (and other wonders).