David Akoubian Judges RPS Critique

We had a great judge last night, Jan 25, 2010, at the Roswell Photographic Society's (RPS) monthly critique. David Akoubian was very succinct with his comments and funny. He is a nature photographer and holds many workshops. Visit his website at http://www.bearwoodsphotography.com/.

I learned a lot during the evaluations. David said, "Photography is painting with light." His strongest recommendation was to buy a polarizing filter. He suggested adding a filter to most of the water and sky shots. His pet peeve was not to leave some space between the edge of the photo and the subject, many subjects were cut off. There were many sunsets to judge last night, and he said that the sky should be the richest element in the image. To meter for it, he suggested metering for the brightest spot and opening up one stop.

David said our goal was to pull the viewer in visually and emotionally. He suggested verbalizing what we are doing before taking the photograph. David said, "I edit before I release the shutter."  Because the eye goes to the brightest thing first in the photo, this needs to be the subject or be toned down.

From the RPS photo review and David's comments, it seems like it would be smart to take one of his workshops.

Five Quarts of Delicious

Created this last night and it was so good thought I would share.

Five Quarts of Delicious
Recipe by Hazel Berger

1 lb+ ground sirloin
parmesan cheese, shredded
fresh spinach leaves
angel hair pasta
Prego Heart Smart Roasted Red Pepper and Garlic 26 oz jar
2 C Mozzarela cheese
1/4 C shredded parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 400°. Brown the ground beef in a 5 quart oven safe dish. Rinse and drain the meat and return to the pan. Cook the angel hair pasta as directed. Drain and add a little country crock to keep noodles from sticking together.

Cover the meat with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese in the 5 quart pan. Add a layer or two of spinach leaves. Layer the noodles on top of the spinach. Add half of the jar of sauce carefully covering (but not rearranging) the dish. Add water to the jar and mix with remaining sauce. Cover the rest of the dish with the sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarela cheese and then top with parmesan.

Bake at 400° for 25 minutes. Check to see that the cheese does not burn. Cover with tin foil if it gets too dark. Cool 5 minutes.

Serves 4-6

Robert Weingarten Exhibits to Open

How exciting that Robert Weingarten has two photography exhibits in Atlanta, at the same time, opening next week. If you are in Atlanta, don't miss these photos.

Lumiere hosts The Road Less Traveled Jan. 23 - Mar. 20, 2010
The High Museum of Art exhibits The Portrait Unbound Jan. 23 - May 30, 2010

Weingarten's landscapes are amazing and full of color. The American was born in NYC in 1941. The photographer's website is http://www.weingartenphotography.com/. Lumiere Gallery sells his work in Atlanta.

After I view these exbibits I will update this blog entry. Can't wait!

Peaceful Easy Feeling

There are days when peace is elusive. So, I created this Etsy Treasury to the right this past week. It will expire this morning. You can find the link in my shop. Like everyone, I do stress about things sometimes and in the last few years I have learned that singing (of all things) and knitting are two easy things I can do to relieve stress and help me find peace.

I love country music and play it full blast and intentionally sing (even though I am not in the mood) when I am mad or sad. This helps a lot because I have to totally focus on the song.

Knitting is repetitive, so that the flow of the project and focusing on the steps help me relax. For years, I felt I needed to go to a gym to relax more, but working out is not for me. BUT, I didn’t need to.

In the end, the best relaxation, stress reducer has been the dog. She is still a puppy. This is her most recent photograph. I adopted her about 5 months ago and what a pick she was. (Although, she picked me by showing up at my mother’s farm.) There are days I can’t believe I found such a good, smart dog. Tennessee is helping reduce stress by getting me to walk at least once a day. She actually pulls on my jeans at the hem (kind of a tug of war) to get me outside on a walk. And, my sweet dog is always there with a friendly hello and lick whenever I need a break. You can adopt a dog in Atlanta at Petco. Their next adoption is Sat., Jan. 16th.

The Treasury above (a collection of 12 items for sale on Etsy that I fit together through color and theme) is titled “Peaceful Easy Feeling” after the Eagles’ song. You can find these items on http://www.etsy.com/ by searching for the name under the photo.

Georgia Aquarium Creates Photo Op

Thanks to StarCreations for the push to take my camera to the Georgia Aquarium. It was fun!

This is one of my favorites "Through the Looking Glass" to the right.

This fish below had the most personality...

And, then there were these... definitely took the most photos of these guys. This is titled "Mystery Fish." I love how they moved back and forth like they were on stage in the rockettes line up. They also created very nice diagonal lines for me. but this shot is cool because of the overhead light.

New Year's Day Hike

On New Year's Day, we traveled just west of Calhoun, Georgia to visit Keown Falls on John's Mountain. The hike consists of two loops: a moderate 1.8 mile loop to the falls and a more difficult 3.5 mile loop hike up to the view the valley (mileage according to Highroad Guide to the Georgia Mountains.) This area is in this book on pages 38-39. The hike to the top was harder, and there were many times I thought my heart was going to race right into an attack, but I survived and even declared "That was FUN!"

I have not hiked much, so this is a great blog to bookmark as I begin hiking. My preference is to bike, but it is too cold to bike in the winter. I cannot wait to return to Kennesaw and John's Mountain in the Spring looking for flowers!

But the best part, of course, was what I was able to do with my camera. I did wonder out loud if there were photographers who hired people to tag a long on hikes to carry the camera. I would like this...

(And, I was looking forward to a day of knitting in front of football. But... I did knit in the car back and forth.) This hiking spot is about one hour northwest of Atlanta. The guide books says that the waterfalls may be dry in the summer, but that wasn't what impressed me, obviously.

Walk in the Woods

Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield is just waiting for exploring. The battle of June 27, 1864 left behind  many earthworks to explore. Now there are many trails on the mountain. The park is just 3 or 4 miles off of highway 75 at Barrett Parkway just north of Atlanta. We went hiking with the puppy on a leash this past weekend. What a great family outing! Here is my treasure from the trip. Just listed on Etsy.

Open Doors and Windows

The New Year is fast approaching... In many ways the holiday is like Yom Kippur where personal reflection is in order. I like thinking of a couple manageable new habits each year. Once children are in the mix, life is so different and not about ME. So, it's a good time to take a look at my career and jobs and see what directions I should pursue and/or continue next year, too.

I believe very strongly in writing down my goals. I remember when I wanted a BMW and didn't have one. I cut out a photo in a magazine and voila. Bought it! I loved it! And, I miss it, but I long since traded that in for more seats, but it's a good lesson to write it down!

Professionally, next year I would like to be featured in a gallery show. I have already met with an Atlanta photographer, John Clemmer, who had some pointers. Take a look at John Clemmer's work for his great photography. My favorite of his shots is the black and white of the girl... running with such speed... on this page. I would also like to participate in at least four juried art festivals. I really enjoy being outdoors and showing my work.

Personally... that's another story, but I'm going to write them down. I think it takes 21 days to learn a new habit. I think I'll get a head start.

Pictured is my latest treasury which is expiring shortly. I was thinking about all the opportunity awaiting me through so many easily opened doors. Happy New Year!

Juried in SouthEastern Flower Show

Wow! I applied to the SE Flower Show recently, as my biggest work of art is flowers, and 4 of my images were juried into the show. Here is a list of images that were juried in and will be on display at the show. It is February 4-6th at the Cobb Galleria.
Pictured to the right is Waltzing. The links below are to listings in my Etsy shop.
Christmas Mag P09 Flowers, Flowers, Flowers
Waltzing P09 Flowers, Flowers, Flowers
Joy P13 People and Other Critters (not for sale)
Spring P09 Flowers, Flowers, Flowers
 
And, as if that weren't enough... three flower canvases (and other works) sold at the chanukah bazaar last weekend: Perfect, Zinnia c/o City of Pittsburgh and Spinning. I'm not sure if I should spend the day celebrating or working! I have printed 13 more canvases and am painting away!

Ballet Treasury

My ballet treasury is about to expire. The artists in this treasury were very generous with their kind comments. Thank you! GoodLookinTreasures said, "What a beautiful treasury! Thank you for including my little red carrying casse amongst such GoodLookinTreasures (PS... For those who look at this treasury, also take the time to visit the curator's shop. She has some lovely photographic prints.)" You can find all these items below on http://www.etsy.com/.

Introducing ACEOs

Don't miss my work at the OVS Chanukah Bazaar tomorrow, Sunday December 6th from 11 AM - 7 PM. This synagogue serves the most amazing food. I can't wait to have a potato bureka!

Just to make the day special I am introducing ACEOs of five of my photographic images and 4 of my religious works. I can't wait for you to see them. One is this Spring image shown to the left.

ACEO stands for Art Cards, Editions and Originals. Learn more on Wikipedia. They are art trading cards, which fit into baseball card sleeves. The movement to create, sell and purchase these works began in Switzerland. I think the Challah card will be just the right size to display in the kitchen. Can't wait to show you!

Here is the link to my ACEO section of my MagMoment shop on Etsy. Take a look.

Mints and Olives with Pepper

I really LOVE making treasuries. It is so fun to pull together random items from Etsy that look good together and form a theme.

"Definitely my favorite color forever... I love green!" was my comment on this treasury. I thought it funny to use the food names for this treasury right before the last listing expired. Kind of a take on Christmas without using the traditional Christmas green.

Treasuries expire soon. So click and comment right now. Mints and Olives with Pepper.

Lots of Christmas treasuries out there. And, tons of items tagged with Christmas. I added my Christmas Mag as an alternate in this treasury, but in the end decided to use other people's work. Here's my image. It is a photograph I printed on canvas and then highlighted with acrylic paint. I am enjoying painting and look forward to creating many of these works. Ultimately I want to sell these in art festivals. This retails for $39. Here is the Etsy link to Christmas Mag.

Parenting by Counting to Ten

Ok, so I found myself counting to ten today while I was waiting for the puppy to "Come" as I commanded. I laughed my way to ten, and I ended up carting her indoors. But this has worked great with my children all these years, so I thought I would share...

Originally, we started counting to ten when the children were first learning to buckle their car seat belts. They had to be finished by the time we got to ten.

In the preschool days, I found this a great way to keep calm and it gave me something to do while waiting. I paced the counting according to the child's ability. Now that my children are in grade school, I just breeze through all the numbers and it's an or-else kinda thing. But it still moves them into cooperation. We use it to stop inappropriate behavior and to elicit desired behavior. I just start counting after several requests to stop or start a task.

It's like magic! No yelling required. P. S. nothing happens when I get to ten and they aren't cooperating because this rarely happens. When it does happen some love and attention are in order because something is very wrong.

Etsy -- The Place to Shop

Etsy is an on-line shop with three categories of products: Handmade, Vintage, and Supplies. For holidays searching handmade or vintage will save you lots of time and you will end up with a really unique gift. Just now I ran some searches in handmade. Click on my links to see the current results.

I personally am looking for a purple initial, which found 285 items.
A search for a forest green scarf yielded 131 results.
Search for Love is in the Air and then selected Art yields 64 items.
For that man, golf love found 29 results.
Searching for ballet dance and selecting mixed media discovered 32 results.
For the boys, I searched lego art and found 85 results.
Also, I am a member of the Photographers of Etsy Team, so I searched on poe team kiss and found a few good shots. This was the subject of my latest treasury.

So with a little refining, searching among the 4,982,408 items isn't as overwhelming as it could be. Imagine going to the mall and looking through that many products. Yuk!

Vision in White -- Fiction about a Wedding Photographer

Just picked up the latest book in Nora Roberts' Bride Quartet, Bed of Roses, which was published in November. This book is the second in the series and is about florist Emma Grant. Roberts' romance novels are perfect for a nice escape from everyday.

The first book, pictured to the left published in May 2009, is about a wedding photographer and her relationship with an English teacher. I enjoyed this book because I am a photographer. It was interesting reading about Vows, a full service wedding planning business. But, the reason I recommend this story was because of the honesty presented in Roberts' interactions between characters. This relationship includes some real-life fear of getting involved. My favorite part was when Carter Maquire cooks Mackensie "Mac" Elliot dinner. I've added a link to this book on amazon on the left below.

Shadow Assignment Week 8

It is our last week of class this Friday. Hope to see everyone! We will be shooting shadow shots this week. Please bring in 5 images... also bring your SD card with the past assignments on it, so we can print your work and discuss as a whole. I will try to give everyone direction for the future and challenges. Keep up with my blog because I will post more assignments even though we are not having class.

For inspiration check out a fellow Photographer of Etsy's blog, Hey Harriet. She has a shadow Sunday post every week.

Check out our photography on Etsy by searching in handmade for POE Team. Click here for the current results. There are some very talented artists on our team!

Halloween Fun! Photography Assignment Week 7

The assignment for this week is to take a photograph that tells a story. Please bring at least 10 images from this assignment and past assignments to class. Please print one or two of your images (even black and white is good), so we can talk about them and examine them.

Black and white is a great test of the contrast in your image. If the photo is flat without a lot of black and white range, try again.

At class, we will work on creating a scene. Bring in your Halloween costume (to get a second use out of it) and we will have some fun creating a set! We will use some props I will bring in (bring your own too) and create a mood! We will take photographs of each other dressed up  and ourselves with the self-timer and a tri-pod.

Whose Ball?

Ever gotten to the green and wondered whose ball was in the hole? Don't let that happen with these marked balls. Let me know if your guy will play with hearts!!! Buy this photograph on Etsy. 

Buy the box of balls (below) on Etsy too. You can specify a brand if you would like me to paint a different type ball.

Photography Assignment Week 5

Lyrics... please print the lyrics to a favorite song and then... illustrate it with a photograph. Have fun with this... and pick more than one? Concentrate on framing your image with a natural or man-made frame.

Happy Shooting!

Here is my illustration of Van Morrison's "Moon Dance," a song I really love. And the link to purchase on Etsy.










Moon Dance by Van Morrison

Well, its a marvelous night for a moondance
With the stars up above in your eyes
A fantabulous night to make romance
neath the cover of october skies
And all the leaves on the trees are falling
To the sound of the breezes that blow
And Im trying to please to the calling
Of your heart-strings that play soft and low
And all the nights magic seems to whisper and hush
And all the soft moonlight seems to shine in your blush

Chorus:

Can I just have one a more moondance with you, my love
Can I just make some more romance with a-you, my love

Well, I wanna make love to you tonight
I cant wait til the morning has come
And I know that the time is just right
And straight into my arms you will run
And when you come my heart will be waiting
To make sure that youre never alone
There and then all my dreams will come true, dear
There and then I will make you my own
And every time I touch you, you just tremble inside
And I know how much you want me that you cant hide

Chorus

Repeat 1st verse

One more moondance with you in the moonlight
On a magic night
La, la, la, la in the moonlight
On a magic night
Cant I just have one more dance with you my love

Turquoise, Teal and Aqua Dreams

So, what is in a dream? I am talking about the rich kind we can control, change and affect. I find that writing them down and talking about them gets them out on the table and happening. Inside my head, they fester and die.

In June 2007 I visited Spain, specifically Barcelona. I was shocked at how different the city looked than the states. I could not put my camera down. In all I took 886 photographs. On the way home on the airplane I told myself I would become a professional photographer. I have been busy at this since stepping back in the U.S. By now, I have developed several different products. My business and dream are growing!

I created this Etsy Treasury with a house, couple, height, ocean, quiet, crafting and dance in mind. Hopefully there is something for everyone here. Open a word document and start typing -- What do you want?

My Treasury has expired (They are only around for 2-3 days) but here is the picture of it below.

Buy the Pound

I haven't ever been to a pumpkin patch, but it was fun! So was the carving and cooking dinner afterwards. Here are three pumpkins that impressed me! Thanks Rusty!!

Capturing Movement in a Photograph Week 4

This week's photography class will focus on movement. We will spend time in class practicing panning (moving the camera with the subject) to try and stop the movement. We will also test out our camera's sports setting to see what a fast shutter speed does to stop motion. The assignment this week is to

Take many shots to still movement.
Take many shots to illustrate movement.
Take several shots to capture moving lights at night.

Bring five best images to class.

Musicals about Music

There have been many musicals featuring the music of a musical artist.

Mamma Mia
Movin' Out
Jersey Boys
Rain

My favorite will probably always be Mamma Mia because I love it and have seen it at least three times. The movie of the show is very well done as well. This show features the music of ABBA. I listened to the music of the show many years after I saw it the first time. Dancing Queen and Take a Chance on Me both strike chords in my heart.

Movin' Out is interesting in that the music is sung by a pianist like Billy Joel would have done had he been in the show. I don't remember this show as well, but I've seen it.

I loved Jersey Boys because it really made me aware of Frankie Valli's life and obstacles. My rap-listening son downloaded at least three songs from this show on to his iPhone. This was very nice. Click on the Jersey Boys link to see my previous blog about the show.

Most recently, I saw Rain at the Fox last week. It wasn't my favorite show. I felt like I paid a lot of money to watch a video pieced together with Beatles' songs. Yes, the tribute band was very REAL... but there wasn't a plot to the show except to convince us through the video and players that they were an authentic copy of the Beatles. Having purchased multiple seats, I was hoping for a nice story line and some information about the Beatles besides how their appearances changed over the years. As my ex-husband said, "I don't want to go because I saw the real thing in Piedmont Park a few weeks ago" (about the Paul McCartney concert) I should have listened.

Photography Assignment for Week 3

Had a busy, busy weekend. This time I was looking forward to Monday to relax.

Our photography class assignment for middle schoolers is

Take a still life photograph of your favorite collectible. Take a still life shot of a stuffed animal. Take a still life shot of your choice. Bring three images to class.

For the class I created a simple one page photography critque questionairre. This may be helpful to all beginner photographers. Take a look!

Quick Click -- chirping your way!

Very cool birds out there on Etsy... But I'm sure you know you can search on anything and everything and find exactly what you want or need and need and want. So, I've collected them. Click to see them all and make a comment. Remember treasuries are only there for 2 days, so act quickly. This treasury has expired, but you can see it to the left.