New England Photography Open

Figured I'd post a little reminder about the upcoming opening - the following is from the Warwick Museum of Art website:


New England Photography Open Exhibition
Show Schedule: June 15 - July 14, 2007
Awards Night / Opening Reception: Friday, June 22nd, 7 - 9 p.m.
Gallery Hours: Tuesday - Saturday Noon - 4:00 p.m.

The Warwick Museum of Art invites you to join us Friday, June 22, 2007 from 7 - 9 pm for the opening and awards night of the “2007 New England Photography Open.” This beautiful exhibition consists of photographic works from the New England area. There is no admission to the gallery, but a small donation to support the Museum is graciously accepted. The New England Photography Open will run through Saturday July 14th, 2007. The gallery is open Tuesday – Saturday, noon – 4 p.m.

Contributing photographers from around the New England area have submitted their photography for this juried show. Juror, Shane Gutierrez, is a professional freelance photographer with over 20 years experience in the field. Besides landscape and portraiture, he’s interested in every genres of photography including alternative processes and camera work. Shane is also a digital photography instructor at RISD CE, Barrington Community School and South County Arts Association. He is the owner of Shane Photography in Warwick, Rhode Island.

The Awards Reception and Show Open will celebrate the contributing photographers to the show, including prizes awarded for First, Second, Third and several Honorable Mention Awards. Photography appreciators will find
something for everyone in this exhibit showcasing the distinctive imagery and creativity of gifted photographers.

Please join us to celebrate the amazing images and congratulate the New England photographers:

Lauren Bexley
André Blais
Maura Bonner
Diana Brennan
William Carpenter
Lenore Collins
Stephanie Ewens
Tracey Francis
Nicole Gesmondi
Nermin Kura
Jack Lenk
Lorna Stokes

New Toy

Recently, our local discount store moved to a new location. I was sad at first, because the original location is in walking distance and I used to find great deals there, particularly on gardening supplies. However, it turns out that the old location is now their clearance center - meaning potentially even better deals! I went in hoping to find a new glazed planter, but there were none to be had. (You really have to dig around for useful bargains in a discount store clearance center, I suppose.) I was ready to give up when I found something even better.... Polaroid cameras for $5! Of course, I couldn't resist getting one. I bought some film (more expensive than the camera) and played around with my new toy while in Rochester, NY for a wedding. It was really a challenge to slow myself down out of digital mode and try to carefully compose each shot to conserve film - especially since each frame costs over $1. It was also somewhat amusing to remember that there's no zoom. Well, aside from walking closer to or farther away from the subject. I did make several mistakes, like forgetting how to keep the flash from going off, leaving the camera on the wrong distance setting, or just getting too close to a subject. A few came out decently, though. I was pleasantly surprised by the colors - washed out, not particularly true - they gave a kind of retro feel to the shots. I'm looking forward to playing around more, maybe even finding some really old or damaged film and seeing what kind of funky results I can get out of it.

Here's one from today. I took the Polaroid print and scanned it, then messed around a little with the crop and orientation. The model is my lovely best friend, Amber. I hope you like it.

Home Show

Last night's home show was a lot of fun. My friend Marcia had a temporarily vacant apartment, so she and several of her artsy/crafty friends set up an arts/crafts/book show inside. It was a really neat venue - very relaxed with a nice flow through the rooms. There were goodies and wine and everyone's work was really amazing. Not a huge turnout, but several people did come through. I got to meet some wonderful new people, so definitely a successful night in my book.

Here is a snapshot of my setup before some of the other vendors arrived and set their things up:

2007 New England Photography Open

I've got some great news - my photo "Mud Puddle" has made it into the 2007 New England Photography Open at the Warwick Museum of Art in Rhode Island. If you're interested in attending the Gallery Opening, here are the details:

"The Awards Night and Show Opening Reception on the evening of Friday, June 22 from 7 - 9 p.m. Feel free to extend the invitation to attend this event to your family, friends, and neighbors. An adult must accompany all minors. Wine, punch, cheese and light refreshments will be served and prizes will be awarded promptly at 7:30 p.m."

Wish me luck!

Rome Point

I went for a walk today with my husband, sisters, brother-in-law, and nephew at Rome Point in Rhode Island. It was a lovely day for a walk, but we noticed the beach smelled, well, fishier than normal. The culprit of the smell was something none of us had seen before - thousands upon thousands of dead sea stars had washed up on the beach. While most of them were pretty thoroughly dried by the time we got there, the smell still lingered. It was a bit icky, but really amazing, too. I'd never seen so many sea stars in one place before. We suspect a recent storm may be what caused the problem. I didn't spend much time photographing the scene, but here's a shot that illustrates the scale of it all.



In lighter news, prior to reaching the sea stars, I tried my hand at taking some more infrared photographs. I didn't have my tripod with me, but an obliging rock was at hand, and I quite like the perspective it captured.



What do you think?

Busy Photo Day

It was very nice to have a full day's worth of photo activities to do. I started at 8am up in Roger Williams Park, taking yoga portraits for Ellen, the woman who hosted my last show (at One Yoga Center). It was so much fun working with her and her student Denise. Yoga poses are wonderful to photograph, such interesting lines and dynamics. We had lovely light as well. Here are some photos from this morning:



My other photo task of the day was to prep and submit a photograph for the New England Photography Open Exhibition hosted by the Warwick Museum of Art. The first I heard of it was late last night, when I stumbled across a notice on craigslist saying the deadline for submissions had been extended to this Saturday! Luckily I had a few pieces available already printed, and just had to get them framed and ready to bring over to the museum. I'll know by Wednesday if my photograph made the cut and will be displayed at the museum. Wish me luck! Here's the piece I submitted: