In This Issue: Stroll In Covington, Dan In The Window, More Pocket Camera Fun, Words From The Master
The Next Stroll In Covington
I'm one of those people who finds very few parades interesting during the average Carnival season. There are many other things to do if you'd like to avoid that scene on the weekend before Mardi Gras. One of those is the February version of the Saturday Art Stroll in Covington. Saturday evening, the 13th, 6-9pm you can join a lot of other very nice people and stroll Columbia St. looking in on art galleries and restaurants and bars. Yes, I've strolled and it's a very pleasant and relaxed scene.
Don't forget to take a close look at the work hanging in Gallery 421. That's where my giclees are hung among many other really good artists.
How Much Is That Giclee In The Window Debby & Steve Wilson, the great people who own and run Gallery 421 have begun to feature individual artists in the wide front window of the gallery. You can see features artists for February in the poster above. Some weeks you'll see 2 artists sharing the window which is devided by the front door. Other weeks you'll see one artist's work throughout the window. I plan to be showing off my giclees in the entire front window from May 5-May 15. I haven't selected exactly wich pictures will be included but I have decided to include only those with a local content. I'm going for a theme here. It's the name of my company; Picture New Orleans.
This giclee, Foggy River, was one of the most popular in my show in December at the Art Corner, in Slidell. It's 26" x 36" and it will be one of those on display and sale in the front window of Gallery 421 in the first 2 weeks of May.
This is another that was popular in Slidell. I'm hoping it will be popular and profitable in Covington.
This shows the Mondo Kayo group at Gallier Hall on Mardi Gras, 2007. The giclee is 24" x 36".
Look for these and 7 or 8 others in the front window at Gallery 421 just as the weather's getting warm in the first 2 weeks of May.
Further Fun With The Pocket Camera
Last Month I showed and told you that I'd purchased a pocket camera, the Canon SD780 IS, which I planned to use on occasions that just required a good shot of some people or places without the need or desire for artistic photography. I have stumbled a bit in getting accustomed to the SD780 but I'm starting to get good results and to realize its limitations. I've used the SD780 to take pictures of the guest speakers at my weekly meeting of the Rotary Club of Metairie. Here's the most recent.
This is Maggie Woodruff, Dir. for Community & Governmental Affairs at New Orleans Louis Armstrong International Airport and my fellow Rotarian, Nancy Miller, an agent for State Farm Insurance. This picture is the result of some developing in Adobe's Lightroom software.
Here's how the shot looked when loaded in to the computer from the camera's SD card. The shooting mode is "P". The image size I've set in the camera is the M2 or 2592x1944. It's using auto ISO and White Balance settings and evaluative metering.
For those interested; the changes I made in Lightroom were to increase the brightness, lower the clarity just a little bit to smooth out the faces, not that either lady required it, and bumped the contrast up just a bit after lowering clarity to bring a little "pop" back.
An interesting thing I've discovered about the SD780 is that I don't get the best results from squeezing the shutter as I do on my DSLRs. I take the pictures by pushing down on the shutter button and releasing immediately. The camera then takes a half second to do its readings and fires away. That's working better at getting sharp shots with the built in flash than my habitual shutter squeeze allowing the camera to meter the scene with a half push before taking the shot. That technique was suggested by my friend and retirement plan advisor, Jimmy Ray, who'se owned a Canon pocket sized camera for some time. It may just be that my hands are getting a bit shaky in my retirement years and the standard squeeze move exagerates that shake while the press/release technique leaves me holding the camera with much less grip as the shot is taken. You'll also notice that there's no red eye even though it's a little camera with the flash built in right next to the lens.
Words Of The Master
Like many photographers I've done some reading about Ansel Adams in addition to admiring his work. A couple of weeks ago, in one of my blogs, I showed a clip of Mr. Adams explaining his concept of visualization. It's a word we use often in photography but there's something special about hearing it discussed by someone as widely admired as Ansel Adams. Here's that clip.
As you may have noticed, I stole this link from photographer Marc Silber. His "SILBERSTUDIOS" site has some good videos including a couple of interviews with Michael Adams, Ansel Adams' son.
My studio sessions are $75 per hour. Here's more about my portrait work from Picture New Orleans. Call me at 985-649-6913. See how you can use email to "Test Hang" one of my pictures by visiting my web site Picture New Orleans.
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