Bethesda Fine Arts Festival - Observations

Maybe it's me, but the festival seemed much smaller this year. My sister and I went on Sunday, and stopped by or scanned all of the booths. This year, there were far fewer photography booths than in previous years. Some observations:

1) No one had macro photography - at least not of flowers. This is interesting, because this is my strength. I wonder if it's because the audience (a typical consumer) isn't interested in that kind of work? Anyway, this raised a lot of questions for me, so I'm going to blog about this later in the week.

2) The best booth had pictures that looked a great deal like these:







My sister made the same observation. What was different was where these types of pictures were taken - central Europe. I've never been there. I'm guessing it would be an amazing experience for me. Also, though, I felt like I was potentially on the right track with my cathedral shots, and that's important, too.

3) The cityscapes done by this artist were huge crowd pleasers. He printed some on watercolor paper. I've thought about that for my macro work, but that might look pretty with something like this:



Or this:



I don't know where this leaves me exactly, but I do have some pending projects:

1) Brookside - butterfly reshoot (the more, the merrier)

2) The domed cathedral on Mass Ave (DC) - a must, if I can find the time

3) Visit more art shows - this is the easiest to accomplish, because there is one in June that I want to attend. It's the NCCF one. I want to see which photographers' artwork was accepted, and to see what I can learn. I'm looking forward to it!

Tomorrow - macro photography musings.

Plan B

I'm taking a few days off later this month. These will be the first since my new job started in January. I've mentioned previously that my overall summer plans are in flux. So, where does that leave me?

Maybe a reshoot of some parts of California:





Or a trip to the beach:





Or more butterfly practice:



I can't wait for summer!!!

Later this week - something my Mom said.

Is it the Camera or the Photographer? Part One

As the magazine salesman said in Office Space, "That all depends". Sure, he was about to blackmail Peter and Samir because of something they'd said about money laundering, but the quote still applies here. :)

In other words, if you already own a camera of some sorts (and most of us do, what with camera phones, and point-and-shoots), then stick with it in the short term. My previous post outlined ways by which you can identify your strengths. Different types of photography require (or don't) specialized equipment:

I have many examples from my personal portfolio. I'll go through three at a time, until I've covered all of the topics.



This picture was taken before dark, and while I was standing still. What's also important is that my camera at the time could only handle 3 megapixels. You definitely don't need anything special for this shot.



Although this picture was taken in the middle of the day, I didn't need any special equipment because I was in the shade and used an angle that avoided harsh shadows and highlights. Nothing special for this shot is needed, either.



For this picture, I wish I'd had an SLR. Nighttime photography is very difficult with a camera phone or a simple camera, because nighttime is a less than ideal condition. This means that the camera is more sensitive to movement. You can also see a very harsh contrast between the lights and the darkness. If I'd used/owned a digital SLR, I would have been able to adjust my ISO - and I would used a tripod. Then, my picture would have been incredible. If you like nighttime photography, I'd strongly recommend an SLR.

More tomorrow!