tommc4's blog

One of the biggest difficulties in photography is making your work stand out... making it different from everyone else's work.  If is difficult at best, but, with a few tricks, you can do it, and make your work stand out from the pack!

FIVE TIPS FOR MAKING YOUR PHOTOS DIFFERENT…

1.   Shoot your subject from various angles. Walk around it.  Get down on your knees or up on a bench and shoot from a different perspective.  A good trick is to carry a small, collapasable step stool in your vehicle.  I have found it VERY handy many times!

2.   Play around with your focus.  By playing around with depth of field to make neighboring objects appear closer or farther away than they might actually be, we create new relationships between these objects.  Similarly, by using selective focus (whereby one part of the photo is in sharp focus while we purposely blur, say, the background), we can create dramatic effects.  Also, try shooting with manual focus instead of auto focus!

3.   Look for patterns.  Nature, as well as man-made structures, is full of repeating lines, curves, circles, etc, if we keep our eyes open to them.  Finding these patterns can provide us with ways to take artistically pleasing shots. Spend an afternoon specifically looking for these, and you will really open your eyes, and your photography to new things.

4.   Look for patterns interrupted. A fence is more interesting if one of the points is broken: ducks in a row instantly become more compelling if one duck is facing the wrong way.  Look for something that is a little out of whack.

5.   Tell a story.  Put people in your photos.  The human element arouses our curiosity about who these people are and what they’re doing, as well as giving the bridge, skyscraper, etc, a scale that we can relate to.  Find a way to create compelling images through the use of other elements, such as animals in conjunction with people.  The list of things to try is limitless.

Hope that helps someone out!  See everyone at the meeting!

-- Tom

I was looking through the paper and online ads this morning, and I found a huge number (relative to normal) of galleries with PHOTOGRAPHY on display.  So, without further delay, here is the listing:

ArtGallery - 424 W. 21st St, Norfolk - 627-9808
"He Opened Up Somewhere Along The Eastern Shore" 
photography by Jason Hanasik - opens Saturday 4/10 through May 29

Chrysler Museum - 245 W. Olney Rd, Norfolk - 664-6200
"Class Pictures: Photographs by Dawoud Bey"
through August 6

Norfolk Botanical Garden - 6700 Azalea Garden Rd, Norfolk - 441-5830
"Remarkable Trees of Virginia"
photography by Robert Llewellyn
through April 30

Peninsula Fine Arts Center - 101 Museum Dr., Newport News - 596-8175
"Looking Large: Photographs by Sarah Hazlegrove & Georgianne Stinnett"
through June 6

Suffolk Museum - 118 Bosley Ave, Suffolk - 514-7284
"26th Annual Juried Photography Exhibit"
through April 16

Visual Arts Center of TCC - 340 High St., Portsmouth - 822-1888
"39th Annual Student Art Show"
(mixed media) through April 28th (see my previous blog entry for more details about ceremony & opening reception)

WOW, that is a LOT in one listing.  It is wonderful to see so many venues being more accepting of photography as an art form.  I hope to see some of you Saturday at the TCC-VAC ceremony & reception, as I have two images in the show (That was all they would allow from each artist).  The show is open now, and believe me, there is some incredible work on exhibit.  The students have some great talent!  In any event, I am sure I will run into a few of you out there; Renee and I are going to be gallery hopping this weekend!

Until next time, Happy Shooting! Oh yea, don't forget to add a couple of things to your camera bag, now that the weather is getting warmer - sunblock and insect repellant!  Gonna be needing those REAL SOON!  And while you are at it, don't forget to charge up your spare batteries, and check your memory cards! 

-Tom

The Visual Arts Center of Tidewater Community College presents:

39th Annual Student Art Show

March 28 through April 25, 2010 The 39th Annual Student Art Show will be held in the galleries of Tidewater Community College’s Visual Arts Center (VAC), March 28 through April 25, 2010. Featuring over 200 works by more than 100 students, media include drawing, painting, photography, glass, ceramics, sculpture, computer generated imagery and mixed media. Works were created for art classes since last May, and represent program courses in Fine Arts, Photography, Graphic Design, Pottery and Glassblowing.Brian Kreydatus, Associate Professor of Art, and Chair of the Department of Art and Art History at The College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, is this year’s judge. The Awards Presentation will take place Saturday, April 10, 2010, 11 a.m., at the Commodore Theatre, 421 High Street, Portsmouth.  During the event, Kreydatus will present over $4,600 in awards in recognition of artistic excellence. The Opening Reception will follow the presentation of awards at noon at the VAC.Complementary programming for the exhibition includes illustrated lectures by a Visiting Artist and a Visiting Art Historian. On Tuesday, April 6, Newport News artist, John Miles Runner, will present The Making of Situation Normal. On Wednesday, April 14, Alexandra Hunter, Museum Educator, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, will present The Glass Lens: Narratives in Photography and Studio Glass. Programs will begin at 12:30 p.m. and will be held in rooms 208/209 of the VAC.

Sponsors include: Anonymous; Brutti’s; Chrysler Museum of Art; Darrell & Sally Craig; Hartung Gallery and Art Supplies; Jerry’s Artarama; Everett & Ann Johnston, Mr. & Mrs. Mearl A. Kise; Peninsula Fine Arts Center; Portsmouth Museums; Richmond Camera; & Tidewater Art Alliance and One Eleven Art.

The gallery is located on the first floor of the acclaimed TCC Visual Arts Center, at 340 High Street, Portsmouth VA 23704 (Old Town).

Shameless plug follows:
I will have two images in this Art Show, so please drop by and check them out!

-Tom

You know we all get caught up at times about equipment; which brand is best (well Canon, but you already knew that right?  ), what new gadgets and goodies we spend our hard earned cash on, etc.  I found this little jewel on a brochure about the Photography Degree at the TCC Visual Arts Center, and I really got a good laugh out of it.  But more importantly, I got the moral of the story.

When Jack London had his portrait made by the noted San Francisco photographer Arnold Genthe, London began the encounter with effusive praise for the photographic art of his friend and fellow bohemian, Genthe.  "You must have a wonderful camera... It must be the best camera in the world... You must show me your camera."

Genthe then used his standard studio camera to make what has since become a classic picture of Jack London.  When the sitting was finished, Genthe could not contain himself:  "I have read all of your books, Jack, and I think they are important works of art.  You must have a wonderful typewriter." 

The point here is to remember what famed photographer, Alfred Eisenstaedt once said:  "The important thing is not the camera, but the eye."

Until Next Time...
- Tom

I just learned that one of our veteran members, Flo Womacks, has been selected from among hundreds of applicants to exhibit her photography at the Virginia Beach Obendorf Central Library in September, 2010.  This is quite an honour for those selected, and several other members, including myself, have exhibited there over the years. 

No word yet on the theme for Flo's exhibition, but I am sure she will be announcing it soon, as will the reception date and time.  We all know of the incredible work Flo has shown in the past, and I am certain this will be an exciting exhibition!

Please join me in a hearty "Congrats!" to Flo for her selection!

Yep, you read that right.  JPG Magazine is closing up shop, another victim of the recession.  Here is their official announcement, as I got in this morning's email: (Click here to read more)