The winter season is upon us, which means time for submissions for the spring and summer art shows and competitions. In fact, submissions need to be submitted for the first one in just about three weeks.
Needless to say, this also means that negatives need cleaned, scanned, retouched and cropped, applications need to be requested, completed and sent., frames decided on and purchased, and (if accepted, of course) the pieces need to be sent off.
As it stands, I have enough on hand for the first show, but will need to get several new pieces together over the next several days for a little contest I want to enter at Jockstrap Central. I enjoy their site, love the way they present their merchandise, and have purchased a few pieces over the last few years, so when I got the email announcing their contest, I decided it was a good thing be involved in this year.
Hopefully I will be able to get my micro-studio set up on my day off tomorrow so that I can get a quick roll off before Friday. I had considered just going digital but decided to stay with film. I would hate to have a wonderful session with many good final shots and not be able to use any of it beyond this contest. That would be not only a horrible waste of time, but of something far beyond that.
Maybe I’m odd in a way, but I believe that once a moment is gone, it can never be regained. As hard as one may try, as attentive to detail as one may be, no two shoots can ever be the same. Something will always be different, and generally that difference is in the head of one or both of the artists, either in front of or behind the camera.
Today I will get the cameras loaded and ready. Tomorrow I will get the drops hung and the lighting set. Perhaps tomorrow evening I can do a test with the girl to check the lighting, since she wants a few vanilla portraits for her parents and this would be a good opportunity.
Maybe the dogs would like their photos done as well. One never knows with them. Toss in the promise of a peanut butter dollop or a scrap of Popeye’s Chicken and I’m sure they’ll cooperate, even if only for a few minutes. Sometimes all it takes is a few minutes. It would be good to get a few nice shots of them. I’d love to submit a photo of them to a few local periodicals and one of the pet supply websites I frequent. This may be an opportunity for getting a few pieces I can actually share with my family.