April 21, 2004
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I know... I haven't written in ages. Actually, I started a long blog last month, published private, then just didn't finish it, figuring no one would be interested in it anyway.
I'm in a funk lately. I can't accomplish much of anything. I can't be bothered reading others' weblogs, much less write my own. I have been posting a few images to my fotolog & a few more on group fotologs as well as viewing others' images there & leaving brief comments. I also entered a photo for myself & one for my son in a local photography contest, judged by a world-renowned photographer, Douglas Peebles & another outer-island photographer, Inger Tully. Neither of our photos won or were selected for display at the club's exposition this weekend. *SIGH* I could have chosen better overall images, but I just didn't. Here's my image on fotolog,net: http://www.fotolog.net/pikake/?pid=7649248 & my son's: http://www.fotolog.net/flowerpower/?photo_id=7654542
These judges were very particular on presentation of the photos, meaning the matting & framing. They are primarily stuck on the idea of white matting & simple frames. I personally can't stand white matting. It makes the image appear smaller & detracts from the image, since the eyes are normally drawn to white or bright colors, taking the eyes away from the image unless the photo is in black & white, or if the intended wall to place the image on is sterile white (YECH!). It seems strange that these judges preferred the white matting when they both clearly criticized one particular color photo of some women in colorful clothes & headwear against a white wall. They both thought the photo should have been cropped down of the area above the women, so the white wall didn't detract from the focus of the image. Maybe it wouldn't have so much if it had been both matted & framed in white?
I went for the judges' critique & did ask for a critique of my photo. It seemed that Peebles DID like my photo, but Tully didn't like the matting & frame. Peebles mentioned appreciating the angle of the picture as well as capturing the action in the image. I should know that if I have issues with my work, professionals will too. Here are the winners (none of which I would have chosen, knowing what some of the others looked like): http://hiphoto.org/Expo/Expo2004/results.shtml
I DID win first place in the State for my Rainbow Falls image I previously showed on this blog (#2) in the Veterans Creative Arts contest. A slide of my image has been forwarded on to the national competition for a chance at one of three medals on the national level. If I win the Gold medal for the digital photo & graphics art category, they will pay my way to Salt Lake City for the exposition there in November.
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