Kerry: Weekly update #3

So I had a fruitful discussion with Greta about the work I've done so far and, after talking about a whole lot of stuff, including a variety of technical difficulties that arise when trying to shoot in crowded, chaotic, poorly lit spaces, I've decided that it's time to abandon that project and switch gears. I'm thinking now about a project whose broad theme is nostalgia - for the past in general, for people we may have known who are no longer in our lives, and for the natural world as it once existed. But I want to shoot it in such a way that the series as a whole will leave the viewer with a sense of hope for renewal, not just a dismal sense of longing for something that has been forever lost, if that makes sense. Anyway, the thought for now is to use some of the cool antique objects I've been drooling over in the stores where I've been shooting to set up vignettes at First Landing State Park, and to intersperse those vignettes with straight "nature" photos of the park itself in all its bare, wintery glory. 

I know I feel a lot more clarity around this idea than I did about the antique store idea, so that's a plus in my mind. I do still want to shoot in the stores, because I have a side project in mind about all the dolls I've been seeing, but that's a whole other topic :) 

Any thoughts/feedback greatly appreciated as always. I hope to start shooting on Sunday and will, of course, be sharing images here.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Kerry: The Book - From Goals to Action (part IV)

This part of the book was, aside from the section on building websites, the most immediately relevant  to me as it consisted in large part of information about portfolio reviews. I will be attending a portfolio review at the SPE meeting in March, and very much appreciated the advice the author offered about everything from the size of prints to the “leave behinds” I should think about preparing to the importance of follow-up thank you notes. Some of it I had already figured out (behave like a professional - d’uh - and find out as much about your reviewers as possible ahead of time, also d’uh), but it was still nice to get a feeling for how the process will work before I’m in the middle of it. The only area of disagreement we have is how to present the prints - the author suggests that only a clamshell box will do, while I have it on good authority (Mollie Schaidt’s) that a bound portfolio works just fine. And I think that will be much easier to travel with.

So now I just need to figure out where to get postcards made, and what image to put on them. I’m thinking I’ll use the one of the teacup and my Mom’s pearls - thoughts? Other favorites? I’m open to suggestions!

Charlessley Update 2

This is a short one...

So for sure, I am sticking to the same exact project from last semester and just reworking it. I am still looking for a graphics student to help but I may have an idea on who.

As for the web site ill start this week. I never made a website before so it kind of feels intimidating.  LoL

Charlessley Update 1

 For this semester, I plan to continue to work on the second project I did in photo sim 2. It was the unrequited love/ crush booklet where anonymous stories were sent to me and I compiled them with images. I think it would be interesting to create another one but under a different concept also, hope I can get some assistance with some with graphic design abilities to help consult me on this project.

Taylor Quinley Blog Post #2

Hello all! I am happy to announce I am officially moving forward with the People of NASCAR project! (Title name still TBD) I have booked my flight and got my tickets to the Daytona 500 in February. Other than that I have been doing my research on other photographers that have photographed in similar styles that I would like to test out. I have also done a lot of research on NASCAR photography, whether it be just about the cars, drivers or the fans I'm trying to set some sort of game plan before I head to Florida! I have also bought several new memory cards and backup batteries seeing as I will be photographing for the majority, if not all, of the day! I am so excited to get this project started!

As far as the website is going, I have started and selected a general layout. I have sorted through some of my photos and I am setting aside some that I believe are worthy for the website. 

Michael: Update #2/Crusade, pt 1

This post is mostly for talking about Crusade For Your Art, but first off some other miscellany:

-Still developing my home pictures.  It dawned on me that these will, at least in part, make up my senior show submission and that I specifically told my family "I don't care about commencement, but I do want you to come to my senior show."  Maybe I'll have to give them some fair warning...

-Thinking of getting some new business cards made prior to the SPE convention.  In the past I've gone with Vistaprint and found them to be fine.  What has been your experience with business cards?  Considered the square format at all?


Crusade For Your Art, "Making the Work":
This first part of the book is a simple overview of the fine art photographer’s background conceptual process: stuff we probably already have done or just assume we do, so it doesn’t hurt to have a refresher and remind yourself what you’re about.

That said there’s an area I agree with and another I don’t agree with so much. A number of times she makes the point that we ought to know who has or currently does work in a manner similar to ours. I have found this to be exceptionally critical. By becoming aware of what others have done you get the benefits of seeing their progress and where they’ve been and thereby where else there is yet to go. It’s also rather reassuring and fortifying to have the evidence that others see the same way you do (you’re not alone!) and have been successful in adapting series from these particular inclinations.  Kindred spirits and role models!

But the part that left me uncertain was the way that a fine art photographer’s work was framed, namely that it is a story that reaches the viewer emotionally, which the photographer is tied to emotionally as well.  Is it always a story, what about being just a document or a map?  Is it always an emotional tie -rather than cerebral or philosophical?  Maybe I’m overreacting, for these are fairly broad terms, but I don’t think there need to be conceptional parameters in place like this; just felt a bit limiting.  However, I would agree that we don’t ever really escape emotions nor diverge from the story of humanity or that of our lives, whether they are explicitly depicted or not.

Kerry: The book: Identifying Goals (part III)

For me, the most valuable part of this chapter is the first paragraph, in which the author asks us to identify our long-term goals for our photography and how we envision the arcs of our careers. This is something I am only now really beginning to grapple with, as I am only now gaining enough confidence in my work to even think about something that could be called a "photography career," however humble that might be.

The remaining parts of this section - like the last one - are full of very valuable advice, especially helpful because it is so detailed and specific. I found, though, that as I read each piece, like  the different kinds of exhibition venues, getting gallery representation, and publishing photo books, I kept coming back to that first question. Do I want to exhibit in commercial spaces, non-commercial ones, or both? Do I want to try to sell my work online? Do I want to try to publish a photo book? Are these things part of how I see myself as a photographer?

I have no answers, but these are great questions, and I appreciate the way in which the author presented them along with tools to help us answer them. I will be pondering these things for a long time. I will also be returning to the book for tips when the time comes to make my first exhibit proposal! :)

Kerry: Weekly Update #2

I did some more shooting today, but had my time curtailed by a dead battery (it shouldn't have died - it was showing 3/4 "full" when I left the house - grrrr. But of course, my other battery was being charged .....). Nonetheless, I was able to get some new images from my second store (Attic Treasures, a small antique mall in Norfolk). This store is a lot less quirky and much less strange than Vintage Trixie, but it still has some interesting elements: a wall full of Corning pyrex casseroles and mixing bowls; some great old farm and other equipment; a weird kewpie doll in a glass (me and dolls!); a shelf of nothing but promotional Pepsi glasses. I still am not sure what direction this project will take (although I am keeping Michael's point in mind about sharing my own visitor's experience), and I have to admit it makes me nervous to be just kind of working and waiting to see what happens. But our book said that was OK, so I'm trusting the process (and meeting with Greta soon!).

I also need to start my research: that's on deck for the weekend. I found several photographers who work with antiques and/or antique stores/thrift shops/estate sales last semester, so I'm pretty sure I'll be able to find others. 

Here are some images I grabbed for future reference with my iPhone after my camera died . . . No editing, so bear that in mind, please :)

Kerry: Ansel Adams Exhibit

Because I missed the field trip, Greta asked that I see it on my own and share my thoughts on the blog. So here goes . . . First, let me just say that I adore Ansel Adams and can never get too much of his work. I think one reason for that is that many of the landscapes he shoots are familiar to me and are, in fact, my happy places. I also think he does a remarkable job of capturing in small photographs the immensity of his locations and subjects, while also being great at evoking the intimacy of others. And, of course, he was a brilliant printer. About the exhibit itself . . . I really appreciated the interpretive materials included with the photographs; I felt like I learned a lot about Adams's artistic goals and philosophy, which helped me to more fully appreciate his photography.

The accompanying images were, of course, fascinating. My strongest reaction was to Penelope Umbrico's installation, "Range," mostly based on the accompanying statement, which explained that, with the installation, Umbrico was trying to disrupt "assumptions about the originality of landscape photography and the heroic status of photography's 'masters'." I am not clear about what it means to disrupt assumptions about the originality of a field of photography, or whether or not, in her mind, landscape photography is less original than are other fields. I do understand that awarding an individual "master" status may feed too much into the myth of individual exceptionalism, but when I first read it, it felt like she was disrespecting the man whose images were the source of the work she was challenging.

That said, my favorite two pieces were those by Abelardo Morell ("Tent-Camera Image on Ground: View of the Rio Grande Looking Southeast Near Santa Elena Canyon, Texas") and Matthew Brandt ("Rainbow Lake, Wyoming"). Call me simple-minded, but I very much appreciated the ways in which each artist made the direct connection between his photograph and the landscape he was photographing - the resulting images deepened my own sense of connection with and visceral understanding of those landscapes.

All in all, I thought this was a marvelous exhibit. Kudos to the curators!

Kerry: The book - Setting the Stage (Part II)

The second part of the book was almost overwhelming to me with the amount of information it covered - I would have preferred to see it broken into at least two separate sections. The first part, on editing and sequencing, was basically a very good review of material I've covered in several photo classes, and will be a useful reference when I am working on my own.

The next section, on editioning and pricing, was all new material and very interesting, although I had a hard time believing it would ever apply to me (what, someone might actually want to buy my work???). Again, useful information and a good reference. The same goes with the information on branding, web sites, and social media. The only section I am actively using right now is the one on building web sites, because I don't have time to blog, tweet, and maintain a separate Facebook page (tried that). I have created an Instagram for more "casual" work and/or work I think is interesting but that I know I won't include in formal series (or at least, not in the current series).

So all in all, a tremendous amount of useful, if somewhat disparate information that I will be referring to, I am sure, more than once as I move forward with this endeavor!

Some pics

Only a handful of what I've taken, but a fair sampling.
Again, this is my family home over in Virginia Beach.  Mostly interior, a little outside.
The sequencing I'm considering is wide shots of overall rooms or areas, then closer views of specific objects or textures or spaces.  A place unglamorous and ordinary, at best quaint and worst dingy, and yet not devoid of curiosity and rich detail.
Still continuing to take these pictures.  Handy thing about living in the place your shooting is you see it in a lot of different lights and your camera is always near.

Jazlin Washington Update #1

Progress Update: 

Series: Hey guys, so for this series I am focusing on the topic of desegregation of schools in America. I will be conducting interviews and taking portraits of people who experienced this time. I've started the research process and found some family and friends of family who are willing to participate.
Right now I am trying to get a schedule worked out with the subjects and trying to come up with a list of starter questions for the interview.

This is my senior show project. I am worried about space for this because of the large number of students in the class. So I am still thinking of a subject.

I am also nervous because this will be my first time taking portraits of people who are not my age I am trying to figure out a way to connect with them and hopefully make them comfortable in front of my camera.
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Portfolio: So I found a cool tool to help me do this portfolio. In my creative cloud subscription there is the Adobe Portfolio program! I haven't made the site yet but they do web hosting and I can make my own domain name which was really cool to find out. From looking at the tool its set up like most web building programs with ready to use templates for me. I am excited to work with this but I am upset I did not know I had this for years of paying Adobe for this.

Okay so I do have a website I made REALLY quickly because it was a requirement for my internship. I will link that here but I will be doing something differently I believe I want to break up my photos in sections instead of putting it all on one page. Link below. 

HERE IT IS

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Book: I enjoy this, I got to respond to all the questions in the Context section and that actually helped me with my series I'm working on now. Right now for me I am struggling with my identity as a photographer because all of the popular instagram photographers do not work in series or "brainstorm project ideas" They just put half naked women in front of a solid color paper backdrop. Its been really discouraging for me because I am on social media and this is what I see all the time and this is what I see people responding to. While reading Swartz words about fine art photographers and bodies of work the thought of Instagram photographers was always in the back of my head. I guess this has been on my mind recently because of a conversation I had with a popular Instagram artist he was shocked about all the research and time I spent to produce "only" 15 images. And its really discouraging the amount of recognization he gets from my peers and the lack of I get from them. 

I would like to know how you all feel about these photographers that do not work in what Swartz was talking about. 

SPE Annual Conference anyone?

Anyone else going to the SPE conference in Cleveland over spring break?
If so, had you considered drive and/or accommodation-sharing?

I'm looking at Airbnb and they have a bunch of whole houses that around $500 or so, which would be a darn steal if split a few ways.
As for the travel, I do enjoy a good solo drive, though I see the wisdom in splitting up the gas fare, too.

Just thought I'd check.

Taylor Quinley Blog Post #1

For this semester I will be working on a series focusing on NASCAR and the crowd that it 

attracts. I will be photographing the tailgating before, the crowd during and after the races. However, I am not able to start this until mid February when race season starts down in Daytona. So in the meantime I will be researching and looking at photographers with work similar to the style I’m looking to work in, and working on another series idea that I have in mind that I would like to explore.

As for my website, I do not have one set up yet. Hopefully this coming week I will be able to get the ball rolling with that. I have a website for my business outside of school with Wix, so I will probably be using that platform since I am familiar with it. 

I apologize if this is a short update, I hope to have more to share with you guys next week regarding the next steps in the NASCAR series and my other ideas that I have going! I look forward to seeing what everyone has to show this semester.

Semester Accomplishments! -NB

What I’m looking to accomplish this semester

  This semester I’m looking to continue my photo project from the previous semester. With this I’m looking to push my creativity, expand on my idea, and create a unique photographic experience on climate change in our area. My critiques from last semester helped me to narrow down my best images, and from those I’m hoping to somehow stretch the idea of finding things that are unique to the aftermath of a storm. Although I know the direction I want to go in, I’m still at the drawing board of where to start to get these images I’m looking for. I’m trying to find those images that will make my photos stand out from other climate change and global warming work. I want this body of work to feel complete but also have a very impactful message that will stay with the people that see it. One place I’m looking to start is discovering and researching places that are highly effected by sea level rising, I’m hoping to also possibly photograph people that are also affected in areas with high flooding. Possibly looking at organizations that are doing work for communities that are also affected may be another area to look into. From here I’m hoping this is a good start, and as the semester progresses I hope to complete and push this project forward.   

   I see that others have posted about website funsies and I myself do have a Wix site but I definitely need to do a lot of updating and major layout adjustments. Seeing as my Wix site now is composed of different styles of photography that I take, at this point I'm not sure if I should start from scratch and show all the work I'm currently doing now, or if the purpose is to showcase my best stuff no matter the style. Nonetheless I will update it and change some layout mechanics and if the better choice is to make a new one I will do it at that time!

Look forward to another great semester with everyone!

-Nadja Bangoura

Michael: Update #1

Well, here we are!
Let's see what we can do here.

As I mentioned briefly on the first day of class, for my photography I want to look for the exceptional ordinary not in assorted sites around Hampton Roads but instead at and within my own family home.  As with other subjects I have serialized while at ODU, taking pictures of my home is something I have done in the past, but not with the same degree of intent and scrutiny and not with the experience of my recent work as a direct precedent.  I've already taken some of these photos in the past week and will include some in my next post, probably.
An interior and more personalized set seems a good complement to what I did with Latent, but I don't think just my home would be enough of a series.  Greta suggested interiors of other places and that could be a good route. 

What I want to bring to the fore, for this update anyhow, was the website.
I've had a website for some time and therefore I noted as much on my grad school applications (by the way, would LOVE to hear woes or wonderings about all that on the blog - think of it as a tertiary topic).  I hadn't updated the site in a while and wanted to do so as my first order of business.
I'll put the site link below for voluntary and/or required feedback. 

As far as the website stuff goes, I'm presently on Squarespace, though I used to be on Wix.  I found Wix to be pretty great, considering it was my first website-building experience (I kept myself on their photography-related email list in fact).  However, Squarespace had a nice student discount (albeit only for a year) and from all I heard seemed like the premium place to go.  I can say they do have a lot of quality pre-built templates, though I do miss the greater level of independence in arranging and customizing elements that I had on Wix - the trade-off here, I believe, is that SS ensures a greater likelihood that your site doesn't happen to come off as crap.  In any case, for the price point alone, I am looking to transfer over to Wordpress eventually - I imagine they offer a more demanding, yet more expansive build.
Whatever service you go with, I'll share this handy page below concerning one of the aspects I always forget the details to whenever I upload new images: what size should they be?

Til next time!

My website

Image size guidelines

Kerry: Weekly Blog Update #1

Hi, everyone:
I worked on my website (my first ever, except for an old WordPress blog) over the winter break and would welcome any feedback. I already know that it seems to look OK on my Mac and iPhone but not on my iPad (not sure why yet - working on it). I went with Zenfolio because, based on my review of the overwhelming number of possible choices, it seemed to best meet my needs for pricing (very low, but sadly not free), ease of use (not as easy as it sounded, but not too bad), and customer support (excellent, which is awesome because I have needed a lot :)). I still have to set up an @kerrykilburnphotography.com email system, so that's in the works as well. Anyway, you can find it here.

Today I spent some time shooting at my favorite of the three antique stores I'm working with: Vintage Trixie in Great Bridge (Chesapeake). It's different from the other two because it's not an antique mall with a number of different vendors - it's just one couple. And the woman is an artist who makes some quite interesting items out of old doll's heads and also some unique custom jewelry. Some of it is distinctly creepy, I must say, which makes it all the more cool :)

So here are a few of the images I made today. They're only minimally edited, so bear that in mind. I picked them because they illustrate some of the categories of things I'm finding to shoot in each of my venues: the individual interesting/weird/unusual object; the crowded collection; the jumble of color; and the fun vignette. Looking forward to your thoughts!

Kerry: Crusade for your Art, Part I

The first part of the book is "Making the Work," and is less of a "how to" than a "what is it." It explains, for example, what a body of work actually is and the value of having a large selection of work available for selective edits - I had a good handle on the former, but the latter was a new idea to me and very valuable. I also found that this section of the book reiterated in several ways the idea that creating a body of work is, at least in part, a trial-and-error process, requiring a plan, to be sure, but also requiring that we as artists have the flexibility to allow the process to unfold organically and to see what new ideas that brings up. I have found, in my own work, that letting the work tell me where it's going is often very helpful, so it's reassuring to read that this is a natural and accepted practice.

If I had to pick a part of the chapter that taught me the least, it would be the section on the stages of fine art and the one on residencies. Although each contained legitimately good information, the former seemed to be merely describing processes I've been through and/or am going through and that I'm pretty well aware of already. The information on residencies seemed like it was appropriate to programs more available to advanced artists than to those available to students, although I'm sure some of the advice applies to both. But the section seemed a little out of place here; it might better be included in a section on resources for artists or something along those lines.

Wecome to Photo Seminar 2 Spring 2019

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