The Meaning of Lakewood

Yesterday, when I met with the folks of Lakewood's Chamber of Commerce to show them my photographs, John B. Kelsall, the president asked me what type of photograph represents Lakewood. It was a simple of enough question, but his inquiry caught me off guard. This was odd, because to make photographs that represent Lakewood has been my quest from the outset. Yet, his question made me painfully realize that not one of my photographs sums up "Lakewood!" As a body, my work depicts a lot of about Lakewood, but I don't think even if I placed all of my photographs on a wall side by side they would create a mosaic of what Lakewood is. That has been the challenge when making, selecting, and writing about my photographs. And it's not static, the more I photograph the more I continue to learn about Lakewood. Yesterday, I was trolling the streets north of South Street and east of Woodruff Avenue where I found the feel and architecture of the homes to be completely different to that of where I live in the western half of Lakewood. It felt like I was in Orange County.

I suppose my point is this, and the reason why "Lakewood" as a project is challenging. There is a certain feel to Lakewood, and as John B. Kelsall noted, "you know when you are in Lakewood." To capture that in 20 provocative photographs is my mission and something I am close to, but have to date not completed.

Dog Days

Daily, I would like to write something clever, inspirational, or share an artistic breakthrough, but to accomplish that would take much more discipline than I have. Actually, tonight, I feel like writing something negative. I've had a few hard knocks of late, and I would love to rant about them. Yet, I have learned that nobody really wants to read or listen to someone bitch. So, I'll instead I'll yell at my wife. Kidding, she would merely tell me to can it.

We have our ups and downs as artists. It truly is a roller-coaster ride. I made some good photographs today, and that usually keeps the buggars out of head, but sometimes even on good days I feel like I am spinning my wheels. The world news hasn't been all that great either. Maybe I should just go to bed, and go after it tomorrow.

Preparing for my Exhibit

Well, I made my final 15x15 inch print for my "Lakewood" exhibit, and that was the easy part. Now, I must frame them, which means cutting mat board, foam core, and plexiglass, making beveled edge window cuts, and assembling 30 pieces together. I am making this task easier having purchased Blick aluminum frames. They are not the most attractive frames, but they are inexpensive and reusable. Even at that the cost of printing and framing thirty prints will be about $60.00 per image. That's not bad, but it's not chunk change. It's expensive, however I am exited. The prints look fantastic, and I am sure once they are framed and hanging, and an ensemble, they will look marvelous.

Yesterday an Angel greeted me.....

Yesterday, while working on a variation of my Lakewood Project, I came upon an angel. Just as I got out of my truck to make a photograph an adorable long hared, cross and green eyed Calico greeted me. She was meowing away; she said: hi!, how are you?, what's your name?, will you please pet me?, I'm lonely so lonely, would you happen to have any Fancy Feast with you? I bent down to greet and per her atop of her head and rub under her chin, and her purr engine roared. She sensed my residual grief, her purring ceased, and she whispered to me, "I am sorry about Buzz, but don't worry he is in a very good place now." I thanked her, wished her a very pleasant day, and promised her that I would come visit her again. She welcomed me back anytime and said good-bye. I went in the other direction and made my photograph.

How do I remain sane?

OK, after a two year sabbatical I have fully returned and am committed to being a photographer. And now I am overwhelmed. I am crazy busy and I have not even begun to promote myself--the most important part of being a photographer. I have taken on Final Cut Express, which is a 1/5 the cost of Final Cut Pro, yet the learning curve is nearly as steep. I purchased FCE rather than FCP, figuring you don't buy a Porsche if you don't know how to drive. Yet FCE does not handle the Canon 5D Mark II media at 24 fps. More about that in future posts. I have spent at least thirty hours on it, and I have yet to cut a video. Simultaneously I am trying to learn Aperture 3, which I won as a door prize at Palm Springs Photo Festival. I spent 3 hours trying to make a damn contact sheet-see above. Yet, recently I have my doubts, because Joan Paul Capionigro told me at a ASMP workshop he did with R. Mac Holbert, that I should sell Aperture 3 and buy Lightroom 3. Yikes. Then yesterday, Amanda Friedman, another very talented photographer, told me Capture 1 is the bomb. Yikes again.

So yesterday I fell upon Emily Shur's blog, and it inspired me to write more about my experiences returning to photography. Besides being a very talented photographer she is a damn good writer. Now I must learn how she links every one and everything she writes about without writing out the entire URL. Digital, has not made photography easier. Oh yea, it has made it easier to make an interesting photograph, but to stay on top of what is happening it has made being a photographer much more complicated, time consuming, and expensive. Yesterday evening, after a day in front of the computer, which is where I spend most of my days, I was exhausted. Yet sleep was light last night because I was haunted by nightmares self-doubt. Oh, and I have decided to post to my blog first thing in the morning rather than at night. It's much too difficult for me to write anything sensical when I am exhausted. Cheers for now, but I promise to be consistent, and write what I daily learn.

This is the contact sheet I was working on yesterday. It's part of my Lakewood project....

Buzz Continued

I continue to ride the highs and lows of my cat Buzz. He has been pretty sick for the last few days, and I am beginning to prepare myself for the awful eventual day that I must make to let him go. The Vetinary Cancer clinic called me today to inform me that his blood tests from yesterday indicated his white blood count to be low. And that he needed to be placed on anti-biotics immediately to quell what might be a possible infection. This could have been the cause for his listlessness this last week. I gave him his first dose this afternoon, and although it's to early to know for sure, he seems to be improving. The vet also told me that if he doesn't improve by Sunday, it maybe time. I pray that it is not. Lord I don't think I am ready to let him go. When it is please give me a loud and clear signal.

Edit, Edit, Edit

I am taking a basic color class from Neil France at LBCC. It is a beginning class, and almost every student in the class is a novice except for me. I question my enrollment sometimes, but for $78 what the hell. I'm still learning. Neil told us something about projects a couple of classes ago that made a lot of sense and stuck with me. He said constantly edit your work, and don't add fillers. Wow! I knew there was something not right with my Lakewood project. As a body it wasn't working. It needed to be edited. So I removed all the photographs that were not in sync with my project statement. Then I realized my project statement was vague-good but vague. Today I edited out the the still lives and the landscapes from the portraits, and there was the project. Portraits of Lakewood's residents. That I can nail in 20 photographs, and it will be much easier to compose for a project statement. Oh, I'll still create images without people. I love doing that. But the project holds water with just portraits of folks from Lakewood.