A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words Thursday

Food!, originally uploaded by cawins.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words Friday

Hile Hitler! & Yes on H8!, originally uploaded by cawins.

Upcoming Exhibit

b0034, originally uploaded by cawins.

On Friday, I found out that I was accepted into the IR Dreaming Exhibition (Sep. 26 to Oct. 24, 2009). This exhibition is being hosted by Watson Studio Gallery in Johnson City, TX.

The show is featuring artists who have created images utilizing infrared photography. Infrared photography is produced by using film or an image sensor that captures infrared light apart from the visible spectrum.

I personally had two images selected for this Exhibit. One image is above and the other one can be viewed here.

Both images were taken on March 24, 2009 in the "quiet little town" of Bodie, CA. It was a 5 mile hike there and back, but after I was home and viewed the images I felt it was worth the trek.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words Monday

The Illiterate Driver, originally uploaded by cawins.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Camera Addiction

Miss P, originally uploaded by cawins.

I have so many cameras, most old and on the shelves. Recently, I decided to clean out some of my working camera equipment and auction it off on eBay. I sold several camera bodies and lenses, but just the other day I found myself missing one of those beauties. My newest baby has a miniscule issue and of course being slightly OCD (I wish it was slightly) I need to have it fixed. Well, I panicked because it will take 7-10 business days to fix the issue upon arrival. What would I do without my baby? Why did I sell his little brother? After beating myself up for a while, I figured I needed another camera body. The only other body was my converted infrared and what if i was looking to shoot dogs or people in the absence of my baby? Infrared photographs of dogs and people look like shit for the most part or at least that is my 2¢. I could just rent one, but I hate to spend cash and not "get" something.

Anyways, since I had sold a lot of equipment I had put it into a "camera fund". I had some cash left after purchasing some nice quality lenses, but had wanted to use that for a few other items and not another camera body. I thought there goes that cash. I am not one to enjoy shooting with two cameras and often find a camera body sitting on my shelf. It sits, loosing value in this never stopping technical world. I just didn't want to have another DSLR sitting and not having the rightful attention it deserves. Then it came to me! There is a new fun camera on the market that is in a completely different class than a DSLR or even a point-and-shoot camera. On the way home from visiting some friends the car took an unexpected detour to a local camera shop. OK, well maybe it was sort of expected. So I went in to have a look at this new fun bundle of love or better know as the Olympus Pen E-P1. It is a Micro Four Thirds camera playing homage to the original Olympus Pen series cameras. The store only had one left and of course I had to have it.

It is not the perfect camera, but really fun to use and with pretty good quality too. Another advantage is size, which will make it a great second camera to carry with my DSLR. Of course, it will also be fun to use when a DSLR is frowned upon or not permitted.

To that end, is there a support group for camera addicts?

Viewing Avedon

Viewing Avedon, originally uploaded by cawins.

It has been two times I have made the short pilgrimage to the alter of the SFMOMA exhibit -- Richard Avedon: Photographs 1946-2004. Avedon walked away from the conventional fashion and portraiture photography to provide the viewer with a sense of raw energy in a still image. His seamless backgrounds and the negative's black edges further created to dramatize the subject.

The images in this show were selected by Helle Crezien (Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark) and curated by SFMOMA's Sandra Phillips. From the picture of Andy Warhol's scars to the young snake skinner the selection and overall presentation of Avedon's images was brilliant.

If you live or are visiting San Francisco, this is one exhibit worth seeing. The exhibit is running until November 29, 2009. Oh, don't forget your camera as this exhibit is open for photography believe it or not! To learn more on Richard Avedon visit The Richard Avedon Foundation.