Here is another collection of work from early last year, all black and white images. I was really jazzed to do B&W on the iPhone after the release of Hipstamatic’s Claunch “film”. I also was acutely aware of the influence of such artists as Paul Strand, Harry Callahan and Lee Friedlander had on me and my photography.

I have an affinity for strong graphic compositions and geometric shapes.

I have some earlier work I’ve wanted to share, but feel like it makes the most sense to group these together in a batch, rather than one at a time. These particular pieces are some of my earlier iPhone/IG projects, all made in January 2011, a year before this post.

There are definitely things about them I would do differently now, but I still like all of these images. These were experiments for me, and there’s something lovely in their simplicity, if you will. I believe they were edited with only one app, then posted on IG with a filter. Now days I run my pieces through so many apps, layering in one, deconstructing in another, tweaking color here, contrast there. I think it’s good for me to go back and look at these earlier pieces to see what worked and what didn’t, to see my progress, but also where I need to scale back to a simpler style.

When I started the website I thought of it only as a place to share my photos. If you know me personally, you understand that I’m a very organized and linear person. (It’s a blessing AND a curse!) So I was thrilled to find that I could back-date my posts, so as to be able to place photos in a particular chronological order, even when I posted them out of order.

Now that I’ve had it up and running for a few months, I can see how this particular theme and format really looks and feels. I’m still happy with it visually, but wonder if it is intuitive enough. The front page grid is still striking, but is it useful? What I mean, is it clear how to get to my photos, other than in the chronological way I’ve set up the grid? i hope someone looking at the site will find the Galleries and Tags meaningful and usable. Because, just as I love the chronological order, the ability to sort by type, theme and style is also really important to me. Sometimes I struggle over how and where to categorize my works, as if I’m being graded on my choices. The amount of energy I put into this is quite high for the relatively low return of having people actually see my art. However, I must continue to think of it as an investment in myself as an artist. Was this endeavor the best choice? Would it have made more sense to focus on external group sites, promoting myself and sharing my work on those? Perhaps. I still hope to focus on that, and soon, but the days are only so long…

I attended my first organized photowalk over the weekend. I had attempted to go to others in the community over the past many months, but the timing never worked out. Truthfully, I was a bit nervous, meeting up with a group of people I didn’t know. But, the fact it turned out to be a challenge, a scavenger hunt of sorts, made me more at ease. I was immediately excited. I LOVE a challenge, so I took it seriously and easily made it to all 10 places in the hour we had to find, photograph and post the shots. The unfortunate thing was I forgot to charge my phone before going, so I was frantically trying to get to everything before I lost all battery life. If I’d had more, I certainly would have done better on the spot editing and additional shooting.

After the outing, the group returned to the coffee shop for a little round table discussion and announcements of the prize winners. I didn’t win any, but I was quite fond of the overall experience. I got to meet a few fellow Seattle-area IGers. I followed even more, as it was easy to find many on IG the next day based on tags and comments.

This shot through the window of Cafe Umbria (above) is probably my favorite of the day. It was our first stop along the route, when I was still keeping with the group. Soon afterwards, I took off on my own…loner that I am. (ha!)

I also took some in King Street Station that I really wanted to like, but as it was my last location, I was too rushed to get the compostions just right. It is a beautiful, if decrepit, building, that I hope to get back to soon.

A dreamy creation made while in the heat of Guanacaste.

Came across these traditional folk dancers last week, while at a pit stop at Hacienda El Viejo, in Guanacaste. We were on our way to a nature preserve, where we saw crocodiles, monkeys and lots of birds. These dancers were by far the best subject I shot that day, though. They were in the middle of photo shoot, complete with lighting and music. I especially love this image I caught using the Hipstamatic app.

I realized last night that it has been more than a year that I’ve been doing my “Self-portrait Saturdays” challenge. I remember being so nervous about my first one, back in January of 2011. I hadn’t yet done anything like it on IG, where I tended to share reflections, still-lifes and landscapes. But then, by chance, I saw that one of the artists I follow was going to participate in another users challenge of “self-portraits”. So, I gave it a shot. Here’s that original photo:

I look about as foolish as I felt, taking my own photo. It turned out to be a real turning point for me, though, because it allowed me to open up as an artist and be more self-expressive, self-aware, and challenge myself each week.

I’ve done at least one selfie a week since then, although I forgot to do one on Saturday, Christmas Eve. (I made up for it a few days later, though.)

Now, it’s practically all I share on IG. I love making the self-portraits, as I’ve said in other posts, because I’m my best model. I’m not afraid to add layer upon layer of color, texture, or other images. To me, bringing out features like the lips, eyes or contrasts is super fun, and I can’t imagine ever stopping now!