Saturday, May 13, 2006
The Past / Art Show
But then I signed myself up on my school's alumni page and started reading through people's bios. People whose names I would have struggled to remember a few weeks ago started to come back in focus. I wasn't necessarily friends with most of these people because I was kind of a loner, but it was totally a shock into reality for me. These people look OLD. They have kids. They've gone to Harvard and Yale and grad school in England.
So then I got an email from the girl running the reunion asking me if I would be interested in being on the committee too. Me? After I'd just gone off to Mini about how crazy she was for being on it? So I thought about it for a while, and realized I was actually a little excited for the reunion. I've really come into my own since high school. I have a lot to proud of. So I'm not going to do the committee (I would only have done it to hang out w/ Mini anyway...) but I am excited about the reunion now. Never thought I'd feel that way...
*******
So I mentioned that two of my pictures were selected for the student art show at the college. I'd been hoping all semester that they'd pick one of mine out of the class, but of the 3 pictures they picked TWO were mine. I didn't know which they'd picked until we went over there. I imagined walking in and seeing one of my favorites up there on the wall. Instead I walked in and saw this:
I don't know how to say this without being snotty, but I figure its OK since they're my pictures: these pictures are mediocre and uninspired. I feel like I'm pretty good at looking at my pictures objectively, and these two aren't two that I would have picked. The first was part of the aperture assignment, so that middle flower is nice and in focus w/ a shallow depth of field, and I don't hate it, but its not exciting. And the second one? Yeah, that was me messing around with my camera when I first figured out shutter speed. I set up these peppers on black so they look like they're floating, put it on a long exposure, and moved my hand in and out of the frame. So it looks like a ghost hand or something. But I didn't turn this in as a final photo for my assignment, it was in my 'junk' folder.
So everyone was very complimentary, and it was so interesting to me that I'd written both of these off, but someone thought they were good enough. Anyway, not to be totally snotty.... I really do feel pretty good about being selected.
In other photo news: Ryan was showing one of this firefighter coworkers my pictures from Florida and the guy liked them so much he asked Ryan if he could pay me to take some family pictures for him. Me? Take pictures for someone? That scares the crap out of me! Ryan told him yes, but I'm panicked. I'm not a professional by any stretch! I took ONE class, and it was a crappy class. What makes me think I could take pictures that someone will put up on their wall?
But I'm going to do it. I love taking pictures and I'm committed to getting better, so I need the practice. I will absolutely not let him pay me though. You pay professionals. I'm not that. I'm a learner and he'll be practice. Maybe I'll start a little porfolio. I'd love to learn to take portraits of people that are interesting, not like the stuff you see in the mall photo places. Do you know what I mean? I don't want to set up fake settings to take cutesy kid pictures. I want kids interacting with their parents or with their brothers and sisters in a natural way. So my plan is to just get together with him, get to know the family a little while we're setting up shots, and take pictures while we're talking. We'll see how that goes.
OK, we've got two parties to go to tonight and I've got some some pre-party drinking to do! Later.
posted by atpanda at 8:03 AM
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About Me
- Name: atpanda
- Location: Mesa, Arizona, United States
I'm Amanda. I'm an engineer in an industry full of men, a professional wedding and family portrait photographer, a firefighter's wife, a traveler, and a dogMa.
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4 Comments:
That's what I'm doing LOL! Taking portraits for friends for free to build up my portfolio and to get experience. Good luck and have fun! BTW, I like the top picture...the way the daffodil stands out is very nice.
I think the flower photo is beautiful. I look forward to seeing the other ones you are having framed. (And I'm pretty sure you can be as snotty as you want about your photos. Who are you going to offend? Your psyche?)
Am I the only one whose voice-inside-his-head says "cow orkers" whenever I see the word "coworkers"?
Nice work with the camera. Way to take a crappy class, and get something out of it.
jt
I get skin-crawly feelings when I think of my ten-year reunion. It's coming up... I skipped the five-year for a 12-hour mountain bike race (take that, suckers).
I think refusing payment is an awesome way to handle the situation... for one, you'll be more at ease so you'll probably be more willing to try some stuff out of the ordinary. And you'll get to build your portfolio.
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