Back from Utah...

"Yearning"
Hi all - I'm back from Utah, it was an amazing trip. The photo to the left is from Kodachrome Basin State Park between Bryce Canyon and Escalante. The entire gallery can be found here. Nine days was certainly not enough time to see everything these places have to offer, but I did manage to take 2200 photos or so (50GB!).

Here are my suggestions for what to see, and some places to eat.

"Surviving"
Zion:
Make plans to hike the Narrows (which is real fun); you'll want to bring a pair of water shoes and one (preferably two) stout walking sticks with you. Also, bring a minimum of gear with you, and get a waterproof bag to put it in - there are parts of the Narrows that are at least waist high. We went about a quarter mile up the river (literally hiking in the river), and hit a spot that went too deep, so we had to turn back.

The Emerald Pools trail, on the other hand, is relatively easy, and gives good views of the trails around the Zion Lodge.

For eats: we stayed out in Hurricane (about 30 miles away), and only ate at two noteworthy places: The Burger Shack in Springdale (right outside the park, attached to the Quality Inn) - very good burgers (but they put mayo on by default, so be warned). We also had a good breakfast at Zion Lodge (better than average breakfast buffet; of note were the biscuits w/ gravy and grits).


"Jericho Ridge"
Cedar Breaks National Monument:
This is a must-see stop between Zion and Bryce (will take only an hour or so, so hit it between them). Leave Zion by the Tunnel, then turn right on UT14, then left to get to Cedar Breaks. Along the way: Aspens, lava flows that are still uncovered, a mountain lake or two, a cinder cone, and the monument itself.

You must stop to eat at the Cowboy's Smokehouse in Panguitch, UT.

"White Pinnacles"
Bryce:
Very highly recommend the hike from Sunset Point, down the right-hand (south/west branch) of the Navajo Loop Trail, crossing over to the Queen's Garden Trail, back up to Sunrise Point, then along the Rim Trail back to start. About 3 miles, 500' elevation change, and spectacular scenery. Also worth a visit are all of the overlooks in the park, especially the less visited ones south of Bryce Point.

Places to eat: Ruby's Inn is a bit overwhelming (most of the tour buses appear to stop there), so be warned. They do have a good general store for camping supplies or basic groceries.

The Bryce Pines Restaurant was above average quality, but basic American food (they have homemade soup and pie, which unfortunately we didn't sample).

"Sedimentary"
Escalante:
We only did the east side of the Monument - mostly from the town of Escalante and to the southeast. Must see: Grosvenor Arch (closer to Bryce), Devil's Garden, Egypt (off Hole-In-The-Rock Rd.). You need a 4WD vehicle to do these safely. Also, if you drive down Hole-In-The-Rock road to Chimney Rock, there's a lot of interesting desolation to look at (it's where we camped).

We also did a hike in the Dry Fork of Coyote Gulch, to Peekaboo Canyon and Spooky Gulch in particular. If you do this, you'll need to bring plenty of water and *limit* the amount of gear you bring with you (e.g., maybe a pocket camera and a pair of water shoes at most). We both brought too much gear with us (lenses, tripods) and this actually hindered us.

Some so-so places to go are to Kodachrome Basin (interesting, but not as interesting as either Bryce or the Devil's Garden), or up to Boulder to Anasazi State Park (which is kind disappointing if you're expecting another Mesa Verde - there are only a few pueblos there, and they are mostly buried.) The road itself, however, between Escalante and Boulder is quite exciting (and paved so any vehicle is fine).

We stayed at the Circle D motel and restaurant. The motel is old-style, but is actually quite comfortable. The restaurant, however, is out of this world good. The chef runs his smoker all afternoon, and did a great smoked brisket and a great smoked BBQ chicken. The breakfast was also quite good (e.g. Huevos con Chorizo, Breakfast burritos, etc.)

The other place to go in Escalante is Escalante Outfitters - they do a good coffee/espresso drinks/pastries/eggs breakfast, and also are the only pizza joint in town. In addition, they do a good dessert (pies), and also have a neat equipment and clothing section.

ed

Made it in!

I found out that two of my submitted works for 12 Angry Women were juried into the show! Apparently there were about 370 entered pieces, and 47 were juried in overall (about 12.7% acceptance). Getting two of five submissions (40%) makes me feel pretty good about this.

The two pieces that made it were Vapor, and The Bottom (both of which have appeared here before).

So, the show runs from 26 September to 24 October, at The Soundry, located at 316 Dominion Ave in Vienna, VA. The Soundry is open every day from 10am to 10pm (hallelujah for good hours!). In addition to being a gallery, it is also an artists studio, performance space (music, poetry), and a coffee shop. Please come by and invite all your friends!

Unfortunately, I won't be attending the opening, because I'll be on a trip through southern Utah - hitting Zion, Bryce Canyon, and Escalante with another photographer friends from Cedar Rapids. I'll be sure to update the blog when I get back.

Next Show submission...12 Angry Women (!)

The next show I'm submitting for is being put on by The Soundry, a relatively new gallery/studio/performance space/cafe that's opened up in Vienna, VA. The gist of the show is that only male artists are eligible to submit, and the jury is composed of 12 women. There's no restriction on medium, so we'll see if any of my photos make it in. Click here to see my submission.

New gallery up...

Hi all; I returned from Maine and finally have a gallery up of the best shots.

Art Scammers!

Well, this is a new one on me. I received an email from someone claiming to be interested in my artwork. Unfortunately, it's a scam - the kind where they send you a fake check for more than the amount requested, then ask you to write a real check for the balance. The exact same email exchange can be found here.


Unfortunately, the name the scammers used is an actual fellow artist, so I've elided their name to protect the innocent.

FWIW, here's the blow-by-blow:

1) Original contact

On 8 Jul 2009, at 11:32, XXXX wrote:
Hi,

Hope this message finds you well. I saw these creatives works on your web site and i will like you to get back with more details if they are still available for purchase.

Portal and Whaleback Light

I will appreciate an urgent reply.

Best Regards,
XXXX.

2) my reply

Hi XXXX,

Thanks very much for your interest in my artwork! Both of those works are still available for purchase, as signed numbered limited-edition prints.

All images are supplied with (edited blah blah)....

Above all, I can work with you on your needs and budget on the presentation.

Thanks again,
Ed

3) "her" response - lots of twin sisters getting married in London - something in the water?

Dear Edward,

Good to hear back from you. Yes,i will like to proceed with the purchase of both prints (matted at 16" x 20") . I think they are lovely works that will add alot of colours to our new wall and i hope to give them a good home. I should be able to frame them myself to suit our interior decor.

I am presently away in London for my twin sister's wedding even though it comes at a time when i was preparing for a big move and also expecting a baby but it means so much to her. I should be back in few days.

Meanwhile,i will like you to forward your mailing address and phone number so i can inform my husband still shutling between our home in New Jersey and Jo'burg, SA on where to forward the payment . He has just been transfer to head the IT section of their head Office in Jo'burg.

I can also forward your contact info to the local cartage company that will be moving all our house decors so they can get in touch with you to arrange shipping details. They can arrange pick up FedEx pick up of the artworks from your studio.

I will look forward to hearing from you so i can know how best to proceed. Cheers.

Best Regards,
XXXX

4) ...and then "her" "shipper" gets into the act:

Good day,

I have received communication from Mrs. XXXX that we should work with you to ship some artworks with her other house decors to her new house in Johannesburg, South Africa when you two are through with the transaction,as she advise.

I will like you to give me the kind and nature of the things she want to ship.I will like to have your studio address aswell,so i can make arrangement with any nearby Agent that will be coming for the pick up once you and XXXX are through with the transactions. Thanks.

I will appreciate your earlier reply .

Yours,
James Carter.
For: Expressmover.
The atlantic House.
48 Caledonian Road,
Kings's Cross.
London D 4 7 BT
UK.
Agent No..206-338-3153

5) ...at this point, "her" original email account gets suspended, "she" contacts me on a separate email address, and sends me a check via UPS overnight.

At this point, I have a counterfeit check for $2500 (much more than the price quoted), and a bunch of disabled email addresses that don't respond. ;-)

Anyway, be careful out there.

ed

Another book review..."Complicity" by Iain Banks.

Iain Banks is a contemporary author of Scottish background, who manages to write both regular (albeit plot-driven) fiction and science fiction (he adds his middle initial, "M", when writing SF.)

I've just finished reading Complicity, which originally was published in 1993, and follows two characters - one a self-described Hunter S Thompson journalist disciple who writes for an Edinburgh newspaper (written in the first person), the other an anonymous serial killer (written in the second-person).

The journalist, Cameron Colley, tends to write muckraking pieces that expose hypocrisy and moral and ethical bankruptcy on the part of large companies or wealthy people. Like his idol, he also indulges in drink, smoke, and harder pleasures; carries on a torrid illicit affair; and, somewhat strangely, also is hooked on video games. The description of his day-to-day life in Edinburgh is filled with details that seem right for the setting (1993). Interestingly, although it isn't a main element of the book, he definitely captures the direction that computing was heading, even in that pre-web time, which makes this read more like a contemporary novel set in 1993 rather than an artifact of that year.

The serial killer, on the other hand, is left quite mysterious...except he seems to target the same people that Cameron writes about. Cameron and the serial killer are headed on a collision course, as the murders seem to implicate Cameron.

Iain Banks is a very readable author - he draws deft characters and gives them interesting and realistic dialogue to speak, fills his scenes with plausible details, and despite the unlikable elements of both main characters, gives them enough sympathy that you care about them and drives you to finish the book. The plot is well-written, and the story skillfully alternates between the present Cameron, flashbacks of Cameron's life, and the serial killer.

All in all, I liked this book a lot, and would recommend it to readers of mysteries or thrillers without hesitation.

If you haven't read Banks before, I'd definitely check him out, with or without the M - and this book is a fine place to start.

Book Review: "Helix" by Eric Brown...

Since my photography business has started, I've gotten a few gigs. However, the larger economy still is pretty flat, and I'm not so busy that I don't have some free time on occasion.

I read a lot of books, so unless I get swamped with work, I'll post my reviews of them here from time to time.

I just finished "Helix" by Eric Brown. I've never read him before, so I had no idea what to expect. The back cover blurb was intriguing, in that it's a group of humans that crash land on a huge construct that encircles the local star (think Ringworld by Larry Niven or Freeman Dyson's Sphere.)

Eric Brown is apparently a writer of SF for both adults and young adults; unfortunately, I can't recommend this novel to either group. While there are a couple of racy bits (but nothing an older teen couldn't handle) and one scene of alien torture, the real tragedy is that Mr. Brown doesn't make the science in the novel plausible, and further gives us a plot that is Hollywood in its simplicity.

For example, early in the story upon crash landing on the surface of the Helix, the local atmosphere is described as being "...a little oxygen rich, [with] a touch more nitrogen and argon." The purpose of this sentence is to make some attempt to explain why the characters don't have to worry about poisoning themselves on the atmosphere.

But a simple check of earth's atmosphere would turn up 21% oxygen, 78% nitrogen and about 1% argon - 99% of the atmosphere right there - with about 1% other gases. So what are we to make of the sentence, then? Rather than providing a sense of the exotic, this deliberately-added tidbit of information simply stands out as poor fact checking and editing.

If the problem were minor points of setting like this, it would be one thing. The issue is when major plot points begin to hinge on issues that just don't seem plausible - from the actual crash-landing of the ship, to the characters' ability to fix alien technology, to the all-too-convenient presence of advanced technology implants in one of the humans.

But the real problem is the plot and characters. None of the human characters are given any particular depth, and the aliens seem even more flat than the humans. The four main characters are given geographically diverse backgrounds, but aside from specific elements placed in their pasts, this background doesn't lead to any difference or conflict in behavior or interpretation.

Even worse, the aliens seem to be set up as a strawmen for posturing on earthly societal issues by the author. Suffice to say that there is no gray area in the depiction of an alien society where religion holds sway.

Verdict? Avoid.

Sheesh, this blogging thing can fall off the table...

So, Artomatic has been open the last several weeks, and it's been a lot of fun! Don't worry - you can still catch it until this Sunday, July 5th. Artomatic is at 55 M St. SE in Washington, one block north of the National ballpark and directly over the Navy Yard metro stop. I'm on the second floor, and will be around on Friday and Saturday nights (3-4 July). Take the metro this weekend, as the Nationals will be playing ball (and parking will be horrendous).

ed

Artomatic!

I spent a good part of this month working on my partition at Artomatic.

Artomatic is an annual event, where a new or newly renovated office building is taken over by the DC area artist community for a month, prior to its occupation. Each participant in visual arts is given a partition, floor, or wall to do whatever he or she desires. In addition, performing arts are scheduled at several stages throughout the month. There's even a tattoo parlor.


My show is titled "The Planet Fights Back"; the photos show various man-made structures being broken down by natural forces back into the landscape.

I hope you can make it to Artomatic, as it's a great way to see lots of local artists, and there is nothing else quite like it.

More information on the show is available at www.artomatic.org

Show's over, some thoughts...

Well, my show at ArtSpace is over, and on the one hand, it was extremely successful: I sold more in both dollar terms and pieces of artwork than any previous show at ArtSpace.

On the other hand, I didn't come close to break even - although I still have salable framed pieces left over.

I guess I'm looking at this glass as half half. In positive terms, aside from the firsthand comments from visitors who enjoyed the show, the biggest piece of encouragement that I heard was a local photography instructor encouraged his class to go look at the show, as it had some merit.

However, barring a significant increase in sales, I'm thinking it will be very difficult to sustain myself on fine art photography alone. Options: day job or commercial photography, I guess.

Artomatic is next!

Opening next week...Trish Ratliff @ ArtSpace

Health and Happiness by Trish Ratliff.

A good friend of mine is going to be taking my place at ArtSpace next month starting Tuesday 5 May, with her show "Unfolding the Kimono". She's a very talented up-and-coming oil painter, and is also a fellow refugee from the tech world.

I always enjoy her work, not only because of the excellent use of color and skill, but also because she comes up with the most interesting subjects and backstories associated with the work.

Her opening is on Saturday, 9 May 2009, from 6pm to 9pm, with a gallery talk and live music by Al Robertson.

ARTSPACE Gallery, 750 Center Street, Herndon VA 20170

Upcoming shows

Untitled (Construction Worker), ©2004 Edward Hahn All Rights Reserved.
Hi all - I will be doing two shows over the next two months.


First is the ArtDC.org 12x12 show in conjunction with the Hyattsville Arts Festival, in Hyattsville, MD. I have two pieces in a show that should ultimately have around 144 works in it. A 12x12 show is for small artwork - the finished, framed pieces must fit in a 12x12 box (or 12x12x12 cube). Not only does this give an opportunity for many artists to exhibit in a reasonable sized space, it's also a good format for sales, as usually the prices reflect the modest size of the work. The Hyattsville Arts Festival is 16 May this year, but the show will hang from 3 May to 6 June.

http://artdc.org/forum/index.php?topic=11451.0


Second is Artomatic 2009. Artomatic is a huge (1000+ artists!) group show in its tenth incarnation. This year the venue will be the new but not yet occupied office building directly above the Washington Nationals ballpark exit of the Navy Yard metro stop, at 55 M St. SE, Washington DC (corner of Half St. and M St.). I will be exhibiting on the second floor, near the elevators (Area 12, Partition #8). In addition to visual art, there's also performances, dance, music, a tattoo parlor, and other stuff ongoing.

Artomatic runs from 29 May to 5 July.

http://www.artomatic.org

Both of these events are free and open to the public.

"Elements" on display now to 3 May, 2009

After 8 hours and some help from Doug and Guy, the show is hanged. Hung. Whatever.

More pics of the show here, and here's the show images.

It's running from now until 3 May; hope to see you there!

ed

Upcoming events...show opening, and teaching classes!

Colocasia Illustris, ©2007 Edward Hahn All Rights Reserved
Hi all,

As mentioned below, I am exhibiting at ArtSpace in Herndon from 7 April to 3 May. I've been spending a lot of time prepping for the show, and am just finishing up a few loose ends, as I go to hang the show on Monday.

There's a reception at the gallery on Saturday 18 April, from 7pm to 9pm, that is open to the public. If you're around, please attend by all means!

ArtSpace is located at 750 Center St, Herndon, VA 20170

In addition to this show, I'm also going to be teaching two classes at ArtSpace starting in about a month:

First: “Introduction to Creative Digital Photography for Students” link to flyer
Tuesday afternoons, 3:30-5:30pm, May 5th – June 16th

This class is intended to introduce the world of creative digital photography to middle and high school age students. The focus of the class is to get students out and taking photographs, minimizing the theory and lecture time to that needed to communicate the key concepts. No prior experience with photography is necessary.

Initial classroom sessions will concentrate on providing a foundation of how cameras work, and how to achieve desired results through use of the camera’s settings. Later classes will introduce the basics of photographic composition, lighting, and color. The last classes will introduce the use of computer editing software such as Google’s Picasa to alter or improve images.

But the heart of the class is to get students out taking photographs; this is done through shooting assignments to be performed on the student’s own time outside of class. The assignments are geared toward allowing students to demonstrate knowledge of key technical and artistic concepts. Classroom time will be devoted to group review and discussion of student assignments.

Second: “How to Digitally Photograph Your Artwork” link to flyer
A Workshop for Artists
Saturday, June 13th 9:00am – 12:00noon

One of the common reasons why artwork is rejected from juried exhibitions is that the submitted photographs do not accurately capture the artwork – they don’t adequately capture the color, subtleties of light and shading, or have some other technical flaw that impairs the communication of the artist to the jury through the artwork. In extreme cases, the submitted image may not meet the requirements of the jury process, and be rejected out of hand for that reason.

Even more extreme issues exist for web portfolios – will web viewers accurately see what the artist has created, while conforming to reasonable expectations for web page loading times?

This class is intended for practicing artists who want to learn more about taking digital photographs of their painting, sculpture, or other artwork, so that images capture the artwork more accurately for web display or for electronic jury submission.

The class will discuss:
• how to light your artwork for photography
• how to set up your camera to capture color as accurately as possible
• what other equipment can improve the taking of your photographs
• how to perform adjustments on the computer in a systematic, color managed way
• how to format photographs on the computer to meet standards for ZAPP, Juried Art Services, and the recommendations of the National Association of Independent Artists (NAIA)
• how to adjust photographs for the web

Tricia Cherrington Ratliff at Applegate Gallery, Vienna VA

A good friend of mine, Trish Ratliff, is having a show, "Portraits and Nudes" at the Applegate Gallery in Vienna, VA. Trish is an oil painter who, like me, left the tech world and consulting to paint full time. She's got an excellent sense of color and style. Please check her show out.

The show runs April 4 - April 29, and there's an artist's reception at the gallery on April 4, from 6 to 9 pm.

Tricia Cherrington Ratliff

Applegate Gallery

ed

YouTube! and ArtSpace show.

I'm back from a trip to New England! Actually, I've been back for a couple weeks now, just slow catching up and posting something. I was in Acadia National Park during a snow storm, which made for interesting shooting. In addition to stills, I took some video footage with the camera (5D Mark II), and have posted my first video at YouTube.

Anyway, other news...I have a show upcoming at the ArtSpace in Herndon, which is a new municipal art gallery and space for performing arts, classes, and other arts-related events. The show starts 7 April, and runs through 3 May. If you can make it, there's also an opening reception on 18 April.

I'm going to be picking up the framed prints (40+ !) from Sara Minarik Applegate's gallery tomorrow morning, and I'm pretty excited about seeing all the pieces with top quality framing. I'll be posting images from the show over the next couple of months here.

Offtopic: Spicy Korean-style Pork Ribs...

I use the so called "country style" cut of ribs, but this will work with regular spare ribs. Baby backs, not so much. It's a marinade, so all quantities are approximate and can be altered to taste. Exactitude is not that important.

Ingredients:
- 3-4 lbs bone-in country-style pork ribs (should be about 8 pieces). If you use spare ribs instead, cut the ribs into individual pieces.
- a small jar of gochujang - 4oz is more than sufficient, but you can't buy it in quantities that small (it's Korean condiment, a hot pepper paste - this is something Koreans used to put in jars in their backyards to age, as it is quite aromatic. A good Asian grocery will have it - but you need to get the authentic Korean stuff, as there really isn't a comparable substitute in other cuisines. Might be called "Ko Choo Jung" or "Ko Chu Jung" or "koch'ujang" or "고추장". Better yet, print the image from the wikipedia page and ask someone in the grocery for help.)
- soy sauce - 16 oz or so (see below)
- green onions - enough to slice into about 3/4 cup of onions or so
- three medium-large cloves of garlic
- about 1/2 teaspoon of toasted sesame oil
- about 1 teaspoon of sugar (optional)

Slice the green onions into disks about 1/16" thick, and place in a 13x9x2 pan.
Crush (or mince) the garlic and add to pan
Add the sugar and sesame oil to the pan
Using only part of the soy sauce, add enough so that you have thin (1/4 inch) layer or so of soy sauce on the bottom of the pan. Stir the pan gently to mix ingredients thoroughly.

Rinse and pat dry the pork ribs.

Here's where things can get messy - you might want to use a mixing bowl as your working surface.

Take a rib, and coat with about 1 teaspoon of the gochujang. You can use a broad knife to spread the paste onto the rib - but avoid contamination (or dedicate a jar to be used only for pork.) You should be able to see the meat through the paste, but don't make the coating too thin.

Once you coat all sides of the rib, place it in the pan with the rest of the marinade, and turn the piece over so it gets a coating of the soysauce-onions-garlic and liquid.

Coat the remaining ribs in the same way, and place the rest of the ribs into the pan. You shouldn't need to pack the pan in tightly.

Now, add soy sauce until the level of the marinade comes close to covering the meat. Don't overfill as that will make moving the pan very difficult. Rock the pan over a sink to allow the new soy sauce to combine with the rest of the meat.

At this point, if you want, you can transfer the entire contents of the pan into large ziplock bags - or you can just keep it in the pan, and turn the meat over once.

Allow to marinade for three to six hours - but not too much longer.

Light your grill, and allow to come up to temperature (or if you're like me, use allow the charcoal to burn until coated with a thin layer of ash.) Spread the meat over the grill, and COVER the grill. Turn meat down to medium if you're of the gas persuasion. Allow the meat to cook for about 20 minutes. You'll have plenty of liquid marinade left over - but discard it.

Don't peek - you don't want flare-ups - and you want to keep a warm interior so the meat can cook from all sides.

Turn the meat over, then cook COVERED for an additional 15 minutes or so.

Remove from grill. If you're uncertain about the doneness of the meat, you can cut in and check to make sure the center meat is cooked white - but still juicy. The outer bit might be reddish - but that's from the marinade.

Serve with steamed rice and a vegetable like steamed sugar snap peas or stir-fried snow peas.

Creative Chamber at ArtSpace...

Sarah Burton is hosting a weekly (for now) series of informal discussions for all kinds of creative people at ArtSpace on Tuesday evenings, 7:30 to 8:30pm. I attended last night with a couple of other artists, and it was an interesting organizational meeting. The group is still forming and evolving, but the idea is to get a place where artists and performers can bring in incomplete or new works, and receive honest feedback about what goes on.

I'm going to continue attending, and I hope to see you there in the future.

Creative Chamber @ Art Space Herndon
750 Center St, Herndon, VA
http://herndonartscenter.org/

Meets: Every Tuesday Evening 7:30-8:30

A safe place for all artist to meet
Discuss their work in progress
Get constrictive (sic) feedback
Support each other
Share marketing strategies
Network and Socialize

Bring a few pieces of current work and an open mind.

From the Weekend...

Lots of news to report. First the newborn shoot on Saturday - I think it was a very learning experience for myself, and has resulted in some useful shots, like the one above. I was using two speedlights set up remotely from the camera, and triggering with an IR transmitter. While it worked OK, I definitely need a shoot-through umbrella to light the scene well - bouncing off the walls and ceiling wasn't getting the nice catchlight effect in the eyes. This shot was actually taken without the flash at high iso. Cute, and hopefully it will draw in some business.

Second, Saturday night was also the night of Tricia Ratliff's artist jam. Trish is a good friend of mine from many years ago in the technical world. We just happened to run into each other over the summer to reconnect, and coincidentally found out that she had left the corporate world and was working as a full-time oil painter. She periodically has invited artist friends to her place, and did so on Saturday night. While it was a bit strange being an odd duck (the only photographer among oil painters), I made some good connections, especially with an artist friend of Trish's who is also a watch collector. She (Cindy Smith) wrote this up on her blog

Then, Sunday, I got a request from a neighbor to do a short-notice shoot of a wedding (this Sunday). I'm obviously excited, as this will really be my first commercial shoot.

Shooting some friends w/ newborn today...

...hopefully I'll have some interesting stuff to post this evening.

I offered a friends with a newborn some free prints and images in exchange for allowing me to use their images to promote my business. This is the "working for a living" part of being a photographer that I'm doing. I'm hoping that a good set of family images in a casual style will communicate the kind of portrait photography I'm interested in doing.

In addition, I'm using a dual speedlight setup, using a wireless transmitter, for the first time.

I'll have to remember to make some backups in natural light - and to save .jpgs as well as raw files, for viewing on-site.

Exhibiting at ArtSpace April 7 to May 3, 2009

("In A Row" Copyright ©2006 Edward Hahn All Rights Reserved)
I'm very excited to announce that I've been selected to exhibit solo at the ArtSpace in Herndon, Virginia, for the month of April. The opening reception will actually be on Saturday, April 18, to avoid Easter and spring break holidays.

Obviously, I'm ecstatic and humbled about this. More details as they emerge.

Websites...

("Blue Ridge Abstract" Copyright ©2005 Edward Hahn All Rights Reserved)
Well, everyone needs a website these days, right? I've been working mine over pretty heavily the last couple of days, and am at a point where I don't mind people looking at it. So, without further ado.

This brings up a huge dilemma, though, for photographers. Given that anything that's on the net can be easily lifted, many photographers go to significant pains to prevent unauthorized use. And that's reasonable, since the image is the photographer's livelihood. But at the same time, does it really help sell yourself if you put huge watermarks onto images? Or potentially worse, use a Flash-based navigation system that, while it prevents simply right-clicking to save the image, makes navigation fussy and still doesn't really protect you (since anyone can simply take a screenshot)?

Other philosophical issues I'm wrestling with is uploading of tiny, degraded, low-resolution images. It seems to me that anything fuzzy enough to prevent casual use can hardly showcase your skills as a photographer.

So, until I resolve these issues in my head, I'm going to try to avoid these steps at this point.

(Hoist by my own petard! The first time I posted this, I forgot that I had enabled "no direct linking" on the gallery where the photo was hosted! I got a nice "Direct Linking Denied" message!)

Watch Photography...duh!

So I was talking with an established commercial photographer yesterday, and he had a recent shoot of jewelry. The way he spoke about it was that it was very difficult to capture well.

As it turns out, one of my other hobbies is watch collecting - in fact, I help moderate a website dedicated to it (plug: www.timezone.com). One of the things we do is write articles and reviews of watches.

Well, watches - particularly ones with polished cases - fall into the category of jewelry that's difficult to shoot. I've already spent a fair amount of time figuring out a good setup for shooting them, and have a homebrew softbox to shoot them in. So...why not post some photos of watches in my portfolio? Duh.

(Photo Copyright ©2009 Edward Hahn All Rights Reserved.)

Some new features in Photoshop CS4 for photographers...

I found this article at Macworld.com yesterday. While all of the new features mentioned in the article appear to be of some utility, the fourth hint, where you can interact with curves and hue/saturation adjustment layers by clicking to select the tone/color to edit, and dragging in the image to adjust, seems to be the most useful.

After a brief test, it's very useful because it allows you to zero in on the specific point in the curve, or the specific color tone, and make adjustments that affect it directly. I've always found curves to be fussy to deal with, as it was sometimes difficult to figure out exactly which part of the curve you needed to adjust to get the desired result; this seems to be a valuable addition.

Musical Interlude...

So...the camera factory has recognized their egregious error on the camera and is fixing it under warranty post-haste. I may even see it back this week.

In the mean time, check out three of the bands on my personal heavy rotation (at youtube, since that seems to be the best way to link to songs these days without worrying that the links will be dead in a week/day/hour. Unfortunately, the videos for the last two are rather a dog's breakfast.)


Nomo


David Holmes


Elbow

Enjoy!

ed

The Bathtub Curve...

So, I recently purchased a new camera to bring me up to the current technology level - my old camera is from the late Triassic period. Naturally, getting something that's brand spanking new means two hazards.

First, you have to find a place that actually has some stock. I was able to find one last week, and was from a reputable dealer that I've dealt with before.

Second, you are dealing with early production models. Unfortunately, the problem here is that early production can sometimes be a bit dicey.

So...my new camera gets bitten by the second bug (started showing failures after about 30 photos), which left me with two unattractive options:  one, return the camera to the dealer and get a new one - while I'm sure they would do it, the problem is they are out of stock again, so I'd not get a replacement any time soon.  Second option, send it to the factory repair center, and hope they can fix it right and get it back to me in a reasonably short amount of time.

For me, I chose the second option - hopefully it won't be more than a week or two.

Welcome to my blog!

To kick this blog off, a short intro:  I'm a long time photographer as a hobbyist, but am just starting out to see whether I can make a living as a full-time pro.  I guess my timing could have been better.

While I'd love to be able to support myself doing just fine art photography, I expect that I'll need to do events and commercial work (if I can find it) to support myself.

I've already been part of  two exhibitions, and have some potential shows in the works, so I've already had more success (luck) starting out than seems reasonable.

Anyway, I'm not starting this blog to just spout off, so here's a link to an interesting article on the Luminous Landscape, that talks about the artist in relationship to his/her audience.

"Vapor", Copyright ©2008 Edward Hahn All Rights Reserved