Decemebr 10th at Conversation Pieces Downtown Delray

Reminding all you Doggie Parents and Feline Lovers and Animal Lovers
Come visit us, Make a Donation, Take Home a Portrait:

Thursday December 10th, 5-9:00pm

Pet & People Photo Fundraiser

with photographer Sarah Brown www.sbiportraits.com

for three worthwhile causes:

Animal Rescue Force (ARF)

Feline Friends

Sabbath Memorial Dog Rescue

 5:00-9:00 pm 20% off everything!

10% of all sales; 100% of silent auction & raffles donated!

Sarah is generously donating 50% of photos $

Because we know not many cats will want to attend-they'll be included with

Sweetest Cat Photo Contest

(win ANY frame! send photos to info@eConversationPieces.com)

treats & goodies for all

we'll accept donations of supplies; rescue's wish lists @

ARF-www.animalrescueforce.org

Feline Friends-www.felinefriendsfl.com

Sabbath Memorial Dog Rescue-sabbathrescue.org

187 Ne 2nd Ave (Pineapple Grove), Delray Beach (561) 274-6915

Holiday Hours: Sunday 12~5, Mon~Wed 10-6, Thurs~Sat 10-8

eConversationPieces.com

Bring in food, old collars and leashes, kitty litter, paper towels, garbage bags, etc....

I will be talking about how to take great holiday portraits and be available for portraits that night. We will be printing onsite and will be taking orders for multiple prints, Black and Whites, and more. Call ahead to Conversation Pieces and book a private session. 


I look forward to seeing you there!!

Images Can Move Me

This holiday season has been busy for portrait shoots. I love doing family portraits, crazy right? As an observer, I love to watch the dynamics and humor that fuel the togetherness. I will admit that after a while I can feel the ease of going through the motions approach. I try to let this 'energy' visit and depart; I need to feel the love of the family as I click the shutter making a ridiculous face. This photo shoot was a bit different. I visited an old friend and had the opportunity to photograph her family. Just as any other home shoot, I set up, checked the light, anticipating any ambient changes, and pre-visualized. The actual session went great and no one feel into the pool.
This morning, I loaded the cards prepping for the endless and thankless task of workflow. After my first quick edit, I stopped on one image. Frozen. Just thinking about it, makes me teary eyed. This image is wordless and full of emotions that choke the throat. Every thousandth image, I am discovering and validating that invisible connection between us is evident. With this holiday season upon us, remember this connection and act with compassion. Be a little more gentile, more patient, and more giving (even if you give yourself the gift). If we all gave just a little, our cumulative efforts could move mountains.

Upcoming Exhibit at the Elliott Museum in Stuart

December 11th at the Elliott Museum in Stuart will open their Juried Art Exhibition entitled, "Florida Expressions and Reflections."

Join me and view my recent piece, "Cypress Equivalence" that will be part of the exhibit.

Here's their link: http://www.elliottmuseumfl.org/index.php?main=1&nav=209

News and Upcoming Events for November and December 2009

I was in Crafts-n-Stuff, one of my favorite shops, buying matt board. The Christmas decorations had started to find their way out of boxes and boxes of boxes. I realized that in all my hectic craziness of a schedule that I needed to slow down and share new upcoming events and news from the studio.

November:

* Remember to get those Christmas Photos finished up! Our studio special price for an on-location will run         until the Wednesday before Christmas this year. The beach, the park, or even your own backyard!!!

* Friday the 13th is the Opening for the NEW Palm Beach Photographic Center in downtown WPB               right on Clematis! The ticketed reception begins at 5:30 and, then, open to the public at 7pm.

The facility is amazing! I hope to see some of you there.

* DAL, also known as the Delray Art League, is back in full swing! With over 200 members, demos, lectures, and friendly camaraderie with fellow artists of all mediums. I recently was juried in as part of the group and am looking forward to learning, sharing, and exhibiting with the active group.

We are always looking for venues to exhibit work. Feel free to contact me regarding this.

Check out Artists in the Park-located at Veteran Park right by the intercostal bridge and Atlantic Ave. in Delray Beach.  This upcoming weekend is the first of the season. You can find them on Facebook.

* Early sunset makes for great beach photos. So get out there before 5pm, bring your tripod, and relax!

December
* December 10th from 6-9:30, Thursday  
   Portraits @ Conversation Pieces
   Dogs, Children, and even the Adults.
 
I'll be talking about making great holiday portraits a breeze and ideas for displaying.
  Portraits with a print to take home will also be available.

There will be more events posted soon. January brings new work and new happenings.
New Exhibit with the Everglades Coalition; New work with still life's; and ohhhhhh the birds to be seen as winter approaches.

Winter is approaching when the birds return to South Florida

Thought I had moved on from the birds? Nope. Just waiting their return south. Maybe I had thought I had filled my cup with bird photography. When I saw 2 Osprey's fly over my head and a small flock of blue jays go left then right, and ohhh was there a Perigean Falcon, I found myself getting excited. Where were the binos? Who moved them?
I find myself arriving in much the same place as I left with my bird photography. Rest assured, I hope to have generated some progress during the summer months. Truly, I am still dreaming of Gitzo's Ocean tripod-all stainless steel, carbon fiber legs, but first let me rise to my personal challenge. This season I challenge myself to photograph the birds without photographing the bird. Ahhh the directness of Contemplative Photography. I include one of my favorite images from last season of an Osprey eating a large fish. See you out there birdies...

Knowing when, Knowing how

If you are like me, you have that ever annoying questioning of am I in the place I should be and how to proceed. First of all, there are a million different ways to arrive at artistry; a million ways to market, sell, and so on. Anyone who has already arrived there will say persistence, determination, and struggle are what to expect. Long hours, lots of bad art for the rare gems. If that isn't a deterrent, then maybe the financial insecurity will be the decider. Beyond that you can create or move above the myriad of mountains that can be on your path. And that is the key: this is your path that can be different than my path.

My path or direction into photography seems some what illogical and unstable some days. I have friends beyond my years who are master artists who struggle. I look at other artists who are successful and once thought I need to to what they do to make money in photography. I have come to understand the flaw in that thought is 'I need to do what they do.' I need to do what I need to do. What others do successfully or not is mute. I am speaking conceptually not to say I would be opposed to following another's business plan or marketing idea; nor would I ever stop looking at others works or researching.  What is most significant to me is what I do and the integrity of how I create.

Still life Challenges Every Artist

My new creative pursuit in photography is to master the art of visual perception. For the past year or so, my mentor, George, has challenged me with arranging and photographing a still life. To the laymen's ears, this pursuit maybe deemed too simple or copying what the Master painters already did perfectly. The inevitable question arises: is photography art? I suppose the answer simply depends on the person inquired. I, of course, believe photography is art. My art; digital photography and art is a new realm that challenges the current postmodernists who lay claim to knowing the difference between 'real art' and non-art(for lack of a better word). My personal view looks at the whole work incorporating both the contextual, the technique, and finished piece display and all. Art is because the creative authentically produces work with the 'magic' that viewers encounter grabbed by a feeling from the work.

Many, many days I have spent in my small studio arranging and rearranging objects that initially copied Cezanne, eventually incorporating my favorite objects that represent a piece of me. Now, I copying a Master like Cezanne is possible in Photoshop, but I was not interested in sitting for hours manipulating. I mean hours. I wanted to create with my camera and my knowledge of my equipment and experimenting. I have mountains of paper sketches that could keep a Mainer warm through most of the winter. I yelled into empty space. The simple act of still life creation became an obsession. Add that to my unyielding path to become a Master Photographer and months later, I feel I have found that indeed my photography is art.
All challengers are welcome to stop by the studio and have a hand at arranging.