Fun, Friends, Photography

Last Saturday night was the opening for Nature Undisturbed.  The gallery was buzzing with photographers, friends, nature enthusiasts, and art lovers.  Susan Todd-Raque spoke about her selections.  She explained what she was looking for in choosing photos for the show and those that stood out and won ribbons.  

The show has two categories.  Site Specific highlights the properties owned and/or managed by Southern Conservation Trust and also the Flint River.  The Open category is for those photos taken at any location. In the Site Specific category first place went to Hunter Good for his photography "Red Buds," second place went to Chris Drummond for his photograph "Flint Lilies, Cloudy Sunday Morning," and third place went to James Chapman for his photograph "Baby Owls."  In the Open category the first place winner is Michael Parvin with "Rainy Night in Georgia," second place went to David Foster for "Full Moon," third place is P. Seth Thompson with White Sands."  Honorable mentions are as follows:  Joe Cattoni "At Peace," Reginald Copeland "And Then Came the Winter," Diane Kirkland "Snow In Trees," and Brad Wilson "Eyelash Viper."

Voting for People's Choice will continue through 4/29 and the winner announced at the next event on Saturday 4/30.

Blackberries

I used to like blackberries.  

As a child I would pick and eat as many as a could.  When we moved back to Georgia over ten years ago, I was thrilled to see all the blackberry plants in the woods behind the house.  Also, there were many more plants across the road on the lots not yet cleared for building.  That spring I picked many and they were delicious.  I would pick until I saw a spider -- then that was enough for me that day.

Now I hate blackberries.  I cannot eat one without thinking of my on going battle with these insidious plants.  And yes, I know I direct a photo show named Nature Undisturbed -- but believe me -- when it comes to blackberry plants....I would love to disturb them -- and I do!  Yesterday I spent a few hours pulling them from the azalea bed, wrestling them from the butterfly bush, and shoving them into the woods.  They have the kind of thorn that really grabs you.  Normally on a day when the temperature is close to 90 I would be working in the yard in shorts.  Not yesterday -- I had on long pants and my rain boots.  Blackberries are evil.  They are insidious -- they fool you with the promise of delicious fruit, they woo you with beautiful blooms -- arcs of them.  But among those blooms are fruit are scary green lynx spiders and they will take over if you blink.

I think I actually heard a chipmunk crying yesterday as the plants full of buds were ripped from the yard.

One Week

Nature Undisturbed 2010

In one week and a couple days, Nature Undisturbed 2011 opens at Dogwood Gallery and Framer.  It is hard to believe it is time for the show to open.  We have been spending months preparing for it and here it is.

It is also hard to believe that I first wrote about the show on this blog in December, 2008 when we were preparing for our first one -- with a VERY short time for a call for entries!  This is the third year and bigger and better than ever.  The show will only continue to grow.

One of my favorite things about the show is meeting photographers.  The first year I remember meeting two photographers from Louisiana.  One is part of a photography group in the New Orleans area and the other had not entered a show before.  This year I have met another photographer -- from Nashville -- who had not entered a show before.  She has two in Nature Undisturbed and they are photos to stood out to me when I logged in the entries back in January.  

This morning I delivered the program to the printer.  There is still one last photo that needs to get to Dogwood by Saturday.  I am anxiously waiting to see the gallery ready for opening.  The photo above shows the gallery during the judge's walk through last year.  You can see that the photos all have a number and no names or titles on them.  This is how the judge sees them to choose the winners.  But if the photographers in this show are anything like me -- I feel like a winner when I am juried into a great show.  

I hope everyone reading this comes out to see the photos.  When you do, be sure to vote for your favorite.  The People's Choice winner will receive a nice gift certificate courtesy of Lensbaby!  (I love my Lensbaby as you all know)  This award will be announced at the Panel Discussion on April 30 at 2pm.

Japanese Maple

One of my favorite subjects is just outside the front door.  The Japanese Maple is beautiful in all four seasons.  I just put a black and white version of this photo on The Photo of the Week blog.  The tree has been on the blog before.  A photo of the tree -- bare in winter has even appeared on Hanging with Mr. Bennette.  In the summer the leaves are thick, bright green and pretty.  In the fall the leaves turn a brilliant orange and glow in the sun.

I don't have many spring photos of this tree.  I took this one just the other day.  One of those mostly gray days -- with a bit of brightness.  Just enough light was there to backlight the leaves.  This shows off the newness of them -- the fresh, juicy, green of spring.

Spring is a great time to get out to shoot nature photos.  Spring is also a great time to view nature photos.  In less than two weeks (two weeks yesterday) is the opening reception of Nature Undisturbed 2011.  The reception starts at 6pm.  At 7pm our juror, Susan Todd-Raque will speak about her selections for the show and her choices for the winning photos.  Susan has been involved with the show from our first year.  She will also moderate a panel discussion on collecting photography on April 30 at 2pm.  The panel includes Kathryn Kolb -- fine art nature photographer; Lucinda Bunnen -- fine art photographer and collector; and the new Curator of Photography at the High Museum, Brett Abbott.