Nature, Undisturbed

A juried photography exhibition is born!

A couple months ago, I was approached by the Southern Conservation Trust asking if I would like to have a photo show to benefit the trust. Of course I would. Then I thought for a moment and asked what if we had a photo show involving the whole photo club? Then I thought another moment and asked -- what if we went bigger? I always think big.

My thoughts were of Slow Exposures in Pike Country -- the feeling and atmosphere of the show -- and the fact that it benefits the local historic society. We could do something like that in Fayette County to benefit the land trust. Many local photographers visit the Line Creek Nature Area for great photos all year round. Why not use our photography to raise awareness of the properties and help raise some funds as well?

There were a lot of questions to answer to get the ball rolling. First we needed a location and dates for the show. Abby Jordan, Executive Director with the trust, and I have been working hard to get the show going. One day I was in Dogwood Gallery, talking to Greg Blair about the show. I did not think that he would be interested -- since it was a benefit -- but he was! We had a place. And it is a very nice place to hang a show! Did I say I was thrilled to have the show at Dogwood? I am thrilled!

During the last couple months I have been networking with the photography community in the Atlanta area. I visited the director of the Slow Exposures show in Zebulon for advice. The ladies with Slow Exposures are so very nice. Chris was wonderful to sit with me for a while giving great advice. Andrea stopped by out of the blue and even offered to come help hang the show if we needed her. One of the Fayette Photo Club members knew someone with the Atlanta Photography Group. I talked with her and emailed her with information and questions. She was a great resource and she offered to forward the call for entries to many Atlanta area photo clubs. And she has -- thanks Virginia!

That is where we are right now -- getting the call for entries out there. Since this show will take place at the end of April -- time is short. Next time (2010) -- we will have a year to get the word out about the show. The deadline is to have your entry in the mail no later than January 31, 2009. The call for entries can be found on the trust website www.sctlandtrust.org. Check the upper left corner of the homepage. Click the link, read the fine print, and print the entry form.

The show is open to any photographer interested. There are two categories, the first -- Nature, Undisturbed -- is showcasing nature photography at any location. The other category is site-specific to photography at trust properties only. These properties are all in Fayette County, Georgia and are: Line Creek Nature Area, Flat Creek Nature Area (both in Peachtree City) and Sam's Lake Bird Sanctuary (in Fayette County, south of Fayetteville). Color, black & white, sepia, and manipulated images are all included in these two categories.

So get busy looking through your images and enter!

Michael C. Carlos Museum

This past week I visited the Michael C. Carlos Museum on the Emory University campus in Atlanta. Not many people know of this museum. It has been around for quite a while. The collections at Emory date back to 1876. I am not sure when it became known by the current name. The building that houses the museum now was designed by Michael Graves. The photography policy here is no flash and none in the traveling exhibit. In the regular collection found on the first floor, I got some pretty good shots. The only lens I took with me was the Lensbaby. You can tell by looking at this photo the left side has that "Lensbaby slur." Next time I visit I think I will take my 50mm 1.4, it is good in low light and, well, no flash means low light. I did bump up my ISO to 800 since I was handholding and wanted to minimize handshake. The lighting is dim in the exhibit halls.

The Carlos has a spectacular collection of Ancient Egyptian, Greek, Roman, African, Asian, and Ancient American art. The museum also hosts educational programs and traveling exhibits. One traveling exhibit that will get the Carlos some notice is the latest King Tut exhibition that will make its North American debut in Atlanta this November. The Tut exhibit will not be at the Carlos – the Carlos is too small to host such an event on property. The Carlos is the host museum – but the exhibit will be at the Atlanta Civic Center. At the Carlos you will find a photographic exhibition in connection with the Tut exhibit.

The website for the Carlos Museum is http://www.carlos.emory.edu/ and the website for detailed information on the Tut exhibit is http://www.kingtut.org/.

If anyone reading is interested – tomorrow – August 24 – I will be at The Veranda Inn B&B in Senoia at 3pm for a program on preserving, duplicating, and restoring old photos.