Weekly Reflection: 5/23-5/28

This week I learned what it takes to put on an art show! It takes a significant amount of energy as I have learned this week. However, while it was difficult I thoroughly enjoyed what I was doing the whole time.

I began the week with printing all of the photos for the art exhibit. Once they were printed I began my advertising process. I sent out several flyers and sent out invites over facebook and email. I then began looking up recipes for my event. This is where it started getting really fun. On the morning of the exhibit I cooked cooked cooked and cooked some more. I made so much food. The food consisted of tomato bruschetta and roasted red pepper bruschetta. I also made a delicious assortment of meat, cheese and bread. For drinks I made some organic iced green tea with lemon verbena from the garden. It was delicious. The day of the exhibit was slightly crazy, but still fun. Many people came to the event to see some good pictures, eat yummy food, and enjoy the company of others. It was a real social seen, which I was happy about. People felt comfortable in the environment and really took the time to look at my pictures.

I had so much fun with the exhibit and have learned that I really like that energy of putting on a show. No matter what I end up doing in life, I have learned that I want to be surrounded by people, life, and art. Putting on a show has really taught me this.

Day Fourteen: Putting it all In front of me

Today I went over John's to pick up my pictures that I will use for the art show. I also picked up some cheap paper copies of my pictures. I will use these to see which pictures go well together and so I can bring them to the coffee house and visually look at them on the wall. While organizing the pictures I decided to name everyone of my pictures. The process of naming them was both fun and interesting. To name them I looked back to the moment when I took the picture and tried to visualize the scene in my head. I picked out names for the pictures that most represented the moments that lead up to the picture being taken.

I have also been looking up recipes for the food I'm going to be serving at the show. Tomorrow I will purchase food and begin cooking. I'm also going to finish a couple artist statements that I will be presenting with some of my photos.

Until tomorrow,

-Jax

Day Thirteen: A Jackson Day

Today was wonderful! I woke up and went for an hour-long run with my momma, had a delicious piece of left-over chicken and then went for a swim at Elbow pond with my dog. I then came home and worked on advertising for my exhibit this saturday from 5-7! I sent out invitations to every single person in the school and I'm now in the process of making flyers which I will put around campus and town. Tomorrow I plan to print out my pictures on normal paper and tack them up on the walls of the coffee house. I will do this to get an idea of where I want to put my pictures this saturday. Tomorrow I will begin looking up recipes for things I want to make as hors d'oeuvres. It is all coming together!

-Jax 

Day Twelve: I Can Hold it all in my Hands

I finished printing all of the photos I will be using for the exhibit this Saturday (changed date). It took a really long time to print them all and sort out the good ones, but I did it and now I can focus on advertising and setting up for my gig!

I printed on medium glossy paper and I'm really pleased how they all turned out. I'm currently in the process of figuring out which photos work the best with each other. I'm doing this to see which pictures should be hung together for the art exhibit.

I can pretty confidently say that I'm brain dead after today. I worked for about 6 hours just sorting through pictures, making final edits and printing them with John. Oh boy, it's good to get those pictures printed. Until tomorrow,

peace

Day Eleven: Getting Ready

Today marks the day that I stop taking pictures and start gearing up for my exhibit this friday!

I went over to John's today around 10:30 to narrow down the work I have been doing to my best pictures. It was difficult parting with some pictures, but I want my show to have work that I'm most proud of and I'm very excited to share my work with the Proctor and surrounding community. I talked to Adam Jones today about booking the coffee house for my exhibit. John and I then checked out the space and what we have to work with. The space is absolutely perfect for the occasion! The space great lighting, a warm and cozy coffee-house feel, plenty of wall space and a perfect counter to serve appetizers. This week I will be spending the entire time printing photos, advertising my show, cooking, arranging and matting photos. I have a lot of work ahead of me, but I'm really excited to put on this show.

I am meeting John tomorrow to begin the printing process!

peace,

-Jax

Weekly Reflection: 5/16-5/21

This week was an incredibly productive week. I week I established my groove and work ethic. I can say that I’m comfortable using Lightroom. I now feel comfortable in knowing how a picture is going to turn out as I begin to edit a photo in Lightroom. Due to this newly-found knowledge, I have been taking, sorting and editing up a storm this week. 

Another important thing I learned this week was how to back up my pictures onto an external hard drive. This gives me security in knowing that my pictures are backed up somewhere else. It was a difficult process, but now I know how to organize, sort, and back-up pictures that I will take in the future. 

A surprise that I encountered this week was that I began to get stressed out about taking pictures. I began struggling with the fact that I was no longer taking pictures for me, but for school. I began to realize that my pictures weren’t as good when I was forcing the mindset that I needed to take a good picture. This was the biggest road block in my week. I never thought that I would become so worked up over my performance in photography, but it happened. I began stressing myself out and doubting my ability to take good pictures. I have taking up meditation again to calm myself and open my mind. 

For all of Saturday I hardly brought my camera anywhere with me. I wanted to get my eye out from behind the camera and just live without thinking of shots I could take for my exhibit or the lighting on my friends’ faces. I had a wonderful day. It was beautiful. I went swimming, running, biking, listened to a music performance, went out to lunch, and laughed with my friends. I began to realize that I was reliving what made me want to take up photography. The whole day I couldn’t stop thinking about how beautiful my friend’s wet-hair looked in the rain, or the way two people embraced each other after crying, or the way her nose scrunches up when she is laughing. I wanted to record these moments. I wanted to hold onto them and show them to others. I wanted to go get my camera. 

The biggest lesson I learned this week was that sometimes I need to separate myself from the things that I love in order to get perspective so that I can appreciate them more and see them in a new light. That is how love grows. That is how an artist grows. That is how we grow.

Day Ten: Music

Today I took a trip to Vermont to go to an appointment. It felt really refreshing to get out of my Andover and New Hampshire bubble and just see the beautiful lush fields and sharp mountains of Vermont. In Vermont I took several stops along the way to photograph old barns and nice landscapes. This kind of photography was just for fun, for I'm mostly working with humans as the main subjects in my Photos.

I went to the student concert at Colby-Sawyer College to support some friends, get my dance on, and listen to some quality music. While the music was very fun and catchy, I couldn't seem to get my camera to do what I wanted it to. The lighting in there was too dark for not using a flash and I don't like the way a flash eliminates shading and what not. Thus I found myself fiddling with the camera and taking very blurry pictures. Oh well, I guess I won't be able to share my moments from tonight in a picture. However, tonight I learned that I do need to educate myself more in the potentials of my camera and how to work around lighting and still get what you want.

It's late and I must sleep...

-Jax