It is easy to downplay the learning curve required with scanner photography.  Certainly there are the the mechanics of the process, starting witht he scan itself: getting the scanner set up properly, adjusting any color profiles and capture settings, and even an occasional driver conflict. Once captured there’s another batch of expertise that needs to be developed for editing the images: how to Spot Heal, clone, mastering opacity when painting around the edges of the flowers to make the background black. Lots of pieces that need to come together.

Those elements can be learned through reading of help screens or online tutorials. Much more challenging is the artistic elements of the process. I had some early success with captures, one of my first images, Shibumi, taking best in show at a local art exhibit, but I have to confess that much of it was a happy accident. The flower stalk with the interesting curve at the top was the result of a storm knocking the flower down (and making it eligible for cutting without incurring familial wrath!). The image would be much less visually interesting without that little difference at the tip. I certainly didn’t plan this, no great vision on my part conceived the full result before laying petal to platen glass, but I love the result anyway.

So it seems that the video world has at least as steep and quite likely a substantially longer learning curve.  I thought I’d take a crack at a “live” demo of how to do a scan, buying a bunch of flowers at the local supermarket since dreary November means nothing at all suitable from outside.  Set the camera up on a tripod, hit record, say my piece.  No problem!

Today I looked at the results and the learning curve is setting in.  The lighting was no where near good enough, leaving me and the room with a decidedly orange tint.  Sound quality was only so-so, but I knew I was going to have to live with that given that my camera doesn’t support an external microphone.  Retaking the demo with better lighting would fix the first issue and ensuring I was loud and clear enough for the mic would make the second issue containable, but then I dipped my toe into the editing water.  Ego, meet Learning Curve – and watch out for the whiplash.  Downloaded some editing software and, even without the myriad special effects and transitions available, I’m going to have to invest some time to piece the result together to make it half-way decent.

Well, that’s a good Christmas break project I guess!

The contentious election brought into focus again the tremendous power of the internet for connecting people to ideas – good or bad, right or wrong.  The information available is both amazing and overwhelming at the same time, though unfortunately largely unfiltered and truly the “drinking from the fire hose” metaphor applies.  The internet can only deliver, it can’t help one gauge whether the information is right or wrong, up or down, helping or hurting — that remains left to each of us.

I have to hope that the good in this ever-growing information flood outweighs the evil:: the good in enabling researchers to quickly share research and ideas, old acquaintances to reconnect and maybe become old friends, a student to stumble on an inspiration for a career, helpiong struggling entrepreneurs to spread their clever and useful ideas and on and on in countless examples.

I know I shouldn’t but I still keep letting myself get caught by surprise at the scope of use of this information flood.  Several years ago a put together a short “video” about scanner photography and posted it to YouTube:

I haven’t promoted it in the slightest, and haven’t put out any updates with recent works.  So I was surprised to find that this little infinitesimal corner of the internet has garnered over 12,000 views.  OK, so it has a way to go to catch the latest Adele or OK-Go video, but still was way more than I would have guessed.

I recently purchased a “traditional” camera — traditional as compared to using a scanner, but not film — and have been dipping my toe back into the picture world after having pretty much been out of it for 20+ years, likely about the last time I had a film SLR camera.  Since then has been a couple of point-and-shoot consumer digital cameras, so getting back into the world of shutter speeds and ISO and apertures has been a bit of a learning curve.  Another layer higher on that curve is that it includes video capabilities so it got me to thinking about adding another video or two to my extensive (one) YouTube channel, diving a bit deeper into the techniques and inspirations behind how I approach any new scans.

No promises: having anything materialize in the video department will depending on how many pounds the camera adds to me!  But who knows, maybe something crazy will happen while capturing a scan and it will “go viral”!

Usually at this time of year the brilliant red and orange maple leaves are scrambling over each other to climb onto the scanner glass for a chance to be captured like in Fall Leaf Collage II or Seasonings.  OK, maybe I help them a little bit.  This year hasn’t been the case.  Walking through our front lawn this morning I couldn’t find a single leaf that wasn’t at least partially shredded — not by wind or a long summer’s wear and tear but from this year’s gypsy moth and winter moth infestations.  Most of the leaves had at least a third that had been munched away, a result of this double-pronged attack.  Our neighborhood was hit less than many, but still plenty of fallout.

The prolonged drought this year also may have been a factor.  The peppered oblong leaves in Seasonings (spirea?) were disappointing this year, still with their spots but with nowhere near the color.  I can’t say for sure the dry spell is the cause but whatever the reason they didn’t have the glimmer of past years.

The oncoming winter gives an opportunity for plants to regroup and sprout forth anew in the spring, and hopefully a wetter spring will attenuate the recent growth in the gypsy moth population next year, giving the fungus that attacks them a better chance at control.

Until then, I’ll have to stick with the flower captures I made this year and perhaps rely on some store-bought posies once in a while.

Two weeks ago I headed out to western Massachusetts to visit my daughter and her husband and head out to the Paradise City art show being held in her area.  I had been to the show in Marlborough earlier and many (most?) of the exhibitors were the same but still was enjoyable to see the generally very high quality offerings found in the show.  The skill and creativity far surpasses what can be found in most local “arts and crafts” shows and did command higher prices accordingly, but as I looked at the works I didn’t think very many of them were going to be earning very much on an hourly basis.

Let’s break it down some.

First, there’s the booth itself, with the basic rental being around $850 for this show and heading north from there for add-ons like electricity.  How many woven scarves or (very fine) wooden spoons do you have to sell just to cover that cost alone?  Even if there was a $20 markup on a scarf that would be 40 that need to sell just to cover the booth rental!.

Whoops, then there’s the panels and racks or display cases.  Sure, those can be amortized over multiple shows, but there is still an allocation of expense there.

Where are they coming from?  Some of the artists were from New York, thought I overheard one from Tennessee, so toss in gas and tolls, not to mention car and (typically) a trailer into the mix.

Then there’s the time spent just at the show.  A few of the exhibitors, notably an artist creating some amazing oriental silk embroidery art, could work on their creations right there and draw in some potential customers at the same time, but for the majority that isn’t the case.  Otherwise they’re manning the booth (hopefully) selling and not creating any new items to sell.

And for all of them there’s the raw materials for their carpentry or weaving or painting or jewelry to factor in as well.

So what kind of hourly wage are they really earning?  Sure, for some they may be the second income on a household but they still need to be doing more than breaking even — Uncle Sam won’t allow tax write-offs for expenses unless you’re turning a profit at least three years out of five I think (rationalizing that anything less and you’d go out of business, so if you’re continuing then it is a hobby).  Per hour?  Minimum wage might be a stretch for a lot of them.

I did a couple of minor shows a few years ago and concluded they were a lot of work for little to no net income.  I was at the wrong shows, way too much costume jewelry to attract buyers of photography or anything much north of a twenty dollar bill, but given the price structure diving into the higher end shows would be a significant leap in booth materials and lots of varied prints, not just selling via POD (Print On Demand).  At these low-end shows tacking on any reasonable sort of “profit” onto the price of a print would have really made them a no-sale.

Example: I sold a metal print of Serenity last year through a gallery show (interestingly, didn’t make the “jury” cut but sold to a customer while waiting for me to pick up the “reject”).  Price? $110, but the gallery’s 30% cut and print costs left me with less than $10 “profit”.

Time to roll out the starving artist cliches I suppose, but even in these higher-end shows I doubt they’re raking in the cash, and for vast numbers of artists that don’t make the rarefied upper echelon’s of the art world are probably paying for their supplies at best and living on the thought that the occasional buyer is enjoying looking at their work.

That’ll have to do most days!

I’ve been a canoeist and kayaker since my Boy Scout days.  Our pack leader usually had some sort of outing planned every month: hiking, camping, and numerous canoe trips down Michigan rivers: the Manistee, Au Sable and several others.  Today I enjoy the lakes of Massachusetts and an occasional junket to the Rhode Island and Maine coasts as well as Boston Harbor.

But my favorite place has to be Lake Whitehall.  For starters it is close, only 15 minutes away, making it possible to sneak an hour’s paddle in after work.  Even though close to 495 and the Mass Pike it is quiet with only a bit of distant truck noise.

Mid June carries a special benefit: mountain laurel fringe the lake in many places and yesterday we hit it at just about the peak.  Paddling slowly around the edges lets you get almost under them and enjoy them up close (OK, watch out for hanging spider webs).  Sorry, no scans – I won’t take flowers from public lands – so you’ll have to take my word for it that the small, intricate geometrical shapes mass into lovely white clusters.  Whitehall is truly a little treasure and right now it has a special glimmer of white.

This past weekend we went to a Paradise City art show/sale.  I’ve been to numerous arts and crafts shows and have exhibited in a few but have nearly always been disappointed because they were way more crafts than arts — booth after booth of bead jewelry with only a smattering of photographers or painters.  This show was clearly a cut above.

My initial skepticism was fueled by the admission fee.  Really?  Paying $13 to shop?  That fee, though still annoying, was fairly quickly relegated to the back of my mind by the quality and variety of the offerings.  Hand woven jackets, silk embroidery art, some very nice oil and pastel work, but the delightful surprise was the woodworking.  I hesitate to use that term because it can leave you with images of knick-knack boxes or simple dressers.  Nothing simple about these wares: precision work, marquetry and other inlay, gorgeous woods and finishes and elegant designs.

A pleasant but not free visit (especially if you lay down the plastic for something) but definitely enjoyed.