...."Its so just so nice to be nominated"....

It really is true. It is NICE.

And a pleasant surprise. The other day, I was going through the mail and trying very hard to tear in half, what I thought was junk mail. So when the darn thing wouldn't rip, I decided to open it.

So glad I did.

The letter was from Photographer's Forum Magazine .  I was informed that out of 10,000 entries to their 33rd Annual Spring competition, I was one out of 1400 finalists. I was in the top 14%.

I was stunned. Shocked. Even more so when I saw it was the picture of my "Kissing Wolves" that got me in! It was taken several years ago, on a Rebel (The original digital rebel), a 5 megapixel camera, in the cold, the day after a blizzard. I didn't think the Lakota Wolf Preserve would even be open. But they were. And right after my fingers started to go numb, I had the honor of seeing these two Tundra Wolves kiss. It remains one of my favorite photos.

I gave one to my parents, to my principal and vice-principal at NB School when I left to move to VA, and it has been shown in a gallery in Wyoming, bought and sold there as well as in VA.

So all in all, do I expect to place? No, I do not. But it just goes to show you don't need the most expensive equipment out there to take pictures. To be a photographer you need a good eye, and patience. And hand-warmers in your pocket.

"Kissing Wolves" by Sara Mahler Ronayne

Getting back out there...

I have been shooting. Anything and everything. I recently bought the Fujifilm X20, a lovely little camera. I bought it specifically to catch all those precious moments that occur once our baby arrives... But it is so compact and powerful I carry it everywhere NOW. It is super cute, and its a fantastic camera. I usually don't use in-camera filters but this one has filters that mimics Fuji film, and I was a fan of Velvia so I use that one. A lot. The ISO is impressive, as well as the 2.5 lens. Its the fastest lens I own!

With my D60, I shot whales during a whale watch and got some fantastic pics. Heading out again over Memorial Day weekend, I think.  Also got some pics of Peoples State Park in CT, where my husband was fishing. My friend Christine, snapped a pic of me with TEMPLE GRANDIN, with the X20. I had the ISO set high so the flash would not bother Temple. It came out great.

Its good to be shooting on a regular basis, I know it (the photos) may not be "artsy", just the everyday. Its not avant garde and borderlines on kitsch, which I remember my college prof. telling me was the worse thing to be. But you know what? It makes me damn happy. And that is what art is supposed to do. Bring you pleasure, enjoyment and happiness. So while I (we) sit and wait for our baby to come, I will snap pictures of living life. And while I am at, be happy.

A view from the parking lot, with

the Velvia filter on. X20 camera

The lake across the street from us, in the parking lot

at Bickford's. X20.

Me, meeting Temple Grandin, and her book that she

signed. X20, ISO at 1000.

Along the river by the Ovation Guitar Company, CT.

X20

Humpback whales, bubble net feeding.

D60.

Humpback fluke. 

D60.

Fishing along the river, Peoples State Forest, CT.

D60

Mike and Kelly fishing.

D60

An Idea...

I have lots of ideas. Most of them never become reality.

SO I have this new idea, that if I actually follow through, will take a few years to complete.

I am embarking on my first photo essay:

Town Carnivals and Festivals: A Slice of Americana

I will be documenting the phenomenon of the town carnival that comes to your home town, sets up shop for a week and then moves out. Some carnivals are to celebrate town pride, others are for fundraising for non-profit organization. But the more I thought about it the more I realized, that these sort of things don't really happen anywhere else.  Some of my childhood memories revolve around buying zeppoles at the fair, walking around and seeing the sights.

There will be three main parts to the essay: the people attending the carnival, the rides and carnival itself and those that work there.

I realize that this will take time, that its is a body of work, and that it may be years from now that it is finished. Then hopefully a book, even if it is just mine that I made on Blurb or Mpix.

Let me know what you thing!

A "New" Idea? Puzzles, Scrabble Tiles and Rorschach.

My sister says I have irregular logic. Or was it irrational logic? She is a psychologist, and when she was getting her master's in forensic psych, she used me as one of her subjects. I took the Roschach tests. The below one, I thought was a dancing gnome. More specifically, a Russian dancing gnome because of the red hat and I just thought most gnomes must come from Russia.

Apparently having irregular logic is found among two main types of people: artists and those who are psychotic. Katie was the only one in her class to get these results, and her professor was a bit concerned as to where or whom she got the results from. Also the picture to the left is supposed to bring about feelings of violence, intense sexuality and blood (according to wikipedia). I didn't see any of that, but now that I said "dancing Russian gnomes" I am sure that   
                                                      you agree with me.

So what does this have to do with my new idea? Well my irregular logic brought me to my new idea (Scrabble Tile Pendants), which really isn't new but its new to me. FIRST I got an email from fusionbeads.com. When I read it I saw something about RESIN. I clicked on it and saw that you can use said resin to make your own pendants. THEN I thought of the Scrabble pendants which are really popular right now. Then I did a google search and found a great dealer, Annie Howes, who sells Scrabble Tile and Glass tile kits. THEN I thought of combining my photography and scrapbooking (I have an obscenely large amount of paper) into my jewelry making. AND FINALLY this brought me to my NEW NEW IDEA (which my lrregular Logic just made me think of as I was typing), to make Puzzle Piece Pendants. 

OK. You see, when I got into going to craft fairs I had a nice booth, with a tent and a sign that read "Puzzle Piece Jewelry".  Some people would stop by my booth they ask me " I thought "Puzzle Piece Jewelry" mean you sold jewelry made of puzzle pieces." I named my little jewelry biz in honor of those lives that have been affected by Autism.  Not actual puzzles.  My mom even suggested, after about 10 people asked where were the puzzles, to make jewelry out of puzzle pieces. But I didn't know how. But thanks to my Irregular Logic, I do now!

I think I can make puzzle piece pendants the same way as the Scrabble Tile pendants, with glue and resin! I can make a pendant from a puzzle with the Autism Awareness puzzle piece pattern, on a puzzle, with a name on it. AND other images too such as a dolphin, or put words on them and then connect them (like "Mom", "Dad", "Sara" and turn it into a necklace or bracelet)!  I could make a puzzle pendant with ANYTHING on it! OK I am definitely going to do this!

So in the end, I guess that having Irregular Logic, for me, is a good thing. Thank god I am not a psychopath. I am just an Suburban Artist.