Category Archives: digital photography

Displaying our Photography in our First Art Festival

Anne at our first art festivalWe displayed our photography in our first art festival on September 21 at the Tremont Art and Cultural Festival. It was an amazing experience. This was the first time we had displayed our photographs for others. I have to admit to being nervous at first, but once I started talking to people I realized I was having a lot of fun. We spent several weeks getting ready for the festival–the truth is most of the preparation was done just days before the festival. There was so much work and money involved in the preparation–details to come later. This was a two day event and of course the first morning was windy and rainy. Luckily it cleared up by early afternoon and all was well. Our friends helped us set up the tent in the morning. Our main concern was that the tent might collapse if it got too windy, but we were lucky and it withstood the winds.

We had quite a few people browsing and commenting on our photos and a few were interested enough to buy one. The first sale was thrilling!! Here is Jerry proudly standing at our booth after making his first sale.

Our Tent

Our Tent

Our main interest in displaying our photos in the art show was to get an idea of what people thought about our work–we were not as concerned about sales.

I would encourage anyone interested in photography to display their work at an outdoor art festival. You will get a good idea of what people think of your work and you also get to meet a lot of other photographers. It can be quite expensive in the beginning. You have to think about printing–will you print your own photographs or send them out. Then there is the question of whether or not to mat and frame the pictures. Next, you need a way to display your photographs either on walls, easels, or in bins. There is the registration and booth fees for the festival and of course do you rent, borrow, or buy a tent. Can you take credit cards or just cash and checks? You must think of business cards or brochures as well as pricing. Regardless of the work, expense, and stress we are happy that we entered our photography into the art festival and cannot wait to do it again.

Gerber Daisy Close-up Photography

Gerber Daisy Close-up Digital

Gerber Daisy

Last night I decided to try my new Sigma em-140 ring flash for my close-up photography. I am glad I did. It was a bit confusing at first because the instruction manual only gives some very basic instruction. I set up my shot with a black velvet background and used my Nikon 40 mm micro lens. The ring flash was set to have both tubes fire at once. I was able to take the photographs without a tripod. Below are two of my favorite photos from last evening. Both were taken with the 40 mm micro lens, at f/5.6 at 1/60s and ISO 100. The ring flash works great and I will let you know more about it as I learn how to use it. I think this is a great addition to my equipment for close-up photography.
Gerber Daisy Close-up Digital

Gerber Daisy


Gerber Daisy Close-up Photography

Gerber Daisy Close-up

Close-up Shots of Peonies

Last weekend I came across these beautiful peonies and could not resist photographing them. The image below was taken with a Nikon D3100 with a 40 mm micro lens, an aperture of f3.8 for 1/2000s, and ISO 100. The camera was not tripod mounted.

Peony Close up

Lone Peony


I got down on the ground to shoot the photo below, but I realize now that the photo would have been much improved if I used a tripod. This was taken with the 40 mm micro lens, an aperture of f3 for 1/1000s, and ISO 100.
Peonies

Peonies Reaching for the Sky


For this photo, I used the 18-55 mm lens at 82 mm, an aperture of f5.6 for 1/320s, hand held, no flash.
Peonies Nikon D3100

Peonies