Hwhup The Deans List? The Jason Dean here, bringing an end to the Weekend like it was Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
Anyways. Let’s get into it.
New Art in my own space
Here’s what I’ve been cooking up in the lab 😎
I’ve talked before about my culling/proving process, but for those who aren’t up to speed- I almost never start editing my photos the same day I take them. Client work is different, but otherwise I like to make space between creating and evaluating.
This photo is a prime example of why, because when I was looking through my ‘Editskis’ folder (the one where I keep all the photos that yearn to be) this one POPPED and I just had to set it free.
I love abstract photography and I love macro photography. Those aren’t always the same thing, but when they are, like they are with this shot, it is the best thing ever. Not because of the image I’ve created, but because the process itself is incredible. I love doing stuff like laying in the wet grass, aiming my camera, spinning the focus wheel, and seeing what gets revealed to me.
When it comes to editing, sometimes you wanna get nuts.
The photo above is a normal photo that I took last November. I was killing time in Ann Arbor with my ‘new’ old 16mm old school Sigma lens while waiting for my oldest child to get done with classes before Thanksgiving break. If you haven’t been, the campus at U-M is gorgeous, filled with all sorts of wonderfully old trees with branches stretching up into forever. As I am wont to do, I pointed my camera up and started shooting.
Unfortunately I didn’t get a lot of images that I loved, partly because I was learning a wide angle (I usually shoot no wider than 35mm) ‘new’ old lens (no auto focus) and partly because time crunch. I liked this image, but it wasn’t clicking with me in my normal editing process. Usually when that happens, I cut my losses and move on. Sometimes, I start messing around and see what happens. With this photo, what happened is me falling in love with it.
Speaking of photos that I love, this is a photo that I spent almost forty minutes editing and (this will sound like I’m engagement-baiting) is not that.
Sure, it’s a nice picture of last November’s Ore Henge and I’m glad I took it. But it is flawed and honestly not unique enough to overcome those flaws. So why am I sharing it here? Simple- I edited it on live stream.
Streaming update
‘Wait a second', The Jason’, you’re probably saying, ‘you had a live stream and didn’t even invite me??? I thought we were friends’. To which I would say ‘That is correct, I am sorry, yes we are friends, no I will not make out with you’.
It was a test live stream that absolutely no one saw or was even aware of, a part of my creative process behind the scenes to make sure that when I do start streaming my photo editing (starting next month!), it is going to be worth your while to check out!
Stay tuned for more information 😎
UP200
If you’re reading this, I’m either on my way to or at the Ojibwa Casino in Harvey for the finish of the UP200. I suppose it’s possible you’re reading this later than that and I’m at home in my jammies. Maybe our world has been sucked into the sun. I have no idea when you actually get around to checking your email!
I spent most of Friday doing photography for the event and most of Saturday culling, editing, and uploading that photography. In the coming weeks, I’ll be sharing a gallery of the images I took this weekend. I feel like a broken record here, but stay tuned for more 😁
Virtual Gallery
There’s still one more week to check out my virtual gallery. If you haven’t visited yet, please do and let me know what you think!
One of the reasons I’m interested in hearing your thoughts is because I’m exploring ways to implement this technology into my content. Look, physical artwork in physical space is the best way to experience art, but it can be a difficult way to widely share it due to limitations of resources, access to space, and time constraints.
In a virtual gallery, however, those limitations are not, um, limiting. I’m not constrained by the number of prints I could create, the size of those prints, where I share those prints, and how long those prints are displayed. Heck, I could create a a hundred 100 foot-by-100 foot virtual prints and keep it on display in a virtual castle for the next hundred years.
It will also help me grow as an artist/visual storyteller and allow me to experiment with incorporating multi-media components like audio and video into my work. Perhaps most importantly, it will allow me to finally have my very own oversized orange coat.
100 Day Project Update
Here’s where ‘We, The Songs We’ve Sung’ stands after about 3.5 weeks, or a quarter of the way through (!).
It’s no Berlin Wall yet, but it’s coming along! I’m super excited about how this project has evolved and will be creating more of this kind of art in the future.
Photograversary
This coming Wednesday, I will celebrate my sixth photograversary (a portmanteau of photography and anniversary). I use this date to celebrate because on February 18, 2020, I made the decision to actively pursue photography and purchased on online iPhone photography course. At the time, I just wanted to take better pictures on my iPhone 7. I had no idea photography would become such an important part of how I engage with the world or that it would ultimately lead me on a path of self discovery!
In a cool twist of coincidence, I’ll be at the artist reception for the ‘Northern Flora and Fauna’ show at Wintergreen Hill Gallery from 5-8 on the 18th. What a fun way to celebrate how far I’ve come in six years! If you’re in Marquette that day, please stop in and say ‘Hwhup’.
Last week, I talked about fellow Finch Photographer Tony and his photo gallery that is being hosted at Second Story Studio (reception is this Friday!) so this week, it felt fitting to spotlight Kurt and Taryn, owners of the studio.
Taryn and Kurt are both talented artists and better human beings. Taryn is a painter who also does multi-media work, and Kurt is a photographer and bird aficionado. They are excellent at their respective disciplines and if they were just artists with an art studio in Marquette, that’d be enough to classify them as dreamers.
But they don’t just dream for themselves.
Perhaps the coolest aspect of Second Story Studio is their inclusive approach to art. Kurt and Taryn have a heart for supporting other artists. They have a lot of great resources to provide support for other artists (for example, I do all of my local photo printing with them), space in their studio that supports artistic growth (including the monthly hosting of ‘The Secret Society of the Finch’), and a strong desire to use art to speak out on issues related to equality and human rights. It’s freaking awesome.
To Taryn and Kurt- thank you for being dreamers!
Lots of stuff in The Weekender today, so I appreciate you sticking with me to the end, friends! Cool stuff is happening in my sphere, and I’m excited to keep bringing it to you.
See you around,
Jason
