by successfulbob | fine art photography, fine art portrait, graphic design, people photography, photography, photography education
Self assignments.
Love ’em!
Tlaquepaque our local Sedona Mexican Shopping Village and gathering center, put on a very colorful event in honor of the Day of the Dead AKA Dia de Muertos.
Here’s the first line of explanation from Wikipedia… “Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de Muertos) is a Mexican holiday observed throughout Mexico and around the world in other cultures. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died.”
It’s a very colorful event. People dress in costume, actors perform, musicians play, sky dancers fly and artisans display. In short a photographer’s paradise. I met a lovely lady who was costumed as a Catrina which is one of the most popular figures from the celebration. She entranced me so I gave myself the assignment of making her the centerpiece of art based on some of the images I made during my visit.
Pash Galbavy, dressed as a Catrina, as the focus of one of my Dia de Muertos art images…
When I asked Pash if she would mind my making her image she said, “No problem!” then began to move like a model… With good reason! She is an artist in her own right. (learn more about Pash at unmaskit.com and artofpash.com)
Using multiple images from the day and some of my texture files I worked with Adobe Photoshop creating layer after layer utilizing blend modes and masks to combine images in many ways to get to the result you see above.
Look for more ‘self-assignments’ from this ‘busman’s holiday’ at Tlaquepaque in future posts here at Successful Photographer.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – What are you working on to stretch your photography skills??
by successfulbob | commercial photography, fine art musician portrait, graphic design, musician photography, people photography, photography
Received a wonderful email today! Thought I’d share with you.
Hi Bob:
Just a quick note to let you know that Smokin’ Blues won Best Acoustic Blues Album 2014 at the BBMAs (Blues Blast magazine Awards) last week. I went to the ceremonies in Illinois and it was amazing. I played and got to meet a bunch of heavy people…
The mag is going to run a feature story on me and Smokin’ Blues – You can see it on line and I think it comes out this Thursday. If not, the following Thursday. Your art work is getting some major coverage – their website gets over 2,000,000 hits a month with subscriptions in the USA and over 90 countries.
Thank you so much for all of your support Bob. Best to Holly and also the crew…
mark
Mark T. Small – voted Best Acoustic Blues Album 2014 – Blues Blast Magazine (critics choice & peoples choice)
Solo Delta & Chicago Style Blues
www.marktsmall.com
“We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.” – Charles Swindoll
Here’s the reason Mark sent the email. I named the album, designed his CD cover and marketing materials for Smokin’ Blues. So excited for Mark. He works so hard at his craft and it’s great to see him rewarded!
Smokin’ Blues CD album cover for Mark T Small buy the album here I think you’ll like it!
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | photography - art quote, photography education
Vince is a wonderful source of short quotes that pack a punch so that’s where I head today fro inspiration on the Sunday Photo/Art quote.
Sometimes we as photographers tend to get into a little insulated shell of comfort having left our creative childlike ‘What If’ questions behind. We always want to be successful in every image we make. If it isn’t wonderful we don’t want to share because the feedback we might receive might not be what we want to hear. If that’s something you are facing, “MAN-UP!” as my wife likes to say…
“What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?” Vincent Van Gogh
I challenge you this week to attempt something photographically that you know is not your forte and explore the unknown. Only by going into the places we have not been before creatively can we grow exponentially.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | people photography, photography
Got a call from Benji about doing a bit of a model shoot for him about 2 weeks ago and today was the day… I just have a quick image of the set-up and will show you some finished images a bit later in the week.
Getting prepped for body builder model shoot. Actually moved the lights in to get a square format for Instagram.
Benji was great to work with and know what he wants… By the way the chain? That’s about thirty pounds. Better him than me! Benji works at Snap Fitness Center in Sedona, Arizona.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | photography, photography education, photography marketing, success education
I often talk about getting your name out in your community by writing and distributing press releases. And photographers often come back with, “I tried that! It didn’t work!”
Sending out press releases, and getting them printed is an art as well as a science. And it takes ongoing effort. It is not a one shot deal. The editors need to get to know that the material you send on a regular basis is of good quality and will take little effort from them as far as editing goes. Any single press release may or may not get printed due to, space limitations, subject matter, style of writing, time constraints, etc…
I will tell you that if you write solid content that is not just ‘puff piece information’ about your business the more time you send in press releases the more times they will be printed. Here’s an example of an appearance in local newspaper in Sedona, Arizona the Red Rock News.
Red Rock News article from press release by me…
Press releases sent out to different media outlets can come out at different times depending on their needs. If you write a release that is less time sensitive you have more chance of getting the article in print as press releases tend to get used to fill out space that’s empty when the deadline is coming up fro the presses to roll. I they need to fill 7 column inches and your release is standing by ready to go. There you are… Having images in your submission adds more versatility for the editor. See this article in another paper for different layout possibilities from the same information.
Learn how to write good press releases. Find subjects that work for your target media. And send out those releases. For more ideas or help in giving good press releases get in touch with me.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
