Sarah R. Bloom Photography

Basket Case

Lately I am drawn
to shadows' contours and lines.
Life creates patterns.

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(Warming up my haiku chops for eventually sharing on my friend Alison's Haiku site):

These Memories Can't Wait

I was so exhausted after the show opening and being sick for so long, then got stomach flu on top of it, I'm so behind on posting here!

Lots going on as usual.

I went with a wonderful new friend and an amazing artist to an abandoned house on Sunday and this was one of the self-portraits I took. It might be one of my all-time favorite, as it came out so much like I had envisioned! The light in there was incredible...very Andrew Wyeth. :-)  I also took a bunch of shots for a collaborative project I'm working on (can't spill the beans yet).

Meanwhile I have some lines out for some commissioned work that hopefully will lead somewhere. More to come. I already slacked on that "at least posting a photo every day since I'm taking one anyway."

Future posts:
-Techniques in self-portraits (what would you like to hear more about?)
-Taking child portraits

It all moves so frighteningly fast sometimes.

Trying for a Lensbaby effect in Photoshop without the lens. :-)

Thought I'd add EXIF data occasionally for those who might be interested.

Camera:Canon Digital Rebel XT
Exposure: 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture: f/9.0
Focal Length: 18 mm
Exposure: 0.00
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: 0 EV Flash: Off

A Lovely Night

What can I say?

It was an incredible night. There was a wonderful celebratory atmosphere and so much love and support in the room that enveloped us—everyone seemed to feel it.

The cold medicine did its job and the Vietnamese iced coffee Cecily brought me helped even more, but I truly felt buoyed by my friends and family that came. I had friends drive from over 2 hours away only to get stuck in horrendous traffic jams that doubled their trip. Many suburb-dwellers got stuck in that same traffic! I had Flickr friends there and my oldest friends as well as my newest.

I had a few surprise friends turn up, too!

Three of those friends bought my work! So huge thanks to:

Jo-Ann and Elliot, who purchased “Ignoring the things she hopes will go away”

Claudine and Paul, who purchased “And it all went out the window”

and

Caitlin, who purchased “A Million Little Remedies”!

I give my most heartfelt gratitude to Roldan West and Jen Park for their hospitality, encouragement, and for their space, of course!

This has been such an important experience for me to learn a lot and gain more confidence. To see my work on the walls like that, with people I love admiring it sincerely—taking the time to appreciate my efforts—felt like winning a “major award.” 

The trick now is to stay motivated and active in promoting myself. I have a few things to apply for including a good talk with someone who turned out to be an acquaintance from years ago who is the Communications and Marketing Associate at First Person Arts at the Arts Bank in Philadelphia. I hope to be presenting my work and giving a talk there sometime in the next few months.

Roldan is already talking with Christy and I about showing again in July, when there is more pedestrian traffic.

This next month I want to put some more focus on the portrait side of my photography (i.e. the part that can make some money) and try and get more creative with what I offer. I have a few ideas to put into action.

We are on our last $90 in the bank until a wire transfer comes through from England, but I’m happy. ☺

Ready or Not...

...Here I come!

The show opening is tonight! I'm sick as a dog, but excited.

My face feels like a (used) punching bag. I'm bleary. I'm tired. Too tired to even be nervous, which I guess is good. Cold medicine is starting to wake me up a little bit, and I'll be taking some more later.

I decided not to stress about what to wear and am going with jeans, sneakers, and a black t-shirt. Maybe a necklace. And I'll put a bit of makeup on so as not to look so much like a zombie!

I'm really looking forward to seeing old friends and meeting some friends I've only talked with online, as well as brand new friends. I just hope I can stay on my feet!

Full report tomorrow of course. I have to go get ready now as we're supposed to leave my house in 40 minutes to help set up. And I have a feeling this will be a late night.

Thank you all so so much for the amazing support you've given...it feels so nice to have people rooting for you. :-)
xo

Protracted