Word Out Wednesday - Brian Hershberger

Happy Wednesday! This week I want to introduce you to Brian Hershberger. Yes we're related, he's my brother-in-law and he takes the most beautiful photos.

Every time we see a photograph we're looking through the eyes of the photographer. Is it an art form? Does the camera do all the work? Anyone can push a button and sometimes even the most amateur among us get lucky. Yes, the type and quality of equipment used does make a difference but only the human behind the lens can decide on the subject and then make decisions about composition, lighting, color and exposure.

Many of Brian's photos are taken on the Silver River near our home in Florida. He recently put together a book called A DAY ON THE SILVER RIVER. In the back of his book he had this to say....

About the... Artist?

I have been making photos since childhood, and it's no wonder. Virtually every other member of my family is an accomplished artist in some medium. Many have made a living as such, others not so much, but it seems to be a genetic predisposition that I have yet to overcome.

After earning a Bachelor's Degree in Broadcasting from the University of Florida, I worked in broadcast news, feature films, television series and specials in Los Angeles and Orlando. But now, under the guise of a mild-mannered businessman I have turned my lens to the abundant beauty of the Ocala National Forest. Specifically, the inhabitants of the 5 1/2 mile long Silver River. The photos in this book were all made on or around The River in May 2009. It is my hope that the little details in these candid portraits elicit a feeling, and if they do, then I guess I am an artist.

If you'd like more info about these amazing photos or Brian's book you can contact him here.

Peace and creativity! And, remember, we'll see you at the new studio soon.
Carlynne

A Diamond Day

I thought I'd continue on the theme of nature photos just for the heck of it. Amazing Hubby and I went out one day with our cameras. We rode out to the west coast and just wandered around, shooting whatever.....

I spotted this heron sitting way up high in a tree and since I had my long lens on the camera I thought I'd try to capture him. I was tickled with what I got. I'm a painter, not a photographer so to be able to catch him taking off like this was great fun - gotta love technology.

That wing span is amazing! There were more shots in this sequence but I didn't want the post to drag on forever. I just picked a few of my favorites. This last shot is dark on the underside but for the others I loved being able to see the details of his feathers. Like my friend Jolene says - some days are diamonds. That's how I felt about that day.

Hope you're having fun and staying cool,

Peace,

Carlynne

Bored?

Can you tell it was a little slow at work today? I thought I'd walk around the store and see what I could see. It was interesting using my viewfinder to find abstract compositions on the shelves I look at every day.

What do you see every day?

Me x's 2

This is pretty much how I'm feeling today - kind of fuzzy around the edges - here, but not quite. The crud that's been going around seems to have caught up with me so I'm home resting, soon to be curled up with Johnny Depp and a cup of tea.

That photo is my double shadow on the floor of the Cancer Center in Gainesville. The way the light was coming in the huge windows created these interesting images. I took this the day I was shooting all the pictures of bird of paradise. I looked down and there I was - twice. I think I like the smaller version of me best.

Everyone stay well,
Carlynne

Music & Art

I've been meaning to get back to blogging for a while now. So, 2 months and 2 surgeries later, here I am. I'm fine now and as my energy level picks up I'm getting back into the swing. After being out of commission for a while all I really want to do is swing a paintbrush around in the studio. I'm working on some new stuff for our exhibit coming up in Sept '10 (I'll give you more details on that later) and until I have those photos ready to share I'll show you a little of my Nashville trip. Back in early October I flew up to Nashville to visit a friend of mine that I haven't seen in 32 years - I know - amazing! What's even more amazing is that we recognized each other at the airport. Once we got done giggling like a couple of high school kids Sue took me on a tour of the town. This was my first time there and I have to say - I love Nashville!

Ok..... this is what happens when you take photos with a little digital camera that has no viewfinder, you can't see anything on the screen in the daylight so you have no clue if you're actually getting your subject in the frame - just a little FYI.

There were a couple of others statues of Elvis around town but I didn't get shots of those, just about a million of this one - don't ask why.

Can't go to a new town and not souvenir shop, that shirt was for my daughter by the way.

some very cool boots!

A festival of scarecrows, what wonderful, wacky stuff!

The AT&T building AKA "Batman"

I think this is one of the things I loved about Nashville the most. You see some fun stuff riding around the side streets where the music studios are. We also did the art walk held on the first Sat. night of the month. I wish I had pics to show you of the crowds. I was amazed at the turn out for the art galleries. I'd never seen anything like it! Nashville's not only about music, the art world there is wonderful too. We saw many galleries, too many to mention but my favorites were the Tinney Contemporary and Gallery One. Check them out if you're in the area.

There was so much to see. Some day I'll go back for another visit - hopefully it won't be another 32 years before I see my friend again.

Back to painting,

Carlynne

The midnight hour

It's almost midnight and I'm still up. My dear hubby is not feeling well and he's on a deadline. He has a photo shoot to finish and has to have it done by tomorrow. I've done all I can to help so now I'm just staying up out of sympathy I guess. Not sure what that'll accomplish other than being tired at work tomorrow but here I am - posting. So, since I'm here I thought I'd show you a few of the pics I took of my daughter's puppy Maddie. Maddie spent the day with us on Sunday and between the Frisbee and the hose we wore her right out.

Love her smile!

No, that's not a cast on her leg, she just has really cool markings.

Isn't she cute? I went a little nuts with the camera, this is only 4 shots out of about 230. No, I'm not going to post them all. There are some really fun ones of her trying to bite the water from the hose though so I'll post those later. These were the easiest to do right now - after all it's now AFTER midnight! Not sure how much more sympathy I can muster.

I hope you all had a good Independence day weekend.

Peace and love,
Carlynne