Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Focus On: Photographic Internships - Advice from Tiffany Teske


Great photography jobs don't usually fall from the sky and land neatly in our laps. For the most part, it takes a lot of luck and a hefty amount of perseverence to find nearly any kind of photography gig. Probably more perseverence than luck if truth be told. While the world of digital has created more photographers than ever before and competition for available jobs is keen, there are also new and different kinds of opportunities available for those who work to find them. If you are interested, get out your pick-axe and night goggles and get started on your own search.
Many people are finding internships as a means to further their careers. While normally preceded with the word "unpaid", if you can deal with that for a little while and stick it out, you have the opportunity to gain invaluable experience in addition to the potential for networking opportunities. Craigslist abounds with opportunities to work for no pay, while it is possible to find positions there as a photographer's assistant for nominal pay. Many people who have full-time jobs and dream of becoming a professional photographer can spend a few days with a photographer mentor through a popular program, Vocation Vacation. It is not inexpensive, but if compared to a fabulous recreational vacation, a Vocation Vacation can provide a priceless opportunity to try on a career for size and see if it could work for you in photography or almost anything you can dream of.


One of POE's talented and successful photographers, Tiffany Teske, got herself an internship with world-renowned photographer William Wegman while she was an undergraduate student. We talked about how she landed the position, what the job as intern entailed, and as Tiffany's own career launched, how she by provided internship opportunities for photographers-in-the-making.


Hannas Onions by Tiffany Teske

Tiffany was working on her Associate of Art degree in Photography and had to create "independent learning situations for myself to earn my credits." She knew William Wegman spent his summers at his vacation property in a town close to hers, and she knew he hired locals to work with him. Through a series of connections, Tiffany found his New York City studio address, wrote a letter which "I guess was convincing, because someone from [his] Manhattan studio called, and we worked out the details. I was basically the assistant to his assistant." When I asked her if she felt any trepidation about contacting such a famous photographer to ask for a summer job, she replied, "I wasn't nervous about getting in touch with him; I figured I'd ask and if he said 'no,' that was the worst that could happen."

She didn't have any idea of what was in store for her when she showed up at his cabin. Although Mr. Wegman is "kind, and soft-spoken for the most part and welcomed me matter-of-factly," Tiffany sometimes had "comfortable and uncomfortable moments" at the Wegman house, and she sometimes felt in the way. The shoots in which Tiffany assisted took place in the house, out at the lake, and only occasionally in the studio, and sometimes the Wegman family was all around. Working with Wegman's dogs was part of Tiffany's job, and "I really love the work Wegman does with the dogs. The dogs are professionals and members of the family. They are quite aware they are famous. They would work with me just fine when on the job, and they could hold poses for ages. But when they weren't working, they were snobs, walking past with their noses up, not like many dogs who yearn to be petted, oh no. 'No time for you when not working.' So funny!"


Tiffany, the dogs and William Wegman on the porch

Tiffany and I talked about her program's internship requirements and how they fit in with the jobs she did for Mr. Wegman. "Much of [the work toward] my degree allowed me to bend the situation to suit me, rather than having hard and fast rules on what I HAD to learn. So, I really did enjoy working for Wegman because there was not a list of things I had to do. I did whatever I was asked. He works in medium format, which I had not studied thus far. There were some very unique and specific things I learned from Wegman that had to do with photographing dogs. But I also learned a lot of good general photography."


Tiffany, William Wegman, and the dogs

Tiffany's advice for someone who's thinking about applying for an internship: "Be brave, and approach the person you'd like to work for. Do your research and figure out how best to contact them. They may say no, and they may say yes. Aim high and be confident."


As Tiffany's career moved forward she, too, made room in her work for interns as well. "I've provided internships for three people -- two of them are now professional photographers, and one may make the leap once her kids are older." Tiffany was shooting weddings at that time, so she was able to mentor her interns in darkroom techniques and wedding photography. "If someone worked for me now, I would just show them all the things I do day-to-day to run a business along with what they'd like to learn about photography. I believe all photographers should be well-versed in communications and marketing; they can't just be creative -- they need business skills. I am a free and flexible person, so an internship could virtually look like anything."

As Tiffany's career continues to evolve, she maintains an amazing capacity to pay it forward and give her knowledge and experience to other up-and-coming photographers. And, thus the world of photography continues to move on a path of sharing and collaboration.

Thank you, Tiffany!


Spring in NYC - Tiffany Teske



A world traveler and self-taught photographer, look for Ann wandering around city streets and tromping through woods and hiking trails with her camera. After owning an international transportation business for many years, Ann has found her creative spirit again through the lens. See more at Ann's shop and her website, and say hello to her on her blog too.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Wanderings: Night Owl Travels Pt. 2-Night Vision

Lookin for Love-studiocvh

Last week I posted Part 1 of Night Owl Travels called City Lights, filled with gorgeous POE night shots of the big city. I had found so many incredible night shots that I was able to divide it into 2 sections.

This week, I present to you:

Night Owl Travels, Part 2: Night Vision

Manhattan Martini-marshallarts

Hot Cake House-pfeifferphotos

Starlight at Night-LaughingDogPhoto

Diner at Night-chicalookate


Blue Night-LucyLemon

Happiness-Ajawin

October Sky-ara133photography


Streetscape IV-SusanElkin




Michelle Campbell-Zurek is an artist/photographer from the east coast who is wide-eyed and smitten with the crazy town called LA. When not on a quest to capture light and stop time, she can be found painting and ingesting gobs of sweets & tea. All are welcome to stop by the Urban Junkies Artist Lounge, as well as Michelle's photography shop, art shop and website.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Mosaic Monday: April Showers Bring May Flowers

Flowers are something that the Photographers of Etsy can always find beauty in.

  1. small soldiers – AnnWilkinson
  2. M'Lady Gerber – weberphoto
  3. Bleeding Hearts – ljdesignphoto
  4. Red Clover so Softly – HeidisPhotoShop
  5. Tulip 8 x 8 Fine Art – schugirl
  6. Spring Ride – dakotafire
  7. Tulip Conversation – JenniferAitchison
  8. My Secret Garden – vividesigns
  9. Michigan Spring Tulip – jewles917
  10. Spring Joy – inventingLiz
  11. Lavender Fields – MelissaBeach
  12. Yellow Promise – gigileonard


Mosaic Mondays are compiled by
Patti Meyer. Patti is an award winning graphic artist who resides in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. See her photography collection at her shop right here.

Friday, April 24, 2009

New Works!

Here are some beautiful images. I know we all appreciate the beauty found by other photographers. Let them inspire you to get out and shoot, shoot shoot. This is a beautiful world we live in, lots to see and explore...

Missy's Wings - BarkingOwls


Petaloutha - BarkingOwls




Just Resting - fosterbk


Reaching - urbandesign



Whitetail Deer and Fall Colors - NatureIsArt


New Works is compiled by Pam Hardy. Pam lives in beautiful Alberta, Canada. She has always been fascinated with cameras and has been taking pictures most of her life. Her favorite things to photograph are flowers and animals, and she enjoys experimenting with new subjects and techniques. See Pam's website here and her shop right here.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Focus On: eyeful



Tricia McKeller is a self-taught artist from North Carolina who embraces a life of sharing and collaboration. She's got two shops here on Etsy.com -- a mixed media and assemblage art shop and her photography store. Tricia is not a "trained" artist. She led a life watching and looking at art and wondering if she could do it herself. "Then one day, about 7 years ago, I had an epiphany, 'I could make art and it would be okay if it was ugly.' I didn't have to be a 'good' artist, I only had to be the artist that I could be. That was an amazing moment." A woman who studied math and computer science in school found herself through her art.

Tricia is also adept at marketing herself and her work with a great degree of success. We spent time chatting about how she's done so well at selling her work and about the equipment she uses to her advantage.


Orchid

Ann: You have two Etsy shops, a website and a beautiful blog. How do you manage all of these so well and find time to create and be inspired?

Tricia: This is actually an area in which I really struggle. I have a full-time-plus day job. My dream is to be a full-time artist. I tell myself that slow and steady wins the race; I should work a little on each thing regularly, but it doesn't really happen that way for me. I tend to work in spurts -- if there's new work in one shop, the other shop probably hasn't been touched, and chances are my house is a disaster. My blog has been neglected...writing is rather hard for me. I try not to be too hard on myself about these things. I'm a big-picture person; if I have the big picture in mind and think I'm making progress toward the goal, then I try not to beat myself up over every little thing I could and maybe should be doing.

My goals for this year are to work on my photography (shoot more, get better at my craft) and get my art business in order (put everything in Quickbooks, make a budget and goals, work hard on selling my photography). I think I'm on track, but I admit I have a notebook of ideas for my photography, mixed-media art and art business marketing and no idea when I'll get around to even half of my ideas. Sometimes, I enjoy the marketing almost as much as making the cool images. So many ideas, so little time...



A: Yes, it's so true there's just not enough time. What aspects of marketing do you like? This is really helpful stuff -- your work is on display at a medical center at Duke University and on a book jacket (that's so cool). How did you accomplish this?

T: I try to think of marketing as ripples in a pond. Sometimes a little event can make bigger things happen. I had two big sales earlier this year: Duke Hospital bought one of my textile art pieces, Path, and five framed prints of my digital collages, Insect Machine Series.

Another local doctor bought 17 framed pieces for her new medical office; some are the Departure series (see Tricia's Etsy shop, eyeful) and some are digital collages with Luna moths. It's been a really big year for me so far! Each event was started in motion two or more years ago. Each came about after someone saw my work at a small exhibition, and that turned into another invitation to exhibit, and that turned into someone buying my work. You just never know when an invitation to show somewhere will put your work in front of someone who may want to buy it or invite you to show elsewhere.

I've become addicted to Twitter lately and found IttyBiz there. I love her blog, and this is one of my favorite posts. It reminds me that a little bit consistently is going to make big things happen.

And, speaking of blogs, I just have to mention I'm also in love with Christine Kane's blog.

My photograph, Escape, is on the cover of a new book. The publisher found me on Etsy and asked if I'd be interested. How cool is that?

A: How would you advise an Etsy photographer to get themselves into an exhibition?

T: For someone with no exhibition experience, I'd recommend joining a local artists group and first participating in their member shows. I used to do a lot of textile art and PAQA-South -- Professional Art Quilt Alliance South -- it was really helpful to me as a new artist.


A: That's great advice. How do you handle the presentation of your pieces? Do you do your own matting and framing?

T: I do my own matting and framing. I've been ordering mats and frames from AmericanFrame.com. An example of how I frame a 12x12 print is here.

I bought a mat cutter last year, but I still haven't pulled it out and figured it all out! I hope to do it soon and offer mats in my shop.
A: Tell me about the camera equipment you use.

T: My camera is a Canon Xsi. It was new last year, but I think Canon has released a newer Rebel DSLR since. Sometimes keeping up with camera technology feels like such a rat race! I'm hoping to purchase a full-frame sensor in the next couple of years.

I have a wealth of lenses. My most favorite and the one most often on my camera is a Canon 70-200 f/2.8L. It's a dream, especially for my bird photographs. On it I often keep a warming polarizer. I swear by Singh Ray's LB Warming Polarizer.

One of my least expensive lenses is also a favorite -- a Canon 50 f/1.8. I think I paid about $80; the new ones are around $90. It's my fastest lens; it's small and lightweight, and I just love the bokeh.* It's always in my camera bag.


(* Bokeh: from the Japanese, is a photographic term referring to the appearance of out-of-focus areas in an image produced by a camera lens. Different lens bokeh produces different aesthetic qualities in out-of-focus backgrounds, which are often used to reduce distractions and emphasize the primary subject. [from Tricia's Etsy shop as cited by wikipedia].)

I want to mention something about equipment: I do find nice equipment a joy to work with, but I think compelling imagery can be shot with less expensive equipment. Sometimes I'm just wowed by a magazine filled with photos from plastic cameras -- it reminds me the idea behind the photograph is the most important thing.



Thank you Tricia!



A world traveler and self-taught photographer, look for Ann wandering around city streets and tromping through woods and hiking trails with her camera. After owning an international transportation business for many years, Ann has found her creative spirit again through the lens. See more at Ann's shop and her website, and say hello to her on her blog too.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Wanderings: Night Owl Travels Pt. 1-CITY LIGHTS

Big Al and Friends-MattAllen

For this week's post I was inspired by a photo of Matt Allen's, Big Al and Friends. I just did a wonderful interview with him for my blog and I really fell in love with his night shots. So I was curious to see what other gorgeous nighttime travels have been documented by POE photogs. On my search I found a plethora of amazing night shots! So many that I have enough to make this a two-part series!

Part One: City Lights

Late Night Chinatown-TeaPhotography

La Ville Lumiere-jerseymaids

Waiting for the bus-ELBfoto

Portland Cityscape-mishashton

East London Cityscape-CreativeLizArt

The Night Life-weberphoto

Pittsburgh at Night-theinfinitelens

Street Light-studiocvh

Nighttime in Portland-ScooyouPhotography

Southbound-Pleyades

New York City at night-modpix

Chicago Skyline-KMalanowski


Sydney Opera House at night-BarbaraGordon



Michelle Campbell-Zurek is an artist/photographer from the east coast who is wide-eyed and smitten with the crazy town called LA. When not on a quest to capture light and stop time, she can be found painting and ingesting gobs of sweets & tea. All are welcome to stop by the Urban Junkies Artist Lounge, as well as Michelle's photography shop, art shop and website.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Mosaic Monday: Where the Monarchs and Their Friends Hang Out

This week's theme comes from me being in some much needed "me time" with my camera. Trying to find some place in South Florida to go spend a few hours, I remembered we have Butterfly World and then went looking for POE butterflies. I only hope I find as many great shots this weekend.

  1. Monarch Butterfly – HeatherDPhotography
  2. Butterfly Landing Pad – tagliatela
  3. The Butterfly – takenbyrobinlynne
  4. Victoria's Blue – BarkingOwls
  5. Spotted – intrinsicvalue
  6. Delicious Fruit – ferventbutterfly
  7. Butterfly of beauty – rareimage
  8. Flutter – applelovesorange
  9. Northern Checkerspot – theeye
  10. Butterfly on Rhodondendron – wildcatphotography
  11. Original Print Monarch Butterfly – BethPeardonProds
  12. Monarch Butterfly on Zina – JMGuinness
I hope all Photographers of Etsy found some "me camera" time this week. If not, may you find it this week.



Mosaic Mondays are compiled by
Patti Meyer. Patti is an award winning graphic artist who resides in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. See her photography collection at her shop right here.