Upcoming Events

The month of Sept. and until the end of the year is going to be a very busy time as there are two Art shows which I will be attending:

The 2nd Annual Kenny Kent / Toyota Jazz Wine & Art festival ( www.evansvillejazzfest.com ) will take place on Saturday, Sept. from 1 pm to 9pm. Come check out the event, drink some wines made by regional wineries, listen to some wonderful Jazz, and purchase and see from over 40 area talented artisans.

The following Saturday, Sept. 26th, the Olney Arts Festival will showcase the talents of over 40 area artisans showing and selling their pieces. The event is from 9 am to 5 pm. So, if you have some extra time, and are in any of these areas, come by, introduce yourself and say hello.

Recently I was contacted by a business in Effingham, IL. and have agreed to do a exhibit of my work there. Starting on Oct. 11th, I will have pieces showcasing throughout their establishment. Thanks to Kevin Hiatt for the offer. Kevin is with Joe Sippers Cafe, Effingham, Illinois' premier coffeehouse which offers a full coffee and espresso menu, breakfast, lunch, and dinner menu, party/meeting room, free WiFi, live music, art shows, games, comfort, and a true coffeehouse atmosphere. You can check out their website at www.joesippers.com.

I hope to see some new faces stop by my booth and say hello!

Digital Photography Know How Workshop

I'm pleased to announce I have been asked to give a photography workshop co- sponsored by the Olney Arts Council Visual Arts Committee.

When : Saturday October 17th
Time: 10 am to 5 pm
Fee : $ 75.00 per person, which includes lunch

Please note that lunch will be included in the entry fee at Ophelia's Cup, one of Olney's favorite eateries and coffee house. Please contact me via email at mitch.erwin@verizon.net to reserve your spot, & to get location information

With the advent of the digital camera and all of the control knobs on various models, most of us become dumbfounded and just put the cameras settings on automatic. This course will cover the many creative controls available on your camera. Learn to take charge of your camera’s settings to better express your inner vision. I will simplify aperture, shutter speed, depth-of-field, ISO, white balance and other controls so that you are the master of and not a slave to the camera. Learn to make your camera work for you for creative visual expression. Other areas will be covered if time permits during lecture as well. After our lecture / question & answer session we will go to an area location and practice the techniques that we have went over in class. . 15 people max for this event. Workshop is FULL!

There are many photographers out there now who soley rely on Photoshop or imaging software to make the photograph. Techniques such as image blending, taking key components of the actual photograph and moving or deleting it all together within the image, and even oversaturating the colors. To me, there is a fine line between calling yourself an actual photographer and being considered a digital artist. In creating my images, I want the viewer to see the image as if they were standing right next to me while taking it. I would take pride in the viewer saying, "That is exactly what the event looked like when Mitch was photographing it!"

Back in April while sitting high atop a cliff overlooking the Horsehoe Bend of the famed Colorado River in Northern Arizona, I heard a comment from a so called photographer that really made me pause to think and shake my head in disgust. As the light was slowly fading but still too harsh to get the image in one exposure, many of the photographers there, approximately 10 others, were clicking away taking their images. I waited around watching them, not one was making any adjustments to their cameras to compensate for exposure, nor were any using any type of graduated neutral density to try and get the dynamic range of the image in check. Most of them eventually gave up and started to pack it in. As one of the photographers nearby was packing up, I overheard him say quite loudly, " I have Photoshop, and I know how to use it!"

POOR GUY! Once everyone left, the light was just right I felt, and I went to work.

Art Show Schedule

I've finally firmed up my show schedule until the end of the year with the Annual Olney Fall Festival ending the festivities for the year on the show circuit.

August 15 Festival of the Arts Downtown Champaign, IL
Sept. 19 2nd Annual Kenny Kent Wine & Art Festival Main St. Evansville, IN.
Sept. 26 Olney Fall Festival City Park Olney, IL.

Giving Back

In my last posting I mentioned that I was in the process of attempting to become more environmentally aware and giving back to the cause to which has been pretty good to me. I am inspired by the natural world in general ! Showing others the beauty of our area and other places in which the average individual does not want to make the effort or take the time to see is what I strive to show you. In doing this I felt it was time to take action! One of the two ways is I have become a member of 1% for the Planet. This is an organization of like minded companies and individuals who pledge to give 1% of their yearly sales and service fees back to a non profit environmental organization of their choosing - an earth tax per say!

So, to find out more about 1% for the Planet, you can click on the logo to the right. I will help promote this awareness at future art shows , on my website, and blog.

Also, I'd like to announce that all future framing for my prints starting in July of 2009 will be made of reclaimed wood, made by me. The framing will be similar to my standard that I frame with now - black frame primarily, with a squarish mold. I will post some photos in a future posting as time permits as it is taking up more of my time now to make these.

Next weekend, June 5 - 7th, I will be attending Art & Air in Webster Groves, Missouri and I have been preparing for this show. So, til next time.........................

Mitch

A Filler Blog. Why? because I forgot to do one this month!

Just wanted to put a quick blog in for the month of April because quite frankly it has been EXTREMELY busy. I just got home from my annual trip out West, this time the Southwest due to some weather issues ( see previous post ). So, I am in the act of processing some images from it a little at a time along with prepairing for art shows.

Photographically some exciting things are in the works for me, right now. Both of these are going to be in the way of giving back and helping preserve the environment. Once things are set in place and all the paperwork is in order, the announcement will be made. So stay tuned!

Last weekend my art show season started and I was privileged to be the recipient of 1st Place of all 2 dimensional work at the Effingham Artisan Fair in Effinham, IL. It was an extremely windy day and things were flying everywhere! Sales were outstanding - who says we are in a recession!. This weekend, May 2-3, I will be at Art in Harmony, the 2nd annual New Harmony, Indiana Art fair. If you are in the area, stop by, browse, buy something ( Mother's Day is the following weekend), or just say hello - and wear your water resistant boots!

I'll post again in the next week or so as I want to do an initial evaluation on a new camera bag I have purchased which is really nice - so much so, I've sold all of my other bags from another leading camera bag company.

till we meet again!
Mitch

When It Rains ,It Pours!

Well as the old saying goes, " When it rains, it pours!" has certainly come into play for me over the past 2 weeks. I'll start with the "bad" and end with the good!

My annual trip West has fallen through last minute. The high country which I was scheduled to do some photography in, received large amounts of snowfall recently. So, the outfitter which was to provide some guiding canceled and refunded my money. In doing this, I have scheduled and re-booked flights to the Southwest instead of the West - Arizona and Utah to be exact. I will be out there April 4th through April 11th. Areas in mind have been photographed to death, but being the adventurous one that I am, I am going to "wing it" and see where the winding road takes me. Stay tuned for some captures as I've received information on several places, both well known, and relatively unknown from a fellow photographer friend, John Mumaw, who lives, works and plays in this area. He has been real instrumental in guiding me in the right direction. So, I thank him for that!

Last week, my daughter ( 2 yrs old ) was admitted into the hospital for dehydration. She became ill late one evening, and hoping and praying for her to get well and get over it, she didn't. So, the fine doctors of our community admitted her to to the hospital. After two days of TLC, and the right medications, she kicked the bug and got to come home. She is now back to herself and I can now concentrate on preparing for my trip and have the piece of mind that all will be well why I am gone.

On a positive note, freelance nature photographer, Tom Ulrich, provided a nice presentation to a small crowd in Olney, IL. on March 17th of his travels throughout the last year. The community of Olney wishes to thank him for showing us some wonderful captures of wildlife from Africa, Galapagos Islands, and the United States, to name only a few of the places he has been. His presentation was inspiring to all.

The Art Show season in just around the corner and I have received acceptance status into 3 juried shows so far. I have other applications out, so once I find out, then I will add it to my list. So far I will be at the following locations:

April 25 Effingham Artisan Fair, Effingham, Illinois

May 2-3 Arts in Harmony, New Harmony, Indiana

June 5-6-7 Art & Air, Webster Groves, Missouri

Also, in April I will again be participating in the Olney Arts Council Traveling Art showcase and you will be able to find a small collection of my work at the First National Bank of Olney. Another of my captures " The Yellow Rail ", will be featured in Evansville, Indiana at " Art in the City ". This is an exhibit of members of the Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana. The exhibit is located at the Bower - Suhrheinrich Foundation Gallery at 318 Main St. in Evansville. If you haven't had the privelege of seeing this gallery, it is beautiful and a real asset to the artists of Southwestern Indiana, Northwest Kentucky & Southeastern Illinois Stop by and see the gallery and exhibit if you are in the area.The exhibit runs from April 3rd through May 14th.

Until next time!

Mitch

A Year in the Life of a Wildlife Photographer

Tom Ulrich will be coming to Olney on Tuesday March 17th, St. Patricks Day to give a slideshow presentation of his work over the past year. His presentation will consist of several of his 600,000 images in his portfolio. Images of birds, animals, and landscapes from areas in East Africa, the Galapagos Islands, the Pantanal in Brazil, and Glacier National Park will be showed. It should be a good presentation. Hope to see any local people, or non local people come out!

Mitch

Almost forgot February!

Man! February has flown by! As you can tell, so much so that I have forgot and waited until the last minute to post something. I still want to keep to my resolution of trying to post something at least once a month, at least for the 1st year of this blogging!

February has been busy, both personally and photographically. Our area of Richland County, Illinois received a significant amount of snowfall earlier in the month of about 10" - 12". The most we've seen in several years. Back in the early 70's it seemed like during the Winter months we got 10" - 12" inches weekly! The snow created some opportunities for for Winter photography around the area which I came back with several that will make wonderful fine art prints . Print sales for me have still been good despite the economy, so I hope this trend continues.

I have been speaking with freelance Wildlife Photographer, Tom Ulrich ( tomulrichphotos.com) and he will be coming to Olney on March 17th for a presentation of his work over the past years. Tom has 600,000 captures of wildlife and landscape captures in his portfolio, many of which have been published. He will be presenting at 7 pm on March 17th at the East Richland High School Classitorium so, come out if you can for a wonderful presentation of his work!

Also in March, you will find a presenatation of my work in the Olney Arts Council Travelling Art Exhibit at First Financial Bank, in Olney. It will be there the entire month of March. As well, I will have 2 pieces of work showcased and given away by Energy Insurance at the Midwest Oil & Gas Show, in Evansville, Indiana.

Until next time........................Mitch

Inspiration of a New Year

A new year is upon us, resolutions have been set and the 44th President of the United States, the first African American as President, was sworn in yesterday. We as individuals and Americans have a new-found inspiration to better oneself, and take on a new direction. I want to touch briefly on how I become inspired most of the time as a photographer ( nature, or otherwise ), and what direction I hope to take with that photography in 2009.

I was talking with a friend the other day who had recently come back from Jackson Hole, Wyoming . That person stated that they went into some galleries in the area by some well known nature photographers , rattling off names of this person and that. This individual asked if I had heard of any of these photographers, and I said that I had. They then proceeded to ask me what I thought of their photography, and I stated it was nice, BUT it was pretty cliche. It was the same stuff, over and over, nothing I had not seen before millions of times over. Which lead me to some inspirational notes for my 2009 shooting year - try and be more creative and produce work out of the norm, not like everyone else! Be out in nature as much as possible, for truly that is what inspires me - with or without my camera!

Places you will currently find my work on exhibit and for sale are :

Stevens / Frischle Chiropractic Clinic in Olney, Illinois until the end of January

United Bank in Downtown Evansville, Indiana until the end of January

Starting the 1st of Feb 2009 and running through the month you will find my works at Citizens National Bank in Olney, Illinois.