Writing, Photography, and the life lessons I learned from Street Academy
I’m thirty feet away from the entrance to the Fine Arts Center at the Altamont Fair. Inside that building – the oldest building on the Altamont Fairgrounds – are four of my five artworks. Thirty feet away. And it feels like three miles and ten years away. Here i am. I’ve been greeted by the…
Read More
The Altamont Fair photography contest is, for me, a mixture of wills and won’ts, of cans and can’ts, of yesses and no’s. Yes, I’ve won two blue ribbons in three years at Altamont; but they were in category-specific locales that were not part of the Fine Arts show (The Jumbuck in the sheep photo category,…
Read More
By the time you read today’s blog post, I will be on the road to Syracuse. It’s that road trip in August that I’ve sarcastically referred to as “The Drive of Shame.” Let me explain. When the New York State Fair sends out its postcards of acceptance or rejection for their photography competition, participants must…
Read MoreCan I tell you it’s been a personally exhausting week, or have you already figured it out? Yeah. It’s been a personally exhausting week. I came home last night, reached into the mailbox, expecting to pull out bills or junk mail or the latest menu from the new pizza-wings-fried chicken outlet that promises to deliver…
Read More
Background. Five years ago, I tried to capture the Perseid meteor shower with my camera gear. And I certainly came close to doing so … but not close enough. Four years ago, in the middle of an unseasonably clear Christmas eve night, I photographed a star trail along the Sacandaga River. And in the middle…
Read More
Let me share something cool about the Big E’s photo competition. It’s the only competition I regularly enter in which all photos are judged on their own merits, and all photos receive their own individual scores. In other words, there can be several “first prize” winners in one category, so you’re really not competing with…
Read MoreI know, I know, I should not be doing this. I have plenty of photo contests in the United States in which I can enter. That being said, I figured it was time to see what I could achieve in entering a photo or three at the Saint John Ex. That’s Saint John, New Brunswick,…
Read More
Okay, do I have everything? Gotta go through the checklist. Six photos for the New York State Fair Photography Competition. Check. The Cathedral of St. Philco for the dollhouse crafts competition at the State Fair. Check. Seven postcards, one for each artwork. Check. Seven postcard stamps. Check. The signed authorization from my model friend Lauren,…
Read More
So here’s the deal. I’ve been puttering around with cracked-open 126 Kodak Instamatic film for a few years. And so far, the results have been good enough. Yes, I’ve entered some shots in competition, but still… My problem is that I have to find a way to make the film’s limitations – the green framing…
Read More
Backstory. After a one-year hiatus, I chose to enter my pictures in the Iowa State Fair Photography Competition. I selected a mixture of recent and heritage images, with each one fitting in specific themed categories. Four images printed off, matted, mounted, foam-boarded, postaged, and shipped. Now I wait. And wait. And wait. And wait. While…
Read More
Chuck The Writer 
You must be logged in to post a comment.