Totally out of my Comfort Zone

A couple of years ago I joined the Boca Grande Camera Club which has meetings once or twice a month with really excellent speakers, and incredibly talented members.

Somehow, this year I ended up agreeing to show some photos in the 2014 Photography As Art show, held Jan 31- Feb 2.....

Obviously I didn't take a good look at my calendar since The Taste of Boca is on Feb 3.   OOOPS!

Fortunately, one of my partners-in-crime from The Eagle Nest is an extremely talented photographer and a fabulous mentor. She took me under her wing to get all ready for  this event.

Oh Lordy, as a rank amateur I had no idea of what was involved.

Just pick a few pictures and hang 'em up. Right? 

Nope. Wrongo, Bucko.

First,  just a good picture isn't good enough for too many reasons to go into, but mostly it has to have good "resolution" and not a lot of extraneous crap in it... 

Second, it's probably gonna need a little cosmetic help--hello, photoshop!

Third, How are you going to present it? Matted? Canvas print? Framed? Aluminum print? Matte? Glossy?

What size? What shape? How much do you want to spend? 

(Glare from that special clear cover envelope)

Oh boy, I just got overwhelmed an did matting only on 3 of them. 

Oh, but wait a minute there----if you mat, you're going to need backing, adhesive, clear cover envelopes, labels and price tags.

And then you have to order a special adhesive hook, only made in California to hang the thing.

This is a door in Boca,  next to the beautiful Catholic Church. My mentor taught me how to photoshop the address out...

This osprey required very little help-- it was a great sky, and he was just ready for his close-up! (you can see the reflection of the other photos in the clear covering)

I was having trouble deciding on a fourth , so I tried a new product (to me, anyway) called Gatorboard and had this photo applied with a metallic finish.  This photo,  of Fred , got a fair amount of attention , including from former first lady Laura Bush!! I wasn't there, but this was reported to me!!!!

This was last night at the opening reception which had a super turnout-- to be fair, we were offering wine and food...

So, I lived through it, even though I had my doubts a week ago. It was scary, for sure, but mostly, people are nice and if they don't have something good to say, they just keep their mouth shut. Whew.  Something new for someone old.