Meanderings on a Tuesday Night

I thought I'd show off just a little tonight with a mixed color and black and white photograph that I took just last fall about two weeks before I got married. It was a rainy, dreary fall afternoon, but any photographer will tell you that inclement weather sometimes makes for great photography. Unfortunately, on that day the rainy weather made the roads slick and I was involved in a minor fender bender at a stop sign. But, I digress.

When I opened my mailbox today I was looking for my copy of Patrick O'Brian's Post Captain. Instead I found an application for the upcoming Fall Festival Art Show at the Alleghany Highlands Arts and Crafts Center. I didn't enter last year as I had other priorities and haven't entered much in the local shows lately, but I think it is time for me to get back in to the loop of competitive shooting. I've studied composition a bit more since my last entry, as well as presentation, so I think I'll stand a better chance at placing. Art shows are all objectively judged, however, and it varies from show to show, but they tend to be good learning experiences for a photographer at any stage of development.

As I've mentioned before, the water heater flooded a good portion of my house, ruining quite a bit of floor. We're down to the concrete slab in three rooms and the hallway and it will be two weeks before everything is processed along and the new floor is installed. The house, however, is in a good enough condition to live in, thanks to some hard work by both the contractors and my family, so I'm thankfully blogging from home again tonight.

It was a stressful weekend and now that things are more or less in order I'm looking forward to a little relaxation. I've processed the last wedding I had waiting and all that remains is the delivery. I have one wedding in just about a month to shoot, but there's no use in borrowing trouble. For now I can finally concentrate on getting the format down for The Crownless King and getting that shipped off to CreateSpace for publishing and focus my photography efforts toward Off the Beaten Path for a while. I'm also going to have to put some serious consideration into what I will enter into the art show. I think the photograph above is in strong contention for the show, as is my favorite motion blur, my first and most successful, that was taken on the Potomac River late last summer.

For now, I'll wind this posting up and head toward my own bed for the first time since Thursday night. I can't wait for a good night's sleep.