fPOE Member of the Week... Susannah Tucker

This weeks featured fPOE member is Melborne artist Susanna Tucker!  

Her Etsy shop.

Her Blog.

Her Flickr.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

left to right
Jane Heller . MayaLee . Cassia Beck
city.light. AmeliaKay . dolcechic.
elle moss. Brady Guido. 

As female photographers,
I thought it was only necessary to highlight that October is
Breast Cancer Awareness Month
.
We all know someone who has been affected by this cancer.
Please stay healthy so we can continue creating beautiful things
.
Does your shop donate to the cause?
Do you know of a favorite shop that donates to the cause?
Please comment below and share and give.

Monday Night Montage [ruby ruby ruby ruby!]

Yvette: Gabrielle

This week I'm attracted to Yvette Inufio & Gabrielle Kai's [gotta love those names!] photo montage

1. how the colors of rustic red match up so well
   
2. how it looks like these photographs could have been taken in the exact same spot
3. how they are full of adorable mystery

their project is called
one inspiration, two perspectives

great work gals
.

this colorful gem also caught my eye
..

till next week,
i.heart.diptychs

have a diptych project going on? Have one you'd like to see featured? Comment below & let us know!

Mosaic Monday :: Trick or Treat?

Wishing you all a spooky Halloween this Saturday. WoooOOooo!

Left to right:

thePhotoZoo . Ozlem Haluk . pamelaklaffke

bellybutton girl . kimrose... . Elle Moss

riot jane . caryndrexl . gingerlillytea

Payday Friday!

What is Payday Friday, you ask? Payday Friday is a new feature that will run every other Friday, and will let you in on great sales and exclusive deals from our excellent members! This week's insider deal is courtesy of shannonblue photography! She is offering BOGO prints to our blog readers. Shannon says:

Purchase any print in my shop and receive a second print of equal or lesser value absolutely free.

• Add the higher priced print to your cart.

• In the message to seller box, enter "payday friday" and indicate which free print you would like.

• If you don't see the size you want for your print, convo me and we'll work out the details. Prints up to 11x14 included.

• Postcards are included. Calendars and special orders are not included.

Here is a small sample of her beautiful work:

Jen Kiaba has also offered up some special sales! Jen says:

* If you use the discount code: Moving Sale in a message to me upon checkout in my shop, you can get 10% off your entire order from my store. (Discount issued as a credit in Pay Pal.)

* For all blog readers I am also giving $10 off the "Down the Rabbit Hole" Print Set. The code for that at checkout: Wonderland (Discount also issued as Pay Pal credit.)

* Finally, if you refer a friend to my blog and/or the FPOE blog and leave a comment on this post, they will receive a free set of four postcards with each order! Just leave me a message upon checkout with the name of your friend who signed up!

Jen's Down the Rabbit Hole set:

Emma is also having a sale. She is offering a free 5x5 or 5x7 of your choice with every single 8x10 sold until December 1st. She will throw in an EXTRA free print to anyone who mentions the discount code "payday friday"!

Some of Emma's lovely work:

A Sense of Place Photography is having a giveaway right now! You can see all the details here. And be sure to check out her Etsy shop. Some of her gorgeous work:


See you all in 2 weeks for another Payday Friday with more exclusive deals, sales, and money-saving goodness!

Tutorial Tuesdays - Customize Your Twitter!

I will admit it up-front: this week I am too busy to write a brand-spanking-new fresh-out-of -the-box-sparkly tutorial. Right now it's in the middle of mid-terms and I am also up to my ears in boxes cause I'm moving house & studio. Yipes! So instead I wanted to point you in the direction of a certified-pre-owned tutorial: low mileage, lots of upgrades, and only one previous owner!

Since we are all artists, personalizing our social networking sites is of the utmost importance! Alas, Facebook gives us very few options for leaving our personal signature. Blogs can be customized to our hearts' content. What about Twitter? Most of us probably use some sort of third party software to post our tweets, yet we can still create a great homepage for our Twitter channel for those who happen across us on the web.



This week's tutorial is all about how to customize our Twitter backgrounds so that visitors can get to know us a little better! Here I show you how I made a "quick and dirty" background in PS2 - but once you get the idea of the dimensions then your options are limitless!

Monday Night Montage [socks that match]

Left: shannonblue
Right: cassiabeck

This week, I'm crushing on Shannon Blue & Cassia Beck's diptych from Everyday Vision. Their process is to photograph the same "everyday" objects each week.

~I like how bright horizontal stripes go with muted zig-zag stripes.
~I like how little kids rush home to take socks off and big kids rush home to take pictures of socks.
~I like how the second image could be the future of this tiny shoe and sock wearer.

~

The objects seem to become more meaningful when placed side by side in two different worlds.

..

This puppy also caught my eye.

'Till Next Week,
I . Heart. Diptychs

have a diptych project going on? Have one you'd like to see featured? Comment below & let us know!

fPOE Member of the Week... Morgan Kendall

This weeks featured fPOE member is Atlanta Georgia artist, Morgan Kendall (mkendall)!   

 Her Etsy Shop.

Her flickr.

Her Blog.

Mosaic Monday :: White Light/White Heat

Left to right:
lepiaf.geo . Ozlem Haluk . Diana Debord


Elle Moss . Leaca's Philosophy . kristybee

jena ardell . gingerlillytea . Meganzii

Style Sunday - An Interview with Photographer Laura Evans

Step into photographer Laura Evans' Etsy shop and you will find images that make you take pause to consider the vast beauty in the world. Her artist's eye finds sweet serenity in views that many of us might dismiss as mundane.

Evans graduated with a BA Honors in Photography in 2006 from Leeds Metropolitan University; while she came out with an extensive background in her craft, she says that she also left with a mindset that made it difficult to create solely for her joy of creating.

A stint as a photography teacher in a high school helped her rediscover her passion for the craft as she watched the creative spark ignite in her students; shortly thereafter she and her husband moved to Germany where her husband is stationed in the military. According to Evans "life happened in a big way and photography got pushed to the side."

Last year she purchased a Nikon D300 and really began to delve back into taking pictures for herself again. "I hate cliches, but this year has been the real 'turning point,'" she said. Evans opened her Etsy shop in April of this year where she sells her fine art photography.

"I came to Etsy wanting to showcase my work and see if I could make a career out of photography after all," she said. "I've met so many fabulous people, photographers, military wives and inspirational people who have helped me discover new things. My macro lens really opened my eyes as well."

FPOE caught up with Evans, who braved a late night interview over in Germany to discuss her work and her blossoming shop.

FPOE
You say that this year has been a turning point for you. What are some new techniques that you're trying?

Laura Evans
Right now I just feel more free in my photography; it's all about loving what I'm doing and in some ways I'm learning much more about it through trial and error than I ever did in college. Saying this I want to do some work shops because I still feel I need help technically, but artistically I feel like I'm making huge leaps and loving the variety of work I'm producing.

FPOE
What are some of the things that you are doing right now that you love?

Laura Evans
Right now I'm loving experimenting with the vintage feel - muted colours and the dream like quality. But a few months ago, after buying my macro lens, I went nuts with close ups of everything. I have a bunch of vintage cameras I want to shoot with, but getting the film developed & scanned isn't cheap. I also want to have a go at some self portraits and of course more portrait work itself, with maybe getting a business going eventually

FPOE
Are you focusing on finding some paid client work in Germany?

Laura Evans
Yes, around the airbase. I aim to work with Americans here but find it's hard. There are a lot of portrait "photographers" here who work for cheap, but the work is what you pay for. Cheesy smile, Sears catalogue - everything I dislike about portraits.

FPOE
What are some of the things you aim for in a portrait?

Laura Evans
I want my portraits to be about the people in them -to sum those people up through their clothing, expressions, the environment they are in. For my degree show I produced a series of portraits (very editorial in style) and I want that same feel in the work I do now. Whilst I may ask an individual or couple to do something, stand somewhere I etc., I let them do it in a way that's comfortable to them. If it's not natural for them then you'll see it in the image. I also talk the entire time I'm doing it.

FPOE
Yeah sometimes I have them have a conversation with someone off camera.

Laura Evans
That's what makes shooting couples easier, because they can just talk with each other. It doesn't matter if they're talking about the camera, because they're still concentrating more on their their half than me.

FPOE
Definitely; I'm looking at some of your portraits on Facebook - really wonderful stuff!
They definitely have an editorial style and a fantastic mood.

Laura Evans
Thank you. That's really new to me and much more fun than i imagined. I like using locations; it stops images from getting stale - the same poses for the same couples kind of thing. Whilst I use similar set ups, it's never going to be the same.

FPOE
So can you tell me a little bit about the equipment you use. You have a Nikon D300 (a great camera!) - what kind of lights do you use?

Laura Evans
I still don't own a flash for my D300!!!! I recently met a wonderful photographer who brought his flash along on the shoot with Erica and it was so much fun. A speedlight is high on my light (and my birthday is next month!!!) I have bought an umbrella and reflector but have yet to try them out. I work with natural light or long exposures which in itself helps the exploration process. When you're limited in what you have, it forces you to think some more and be creative.

FPOE
Definitely! What kind of processing do you favor- especially in terms of your fine art? You talked about using muted colors and achieving that dream like quality. How do you do that?

Laura Evans
I use Colour Balance and Hue/Saturation. My computer knowledge is also in the learning/exploration stage. I started using Photoshop in the same context as I would use a dark room. There are a lot of techniques out there that I find (and this is just the British snob in me) take away from the basic principles of photography. Somewhere along the way I feel like some people have stopped thinking about the initial image, but the ways they can alter it on a computer. I have no problem with using a whirlwind of computer techniques, but then in my eyes it becomes graphic based piece of art.

FPOE
So what do you hope that viewers come away with when looking at your art and your shop?

Laura Evans
Apart from some insight in my mind, I like to think that my images give you a new view of some of the less obvious, random things. I hope they can find something that appeals to them, as I shoot such a variety. I find that I'll work with a technique or idea for a while and then find some new pretty & shiny! I have a low attention span so there is so much variety in my store and I see thing differently. I love bold bright colours, lots of contrast and images that really pop out at the wall. But then I also love classic black and white images that are simple and elegant. When I see something, I don't know how it's going to look at the end - colour or black and white. Then sometimes when editing, I'm completely surprised by the images that, in my mind, are stunning compared to those I imagined working at the time of shooting. But that's the fun of editing!

FPOE
So last question: what has been your favorite part of having a store? Has is expanded your horizons as an artist?

Laura Evans
Running a shop can be long and tedious work sometimes, but also surprising and exciting at the same time. To me the best part of Etsy has been the people I've met and the chance to talk and learn. It has also given me the inspiration and help in pushing myself to do the thing I love. Whilst my sales are super low and that it can be frustrating, I know that this is what I want to do. And I know my work is good enough to do it! It's just a big scary world out there and Etsy has allowed me to start off slowly - hopefully preparing me for the giant leap I plan on eventually taking.

FPOE
Wonderful! I really appreciate your being the first to volunteer for this interview -thanks for doing this.

Laura Evans
It's been an exciting weekend for me so having this is like the cherry on the top!

Monday Night Montage (a little late)

One year ago....beloved photographers Alicia Bock & Susannah Conway started a journey entitled The Favorite Things Project. It started out simple: two girls who like to take pictures photograph their favorite things once a week and then match them side by side. One year later, it has blossomed into a full work of sweet and curious art that can stand on its own. The year long project was completed yesterday.

take a look

left to right: susannah.alicia.alicia.susannah

....

I swoon over the secrecy of these images. I stare at how uncanny their photo chemistry is. Susannah explains the process here:

the only process is this: we each take a photograph of a favourite thing, whatever it is, each week. We don't discuss what we will photograph - Alicia sends me her shot on Sunday night (in the US) so i receive it on Monday morning (in the UK). I put the photos together and publish them here. We are both constantly amazed by how the photos work so well together - one week we'd both photographed spoons, totally by chance!

alicia: susannah
....

I have to say this idea has become one of my favorite things, and has inspired many of us here at fPOE to create our own tiny pairing projects. We are all roughly around week 10. This one stood out to me this week. :)

So thank-You Alicia & Susannah; the magical inspiration continues...

until next week,

i . heart. diptychs

fPOE Member of the Week... Pamela Klaffke

Canadian artist, Pamela Klaffke is our fPOE member of the week!  From her shop description, "i am a canadian photographer who shoots exclusively with analogue cameras, most often my holga cfn. my photographs often feature grain and blur; i like vivid colour, creepy masks and dolls, and the beauty and warmth, unpredictability and imperfection of working with film."

Her Etsy Shop.

Her Flickr.

Her Website.

Mosaic Monday :: Fun at the Fair

Left to right:
likings of a girl . Mrs. Maze . Diana Debord

IrenaS . futurowoman . SusannahT

Tia Bailey . Melissa . bloom-grow-love

Peaceful...

1. just let go. 327/365 [reject], 2. ♥, 3. Illuminate, 4. In Convertendo, 5. eggs in a bowl, 6. blue bird, 7. two sea urchin SMALL FILE, 8. Untitled, 9. golden no. 1

fPOE Member of the Week... Ozlem Haluk

The lovely Ozlem Haluk is our fPOE member of the week!  Her shop, amelieapoulain.etsy.com features prints that are quirky, modern and colorful.

Her Etsy Shop.

Her Website.

Her Flickr.