FINDLAY, OH (WLIO) – Middle schoolers get to learn about and practice photography skills in a camp offered through the Hancock County Park District.

During a two-day camp, the students will be taught photography principles and techniques, which they will then use to capture pictures of wildlife and nature at the Riverbend Recreation Area. Campers’ favorite photos will be displayed in a gallery on the Hancock Park District’s Facebook page at the end of the camp.

“We’re covering just the basics of photography today. Just working on how to get different exposures, how to set up a nice and correct image, and that’s what we’re working on right now inside. But after we take all of our skills that we’ve built up in here, we’re actually going to go out on the trails and find things out in nature to build up on our wildlife photography skills, and hopefully, just build a lifelong passion for the art of photography,”

The park will hold another photography camp for high schoolers next week.

FINDLAY, OH (WLIO) – Middle schoolers get to learn about and practice photography skills in a camp offered through the Hancock County Park District.

During a two-day camp, the students will be taught photography principles and techniques, which they will then use to capture pictures of wildlife and nature at the Riverbend Recreation Area. Campers’ favorite photos will be displayed in a gallery on the Hancock Park District’s Facebook page at the end of the camp.

“We’re covering just the basics of photography today. Just working on how to get different exposures, how to set up a nice and correct image, and that’s what we’re working on right now inside. But after we take all of our skills that we’ve built up in here, we’re actually going to go out on the trails and find things out in nature to build up on our wildlife photography skills, and hopefully, just build a lifelong passion for the art of photography,”

The park will hold another photography camp for high schoolers next week.

It is one thing to work on your technique and creative voice, but making money with your work is an entirely separate skill. If you are working on developing your photography income, check out this great video tutorial that shares five actionable steps for making money as a beginner photographer.

Coming to you from Kevin Raposo, this fantastic video tutorial discusses five steps to take for making money as a newer photographer. One of the best bits of advice I can give to new photographers looking to build their income is simply to accept low-risk jobs to start. No matter how good your technique is and how prepared you think you are, there are some things you can only absorb by experience and often, by making mistakes and learning from them. Obviously, it is better to make such mistakes when their impact will not be significant. I have known photographers who have taken on weddings for their first paid job, and while some made it through alright, others quickly found themselves overwhelmed, which led to disastrous results. Like anything, it is best to start small and build up as you gain confidence and experience. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Raposo. 

… a terrific weekend … mostly indoors and reviewing many photos taken during cooler times than we are currently experiencing.

The shot above was taken looking to the NNW from over the Village of Oak Creek … Courthouse Rock is in the lower left , Cathedral Rock above that and Airport Mesa Above that and Thunder Mountain above it … Wilson Mountain is on the right side partially in the clouds and Oak Creek Canyon behind it … it was a beautiful day and cool.

Below is a photo of the rim and wilderness area between Sedona and the Village of Oak Creek looking ENE … the snow looks so good now … on that day the warm days of summer were looking pretty good!

Been listening to some neat music and a few that are very cool are Forever Young by Rod Stewart singing with his daughter at a festival in Chili and it has a fabulous drum solo in the middle of it. I’ve also been listening to more music from India and have become hooked on the sounds and melody … do not understand the words, but with good music that is not essential … just swept along with the music, like this one Ranjha and who can resist Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong ?

We’re into a new week and the build of my new computer is going well … looking for a finish and having it ready to go by next weekend. Thankful for a nice dining room table to do the work on 🙂

Have a beautiful day, keep breathing and smile!

Ted

You are not poor if you
love something, someone,
humanity maybe, and have faith
that you will somewhere,
sometime be satisfied, though you
know not how.

excerpt from Love and Faith by Max Ehrmann

###

The easiest way to reach Mr. Grussing is by email: ted@tedgrussing.com

In addition to sales of photographs already taken Ted does special shoots for patrons on request and also does air-to-air photography for those who want photographs of their airplanes in flight. All special photographic sessions are billed on an hourly basis.

Ted also does one-on-one workshops for those interested in learning the techniques he uses.  By special arrangement Ted will do one-on-one aerial photography workshops which will include actual photo sessions in the air.

More about Ted Grussing …

A photography dealer from Michigan has pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud related to a scheme involving more than 10 clients and about $1.5 million in art, including Ansel Adams photographs.

Former Birmingham, Michigan art dealer Wendy Halstead Beard was arrested by the FBI in October 2022 for what prosecutors alleged was a scheme to defraud her customers and embezzle the proceeds over the course of the previous two years.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan says that Beard, 58, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud that arose from that multi-year FBI investigation in which Beard received fine art photography prints on consignment, sold the artwork without the knowledge of the owners, kept the profits for herself, and regularly deceived the owners about the status of the photos including claiming she was in two prolongs comas, one for multiple months, and received a lung transplant. Beard also tried to pass off cheap copies of Ansel Adams prints she bought from the photographer’s gift shop as original, signed photographs.

“Throughout the scheme, Beard attempted to lull her victims into a false sense of security by offering excuses for her unwillingness or inability to promptly return the victims’ photographs after the expiration of the operative consignment agreements,” the Attorney’s Office says.

“These excuses consisted of, among other things, exaggerating the severity of her own health problems, including claiming (1) to have recently been in a coma and (2) to have received a double-lung transplant. In other instances, Beard told her victims that there was a lack of interest among potential purchasers—despite having already sold the photographs in question. Beard also created fake ’employee’ identities which she used to correspond with her victims in a further effort to deceive them.”

Beard has acknowledged defrauding more than 10 victims over the course of her two-year scheme and further admitted that at least one was selected due to their vulnerability: they were at an “advanced age,” the plea agreement says.

“This defendant swindled numerous families out of valuable artwork and lied to them repeatedly in order to keep her fraud scheme afloat,” United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison says. “She did this for no reason other than to line her own pockets at the expense of her victims. There is no place for this kind of criminal deceit in our community, and today’s conviction holds this defendant accountable for her conduct.”

“With today’s plea, Ms. Beard has taken a first step towards accepting responsibility for her criminal behavior,” Devin J. Kowalski, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office, says. “The FBI remains committed to investigating art fraud and to seeking justice for those affected by this type of scheme.”

Beard’s sentencing is expected to take place on December 20, Art News reports.

Image credits: Photo by Ansel Adams/Public Domain.

A photographer who has visited the same barbershop for over 50 years has been taking selfies with his barber since 1973.

Sam Farr, 78, first took a photo of himself and his barber Joe in the early 1970s with a Rolleiflex camera. The most recent photo was taken with an iPhone and he’s also shot a photo of them with a Fujifilm X100F.

But sadly the former newspaper photographer is not well and the most recent photo could be his last as his daughter says he is in poor health because of Parkinson’s disease.

Farr has been seeing Joe for a haircut at his shop, Giuseppe’s of Bath, in the U.K. for 50 years. He has a collection of five photos with Joe, each time with a new camera.

“The first time I took the photo I had just bought a Rolleiflex camera for about £100 ($130), a lot of money back then, and I wanted to see what I looked like,” says Farr.

“I used to take photos for so many people back then but never took pictures of myself, so I decided to snap one and started a tradition.

“He’s been cutting my hair for so long that he’s changed locations three times. When we hit 50 years, we thought it would be special to celebrate it. He even gave me a free haircut.”

Farr has been getting the same haircut from Joe for half a century which he describes as the “aging Beatle” haircut.

The most recent photo was taken on an iPhone attached to a stand and that’s because Farr now has a difficult time keeping the camera steady.

“Unfortunately due to dad’s health issues I think this picture will probably be his final one,” says his daughter Nicky Higby.

“Due to his battle with Parkinson’s and other conditions, it’s hard for him to hold a camera anymore. Last time in 2015 we just about managed to do it, but this time we went for an iPhone instead.”

Higby says the tradition is much cherished in her family and Joe has always been a close friend.

“I recently saw a post about dad’s selfies on Reddit which had thousands of comments,” she adds. “The lovely thing is they always comment on how happy he looks.”

Image credits: Photos courtesy of SWNS.

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THOMASVILLE- The Wiregrass Gallery: Artist Co-Op welcomed Marci Oldenburg and her nature-inspired photography to the fold, exhibiting her art until July 31.

Oldenburg said that she has been drawn to art since she was young and doodling, but it was when she was going to high school in Germany at 17 that she found her first camera.

“This is something I’ve been doing since I was 17,” she said. “Before, I used to doodle a lot and then I found camera. There, things took off.”

Oldenburg said that she began with film, noting how expensive it was for a single roll of film, when it usually would only take an average of 10 good pictures out of the 35. She later began taking classes at the University of Maine after returning to the U.S, where she was able to use a dark room to develop film.

“I started with a film camera and then it was just taking pictures,” Oldenburg said. “As I went along, I found a photography class for developing, so I started working in the dark room to develop my own film.”

Learning about development, both the technical facets of photography alongside composition, she said that those classes taught her a lot about her craft.

“I learned a lot about the craft of photography during that time,” Oldenburg said.

Picking up a digital camera in 2001 changed everything.

“I went, ‘oh my goodness, this is amazing,’” she said. “So, from there it was digital. Since that time, I’ve maybe shot three rolls of film.”

Easily able to look back at pictures and see how they turned out while out in the field, Oldenburg said that programs like photoshop became her new dark room, although she said she tended to let her photography speak for itself without much editing.

“I want the original picture to speak so I don’t do a lot,” she said. “I do enough to enhance and make it visually appealing to myself and then from there, hopefully, someone else will find it appealing.”

Nature, she said, was her muse throughout her journey, from the woods and flowers to the slow retaking of the world by nature.

“I am inspired by a lot of different things,” Oldenburg said. “Nature is my muse; the woods, the flower popping up through concrete, it’s a lot of different things. Just what captivates me that day.”

A lot of her day-to-day hobbies and routines, she added, also make it into her photography and are reflections of her interests.

“I enjoy florals,” she said. “I grow orchids, I meditate, there’s a lot of different things I do besides that and I think it is reflected in my work.”

Having moved to Tallahassee recently from central Florida, she said that now that she has retired it was time for her flex her creative muscles.

“We moved here in December,” Oldenburg said. “I kind’ve retired and really work at my passion, which is photography, art, I’ve done beading in the past, I’ve always stayed busy creatively.”

Getting back into her old creative passions and new ones, Oldenburg said, has been wonderful.

“It’s wonderful,” she said. “I have a very supportive partner so that makes everything so much, much better. I’m delving into some water color and beading again, which is something I did years ago, but the photography is my main focus.”

Getting involved with the Wiregrass Gallery through a call for photographers was an honor for Oldenburg, and she hopes everyone will see the time and effort put into the works on display.

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For six years, Dior, along with Luma Arles and the ENSP in Arles, has continued its mission to discover emerging artists through the “Dior Photography and Visual Arts Award for Young Talents.” Distinguished from other luxury houses, this competition in the realm of photography and visual arts has been fostering an important dialogue with renowned international art and photography schools. Each year the jury is made up of impressive members. The diverse and talented members of this year’s jury included Rafael Pavarotti, a Brazilian fashion photographer renowned for his commitment to representing diversity through his images. Joining him are Barbara Iweins, a celebrated Belgian photographer, Damarice Amao, a French art historian and photographer, and Peter Philips, the Creative and Image Director for Dior Makeup. Also returning as regular jury members are Maja Hoffmann, the President and Founder of Luma Arles, and Simon Baker, the Director of the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris.

This July, the jury for the “Dior Photography and Visual Arts Award for Young Talents” gathered to select a winner. Whether they are current students or alumni, this new group of young talents has once again demonstrated their ability to contemplate and create art centered around the annual theme of “Face to Face.” We got the opportunity to travel to Arles and speak with this year’s winner, Iris Millot.

Iris Millot, a French artist from the École Nationale Supérieure de la Photographie, won this year’s award with her photography series titled “Mont Lion.” This photography series focused on her great-aunt Hélène, who has been cultivating the isolated family farmland for forty years. The young photographer skillfully merges still-life elements with portraiture. With subtlety, she depicts the ramifications of life choices and the indelible imprints they leave behind. Her art gracefully intertwines diverse temporal, personal, and social layers, revealing a profound and resonant narrative. Within her captivating work, the intertwined threads of farming heritage and the women’s liberation movement seamlessly envelop Hélène, who embodies the essence of a captivating storybook character.

We sat down with Iris Millot and asked a few questions ahead of the ceremony.

HAUTE LIVING: The theme face to face poses an element of self-reflection. How do you represent yourself in your work?

IRIS MILLOT: The theme face-to-face was the right fit for this project because it’s the meaning of two women of two different generations. I rediscovered her life through my gaze as a young woman, and I tried to collect pieces of her story and make it my story.

HL: Beyond this contest. When it comes to your work, who and what are your main influences?

IM: I am really inspired by the work of Hannah Darabi. We work similarly in the way we use archives in our work.

Iris Millot will receive a 10,000 euro grant from the House of Dior as well as a creative commission. Her photographs, along with the work by the 12 finalists, will be exhibited at The Grand Halle, Luma Arles, from July 3rd to September 24th, 2023.

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An Australian photographer’s work was disqualified from a photo contest after being mistakenly deemed to have been generated by artificial intelligence.

Suzi Dougherty, an actress in the Sydney suburb of Waverly, had entered a photo contest run by the print shop Charing Cross Photo seeking to award the best local fashion photographs. She said she was “shocked” when she found out her photo was disqualified on suspicions it was created with A.I.

Dougherty called the mix-up an “honest mistake” and said she’s still an “avid fan” of the print shop, which she said is a “great little store.” Still, the case is the latest test for how artificial intelligence impacts artists and shows how photo experts appear to be grappling with the capabilities of the technology.

In an interview with Artnet News, Dougherty said the image she selected was one of several she had taken during a mini photoshoot with her 18-year-old son Caspar at “Gucci Garden Archetypes” in Sydney, a now-ended immersive exhibition that explored the fashion giant’s advertising campaigns.

“I did a few different setups. So there were numerous setups in the room. I was in the room for about 10 minutes and felt bad because people were queuing,” she said. “There were different photos but I liked this the best.”

A variant of the photo Dougherty submitted to the photo contest. Photo courtesy of Suzi Dougherty.

In the image she selected, Caspar is seen wearing a red Lacoste sweater over a white T-shirt and dark slacks with a large chain necklace. He appears to be mid-gait, looking stoically to the left of the frame with his left hand reaching backward to grasp that of a male mannequin behind him.

“I had this narrative that they were his two friends in the nightclub bathroom. I had the whole story around it and this was definitely the most narrative one,” Dougherty said, describing her process in taking the photograph.

One variant, reminiscent of Matisse’ Dance, shows Caspar apparently holding the hands of the female mannequin being led by the male mannequin as reflected in the bathroom’s mirror. Another shows a wide shot of the bathroom with Caspar at the hand dryer and the woman looking at the camera.

One variant shows a wide shot of the bathroom with Caspar at the hand dryer with the woman looking at the camera. Photo courtesy of Suzi Dougherty

“I legitimately cannot think of why they thought it was A.I.,” Dougherty said of the photo she chose. Artnet News has reached out to Charing Cross Photo for comment.

“I was like seriously shocked because I don’t really follow A.I.—not into it and don’t make it. I always thought it would be something spacey and digital,” she said. “So I was genuinely kind of confused in a naïve way, now that I know a little something about it after this week.”

Dougherty, who is not a professional photographer, added she took the photo with her phone and has since learned that A.I. processes are already increasingly being used in cameras and phone cameras. She added that her son has since tried recreating the photo with A.I. with poor results.

Suzi Dougherty’s son Caspar tried recreating the contested photo using artificial intelligence with poor results. Photo courtesy of Suzi Dougherty

She decided to enter the photo contest after a friend came over to her home and saw a print of the photo she had made for her late mother who loved fashion but could not go to the exhibition.

“I found out the whole thing on Instagram that I had been disqualified,” Dougherty said. “I thought it was quite funny… and then I did speak to them and they were really apologetic and they said they were paranoid about A.I.”

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French war photographer Marie-Laure de Decker has passed away aged 75, her family has confirmed.

A female photographer in a male world, De Decker was nevertheless able to navigate a successful career as a photojournalist; capturing the Vietnam War, the apartheid in South Africa, and riots against General Pinochet in Chile.

Who Was Marie-Laure de Decker?

De Decker was born in the then-French colony Algeria in 1947. Her striking looks got her work as a model before meeting the photographer Domonique Merlin and becoming engrossed with the footage he captured for The Anderson Platoon.

After being inspired to learn how to develop film, she began capturing the portraits of noted French figures before deciding to cover the Vietnam War with very little experience. Working with Newsweek in Saigon, she made a name for herself.

Armed with an aging Leica camera, she wrote in a 1985 memoir that she was plagued with self-doubt.

“I said to myself: people are going to see that I’m not a real photographer,” she said.

However, De Decker acknowledged how good the old Leica was, and after Vietnam, she spent time in Chad, a Saharan African country — extensively covering the Wodaabe people.

She also covered the conflict in Yemen and South Africa — meeting and taking photos of Nelson Mandela. She also traveled to India and Chile.

France 24 notes that De Decker talked about the challenges of being a woman photographer.

“If you’re a woman, you’re never taken seriously,” she says. But also spoke of some silver linings: “There is an advantage to being a woman, as was the case in South Africa — they don’t kill you right away, they give you a chance.”

Later in her career, De Decker joined the Gamma photo agency which ended in a legal dispute over the rights to her photos.

The agency refused to cede copyright to the digital version of her photos. De Decker took them to court but lost.

De Decker went on to take photos of high-profile figures, something she did to fund her trips to conflict zones.

“When you take photos of the poor, no one’s interested. You have to take photos of the rich to sell (them),” she said.

De Decker died in Toulouse on July 15. She had two sons with lawyer Thierry Levy.

Image credits: Marie-Laure de Decker.