The last couple of weeks are a blur of activity... new floor, draperies, shooting sessions and finally hanging some of the abstract photographs that we've been printing and framing on the open gallery wall as planned.

This latest step has been difficult for me. Choosing from among the hundreds of images that I've captured and processed over the last 4 years has been daunting. There are so many favorite catagories of macro and close-up grunge that I love... and so  many images finished and waiting to be printed, uploaded to a photo gallery e-commerce site like Fine Art America, Redbubble or 500px... or framed and hung. I have just felt overwhelmed. Organizing one's own images takes a lot of concentration and focus. I seem to be short on both in recent days. BTW... this photo looking at the end of the studio shows the new floor... but, before the draperies covered the wall with the big doors. The changes have been amazing. And that is part of why it been important to get the framed prints hung properly... to be finished (or at least LOOK finished) for visitors and clients coming to the studio.

Rather than choose a theme from the different groupings of images I have, I decided to hang a grouping 'salon' style in different sizes with images from all over the spectrum of my interests. The colorful result is a great way to see the Gallery walls finally full of our work. The Studio/Gallery is open when we are here so if you are in the area, call us and drop over to check it out. Thanks so much for all your great comments and for the encouragement that those of you who have had a chance to drop by the studio have shared with us. Most appreciated!

I had the oddest feeling this morning turning on my computer and having that uncomfortable feeling of dejavu. The visual that triggered the goosebumps on my arms was the featured Bing image of a winter landscape in the snow... a hillside covered with trees in snowy garb... and a night sky. It immediately triggered a memory of one of my 'Accidental Images'. The top image is a screen capture of the beautiful image (copyright Getty Images) on the Bing home screen this morning. The bottom image is my accidental
        An accidental image is an image of something that looks like something other than what it is... like a cloud that is shaped like a fish... or a potato chip shaped like a profile. In this instance, I have a photo of the same scene... night sky, snowy winter trees on a hill. Only difference is that mine is a macro photo of the blade of my garden edger!! Can you see it?

        Some of my accidentals are featured from time to time in the Black Wings Gallery.

~ Susana

OK, I get the part in my SEO education about having something new on the web site on a regular schedule... and keeping the Facebook page fresh with something to link to daily... something to keep people coming back to the site or page often... and something to talk about in the blog... I get it. But... nowhere in the stuff I've read does it say where the time comes from to do all this in addition to doing the JOB, creating the WORK that you do... So far, all I see is layering on more tasks. No wonder people start off great with lots of activity on the social sites and then give up... and you see something new months later. (OK, we'll see if we're one of those.)

Meanwhile, one thing I do like to do is use the images we create to make new images to upload onto these social (and now necessary) marketing tools. I've been changing the 'cover photo' on the Facebook page to reflect seasonal styles and I changed it this morning to a composite photo of Carly Erin O'Neil... together with a photo of the swans on Johnson's Pond just up the street from the studio. The overhanging evergreens are in the pond image. The snow is another 2 images that came from some generous artists at Redbubble.com. They were kind enough to allow downloads of their snow art and they have been used many times to create the illusion of a snowy winter day. The composite was created using Adobe Lightroom 4 and Photoshop CS5.

Hey! Finally... got our web site turned on... and have been deilghted to welcome our friends to view the work we have been doing for the last three years. Those of you who know us as 'car' people... will be surprised to see what we've been up to. The big race car garage has been transformed into a photo studio and gallery... and, a little at a time, the cars and all their 'stuff' has dissappeared. There are more changes coming to our 'garage' space in the next few months and we'll be sharing the changes and fun here in the blog that comes with the web site... and on our page on Facebook. Click on the little 'f' symbol at the top of the pages on this site... and be sure to 'Like' us there so you get the latest about what's happening in the studio. More later... back to work... :))))  ~ Susana

Photography has been a love of ours for longer than our  motorsport activities, so converting the "garage" into a photography studio was a natural thing to do. The large space affords us lots of options for backdrops and settings, and with the forthcoming improvements will be an even better stage for our photographic efforts.

We've been fortunate over the past few years to work with wonderful models who've contributed their talents and ideas to our evolving skills as photographers. As you explore our web site and Facebook sites you'll find the results of these collaborations. I'm excited to be able to now share our work with you. Enjoy! ~ Dave