Meaghan Gay, Author at Exposed DC

Friday Links

March 14, 2014 By Meaghan Gay

Exposed 2014 Photography Show poster by ep_jhu

So you’ve bought your Exposed 2014 opening night tickets, right? Ok, then. Your reward is this week’s allotment of alluring links, including fantastic Snowy Owl research photos, local photographer Jim Darling’s upcoming pop-up studio, and the sad story behind Calumet’s demise:

We learned yesterday that Calumet Photo filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Their website is gone, all their twitter feeds have been deleted, and the short update they wrote on facebook about their closing has also been deleted. Calumet took over three Penn Camera stores in the area after they closed down a few years ago. Peta Pixel has an interview with a former employee which details how bad things had gotten at the retailer.
Just how valuable are your Instagram photos? Daniel Arnold made $15K in one day selling prints of his popular Instagram shots.
A Photo Editor wrote his own guide to photography contests.
The Baltimore Police are at it again. They forced Baltimore Sun photo editor Chris Assaf away from the scene of an office involved shooting. We wrote about another similar incident with Baltimore Police last year.
D.C. area photographer Kristi Odom is headed to Bolivia to photograph the illegal animal trade. She is looking for financial backing on the project, and has almost met her goal.
Photographer Meredith Rizzo has some great images in an NPR story on the snowy owl.
Need a good headshot? Local photographer Jim Darling, whose portraits we profiled last year, is hosting a pop-up portrait studio on 3/22.
D.C. based photographer Mathew Ramsey is getting a lot of attention for his burger porn project. The photos look very tasty.
Combat photographer Stacey Pearsall shared stories about working as an Air Force photographer with Photoshelter.
This week PetaPixel wrote about the work Paulo Ordoveza, or @PicPedant, is doing to expose fake or copyrighted photos posted on twitter. You may remember that we interviewed Ordoveza back in January.
General Colin Powell posted a selfie he took 60 years ago to facebook yesterday. He even managed to call out Ellen in the process.
(e)merge art fair will return for their fourth year to D.C. this fall.
“Permitting photography led to constant tension between those who wanted a clear view for their camera and those who wished to look at the paintings.” To ban or not to ban cameras at museums.
An finally, Nepal celebrated some happy news this week when it marked 365 days without a tiger, rhino or elephant being poached.

2014 Best In Show: Patrick Wright

March 14, 2014 By Meaghan Gay

Girl With Bow and Arrow by Patrick Wright

Only two more to go! Here is the fifth of six winners of our inaugural Best In Show prizes for the 8th annual Exposed DC Photography Show. We invited a panel of distinguished Washington-area photojournalists to pick, in their esteemed opinion, their favorite photograph from our group of 49 images. Each Best In Show winner receives a $100 prize made possible by the Corcoran College of Art + Design.

We’ll be announcing the winners each day through next Monday. Tickets for the show, which opens next Wednesday, March 19, are available now.

Today’s Best in Show image is “Girl With Bow and Arrow” by Patrick Wright. Congrats Patrick! His photo was chosen by judge Jacquelyn Martin, a staff photojournalist with the Associated Press, Washington D.C. bureau and the president of Women Photojournalists of Washington.

Exposed: Where were you when you took this photo? Was it staged, or a scene you came upon?

Wright: As part of an ongoing photo project, I walk around my neighborhood in Capitol Hill looking for strangers to photograph. I saw this girl in costume and thought she’d make for a great subject. As I was walking towards her, her mother pointed to my twin-lens reflex camera and said, “Hey, that’s an antique!” I took the opportunity to introduce myself and after a few minutes of conversation, asked if I could take a photo of her daughter. She agreed and her daughter did, too. But as I was preparing to photograph her, she looked timidly at her feet. So I said, “You can aim your arrow at me. Just promise me that you won’t shoot!” Her expression transformed. It was like watching an actress disappear into a role.

Exposed: The young archer has a very intense look on her face. Has the girl and her family seen the photo? Did you share it with them?

Wright: Yes, I did share it with them. I left a print at their front door but I don’t know what they thought of it. I guess her intense look will forever be one of my life’s mysteries.

Exposed: How did you decide which images to enter into the contest? What made you choose this photo?

Wright: I submitted three photos: my favorite, my wife’s favorite, and my most favorited photo on Flickr. This one was my wife’s favorite.

See more of Patrick’s work at his website.

2014 Best In Show: Rey Lopez

March 13, 2014 By Meaghan Gay

And now for the fourth of six winners of our inaugural Best In Show prizes for the 8th annual Exposed DC Photography Show. We invited a panel of distinguished Washington-area photojournalists to pick, in their esteemed opinion, their favorite photograph from our group of 49 images. Each Best In Show winner receives a $100 prize made possible by the Corcoran College of Art + Design.

We’ll be announcing the winners each day through next Monday. Tickets for the show, which opens next Wednesday, March 19, are available now.

Today’s Best in Show image is “Do or Dye” by Rey Lopez. Congrats Rey! His photo was chosen by judge Nancy Walz, the Director of Photo Services at Discovery Creative.

Exposed: For those that may not know, can you explain what was happening in this photo?

Lopez: At the finish line of the DC 5K Color Run, the promoters put on a party with a live concert, dancing and color throws for the participants. People were running around, excited from the endorphins of finishing a race and ready to have a good time. This photo captures just a piece of the finish line festivities.

Exposed: How did your camera hold up covering the Color Run? Did you destroy any equipment that day?

Lopez: I got lucky that day! I hadn’t experienced a color run before, so I didn’t realize that by the end of the day, I’d be just as paint-coated as the runners I was photographing. But, the weather called for rain that day and I prepared by encasing my camera and lens bodies in plastic. It didn’t end up raining, but the plastic saved my equipment from any potential damage or discoloration.

Exposed: Did you follow any of the controversy over the image used by the Color Run in an ad without permission from a photographer? Has anyone from the Color Run approached you about the photo?

Lopez: I did follow the controversy. Given what I do, I am always interested in the legal disputes that seem to come up so often in the photography world (the right to shoot in a particular venue, the rights of a photographer in his/her own work, etc.) No, I have not been approached about this photo, but worked with the Color Run in capturing it.

You can see more of Lopez’s work on his website.

2014 Best In Show: Veeresh Inginshetty

March 12, 2014 By Meaghan Gay

And now for the third of six winners of our inaugural Best In Show prizes for the 8th annual Exposed DC Photography Show. We invited a panel of distinguished Washington-area photojournalists to pick, in their esteemed opinion, their favorite photograph from our group of 49 images. Each Best In Show winner receives a $100 prize made possible by the Corcoran College of Art + Design.

We’ll be announcing the winners each day through next Monday. Tickets for the show, which opens next Wednesday, March 19, are available now.

Today’s Best in Show image is “Chinatown King” by Veeresh Inginshetty. Congrats Veeresh! His photo was chosen by judge Lucian Perkins, a staff photojournalist with the Washington Post and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner.

Exposed: There is so much activity in your image, and so many engaging expressions. Can you share with us where this was, and what was happening?

Inginshetty: This was photographed at a parking lot on H St (close to the Gallery Place / Chinatown Metro station) during the 2013 Chinese New Year celebrations. I was close to the stage waiting for fireworks to begin when I saw this family having a good time. I liked the way the ladder framed and emphasized the kid’s face, but the frame in totality seemed incomplete. I decided to wait for some time to see if I could get another element of interest in the picture and after couple of minutes, I saw a gentleman with a kid on his shoulders trying to get to the other side. I found the missing piece and was fortunate that everything came together to make for a very interesting composition. The “King” part however was a very lucky co-incidence, I had missed that part of the frame while composing as everything was happening so fast as it is with most street photographs.

Exposed: What made you choose this image to enter into the show?

Inginshetty: I have been entering images for the past 2-3 years and this is the first one that made it through. The layers in the photograph along with the expressions is what I like about the photograph and for these reasons I thought this would be the right entry for Exposed DC.

Exposed: Your Best In Show prize was awarded by Lucian Perkins, a photojournalist with the Washington Post. Are you familiar with his work?

Inginshetty: Honestly, I wasn’t aware of Mr. Perkins’ work before this. I did look up his work and I must admit I am surprised that I didn’t come across his name earlier. It’s a big confidence booster to have had my photograph chosen by a two-time Pulitzer prize winner and I have to thank Exposed DC for it.

2014 Best In Show: Erika Nizborski

March 11, 2014 By Meaghan Gay

Hyattsville Carnival 2013- Magruder Park by Erika Nizborski — Carnival Giraffe by Erika Nizborski

We’re happy to announce the second of six winners of our inaugural Best In Show prizes for the 8th annual Exposed DC Photography Show. We invited a panel of distinguished Washington-area photojournalists to, in their esteemed opinion, pick their favorite photograph from our group of 49 images. Each Best In Show winner receives a $100 prize made possible by the Corcoran College of Art + Design.

We’ll be announcing the winners each day through next Monday. Tickets for the show, which opens next Wednesday, March 19, are available now.

Today’s Best in Show image is the moody “Carnival Giraffe” by Erika Nizborski. Congrats Erika! Her photo was chosen by judge Dan Westergren, Director of Photography for National Geographic Traveler.

Exposed: Can you give us some background on this photo, where was it taken, why was there a giant giraffe on a trailer, and what were you doing there?

Nizborski: My photo titled Carnival Giraffe is part of a larger photo series called The Hyattsville Project which I have been working on for about one year now. It’s a personal project that I have assigned myself in which I document my neighborhood. Carnival Giraffe was shot in Magruder Park on Hyattsville Day 2013. One day each spring the city comes together for a parade that starts on one side of town and ends at Magruder Park where a carnival then takes place. I was leaving the carnival and I spotted the giraffe in the parking lot with the street light behind it. I thought it was really strange, why didn’t the giraffe statue make it into the carnival? I was also drawn to the amazing light coming from behind it. I had my tripod with me, because I was taking other nighttime long exposures, so I set it up and took a few frames. I have also made it a rule to shoot this entire project on black and white film. I have found that with my professional work (which I only shoot with a digital camera) I sometimes end up taking far more images than I would ever need for one event. By shooting film for this project I am teaching myself to slow down. Film isn’t cheap and I only get 12 frames per roll, so I am very conservative with it.

Exposed: Your Flickr photos are funny and odd street scenes like this photo, but your professional work is weddings and portraits. How do you merge these two styles?

Nizborski: I haven’t ever thought of merging my professional work with my personal work before. They are very different. I am a wedding, event, and portrait photographer by day, and I like to think of my personal projects as assignments to strengthen my eye and craft. In my line of work capturing moments is a must, so I am constantly looking out for them.

Exposed: Dan Westergren awarded your prize. Do you read National Geographic Traveler and are you familiar with his work?

Nizborski: When I saw that I was one of the photographers that won the Best in Show I was honored and thrilled! I saw that Dan Westergren had voted for my photo. I read National Geographic Traveler from time to time, and while I did not immediately recognize his name, as soon as I pulled his website up I recognized his work. While his style and subjects are far different than mine, I see that his work relies heavily on moments as well. The whole experience of being a part of Exposed DC has really inspired me so far.

You can view more of Erika’s work on her website.