This evening is the Art Reception that I am part of, but I did not tell anyone about it. I attended the Art Reception with Donna, Scott, and Nino, the only three that knew about it. We were only there for a few minutes because of my vertigo starting back up in full force since the minute I woke up. It was a very nice reception! They had classical musicians there and all the art was amazing. The photo that was chosen to be part of the 2022-23 show is called, “Up close and Personal”.    This eagle was amazing! While driving out of Charlevoix (Nino had a gig there), we saw a low flying large “bird”. He was very low to the street, as we were driving right behind him.  Both of us instantly knew that it was an eagle. At the same time, Nino quietly started slowing down the Outback and I quietly grabbed my camera from the backseat. We came to a complete stop at the side of the road watching him.  He flew back around and landed RIGHT NEXT to MY WINDOW!  I took a few shots from the inside of the window before slowly opening the window.  I took a lot more shots of him before I got this shot of him flying off (photo on your left).  I could almost touch him, because he was so close!

This is part of my photography series and not my art.  Although I DO consider photography as an art, I feel creating art with a brush/pen/pencil is more impressive and I feel it takes a little more creativity in doing so. Lately I find it hard to get my creative juices running because of the added stress in my life, so I am lucky to have my photography as part of who I am.

PLEASE do not get me wrong, photography is an art form to me, but I feel it is more technical and technique. You must know how to set your camera. Composition is a plus, and the subject must be interesting. I am blessed to have the knowledge and years of experiences and that is still NOT enough! LOL I am STILL learning everyday!!! 

It is NOT that easy to be a photographer, unless you do it for fun and as a hobby. Either way, you must know your settings, your subject, and know the technical side (lighting, mood of photo you are trying to create, composition, A LOT of patience, etc.) In addition, being at the right place AND at the right second counts more than anything in wildlife photography.

I am blessed to have a gift in art. Sometimes I use my photography as reference material for my art. For my Feng Shui art, using my own photography as reference can be hard, because I have to come up with a design to relate to the meaning of each Feng Shui piece that I create.