Meadville Tribune photo by: Harmony Motter
My morning photo assignment was to photograph students making eco-art in the forest. Eco-Art is a contemporary form of environmental art created by artists who are concerned about local and global environmental situations. The kids were between the ages of 10 and 12 and they were coming up with some really creative ideas. Inspired by the artist Andy Goldsworthy, the class lesson was about rhythm, points of interest and design.
Meadville Tribune photo by: Harmony Motter
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I photographed the Townville High School 40th class reunion this week and it was alot of fun for me! My favorite part of it was looking at these photographs of the high school seniors that were taken 40 years ago and seeing what these people look like now. My 15th high school class reunion is this year. It got me thinking about all that I have learned and all of the crazy adventures that I have been on in only 15 short years. I can only imagine where I will be or what I will have done by the time I reach my 40th class reunion. Photo By: Harmony Motter
Townville High School graduates of 1970, Joyce Kinkade-Farrar, of Chandler, Arizona and Brenda Patton, of Erie, Pennsylvania, share a hug during their 40th class reunion. The reunion was held at the Venango Valley Inn in Venango, Pennsylvania. The women had not seen each other in over ten years. Photo By: Harmony Motter
This month we're featuring a deal on a senior portrait session for only $25. Typical sitting fee's for senior portraits are between 50 and 150 dollars depending on how many settings and changes of clothes. We're doing them all for one low fee of $25. We'd like to get at least one person from every school and will even give the first person from a school a 25% break on their print order if they are willing to show off their pictures to all their friends. We love photography and want to help local seniors get the best pictures they can to commemorate their final year of high school. Send us a message or call us and mention the coupon below.
One of the fun things about doing so much photography everyday and for so many years is that I'm not at all afraid of breaking everything rule that has been taught to or learned by me in the last 20 something years. Expose correctly, don't shoot directly into the light, don't light a shot from below, don't get your studio lights in the shot, don't don't don't...... Somehow I hear these lessons in my head sometimes and I hear them as do do do. Or at least try try try! Two nights in a row I had fun trying to make images in a way I haven't before(at least not on purpose.) One session we were looking for these very high key high contrast almost featureless photos, we achieved this through some complex lighting at first and then by very simple 'mistake' style lighting at the end of the shoot. The results are these almost poster-like drawings. The next night back-lighting the smoker was key to making the pictures have this sort of theatrical/night-club look even though they were taken in a very grungy old back room that was once a darkroom and now a storage room. Then using a harsh sidelight from down below to light my subject--this created some bad shadows if we didn't position her just right, but in the end worked out well to create this sort of high fashion look to a picture that was taken in a very un-glamorous location. Photographs by Richard Sayer
In honor of her 104th birthday, Wesbury United Methodist Retirement Community resident, Clara Wenzelburger receives a kiss on the hand from her friend, Bonnie Dillon. Wenzelburger was born in 1906. When asked how she feels about turning 104 years old, she replies, “ I just hope that I can live the way that God wants me to live.” She has never been married or had children and plays cards with her friends once a week. Meadville Tribune Photo by: Harmony Motter
When a person sits in front of our lens who has a style of their own, that makes our life easier in one way and more difficult in another. When a person brings their style to the table, they have a confidence in what look they want to portray--this is great because they do the work necessary to move and angle themselves with very little direction. The tough part is capturing that style--that look in a way the befits the person. This isn't easy. It is a lot like the idea of 'taking it to the next level.' If you have a certain amount of the work done for you--the look, the attitude etc... then how do you elevate that portrait beyond just the surface. How do you use the technical aspects of making the picture aid the capturing of the that instant where the picture comes together that goes beyond just a simple portrait--a facsimile of the person in front of the lens? Thats what I'm always striving for in making portraits---what is that next level!?! My Monday evening photo shoot was about breaking rules--using heightened lighting to achieve a 'look' and making what many would consider technically poor photographs in order to get the mood to fit the subject. This picture was one of the lesser technically poor images, many had no detail at all in the highlights, but it was one that I felt touched upon my subjects style and inner searching quality--at least I think it does. It was mighty fun breaking all the rules and trying something completely different. I hope what I learned from it helps me make better decisions in the future when searching for those moments that make a portrait a portrait and not just a picture. Photograph by Richard Sayer
I had a newspaper assignment to photograph a championship game between the Cochranton and General McLane girl's softball teams. The girls are between 9 and 10 years old. It was a great game that went into extra innings. These girls really played their hearts out! General McLane won the game and will advance on to the next round of championships games. Meadville Tribune Photo by: Harmony Motter
I am 8 hours closer to having my very large tattoo completed. On Friday, July 2, 2010 I ventured to BodyWorks Tattoo Studio to visit Steve Morris and sit for another tattoo session. It's funny, you know...I am realizing that everyone has their own ideas about tattoos. I was talking to this older man that I work with the other day. I had told him about my new tattoo and he said, "Oh Harmony, why would you do that?" "What are you going to do on your wedding day when you want to wear a big, beautiful wedding dress and you have this tattoo on your arm?"...I said...."Well, it's a good thing that I am not marrying you" and I gave him a sweet smile. So it goes... I love my tattoo and it means something to me! Photo by: Harmony Motter
I was thinking about the Fourth of July yesterday. I'm not a holiday guy, to me a holiday is generally a work and my 'holiday' or day off usually happens on another day. I'm kinda glad about that because it gives me a chance to think about what the holiday is and do my part, by doing my job, to help others see what it means. The Fourth of July is visually easy--you get red, white and Blue in the picture and you've got a big part of the story done. But too me that makes it more difficult--how do I take the elements and try to find a story that won't bore the reader or worse become a cliche'--which in my mind diminishes the impact of what the truth of a story is all about. I was thinking yesterday about what America started out standing for and how we have grown this republic into a free-enterprise system where with hard work, luck and proper amount of support, we really can achieve anything. In this photo business that we're starting we have discovered that we need to work our tails off, put in a lot of extra hours in order to do what we love to do, but we can do that, and we are doing that. Thats America. Today I saw this scout named Hayden and he has a Mohawk bleached and blue strip painted down the center of it. Thats America. I knew the moment I saw him that that is why we remember and commemorate the founder's of this country. Those very smart people knew how important it is to mankind's survival to allow and embrace diversity. Meadville Tribune photograph by Richard Sayer
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