So. Deep breath. How about these apples? Earlier this month, food photographer Matt Armendariz put out a call on his twitter feed for submissions for a food photography show at Darkroom Galleries. The show, called Feast, would be judged by Matt who would chose 45 photos including a Juror's Choice and three Honorable Mentions.

Well, dear reader. I entered it. It took much deliberation, honest it did, but I culled through my food photographs and even shot some new ones. Once I narrowed them down to about ten, my photography group helped me narrow those down even further to the four you could submit. Finally with the back up of Neel and Cal, I hit enter. Matt chose two, the ones you see above, for the exhibit.

I never, in a million years, dreamed that this would happen for me.

When I decided to submit some of my photos, my real goal was simply to go through the process. I haven't really done anything like this before, and I wanted to learn a bit about myself (I did) and a bit more about who I am as a photographer (I really did). Working with my photo group was amazing. Just talking it out with them, helped to focus my thoughts, and gave me more confidence in the choices I made about my submissions. I know what I'm good at and where my weaknesses lie, and I knew were not to push myself and where to really trust my eye.

You may not know Matt Armendariz, but people, he's the bomb. Aside from being a phenomenal photographer, he's written two books, one a cookbook and the other a food photography book, and he's shot for many big names including Target, the Food Network, Food and Wine, Pom Wonderful and Coastal Living. Just knowing that he'd be looking at my work was enough to A) terrify me, but B) give me the push to do it.

And knowing that he chose two of my photos? Well, I'm proud, and astonished, and humbled, and pretty much over the moon.

I still haven't come down yet.

Here's the link to Feast, where you can see all of the photos chosen for the exhibit, including the Juror's Choice and Honorable Mentions.

As you know, my beloved Thursday Morning Photo Group (Now on Fridays) means the world to me. When we gather, we generally have a lot to talk about! Personal projects, issues that have come up for us, new gear... It's all on the table. The group germinated from classes that we all took together, and one thing we missed each time we met was bringing and sharing our own photographs. I can't tell you how much it helps to have weekly or monthly projects to keep your eye sharp.

So this summer we began adding prompts to our gatherings, starting with a classic scavenger hunt. Each member of the group submitted a word, and we had the bulk of the summer to "hunt" for our photos, with all photos being due at a date late in August. Having such a long time to work on the project was a blessing and a curse, and to be honest, I think most of us finished the bulk of our photos in that last week or two before they were due. And still, I carried each of the words in my mind as I went about my life over those summer weeks.

Our words (as you see) were: stairs, shadow, texture, emotion (joy), milk, wine, alone and flower. Some shots, in typical scavenger fashion, I happened across. That's what happened with "stairs." Most of the others were constructed. I thought about how I wanted to interpret the word.

There were fits and starts with some (milk was particularly frustrating, until I decided to play off of my wine shot), and some were immediate hits, like emotion. Those wine and milk shots have me thinking I'd like to play around with a food series like that, and you may notice that flower and alone aren't pictured here. The shots I used for those words did lead to another project, one which I'm not quite ready to share.

We're still playing around in our group. Now, rather than a list, we're each putting one wod in a bowl and taking turns drawing. Last time I got tiny, and those paddle boarding photos from Tuesday's post were an attempt to play around with that prompt. I'll share the photo that won that round next week. I had some hits and misses with it, but I pushed myself for sure.

Next up on the docket? Well, tomorrow we have some self-portraits due. YIKES. I'm marginally pleased with how mine turned out, although it didn't completely match my vision. Does it ever? (And besides, I can't remember where I saw my inspiration photo, so...hmmm) . After that? I have egg. You know I'll have fun with that one.

feast {still + life}

hunted {life}