Photographic Artistry » friends

Wow! Four years of teaching coming to an end

edvydas — Fri, 07 May 2010 01:27:21 +0000

Members of the Art 127 class don't exactly know what to do with Ed as he proceeds to play dead.

My last day of teaching at Richland (at least for now!)

My last group of students (at least for now!)

I don’t know if I’ll be back or not, so I don’t know if I should celebrate, be maudlin, rant and rave or just go out and have a party!

I officially gave notice and was replaced, I’m happy to say my business is active enough that I don’t easily have time to do this.

Four years, eight semesters and I don’t know how many students.

I don’t remember all the names — yep, still horrible with that. But I truly appreciate the fact that many of my students are still shooting and are now even earning money for doing so.

Keenan Adams (Keenan Adams Photography), Valerie Cook (Valerie Cook Photography), Mary Lehman, Jason Smalley, and so many others. They may or may not be doing it full-time. They may or may not be supported by their spouses. But, I’m very proud of all of them. There’s probably others, but not even sure who they are.

Yeah, pretty bad on this keeping in touch stuff. Always have been.

But I also hope they remember me and my classes.

I vividly recall my mentors in photography — Bill Gillette formerly of Iowa State University, Dennis Garrels formerly of United Press International, John Gaps III formerly of the Associated Press (and the guy who asked me the classic question while I was shooting of “why are you taking photos?), Ed Porter formerly of the Sioux City Journal, Tom Gapen of the Los Angeles Daily News and others.

My current “heroes” of Bob Davis, Kevin Kubota, Doug Gordon, Clay Blackmore and David Ziser. Oh, and the irrelevancy and insanity of the boys of TriCoast Photography of Texas!

Each one of these guys has completely different styles and different approaches. They all share a love of shooting from the heart. I’ve attempted, somewhat successfully I’m told, a fusion of many styles. You take what fits you.

Shooting from the heart is what it is all about for me. I have been known to wear my emotions on the outside — and I don’t consider that a disadvantage.

Absolutely no respect for the near comatose and confused!

These last four years have taught me much — and I will miss the semester long classes. I will continue to present seminars via Richland’s continuing ed program and now the Decatur Area Arts Council. So, I refuse to give up teaching entirely.

I’ve honestly learned as much from them as they might have from me. I believe that a teacher who thinks they know it all is pretty much useless. They won’t teach since they actually can’t learn. You need to constantly advance and constantly be challenged and keep striving.

Hated a DJ by the name of Casey Kasem — but loved his message — Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.

I also have to give a huge round of applause to adjunct faculty. I definitely know you aren’t in this for the money. I think that when I added up the actual hours spent in class and prepping for class, I’m earning quite a bit less than I would at McDonalds or Burger King.

Yikes.

I’ve always said there is something wrong with a system where teachers are paid less than executives of companies.

Now — I do know that I’ve also created my share of headaches and pains in the ass for Richland. I’m outspoken and have a tendency to protest when I see the need. So — to those whom I’ve offended, I apologize. And get your damn act together! Oh, great now I probably need to apologize again.

So, to all my former students! Thanks for some good times! And some headaches, backaches, worries, stress. . . . Oh, right. . . .

This was supposed to be a good, goodbye!

Lindsey (#1), Abigail, Nicole, Andrea, Charles, Lindsey (#2), Tucker, me, and my wife (who I convinced to audit my final class cause I’m awful at teaching 1 on 1!) Thank to Tonya for taking these pics (now staff at Richland.)

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Special New Year for Bloomington couple

edvydas — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 03:55:27 +0000

The day started as beautiful but cold — and stayed that way the whole way.

But you never would have guessed that if you were with us at the gorgeous Chateau Hotel and Conference Center in Bloomington. We found ourselves spending a warm and cosy day working ourselves into our usual shooting frenzy on a wedding day.

Shooting our second wedding of the new year, we chronicled the day of Adrienne and Nicholas — a fabulous and fun couple. And met lots and lots of really cool people who were both family and friends of the newlyweds.

The day was the culmination of lots and lots of planning by Adrienne who found herself working without her groom — as he was away at US Army training! So, this date became even more special as he made it go right to get leave at the right time, not an easy task when part of the Armed Forces.

We are tossing up a few of the images from that day, please enjoy! We will have the full set of photos in about three weeks up and running.

Adrienne and Nicholas twirled their way through their first dance as a married couple at the Chateau Hotel and Conference Center in Bloomington, Illinois.

Nicholas gets a joyful and tearful hug from his new mom, Adrienne's mother, during the wedding ceremony.

Nicholas gives his bride a kiss and a dip at the Chateau.

Nick and his crew of wild and crazy groomsmen and ushers.

Adrienne and her gals made the beautiful halls of the Chateau pale in comparison.

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Ringing in the New Year with a special wedding

edvydas — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 02:22:26 +0000

Cold, oh yeah!

But, who cares when you have a couple getting married?

We ventured out for a New Year’s day wedding with a fantastic couple — Brooke and Matt — to the little villa of Farmer City, Illinois.

The couple, who leave near Weldon, hosted about 100 guests between their service at First Baptist Church of Farmer city and the Woodlawn Country Club. Even though temperatures were hovering in the teens (maybe colder) you could feel the warmth of their relationship. What we also very much appreciate it meeting lots of really nice people, family and friends, who attended the day’s celebration.

We will take a few weeks to get all the photos up and running, but I thought you might enjoy a bit of a preview.

Brooke's sons could not resist the urge to spend a few minutes playing hide and seek while waiting for the ceremony to begin at First Baptist Church in Farmer City, IllinoisBrooke and Matt had a few minutes free this fall during a wild harvest season (can anyone say lots and lots of rain) to get "framed" for their engagement photos.

Okay, that was a bad title -- but what can you say, finding love in a cornfield!

Brooke and Matt found a beautiful season to celebrate their wedding day.

Matt and Brooke pose outside (we were very quick!) at the Woodlawn Country Club in Farmer City, Illinois. They don't look too cold. . .

Okay, let's make this clear. No one can see what shoe's the bride is wearing. So, let's go for a bit of color and sparkly sneakers!

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Premier showing

Krystal — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:10:26 +0000

We had a great time south of Champaign with one of our wedding couples and their families, with their help we turned their two car garage into a 14 seat viewing area to see their photographs projected on the wall. It was a great time, and seeing the kids see themselves on the ‘big’ screen was great!

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Why should we do a photography blog?

edvydas — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 23:52:41 +0000

. . . Ed’s thoughts

It’s been a long time coming for us – but we decided that we needed to spend some time both presenting photography advice, looking at some how-to’s in photography and telling you about some of the wonderful people we meet when out shooting. I have a different outlook on photography than many photographers — as I also teach photography at Richland Community College part-time. Plus, as anyone who knows me, once I start talking on some topics, you just can’t easily quiet me down.

Now, I’ll give you a warning, we’ll be talking about people all over the Illinois area — which happens to be the main area that we cover. We consider our communities to be Clinton, Bloomington, Champaign, Peoria, Springfield and Decatur — and pretty much everything in between.

And who knows, either Krystal or I might pop up with our opinions and thoughts on other things. Hey, that’s what a blog is all about, isn’t it?

So, here’s to the future! Oh, just so you know, all the blogs and such will be archived on our actual blog site of www.emcweddingphotography.com/weddingthoughts. So if you see this somewhere else, just follow the link back. And you can also join us on Facebook (EMC Photography Designer Portraits and Weddings.)