THE FIRST CRITIQUE

So I've never done a behind the scenes production of my work. I'm sure most of you were wondering if I had a television production crew following my every move. Well, I am sorry to disappoint you but I do not. So I don't have any pictures of me taking pictures. But I did add a photo of my kit, a map of my journey on NAS Mayport, and a couple contact sheets for good measure.

I've got my backpack with camera, lenses, batteries, memory cards, and of course my mask. Shooting mirrorless makes things lighter but I always seem to add more gear than I need. Of course my reflectors and tripods are already in my trunk.

I started my journey at "The Poles" which is not only a popular surf spot but also the perimeter line around the base. I moved to the abandoned Coast Guard lighthouse (2) on Mayport. There was an Osprey perched on top as well. At that point I moved to the jetties at St Johns Point (3) and found a great amount of wildlife hanging out and fishing for dinner. Moving farther inland by the beach access is where we found a restricted area (4). There are several parks (5) along the water and I found a stray cat over here by the buoys. I tried to find a good vantage point of the water treatment area (6) on base. I'll need to bring a ladder next time. Taking photos of the actual ship basin (7 & 8) was difficult since it is fenced off. I might be able to get better access soon. Residential areas (9 & 10) on base showed how the sailors and their families interacted with the environment as well.

Here are just a couple of the contact sheets of I had for this portion of the shoot.

I spent the majority of my life on or around military installations. My mother was in the Navy and she was stationed in Key West, Florida; Norfolk, Virginia; and Rota, Spain. My own military service took me to Fayetteville, North Carolina; Monterey, California; and Sierra Vista, Arizona. As I grew older I began to realize the impact our military had across the ecosystems of all of these installations.

Like any other dilemma facing our planet there was not simply one thing to blame. So in this collection I capture the complexities of environmental encroachment and the juxtaposition of man-made interference along with Mother Nature's splendor. I learned that ecosystems continually adapt to our incursions and will not hesitate to reassimilate abandoned spaces.

The struggles I am having with the work are mainly centered around weather. If it was one of the few days that it was not raining it was overcast or extremely windy. This made for difficult shooting environments and less than ideal lighting. I also found that the ecosystem damage is much more nuanced than I thought it would be. It is not like there are oil spills happening or toxic waste barrels laying around. Finding an appropriate composition that aligns with my artist statement continues to be a challenge.

My first piece is titled Restricted Area and is 13"x19".

My second piece is titled Providing Sanctuary and is 13"x19".