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Mitch Labuda

Mitch Labuda

Toledo, UNITED STATES

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Journal

I have a camera, I make photographs!

So what!

So do millions upon millions of people and there are people everyday making pictures with cameras of such technology that rivals what we had, way back when.

And there are billions upon billions, of photos, uploaded, shared, each day.

And I have a camera, who cares!

You want people to care about your images in the vastness of the pool of images?

Make some waves! Get noticed! Make images that knock people’s socks off.

Show people. Get people to notice your work. Give people a reason to look at your works.

Not, upload an image to an overcrowded and saturated universe and let it languish.

Go find the interested people.

There is a vast wealth of information on how to do this, that thing called Google is one place to start.

Or some people who could offer ideas.

In the end, the su…

Conservation

In junior high school, I first used a camera, a Kodak Brownie 127, to snap photos of pollution and waste in my home town, Danbury, Connecticut.

Nature and the environment have been near and dear to me, after all, we depend on both and at times, mankind wages war on both.

In my hometown is the Still River. Once so polluted, it had water that was blackish, traces of blue and purple water and slime, done in by decades of using the river as a dumping place for industrial output.

After many decades of clean up, it is now a river where people can fish once more and enjoy the river.

Much is made about conservative or this or that.

Looking up the word, conservation, I found, the act of conserving; prevention of injury, decay, waste, or loss; preservation: conservation of wildlife; conservation …

Ohio Division of Natural Areas and Preserves

The agency has a Facebook page

The agency also has volunteers that adopt a preserve.

The staff has great images of two preserves I frequent, Lou Campbell and Irwin Prairie in the Toledo area on the Fan Page, the lupines are in bloom at the Lou Campbell Preserve.

Irwin Prairie has no active volunteers who are photographers as well.

I was asked, if I would to apply, heck ya.

More soon.

Rain is polluting our water ways

I spend as much time out in the wood and around water and this is simply, confounding.

Rain pollutes our lakes. Something is wrong with this, isn’t there. Rain is a sustaining part of life and world, and here, because of excessive run off, we are tasked with cleaning up precious resources, our waterways.

“Another wetter-than-average Ohio spring has experts worried that severe toxic-algae problems will return to Lake Erie this summer.

Storms that drenched northwestern Ohio have so far this year nearly doubled the average amount of phosphorus that washes off farm fields each spring and flows down the Maumee River to Lake Erie. Phosphorus, a key ingredient in fertilizers, helps blue-green algae grow."

Columbus Dispatch

Here an artist there an artist

The joint is loaded with artists!

Who isn’t?

And the yak, yak is about art on an art site.

Anything else of any interest in peoples lives?

Politics and religion are minefields, because we have the answers for everyone.

Oh, look, a new 8 × 10 of something, why sure.

There’s more to life on an art site than art, isn’t there?

Tough times for nature

We nearly wiped out the bald eagle. We have made some other animal and insects go extinct and now it’s the bees.

We are killing them off with our need for picture perfect lawns and gardens and our quest to control pests with toxic chemistry

The toxic chemistry pollutes the land, water and air, that we rely on.

We spiders in our house. Many Little ones’ are emerging from the eggs and people say, a spider! Kill it!

Why?

We coexist in the house just fine, They take care of the other insects and we don’t need toxic chem to kill or repel.

Same thing with snakes. We have them living in our yard, they help to control other pests.

Wait for it, there will be a call to clean up as we come to realize we need nature and not make it bend to our selfish needs, but, not until we nearly…

Photography exhibit highlights Native American culture

“Matika Wilbur: Indian Enough” will feature a free talk by the artist at 7 p.m. May 16. “Indian Enough” is the first in a series of exhibitions River House Arts is hosting in recognition of the 200th anniversary of the battles that occurred in our region during the War of 1812, including the First Siege of Fort Meigs in May 1813. These military events were critical not only to the U.S. victory over England and its Native American allies, but to the change in U.S. policy toward indigenous peoples of North America, and the end of any promise for an independent, sovereign nation of Native Americans.”

More

Be careful and wise on social networking

An acquaintance in an Eastern European country, was recently threatened with harm, from his comments made on social networking about minority cultures in his homeland.

No physical harm has come, but, the police were called and an investigation is underway.

We don’t who made read what we write and we don’t know what state of mind others may be, in, or how they may react to what we write.

Campaign, but, be aware we are more connected and social networking is a wide open public forum.

Be safe, first.

What value are you getting from social media?

Before reading this piece, I am doing the same in place of a shotgun approach, still looking for more interesting discussion and engagement and g+ is the goto place for me, now, while the news feeds at fb is littered with reshares of pictures, and twitter feed is dribbling with updates with little frame of reference and purpose.

“Have you given any thought to how you’re using Google+, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or others? Are you getting the most possible value from each?

I have recently been spending a lot of time evaluating what each network has to offer and adjusting my account and usage accordingly to achieve maximum benefit. While the value each network offers you may be completely different from me, I thought it might be helpful to share a glimpse into what I’ve …

The cruelness

Of print on demand sites, is, there needs to be a demand for an image to be printed.

POD sites are awash in images.

How artists stand out, is on them.

Need to find your niche, hone your skills, make art that connects with people.

Artists and marketing.

We have art, we want to offer it to people and we look for ways to do that. Sometime ago, a gallery owner shared with me, use your website to share with people, in person. That’s a key many fail at, connecting with people in person and sharing the art and speaking to the person and engaging in conversations. The web and social networking is but one piece of the puzzle.

I do this, with a netbook or phone and people respond, because they like the art and the person who made the art, is standing there.

Doing something nice for mom

Two young ladies in our driveway, excuse me. We’re selling books. For school? No, for mom on mother’s day. Who could resist that offer, we bought a book, from them. Hoping their mom has a great day.

Take a lesson from the auto companies

A marketing or sales plan based on more, more, more, of the same, is what the auto companies held onto for decades.

A new nameplate, car essentially the same, with a different front end and back end.

Dozens of models and makes, year after year, while sales continued to decline.

Now, lesson learned, fewer more focused models and responding to the marketplace.

Artists can do the same, if the art is not selling, figure out why, instead of making more.