Big News, Big News

Wow….it’s been awhile since I’ve gotten around to posting anything here. I bet you’re all wondering what I’ve been up to for the past three months. First and foremost was school and studying. It was my first semester as a photography student and I loved every minute of it. I did have other classes besides my art classes and those required some studying and hard work as well but the photo classes were by far my favorite. And now it’s a new semester with more art classes and I’m having a blast with them as well. However, this will be my last semester as an art student until I graduate. I need to focus on transfer studies so I can transfer out to a four year university to get my bachelor’s in photography. Hopefully, transfer studies classes will be fun too.

I’ve been working with a friend of mine on getting my photos out to the world in publications and stuff like that. She works in advertising and her idea involves going through all my photos, picking out a select few, and giving them to different companies for free as long as they give me my courtesy credit. Then, while I won’t be getting paid, my name will at least be getting around and eventually people will see my work and I’ll get recognized. At least, that’s how she says it will work and I’m hoping she’s right.

In other news, I’m officially an award winning photographer now! The first show, Beyond the Lens II, is showing at Framations on North Main Street in Saint Charles, Missouri. It was a juried show and I entered three pieces, two were chosen for the show. The one on the right, The Tree Stands Alone, won an honorable mention and was sold before the show even began. The other piece, Up the Road Slowly, which can be seen here, was also sold to the same woman. She wanted to take them right away but the ladies at the gallery talked her into letting them stay until the end of the month. I’m going to take in another framed copy of the photos later on so they can be on display through the end of the show. I highly recommend you all go check it out if you have time. There are some really great works in the show by some really talented people. And Framations is just a cool place anyway. It’s a small 3 or 4 room art gallery showcasing the work of some resident artists in the area. From painting to photography, Framations has something for everyone’s tastes. So go down and check them out! You won’t regret it! And if my work isn’t there when you go, you can check it out on my Flickr page. Just follow this link and it will take you where you need to be! Thanks for the visit if you do!

The most recent show I was featured in was hosted by the Saint Peters Community and Arts Center in Saint Peters, Missouri. The show which is titled Little Rays of Hope and Big Ideas had guidelines for entering. All entries had to measure smaller than 8″x10″ or larger than 16″x24″ including the frame. All subjects were accepted in mixed media, photography, and painting and it was open to professional and amateur photographers. I entered three pieces in this competition, it wasn’t juried so all the pieces were accepted. The image on the left, Boatloads of Blue, won second prize in the competition. Click the image for a better view of the photo. I also had a second piece place in the competition as well. This photo, Bound, took third. The third piece I entered didn’t win anything but I still think it’s one of my better photos (view it here). It was a beautiful show with both adult and youth categories and the artists in the show were all very talented. If you are interested, The Saint Peters Community and Arts Center will be having another show in February with an animal theme. Contact me if you’d be interested in entering.

And the last bit of big news I have for you all involves Photographer’s Forum Magazine. I picked up a flier for their college photography contest back in October and I entered jut for kicks. Well I got a letter in the mail last week saying that they had 4000 entries and mine was in the top 200 entries! I entered about 7 or 8 photos and they didn’t say which they picked so I’m not sure which one is a finalist. However, they did say that it was going to be posted in their Annual and that I needed to pay $55 to buy it if I wanted one. I’m skeptical about doing that because I’ve heard about scams that make you buy their book and then it’s not a quality publication. I’m going to ask my teacher about it because I’d think that if I picked it up at school it’s less likely to be a scam but who knows. So anyway, we’ll see what comes of that. Either way it’s got to be a good thing, right?

Anyway, That’s about all I had for an update this time around. Hopefully I’ll have more time this semester to post. So check back often and see what else is new. Thanks for your visit!

Bipolar Disorder Awareness Project

I’ve decided to work on a new project on a subject that is very close to my heart. I’d like to work on a project having to do with Bipolar Disorder Awareness. It’s been an idea of mine for some time now and I think I’m ready to take it on.

My Story

My story begins way back before I was born. I was an active baby in the womb and rarely slept. My mother knew I would be a spitfire from the moment she felt my first kick. After birth, I was up all night crying and I just wouldn’t fall asleep. My parents didn’t know what was wrong with me but they continued to search for answers.

Years later as a toddler and young child, I had a nasty temper. I was prone to fits of rage just from hearing the simple word, “No.” My parents were terrified after my brother was born. They’d send him to his room during these rages worried that I would hurt him. That was never my goal but somehow I couldn’t control my anger and was powerless to my body’s rages.

My mother searched high and low to find someone with any idea as to what my problem might be. She heard Oppositional Defiant Disorder along with a variety of other scary but compelling diagnoses. But these were never good enough for her. She knew something else might be the cause but nobody would listen. It wouldn’t be until my freshman year of college that we would have an answer to my earlier years.

In the meantime, I started third grade and began seeing doctors for what was diagnosed as ADD. I started on meds and it seemed to help for a little while but I just felt like I was in a constant funk. Later, they diagnosed me as depressed and put me on Paxil. I had never felt so wonderful in my entire life. It was amazing. But there were side effects. I’d become so depressed that I would be suicidal and it was a very scary time for my parents. Doctors took me off the drug after a few years and I felt so much better.

The years went on and soon I started high school. The transition was bad and I ended up failing four courses that year. However, that May, doctors decided to give me a Mental Inventory to see if anything might show up. The results came back showing a high tendency toward Bipolar Disorder. They started me on mood stabilizers and suddenly, I was happy again. And there were no awful side effects. It was a fabulous time in my life. I started doing better in school and the massive highs and lows in my behavior were evened out. I was a happy person.

Now, back to my earlier years. As I said, I found my answer to them my freshman year of college. I had been very interested in Bipolar Disorder since my diagnosis and when I came across a book about BPD in young people I had to read it. It talked about an early manifestation of BPD that is rarely diagnosed because it looks like so many other mental illnesses, two of which are Oppositional Defiant Disorder and ADD. All the symtoms checked out, active in the womb, not sleeping as a baby, rages as a young child, along with a wide variety of other symptoms, all of which I had exhibited as a child. I finally had my answer.

 The Project

So now about the project

The 100 Project

Back when I was on deviantArt, I started something called “The 100 Project”. Basically, it’s 100 different subjects and you take a photo for each topic. Since I already started, I thought I should finish. Here’s the started list with a link to the photos for the finished ideas.

Check back often to see if there are any new changes!

I’m Getting Published!

So I was doing my daily email check Monday night when I came across a notification that I had new FlickrMail.  So I opened it and was shocked by what I read.  The email read:

Hello KD –
My name is Gabby Salazar and I am the editor of the new
Nature’s Best Photography for Kids Magazine (check out our
main publication at www.naturesbestmagazine.com). Your
images are great (I love the image of ice that was on CNN
and I checked out your website) – we publish young
photographers under 21 years of age. If you are interested
in submitting please email me at
gsalazar@naturesbestforkids.com for submission guidelines.
Best –
Gabby Salazar

So of course I sent a reply off right away telling her I’d love to submit some of my work to the magazine.  She sent the submission guidelines my way today and after deciphering what she wanted (and getting a little help doing what she wanted from a geeky friend of mine) I was able to get started on my path to submission and publication!  Hooray!  I’m still a bit in shock but apparently I’m the only one.  Seems like everyone saw it coming a mile away.  Here I am, two days later, still thinking, “They want to publish…me?”  It’s so surreal and I’m loving every minute of it.  If anyone has any ideas of which photos to send in, I need to pic at least 20 but no more than 40 so give me some ideas!  There are a few obvious ones that will be sent in, but I’m not sure about the rest.  Any advice would be appreciated!

 I have the day off tomorrow so I’m hoping to go out and do some shooting at the Zoo or Botanical Gardens.  I’m not sure what’s in bloom at the Gardens now that the daylilies have died.  However it might be worth it to venture out there since Wednesdays before noon admission is free.  I guess I’ll just have to wait and see what I feel like in the morning.  Either way, it’ll be a good day since I’ll get to go out with my camera.  Nothing better than that!

 I’m slowly but surely getting all my photos posted to Flickr.  I’ve got about 200 or so on there now but there’s still about 10 folders that I need to go through and watermark.  I should be posting them to my actual website but until my tech-savvy friend has time to really give me a great site, I’ll stick to Flickr.  Speaking of Flickr, the business cards I ordered from Moo.com (a site associated with Flickr) came yesterday.  I’m really stoked about that.  They look great!  I can’t wait to start handing them out.  Now I feel really professional!  Business cards and publishing all in a couple days…how cool is that?

 Anyway, I hope to get some feedback from those of you who read this.  Any and all is much appreciated.  As usual, thanks to all who support me.  A special thanks to those geeky nerds who keep me together and help me out when technology leaves me baffled once again.  And another special thanks to those loving and caring friends who get excited about the little and big events surrounding my passion for photography.  I’d be lost without all of you!

Kd

If At First You Don’t Succeed…

So I’ve spent a good deal of time at the Botanical Gardens armed with my little spray bottle of water, trying to get the perfect refraction shot. So far, I’ve come up empty handed. I’ve got some sort of image in the water droplet but it’s never a clear shot. As you can see, there is something in the water drop, it looks like grass or daylily leaves to me, but it’s not the way I want it to look. For example, in this photo by Ceasar R. (below), there is a very clear image seen in the refraction.

But with any luck, I’ll keep trying and I’ll get it eventually. Granted, there aren’t any daylilies blooming anymore, but I’m sure I can find some other way to take a refraction shot. I saw some really cool ideas on Flickr today. One example of a cool idea I saw was in a photo by Kathy~, which can be seen below.

I posted the photos of my grandmother on my Flickr today. If you’d like to view the set, you can click here to go to the set page. From there, you can view indiviual images as you like. They aren’t the most amazing shots since I’m not really a portrait photographer, but they mean a lot to me. I was honored to be asked to take them and I’m honored to be able to share them with you. If you choose to leave feedback, I ask that you be honest, but also kind.

I head back to work tomorrow so my shooting time will be greatly limited. No heading out everyday to get some shots or anything. But I’m still optomistic that I will be able to find some time to get out there and get some new work done. Hell, I might even be able to get some new shots with my macro lens while at the cleaners. They always have tiny things to shoot over there. We’ll just have to wait and see. As fot the job hunt, I’ve applied at close to ten places and have yet to hear back for any of them. I know these things take time but we know how impatient I am. I’m really hoping to hear from the photo stores or the electronic stores first. Wish me Luck!
Anyway, that’s about all I had for an update tonight. Once again I’d like to thank everyone for their support and encouragement. I’d be lost without you all! And a special thanks to Walkabout Images for the special help and pointers given out tonight. Thank you!

Making Up for Lost Time

So in my last post I was complaining about not getting to spend enough time at the Botanical Gardens. Well, last week I certainly made up for that. I went on July 1, July 2, July 4, July 6, and July 7. Granted, on the 6th I didn’t do any shooting, I just enjoyed the gardens and, for once, took time to actually look at the flowers instead of analyzing them.My macro lens finally came on July 1st (part of why I’ve been out shooting so much) and let me tell you, I’ve found it to be quite a difficult contraption. The depth of field is way different than what I’m used to and I’m finding myself taking an overabundance of blurry pictures. I know that the closer up I am to the subject, the smaller the depth of field but it’s just not working out for me, which is why I keep going back so much. The stamen in the daylilies make a great subject for macro shots and they’re almost at the end of their season. I want to get this down before I lose me chance. Granted there are other things to shoot but I’m set in my ways. I taught myself how to shoot with daylilies last year so why not learn how to shoot hardcore macros with daylilies this year?

I still feel like I’m in a bit of a rut photographically but I’ve got a new project coming up that will put me in different surroundings. My friend just published his first book (The Path of the Lost by J.D. Gilliam) and he’s started work on a second one. Well, he asked me a couple months back if I’d like to do the cover and inside flap photography for the book. Of course I was delighted to say yes (as it is a paying job and heaven knows I need the money). The project doesn’t have a deadline as of right now which is great since things are crazy over here (more on that later). Basically what I need to do is go into the city and shoot the cathedrals and rundown bulidings.   So it should be fun. Takes me out of the gardens and into real life. With any luck it will pull me out of my rut as well.

For those of you who don’t know me as well, my grandma passed on July 4th. She went out with a bang at 11:01pm. She finally got what she wanted, the past three months all she kept saying was that she wanted to go home to be with Vernon (my grandpa). She said she could “see the angels but they weren’t coming fast enough!” All these years I never realized how much she loved my grandpa. She died 14.5 years to the day after my grandpa. He was the scrawny boy who lived across the street when she was in kindergarten and she said it was NOT love at first sight. But eventually they fell in love and as she put it, “He was the only man I ever wanted or needed to love.” The night before she died my mom prayed to my grandpa and asked him to come and take her home like she wanted. On July 4th, there was a man sitting in a wheelchair in the lobby who looked just like my grandpa. We’d never seen him there in all the 86 days we had to spend there. No one got a chance to talk to him and after my grandma passed, he was gone. It was the strangest thing. But it was very comforting to know he was there. My photo of “heaven” was the last thing she saw. The photo can be seen here.Anyway, thanks to all who keep my hopes up in tough times. You know who you are. I’m eternally grateful for your love and support and I couldn’t do it without you.

Peace,
Kd

What a Day!

So I had every intention of going to the Botanical Gardens today. That was the easy part. As I was on my way, I noticed some menacing clouds forming in the distance. They continued forming when I got to the gardens. I was optomistic, however. There was still some blue sky out there. Well, I’m at the gardens and had just started taking pictures when I felt it start to sprinkle. I thought, “Ok, this is just a summer shower. It will pass quickly and then I’ll get some great macros of water drops on the daylily petals!” Well, 45 minutes later, I was a little less optomistic and also very wet. So I got in my car and attempted to go home. Sounds easy, right?

When I was on the entrance ramp to the highway, I realized I had made a mistake. Visibility was awful, so I pulled off on Southewest (I recognized the name from a trip to a restaurant on The Hill). Well, I couldn’t find that restaurant so I turned onto another street whose name I remembered. In the end, I ended up in a bad part of town. After I made it out of that mess, I found Kingshighway. I knew that would take me to the highway. However, I have a bad sense of direction and went the wrong way. I ended up at my grandpa’s cemetary which is way way way out of the way from where I needed to be. Eventually, I made it Gravois and I was positive that would take me to the highway. Which it did…eventually. All in all, it took me an hour and a half and 2/3 of a tank of gas to get home. What a day!

I’m slowly discovering that my excursions to the gardens lately are not what The Big Guy has planned for me. Both times I’ve gone in the past week it’s rained. I wouldn’t have a problem with this if I had a waterproof case for my camera. But I don’t so it’s a bad thing. Oh well, maybe I can make it out on Sunday. Let’s hope!

Thanks to all who support my work and my passion! I couldn’t do this without you!

Peace,
Kd

Welcome to the World of Kd Reinhold

So this is my new blog. You can all check back here for news about me and my photography. I hope I don’t bore you!

Anyway, an update!

I haven’t been able to get out as much lately as we only have two cars at my parents’ house, one of them being mine. My dad’s transmission blew about six months ago and he’s been using my car ever since, therefore leaving me carless most of the time. Due to this awful situation I haven’t been able to make my usual rounds to the Botanical Gardens like I used to. So, I’ve improvised. I’ve started taking pictures of the sky, well, mostly clouds. They are fantastic shots but they aren’t awful either. Perhaps I can cultivate this skill into something useful. We’ll see.

Hopefully, I’ll be able to steal my car for a couple hours this Sunday and make it to the Gardens. I’m really hoping it will all work out because the daylilies are in bloom and I’d really like to get some shots of them. Too bad my new macro filter isn’t here. Perhaps it will make it tomorrow. Somehow I doubt it, but a girl can dream can’t she?That’s about all I have for an update. If ya’ll have any questions or comments you know where to find me. Thanks for all your support!

Much Love,
Kadee