Category Archives: Checking In

Holiday Wishes

My holiday wishes for you are moments of sheer joy, feelings of peace and security in your everyday life, gratefulness for all that you have and don’t have.  Below are a couple of favorite poems, one for dreaming, the other for pondering. Maybe next year I will write a few of my own. Writing does seem to pair well with photography and also helps juice the creative flow!  Thanks for visiting and my holiday wishes for you extend into the New Year. May it be a wonderful one for you and your loved ones!

holiday wishes and decorations

© Susan McAnany

Holiday Wishes

We wish for you a holiday
That’s better than your dreams,
Filled with peace, good will and hope
And firelight that gleams,

Overflowing with holiday spirit
Good food and holiday laughter;
And when it’s done, We hope that you
Live happily ever after!

By Joanna Fuchs

 

Mistletoe

Sitting under the mistletoe
(Pale-green, fairy mistletoe),
One last candle burning low,
All the sleepy dancers gone,
Just one candle burning on,
Shadows lurking everywhere:
Some one came, and kissed me there.

Tired I was; my head would go
Nodding under the mistletoe
(Pale-green, fairy mistletoe),
No footsteps came, no voice, but only,
Just as I sat there, sleepy, lonely,
Stooped in the still and shadowy air
Lips unseen – and kissed me there.

By Walter De La Mare

Happy Holidays From My Studio To You!!

 

PNC Corporate Collection

So thrilled that three of my prints have been selected for inclusion in PNC Corporate Collection.  Further editions from these three great series are available by contacting me through my website.  I know all of them will look great hanging in their new corporate building and I am so thankful to be included.

“Abstract Triangle” and “Abstract Vertical” were shot in studio where I focused on lines and color to create modern contemporary abstract series out of pieces of vintage chalk.  I totally enjoyed that process.  “Peaceful Coconut” was shot on location after a huge Florida tropical storm and I came across a green coconut. I was attracted to the way the coconut survived barely scathed after high winds, rain and a huge fall from probably 50 feet. It truly gave me  a wonderous moment of appreciation for nature.

All three of the prints are some of my favorites and I am so pleased to be included in PNC’s Corporate Collection.  Thank you!!

Title: “Abstract Triangle”

abstract art print in corporate collection

Title “Abstract Vertical”

Abstract art print purchased for corporated collection

Title: “Peaceful Coconut”

coconut print in corporate collection

 

Thanks for taking a look and more of my work can be viewed on my website.

Osprey – An Awesome Nature Moment

Sometimes nature just provides an awesome moment that reminds me just how small we are in this big universe and how important it is to live in the state of awareness. I was lucky to spot this Osprey perched on a piling one evening right around dinner time. He has visited before but never with a big fish. It was truly awesome to observe and listen for awhile as I took a few snaps and did a lot of admiring.  This awesome nature moment  got me wondering about this Osprey and the life it lived.

“Dinner Guest”

osprey with fish on pilingFacts About Ospreys

The Osprey live on the water or very close by so they have access to fishing.

They are great anglers and can catch fish up to three or four times a day.

They live approximately 20 years and their wingspan is often five to six foot.

Female Osprey are slightly larger than males.

They  migrate as individuals from areas in the north to South America every year during the winter months.

In the spring, on their northern migration, they return to same nest and the same Osprey mate. They mate for life to breed.

Once they leave the nest for migration, they leave their chicks behind and will never see them again.

You can see their large nest made of sticks on high poles, often electrical poles.

Although Osprey were not impacted by the pesticide toxins of the 1950s and 60s, they do experience quite a bit of danger during their long migration from north to south and vice versa. They have to fish along the way and if weather is treacherous they can be blown off course causing great delays and possible navigation issues.

Now that you know some facts about Ospreys, I hope you are lucky to have some awesome nature moments.

Thanks for visiting and more of my work can be viewed at www.susanmcanany.com.

Pros & Cons of the Canon 5DS R

I just completed a 4 day rental of the new Canon 5DS R that I have been lusting after since it was first announced some six months ago.  My initial impression was it seem lighter than my 5D Mark III which thrilled me. But after checking Canon’s website the difference is so small, I can hardly believe I could notice the difference. The Mark III, body only, weighs in at 30.5 oz.; 5DS R weighs in at 29.80 oz. Initially, I also was not impressed with the sound of the shutter release on the Canon 5DS R. To me it sounded rather plastic-y, however, my partner liked the sound better on the 5DS R than the Mark III so obviously this is just a personal preference.  It certainly wouldn’t deter me from a purchase. Below is a list of the major pros and cons from my experience with the Canon 5DS R.

5DS R Pros

A whooping 50.6 Megapixel file for gi-normous prints and wonderful cropping opportunities.

More sophisticated focusing technology that needs to be fully understood.

Great new Mirror Lock Up options permitting the camera to perform the second click after a designated time, reducing camera shake.

Knobs, dials and menu system quite similar to my Mark III, so operations were easy and transition to the new camera would be a snap.

As with other Canon cameras, image quality was great.

5DS R Cons

Don’t be in a hurry with the Canon 5DR S because those big files take awhile to write to the card in the camera.

Photographer’s technique needs to be close to perfect when shooting.  Any errors are magnified due to the size of the file capture.

Although, I have plenty of storage space on my computer, the processing speed got somewhat bogged down in Photoshop especially when working with 16 bit, Smart Layer files.  I may need to factor in a new computer. Yikes!!

When I look at the images now, I can’t see that great of image quality improvement from my 5D Mark III.   Image size Yes, the files are BIG.  But then any new camera requires a period of adjustment to learn how to get the most from it. I am sure the time I had with this camera was not long enough to get everything out of it that it offers.  The more you use the tool, the better results you will get.  I have owned the Canon 5D, Mark II and Mark III and to this day I think the Canon 5D Mark II produced the best result for me. I know is only because I did a tremendous amount of shooting with that camera in the studio, on location and everywhere else. I knew it like an extension of my body.

In the end though,  I was sorry to pack up the Canon 5DS R camera and send it back to lensrental. Like any good camera junkie, I will probably purchase one sometime in the not too distance future. Who knows, maybe Santa will surprise me.

Thanks for reading and check out my work at www.susanmcanany.com.

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Independence Day

Independence Day is one of the those day that makes me stop and think just how fortunate I am to live in the USA and truly experience all of the liberties and opportunities it has to offer.  I use to think everyone needs to visit a third world country to realize just how good we have it. Now, with the 24 hour media cycle and the internet, one only needs to choose to be aware.  So on this 4th of July enjoy and take a moment for gratitude for all you have in life, but especially the independence that comes with living in the USA!

“Folded Flag”

wall art of folded usa flag

“Folded Flag” © Susan McAnany

Thanks for visiting and more of my work can be viewed at www.susanmcanany.com.

Alligator Land

If you haven’t figured it out yet, I live in alligator land, more commonly known to locals as gatorland. Not only does this apply to sports teams names that are abundant in the state of Florida, but also applies to nature walks.

Throughout this spring, we have taken to exploring more of the interior of Florida and have found that no kidding,  alligators are in a lot of places and Florida has earned the name of alligator land or gatorland.

Recently on a walk we encounter a small nest of three baby alligators. There they were, nestled in a nature made pool of sticks and fallen trees along the banks of the Myakka River. They looked so cute and I can totally understand why they are endangered. Someone with a medium size net could easily just scoop them up, removing them from their natural habitat and take them home. Of course, eventually they would get too big and too dangerous and we would have another dislocated alligator released somewhere to fend for itself.  This is what I was thinking on the way up the trail!

Baby Alligators

juvenile alligators in Myakka river

Juvenile alligators in freshwater pool.

 

On the way back we thought, lets take one more look at these adorable reptiles in alligator land of Myakka. As we approached the area, we heard a very loud, big snort. Of course, I am beginning to panic! As we get closer, we see two adult alligators heads raise from the fresh water of the Mayakka River and one big roar. Now, I have never heard an alligator roar or snort and I am not familiar with how fast they can climb an embankment, but I do know they are fast!

Needless to say we pass rather quickly so we are downwind of the two adult alligators and circle back to take one more look at the baby alligators and spot the adults in protection mode.  Unfortunately, I did not get a photo of the roar. Truthfully, I had no desire to provoke or disturb the wildlife. I have read enough books to know the lengths wildlife can go to protect their young.

Parent on Patrol

adult alligator in Myakka River Florida

Adult Alligator on Watch

However, when I returned home and did some research and discovered alligators in Florida’s alligator land are not found of human meat I was comforted and ready to take another hike looking for them.

Thanks for reading and more of my work can be viewed at www.susanmcanany.com.

 

 

New Website for My Art

I am just so thrilled that we have finally completed the new website for my art. It has been in the works for the last month and definitely a labor of love. The redesign of my website has given my art a new fresh look.  I could never have done this by myself and so happy I chose Stijl  for my design partner to get the right look that represent me and my art. I really do want to give a big shout out to Scott at Stijl who wouldn’t stop working on it till we got it just right. I also know I can pick up the phone or send him an email and he will help me out with any future changes to the new website for my art if needed.  That kind of Customer Service is hard to find.  My hosting company IBOD was also so accommodating with all of my test databases. It would have taken forever and a lot of frustration to get answers to some of my questions with one of the mega hosting companies.  A big thanks to both of those companies and huge recommendation if you are looking for a design or hosting company. Thanks for reading and check out the new website for my art.

Screen Shot 2015-05-22 at 4.19.48 PM

 

Etsy IPO

Today is a great day for Etsy as it launches it’s Etsy IPO. The stock is set to open at $16.00 and trade up to $33.00 throughout the day. Who knows what the Etsy IPO will do after today, but I am confident that the company going public will bring more eyes to Etsy and my shop, McAnany.  My shop has been doing great the past month or so. Lots of new traffic and record number of inclusions in Treasuries. What is not to like about featuring great art in a Treasury.

It is quite interesting to see the scoop of items being sold on Etsy. Some are original one of a kind, referred to as OOAOK. This is a new term for me. Also, I am finding quite a bit of vintage items sold by resellers. Some very interesting items that often spur creative inspiration for me.

Sales at my store are increasing. Two new sales over the last week. Spiritual, a relatively new print I just released after going through my archives.

Spiritual

Also, Attraction, which is part of my On Black Series.

Attraction

If you are interested in fine art photography, more of my work can be viewed on my website or at my Etsy store.

For today though, lets tip our hats and raise our glasses to toast Etsy as they launch their Etsy IPO!

Have a great day and thanks for reading!

 

 

Week at Etsy

It has been an incredible week at my Etsy Store. I have been working diligently on driving traffic to my Etsy store and increasing the amount of store listings. I am so happy to write I have broken 100 listings on Etsy and looking towards 200. I know I have plenty of art; it is just going back through many of my archives. It is an interesting process looking at images I shot months, and in many cases, years ago and assessing what I like or don’t like about the photograph. I have to admit I have been pleasantly pleased. Only big drawback is image size due to size of sensor on camera’s using at that time. My first digital SLR was only 6 megabytes which seems tiny now.  I am eagerly awaiting the release of Canon’s new 5D which I believe will be around 50 megabits. Also it only captured in jpg and tiff files; no raw files. And of course the tiff files took forever to record due to the slow cards that existed. Also the color profiles were limited to srgb or at least that is all I was aware of at the time. Amazing how technology has changed in a decades time along with my knowledge. Lesson to be learned, shoot in Raw and process in Pro Photo rgb for the largest color capture capable. You can always reduce for final output.

Below are a couple that I uploaded to my Etsy store from my archives. I have always loved tulips and since it is the beginning of spring thought it would be a timely addition. Also I am finding the pink, green and white a real upper!

Prints Available for Sale on Etsy

Tulip love

Tulip Love on Etsyperfection

Perfection on Etsy

 

Thanks for looking and check out more of my work at my Etsy Store or on my website.

“You can fail at what you don’t want so why not take a chance on doing what you love.”

– Jim Carrey

Inspirational words from Jim Carrey’s Commencement Address at the 2014 MUM Graduation. (Maharishi University of Management)

 

More of my work can be viewed at www.susanmcanany.com