Notifications:
"When I was 2 years old, my mother gave me a camera and a roll of Kodak "instamatic" film. The rest is, as they say, history" - Dean Thomas
Dean graduated from Chapman University in 1988, with a double major in Communications and Art, and a minor in Photography. After apprenticing with a highly regarded photography studio in Southern California, Dean opened his own studio on April 1st, 1990 (No Joke!)
"I like getting to know my clients. It's not only what makes my job interesting, but I believe it plays a vital role in helping me create images that mean something to them as well".
My first love, photographically speaking, was the work Ansel Adams (I know that sounds like such a cliché). I'm also a fan of Norman Rockwell's illustrations. Whenever I can, I like to incorporate elements of both in my work".
What is "Project 366"?
9/10/11 to 9/10/12
Project 366 is actually very simple. In fact many of you may already have an idea of what it is. It is simply a way for me to force myself to post one art photo a day for a year. It's 366because it will continue past February of 2012, which has 29 days because 2012 is a leap year.
Not all of the photos will be new. Meaning that the project isn't necessarily for me to make a new fine art photo a day. It's for me to POST a fine art photo a day. They don't even have to be new. It's really just a way for me to force myself to share my art with you guys. As the year goes on, it will actually mean making a new art photo a day, because I don't have a years worth in inventory. In some cases, making a new piece of art won't mean capturing it on that day, but rather processing it that day. You see, fine art photographs don't arrive at fine art status right out of the camera. Certainly, they start in the camera. You don't just take a snapshot, drop it into Photoshop, add a couple of filters and call it "fine art". That's NOT fine art. In fact, far from it. But, I won't go there
Ansel Adams is one of the most recognized names in photography. His techniques for controlling details in shadow and highlight gave us not only a greater understanding of how photography works, but the building blocks for creating the photographic editing software we have today. But, even his amazing photographic art didn't arrive on your wall straight out of the camera. Certainly it started in the camera with very careful composition, exposures, and choice of lenses (to name a few things). But it continued in the dark room with equally thoughtful selection of paper and masterful printing techniques.
So I dive into this project with much anticipation. After more than 21 years as a professional photographer, this will be the first time I have made a concerted effort to share some of my artwork with you. It will also be the first time in many years that will have set aside time to makemy art along with making art for my clients.
I hope you enjoy watching this project evolve this year. I will be posting all of the images right right here on my website along with on Facebook. They will all be made available for purchase in both Artist Editions and a variety of other sizes and print media. I welcome all your comments and input. Feel free to email, call, or comment on Facebook.
Finally, I must give credit where credit is due. As much as I would like to say that this project was my own original idea, alas it is not. Although, I'm sure that many photographers have done something like this, there is one in particular that inspired this project. Unfortunately, I don't know his name. However, I saw his project published in National Geographic a number of years ago. His was the extreme opposite of mine. His was to allow himself ONLY ONE EXPOSURE per day. Not multiple exposures of the same thing in order to get the right on. Each day the shutter would open and close only once.
Mine is sort of the opposite extreme of the same basic idea. As I said above I'm simply going to POST something every day for a year.
In any event, there you have it. This is my "Project 366". We'll see where it takes us. I hope you enjoy.
- Dean Thomas