Artist's Playshop | Suzanne Havens

Exhibit Opening at Arts Advocates Gallery in Sarasota, Florida

Jun 022024

June 1 was my solo exhibit opening! We had such a nice gathering of art fans. I gave a talk as an introduction to the show and received many interested questions. I am so grateful to Bill Rusling, Liz Trostli, and Randy Havens for working all Thursday afternoon with me to hang the show. It looks splendid. The Arts Advocates Gallery has a beautiful exhibit space and lighting to show off the works. Along with many 8″ x 10″ and 13″ x 19″ prints on beautiful paper, I was also able to have two 24″ x 36″ images made, one on framed canvas and the other on aluminum. Both turned out really well.

I also want to express gratitude to my friend Pat LaRussa, who typed up the labels for each print–49 of them in total. Pat and my sister-in-law, Shelly, helped Randy and me set up the refreshments.

This Saturday, June 8, I will give a presentation on my photography for Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, show examples and demonstrate the techniques I use for capturing closeups. The gallery is open from 2 to 4 PM and my talk will begin about 2:30 PM. I hope to see you there! Here are three images from the show that I made at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens.

Fireworks for Independence Day

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Jul 052018

I love to see fireworks, but I don’t like loud noises and traffic jams. Last night we had a treat of seeing them from about a mile away at our friends’ home. I experimented with a technique called live composite. The camera makes a base shot then only adds incremental light. This way I could capture multiple bursts without overexposing the surrounding scene. In some cases the subsequent bursts were in the same place, so the light built up in that concentrated area. Other times the bursts were in different places that made magical compositions, in my humble opinion.

Early thunderstorms left a rainbow and cooler temperatures

Boat docks and the waterway made an interesting foreground

Splash!

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Jun 302018

A lime-green ball held under water and released, pops out of the water in an unpredictable direction trailing a splash of pool water. Chasing it with a camera with a long lens at a fast setting sometimes gives a fun shot.

Green Anole on a Red-Orange Bromeliad

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Jun 242018

Anoles abound in our garden. Most of those I see are brown. The brown ones came from Cuba. Occasionally I see a bright green one. This one appeared inside the screened lanai. I caught him/her, got my camera ready, then had him taken out off the jar and placed on a red-orange bromeliad, thinking it would make a nice contrast. I expected the green anole to run away, but it obliged me by posing for photos over a few minutes. What started out as bright green skin became yellow and orange, blending better with the background colors. I made a sequence so you can see the full length of its tail as well as close up on it beautiful skin.

Water Drops and Ripples

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Oct 292017

Splash

Splash with Vignette

Side Angle of a Drop

Suspended Droplet and Ripples

Droplet with a Pedestal

Droplet above a Pedestal

I attended a workshop where all the participants took turns shooting drops of water falling into a crystal bowl with colorful cloth under and behind the bowl. Working with a flash we tried to capture the droplets in focus and well lighted. I had no idea how entertaining and challenging the process would be and how beautiful and varied the results would be. I may play with this again in my studio with a close-up lens, a tripod, sustained lighting, and various bowls and backdrops.

Joy of Sailing

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Apr 122012

Joy of Sailing

You might wonder if we have embarked on a new sailing adventure since that is usually what prompts me to send “postcards” from ports en route.

Today my motive is to share a new painting from my latest series, “Joy of Sailing.” How odd that I only painted one painting during our 67 day 2011 journey and yet when we left the boat in Maine to be decommissioned and stored and returned home, I turned to the memories of the feelings of sailing and to the forms of sails, sky and water to paint.

So here is a greeting from my “playshop.” I wish you joy in each day of your personal journey!