Mary Bedy Photography

Three Companions in Snow 2 030423 I have, from time to time, been on the verge of some kind of epiphany, or mental breakthrough to a great truth or some universal wisdom that will change my life forever and give me profound understanding of the universe and the way it works. I’m not sure how to best describe the feeling I get just before this realization will supposedly hit me, but it’s like waiting for a mental “sneeze” that never arrives. You know how that feels…you’re talking to someone and you have to say “wait a minute”, but the sneeze never manifests. Winter Gateway 030423 These instances, where I’m absolutely sure I’m going to realize something that will completely change my perception of reality, eliminate all fear and doubt from my life, and show me the way to wealth and happiness, infuriate me instead because the culminating realization never breaks through that “pre-sneeze” stage and I’m left sitting here with the same stupid look on my face, plodding along as usual, not kno

Watery Journey 2 101721 Let’s examine that phrase. “Chasing the high” can mean anything from trying to find that perfect feeling from drugs or alcohol, which becomes more and more elusive as the victim goes deeper and deeper into that bottomless pit. Those who stop that descent are lucky, smart and determined.   Forest Floor Fall 1 110518 But let’s focus on the other  meaning behind the phrase “Chasing the high”. For some, this may mean “getting in the zone” (another often used expression) while driving a race car at high speeds. For another person, this may mean the fear, adrenaline a nd sheer will and strength of doing a free climb of El Capitan in Yosemite. But for most of us, there’s a different meaning.    I am constantly seeking the artist’s high, in my case usually with photography. I have hit that high several times with what I perceive as the perfect photograph. A jury of my peers may or may not agree with my assessment, and even if I post a photo I personally think is fantast

This main blog site is called “Mary Bedy Photography”, which is, indeed, my main art-related activity, but there are times when I just need a break and to have fun with something else. Thus my adventures with a free drawing program on my iPad, which lets me just “play”. There obviously is no serious, deep, soul-searching meaning behind the artwork in this blog post. However, it reminds me of something that was posted in the discussions on one of my art sites several years ago that really irked me so I’m going to vent about it here briefly. This person started a discussion for “professional” artists only and implied those of us that don’t make our entire living selling art (or photography), and/or are not classically trained, are JUST amateurs and JUST having fun (implying all joy and no work involved). I went off on this person and I will explain why. I’m a linguist in my professional capacity. I majored in Spanish and minored in French in college.  I work as a manager in a translation

Zakim 5 High Contrast I love bridges. They usually have more character than some other architectural items like office towers. I think the imagination has gone out of a lot of the mid-century office building design up until today. A lot of them are pretty boring. Bridges, on the other hand, are usually pretty interesting visually. Blue Water Bridge     I live in Michigan, and we are all in love with our major bridge, the Mackinac bridge, that sill contains the longest span over water of any suspension bridge in the western hemisphere and 3rd in the world in that category. It’s listed as 24th for length overall because suspension bridges are measured generally between the towers. I also am really fond of the Zakim bridge in Boston near Logan airport. I try to take photos of it every time I fly into Boston. Since you can’t stop right on the bridge, I’ve gotten some interesting angles while trying to shoot quickly. It was completed in 2003 and is a cable-style bridge. I think, however, my

Time in the Shade 2 BW 073120 I have reached the age where I have inherited stuff from two households. My parents and my in-laws all died within about 6 years of each other, the youngest of the four being my father-in-law at 89, but my husband also lost his two brothers, both before the age of 50. There’s some cool stuff. One brother-in-law left a group signed (vinyl) album by Aerosmith, and I have a Viking jersey that belonged to the other brother-in-law. Those two items don’t take up much room,  but when my dad passed away in 2012, it was a much different story. He hated to throw anything out. Oh, his house was neat and clean, but the basement and the garage were crammed full of stuff he “might need” some day, or he had repaired 50 times - depression mentality there - so that was a bit more of a challenge.  Daddy's Cameras 3 Antique 012922   Mom's Mirror 2 020822             My in-laws, on the other hand, had moved to a much smaller house than they had lived in for many years

American Spirit Detail 050818 In the past approximately seven years, I have collected images of 321 freighters, tankers, tugs, coast guard cutters and three cruise ships that go through my home town of Saint Clair, Michigan. This has become a minor obsession to collect every large ship I can when they go by. Blacky 2 051520 There was a time four or five years ago when I could get up to nine new ships in a weekend. I do have a freighter tracker on my phone so I’m able to see what’s going through town at any given time. The new ships (new to me) have, of course, diminished in frequency because a lot of these freighters go through here on a regular basis.       It has become apparent that there is an interest in these massive vessels because I have sold more freighter images than any other category of image including architecture, nature, national parks images (which I love, but the image market is saturated with national park photos) and all but images specific to Michigan such as Mackin

Leaves on Ice 102521 Abstracted Purists in photography say you should use what comes out of your camera just as it is and not edit anything. That’s crap. The film guys - Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, Imogen Cunningham, etc. - dodged and burned their way through the darkroom to the brilliant and beautiful images they are known for. Fall Neighbors 2 102521 Abstracted Those photographers were honest about their darkroom procedures and never represented their work as being directly out of the camera without any special processing. Now days, the uninformed non-photographer will ask those of us who enjoy this medium “Did you Photoshop that?” Often, in their mind, any photograph that is not directly out of the camera, as it appeared right after you pushed the shutter button is a “cheat”. Let’s be clear here, I’m talking about what would be considered “fine art” photography, not journalistic or documentary photography, which is a different thing. If you are taking photos to document the effects

  I have been thinking a lot about how I compare myself and my work with the work of other people. In my case, I specifically compare my photography with that of others. This is an on-going process, but the parameters have changed over the years. Many younger people start out with the attitude “I’m going to be the next best (insert profession or activity here) and I will be applauded and noticed for my (art, athletic ability, scientific achievement, photography).” Usually after that train of thought, there is a period of adjustment when a person finds out how much work is actually involved in this adventure they chose, and there is some decision whether to continue and perhaps narrow down the focus of this endeavor. For example, a track and field athlete may find their strongest area and specialize in long-distance running instead of sprinting. A visual artist may love to work in watercolor and not really enjoy painting in acrylics or oil. As a photographer, perhaps someone becomes a t

When you think of abstract art, does photography enter your mind at all? Or do you only think of work on paper or canvas? After all, when people in general think of photography, they think of a realistic rendering of a scene from the real world. That’s true, but I contend that a photograph can both represent something from the real world and still be an abstract representation, or at least an “abstracted” version , or a small piece of something making the image abstract by definition. I find myself drawn to abstract photography because it makes you stop and look. When I say “abstract”, I don’t necessarily mean just random shapes. I think of abstract as something depicted in a way that you would never see it in real life, or at least you would not notice in real life. Case in point - I have always enjoyed fireworks. I think they are loads of fun. When I take my camera with me to a fireworks display, I never try to capture the traditional “pretty”, perfect firework bursts. I keep the shu

Unleashed I really dislike the expression “thinking outside the box”. Whose box? What constitutes “outside the box?” Hasn’t pretty much everything been done and thought of by now? Well, maybe not technological breakthroughs that we may have never anticipated. But in this day and age of instant information, the minute we think we’ve discovered something new, it usually turns out whatever it is has either been around a long time, or someone (maybe Leonardo da Vinci) had thought of it eons ago even if it has not existed in real time and space yet. On the Court 42   I also have grown to dislike articles about photography that urge you to “think outside the box”. Generally, the advice goes something like this: Get under your subject instead of shooting it from the top. Try to get a backlit image of your subject so it’s just a silhouette. Get low to the ground so everything looks larger. Shoot a flower with the sun shining through it from behind, not with the sun directly on it. Etc. etc. Bo