JPG Magazine is (was) a photography magazine, but not at all an ordinary photography magazine. It was something really special. JPG Magazine was a bimonthly publication of outstanding photography and stories that you would never see anywhere else. The focus of the publicication was 100% on actual pictures and stories about pictures – not about the latest gear or about any particular famous photographer’s work. The thing that made JPG Magazine special was that everything published – every story, article and photo – came from the user community at jpgmag.com. The community was made up of everyday people like me and you. That is, amateur and enthusiast photographers.

Before each publication, several themes would be announced on the website. Photographers would publish photos and articles based on the theme. Other community members would vote on the stories and photos, and the best would be published in the magazine. Members were able to discuss photos and stories, mark photos and stories as favorites, mark other members as buddies – essentially all the basic social networking features you would expect. The community was strong, and the fact that the photos were published in print helped attract some of the most unique and intriguing photography I’ve ever seen.

The loss of JPG Magazine is a big blow to me, personally, and the entire photography community. I don’t recall any other publication that showcased such an enormous amount of fresh photography produced by a community of amateur and hobbiest artists that shared a passion for photography. JPG Magazine was one of a kind, and for the sake of seeing really good photography again, I hope to see something similar in the future.

I generally don’t photograph weddings.  It takes a special type of person to be able to shoot weddings well and enjoy doing it.  I’m not that type of person.  I made an exception for Ken and Angie’s wedding since the event was small and informal and the bride and groom were genuinely cool people.  When it was all over, I shot nearly 600 photos in four hours, had one of the best meals ever (at the Flagstaff House), and made enough money to buy a new lens that I’ve had my eye on for a while.  And, to be honest, it was actually pretty fun.

The exposure I’m getting with this show is tremendous. I really don’t have any idea how many, if any, pieces I will sell. I invested a lot of money on frames and materials — not to mention time — getting ready for this show, so I’d really like to see a few pieces sold just to cover the cost. But, even if I don’t sell anything, hopefully the exposure will generate interest or make my name slightly more known around the photography community.

The hanging itself did not go very smoothly. I was scheduled to hang my photos after the restaurant closed on Saturday afternoon. I had my car loaded up with all the artwork and tools I was going to need and arrived at my scheduled time. A managerial change, however, caused a problem with the scheduling so I had to come back the next day (Sunday) to hang the artwork. This was a minor annoyance, but it resulted in a bigger problem. I left the artwork and tools in my car overnight and parked the car in the garage. When I arrived at the restaurant on Sunday, there was a thin film on the inside of the glass on the frames. After a mild anxiety attack, I decided I was just going to have to dismantle and clean the glass on each piece before hanging it. Luckily, my friend Andrew came with me to help and he took on that task. (I’m very thankful for Andrew’s help, by the way. I could not have hung all these pieces without help.)

I don’t know for sure what that murky film was on the inside of the glass. It looked like the prints degassed while in the garage overnight. That would be strange considering each print degassed in my studio for over a week – seven times the recommended length of time to properly degas an inkjet print. Perhaps the conditions in my car and the garage caused the additional degassing. It still bothers me that it happened and I want to know precisely why it happened, but I’m going to have to live without that knowledge for now.

In the end, every piece was cleaned and hung. The 100-year-old brick that I hung the photos made it impossible to get each piece aligned just right, but I was happy enough with the results. If you happen to visit the Delectable Egg and see my prints, be sure to let me know what you think. Better yet, buy one. Or two.

Among the many gifts I received for my birthday from the best wife a guy could ask for was a new camera that I asked for.  No, Dorrie didn’t buy me a D300 or anything expensive – just a brand spanking new Holga FN.  If you are one of the three readers of this blog (that’s a 50% increase since a year ago, by the way), you probably don’t have a clue what a Holga is.

A Holga is a $15, plastic, piece of crap film camera.  It takes medium format film rather than 35mm.  The Holga is the least sophisticated camera ever made.  There are two aperture settings (f8, f11) and one shutter speed (1/100 second).  There’s no light meter, so it’s up to the photographer to have a good sense of the lighting required to properly expose the film.  There’s a focus ring on the lens, but without any way to preview what your shots are going to look like, the best one can do is guess how to focus the lens before firing off a frame.  Holgas are known to have significant light leaks which are rectified by taping the seams of the camera body, and even when all the leaks are sealed the images vignette in the corners.

Why would any sane person use a Holga then, with all these problems?  Because it’s fun.  You never know what your images are going to look like; most likely your images will be slightly out of focus, the composition will be weird, and you’ll be lucky if it’s perfectly exposed.  But there’s a really cool artistic quality in these types of photographs.

My new Holga has reintroduced me to film processing.  I processed the film with the images in the above Flickr badge in my bathroom.  I had the film scanned by the local photo mart.  Once I get used to the workflow and the ins-and-outs of the camera, I plan on having some black and white prints made and hand-coloring the them.  Should be fun.

I will be showing (and hopefully selling) 20 to 30 of my framed fine art photographs at the Delectable Egg in downtown Denver (LoDo) from May 17 to June 14.  They are generously giving me an entire wall of the restaurant to display any photos I wish to show.  I plan on showing much of the macro, architecture and nature photography I’ve done in the past year.  If for no other reason, you should plan a visit just to experience their eggs Benedict.

May 17 – June 14, 2008
Delectable Egg – Downtown Denver/LoDo
1642 Market St, Denver, CO 80202

Now, go buy a print. Chop, chop.