Technology/Equipment Grant for Individual Artist
ACHF Arts Access ACHF Arts Education ACHF Cultural Heritage
Assuming the lens becomes available before December, I'll use it in the Badlands National Park during the first week of December to photograph bison and bighorn. My goal is to get ten four to five star (out of five) wildlife images on that trip. Within a year, have a wildlife portfolio of 20 to 30 unique, three to five star images, and to add this to my website. As a gauge, I take about 10 images a year that I consider five star. My current wildlife shots show animals in their environments. One of the reasons for that is the lack of a super telephoto lens. This grant funding will allow this portfolio to include close up images of the animals. I'll be able to get these images while keeping myself and the animals safe. Additionally, I'll use the lens to photograph the full moon rise behind the Grand Marais lighthouse for three months. I plan to use these images to support my new Shoot the Moon photography workshops. They will be used on my website and in the instructional slideshow.Because my measurable outcomes are based on numbers, the method of evaluating the outcomes will be to see if I achieve those numbers. The first goal is to get ten four or five star (out of five) wildlife shots on a December trip to the Badlands National Park. I will achieve that goal if I get ten shots of that caliber. At the end of the first year of owning the lens, I'll measure my wildlife portfolio to see if I have 20 to 30 three to five star images. The goal also requires me to add the portfolio to my website. I'm including in work samples my current wildlife style. The new look I'm trying for is close ups of animal. I'll have achieved my goal if the portfolio includes 60% of close ups of animals and 40% of animals in their environment. The final goal is measured by the number of times I shoot the moon behind the lighthouse, and how much larger it appears in the photos vs. my current shorter lenses. The goal is achieved when the images are added to my slideshow and website.
When I visited the Badlands, my goal was ten 4- to 5-star wildlife shots. The conditions weren't favorable, so I ended up with three 4-star wildlife shots. I have not owned the lens for a year, so I haven't been able to measure whether or not I have 20 to 30 three to five star wildlife images. I'm up to six 3- to 5-star wildlife images. For the Grand Marais lighthouse shots with the full moon, the conditions haven't been favorable. I managed to get the full moon at Split Rock. I've use the lens more often than I imagined that I would. Instead of just using it for wildlife, I've used it for landscape. I've used it to capture over 1,000 images that I considered good enough to keep in my catalog. Also, without this lens I wouldn't have been able to capture a once-in-a-lifetime shot of two ships going under the Duluth lift bridge with Bentleyville in the foreground. I sold 23 prints of the image in the three weeks leading up to Christmas.
Other, local or private