Friday's website of interest to art enthusiasts

Today's website worth mentioning is Museum Spot. This website is a great starting point for anyone looking to find museums in a particular area or serving a particular industry, such as agriculture. One of the most interesting features I found was downloadable podcasts of tours of different museums from around the world. The information on the site is free.

Kent's discusses his other endeavors

What else do you do besides your photography?

My "day job" is running my graphic design and advertising business, Blue Sky Graphic Communication, Inc. 2009 marks my 20th year in business. We do everything from logos to website, brochures to billboards. Basically, the purpose of my company is to help other businesses tell their stories and communicate with their customers. And of course, my photography plays a key role in telling those stories.

Kent shares photography advice

What advice to you have for aspiring photographers?

Shoot, shoot, and keep shooting. Be curious, ask questions and seek answers. Every shot you take leads a photographer learning more and and making better pictures. Now with digital, it's almost free to shoot endlessly.

Picture credit: "Afternoon Graze", 36" inch wide by 16" high archival giclee print or signed, numbered, framed limited edition print of the original photograph; actual image is 30" wide winner of the nature division and overall grand prize winner in the annual Fuji Film photo contest

Click here to purchase this image

Monday's agriculture website of interest

Today's website is Capital Press, a magazine and website that serves the agriculture communities of California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. Its website has the latest events for this area, along with photos of recent events and a classified advertising section.

Kent talks about his future plans

What would you like to do more of in the future?

Travel. I'd really like to continue my search for beautiful landscapes with various trees. I've come across many interesting trees I'd love to go visit and photograph. It's funny, but now with the internet I can find trees that are popular in a particular area, trees that are native to only one region, etc. I love exploring, finding an interesting scene, going there, and sharing it with everyone.

Picture credit: Multi-image bookmarks of Kent's work; Each durable heavy card stock bookmark is printed on both sides and measures 2 3/8" x 8". Bookmarks have a protective UV gloss coating to assure lasting quality.

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Kent discusses his "mistakes"

Do you ever have goof ups or work you don't like?

Of course. When searching for a location you have your eyes to tell you the scene looks good, but the way the infrared light alters the scene can vary dramatically. To me, this is the real fun part. Sometimes I get back and look at the images and I'm shocked at the detail and light and overall effect. Other times, it just comes out OK. Having that element of surprise from the IR keeps it fun.

Picture credit: "Equine 19", 20" inch wide by 16" high archival giclee open edition art print

Click here to purchase this image

Friday's website of interest to art lovers

Today's art focused website is Art Info, which discusses worldwide art events and news. The website includes breaking news, artist profiles, information for collectors, gallery news and events, art trends, and art fair coverage.

Kent in action

There have been a few questions about how Kent gets his images. Kent has been kind enough to share a few pictures explaining his process and showing him in action.

Please click on the picture at left to view it larger.

Kent talks about how he gets his images

How long does it take you to get an image?

It all depends. I've lucked out and come across a landscape that is perfect compositionally and lighting wise and shot it in less than 20 minutes. On the other hand, I have a few locations, I revisited on numerous occasions, only to not have conditions right. And have never gotten the shot.

Photo credit: "Equine 17", 20" inch wide by 16" high archival giclee open edition art print

Click here to see more information about this print

Agricultural blog of interest

Today's blog comes from Michelle Payn-Knoper. Michelle is a professional motivational speaker with a passion for the agriculture. Her blog, Cause Matters, focuses on some of the challenges agriculture faces from pressures outside the industry. It is an interesting read and let's people discuss solutions.

Horse photography from Kent Weakley

Over the next few days, I will be sharing some of Kent Weakley's horse images featured this month on the Cow Art and More website.

Picture credit: "Equine 16", 20 inch wide by 16 inch high archival giclee open edition art print

Click here to learn more about this print

Kent discusses how he selects his photography subjects

I've shot many different subject matter in infrared, however certain things work best. For instance, living trees and grass "glow" or reflect infrared light the best in direct sunlight. I love trees and I've always looked for a way to showcase their majestic appearance, so they are usually my main focus. Rural, rustic scenic landscapes are always calling to me. I try not to do any alterations of the scene in the computer, so it takes lots of driving and searching to find a location that will truly work.

Picture credit: "Bridlewood Morning", 36" inch wide by 16" high archival giclee print or signed, numbered, framed limited edition print of the original photograph; actual image is 30" wide

Click here to see more information about this image

More Agriculture and Art in the Pacific Northwest

Today's website of interest to agriculture and art enthusiasts is from Oregon State University.

Art About Agriculture encourages artists to investigate the visual resources of the science of agriculture. It strives to develop an understanding and appreciation of food and fiber production. The program was established in 1983 as the first annual arts competition and tour exhibit with an agricultural theme. It recognizes professional and emerging Pacific Northwest artists, while creating a permanent collection of fine art based on and portraying agriculture. The collection is exhibited throughout Oregon and other parts of the Pacific Northwest.

Another butterfly image by Kent Weakley

This is another in Kent Weaklry's butterfly series.

Picture credit: "Zebra Swallowtail", 8 inches square, open edition archival giclee print

Click here to learn more about this picture

Kent talks about his photography training

Where did you learn your technique?

I picked up this idea on the web from a story about digital IR photography. At the time I had a camera that would "see" IR light. After experimenting for many weeks, there was no going back.

Picture Credit: "Shading Arms", 36" inch wide by 16" high archival giclee print or signed, numbered, framed limited edition print of the original photograph; actual image is 30" wide

Click here to learn more about this image

New artist on the website

Cow Art and More is excited to welcome Amanda Raithel and her pencil drawings to the site. Amanda has a bachelor of fine arts degree from the University of Missouri - Columbia, but now calls Nebraska home. Amanda, along with her husband and daughter, live on a registered Angus farm. She takes great joy in her active role on the farm while maintaining her art portfolio.

Picture credit: "Brothers", pencil drawing
Click here to see more information about this piece

Ag Wired: today's blog of interest

Today, I am highlighting AgWired.com, a company owned by Chuck and Cindy Zimmerman of Missouri. Their company, ZimmComm, publishes several agricultural industry news websites and specializes in blogging, podcasting and managing RSS feeds for the agricultural industry. The company has many online publications.

Kent describes his photography technique

What is your technique?

I shoot Infrared Black & White Photography. Not the old fussy film IR that was more a guessing game than art, I do everything digital. I'm currently shooting with a Nikon D300 which has been converted to "see" only infrared light. My technique also includes shooting multiple images to create large panoramic images.

Picture credit: "Morning Graze", 36" inch wide by 16" high archival giclee print or signed, numbered, framed limited edition print of the original photograph; actual image is 30" wide; Click here to see more information about this piece

Another butterfly photograph by Kent Weakley

Another butterfly photograph by Kent Weakley

Picture credit: "Malachite", 8 inches wide by 8 inches high archival giclee open edition print

Caring for your art purchase

Today's website of interest for art enthusiasts comes from the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works. I have included a link to their section on the website about caring for many kinds of art. I have found that people purchase and display their art only to find out after a few years that the piece has been damaged by sunlight, humidity, improper storage and such. This website goes into great detail on how to properly display and preserve many forms of art in order to keep the beauty for many generations to come.

Kent explains how he got started

How did you get started?

I gathered up all of the money gifted to me for high school graduation and purchased my first professional camera. Later that summer, while mowing the family grass in Illinois, I had a thought - "I need to go some place cool to photograph". I ventured off on a journey to Washington D.C. and New York City. Burning through rolls and rolls of film I was hooked. To this day, there's little I love more than planning a trip to make stunning images.

Picture credit: "Purpose Served" 36" inch wide by 16" high archival giclee print or signed, numbered, framed limited edition print of the original photograph; actual image is 30" wide; second place winner of the international landscape division in the annual Popular Photography magazine photo contest

New art from Kent Weakley for February

Since Kent is the featured artist at Cow Art and More for the month of February, we will be offering an expanded portfolio of his work just for the month. I will be posting the new images also during that time to give people a full appreciation of his range of subjects and talents.

One such of those subjects are butterflies. Florida has a nice resident population of the creatures not to mention the assorted butterfly farms in the north central Florida area. Kent has captured the butterflies in color, while showing the background as an infrared image.

Picture credit: "White Peacock", 8" x 8" giclee open edition print

Kent talks about taking photographs

Why do you take photographs?

Good question - not sure. I guess I just love capturing all the beauty around. I suppose that's the cliche answer, but it is true. On a deeper level I, like so many other artists, believe we are seeing things in a way that no one else is. That our perspective is unique. It may or may not be. This is one of the reason I fell in love with infrared black & white photography. Even when I think I'm seeing something different or unique, the infrared aspect takes it to a surreal level. A scene shifts from reality to something more of a dream state. I guess another big reason I photograph is to share. I love showing my images and sharing the excitement of photography with family, friends, and clients. There's nothing like walking into a business or client's home and seeing a finished image hanging eight feet wide for all to view.

Picture credit: "Bovine Shade" 36" inch wide by 16" high archival giclee print or signed, numbered, framed limited edition print of the original infrared photograph

Website for agriculture people to network

Today's website of interest is Ag Job Network. It is its own social community on Ning that allows people within the agriculture industry to meet online, discuss important issues and post job openings at their respective companies. The website recently grew to over 300 members.

Featured artist for February on Cow Art and More

Cow Art and More is excited to feature artist Kent Weakley and his infrared photography for the month of February. Kent currently resides in Ocala, Florida, and is an accomplished photographer and graphic design artist. He has won photography awards from Fuji Film and Popular Photography magazine. Click here to read more about Kent.