Stacey Chicoine – California State Organization
Briefly, tell me a little bit about yourself as an educator and as a photographer?
I enjoyed a wonderful 31-year long career as an elementary and middle school teacher, ending my career as a school administrator and loving what I did. Highlights included teaching science for most of my career, coaching after school sports and academic teams, starting a mountaineer club, and as an administrator leading my campuses in the early use of Google and Google Classroom. As a photographer, I took classes in college on composition and development. I have been encouraged by the California State Organization when I participated by entering my photography in several and placed in two juried art galleries. Following that encouragement, I entered my photography in the DKG International Art Gallery and have been selected many times since learning about the opportunity during the convention in 2010.
As a photographer, where do you find your inspiration? Do you search for a particular subject or do you just have your camera ready? Do you use any special equipment? How do you edit your photos?
My inspiration comes from my love of travel and enjoyment of outdoor activities. I particularly love nature photography and love the challenge of composing landscapes with or without animals. I have a blast taking numerous photos, literally hundreds on a short trip or vacation. I stop and view what I have taken and continue with additional compositions to include shots from all possible angles. Having so many photos leads me to the wow pictures every one out of a 100 shots or so. I use both a Canon Rebel for special locations and an iPhone 13 pro which is on all the time. I also use additional flash devices, lens filters, and tripods. The only editing I do is cropping to accent the subject using the rule of thirds and leading lines.
When you start framing your subject, is there a process that goes through your mind? As an example, your photograph, ‘Silhouette in a Tahiti Sunset’ is a photograph in silhouette of a boy running on a beach as opposed to your photograph, ‘Low Tide Surprise’ which is a natural still life taken on a beach. Two different genres, one taken spontaneously, the other framed, yet both taken on a beach.
I learned in photography class to select framing that can lead the eye into and through the frame. I use diagonal lines and placement of the subject so the eye will lead to and away from the subject. For action shots, I want my subject moving from right to left or I use the direction of traveling to suggest where the subject will travel out of the frame as I did for the little boy in ‘Silhouette in a Tahiti Sunset’. For natural still life’s, I look for patterns, colors and other elements to highlight the subject. In “Low Tide Surprise,” I placed the orange star fish in the lower third to lead the eye to the cluster of mussels in the upper left corner.
You’ve been traveling this past year and documenting your travels, any favorite pictures come to mind?
This year I traveled for ten weeks in a RV from California to Maine across the northern states and then back home along the middle of the country. I was fortunate to see eight national parks and many historic places and cities along the route. I still need to separate out my “wow” photos and reflect on my favorites. But a few come to mind such as buffalo roaming in the Badlands NP, rocky shores and lakes in Acadia NP, Washington DC’s monuments and museums in nontraditional compositions. I have lots of rivers, waterfalls, lakes, oceans, mushrooms, fall leaves and sunsets. Most recently I traveled to Fairbanks, Alaska and saw the northern lights and natural wonders there so different from my home in California.
As a member of the Arts Gallery & past Chair, any advice to give to those looking to enter their work into the gallery?
As you select items for the Art Gallery enter the art you are proud of and are excited to share. My advice is to select four items and ask friends or colleagues to tell you what their two favorites are and why. Listening to their opinions may help you decide what to enter. Make sure the quality of the items will look good in a digital format.
What is the best piece of artistic advice you’ve been given?
I really have not received any advice. I just listen to compliments I receive from having my work at conventions, on social media, and in the online gallery. I pay attention to the photography people request to buy. This encourages me to do more of the same.
Do you have any tips for others looking to pursue photography?
Have you entered your work in other competitions?
Yes, I have entered competitions for calendar and magazine competitions. I have not been selected, but it is fun to try.
The Arts & Humanities Jury looks forward to you returning often to view exciting new content and to share in the joy of creativity. We hope that our readers will consider submitting their artistic work in the upcoming Spring Art Galley Submission period which opens from January 15th through February 15th. Please refer to www.dkg.org to view the resource information and submission process. We appreciate all the efforts of our talented DKG members who have participated, and we look forward to our newest applicants this spring. The Arts and Humanities Jury encourages you to share your talents and gift with our DKG members.
We invite you to view the Art Gallery, click here.
Keep the conversation going, please use the comment section below to suggest new topics, ask questions, or give us your input. If you have ideas or comments for the Arts and Humanities Jury, please let us know.
This was a great article and has inspired me to pursue my love of photography and writing! Thanks for sharing.
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