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Well, it is always nice to do a hometown show and sleep in your own bed. Plus make moola money.

Images is my hometown show in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, on the Atlantic coast.

A three day show with a Friday morn setup.  Not easy to get into.  Many are called, few are chosen.

It was held on the last weekend of January. The weather forcast for the weekend was horrible.

Big front coming thru with rain, really cold temps and  heavy winds, some as high as 30-40 mph.  
Accordingly, about 20 percent of exhibitors cancelled.

Oh well, less competition and more money for the rest of us.

I have done this show since early eighties.  NSB has grown and the sales have grown.

I moved to NSB in 1982 to attend the Photography Program at Daytona Beach Community College. I did art shows while attending college.  In those days if I made $1500 in sales I was ecstatic.

Now,I do that easily, each day.

Oceanfront condos and houses on the Atlantic go for $650,00 and up.

Serious money has moved in.  Lot of it buys very conservative and traditional.

There are a few daredevils who buy modern, we need lots more.

Lots of northerners from Canada and US east coast reside here for 3-6 months.

They have big walls to fill.

The show is well advertised and well attended.  They have a great Patrons program

which the artists benefit from, big time.

Now, I will tell you about the show layout.

The show runs west to east down Canal Street, the main downtown route.

Two story buildings line the street and block heavy winds.  But they also block ample sunlight. Canal booths have backs against the curb with ample rear storage.

Patrons walk down the middle eyeing the art.

At east end the show turns right (south) and runs along the river.  Booths line both sides with their rear to the curb.  Plenty of rear storage.

Frankly, the show has too many booths for this size community.  But, they call it a fundraiser, you know how that goes.  The "no-shows" made it better for sales.

They allow corner booths, but sparingly.  If you want one put your request in pronto.

Setup and teardown are very mellow.No hassles.

NSB offers lots of great eating venues, plus bars. And beachside, there are ample choices.  I will do a Tequila Reportafter this blog.

Tell us about this year's show, will ya, Nels.

Thought you would never ask.

Well, being a local, I had my van in place Thursday nite.

Showed up 8am Friday,checked in, got my packet,and ambled down to my site.

We had to dodge pissy little rain while setting up, temps were in the low sixties.

I had a corner booth with plenty of room from my wonderful neighbor.

Iwas setup by noon and ambled down to Riverpark Terrace for lunch, show opened at 1pm.

We opened with clear skies, temps around 61 and 15 mph breezes.

People were out in numbers and buying.

I sold a $1300 photo on metal to start the show.  And then, we were off to the races.

Usually, Friday's I am lucky to sell $1K, this day was different.

Around 3pm my first judge came around.  This show uses an antiquated system to judge.

You must be silent, no talking to the juror. His assistant has a stopwatch, at 60 seconds he tells the juror to move onto the next booth.  We call this the "Sleznek Method".  Named after retired photographer Les Sleznek.  Enjoy your retirement, Les.

Dumb system but it still lives on.

Oh well, live and let live.

At teardown, I took all my metal photos off the walls.  Maybe, 30-40 mph winds were predicted for the night.

Saturday morn, it was very chilly and windy, thank God, not at the predicted mph.

I dressed with a cotton tee shirt, then a long sleeve cashmere collared sweater.

Over that, I put on a zippered vest. Then a zippered bulky coat liner, then the heavy jacket.

Then a wool scarve that my mother gave me as a 14 year old birthday present.

I had my cool European wool hat to top this.

Of course, I had on my usual shorts.

I do not own any long pants, have not worn any after getting out of the Army in 1978.  Which was the last time I ever shaved with a razor ( I use an electric razor to trim my beard).

I have Nordic genes, grandpa was from Norway, me, I am just a Florida Cracker.

I never feel the cold in my legs, go figure.

I was about the only guy in the show wearing shorts.

The five layers kept me warm, plus, I had a little stash of 100 proof Knob Creek bourbon to sip on occasions.  And I did.

Sales were super, for me.  I did not see many packages in Patrons hands.  Very slim.

You can sign up for a booth sitter, and I did.  The show provides artists with a bag of snacks for lunch.  I passed.

I ambled down to Riverpark Terrace for lunch.  Squeezed my way into a stool at the bar, inhaled the day's chili and fortified with Makers Mark.

I was ready for whatever came next.

Whoo, hoo!

People kept buying from me.  Maybe they felt sorry for me because I was in shorts.

Closed up at five, this time left my art on the walls.

Had a great warm meal with my honey, Ellen Marshall, retired pastel artist, phenomenol.

Sunday dawned with the best weather of the tree days.  Down to two layers and temps in the high 50 ties--a spring day in Wisconsin.

Sales always start slow, no sales til noon.  Show ends at 4pm, thank God.

Again, not a lot of packages in people's hands.

Sundays,tend to be "Tire-Kickers" day.  Lots of lookers, few buyers.

Surprisingly, I had my best Images in 42 years.

Must have been the shorts. 
Gonna post a cool pic of a brave cat leaping thru a ring of fire,

Tell ya about it later along with a Tequila Report, time for a nap, this blogging is very tiring.

Hope you enjoyed, let's see some comments, have not been many compared to all of you who read my blogs.

Next, Artfest Ft. Myers.

Larry Berman's Zoom Meeting - Tuesdays at 4PM Eastern time

Art show artists, tell your friends and feel free to drop in.
We have a few new members this week that are eager to ask art show related questions.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/4338895789?pwd=NXFRME9JRFdMK3VDUEJhdHJ5T2daQT09

Meeting ID: 433 889 5789
Passcode: art-show

Anything art show related can be discussed.

Larry Berman
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100

Well, not a lot of people blogging about their art shows.

So, I will throw in my 99 cents worth, (Inflation, 50 cents ain't what it used to be).

I am sitting at my fav beach bar in NSB, the Ocean Breeze.  It is Man-day Monday, which means everything is half price-- food and drinks.

I am blogging while sipping Don Julio anejo tequila , lightly salted rim with two limes on the rocks.  With a Yuengling draft chaser.  Gonna have blackened salmon on basmati rice with mango.  Gonna do the tequila again and get out of this place for under $24 while sitting on the Atlantic Ocean and blogging to all you.

Somebody has to do it.

Jeeze! Nels, will ya ever tell us about Bonita!

Thought you would never ask.

OK, Bonita, actually Bonita Springs.  It is like a north suburb of Naples.

Lots of money here, most of it from the Midwest.

The local art league runs this.  Run by Barry Witt. He was a former director of the Naples Art Show.  He started this show over 20 years ago.

Looking at the Weather Channel forecast, we knew we were in for serious bad weather on the Sunday of the show.  This show was two weekends ago.

Forcast for Saturday was sunny, cool, with winds in the15-25 mph range.

Sunday, was supposed to be rain most of the morn with wind gusts up to 40 mph.  Not pretty.

Thankfully, most of the patrons were aware of this.  They showed up in serious numbers on Saturday.

Down here, they like big pieces to go their big walls in their big houses.

Sales were fast and crisp. People bought strongly up to about 4pm.

I had nearly a $3K day.  I was happy, along with most of my neighbors.

Speaking of neighbors, my neighbor is a noted glass artist who I first met at Main Street Fort Worth, 20 years ago.

She is my hero. She and her husband are in their eighties, both are battling serious health problems.  Yet, here they were with a double booth.  And she was selling and wrapping all day.  They are my heroes, when I grow up I want to be just like them.

Aware of the weather, Barry made a great decision and told all artists they could pack up Saturday night and nobody would be blackballed.

Earlier in the day, the Naples show, down the road, told artists to pack up, the show was cancelled Sunday.

I think almost 99 per cent of our show packed up that night.

Most of us had a great day.  They bought knowing there would be no Sunday.

In Florida, January shows are hostage to the weather.  And usually we have some brutal fronts come along with heavy winds, rain, and cold temps.

My roomie for the show, jeweler Phil Hall and me slept in on Sunday morn, happy to know our displays and Art were safe.

It rained hard and the wind blew very nasty.  We were glad to not be in it.

We are both from New Smyrna Beach.  We knew the weather was tracking southwest to northeast.  We headed home just after 11am.  It was a piece of cake.  No bad traffic or weather, I was home in less then four hours.

My next blog will be about my hometown show, Images.

Later, Gators, I am in my 48th year of doing shows, and I still love it.

On a cold morning in January 2018, I was asked by a client who has bought images of horses why have I don’t have pictures of big cats. I was surprised. I smiled and answered if you are interested I certainly will attempt my luck on the big cats.

After she left I sat in front of my computer and started my search; I am very attracted to the snow, so the first question was how do I find a big cat that lives in the snow. It was not too long before the pumas showed up in my search, I soon realized that Torres del Paine National Park has a lot of pumas. It was the start of my research on the pumas.

I researched Torres del Paine National Park is a national park encompassing mountains, glaciers, lakes, and rivers in southern Chilean Patagonia and its accessibility on allowing photographers and videographers to take photos or film in the park. Will I need permits? Will I be safe sleeping in the tent? How close can I get to the pumas? Will I disturb them? What will I do with the puma pictures to inspire people? And so the questions came to my mind.

How I captured Images of Puma

After a good eight months, I made my expedition to Chile to take images of the mighty puma. I flew into Santiago also known as Santiago de Chile, which is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. From there I took a flight to Puerto Natales and then drove with my tracker to Torres del Paine National Park. It was a very scenic route I photographed a lot of landscape images; the lakes were blue as though the sky was on the ground, it was a feast to my eyes I just could not put the camera down. Before we got to my hotel, I saw a lot of beards and the famous guanacos. Guanacos are a cousin of the lama they inhabit both the Pampas plains and mountainous regions of South America. Found in the altiplano of Peru, Bolivia, and Chile, and Patagonia, with a small population in Paraguay. In Argentina and Chile, they are more numerous in Patagonian regions, as well as in places such as the Torres del Paine National Park. I kept stopping our car and taking pictures of the guanacos, after the 5th stop I made my tracker politely remind me that I was there to take photos of the big cat puma also known as cougar or mountain lion. He then pointed up at the mountain and said they are watching you.

Next morning we got up at 4.30 am and started our search for the mighty cat. After driving for 1 hr I asked my tracker to stop again, he looked at me and smiled, I had just seen the footprints of a mountain lion in the snow. We parked the car on the side of the road and followed the footmarks for 30 minutes and then I was rewarded. I saw and photographed the puma on my first morning. From that day onwards I came across the big cat for 9 days, I had a great time photographing and making videos it was an amazing experience. My tracker had never had any trip where he saw the cougar for 9 days straight he told me I was very lucky.

The memories of those 9 days always make me smile when I look at the black and white photo prints and the short film at my New York art gallery. Chile and the people I met will always hold a special place in my heart.

View more black and white wall art

More info: ejazkhanearth.com

Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, Early Morning. Photographing a horse in the ocean has not been one of my favorites. When in this location, I am normally playing around and not focusing. I’m just present physically, not mentally. I have also never taken a good photograph from here, I blame it on the quality of light, location, horses etc; never taking responsibility.

This day, a friend of mine got upset at me because I was joking around and distracting him not allowing him to focus. He said, “why are you here if you don’t want to be?” That put me into place. I decided to focus on fine art photography and make it work, even though I didn’t like anything about the location. After looking at some of the images from this location, I realized it was all in my mind. It had nothing to do with external elements.

View more photos & stories at ejazkhanearth.com

TRAVEL WITH US | Contact us to join our next expeditions.

My passion has always been pushing the boundaries of human endurance, coming as I did from the bylines of Mumbai to the Big Apple and exploring the harshest extremes of nature. The lure of Alaska had beckoned, but now I wanted to push the envelope beyond that to the rugged terrain of the icy arctic snow to Grise Fiord, in the northernmost part of Canada, population 132. The planning for such a journey has to be meticulous and took 7 months with someone finally willing to take me to a space where no USA photographer had gone before & tracked the Arctic Wolf at the North Pole.

The desolate location found me sitting in a tiny 6seater aircraft, which took 5 days to reach Grise Fiord, due to harsh conditions. The tiny aircraft was forced to land midway in a swirling snow blizzard, with no one around, & no connectivity to normal life as we know it. I was hit by a panic attack, scared of the isolation & fearful of dying alone & anonymous in the cold Arctic snow, I broke into cold sweat despite the sub Artic temperatures. Finally, I reached the tiny town of Grise Fiord and met a sprightly 72-year-old man called Raymond who was to be my wolf tracker! I went into another bout of shock looking at the elderly man, whom I thought would need help himself, let alone be able to support my quest for the Arctic Wolf. Nevertheless, we left the one-horse town, on a snowmobile ride for 8 hours. The destination was a desolate wilderness, which had no trees, no grass, no signs of life other than the two on the snow.

No roads, no paths to follow, just oceans of snow and my tracker and me. We pitched our tent in the freezing cold of -56 Celsius and that was to become our home for the next 9 days. The artic could just as well have been the land of the midnight sun, since the Daylight shone even up to midnight on a clear night, and yet it felt like it was only 4 pm. Since we were two of us on a snowmobile, there was a weight restriction & so we carried limited supplies. We awoke the next morning to search for wildlife so we could eat for the next 9 days. The biting arctic cold was oppressive & hostile and even 6 layers of warm clothing could not protect me from the elements of nature. Covered in polar bear skin pants, I began to understand how the animal felt, in its own natural habitat.

Searching Wildlife Animal to Captured Fine Art Photography For Wall Art Decoration

Our hunt began for food, and that proved to be one of the highlights of my trip. Once our search had ended, we pitched the third tent as a base camp which was more than a mile away, from where I would stalk my arctic wolf prey to shoot on celluloid. Few people can relate to the isolation of being alone with yourself, the elements and your maker, and it holds a mirror up to your soul when you spend 15–18 hours alone in nature. The wilderness offers you no second chances and no toilets, no showers, and no bedrooms. Dinner each night is frozen air cured slices of wild Musk Ox served cold, and sleep in a basic sleeping bag deep within the snow. Sitting in mounds of snow for hours on end in total isolation brings home the stark reality of who you are & how insignificant a being the human is, amongst Gods Creations.

The frailty of humanity is best expressed when confronted with solitude & battling the elements of nature’s fury — be it snowstorms, blizzards, hurricanes, tidal waves or earthquakes, making you one with your maker, brings reality to the forefront. I became delusional, like the protagonist Pi Patel in Yann Mattel’s “Life of Pi”, seeing things in the -50 sub-zero temperatures and freezing cold & loneliness, the only solace is that I could meet my aged tracker at nights when I returned for the day. Less than 7 days into the expedition, my delusions became more vivid and I began to see artic snow wolves in the moving blizzards of snow. My fingers numbed without sensation, my feet frostbitten and my personal organs that had developed a mind of their own. From Mahim to Manhattan, the cacophony of human chaos presents a symphony of sound when compared to the high pitch of silence in the Arctic circle, and at times I prayed for the cacophony to return. Having faced all the adversities one could think of in one week, I decided to call off the expedition on the 7th day, frustrated and broken within, that I was defeated, not by the elements of nature alone, but by the gremlins within my mind.

Once the snowmobile was packed and on its way, en route the nearest town, 8 hours away, I was suddenly stopped in my tracks — the elusive Arctic Wolves appeared on the horizon, almost to bid me goodbye, as I was giving up my expedition into their native territory. Divine intervention or poetic justice, it was the highlight of a week of adversity and terrifying loneliness, facing nature’s elements, yet meeting the beauty of the Wolves in their pristine natural habitat, untouched by a human hand or even a cell phone tower. There are times that one marvels at the magnificence of a solitary existence, this was one of those times. I have been fortunate to learn to make myself one with my nature and surroundings and have shot the magnificent Musk Ox in Norway, the Puma in The Chilean Andes, the Arctic wolves in the arctic circle, the Alaskan Bear in Alaska and the magnificent Arabian Horses in the beautiful valleys of France.

My journey and travels now bring me to my motherland, India, where I will dare to confront the greatest Mountain range on earth and picture the magnificent HimalayanSnow Leopard, one of nature’s enigmatic animals, almost extinct and reclusive.

Global Warming Effect the Arctic

With Global warming and the snow receding, the Himalayan snow leopard is forced to lower altitudes for its food. The cattle of hill tribes & natives play a great role here and their livestock is easy prey. It is time that we educate our natives to care for these precious animals like their own family.

Human beings are the most efficient predators on earth and the snow leopards will lose this battle, like many of the great beasts that went before. Educating natives & humans to co-exist with the snow leopard will help in elongating their lifespan into the next century.

Our world needs to recognize these beautiful beasts and rescue them so future generations of our children can admire God’s creations for what they are.

View more Wildlife Fine Art Photography

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Watch the Arctic Expedition Short Film

Camargue is perfect for wild horse photography, I have been going to this location for the past 7 years or so. I know what the weather conditions will be like, the smell in the air, the mosquitoes, the muck water, and also how the horses will run through the water, etc. Here, for the most part, I functioned on autopilot. So I didn’t think about the environment, beautiful wild horses, or how to take the photographs, things happen, and I come back with decent-looking images. I knew I was not growing anymore at this location, familiarity had made me comfortable but I still just continued without making an effort to change or seek out wild horse black and white wall art for decor.

Before I left for this trip to take wild horse photography, a friend of mine and I were having dinner at a restaurant in NYC. She asked, “what are you going to do differently this time?” And, ” how will you photograph beautiful wild horses?” It was as though someone stabbed me with a dagger. However, she was right. I was coming back with similar-looking photographs and nothing different as well to have people shop for wild horse photography. So I consciously made a significant effort to change things around to capture wild horse decor, and not function on autopilot to achieve my wild horse pictures. Since then, I do my best to improve my daily routines. I don’t like all the results, but I love having variety in my life now.

HORSES HUMANS AND PHOTOGRAPHY

Humans & horses — a relationship that pictures can’t do justice to It is so true a photograph speaks a thousand words, but even an old black and white wild horse photography picture cannot tell us how long humans and horses have had a codependent relationship. The horse has been a tremendous support to humanity, helping with transportation, farming, war, sports; you name it, the horse has always supported human.

Riding a HORSE has traditionally been associated with power, prestige and was reserved for the ruling elite. The horse has been so intertwined in human lives that we even measured the power of the engine based on a horse’s strength and called it horsepower. As we evolved, the horse has been right there shoulder to shoulder as a building block for humans and a reason for us to shop wild horse photography. Now we all face a challenge, CLIMATE CHANGE is real and affects both humans and animals, will humans be there to support the horse? read more

CREATING WILD HORSE PHOTOGRAPHY

Creating wild horse photography and wild horse decor is such an honor, I feel so lucky. Sometimes I can’t get over how real they look when our printer prints and mounts them on plexiglass, they come back to life again. At our art gallery in New York City, people shop wild horse photography, and we hold some huge wild horse pictures from France and also North Carolina, Stallions or Mare in our signature black and white as well as in full color.

View more of our WILD HORSE PHOTOGRAPHY below.

If you wish to go on a Camargue horse photography tour, contact us for details.

MY WILD HORSE PHOTOGRAPHY

My passion for wild horse pictures has taken me to the most amazing places in the world. Understanding the movement and thought process of every wild horse and the beautiful wild horse I have encountered has been a rewarding experience. I have learned so much of what it means to be one with nature and to appreciate what mother nature has given to us. Camargue, France is my favorite place to visit some of the most beautiful wild horses. Their stature, manes, and also their poses are incredible.

Since one of my greatest passions in life is exploring the world’s coldest destinations, photographing wild horses in the snow is a thrilling adventure. Therefore, being in front of a herd of wild horses running towards me is an event like no other. They are smart and gentle creatures but I love exploring their strength, power, and fortitude. Each wild horse has its very own characteristics and personality. This makes each photograph I capture, whether my black and white horse pictures or fully in color, unique and memorable.

I can’t wait to explore more locations and photograph different breeds of wild horses. Enjoy this collection and make sure to come back for new and exciting wild horse photography!

Enjoy More Animal Pictures

Horses | Lions | Tigers | Elephants | Monkeys | Bears | Birds | Snowy Owls | Arctic Wolves | Mountain Lions | Musk Oxen | Bald Eagles | Bison | Reindeer | Arctic Fox