A California Yankee in King Cake's Court

Audubon Aquarium of the Americas 12, originally uploaded by pinstripe_bindi.

The notification day for the exhibit was May 18th. At the end of the day I hadn't gotten an email, so I shrugged, told myself the important thing was that I'd tried, and moved on.

Four days later I got an email informing me that they'd accepted this photo--I'd had a feeling that it would be either this one, or the alligator one, if they accepted any. I guess they were behind schedule.

I ordered the print from Adoramapix.com, which I've used before. I don't like Snapfish, the photo service allied with Flickr. For Christmas of 2010, I wanted to give Phil a framed photo I'd taken at Jamie's wedding, of him walking her down the aisle. (Figuratively, since she got married in the courtyard of a hotel and not in a church.) I used Snapfish, and the photo looked awful. It was grainy--even though it was shot with a digital and was only a 5x7 print--and the colors were way more drab than they should have been.

I've bought film and equipment from Adorama for years, so I ordered the same print from them, and it was a hundred times better.

My first instinct was to get it printed on metallic paper, but then I started second-guessing myself. Like, oh probably all the first-timers get metallic paper, because they confuse price and flashiness with quality. But then I thought no, it really would be the best option, because of how dark it is. And I'm really glad I went with my first instinct, because it does look amazing. I did an 11x14 print.

I found a framing place in Lafayette that has a short turnaround, if you choose mats and frames they have in stock. I dropped it off today, it will be ready Monday, and Tuesday I'm driving it to the gallery in New Orleans. The exhibit opens June 9th.

I have to price the photo, because it's going to be for sale. I priced it at $500, which seems insane, but it cost $120 to frame, and the gallery gets 30% if it sells. I want to make a profit, right? It feels too high, though. Maybe I should put it more around $350?

I also have to write an artist's bio. It's not like I have an impressive list of credentials and past exhibits to cite, so I mostly talked about my work and my "vision".

A CALIFORNIA YANKEE IN KING CAKE'S COURT

Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area town of Fremont, Sarah [last name omitted because there are too many nosy fucking assholes in the world] studied photography in high school and at Chabot Community College. She spent many summers with her grandparents in south Louisiana, before making it her permanent residence in 2010. She still sees it with the eyes of childhood, and this is reflected in her work, which tends toward a fairy tale feeling.

Having learned her craft before the advent of digital cameras, Sarah still prefers film. Many of her photos are taken with vintage cameras. Her work demonstrates a lo-fi aesthetic which provides a nostalgic alternative to the cold, sterile perfection of digital.

Her work can be viewed and purchased online at www.etsy.com/shop/californiayankee.

OH MY GOD, IT'S CHEESY, RIGHT? PLEASE TELL ME IF IT'S CHEESY.

The 2 questions I'm still pondering are:

1. Should I sign the photo? Will that (plus the edition marking of 1/100) raise or lower the value?

and

2. What is the dress code for an exhibit opening, when you're one of the featured artists?