The Luna Fine Art Gallery of Pensacola Florida in partnership with the Mercantile Hotel of New Orleans Louisiana selected eight students from the  Pensacola State College Visual Arts Department and invited them to New Orleans for four days to create new photographic artwork for display in the Mercantile's upcoming remodel and gallery installation.  I, fortunately was one of the students selected.  I plan on shooting digitally with my Nikon D800E and various lens.  We arrive in New Orleans on 12 May and depart 15 May.  I will attempt daily updates of my progress and hopefully some awesome sample shots!

Participants:
Kristian Breeze
Nick Bridges
Tracy Carpenter
Kylie Crowell
Karl Evertz
Garrett Hallbauer
Kristen Regan
Kendall Sainata
Mike Suhor

Every year, the Pensacola State College Visual Arts Department hosts the "Art Students Honors Exhibition" where students within the visual arts program are able to submit works they  created in classes since the previous exhibition.  This year, 2018, four of my pieces were selected to be displayed and judged.  Of the four, I was awarded 1st place in the "Photography" category out of approximately 70 entries as well as a $1000 Gulf Breeze Arts Scholarship.  My other three pieces which fell under the "Jewelry / 3D / Sculpture / Glass / Ceramics" category, unfortunately did not receive any awards.

The photo which won 1st was taken as part of my very first Photo I assignment, "Self Portrait", which surprised many people.  We were tasked to capture ourselves with a minimum of two prints, 1 of us and the other of something which defined us.  I chose to do a series of four, hence the name of the piece, "The Four".  The first photo represented how I feel many people see me without knowing me, mean looking, stern, angry, etc....  The second photo represented my military career which I believe really defines me and my outlook on life.  The third photo shows a softer side, where I enjoy the arts, reading, science fiction, etc....  And finally the fourth photo shows me as one who truly knows me, knows how I am, a very down to earth and relaxed guy.  The chair that appears in all four photos is also a representation of me, looking formal and hard, when in reality it is comfortable as hell.

The frame, matting and glass were all done by me as well.

The other three pieces were created in my 3-Dimentional Design class.  "Shell Shock" was the result of a project where we had to use a minimum of 300 objects in a piece.  "Terceira" was the result of our final project where we had to create a miniature (under 8"x8" square) that represented a memory, hence the bull fights from Terceira, Azores.  "Grosse Tete" was a self portrait we had to make entirely out of cardboard, with a height of 36 inches.