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June 2024

from Nancy Ori and New Jersey Media Center

my candid Umesh

Dear Fellow Artists,


I shot the above image at the Botanical Gardens in Brooklyn and then manipulated it with a simple app. Nice place to visit and not overwhelming like the other gardens in the Bronx. You can pay what you want to enter, children are free and you do not need a permit to photograph. You can also use a tripod, although I just took my cell phone and was perfectly happy. Plan on spending at least 3 hours. Since most of the place is outside walking, I suspect that spring and fall would be the best time.


I encourage you to continue to find ways of being inspired and to keep doing your art. Do what ever brings a smile to your face. A smile can change everything. Celebrate the best of what is right with our world, acknowledge it to those around you, and be safe. This is time to take stock of all the positive and truly great things and especially important people in our lives. Spread the love!


All the best,

Contact me with any questions.

Workshops make a great gift!


nance


nancyori@comcast.net

www.nancyoriworkshops.com

Give the gift of education or artwork.
Support your local artists or art organizations.

In-person & Zoom workshops at the Nancy Ori Studio:



All in-person workshops are at my studio and include a comprehensive handout that is yours to keep for future reference and to follow along with during the workshop. Sometimes if the group is small enough and everyone agrees, we can make a workshop happen on Zoom instead.


My groups are generally small so there is a lot of one-on-one time and I can tailor the info to your needs. Photo Encaustic and Hand-coloring Your Inkjets this spring and my 4 workshops with Heidi all include the use of my tools and necessary materials so you do not have to purchase anything else to attend. Contact me for workshop details. Payment is currently through PayPal with credit card or by snail mail with a check. You do not need to have a PayPal account to pay through them.


Private Tutoring: is ongoing with Personal Projects and Portfolio Development for photographers, critiques, and college prep applications for art students. 6 hours: $395 Makes a great Gift!

2024 Workshops


June 23               Mono Printing with Nancy Ori and Heidi Sussman 10-1   $125

June 30               Lighting for Portraits, Products, Still Life & Food 11- 4  $150     

July 7                  Designing a Composition for Painters and Photographers 11-4  $150

July 21                How to Photograph Artwork & Other Tips for Artists 11-4 $150

July 28                How to Create Collages with Nancy & Heidi 10-1         $125

August 4             Framing and Exhibit Tips for Artists                       11-4         $150     

August 11           Image Transfers with Nancy and Heidi  10-1        $125

August 18           How to Write an Artist Statement & Other Documents 11-4 $150

August 25           Visual Journaling with Nancy and Heidi 10-1         $125

October 27        Using Mixed Media Techniques               11-4               $150

November 10    Seeing in Black and White                         11-4               $150

December 1     Developing Photographic Style                11-4               $150

Mono Printing with Nancy & Heidi

June 23, 10am-1pm


Learn a simple printmaking process without the use of a printing press. A mono print is a one-of-a-kind piece of art that can be matted and framed as a stunning art piece or combined with other images in a collage. With just paint and minimal materials, you will create colorful works of art. In person or on Zoom. All materials are included.

$175

nancyoriworkshops.com

Lighting for Portraits, Products, Still Life and Food: June 30, 11-4pm


This workshop is designed for those who want to gain control over the most important element of every medium – lighting. 

 

You will be led through a step-by-step process of how to approach and set up lighting in a controlled studio atmosphere to enhance any subject matter. Nancy will stress the thinking behind what is being done with the composition as well as how light helps to tell the story.

 

There will be a complete discussion and presentation of different kinds of light sources along with the pros and cons of each. Lots of great tips on how to keep the process simple but effective.

www.nancyoriworkshops.com

AI Newsletter


If you want to get on board with AI and follow someone you can trust, you will want to subscribe to the newsletter that Umesh and I are putting out this year. You already received a free one. The rest is up to you to see how you can use it with your art or just keep up with what is happening.


The AI Newsletter is a great way to start slowly and build on the info the same way we did when digital first appeared. We will definitely do the workshop again so stay tuned. Things are changing every day. Contact me if you are interested in getting the newsletter or signing up for a workshop. $59 annual fee for the newsletter. nancyori@comcast.net

image by Umesh

New Book Launch


Check it out. Great gift for any level photographer. In-depth discussion of all the elements involved in creating a great composition. The images are of nature but the content is about any type of photograph. Go to Amazon and check out my other book offerings:


www.amazon.com/author/nancyori

Last Call:


Scotland Orkney Islands, Inverness and Cairngorms National Park Tour

September 8-19, 2024


Tour through the less traveled parts of the Northern Scotland

• Photograph and explore the diverse landscape of the islands, friendly people, prehistoric forts, spectacular cliffs, beautiful sandy beaches,

Ring of Brodgar and the Standing Stones of Stenness.

• Inverness, the Capital of the Highlands with castles, mountains, and the River Ness. (and maybe even Jamie Fraser!)

• Cairngorms National Park offers awesome landscapes in the mountains, valleys and streams of Northern Scotland.

• All accommodations are central to photographic locations.

• Flexible itinerary to take advantage of opportunities along our route.

• Maximum of twelve participants. Private van with guide.


Contact Nancy for a brochure: nancyori@comcast.net. A deposit will be required to hold your place.


For more info and to register: https://phototc.com/tours/scotland-orkney-islands-inverness-cairngorms-national-park/

Last Call:

Norway Tour & Northern Lights

September 20-28, 2024


• Eight days with accomplished photographer and tour leader Nancy Ori.

• Tour limited to 11 passengers.

• Experience the diverse landscape of Norway.

• Jagged mountains, grand vistas, colorful fjords, and soaring eagles.

And a chance of experiencing the greatest show on earth, the Aurora Borealis, aka Northern Lights.

More Info

Editorial:

AI is not our enemy: some other thoughts


AI is becoming known in our lives outside of the artist and photography arenas that Umesh continues to feature in our AI newsletter, so I thought it might also be helpful to highlight some of the other ways that it is impacting our lives. Some of my comments might come off as being editorial.


Have you been thinking about getting in on the inevitable bloom of AI and investing in it somehow? Here is the simple answer from the financial guys. If you are invested in the S&P500, you are already doing it. With the tremendous startup cost for anything related to AI, it is only the larger companies who can afford the investment. They are all investing heavily with the bonus coming over the next two years. 


Here is another interesting point brought up by Kevin O’Leary, the billionaire on Shark Tank. I love this guy. He has so much common sense about everything, not just how to grow a business. He is Canadian and I think can see what is going on here in the US with maybe a more open mind. He asks WHY a lot. Something we all should be doing more.


O’Leary’s recent comment about all the chaos at the colleges and how it involves AI is pretty dramatic. He has many companies who are always growing and hiring. He uses an AI program that takes all the videos of the bad behavior on campuses and in public and sorts the faces, even the ones with masks. It deals mostly with the eyes evidently, according to Kevin. He has two piles of job applications, one with the people who are supporting unrest, illegal actions, and terrorism in our country and the other with those who don’t. It is not rocket science as to the pile of applications he will not be looking at.


To say these bad actors or students are stupid is an understatement, but don’t get me started. Once on the bad actor list, it will impact them for the rest of their lives. This software can also identify all the students who are here on foreign visas. All those students could be sent back if someone would actually step up. But for those of us who are getting more and more angry with illegal behavior, just know that they are being documented and those documents will impact those people from now on in many ways.


Along the same lines, I also heard a report of how colleges are using AI during the review process of applications. They all are submitted digitally now with very few colleges even doing interviews, so what you write and a photo of your face is now more important than ever. The AI programs are looking for key words and can now also identify students who are not carrying a good agenda. Again, there are two piles, the ones with the acceptable buzz words and behaviors and those without. If all the colleges a student is applying to are using the same software, they will not get accepted anywhere. Interesting, at the very least.


AI will soon be part of our video alarms. 41 states are currently investigating new software that identifies guns outside of schools and the faces of those holding them. With this software in place, response times will be drastically reduced and lives will be saved.


And lastly from me: Just heard another interesting report on the financial channel regarding buying your next computer. The best plan would be to keep your old computer going for as long as you can because once AI gets rolling, we will all need better computers to just run our usual stuff. This will happen within the next 2-5 years. I guess there is nothing really new about it. Seems we have always needed to upgrade our hardware every 5-8 years anyway. But with everything being so expensive, it makes sense to not rush into a new purchase right now unless you really have to, especially with Apple. Remember when some idiot said that digital would be cheaper than film....lol? 

wildwood lights
"You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.” ~Ansel Adams