Two Years Of Clicking

Two years ago today, I took my first self portrait.

I didn’t start out in photography thinking it would be become the life-changing force that it has. I didn’t realize I would fall head-over-heels in love with the medium. I didn’t know that it would give me the ability to express myself better than I ever had before; that I would be able to create my own worlds and characters, to become part of my favorite stories and share them with others. I just had an idea and I wanted to bring it to life. It was an extremely happy accident.

I love celebrating my photography birthday.  It is a way to chart my progress and acknowledge the growth I have made as artist… becoming more authentic and closer to the artist I want to be.

When I was getting ready for my very first art show, I made some rookie mistakes with my choices in mounting my prints and in using non-archival quality adhesive and paper.  Since that show, I have been holding onto those prints, wondering what to do with them. I don’t want to sell them—since my lack of judgment compromised their archival-quality and multi-generational lifespan—but I also didn’t want to just throw them away. Finally, I had an idea. I’d hold a special giveaway for these prints!

 So, in celebration of my photography birthday, I’m going to find these prints a happy home! Want to enter? It’s simple. First, follow me on either Facebook or Twitter. If you already do, then you’re a step ahead 🙂 Next, send me an email at sarah @ sarahallegra dot com (spaces removed, of course) telling that you’d like to enter the giveaway, where you follow me, and what your top 3 picks would be. Get your email in before midnight on January 31^st, because on February 1^st, I will be picking six winners at random!

 

The six prints I have to give away are shown below. Since the drawing will be random, I obviously cannot guarantee anyone any particular image. But I will do my best to match the prints with those who like them best. 🙂

So that’s it! Feel free to spread the word and start emailing!

Opheliac © Sarah Allegra – my cat Byron appears in the mirror!

Cultus Procul Meus Sanctus Templum – not actually my very first self portrait, but one from early on in that first year, and one which I’ve always felt was the first time I really felt like I’d started to find my own style.

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Happenings At The Happening

To kick off 2012 news, I am very excited to say that some of my work is currently being featured at The Happening Gallery in Marina Del Rey!  The Happening is a fantastic gallery who have truly impressed me with their selection of absolutely stunning artists from every genre.  They had, for example, a man who had created slightly abstract sculptures, each one personifying one of the seven deadly sins, along with painters and photographers in every style.

The show will run from the 6th to the 29th, and there will be an artist’s reception on the 14th from 6-9 which I will be attending.  Please feel free to stop by while it’s running!  Please also feel free to mention to the owners that you are there to see my work if you come 🙂

Thank you all for your support!

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Summing Up

I know I’m a bit late for an end-of-the-year-recap-blog, but it’s been a very busy couple of months, so I’m doing it now anyway 🙂

My career has made great strides in the past year, and I think 2012 will be even better.  I took a ton of photos, and I feel very satisfied thinking back on all the images I’ve created.  There is so much more to come!  I think it’s important to celebrate successes, your own and others’, so I’m going to talk a little about some of my favorites.

Where Dreams And Shadows Lie

This was taken very early in the morning with two good friends of mine and the delightful horse Freddy.  It was such a magical morning, and fulfilled a wish I’d had for a long time to include a horse into one of my photos.  It captures a lot of the things I try to include frequently in my photos; an other-worldly sense, beauty, and an untold story.  And any time I can work animals into my shots, that makes me extra happy!

The second one is this one, which features my friend, and fellow self portrait artist, Brooke Shaden.

The Weakest Particle Of All

 

I took this one shortly after I finished reading (for the first time) Whitney Robinson‘s amazing book Demons In The Age Of Light.  I wasn’t sure how I was going to create the glow effect, but I just went with taking the photo and trusted it would work out.  Having faith in yourself as an artist is an important thing.  Most importantly, the finished image lived up to my hope and vision for it, which is so satisfying!

It’s been a great year for other artists as well, and I’d like to take a moment and highlight some of my personal favorites.  Click on the photos to be taken to their Flickr streams!

Birds Of A Feather by Joel Robison

Urd’s Fountain by Jon Jacobson

The Chainless Links by Brooke Shaden

The Unbreakable Tie, by Chiara Fersini

Introspective, Strength, by Alysha Hernandez

And so many more that I don’t have room to include!

There have also been some really beautiful personal milestones in my life this year… such as getting married to Geoff Ashley.  It was such an amazing and perfect experience, one I will hold close to my heart forever.

Taken by Husband and Wife Photography

Getting hand fasted. Taken by Husband and Wife Photography

Taken by Husband and Wife Photography

 

And then, on the honeymoon, we got to meet wolves at a wolf sanctuary.  Real, live, honest-to-goodness wolves.  It was one of the greatest experiences of my lives.  We got along splendidly, and my face was raw after from all their kisses 🙂

There were so many more wonderful, eventful moments in this last year, but it’s time now to start looking forward into 2012, so I shall leave things here.  Another blog post to come shortly 🙂

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