Senior Thesis Photography Exhibition Fall 2009

Everyone should make an appearance! It'll be fun :) And it's my last senior show...then I graduate!

Quote about beauty of place

"...for many people, the word beauty is associated with the predictable...cliche images of sunsets, small furry animals...postcard views and so on. For me, most great photographs displaying beauty reveal a sensation of strangeness, not predictability..." David Hum, on Being A Photographer

This is a quote I love and wanted to include in my paper about my Bozeman project but I can't figure out how to fit it it. So I put it on my blog instead.

Krist, Bob. Spirit of Place: The Art of the Traveling Photographer. New York: AmPhoto Books, 2000.

Our Family Christmas Card Designs

When left with Photoshop, the Internet and a desire to procrastinate...I create Christmas card designs. Here are four designs I made for my own family (and available for other family portraits...)...Mom and Katie - you should let me know which one(s) you like so I can get them printed. LOVE!

My Little Helper

How do you entertain a curious 14 month old and get him to sit still? Hand him a light meter and see what he does with it. Soooo cute.

Riley 14 months old

Patrick's little nephew, Riley, I swear is the cutest little boy ever. And very photogenic. To say the least it was hard just picking 5 images to post here on the blog. Anywho, here are a few portraits I did of him (just a few of many) a few weeks ago. Also included is a family portrait I did for them during this session.

Fall in Bozeman

SPE NW Exhibition!

Three of my images were selected to be in the SPE NW Exhibition in Seattle sometime this winter/spring! More details to come.

Kevin

Here are some photos from my senior photography session with Kevin at Ennis Lake. It is beautiful out there, I can't believe I haven't explored it before! I will definitely be going back to shoot some landscapes some time in my life. The weather cooperated quite well for us; it was 70 degrees and very sunny, whereas the weekend before was snowing and cold. I love love love the chimney Kevin showed us. Plus it helped that the clouds were cool that day...

Business Card and Board for Auction

Top image - collage for my poster board for the MSU Libraries (which is next Thursday). I was asked to be the event photographer for the auction. This means I will have to refresh my flash skills...
Bottom two images - New business card designs; I am ordering 50 of them. Debating whether to make three different business cards depending on the type of photography I do (portraits like above, food, travel and fine art). I guess it depends on what I end up needing cards for most. I know that once I start doing weddings I will need to have a wedding business card.
Speaking of weddings, I am getting booked for next summer already. Here is my wedding schedule (* means still in the air, no contract signed).
November 28 - Annie and Joe
June 26 - MY Wedding :)
July 11 - Bekah and Ian
July 17 - Leslie and Josh
July 28* - Katy and Jade (?)
August sometime - Lindsey and Kyle (I'm actually IN this wedding)
End of August* - Morgan and Jesse
September 2 - Mallory and Chad
Oh my god my summer is packed already. I think I am going to have to book in some sanity time and for sure some Patrick time because I might have to go live with my mom for a little bit.

Details of Bozeman

Here are a few images from walking around Bozeman. Which one is better of the bike rack photos?

SPE NW entry

Here is my entry for the SPE NW photo competition. They are images from the damaging negatives section of my Experimental Photography Class last semester with Chris Anderson. Wish me luck! Additional info about SPE NW is linked to the title of this entry. I am minutes from buying my plane ticket online...

Forever Family Images

Here are images from the reception from Leslie and my Forever Family Exhibition in the Exit Gallery. We had some fun, ate some cheese and got to see lots of our friends, family, classmates and professors.

Bekah and Ian (one more)

This one was so cute I couldn't leave it out...see more engagment photos in the previous post. Congratulations Bekah and Ian!!!!

Bekah and Ian

Here are Bekah and Ian's engagement photos - they were a blast to do :) I did Bekah's senior portraits years ago and I remember laughing the whole time (it helped us both relax and have fun). Even though Bekah was somewhat of a gimp, she still looked beautiful. I'm excited to do their wedding next July!

Forever Family Exhibition - Leslie McDaniel and Tessa Lykins

Everyone should go check out my show in the Exit Gallery thru October 2nd! It is a duo show with Leslie McDaniel about Families. This show means a lot to me and I am very proud to be showing at MSU! Thanks!

Library Card Image

So here is the chosen image for the MSU Libraries Christmas card. There will be a border added and a bit of text...I'm excited to see how it turns out. I will be editing some engagement photos and senior project images here (as soon as I warm up my toes...Happy Fall!) pretty soon - tried out a lens borrowed from a friend and loved it :) Hopefully I will be getting my lens soon, I had to send it back because it was defective. Enough talking, off to editing.

Grotto Falls

Hiking in Hyalite up to Grotto Falls and playing with my new lens (which I have to send back because it won't focus when extended all the way). Pretty hike, good company (my best friend and fiance) and an overall good day. I think I need a UV filter or polarizer...the sky looks a little empty...

MSU Libraries XMas Card Shoot #2

Here's an image from my photo shoot on Sunday for the Montana State University's Christmas card. I have more...but I'll wait to post until they decide on a favorite.

Vote for me!

Everyone should vote for my image for National Geographic Traveler's people's choice- http://www.worldinfocuscontest.com/bin/Rate?searchphotographer=Tessa+Lykins&search=photographer#

Things to Do...current list

Here is a list of "photo gigs", potential and ones in stone, that I have for the upcoming year. This is mainly to keep my head on straight and try to remember what I need to remember.

Dane/Sarah wedding Oct
Annie/Joe wedding Nov
Bekah/Ian wedding
Leslie/Josh wedding July
Mallory/Chad wedding?
MSU Xas card Sept
Two (possibly 3) senior portrait session clients Sept/Oct
Kate's grandparents XMas card Sept
Baby portrait? Oct
1 Yr baby portrait Oct

Phew. I think I got it all. I have to write it down in lists otherwise my brain feels cluttered, claustrophobic and stressed out. I write it down in my calendar but for some reason lists are stress relieving. Off to bed.

Sense of Place: Bozeman

Finally figured out, pitched and got my senior thesis project approved. Here is an excerpt from my proposal paper:
“Each place, like a person, is unique, with a style and a personality of its own…the photographer has only one job, to reveal that character and communicate it to the viewer.” Jay Maisel

In travel photography, the most important skill is being able to capture the sense of a place. To become a great travel photographer, it is important not only to photograph exotic destinations such as Greece or Africa, but also to be able to photograph any location, especially those closest in proximity. So photographing where I live is a start in my journey to becoming a travel photographer.

My senior photography project is going to capture the unique “personality” of Bozeman by photographing the people, the events, the details and architecture. I hope that this project develops my ways of seeing while exploring any destination. I am going to walk around Bozeman and photograph familiar areas and unexplored ones. The most important goal of this project is that I capture a sense of place, as Jay Maisel’s quote states.

This project is influenced by my intense wanderlust. I have always been interested in travel: Different cultures, food, people and landscapes of various countries. My travel magazines always inspire me to explore and photograph places my friends and family have never seen. It inspires me to capture these places in my own style and illustrate my own adventures. When in Greece, I saw a Georges Meiss’s work that captured the iconic things he noticed while photographing in the Greek islands: Doors, bright colors, the older locals. I immediately was interested in how he documented his adventures and he has been an inspiration to me while traveling. Jay Maisel came and gave a talk at MSU and motivated me to look at a place with an open mind and to photograph everything. The very important piece of advice that he gave to his audience – make it your own. This is what I want to do when photographing Bozeman (or anywhere for that matter).

So that ended up being much longer than I thought it was - but now you have an idea of what I will be working on all semester long.

Montana State University Libraries Photo Shoot

I have been asked to help out with creating the Montana State University Libraries Christmas card (they were getting tired of the same type of card). We collaborated some different ideas that would illustrate Christmas (non-religious), Montana and possibly libraries. Here are my favorite images from the project, all in black and white (because I like them better that way). This card will be distributed to about 2000 people and my name will be on the back :) Exciting! I had another idea where cowboy hats were hung with a Santa hat, but they did not turn out at all. I might have to re shoot the idea for fun. I meet with everyone tomorrow to see how they like the images I have and to discuss contract and usage stuff. Oh the life of a busy photographer.