Wednesday, September 23, 2009

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!

Monday, September 21, 2009

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.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

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.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

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#

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

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.