S and M's "Support an Artist" Party

S and M were wonderful hosts this last weekend. They were gracious enough to let me put 25 pictures up on their walls and have friends and family come over and critique my work. I was surprised that 15 people I didn't know so well came, and gave me some great advice. Also, I had them vote on their 6 or 10 favorites. So now I have a better idea of what people want to see.

I was surprised by the responses. I didn't think that some of the pictures would go over that well, and was doubly surprised when some of my favorites didn't make the cut. The comment that I was most interested by was the support of my black and white imagery. I never really considered myself an exceptional B&W photographer, though that's where all of my training has been. But, a woman who lives across the street told me that I may actually have an eye for it. I'll have to go back and check it out again...

Also, for other photographers out there, she made a great point. If you want to see if you have a good shot, change your image into a B&W version and see if it stands up. If the subject of your photograph stands up to a B&W image, then you've got a good shot. Then you can leave it in color, and continue...

Again, I'm so happy that S&M hosted this party. And it was okay that very few of my friends came up to see it. I knew that they would tell me how cool everything was. I didn't really need that, though I would have appreciated it.

I needed some opinions from people who didn't know me.
Here's the proof sheet from the showing.