Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Banjo in the Opera House

We spent the weekend in Springfield, Ohio attending the 29th annual Midwinter Banjorama. Every March for the last 8 years or so, ever since we entered the world of the 4-string banjo, we've made the journey and it's such a wonderful event.

One of the activities on the agenda each year is to go to the Clifton Opera House, where they've been entertaining their small, rural, but lively community for over 100 years. Many of the players, which come from all over the country, convene there and put on a show of favorite banjo tunes. Alabama Jubilee, Shanty in Old Shanty Town, Beer Barrel Polka... you get the idea.

I went up to the balcony to get some shots of the whole group and met up with another photographer there. She told me that she knew of a shot that a pro photog had taken from the foyer recently. "It looked like a Toulouse Lautrec painting," she intrigued.

"Show me!" I said as I ran down the stairs in front of her.  All I could think of was adding to my very fledgling (just born, really) collection of copying the masters shots.

So, after turning out the lights on the attendants, much fiddling with the curtains and my settings, and, yes, I'll admit, quite a bit of Photoshop work, here it is:



I had a general idea of Toulouse Lautrec, but foremost in my mind were his Moulin Rouge works, like this, which were, I think mostly people dancing, or prominent public figures, so I just went with what she told me.  A little research after the fact, and I'm still not sure exactly what was Toulouse Latrec about it. The deep colors and the idea of active socializing based around music are there, a grand theater, for sure, but, I don't know if that's enough to make it a copy of his style.

But, my on-line search led me to this:






It was done by Illustrator Lucius Rossi and, I think fits the look I ended up with, whether or not that was what she was trying to coax out of me, I don't know.  But, there it is, a copy of an illustrator I had never heard of before now. I love where my photography leads me.

I'm entering this for my Sweet Shot Tuesday.

Sweet Shot Day

5 comments:

Thanks for visiting my blog. I'd love to hear your comments on my photography. I see this as a learning tool, so constructive criticism is welcome.