Tara Vin came back to celebrate Rogue Swan coming back from a year of COVID. She was an integral part of the troop from the beginning. But now she lives in New York and has a part in an upcoming musical adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. And, as only Tara would, she arrived in full bloom to fit the occasion – in flapper garb.

Here in one of the early numbers from the era, she helped get things rolling by flapper-dancing up a storm. I managed to catch this sequence by holding the shutter down for a seven shots as she strutted towards me. I took some other shots, but this sequence is my favorite by far. I’ve formed them into sort of a hexaptych. The intro is Nan’s favorite, mine is number three.

Shooting action in low light is something of a challenge. Flash would freeze motion too much anyway. And in most situations there is no option to hold up fill-light cards, etc. Then you take what you get and “fix” any weaknesses. A little blur here and there actually helps tell the story – if it’s in the right places. In the final image in this sequence Tara is definitely a little soft. While the image works as part of the series, it wouldn’t stand on its own very well. When it comes time to actually print the set (see note below) I’m considering a couple of options – a large square with the six images, attached or arranged in a long row? Or perhaps taking the first four and assembling them into a quadriptych – that idea is growing on me. Then that will go into the Folio.

Tara: I’ll make sure your mother gets a copy of this/these as soon as I get my replacement printer – which could be a while the way it is with anything coming out of Japan right now. See below…

PRINTER LIMBO

My gliclee (pigmented ink) printer died – my 24 inch wide, floor model monster. Problem is, new printers are simply not shipping right now – COVID. My replacement (the old one WAS over 14 years old, pretty aged for any printer) has been on order now for well over two months – no sign of action. Not only am I unable to hang new work in the gallery in town, I can’t even offer my giveaways to people I’ve photographed. I’m sure this will end, but I have no idea when. I do have a good dye-ink printer, but that’s NOT the answer for my b&w.