My life will always be about travel and explorations. When restrictions are relaxed – and both myself and my staff have done our due diligence to assess risk factors to ensure we travel safely – you can bet I will be back out there in the field leading workshops in the safest manner possible.
That brings us to the question:“What becomes of Tequila Time with Art when Art is travelling again and not always home?”
The answer? I don’t intend to stop doing Tequila Time, and in fact, time zones and connections permitting, I’m truly fascinated about the possibilities of sharing what I can while I’m on the road.
I need your help though if you’re tuning into Tequila Time via Facebook rather than Instagram!
The fact of the matter is that going live on Instagram is a much more convenient tool for the format we use on Tequila Time. When I’m traveling again, I simply can’t add more equipment to my pack or steps to my setup to support multiple platforms. I am aware there is both hardware and software that exists to make this easier, but I don’t need one more process to deal with on my travels. To that end, we’ve created a quick and simple guide to getting started on Instagram for everyone willing to make the transition!
Enjoy the guide and drop your Instagram handle in the comments so we can trade follows! We will follow this post up with one focused on publishing your own content next week. For now, lets just get you started!
STEP 1: Creating Your Instagram Account
The good news is that if you are already on Facebook, joining Instagram is easy as they are owned by the same company – you can use your Facebook login information to sign up for Instagram. First you’ll need to choose which platform or platforms you’ll need Instagram on. The most popular method is through a smartphone app, and here you will also do the majority of your uploading of images.
You can also create an account through any web browser by going to www.instagram.com.
TIP:
When you create an account, be sure to create a username that is unique, memorable, and easy to type for others so you’re easy to find!
STEP 2: I’m in, Now What?!
If your only goal is to view Tequila Time then the only thing to do is find me, follow me, and wait for Thursday’s at 5:30 PST!
What you should be seeing on your smart phone should look somewhat like the left side of the image blow – it might differ slightly from the Android app or the web browser version, and since you may not be following anyone just yet your feed is likely not populated. The color coding on the right will help us break the interface into four sections explained below.
Let’s start from the bottom and work our way up:
Main Menu Navigation:
The yellow section is your navigational bar that will take you to the various parts of instagram. The house icon is your home screen, and it encompasses what you see in both the cyan and green areas above. The magnifying glass is where you would go to search for members, posts or other content. The square with the + in the center of the menu is where you do your own personal uploading and posting of photos with comment. The heart is where you can see your interactions with other members whether that be someone’s like on your photos, a comment, or more. Finally, the circular icon on the right represents your personal Instagram feed, and you can go here to see what your personal page looks like to others whom visit you.
Your News Feed:
The blue area is your feed, much like your news feed in Facebook. Again, it’s accessed via the house Icon on the lower bar. When those you follow post new photos, they will appear in your feed. Here you can see my good friend Daniel Dietrich has posted an owl that is apparently also an exercise enthusiast. Under the photo you can use the heart icon to quickly “like” Daniel’s photo, or hit the text blurb to leave a comment. The paper airplane would allow you to share Daniel’s post either to your story or to other people directly. Finally on the right you can bookmark the image to visit later. this feed can slide up to reveal more posts.
Activity Feed:
The green section is where you can see recent activity from people you follow who are most active. This is an important section – when I go live, you’ll see my icon in this list with the “live” tag on it. This is where you’ll want to go on Thursday’s at 5:30 to join me! This section slides horizontally to reveal more folks you follow.
Title Bar:
Finally at the top of the page is the red section. On the left is a camera icon, and you can go here to take photos and videos with various filters, but most importantly this is where you would also start your own live broadcast if you wanted to! Again you have the paper plane icon on the right where you can share the page to others.
With this info you should at least be able to create an account and find me, as soon as this evening at 5:30 for today’s Tequila Time! This post is already long – next week we will follow up with instructions and tips for uploading your own photos and getting some followers.
Here in Seattle, the days are getting brighter and longer so I figured I would share a quick tip on maximizing that bright, direct light that can be difficult to deal with – but can in fact be turned to your advantage. Enjoy, get out of the house if you can, but by all means stay safe!
Last week on Tequila Time and the blog, I discussed ten books in my collection that I found influential and inspiring to me by other artists and photographers. Viewers were also curious about the ten books of my own that I’d pick out as my favorites and we delivered last night!
Here are ten (in no particular order) of my personal books that I’m most happy with. If you want the details, you’ll have to watch the video! Also, watch til the end for a special promo code for 25% off books in my online store, valid until midnight PST this Sunday!
Welcome back to Art’s Bookshelf! Last night on Tequila Time with Art, I discussed some of the books that have influenced and inspired me over the years. It’s a list of 10, but they are in no particular order. I find that as an artist, it’s difficult to choose “favorites” – any shred of inspiration you can find is simply invaluable and incomparable. Do yourself a favor and buy yourself something nice, whether it’s one of MY books, or these fantastic volumes by other authors. Looking at images online is amazing and convenient, but there is something about picking up a heavy book and immersing yourself in it’s pages with no distractions.
Without further ado – 10 influential books from my bookshelf! For the details, I discuss them all on Tequila Time Episode 5!
Enjoy the list and hopefully the episode of Tequila Time. If you’re not joining me at 5:30 on thursdays for our live chat, you’re missing out! Follow me on Instagram and Facebook (The Insta audio/video is much better quality!) and join the conversation, submit questions, and catch me in some candid predicaments.
As usual drop your comments below and include your Instagram handle for a follow!
Hard to believe I’ve been doing Tequila Time for a month now, but I can’t express enough how nice it’s been to be able to connect with everyone out there. During this stay-at-home order, I’ve pretty much limited contact to the same few people who are helping with the live broadcast – so having this opportunity to connect with everyone is saving my sanity – thank you!
I almost consider my home and garden a public space, so being able to do a virtual tour and sharing with you the artifacts and memories I’ve collected over the years means a lot to me. The theme of course for this video is “If you want to be an artist, LIVE like an artist”! Collect things that inspire you and make no apologies for surrounding yourself with the things you draw your creative fuel from, whatever that may be.
Enjoy the video – also I should note, the quality of the live video feed through Instagram is far superior to Facebook, so if you want the best possible experience for future TTA episides I highly suggest getting on IG – it’s also a great place to see my daily photo posts.
Have a great weekend, and hopefully you’ll be joining us next week, when we hang out in my den and discuss my favorite books!
Another great time going live on Tequila Time with Art is in the books, and this time we took a tour of my Huangshan-inspired Japanese garden. It was by far the most requested feature from these live chats, so I’m thankful both the typically soggy Seattle weather and technology conspired to work together for once! Check out the video above if you missed it, or simply want to re-watch it. For more information on my garden, I’ve also included my story of how the garden came to be below. Enjoy, and have a fantastic weekend!
Nature possesses many powers. It can awe and inspire, provoke fear, and humble. As a nature photographer who frequently travels to some of the most wild and remote regions of
the world, I have truly experienced each of these emotions and more.
In all my journeys, though, one place in particular captured my soul and spirit in ways that continue to inspire me today. The incomparable grandeur of the granite spires, spectacular rocky peaks, contorted pines and swirling mists I encountered at Huangshan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in China’s Anhui Province, planted in me a desire to blend my global travels into the shape and feel of my own home environment.
Upon returning to my native Seattle nearly 35 years ago from that fateful voyage to China, I immediately purchased a property brimming with artistic potential, offering sweeping views of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains. Full of enthusiasm, I began to transform my flat half-acre of predictable plantings and 1910 Tudor-style home into a miniature Huangshan.
Soon my simple lawn with its rhododendron border was transformed into a bustling work site. I rented a backhoe to sculpt a koi pond and cascading stream beds. A mobile crane brought in over 100 tons of moss-covered granite boulders, black pines, Western red cedars, hemlocks, Douglas firs, and Japanese maples, some with root-balls weighing as much as 8,000 pounds. My yard quickly became a place to enjoy visually as well as spiritually, and I was not alone. Wildlife promptly discovered the habitat I had created and new photographic opportunities arose.
I post no signs and have no fences, so it is quite common to discover total strangers walking along my pathways, lured by the soothing sounds of cascading waterfalls. The inviting landscape evokes the spirit of Huangshan that enchanted me so many years ago, and so long as visitors remain respectful, they’re not turned away. My decision to avoid contributing to suburban sprawl by remaining in an urban setting has been remarkably satisfying. I have enjoyed creating and maintaining critical habitat for the numerous wild denizens who share my tranquil setting.
There is something incredibly peaceful and grounding about working here, pruning the pines, weeding, planting and observing life thriving all around me. Simply put, my yard has become my therapist, my refuge, and a beautiful, relaxing place where I can explore my lifelong passions for nature and photography.
For the second week in a row I was able to connect with friends and followers live on Facebook and Instagram, and once again I came away with a tremendous sense of elation at being able to connect with everyone. Thank you to everyone who made with with a drink in hand, tequila or otherwise!
We had a few requests to re-post Komodo dragons from my January trip to Indonesia and Komodo Island. A special thank-you to Bill for helping me create a contraption to get my camera down low to shoot them without being eaten! Ask and you shall receive. . .
If you missed last night’s episode of Tequila Time with Art, watch it here as well – and give me a follow on Facebook and Instagram, where you can catch past and eventually future episodes!
Looking forward to another live Tequila Time this evening and I’d love to see you there if you can make it! We’ll be on Facebook Live and Instagram. If you’re planning on playing along at home, here’s a recipe I loosely follow:
1 1/2 oz of your favorite Blanco Tequila
1/2 oz Cointreau
1/2 oz Agave Nectar
1/2 oz fresh lime juice
1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
Crushed Ice
Finish with a splash of tangerine or orange juice – perfect as the days get sunnier and warmer! For those of you who don’t imbibe or aren’t of age, here’s a mocktail recipe you can use – no alcohol, but lots of love an fresh ingredients!
2 oz honey or agave
1 oz limeade concentrate
1 oz fresh lime juice
1/2 oz fresh grapefruit juice
2 drops almond extract
1/4 tsp orange extract or bitters
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp chili powder
Crushed Ice
In either case, it’s not a tequila cocktail or a mocktail without limes to garnish!
I had a great time going LIVE last night with my good friend Parimal Deshpande for the inaugural episode of Tequila Time with Art! This one was a little on the formal side while I adjust to the format, but I hope everyone who tuned in and participated felt like it was time well spent. I’m looking forward to doing these weekly and I hope you’ll continue to tune in and tell your friends!
Obviously we won’t be able to answer everyone’s questions during the broadcast, but rest assured we have culled inquiries and If I can find some time, I’ll answer some here on the blog in the weeks and months to come.
If you missed out on the live broadcast, they will be available every week on my youtube channel, facebook, and instagram – get connected!
Happy technique Tuesday! Hopefully everyone is healthy and using their time to practice their photography at home. While I’m currently working on my Pathways to Creativity series of lectures, I figured it couldn’t hurt to give some tips for those of you looking to pass the time.
Photographers of all levels know just how useful a tripod can be. Myself and others have touted the necessity of choosing a good brand and not skimping on a cheap one. That being said, sometimes you need to ditch that thing. While the stability a tripod offers is essential for many shots, it’s not always the most maneuverable tool to use.
In this video, I illustrate that by losing the tripod and getting down low, I can capture these chinstrap penguins in such a way that enough background is included and in focus to give true context to their environment. This is an angle and perspective I wouldn’t have been able to achieve without the spontaneity and maneuverability gained by freeing myself from the tripod.
Use your body, the ground, and objects around you to stabilize your shot – don’t forget, any three points of contact, not just tripod legs, will make for a steady shot. Now, unless you’re super lucky, you don’t have penguins in your back yard – that’s okay! Get down low and photograph your familiar surroundings from a whole new perspective.
In all my journeys, though, one place in particular captured my soul and spirit in ways that continue to inspire me today. The incomparable grandeur of the granite spires, spectacular rocky peaks, contorted pines and swirling mists I encountered at Huangshan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in China’s Anhui Province, planted in me a desire to blend my global travels into the shape and feel of my own home environment.
Soon my simple lawn with its rhododendron border was transformed into a bustling work site. I rented a backhoe to sculpt a koi pond and cascading stream beds. A mobile crane brought in over 100 tons of moss-covered granite boulders, black pines, Western red cedars, hemlocks, Douglas firs, and Japanese maples, some with root-balls weighing as much as 8,000 pounds. My yard quickly became a place to enjoy visually as well as spiritually, and I was not alone. Wildlife promptly discovered the habitat I had created and new photographic opportunities arose.
There is something incredibly peaceful and grounding about working here, pruning the pines, weeding, planting and observing life thriving all around me. Simply put, my yard has become my therapist, my refuge, and a beautiful, relaxing place where I can explore my lifelong passions for nature and photography.
