So… I’m an outdoor photographer, primarily. I prefer working with natural light. Frankly, I prefer non-human subjects, because they never complain that my photos make their butt look big or that their hair is a mess or that they don’t photograph well, and on and on.

But last week I tried something new: For the Downtown Ruston Wine Walk, I did a photo booth at Ruston Artisans. It was a barrel of fun!

I mostly took pictures of folks with their own cell phones, but Kathy Stepp and her husband Terry posed for me to test my set-up and lighting. Kathy is a Ruston Artisans Co-op Artist like me. She does the most amazing mandela dot paintings on various objects: glassware, trays, journal covers and more.

All of the co-op artists demonstrated their art for the Wine Walk, so I finally got to watch Kathy place her amazingly precise dots in wonderful color combinations. Co-op artist Pat Howard demonstrated oil painting and both of these artists worked faster than I would have thought possible. Pat started with sized canvas and had to stop painting for awhile to let what she had done dry before adding more paint.

Teena & Bryan Doxey were good sports and allowed me to take their picture with my camera, and to share it in this post. Thanks! You were terrific subjects.

Co-op artist Todd Maggio demonstrated culinary arts by giving away samples of ice cream flavored with either chanterelle or black trumpet mushrooms. Yes, you heard me right: mushrooms! It is quite good.

Of course, other artists came by during the Wine Walk to see what we were up to. Painter Lacey Stinson had fun with my backdrop, trying different poses in relationship to it. In the end, we both liked best the view below.

Co-op artist Jean DeFreese Moore pours acrylic. For the wine walk, she not only demonstrated but helped people pour a small painting in their choice of colors. Her own paintings feature figures on an obviously poured abstract background. I would have sworn she paints the figures with a brush, but, no! She does it all by pouring.

You can stop by Ruston Artisans to see works by all of the co-op artists, including my photography. You won’t see these photo booth photos there, but… look for my photo booth next time there’s a suitable occasion. It was fun and I’ll do it again.