Photography is focus at this year's Carolina Artists Expo

"Missed the Train" by Spencer Bevis.

"Deer Corn and Clay Pots" by Charles Ramsey

"At the Coon Dog Show" by Andy Mooney

Confederate Monument photo by Wayne Wrights

By Susan Shinn

sshinn@salisburypost.com

By popular demand, a new category, photography, has been added to the annual Carolina Artists Expo.

This year's show is set for 10 a.m.-8 p.m. today and Friday at the Civic Center. A reception is set for 6 to 8 p.m. Friday with light refreshments, and the show continues 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday.

Voting for the People's Choice award will take place during the reception.

The event is free and the public is invited. Much of the artwork on display is available for sale.

Purchase awards — in which contributors receive their choice of artwork — have been given by Gary and Luann Fesperman, The Trophy House; Dianne Greene, Century 21 Towne and Country; Margaret Kirby, Kirby Realty Co.; A.D. and Jane Powell, Summit Salcoa; and F&M Bank.

The show is being judged this year by Tom Jones, who is here conducting a week-long watercolor workshop.

Besides photography, visitors to the show will see artwork in the following categories: watercolor, oil, acrylic, pencil, pen and ink, charcoal, collage and three-dimensional artwork.

You'll see photographs by several local photographers who are Carolina Artists members: Wayne Wrights, Andy Mooney, Spencer Bevis and Charles Ramsey.

Wayne Wrights still shoots film with his large and medium format cameras — mostly in black and white.

"I wanted something that would last generations," Wrights says.

Although he has a digital camera, Wrights says he feels more comfortable shooting film.

The quality and longevity of black and white photographs, along with the tones and contrasts, appeals to him.

Wrights loves to shoot scenes around Salisbury at night.

"You don't have to worry about harsh shadows," he says.

Not to mention traffic.

He's not particularly a night owl, but that's his favorite time to shoot.

Wrights has participated in several Carolina Artists displays.

"It's fun to meet people who come in and admire your work," he says.

Meeting the public, he says, has led him to bigger jobs.

Wrights says that his images are high-quality, but "dirt cheap."

"I do everything," he says, from shooting to developing to matting to framing.

Wrights enjoys all aspects of his "retirement hobby." He's taken 16 trips to New England and photographed all over the country.

nnn

Andy Mooney is equally at home behind the lens or at the computer.

Mooney is the Post's graphic designer and image technician. He became a member of Carolina Artists after building their Web site.

"Most people in Carolina Artists do fine arts," he says. "My work is more commercial. It's a little bit different in style."

Mooney works totally in digital now, although his school projects were done with film.

Mooney does photography and graphics work on a freelance basis.

nnn

While Spencer Bevis loves outdoor photography, he admits that doesn't sell as well as other types of photographs.

So Bevis, who's retired from the Navy, now works as a freelance sports photographer, also shooting portraits and a few weddings here and there.

He's the track photographer at Woodleaf and Millbridge speedways and also takes team sports pictures.

And he's a bus driver at Trinity Oaks and North Hills Christian School.

So he keeps busy, although his first love is still the great outdoors.

"I love outdoor photography," Bevis says. "It's a passion. I love the mountains. If I had a job doing that all the time, I'd be happy."

nnn

Charles Ramsey and his son are developing a software program that will transform photographs to look like different mediums — watercolor, oil and acrylic, charcoal, pencil, pen and ink.

Ramsey, who has a degree in interior architecture and design, was excited the way his photographs looked after he painted watercolors of them. So he decided to start playing around with a computer program to do just that. Like some of his fellow photographers, Ramsey also has a day job. He's the owner of Hot Dogs R Us.