Welcome to my blog. I guess I’ll start with a short explanation of the name Citadel Arts. You see, I use to have a studio around 1999 to 2007 at an art friendly building in downtown San Jose called The Citadel. The Citadel was and is and old cannery from the days when Silicon Valley was made up of fruit orchards. Most of the space was renovated into artist studios and became one of the key artist hubs in the city. When creating a site I thought maybe I could help artist get their work exposed through this site. It didn’t pan out but the name became the name of my photography licensing company, keeping me rooted in the local art scene.

I have always been interested in art and ways to create my expression on the world around me. From as far back as I remember I would draw and express the world as I saw it through design and art. A blog was and is a great vehicle to put my voice into the world and let people experience who I am.

What interest me are the visual arts, contemporary arts like Burning Man, learning new things, teaching people what I know, and finding a business through it all. I’ve taught photo workshops, worked as a photographer and photo assistant. I know a lot about photography and love to help others find answers to any questions that they seek.

I read a lot of books and think a lot of thoughts because this is the place to better hear my voice on the Internet, I’m putting it all out there. Let me know what you think.

I love the outdoors, camping, hiking and being around water. So you will see that touch of the outdoors and nature throughout my work. Lately Iv’e been experimenting with decay and textures. Textures are the beginning of a natural process of decay. I find it interesting that the earth and elements will wash away all signs of our existence in time. In a million years what will exist of the world as we know it? Life is short and we must find ways to pass the torch before it goes out and decays as the present is all we really have.

Here are some photography tutorials I’ve created on this blog that you might find interesting:

• Creating Textures For Photography – explains how easy it is to create rich Photoshop textures in little time from what we have around us.
• Texture Photography – The Capture — Bringing Out Good Textures in a textured wall then use the texture in an image to create a painterly effect.
• Texture Photography – The Boat … — Textures Part Two– The Boat Image finished.
• Texture Signs — Texture Signs creative use of good textures.

I also have some thoughts on how I see the stock photography world and the business landscape you might find interesting:

• Microstock Photography and Me — My journey around stock photography and  microstock explained.
• Is There a Living in Stock Photography Today? — My thoughts around stock photography back in 2009.

More recently:

• Goals Plans and Agenda, The How, What and Why of The Things We Do— Explaining how our agenda becomes hidden as we concentrate on our plans and goals.
• Content and Internet Marketing – Selling Information in a Sea of Noise — Explaining how our agenda becomes hidden as we concentrate on our plans and goals.
• Rinse and Repeat To Business Success and Profits — Looking at how success is created by mastering a skill and repeating the skill for those who need it.

Thanks for taking the time to check out my corner of the world. Let me know if I can help you find what your looking for or a good topic to write on.

John David Tupper