I have struggled to get involved with the local Valencia art scene and one of the reasons is that I have been travelling too much. Honestly, that's probably more of an excuse than a fact - I haven't tried hard enough is likely the real reason. So last Fall I began searching for events and "convocatorias" or open calls and I found a few that were of interest.

One of my favorite open calls for a solo art exhibition was from the University of Valencia Botanic Garden which is only a 7 minute walk from our home. I love this botanic garden for relaxation, enjoyment and also for photography. I even have a gallery entitled Botanic Refractions and Images highlight some of my best macro photography thus far. The botanic garden has a few exhibition salons for art and educational installations, my preferred being a stand alone building within the garden itself. L’Estufa Freda (The Cold Greenhouse) is an excellent exhibition space with plenty of natural light to illuminate the art.

After submitting my project proposal in the fall of 2025, on August 1, 2026 I received word from the jury that my proposal was among 12 selected from a pool of nearly 100! without a doubt, this was a massive success and an exhilarating feeling to be savored.

And there it was - for the first time in my professional career, my project proposal was selected for a solo exhibition!

It's important to note most all artists go through what is referred to as "imposter syndrome" at some point in their career. In short, this is the frequent intrinsic thought that you are not a real artist, just a wannabe and your work is not worthy. Admittedly, I experienced this earlier on in my career especially because I began much later in life than most people. Fortunately, after 3 years I know without a doubt that I am a worthwhile and valuable artist. All of the art fairs, selling some works and being recognized in many contests have thankfully cured me of that illness. To have my project selected based only on my website and my proposal—before a single image was captured—feels like a massive validation of my mission as an artist.

Here is the project summary:

'Frozen Encounters' reveals moments of pollination that occur too quickly for human perception. Using ultra-fast shutter speeds (up to 1/32,000 of a second), the exhibition captures insects in mid-flight: wings frozen in motion, pollen grains suspended in the air, and the fleeting physical contact between pollinators and flowers. These images expose the precise, chaotic, and highly specialized interactions that enable plant reproduction—moments that typically vanish in fractions of a second.

The exhibition transforms speed into stillness, allowing viewers to witness pollination as a sculptural, almost architectural process. At a time when pollinator populations are in sharp decline, the exhibition helps raise public awareness of their pivotal role in ecosystems. Concise texts provide context for the photographed species and their function within the pollination system. The initiative reinforces the Botanical Garden’s status as a living space for research and outreach, showcasing natural processes occurring within the garden itself and encouraging closer observation of the surrounding environment.

The next administrative step is to have a face-to-face meeting with the director to learn more about logistics and a timeline and this will likely happen in November. Unsurprisingly, I have not been sitting on the couch eating bon bons watching daytime tv - I have been out shooting. I started in Toulon, France with some yellow flowers in the Mourillion which was a good opportunity for me to learn more about macro photography and pollinators . See the image above.

One of my first lessons was that moths and butterflies are easily frightened by the quick movements of a camera so I now know to approach slowly and smoothly to get close enough for a quality image. Bees, on the other hand, seem entirely unbothered by these movements. They completely ignore my camera lens, even when it invades their personal space just 14 centimeters (4.5 inches) away.

The other important lesson I learned was that it is extremely difficult to effectively capture bees in flight. I have since learned that the wings of a bee can beat as fast as 200 times per second. Think about that for a moment. 200 times EACH second. My Nikon Z8 has a maximum shutter speed of 1/32,000 which is often times not fast enough to freeze a wing of a bee in flight. When I figure that out, I will write another blog post and I predict that the issue will be solved with the use of a flash and it will be complicated.

In the meantime, I need to get out and and shoot more so I can continue my learning and improve my technique. When the project is done and dusted, I predict that I will have taken nearly 150,000 images. Why? In order to maximize the chances for success I am shooting at 20 frames per second and that makes the images add up quickly with each 90 minute shoot yielding between 3,000 and 4,000 images.

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It's time to stop writing this blog and go find some pollinators willing to be photographed...