About
About Us
. . It is through the mundane that we encounter the exceptional,
beginning with the world around us, and leading inevitably back
to the home-spot within . . .
Educated and still performing as a musician and oboist, Franck Avril turned his passion for Nature and for color into his photography. The result is EverydayJourney.net, stemming from the belief that beauty surrounds us in all forms, always close at hand. His work encompasses primarily 35mm slide film as well as digital photography, with a range of subject matter from birds to butterflies, to large landscapes, and with a penchant for floral photography (including floral macro-photography). He believes that while the best camera in the world is a person’s eyes and soul, that it is the responsibility of the photographer to capture as much of the essence of the subject, and to stir in the viewer an animated response to the beauty of life and its many forms.
A member of the American Dahlia Society and the American Iris society, Franck Avril began photographing dahlias in earnest in very early August 2004. Only three weeks later, he garnished first and second place (photography division) at the ADS California Show, and received three more awards at the ADS National Show held in Seattle a few weeks later (in both the Single Bloom and the Macro divisions).
Since then, he has had his various flower photography displayed at the 2005 National Daffodil convention, the 2005 National Iris Convention (each in St. Louis); the Oregon Flower Growers Association (Portland, OR); and both the Northwest Flower and Garden Show (Seattle, Feb. 2006) and the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show (March 2006). His photography of Schreiner’s Iris Gardens in Salem (OR) was on-display during the 2005 summer months of the Iris Festival in Keizer, OR and will be showcased there again as part of the 2006 National American Iris Society Convention held in Portland (OR) in the latter part of May.
This past Fall, Franck received the 2005 ADS California Show “Best in Show” and “Best Single Variety” (Weston Spanish Dancer) photography awards, as well as the “Best Flora & Fauna” (Mikey P with butterfly). In March 2006, he received 10 more awards, including 5 First Prizes and Best in Show, in the ADS 2005 National Photography Contest.
Complementing his floral exhibits were two awards in the Hawk Conservancy Trust’s photography contest (Andover, Hampshire UK), in both the “Visually Pleasing” and in the “Technical” categories. His photographic prints hang in clients’ homes from Marin County (CA) to Phoenix (AZ), to Portland (OR) and Los Angeles. Franck has just finished collaborating with Dan’s Dahlias, a commercial dahlia cultivar along the banks of the Chehalis River (near Oakville, WA), on a large photography project for Dan’s dahlia portfolio and website.
After residing for 3½ years in Washington State, Franck Avril now divides his time between the San Francisco Bay area during the Fall and the greater Portland area during the summer months. Still maintaining his love for music, Franck additionally is Program and Operations Director for Chamber Music Northwest, in Portland, OR.
About our products:
Actual photographic prints – unmounted else mounted on custom-made acid-free boards – are available through this website, EverydayJourney.net, in a variety of sizes ranging from 5 x 7’s to 13 x 19’s. When mounted, 13 x 19’s have a finished size of 18 x 24; 8 x 10’s and 6 x 9’s typically are set on 11 x 14 boards. Kindly contact us for any special photograph dimensions and / or individual projects which you may have in-mind should these not fit your needs.We offer A2 and A7-sized individual photocards as well, plus several different boxed sets. Each set contains 8 individual photo-cards and envelopes per box; each A2 card folds to 4¼” x 5½” (see our Products section). Contents of our boxed sets can be customized. We offer discount to re-sellers, retailers, and members of Dahlia and Iris Societies.
Our website contains our entire selection including our photographs of Schreiner’s Irises, Dan’s Dahlias, the Oregon Zoo butterfly exhibit; and other Nature photographs; plus selections from our other work in Photography. When ordering, please note that each medium – photographic print, Giclé print, four-color print, inkjet print, matte or glossy finish, as well as the choice of matting and any protective glass / plexiglass – will result in slight luminosity and even in slight color shifts that are natural to each medium.
Thank you for your interest and purchase; we hope that you will visit us often,
Franck (Avril)
Of further interest about the photographer (musical background)::
As an active performer of the oboe, Franck Avril has given over 50 solo recitals across the United States, with additional appearances in Europe. His credentials include solo appearances at New-York’s Carnegie Hall, the 92nd-Street “Y”, Merkin Hall, Town Hall, and at the Guggenheim Museum. Additional recitals include those at Boston’s Gardner Museum, at the Norton Gallery of Art in West Palm Beach (FL), at Champaign-Urbana's Krannert Center; as well as a Solo Recital at the IDRS 25th-Anniversary Conference in Tallahassee (FL) in 1996. His concerto appearances have taken him to major Halls in New-York City, as well as to those of Atlanta, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Seattle, Flagstaff, Green Bay, Newport (RI), Westmoreland (PA), and to the Summer Festival of the Brevard (NC) Music Camp.
Franck’s past chamber music collaborations include those with the Vermeer String Quartet, the Philadelphia String Quartet, the Garth Newel (VA) Chamber Players, the San Francisco Chamber Soloists, New-York's Harmonie Wind Ensemble, and both the Sylvan and Aspen Wind Quintets. He has made guest appearances at the festivals of Sceaux (France), Marzena's Pacific Rim Festival of Contemporary Music, Pepsico's Summerfare, Cabrillo, Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival, the Seattle Chamber Music Festival, Chamber Music Northwest (Portland, OR), at Samuel Sanders' Cape & Islands Festival in Cape Cod; and with his own mixed-chamber group “Die Serenade”.
His demand as a residency artist and speaker has led to his appearing as Artist-panelist on the live NPR broadcast "Dialogues with the New York Philharmonic", hosted by Ed Downes; thrice on Bob Sherman’s “The Listening Room” (WQXR-FM, NYC); on WNCN-FM’s “Rising Star Showcase” (NYC); and in his own hour-long Public Television show on NYC's Westinghouse Group-W TV. A speaker at two of New York City then-Mayor Ed Koch's Arts Fundraisers, he served as both performer and panelist in YCA’s First Career Development for Young Artists Symposium at the University of Maryland - College Park; and was both a Presenter and a Panelist at Nora Post 's "Oboe Blow-Out II" in Portland, OR .
Franck’s experience of 7+ years as an outreach residency artist served a variety of differing venues, ranging from the larger & well-known campuses of Ohio State, Iowa State, and William & Mary (with re-engagements at Montana State, San Diego State, Arizona State, & Stanford University), to those of Mormon 2-year Ricks College in Idaho, Alverno Catholic Women's College (WI), and the Yakima Valley Community College in Washington. Communities reached through long-term residencies included fishing villages & logging camps in Southeast Alaska; New York City‘s Henry Street Settlement, Beekman & St Margaret's Hospitals, and its Seaport area Nursing Homes; Buffalo (NY)’s Black inner city community of Retirement homes, Nursing homes, Community Centers, and Inner Public Schools; Seattle’s Alternative Schools and Nursing Homes; and individuals reached through over 60 presentations at TAPP Centers, Bethany Boys' Homes, K-5 outreach programs & various Civic organizations in the Midwest.
Franck Avril holds degrees from Yale University, where he studied with the eminent Robert Bloom, and from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with Robert Sprenkle. He has been on the faculty of 3 major Universities, and has maintained his own private teaching studio since 1976. This summer, Franck will be performing with Chamber Music Northwest, in Portland, OR, of which he is also Program and Operations Director (www.cmnw.org).