The Finishing Touch Features Shore Studios Drone Photography Through March

Published in Kent County News | Leann Schenke | March 11, 2020

For Sam Shoge, seeing the community engage with his work was the most rewarding part of co-hosting his first opening reception at The Finishing Touch.

“What I love to see was people leaning into the photo, because you could really see them engaging with the photo — looking for where they live, pointing out specific things that they know and kind of waving over their friends or whoever they were with to kind of look at that specific detail,” Shoge said. “And I just love that, because they’re really taking it all in and they’re exploring.”

Shoge launched Shore Studios — a drone service company — in spring 2017.

An opening reception was held as part of the monthly First Friday events in March. Shoge’s photography will remain on display at the Finishing Touch through March 31. All images on display are for sale.

For the show, Shoge said Finishing Touch owner Bob Ramsey printed and framed his photos. He praised Ramsey and his staff’s efforts saying they did a fantastic job planning the event.

“They exceeded my absolute best expectations,” Shoge said. “(Ramsey) did a masterful job and the staff was extremely helpful and welcoming to all the guests. It was just a lot of fun.”

Ramsey said hosting a show at the store was a mutual decision resulting from a conversation the two had.

Shoge said he asked Ramsey if he could have his work on display.

Ramsey then suggested having a First Friday show.

Ramsey said The Finishing Touch has hosted art exhibits before this, but does not do so every First Friday.

Shoge estimated at least 75 people passed through the store to see his images. He made two sales during the reception. Shoge said both purchases were as a result of people recognizing a landscape or a scene captured in his photographs.

“One woman bought the photo of the Chestertown waterfront to give to her husband and another person bought the photo of ‘War on the Shore’ because his son plays lacrosse at Washington College,” Shoge said.

Shoge’s work has been featured in art shows hosted by Chestertown RiverArts, where he won the Peoples Choice Award. Shoge also has had work featured in a pop-up show at RiverArts’ ArtsAlive Education Center.

Shoge said images featured in this show are a result of three and a half years of work. Hosting another show, he said, is dependent on conditions lining up so he is able to capture certain scenes.

One of his photographs, for example, was taken during both a polar vortex and bomb cyclone.

Another photograph of the Chester River bridge was planned, Shoge said, but he had to wait for “all the conditions to be just right to get the conditions that I wanted.” He said he planned that particular shot for about a month.

“I could probably have smaller exhibits relatively soon, but nothing like what I had on Friday,” Shoge said. “Just because it takes so much time to get a robust image portfolio.”

In describing the show, Ramsey said turnout was nice as was the event itself.

“First Fridays are always nice. It’s a nice to time for downtown Chestertown,” Ramsey said. “Everybody comes downtown and walks around and they get a little hors d’oeuvres here and there and a glass of wine. They get to see what’s going on in the stores — that’s the name of the game.”