Category Archives: Photography

A Day in The Life

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It’s Saturday! One of the two days a week I get to find local adventures. Not only that but it’s another super warm day and its still February. The snow has melted and I’m itching to go. But wait, it’s also tax season and although I already took my paperwork to my tax guy, I just got 2 new items needed for this year’s taxes.

First stop the gas station. Boy there sure is a lot of traffic today. Finally with a full tank I make it to Stoughton MA where I drop off the new paperwork. It’s way later than I expected.

I dash out of his office  with minimal chit chat. Back in the car I’m headed to Hanover/Norwell MA to get a passport photo taken and pick up some prints of my whale and also of a photo I sold recently.

Baby Whale Breach

Yup I’ve been a published photographer for awhile now but never been paid. (I’m not bragging, just thrilled)

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Boston Globe

Back in January I was contacted by a marketing firm to purchase the rights to one of my photos.  I was thrilled and even happier when they agreed to pay me for it. I happened to think that I should print a copy for my portfolio.  Since I signed the rights away I’m not sure I can show it here. A bank in Seattle is planning to enlarge it to wall size to decorate their lobby…or so they say. I am supposed to be notified once it’s done. I think there may be a trip back to Seattle in my future.

On the way Joe called. He’s just moved back to the north country from Sunny Florida. He wasn’t having any better luck than I was getting out of the house. We’d loosely planned to get together for a photo shoot.  We decided it just wasn’t meant to be. Another day, another time.

When I arrived at the photo processing lab the owner who takes all of the passport photos was tied up so I picked up my prints and ran down the street to a photo store to ask about filters.

That took about an hour but was very educational. By this time lunch was way over due. I made a quick stop at Wendy’s and returned for the passport mug shot…I mean photo. I guess you aren’t allowed to smile any more. I was smiling in my old photo but they told me no smiling this time.

That’s very hard because I know these guys and they always make me laugh. I ended up looking like I  had just sucked a lemon but no smile!

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I still had to do some grocery shopping and I had not taken 1 picture. Where did the day go?

So now you know why I never seem to have any time except when I go on vacation. Maybe tomorrow will be the day for the next local adventure. I hope so or you may be bored with another post like this.

A Photo Safari

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I couldn’t sleep. The alarm was set for 4 am but I was awake at 3. I tried to go back to sleep but I was too afraid that I’d oversleep if I did that so rise and shine. It’s really dark here with no streetlights!

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I’m heading back to the Pacific Whale Foundation’s location for a “Photo Safari”. I usually stay clear of things like this because my one and only experience of being out with a group of photographers was pretty negative. On that trip I was rudely pushed out of the way, yelled at by one, and blocked by a photography club. Getting a picture was near impossible!

I broke my rule because I figured there would be fewer people on board this boat and they would be actively looking for the best photo ops.  Check in was 5:45 am.

I was one of the first to arrive but it didn’t take long for the crowds to form. They had 3 different trips going out so you had to listen carefully to be sure you were in the correct group.

While I was waiting I heard a loud crash that sounded like a lens or camera being dropped. Sure enough. Once of the  “look at me, I’m a professional” types had dropped his camera. I offered my condolences but as true to  the nature of this type of  person, he just brushed it off. Turns out he was a pro and the group leader.

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Once on the boat, a small catamaran, Brian (the pro) began giving instruction about camera settings, depth of field, ISO, shutter speed and aperture modes. He also wanted to know who were shooting RAW and who was still using Jpeg.  I was one of the RAW shooters. He tossed out some recommended settings to start out since it was still pretty dark and I was pleased to see that I’d already set very similar settings on my own. Chalk one up for the weak side!

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We spotted a mama whale and baby right out of the harbor. Although they weren’t doing much we spent a lot of time there.

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Moving off we started to see breaching whales in the distance but the captain didn’t head there. Too far out he said. We followed a flotilla of other Whale watching boats.

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We soon found ourselves with another Mama and Calf. Baby must have just learned how to breach as he was jumping for joy.

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Baby Breach

That was the only breach we were close enough to photograph. We saw lots more whales , tails and flukes and flippers but no breaching in range. The crew tossed out a hydrophone so we listened to whale songs for about 20 minutes. That was fascinating.

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Everyone was very quiet as we returned to shore. No one got anything special so I think there was a sense of let down. Oh well, these are wild animals. They aren’t going to preform  “on demand”.

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What Does The Future Hold?

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I guess it’s because my birthday is only a couple of weeks away. I seem to be more introspective as I get older each year. I seem do more musing around this time than I do at New Year’s!

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What is eating at me these days is my future at work. So far my job appears secure but I’m not the workaholic I once was. With all the changes at the company I wonder if I will still be there in 1 or 2 more years. Then I look at my financial obligations and remind myself that I need to work another 10 years.

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So I decided to revisit an old revenue source.

A few years ago, probably 5 by now, I looked into stock photography. The myth is that you can upload pictures you’ve already taken and build an income stream. I didn’t have much luck the last time I tried but to be honest, I didn’t try very hard.

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Anyway, I thought about all these pictures I had sitting on my hard drive and thought I’d try again. According to what I’d read the minimum portfolio to start earning money is 300 pictures. That’s the magic number but more is better.

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I signed up at a new stock company and started looking through my pictures. They have to look over your work to be accepted. That’s when I discovered that many of my photos were’d big enough. The minimum file size at this particular company is 4 MB. I was surprised to find that many of my favorite pictures were only 2-3 MB, just missing the minimum.

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Looks like I will have my work cut out for me. So I plan to print out some model releases and start taking my camera everywhere. I have a list of the most requested subjects and many are outside my comfort zone. Even so I owe it to myself to really give it a try this time.

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Are any of you stock photographers? Any advice?

Jackson Hole Wyoming

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I thought I’d give Hawaii a rest for a bit.

One of the places I have been trying to get to is Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It is the only location in Wyoming where I have a time share option but it is always booked. I’ve been wondering if it’s because of the time of year I try to get a reservation. I think Jackson Hole is a big ski area and I’ve been looking in the winter.

 I heard that the Elk herd winters in an Elk Sanctuary just outside of Jackson hole and they have horse drawn sleigh rides through the winter herd.

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 I’ve also heard that the animals in Yellowstone are easier to see in winter because they congregate around the hot springs to get relief from the cold. The exception is the bears because they are hibernating but wolves are more visible.

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Speaking of the cold, most of the roads in Yellowstone are closed once the snow flies. The only way around the park is by snowcoach, snow mobile, snow shoes, or skis. I wouldn’t be up for the show shoes or skis but maybe the snowmobile although with camera gear for pictures the snow coach might be the best bet. Sadly that takes personal exploration out of the equation.

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 I recently bought a photography book for the Tetons and Yellowstone and after wading through tons of technical photo speak I’m beginning to think a spring or fall visit might be better than winter. Spring would  mean baby animals like elk and bison and maybe a grizzly cub if I got lucky and fall would mean the elk  and moose rut. Bears might still be active as they try to fatten up for the hibernation.

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 They talked a lot about the foliage of golden aspens but being from New England that seems a bit dull. I’m used to the vibrant reds of the sugar maples and every color of orange you can think of. All the photographers spoke of sun rise and dawn or sunset for most of the locations. Jackson Hole is a good 45  minutes away from the south entrance to Yellowstone. That is making me wonder if a decent photography trip can be had for both Yellowstone and the Tetons  if I stay in Jackson Hole.

 So much to figure out. Any suggestions?

A Click Too Fast

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Sometimes I can be really stupid. What’s that expression, “Measure Twice , Cut once” ? There should be one about ask twice before delete once. It may not be a snappy but it would have saved me buckets of grief!

I mentioned this a few posts ago but I have more info now.

I have my photo website, http://dustyroadsphotos.zenfolio.com. Here you can order prints of my pictures if you find some you really like. I haven’t had much luck with the “Fine Art”  or Animal and Nature prints so far but I was really trying to drive interest by adding greeting cards.

One of the vendors had an awesome collection of templates , especially for Christmas and Hanukkah. You could select the template, add the photo you liked and even add 2 lines like “from our house to yours” or  ” Season’s greeting, the Jones Family”.

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Because I was beginning to get inquiries I went behind the scenes to be sure my price lists were up to date. I didn’t want someone putting in an order that I couldn’t fill. That would not make for a positive experience. Sure enough, the single card option was gone.

I spent hours searching through the data bases, nada. So with a heavy heart and feeling quite discouraged I might add, I deleted the price list and started over with the options that are now available.

On a whim I sent off an email to zenfolio customer support. They confirmed the single card option was gone but they told me I was grandfathered in. WHAT! Unfortunately there is no way for them to restore the price lists I deleted so even though I was grandfathered  that too fast click on delete took it all away.

I’ve been looking into what they call “Self Full filled” options so if I can locate templates, I may be back in business.

I hope so. I really wanted to see this pick up this year. I think I will practice on the Birthday Cards first.

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I’ll keep you posted!