Well, sort of. I can’t believe I haven’t updated this place this August, that’s more than 4 months since I last made a post. Considering I was going to use this as a place to promote my art/prints, I have not done too well there! However, as a sort of New Year’s resolution I am going to try to update this blog once a day (this is never going to happen!).
I might be able to do it. Maybe.
Perhaps.
Look! I am back. It’s about time I updated this as I haven’t done anything here since the end of June. I coul doffer all sorts of elaborate excuses, but I haven’t got any. I have just been lazy.
However I do intend to update my Folksy & Etsy shops soon with some new Little Folk prints because a few people keep asking for them and sales have dropped off considerably.
In the past couple of months I have been to two weddings and offered my services as the photographer. Being a complete wedding photography novice I was:
1. Not paid
and
2. Not alone. Someone else was there on both ocassions also taking photos.
I took loads of photos on both ocassions and I think a few of them turned out quite well. Have a look:
This also gives me a chance to try out the new image gallery plugin I have installed.
I must update this more regularly. I keep meaning to, then I keep forgetting.
I have been playing with some self-portraits recently. I’ve never really tried self-portraits before, mainly because they always look terrible and cheesy. These look quite cool though:
I’ve always wanted to be able to take a decent self-portrait. I have always failed.
However today, one shot out of 40 seemed to work. With a bit of tweaking in Photoshop I think I have a self-portrait I am happy with.
For now.
I have finally got round to doing some new photos – they’re not for sale yet (it’s too late at night to faff around with that sort of thing, maybe tomorrow)
Here’s a sneak preview of some of them.
Guitar Hero
And this one comes from a series I am doing for weddings.
Shotgun Wedding
I love this one. It’s a bit more dark, like the Death By Chocolate shot and it’s something I want to do more of. I thought of having the bride & groom dead too, but decided that was going a bit far and no one would want it. But to be honest, anyone that buys a picture like that to give as a wedding gift is a bit mentally ill.
I have a tiny polar bear model that I have yet to use. And an artist painting on a canvas. And a photographer. And a Muslim Sheik. And a mini police car.
In fact, come to think of it, I have more new little people than I have new ideas.
Cock.
I have been suffering from what I can only descibe as “artists” block recently. I have had absolutely no inspiration whatsoever. Nothing. However, last week I ordered some new “little folk” models and will be doing some more photos soon.
This is the first of (hopefully) many. It’s called “Rock” Band, for obvious reasons:
Rock Band
It’s been altered in Photoshop to give it a sort of “washed out” look. Something different as I never really alter the look or feel of my photos. So I may be experimenting with that a bit more.
It’s not for sale on my site or any of my shops yet, mainly because I am a lazy bugger, but it will be soon.
Unlike my previous few posts, this is not an “Interview a Day in May” – I kind of ran out of people to interview. Oh well, at least I have something else interesting to blog about.
I just received a pack of 200 business cards from www.moo.com – that site is so very, very good. The cards look and feel absolutely wonderful. You can choose a different image for each card. But as I don’t have 200 little people photos, I went for around 10 of my favourite images. On the back, you can have pretty much any text layout you want.
Here they are:
Moo Cards - the epitome of awesome
In other news, I just sold my first prints to a customer in Germany. Never sold to anyone on mainland Europe before. I don’t think he’s German though as it’s well known that the Germans have no sense of humour and you’d need one of those to buy my prints. That’s not racist by the way, I’m pretty sure it’s been scientifically proven.
Also, in defence of the Germans, I have been watching The Red Baron today and it’s bloody good.
So, in summary: Moo cards are good and the Germans know how to fly planes.
More insights from me soon. Perhaps as cutting and deep as these, you can only hope.
Here comes another one, this time it’s all the way from America and features Gale Zucker:
1. When and why did you start in photography?
When I was 7, got my first camera and started making my sister pose for me. I liked it. Then when I started college, realized I still liked making photos and looking at old Life magazines more than what I was studying, so I switched to journalism school, thinking I’d o be a newspaper photographer. I’ve been freelancing for 20 years (working independently for all kinds of publications) . I was a regular stringer for The NY Times for a long time, then switched into magazine & commercial work . Now I just say I shoot real people in real places. I like telling stories with photos.
Photo art notecards - available to buy on Etsy.com
Angora goat kid photo art notecard, 5x7
Finally got a fellow UK photographer to take part in my “Interview a day in May” series. So here’s Louise:
I live in Kent which is in the UK, also known as the garden of England.
2. How did you start in photography?
Whilst doing my psychology degree I realised that I was just heading in the wrong direction with my life. I wanted to do something creative but had plucked for academia as it was the ’safer’ option. I spent my student loan on my SLR and lived off pennies for the next 3 months but it was worth it. I knew I had made the right decision straight away, I loved photography, I always have and can’t believe it took me so long to just go for it! Now is also the perfect time for me to put everything into making my Etsy shop work as my husband and I are expecting our first child next month so I will be spending lots of time at home.
3. What’s your favourite photo in your shop and why?
My favorite photo is my grass dew print, to me it feels like I have captured a miniature world. That’s another thing I love about photography, capturing moments that may have otherwise gone by unnoticed. I appreciate the beauty of nature and am in ore of it, I want to do it justice and feel in this photograph I have.
4. Where’s the best place you have ever taken a photo?
The best place would have to be Dungeness in Kent, it is such a strange place and looks like an alien landscape in parts, it certainly doesn’t feel like the UK. I also love the contradiction of Dungeness nuclear power station being situated in the middle of a thriving nature reserve, I think it highlights the fragility and balance of nature in a tangible way.
5. What camera/s do you use?
I use a Canon Eos 400d with a canon 55-250mm IS Lens. That lens is like my baby!
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Here’s a link to Louise’s shop on Etsy and below is my favourite from her shop:
4x6 original photography print- Crows - Available on Etsy.com - Click here
It’s Friday and it’s the fifth of my interviews. They seem to be going well so far, people seem to like them and the blog is getting a lot more views than normal.
Today’s interview is with Andrea Despot another fellow photographer selling her stuff on Etsy.com like me. I don’t know whether or not she actually is a despot though.
I live in Martinsville, Virginia. It’s in the southern part, about 15 minutes from the North Carolina border.
Though it’s not for sale in my shop (as of yet), at the moment “Escapisms” is my favorite photograph.
Escapisms by Andrea Despot
I took it a couple of weekends ago when the weather was hot and sunny and in the 90s. I have a thing for big fields, fields of anything: wheat, grass, flowers. I’m not very good at describing why I love them so much, but they just make me so happy, I love the open space, the expanse. So this photograph conveys that. I also used a very very shallow depth of field which creates an interesting effect on where the focus is in the picture, which I’m really digging at the moment!
I have always been into art: drawing, painting, etc. ever since I was really young. I didn’t get into photography until my freshman year of high school (about 8 years ago). I don’t know why, but all of the sudden I just wanted to do photography. So I saved the money I made one summer baby-sitting and bought my first film SLR camera, a Nikon N65. I took pictures mostly of objects and of nature, I rarely ever took “snapshots” of family or friends. My eyes were always drawn toward things that didn’t move! So a passion grew for it and I went to The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale and received my Associate of Science degree in Photography. I graduated about 2 years ago, am lucky enough to have a full-time job as a Photographer, thought not lucky enough to be at a place where we don’t receive much photography work. So I’m doing mostly freelance at the moment. But I wouldn’t want to do anything else. Photography just came very naturally into my life, it wasn’t
a sudden thing. It appeared and then quietly became what I knew I wanted as my career!
Now I use a Canon 30D. But I also have a slew of film cameras: a Nikon N65, a Holga, a Polaroid camera (nothing fancy), a Wester Chrome-Six which takes medium format (something my boyfriend found in an antique shop in Japan), a quadri-cam (I think it’s called!), and a little digital Canon PowerShot that I never use anymore, it’s seen it’s last days…
I haven’t been to very many exciting places to take pictures, someday I would love to go to Italy and Scotland and Egypt and basically anywhere outside of the continental U.S. Anyway, the best place I HAVE been would have to be Las Vegas, but my family vacationed there very early in my “photography days.” I wish I could go back with the technical knowledge that I have now! It would be way too fun!
——
You can view Andrea’s shop at: www.andreadespot.etsy.com or see her website and professional portfolio at: www.andreadespotphotography.com or see other photos on flickr at: www.flickr.com/photos/andreadespot
(That’s a lot of links)
Bye for now.
