MicrostockGroup

ianhlnd,

Well if the bottom falls out of the micro stock market sounds like you could be running a floating photography school.

I hope I'm not giving anyone living a life of quiet desperation any ideas to sell the house and buy a yacht and start taking rich amateur photographers on week long cruises among the photographic jewels of the west coast, though I am sure there are worse ways of making a living.
 

I think I may be hijacking snapshots thread, and I didn't want to do that.  To answer a couple of questions and then we should get back on subject:

PIRATES?  Yeah, lots of them, mostly found at marinas, boatyards, and boating supply stores. They rob you blind. and you don't even get a kiss.

Fintastique, a floating photo school   Have to figure out who the instructor would be.  I had planned on hiring out, I have kayaks, diving gear, and am a pretty good cook - French Provincial crossed with Asian cuisine, but chartering out would mean I'd have to put up with charterers.  Somewhere on some forum, I had offered a week trip to 4 of the channel islands ending with San Miguel, the supposed site of Juan Cabrillos burial (he explored the west coast), no takers, I went anyway, 2 weeks and had a great time.  I'm trying to figure out the best way to do underwater photography without all the gear and money associated with it.  Was able to get some really good pics in clear, cold, pristine waters, but could not upres them enough to put them into stock, so I made greeting cards out of them.

Most of my sailing these days is solo, after being widowed 5 years ago.  I've started looking for a 1st mate, but without much practice, I'm a bit clumsy at it.  But am getting better. 

OK, how about back to topic,  sorry snapshot

Ian

Well, I don't live on a boat, and I'm part time, so not as interesting... :-).

My full time job is as a manager for the local council, in the IT / IS area.   I'm a geek, which in most circles these days isn't much of an impediment...

My photography is part time, I shoot sports and some event work for a local paper, and do portraits, and a few team sports photos..  Stock is a part-part time thing for me.  In a really busy stock month I'll upload 20 images.

Photography wise I got my LPSNZ (Licentiateship of the Photography Society of New Zealand) last year, and I'm the secretary of our local camera club.  I'd love to do photography full time but I need to get rid of some of our Mortgage first!  I don't have a preference for types of photography, I like expansive landscapes, and intimate portraits, detailed studies and riveting sports action shots.

I have delusions of being a writer, but havn't even put my blog onto my website yet, although I've written two articles for it.  I worry that I procrastinate far to much, and fail to grasp on oppertunities.

I've run three, or maybe four, part time businesses, of which I'm in the process of closing down the last one at the moment.  For a wee while there I was the largest manufacturer of Elevon mixers for R/C aircraft in the world, which isn't saying much, but it kept my email full of odd requests for information from every corner of the planet.  I've run a web hosting business, a computer service business, an online consumables shop, done electronic design consultancy, and almost ran a radio station.

And that's pretty much a snapshot, or a small part of, me.

Wow, Chellyar! Busy,busy,busy man.  If you have delusions of wanting to write, then why don't you tell a story with your photography?  Pick a topic that you know well, take the shots and write the words.  I know sounds simple, right?  I couldn't do it.  But I don't want to write either.  Wouldn't know where to start. 

Saw my cousin yesterday who has the cutest kids. I have none, though I have (3)cats and (1) big dog.  I told her that if she would let me take portraits of her children for her to keep in exchange of signing a model release.  She was all over it.  She is a single mother.  I am thinking about going into portrait photography.  But I want to use family members first, just to see if that's the way I want to go and to also start a portfolio.  I am really trying to find something with a twist.