Hi-ho,

I often shoot landscapes in low light as well, not always successfully. :-).

I think this image would have been better off taken using an ND grad filter, or if you had a tripod, shoot a bracketed set and layer or HDR the image..

The blown out highlight in the sky I find quite distracting, although it is on a third which makes it not quite so bad, but you're lead into the image by the canal, and then your eyes fix on the bright spot.

Also, I find the horizon line being right in the middle of the page to be too rigid.  If the sky had more detail, you could loose 1/2 of the canal image.  If the canal had more interest you could loose 1/2 of the sky..  If you see what I mean.

I think when you saw this image in person the sky looked very dramatic and organic, and it contrasted with the harsh, straight lines of the canal...  Shooting it as an HDR would have kept that drama I think.

Thanks for sharing.

The first pic in his port is a self-portrait.. 



What an odd thread...

Quote from: chellyar on July 07, 2008, 01:41

My 5 year old daughter could teach you a lesson about enjoying photography if that's what you want to do...

Sounds like a capital idea chellyar. Lets make an appointment soon so I can begin my lessons as soon as possible.
I am free M thru F 9am to 5pm everyday. Please inform me how much I should expect to pay, and how many lessons I might need.

  - Any time, I'm unemployed currently, so I can be the classroom assistant...

Probably not that many lessons, although the commute would be a bit of a pain, it's about 14 hours by air to NZ from the US isn't it?

Edit:  Forgot, the lessons would be free if you agreed to play with barbie for a while and watch some episodes of Bob the Builder or Jane and the Dragon with Phoebe.  I'd even throw in a cuppa coffee for any microstockers who want to come and shoot the breeze with her Dad. 

Can I ever return to being a "NORMAL" photographer?

Define 'Normal'

What you're doing works for you apparently in terms of stock, so stick with it in that context.

My 5 year old daughter could teach you a lesson about enjoying photography if that's what you want to do...

She finds joy in capturing her own reflection in the mirror, she takes photos of her dolls in their bed, on the floor, on the couch.  She takes photos of drawings in the sandpit (And gets sand in the camera...  Mutter mumble) she scribbles in the condensation on the windows and then takes photos of it.

We went on a 4 day photo trip with the local camera club down to Otago a few months ago, and I showed her photos instead of mine after the trip at a club meeting.  Photos of single leaves in a stunning forest of autumn colors.  The swing in a playground, her feet on the dash of our 4x4, and barbie sitting on a headstone in a cemetery.  Her lunch on the car seat.  The 'One Way' sign on a narrow bridge.  Dad taking photos.  She even went around and took a photo of everyones shoes during one of the evenings...

Many of her photos are out of focus, and don't appear to have an obvious subject, but she enjoys what she's doing, and that's what photography is about to a 5 year old.  It's a game.  If she's not having fun doing it she moves onto something else...

If I go for a walk around home (Rural) I take my P&S and take photos of leaves in puddles, electric fence signs, fence posts, haystacks, cow s__t, thistles, muddy ditches....

It's very cathartic to think and act like a child at times.  Impulsively capture what's around you, not because the lighting is right, the composition is good, or you'll get $0.33 in stock revenue per month from it...  Just because it's there, and it's what you see.

As for there being hope?  I think not, you're beyond redemption. 

Just my 2c worth. :-).

Ummmm.

What happened to the reasoned counterpoint we're used to?  Or at least some slightly creative abstract logic?

That's school yard sniping you've fallen to...

  I can't believe how much to typed to discredit the peeing on a cigarette theory! 

I'll keep you posted...   

Your totally a photographer!!
I know, because I'm more than a little  jealous of your horse racing stuff. 

lol... nice work

Errr, fankyou?

Your studio stuff is really nice, so I'm figuring you know which end to point where as well. 

Hi-ho,

I consider myself a photographer some of the time, other times I'm a computer engineer, carpenter, electrical engineer, software developer, IT manager, father, motorcyclist, farmer, and most importantly a friend to those who know me.

For that moment in time while you're pointing a camera at something and pushing the button you are a photographer, regardless of the results you get.

Professional implies you do it for a living (or part of it), not that you do it well, although we tend to assume the two go together...

'Good' 'Awesome' 'Inspiring' etc, are labels we give the photographer after we see the results, but the bit that makes them/us a photographer is pushing the button, nothing more, nothing less.  Even the annoying tourist with the disposable 35mm point and shoot is a photographer while they are taking a photo.

Being a professional photographer is about how you make your living, and being good is a matter of respect from your peers and customers.

I've been a part time 'photographer' for ages, about 19 years now, but consider myself pretty average to be honest.

I have seen some teenagers who have more natural talent, and technical skill that I will ever have, and I've seen 60 year old 'Photographers' who day after day pass themselves off as 'Good and Professional' because their customers haven't met the teenagers yet.  Professional yes, good no.

If someone is 'good' at what they do, and doesn't mind sharing their results and experience I applaud them for doing so.  But just like everyone else, I get _VERY_ annoyed with the blow-hards who claim to be good and or professional and don't share their work to back up their many years of experience...

And more importantly, 57 Years??

Somehow I pictured you as younger than that Miz.  I figured you for a late 20's generation X with a chip on your shoulder.  So now I know you really are just cranky.  

Cheers, me.

Hurro,

Don't loose heart with IS, I've got a 79% acceptance ratio there with a very 'general' portfolio.

If you take a look at my stuff you'll see it's not the best stock in the world, but it is simple in the sense that I don't process stuff for any of the sites I upload to, if I can't get it in the camera I don't bother.

Having said that I've had some mystery 'artifacts' rejections in the last week or two, which is weird for raw images with default conversions..  Whatever, I just move on, it's still better that fotolia who seem to reject pretty much everything these days...

I'm not endorsing my portfolio as something to follow though, as not a lot of the newer stuff seems to sell these days, all my selling images on IS are the older ones...  Such is life.

I'm just saying that it's not that hard to get images on there if you're making simple, clean images.

Cheers, Me.

Are you still taking photos?

That'd be the next sign of something wrong.. Loosing the creative urge to push the button thingy on the camera whatsit.

I like your new avatar by the way.

Fankyou... 

It's from the series of the self-portraits I'm going to use for stock...

The one really odd thing about that is useing the healing tool on my own face!