Year in Review – Looking back on 2014, with many thanks…

So the end of 2014 is here, good chance to reflect… Some things I’m proud of:

– Creating this blog this summer and continuing to post fairly regularly.
– Reaching 1,000 photos on my Shutterstock site by the end of the summer.
– Attending Mike Moats‘ micro photography workshop, I’d held on to the workshop pamphlet I picked up from his Ann Arbor Art Fair booth for years waiting for one to take place near me during the summer and to feel “worthy” … I learned so much from him, and glad I can keep learning through his posts.
– Learning from other WordPress photographers, particularly Lianne Cole, Simon Bowler, Mark Simms and the incredibly prolific Amy Saab , all tremendous role models to me – Thank you for sharing your wonderful photos!
– Having my first solo exhibit, “It’s In The Details” about car details, and also being selected for the Letters and Leaves exhibit at the local botanical garden.
– Starting the logo photography project, I’ve had such fun with that, AND it’s been a big money maker!
– Creating a gallery on Fine Art America to sell prints of my photos, curious how that will go.

I look forward to seeing just what 2015 brings, might just purchase that 50 mm lens I’ve had my eyes on for a while, would love to have a print sale… I know that one way or the other I’ll grow as a photographer, learning from the many outstanding photographers I’ve met and sharing my experiences with those interested in photography…

Best wishes to you in your 2015 photography adventures,

Susan

Giving Fine Art America a shot

I recently created a gallery on Fine Art America to allow people to purchase prints, cards, etc. of some of my photographs. I first researched various such POD (Print On Demand) sites, and selected this one because:

– You keep ownership of your photos

– You set the profit you make for each order

– It’s only $30 a year to place unlimited photos

– It seemed to have good flow and generally good user reviews.

– You can “sponsor” pages by having links to search pages from your website, which in theory prioritizes your photo to the third line of the search results. Though of course with popular searches you really just get a higher chance to be on that third line, we’ll see how well that works out…

At any rate, it’s an intriguing next steps to my photography adventures, so we’ll see how that goes… You bet if I sell something I’ll be all sorts of excited and you’ll hear from me here… If you have had experience with Fine Art America I’d love to hear of your experience, please drop me a comment, thanks!

Monthly reflections – December 2014

Not many new photos since November Monthly Reflections and my day job kept me quite busy, so mostly basking in the glow…

The It’s in the details solo exhibit wrapped up. No sales, but many kind words, and now I have the set I can look at other places to exhibit them, we’ll see…

The Matthaei Botanical Gardens’ Letters & Leaves – Nature As Inspiration for Poetry exhibit came off well, we went to see it and the ivy photo holds its own among the other photos. Some of the poems are quite good, too, proud to be a part of that.

Now that I have a bit of vacation I am taking some photos, just yesterday boyfriend and I spent the day in Detroit, and this morning we went on a logo hunting expedition, so I’ll be adding to the Shutterstock collection soon. Time to think about an end of the year wrap-up, hmm…

From DPS – Digital Photo Editing Workflow – Better Images From Capture to Output

Just read a great summary in Digital Photography School of the complete process from the time you take the picture to the final photo. They discuss these steps:

Capture – Composition, lighting, exposure, focus

Pretty happy with my focus, work to do re. exposure, always learning

Import – Storage, file naming, database, backups

I used to have this compulsion to include in the file name one letter reminders of the stock photo sites each photo got into, my workflow got a lot simpler then I realized it didn’t matter… I use Carbonite as my back-up because it just happens automatically, you don’t have to remember to do anything. SO glad I had it when it looked like my hard drive might have been fried. Turned out to just be a bad cable, but good to not have to sweat it while waiting to have it looked at, and not having to worry I could have lost pretty much my whole photography business…

Organize – Selections, ratings, collections, metadata

I don’t go with folders, maybe I should, but the first word in my file is typically the location or key word, works for me…I definitely include the metadata

Develop – Crop/straighten, tone & color, sharpening, remove artifacts, creative effects

They cover this in great detail, nothing to add.

Output – Destination?, file settings, delivery

In my case, as you know, it’s the stock photo websites, starting to explore some framing…

To read more details and see some great photo examples, see Digital Photo Editing Workflow – Better Images From Capture to Output

Monthly reflections – November 2014

Lots of excitement since the October Monthly Reflections …

The It’s in the details solo exhibit is up and running through mid-December, it looks great! I had a reception that 40-50 friends attended, so wonderful to have the support of so many friends! I wonder if any of the photos will sell, wouldn’t that be a hoot!

I also got that ivy photo accepted at the Matthaei Botanical Gardens’ Letters & Leaves – Nature As Inspiration for Poetry exhibit, can’t wait to see how that one looks, headed there this week-end.

Not much time to take photos given my day job and mom demands, but the photos I have online are making for some nice extra income – Thanks, Shutterstock !

From DPS – Top 10 Mistakes that Cause Blurry Photos

While we’re on the theme of avoiding blurry photos, here ‘s another article I think you’ll find quite useful. The causes they focus on are:

1. Your shutter speed is too slow
2. Not using a tripod
3. Bad camera holding technique
4. Your aperture is too wide
5. Not using autofocus
6. Not focusing in the correct place
7. Using the incorrect focus mode
8. Not using manual focus
9. Junk on or in front of your lens
10. Poor lens quality

Read the article for more details and example photographs. I’m still working on focus modes, the others I’ve definitely dealt with and am getting much better on. One step at a time…

Making labels for a photography exhibit

So you might recall that my photos got accepted for a solo exhibit. In preparation for it I made labels for each framed photograph. I looked around for ideas and ended up choosing to print them on 3 x 5 unlined cards, perfect size to fit the information I needed.

__________________________________________

Name of piece
Detailed name
year, H x W inches (note that it’s height x width)

Description of piece (optional)

Your name
Contact info, website Price
__________________________________________

I designed them in Microsoft Word, and set the paper size to 3″ x 5″ and just printed them on the 3×5 cards, easy peasy, didn’t have to worry about cutting them uniformly. I printed another set on regular paper, two to a page, to tape the description to the back of each piece.

We then put them on the wall with UHU Tac Removable Adhesive Putty Tabs, some on each top corner. I had printed an extra set of cards just in case, but didn’t end up needing them – better safe than sorry…

From PictureCorrect – Seven Tips for Sharper Photos

PictureCorrect has a great article with 7 starter tips for sharper photos. It goes into detail into:

1. Tripod

2. Cable release or remote

3. Self-timer

4. Mirror lock-up

5. Use your lens’ sharpest aperture

6. ISO

7. Image stabilization

You can read the whole article here .

In my case I started by using my monopod, with image stabilization off, which was a tremendous help in getting sharp photos. Later I realized that I was getting better at having a steady hand when taking photos handheld, and I started adjusting the shutter speed to go for sharper photos. I’d start at the inverse of the focal length, so if I was shooting at 100 mm I’d start at 1/100 sec, then adjust depending on whether I was shooting a moving (so faster shutter speed) or stable (no need to push the shutter speed) object.

When I started taking stock photos the goal of focus at 100% magnification, which is the requirement for many stock photo agencies, was daunting, but now I get it “tack-sharp” most of the time hand-held. It was a matter of getting out there and shooting lots of photographs, first with tripod and cable release, etc. , then monopod, now handheld… Remember I’ve been taking photos seriously for a number of years, got my first DLSR 10 years ago, take it one step at a time, and master your camera as you need to…

From PictureCorrect – How to Avoid The Most Common Photography Mistakes

Click here for details on avoiding 15 most common photography mistakes, along these areas:

1. Light and shadow
2. Location
3. Focus
4. Aperture
5. Composition
6. Framing
7. Flash
8. Shutter speed
9. Camera basics
10. Trying to shoot at night without a tripod
11. Attention
12. Backgrounds
13. Shooting
14. Creativity
15. Horizons

Great advice!

Trying out for another exhibit – Letters and Leaves exhibit

Ever hopeful I have submitted some photos for another exhibit, this one is Letter and Leaves at the UM Botanical Garden, they ask for “your most inspired photographs to accompany and enhance the poems on display—images that explore and reveal the theme of the poetry of nature.” SO, I submitted these three:

Cross your fingers!

_____

Addendum November 12th – I found out last week that “Striving,” the photo of the climbing ivy, was accepted into the exhibit! I’m getting it framed right now, so excited…

Monthly reflections – October 2014

Decided to write some monthly reflections, help me track my progress as a photographer and keep followers posted…

Excited about my photo exhibit coming up, looks like mid-November to mid-December. I have picked up the framed photos from Michael’s and they look really good, if I say so myself. Had to decide on pricing, and went with $150 per framed photo (12″x 18″ photo, 18″ x 24″ framed), based on cost of printing and framing, their 30% cut, and wanting to make a little profit on them… They accepted my Artist Statement (tee hee…) Finalizing details on exhibit dates and reception then I’ll start inviting everyone…

Tried out for the Ann Arbor Art Center All Media Exhibit with two photos:

Timing was such that if I waited until I was selected I wouldn’t have time to get them framed by their deadline, so I went ahead and got them framed and then learned I didn’t get in… Can’t feel bad, there were over 140 applications! Oh well, they’re ready to go for a future exhibit and so far I have spent less in framing than I have made in stock photography this year, so eating into profits but not going into debt…

I am in the process of applying for another exhibit at the local botanical garden, have printed the photos but I think I can wait until I learn if I’m in before I have to invest in framing them…

The logo photos project is an unqualified success! Significant sales, have taken many other photos that I have yet to processed, been too busy with other things to take more, but itching to get back out there, gotta make time around day job and personal time… That should keep me busy during the winter months…

I’m considering getting a new lens, maybe a 35 mm or a 50 mm, I really can’t make up my mind… Likely ’cause I’m not totally sure whether to prioritize portraits or street photography, know I’d like to take indoor shots that let in more light… This article has some ideas. Any suggestions?

That’s it for October. Need to make more time for photography, trying to prioritize so many things, life is so short…

Milestone – My first solo photo exhibit – car details! Advice?

I’m so excited, I’m going to have my first solo photo exhibit! In addition to stock photography I love to take photos of car details, and the University of Michigan has accepted a set of 12 photos for an exhibit “It’s all in the details: Car design,” to take place on North Campus in November.

I got the photos printed through online service AdoramaPix, and framing through Michael’s framing here in town. The framing manager there, Ryan, has been tremendously supportive of my photo endeavors, so I’m happy to do business with them. I looked up local places but it just didn’t work out.

The exhibit folks offered to have a reception. At first I was thinking I wouldn’t have a reception, as I really don’t like to have attention called to myself, but my artist friend Shonda Bottke insisted I had to have one, so I agreed.

What advice do you have for me as I prepare for this first exhibit and the reception? I’d love to hear from you, thanks!

October 19th addendum – Some details figured out. Exhibit will take place November 16 – December 13, Pierpont Commons piano room, 2101 Bonisteel Blvd, here in Ann Arbor. I can’t wait… :)

Shooting stock photos – Traveling Vietnam Memorial exhibit

My sister and I recently had the good fortune to attend The Moving Wall exhibit when it visited Hamburg, MI. It’s a traveling half-size replica of the Washington, D.C. Vietnam Veterans Memorial. We were very touched by how caring everyone was, how solemn and strangely peaceful it was, and how very well organized the event was. I took a number of photographs and selected the best, which I sent to the organizer via email from my stock photo email address, offering them for her to use, free of charge, of course.

I requested official permission to take photos so I could submit them to stock photo sites, explaining how they work, and gave her the template text, following Shutterstock’s permissions format:

To whom it may concern,

I grant Susan Montgomery credentials to photograph (name of event) in (location) on (date)

Name of authorized person, Title
Organization

They were pleased the photos and promptly granted me permission, and I got a number of them approved!

On reflection, what I did right:

– Took my time and waited for the right occasions to get just the right shots. We walked back and forth three times looking for the right occasions.

– Tried many angles and positions. I started off with a flower shot in another location, kept working the angles, trying different views. Overall I probably took about 15 before getting to this one. It’s a wonderful feeling when you feel you got the shot that expresses what you were trying to say…

– Kept my distance, to respect those who were honoring loved ones. There were many shots I didn’t take because they would have been intrusive.

What I would do differently next time:

– If schedule allowed it that week-end, gone on a sunnier day, for a better background sky.

– Worn a duller color, I had to be mindful of not having the reflection of my bright t-shirt on the black wall. Now I see why photographers often wear dark.

Overall we were very glad to get a chance to see this touching and thought provoking exhibit. I have been to the permanent one in DC, but it had been many years, and this traveling one is quite special. You can see the photos that Shutterstock accepted here.

From Shutterstock – Event Photography Tips: Battling Space, Time, and the Weather

Shutterstock’s blog has a great article on event photography tips. Short version:

1. Stay on the move
2. Get the right gear
3. Work with the weather
4. Keep yourself informed

See more details and great photographs for examples of each tip here.

Milestone – A thousand images on Shutterstock!

Excited that this week I hit 1,000 images on Shutterstock! I was at close to 800 at the start of the summer and set a goal to hit 1,000 by the end of the summer, did great with Detroit photo day, then things slowed down a bit and thought it wasn’t going to happen, but UM football team photo day with 79 photos put me back in the running, and now it’s happened, yey!

You can see that except for that first year, when I was uploading images I already had, most of my activity happens during the summers. This summer I decided to focus a lot on photography, what a blast! Things will slow down with the school year starting in the United States and my “day job” getting considerably busier, but I hope to continue to make progress… (Hmmm… I tell my students to substitute “hope” with “plan” and figure out a way to make it happen, I should heed my own advice…) I plan to continue to make progress… The store logo project should yield a bunch more photos, I have some upcoming events I plan to take photos at, and later indoor photos projects… Should be fun!

If you’re wondering what the dip Summer 2011 is about – I had submitted a bunch of photos from a Detroit Tigers baseball game Summer 2010 that got through, but when I submitted a similar batch Summer 2011 they had stiffened their permissions requirements so that I needed official credentials that I didn’t have. When they rejected the 2011 photos I pointed out the 2010 photos and offered to have them removed, which they did, thus the dip.

Looking forward to keeping the momentum going into the school year…

Shooting stock photos – Store logos

I had noticed that many articles on websites and newspapers about companies include shots of company logos, so I decided to hunt up some company logos for stock photo shots. I went early on a Sunday morning with no bright sun to one of our streets with lots of stores and went up and down the different strip malls and took shots of close-ups of logos:

and store fronts:

I then cropped and aligned them, and composed an editorial caption by looking up some news about them, and following Shutterstock’s captioning instructions , so for example:

ANN ARBOR, MI – AUGUST 24: Chili’s, whose east Ann Arbor store logo is shown on August 24, 2014, has announced it will create a line of frozen foods.

I also have to remember that when I submit them to iStockphoto I have to change the capital letters at the start to lower case to match their caption style…

What I did right:

– Went on a Sunday so parking lots were empty and I could move around easily and not so many folks thinking me creepy for taking photos. Some of the shots were taken from the van.
– Made sure my van was not showing in the reflection of the glass..
– No bright sunshine, so no harsh shadows
– Looked up news about each company, or if I couldn’t find any news looked up their website and wrote up how many stores they have in the US or some such.

What I would do differently:

– In some cases I got just the logo and not the store, later realized I should get one of each, so going back to reshoot some of them.
– Weather was a bit too cloudy at times, so some shots were not as good as I’d like, have to back for some of those too.

Some might think of this as too much like work, but I am a collector at heart, so this is more like a scavenger hunt for me, really enjoy it for some weird reason… To see all such photos in my Shutterstock collection click here.

Dec 6 addendum – You can see by looking at my complete Shutterstock collection by popularity just what a huge hit the logos have been – sharp increase in my Shutterstock income!

Stock photo tip – Develop your own events calendar

I realized recently that I was relying on my memory to remember when certain annual events took place. It occurred to me I should develop my own events calendar, so I thought I’d share the idea with others, as I bet I’m not the only one this happens to.

I googled a number of annual events listing websites around Ann Arbor and the Detroit area, and created my events calendar as a Googledoc text document, making a note of the actual date for those whose dates were already listed, and leaving the others to look up later. So for example for June I have:

JUNE

2015 3-7 Ann Arbor and others – Cinetopia International Film Festival
2015 5-7 Ann Arbor – Ya’ssoo Greek Festival
2015 6 Ann Arbor – African American Downtown Festival
2015 12 Ann Arbor – Green Fair
2015 12 – July 5 Ann Arbor Summer Festival

Ann Arbor – Dexter Ann Arbor Run
Ann Arbor – Juneteenth
Race for the Cure – Susan Komen foundation
Belleville – National Strawberry Festival
Detroit – Cruisin’ Gratiot
Howell – Michigan Challenge Balloonfest
Lincoln Park and others – Cruisin’ Downriver
Frankenmouth – Bavarian Festival
Detroit – River days
Sterling Heights – Stars and Stripes Festival
Detroit – Motor City Pride
Ypsilanti – Depot Town Cruise Nights, Thursday nights

I made sure I noted “2015” on those dates that I knew, so in the future I know to update it. As dates for the other events are finalized I’ll incorporate them into the chronological listing.

Now I am more confident to not miss an event, and can plan ahead to check for press pass deadlines, etc.

I didn’t want to use an actual calendar, list seemed better for me for some reason. I also decided not to worry about including related websites since I can always Google the event, but you might prefer to do so, and might decide you prefer a spreadsheet vs. a text document.

Of course this makes me wonder – how do others keep track of possible shooting opportunities? I invite you to share your ideas in the comments area, thanks!

Milestone – One thousand hits!

So today SusanMontgomeryPhotos.com reached 1,000 hits. I’m thrilled ! I know many of the blogs I follow have over 1,000 followers, and tens of thousands of hits, and I’m in awe of them and inspired by them, but in my little corner of the world here, 1,000 hits is humbling… I have thought for a few years about starting this website to help others with their stock photography adventures, and this summer I decided to go for it, and it looks like some people are indeed interested in learning from my experiences, how flattering… It has helped me to write it too, as I reflect on each of my big shoots to see what I did right and what I could do better next time.

Thank you very much for reading, and if you have any questions I have not addressed let me know, I will do my best to help you, paying forward all those who helped me get this far…

Best wishes in your photography adventures,

Susan

Shooting stock photos – Michigan Football Youth Day!

Had lots of fun last week-end shooting photos of UM football players at the University’s Football Youth Day open house! How I prepared:

– I checked into permission to take photos, since it took place inside the stadium. I sent an email to their media relations person, asking for permission using the text Shutterstock likes to see:

To whom it may concern,

I grant (photographer name) credentials to photograph (name of event) at

(location) on (date)

(Name, role)

(Organization)

(of course I had filled in as much as I could…) He replied with “The Youth Day is open to the public so we won’t have a credential for media.” I saved my email request and his reply with full organizational info as a PDF file and a JPG file to submit to stock websites so they’d know Michigan folks were OK with me taking photos.

– I looked over the UM football website to see that they had a roster of players with photos, so as long as I could see their jersey number I would be able to match up players to names, so I didn’t have to worry about that.

OK, off I went, went there early and they let us into the stadium, then got a cool behind-the-scenes photo of the team getting their team photo taken before the start of the event:

Then they let us in, and remembering that Shutterstock won’t accept editorial photos with identifiable children unless the child’s name is included and not wanting to deal with asking for kids’ names, I decided to focus on photos of the players only (see what I would differently below…).

The players were quite obliging, particularly if I caught them at a break between autograph seekers and asked them by their name and with a smile on my face, and wished them a good season afterwards, got lots of great close-ups of many players, including Sione Houma and Jake Ryan:

Since I started out on the field I stayed there and got shots of the freshman players, followed by a photo of coach Hoke, though not too thrilled with that one but there was a really long line so I didn’t dare ask him to pose for a photo, had to shoot between autographs… I then started with the players closest to him going around the stadium, taking the time to get an overall shot:

I worked my way around the stadium, taking photos of each player in their position, but unfortunately didn’t make it all the way around before time was up, the hour and a half just flew by! To review…

What I did right:

– Good prepwork, so I knew I had permission and that I didn’t have to waste time writing down everyone’s name.

– Asked the security folks for suggestions of strategies to take photos, they were most obliging with ideas, and treated all security folks with utmost politeness.

– Wore my cheerful “Michigan Happiness” t-shirt again, that seems to put people in a good mood.

– Kept checking photos and adjusting ISOs as needed as I went to different levels of shade, with a goal to keeping that 1/400 or 1/500 shutter speed to help ensure focus.

– Was mindful of backgrounds as much as possible. Just a few inches to one side or the other was enough to avoid having too many pop dispensers in the backgrounds.

– Focused and composed as the players were signing autographs so I knew I had the settings all good by the time I asked for their photo. I didn’t want to waste any of their time, and got most shots the first try.

– Took the time to get that shot looking down the stadium, I love the composition on that one.

What I would do differently:

– Worn more comfortable shoes, what was I thinking wearing flip flops?

– Skipped the field to start, gone with coach Hoke first then starting with the more popular players and working my way the opposite direction that I took. But then who knows, one of the freshmen I got photos of might just hit the big time and I’ll have his photo from back in the day and seem brilliant…

– Taken more photos of players “in action” signing autographs for grown-ups, thus avoiding my “no kids” rule and yet getting more action shots…

– Reminded myself of the numbers and names of the most popular players, to have a “must get” list…

You can see all the photos from University of Michigan Football Youth Day at my Shutterstock website. If you have any other suggestions for such events I invite you to share it as a comment, thanks!

Shooting stock photos – Outside major soccer game

Apologies for the delay in posting, I decided to change my process to post after I’ve heard from Shutterstock so that I can let you know in the same post how successful I was, then I had a bit of a carpal tunnel issue with my right hand, so I took it easy processing photos for a bit… But I’m back at the updates:

August 2 Manchester United played Real Madrid at the University of Michigan’s football stadium – Largest crowd to ever watch a soccer game! I was not interested in watching the game itself, but figured I’d hang out before the game and see what stock photos I could get.

I headed down by the stadium and walked around, took some photos of people who were already posing, making sure I got some of the location-specific clues, like the stadium fence:

Then I realized that Fox Soccer had a booth outside the stadium, so I went over and got this photo of sports analysts Warren Barton and Eric Wynalda:

Eric was amazingly generous with fans, taking photos with many of them, as Warren was somewhat. I hung out and took more photos of them, aiming for head shots, and even got one of Rob Stone, though he was more private so I had to wait a while to catch him… I think Eric was starting to think I was a bit creepy after a while…

Then I went to where rivers of fans were walking toward the stadium and took some photos of interesting folks as they walked by:

Also feeling more comfortable just nicely asking people if I can take this picture, like this other fan, who was happy to oblige:

This is where it’s nice to have my business cards, so if people ask what’s going to happen to the photos I can give them a card and they can look in Shutterstock to see if it got in, or email me for their photos. This time no one asked, so I just kept shooting…

Then there are the people who notice you are taking photos and just pose for you, like these guys:

My sons think that being a middle aged mom helps here because no one feels threatened by me. I can see that…

What I did right:

– Wore my “Michigan Happiness” shirt, to look even less threatening.

– Wore comfortable shoes, I was walking around a lot…

– Smiled at everyone, asked nicely, gave people thumbs up after I got their picture.

– As always, went with the 1/400 shutter speed to be sure to be in focus, played with ISOs (mostly 200) as the weather changed.

– Used my 18-105 lens on my 16 MP camera. It worked great for the walking around shots, most at around 50 mm and for the Fox guys I could use 100 mm and crop it and still get above the 4 MP required for many stock agencies. I’m glad I left the zoom lens home, didn’t really need it and it would have just been a hassle changing lenses.

What I would do differently:

– When I got the shot of one of the team buses I should have run over to where I knew the players would be dropped off to get shots of the players going into the stadium. I figured it would take too long for me to get there, but later as I was walking around they were just finishing dropping them off. Probably should have gone over there first and talked to the security people and try to find out their expected arrival time.

To see all the shots that Shutterstock accepted check here.

What tips do you have for shooting crowds at events?

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