Shooting stock photos – Columbus, OH 2017

Drove to Columbus, OH for my day job, and had fun shooting stock photos while I was out of town, here are some reflections on the trip… What I did right:

Planned ahead by checking out popular locations and marking them on Googlemaps, which helped tremendously with planning – Once I was at one location I could quickly scan the map and find other nearby locations, so I could see those that were near each other and prepare my photo taking.
Looked up headquarters of companies that might be nearby, to get some idea of what was there.
Took my time getting there, so I could pull out as I desired, like a stop at Bowling Green State University. I’d often wanted to check out the campus:

Bowling Green State University Jerome Library

and having my camera on me at all times so when I’m moved to take a photo I can catch it before the opportunity disappears:

long sunny road

Went around Ohio Stadium to get a wide variety of shots:

COLUMBUS, OH – JUNE 25: Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio is shown on June 25, 2017. It is the home of the Ohio State University Buckeyes.

COLUMBUS, OH – JUNE 25: The sign for Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio is shown on June 25, 2017. It is the home of the Ohio State University Buckeyes.

COLUMBUS, OH – JUNE 25: Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio is shown on June 25, 2017. It is the home of the Ohio State University Buckeyes.

Took my time downtown, and waiting for enough people to walk into the shot to make for a more interesting photograph:

Scioto Mile, in downtown Columbus, OH

Looked for those random opportunities that present themselves:

COLUMBUS, OH – JUNE 27: A sign for the Stonewall Columbus Pride Festival in Columbus, Ohio is shown on June 27, 2017. It is the second largest LGBTQ Pride festival in the Midwes.

COLUMBUS, OH – JUNE 27: An electrician works on an electrical pole near the Convention Center on June 27, 2017.

Enjoyed photography for its sake, not thinking only of stock photography
Let a little kid take a photograph with my camera, sharing the joy of photography with others.
Processed the photos fairly quickly, just finished just two weeks after the trip.

What I would do differently:

Print out a map with the popular locations, so I didn’t have to refer to the phone every time. I hadn’t realized that the saved locations don’t show when in directions mode…

You can see the photos Shutterstock accepted from Columbus here. Hope these reflections help you, and best wishes on YOUR photography adventures!

Susan

Milestone – Paris Locks accepted to AAWA Summer 2017 Juried show

I was thrilled that “Paris Locks” was recently accepted to the Ann Arbor Women Artists‘ Summer 2017 juried show:

… and for the first time part of my photo was even included in the advertising postcard:

We were told that they received 120 entries, of which 64 were accepted.The AAWA selections are particularly meaningful to me because the judge is a working artist, so to have one of my photographs recognized by a working artist sure helps with the Impostor Syndrome concerns.

… and with that I think I’m all caught up on what has been happening with my photography, whew, nice to not have that backlog!

Best wishes on YOUR photography adventures,

Susan

Milestone – Photos accepted by Blueprint 2017

This is another update, for the record… I had three photographs accepted by Blueprint, the College’s literary magazine for their print edition and for their show, in February 2017:

The view from Notre Dame was a fun recreation of other similar ones I have seen over the years. Paris Love took me a bunch of shots and attempts to find just the right composition. The lakeshore is in Higgins Lake, “up north” as we say here in Michigan, the beauty of a lake in the winter.

It’s always inspiring to see the work of my colleagues and students, and I appreciate the time that the organizers take to put together each year’s edition and art show. I like to be a part of these college events to show students that it’s important to have a balanced life, with interests outside of your career – I’m still working on it as you can see from some past posts, but during the summer the balance is much better…

Best wishes to you on YOUR photography adventures,

Susan

Impostor syndrome rears its head again…

In my day job I often do workshops on Impostor Syndrome, where you don’t think you are good enough, you’re a fraud, and you are going to be found out. I recently had something happen with my photography that I will be able to use as an example in future workshops, thought I’d share it as it might have happened to some of you as well.

So when I first started doing stock photos I had a relatively decent acceptance rate, maybe 75 %, with a number of photos getting denied because of quality issues – Out of focus, poor composition, etc. And it took me FOREVER to get into iStockphoto, trying year after year until they finally let me in…. When I was catching up on those France photos recently I was submitting lots of photos at a time and I would invariably have sets of a dozen or more photos all get accepted. My first response? “Wow, their standards must have gone down.” Seriously, THAT was my response. Luckily I was familiar with Impostor Syndrome, so I could stop and tell myself “Wait! Is there maybe another reason all your photos were accepted? Is there any chance you are actually a better photographer now?” I had to laugh. Even knowing all about Impostor Syndrome to the point of doing workshops about it, I still fall for it… Yes, I have to admit, I have worked hard at it, taken classes in person and online, many things that I would forget about now come naturally, I am indeed a better photographer now, thank you very much…

So lesson for all of us, yes, we always have more to learn and we must remain humble, but let’s take credit for the progress we are making to become better photographers every day and not be so hard on ourselves…

Best wishes on YOUR photography adventures,

Susan

Shooting stock photos – France 2016

Finally processed the photos I took on a trip to France last summer, yey…

I had a few days on my own first, where I visited Giverny and Monet’s house and garden, then had a bit more than a week with my boyfriend, mostly in Paris but also a day trip to Normandy and Omaha Beach area. I was very conscious that this was not a photography trip that he was coming along for, it was a couples trip that I happened to be taking advantage of to take some photographs.

Things I did right:

Balanced tourist time with photography time, so as not to burden him.
Took photos of every day scenes, like people walking on the streets, and pastry shops:
Lined up a shot I wanted then waited for the right combination of people to come into it to make it more interesting:
Took the time to get just the right shot – when my boyfriend was busy doing other things so I wasn’t making him wait forever. I spent over 10 minutes taking more than a dozen shots of this lovely musician while he shopped in the market:
Tried for unusual shots of the Eiffel Tower, with tourists in it:
Patiently waited for the wind to be just right to get the cool shot of the weathervane at a train station while waiting for the train to return from Giverny. The weathervane never again lined up before the train arrived, good thing I caught it when I did:
Made a note of the names of the streets and tourist signs at photo locations to make it easier to write captions later.
Had fun trying to recreate some of Monet’s paintings:

Things I could have done better:

Many little technical details and probably missed many shots, but I really enjoyed the trip for itself, the photos were a side thing.
Again, process them sooner, it took me months to get back to them. I realized I was overwhelmed by the number of photos I had to get through. Once I realized that the only way to get through them was to… get through them, I was able to break the task up into little pieces: Select favorites, copy them from iPhoto and name them, break them up into little sets that didn’t seem too overwhelming to work on, clean them up on Photoshop, then caption and keyword them. Some days I was all for cleaning up, other days I was more interested in captioning and keywording, I played it by ear until they all got done.

Yesterday I finished the last batch, and submitted the last photos, ended up having over 100 photos approved, yey. You can see the photos that were accepted by Shutterstock here (last few aren’t up just yet, patience..)

Best wishes on YOUR photography adventures,

Susan

Shooting stock photos – Woman’s March in January 2017

Still catching up on old shooting adventures. In January I participated in and took photos at the Women’s March in Ann Arbor, MI. I learned from past such occasions to get both long, medium and short range shots:

I also have more confidence now to get in front with the other photographers and get close up shots of the speakers, such as our representative Debbie Dingell:

So things I did right:

Took short, medium, and long range shots
Was more confident getting in there with the other photographers to get the close-ups and crowd shots.
Took notes as to who the speakers were for the less famous ones, saved me lots of time later on when adding captions to the photos.
I took photos of everyone who asked me to, I am getting much more comfortable interacting with people in that mode.

Mistake I made:

Took way too long to process them, should be better about processing them right away, where they can be more useful, and get more downloads… I find I get such a kick out of taking the photos, but I have to be in just the right mood to process them, both clean up the photos themselves and putting in a caption, keywords, etc. I am mindful that for me this is a hobby and I want to have it stay fun. If this were my day job I would be a lot more diligent about this…

You can see all the photos that I sent to Shutterstock and got accepted here.

Best wishes on your photography adventures,

Susan

Writing an Artist Statement

I have written Artist Statements for a number of shows now, and I remember not knowing at first what to include in them, so for those of you who are new, here are some suggestions based on what I have done myself and from reading others’ artists statements at the shows I have been in.

Items to consider including:

Name, email, website
Brief bio, particularly about you as a photographer
A photograph of you, and/or a business card
Philosophy of what photography means to you, what inspires you
Information about the piece(s), any theme you might have, why it interested you.
Details on the camera you use (I don’t do this, but more techy folks do)
Thank you to the exhibit organizers
Some type of “hope you enjoy the piece” statement to the visitors.

One of my artists statements is included below:

Shooting stock photos – Tall Ship Celebration, Bay City, MI

This is one from last summer, catching up. Went with a friend to the Tall Ship Celebration in Bay City, MI last summer, had a great time touring some of the masted ships:

Since the point was to spend a lot of time looking at the ships I had plenty of time to take photos without my friend having to wait for me.

What I did right:

Took both long shots and close-ups
Framed the shot as I wanted it, then waited for people to walk into my shot to give it more interest.
Was mindful of the crowd, waiting until I got just the right look for those where you could see the people, and everybody looks good – I make a point of not uploading any photos where anybody doesn’t look reasonable, wouldn’t want someone to do that to me…
Took photos of the names of the ships as I took them, for future reference
Checked camera settings every so often to make sure I had ISO set properly, etc.
Took a boat ride that was available, so I could get some shots from the river, allowing for very good looks at some of the ships.
Took some photos from the bridge between the two sides of the river, so I could get some overall shots.
Took a range of photos, I had over 50 photos, submitted 9 of them – and they all got in :)

What I would change? Really not much, it was a great day, I got some good photos without making my friend have to wait, my settings were pretty good for the most part, I’m happy about this day. You can see the photos in Shutterstock here.

Milestone – Car detail photos at local coffeehouse

I mentioned in May 2016 that some of my car details photos had been accepted for exhibit at Sweetwaters Cafe on Liberty in Ann Arbor, and it actually happened. The organizer, landscape artist Ruth Krzyzowski, of the Ann Arbor Women Artists, was super helpful in making the process run smoothly. Among other things, AAWA handles art exhibits at many local coffeehouses and other locations, so glad I’m a member, feel much more part of the local art community.

After we got the photos up I remarked to Jon that they looked like the work of a “real” photographer, and of course he reminded me that I AM a real photographer.

… so pleased with how they looked. No sales, but felt good to have them out and being enjoyed by others, and it does make me feel like a real photographer :)

Thanks again to the Ann Arbor Women Artists group for their support of local artists – and yes, men can be members too.

Milestone – Third Anniversary!

So today is the third anniversary of my blog. Stats for the first three years:

77 followers

137 posts

3574 visitors

8,528 views

Glad to see people are reading, hope some got some useful ideas and advice from the posts – and I know, it’s not a huge number or anything, and some of you get this many in a day or a week, I’m just doing my little thing in this corner of the internet… Of course it slowed down quite a bit in 2017, as I took that much needed break from photography and from posting, but I return from my “sabbatical” with a healthier attitude to photography, and particularly the financial side of it.

Since my last post some of my car photos got a chance to get out of the house with an exhibit at one of the local coffeehouses in March and April, which was exciting. I have cleaned up the backlog of photos that I left in the process of being submitted to various websites, and have started cleaning up those Paris photos I mentioned in my last post, culled down from 1,500 to about 150… and I took photos at the local Women’s March and other marches, and some trips… Lots to catch up on…

In the meantime, best wishes on your photography adventures,

Susan

End of 2016 reflection – The American Dream?

So in the past few months I’ve done a lot of thinking about my photography, and coincidentally watched “Hope Floats,” one of my favorite movies… One character, Justin Matisse (Harry Connick Jr.), who didn’t make it big when he left his hometown, returns home to paint houses while designing and building his dream home. The scene that stood out to me is the one where, in response to Birdie Pruitt (Sandra Bullock)’s comment that “you could do so much more,” states: “You’re talking about the American Dream. You find something that you love, and then you twist it, and you torture it, try and find a way to make money at it. You spend a lifetime doing that. At the end, you can’t find a trace of what you started out loving.” That’s what I had been doing with photography.

Partly this was because I was exploring whether photography could be my retirement career, but then I realized that I’m going to be fine financially without the money, so I’ve been reflecting on what it means to be a photographer if I don’t need to make money out of it…

I used to take photographs because I couldn’t help it, it was who I was, then I started taking photographs that I thought would do well as stock photos, and that changed things, so I stepped back and started questioning myself when I took photographs – Am I doing it for myself, for stock photos, for some sense of obligation, because I should want to take photographs since I call myself a photographer?

I’m glad I took that break, I feel more honest with my photography now. On a wonderfully leisurely trip to Paris I took about 1500 photographs in 11 days, including this one of an entertainer at a farmer’s market, where I hung out for a while:

More on the trip to Paris in another entry some day… I haven’t had the urge to clean up and submit the photos, but part of the reason for that was that this Fall I worked up to 60 hours a week at my day job, which with my other responsibilities left little bandwidth for photography or exercise. I’m starting to exercise again, and I plan to continue to take photos as I’m moved to do so but processing them will wait until I find/make the time for it. In the meantime, one advantage of the stock photography business is that, without submitting anything in the past 8 months, I’ve made the same income from stock photos in 2016 that I did in 2015, funny that.

I did get two sets of photos (car details and some already-framed travel and nature photos) accepted to two coffeehouses in 2017 through the Ann Arbor Women Artists. I’m delighted that my framed photos will get a chance to get out of the house, who knows, maybe I’ll sell one or two of them.

In the meantime, I invite you to use this blog to find some suggestions to improve your photography, learn from some of my photography adventures, get some photography business tips, and should you decide to pursue stock photography, check out some tips here, and maybe even try out some of these stock photo sites.

Best wishes on your photography adventures in 2017.

Milestone – “White on Black” Accepted to Black and White exhibit!

So the Iceland exhibit I proposed to Gifts of Art didn’t pan out, BUT, “White on Black” was accepted to the Riverside Arts Center’s Black and White Exhibit August 5-27, 2016. I’m tickled to pieces… :)

Glacier Lagoon ice chunks on shore — JOKULSARLON, ICELAND – JUN 18: Chunks of ice sit on the shore near lake Jokulsarlon, Iceland on June 18, 2015. The ice comes from icebergs calved from the nearby Vatnajokull glacier.

Monthly reflections – June 2016 – Taking a break…

So it’s time for the end of June 2016 posting, and I realize that in a month when I would have thought I would have made time for photography… I haven’t.

I think back to two years ago when I had such a blast taking photographs at the Ypsilanti 4th of July parade, I remember really itching to go that morning. This year 4th of July came, and, meh… I wanted to be home with my kids and do some gardening instead. Photography has been a tremendously rewarding hobby that I have gotten so much pleasure out of, and I greatly enjoyed each photo day that I took to Toledo, Detroit, Lansing, as well as the logo hunts I went on. This summer, it started to feel like a job, something I had to do versus something I wanted to do, and that’s not at all what it should feel like, so I didn’t go out.

I started to notice that in Iceland last summer, where those last couple days rather than enjoying exploring the country and meeting the people, I was focusing on what shots I should be taking. I will be traveling to Paris later this summer (whee!!!) and I want to experience the country and the people fully, and if the spirit moves me to take photos I will, but not out of any obligation to a stock photo site or to (my perception of) others’ expectations. I need to get back to a place where I do this for me, not for others…

I’m very proud of having produced this blog the past two years, and find it rewarding to have shared some of what I have learned with readers like you. Maybe I’ll be back, we’ll see what the future brings.

In the meantime, best wishes on your photography adventures,

Susan

From Digital Photography School – Composition in Travel Photos

From Digital Photography School, another National Geographic photographer, Bob Holmes, shares composition tips. They include

Knowing your equipment inside out, so it doesn’t get in the way of your photography
Developing and educating your eye
Finding the “punctuation” in a photograph
Seeking strong colors, geometry
Injecting excitement and interest
Taking responsibility for everything that is in the frame
Being fully involved with your subject
Being a photographer (versus a tourist, etc.)

Terrific advice! I encourage you to see the video here.

Best wishes on your photography adventures,

Susan

From Picture Correct and B&H – Nature Photography Tips from a National Geographic Photographer

Many of us dream of becoming a National Geographic photographer.. Picture Correct recently posted a video of a B&H sponsored session by photographer Michael Melford, where he describes some of his travels and experiences. Definitely worth the time! Catch it here.

You can access other B&H-sponsored videos about composition and technique in photography here there are many worthwhile ones!

Best wishes in your photography adventures,

Susan

Monthly reflections – May 2016

As in May 2015, day job took longer than I recalled, but did have a great week-end in Chicago that included some photography, so I’ll be writing about that soon. I did find some logo photos I didn’t finish processing, plus the Lansing photos. So here are the most recent photos in my Shutterstock page, which now has 1,492 photos, tantalizingly close to 1,500… :

Based on popularity, here’s what it looks like:

Detroit wins again! Have tried to get more photos of the Tesla charging lot with cars in it, but it’s usually crappy weather, or a bad angle, I’ll keep trying. Another Detroit photo day might be warranted, and of course there are always more logo photos to take…

Best wishes on your photography adventures,

Susan

Milestone – second anniversary!

So today it’s been two years since I started this blog. Happy anniversary :)

Glad I’ve been able to keep it up for a couple years, have tried to give back for all I have learned by sharing some ideas with others. Let’s see the stats for those two years:

130 posts

2,966 visitors

7,361 views

Hey, it adds up… Thanks to those of you who have visited the site over the years, hope you have found it useful… If you have any suggestions or questions, please don’t hesitate…

Best wishes on your photography adventures,

Susan

Shooting stock photos – Lansing photo day

Had a good day trip with my sister to Lansing Michigan back in March, it was good to get away from the day job for a while. Some reflections:

I googled “things to do in Lansing” for some ideas of places to go
Went with the flow when I ran into unexpected things like this river rat:
Tried a wide range of different angles at some of the locations, and preferred the ones that included another site in the background, so you could get more of a sense of place, such as this shot of the Vietnam memorial with the capitol in the background:
At the Lansing Lugnuts’ stadium also tried different angles until I found the one that I thought captured the feeling of the place best:
Loved the sense of humor with Who’s on First… :)

You can see all the Lansing photos here

Monthly reflections February-April 2016

Well, so it’s been a couple months since I last blogged in mid-March, just noticed I didn’t even post a Monthly Reflections from February, so some catching up to do…

What I realized around the end of March was that I was stretching myself too thin, and something had to go, and this blog was feeling more like an obligation than a positive experience, so I took a break from it. Not that I was not involved in photography – here’s a summary of what I was up to during that time and links to those entries:

In February I got an Honorable mention for Alone at the BluePrint magazine exhibit :)
In March Big Blue was accepted for the Ann Arbor Women Artists’ Spring 2016 Juried Show – I always learn so much from the artists I meet through that.
Also in March I found out that my car photos were accepted by the Ann Arbor Women Artists’ for an exhibit at a local coffeehouse...
I had another photo day in Detroit in February and one in Lansing in March, needed time away from the craziness. Processed the Detroit ones but not the Lansing ones yet, I’ll post links when I write these up…
Took some Lynda.com photography courses recently , including
- Street Photography: Posed Portraiture (1 hr 14 min)
- Street Photography: Two Hours in a Neighborhood (23 min)
- Photography: Portrait of a City Neighborhood (1 hr 19 min)
- Architectural Photography in Chicago (2hr 23 min)

I also submitted a few proposals for future exhibits, we’ll see how those do:

I submitted 15 photos of Iceland to the University of Michigan Gifts of Arts program – I’ll find out mid-June. I had submitted the Car Details photos in 2014 with no luck, but they were very positive in their feedback, so maybe this more unique exhibit will make it in.
I submitted Alone and Ice On Black from the BluePrint magazine exhibit to a Black and White exhibit at the Riverside Arts Center in Ypsilanti, will find out mid-July.

So great that there is so much support for artists around here with these opportunities.

As for the stock photos, let’s take a look:

Chronologically a few more photos from the Detroit Photo Day and some stock photos around town, I’m up to 1451 images – reminds me that I had intended to hit 1,500 by end of summer, oh well, I keep at it…

As for popular ones, Detroit photos keep doing very well, great to see that, and the logo photos always solid moneymakers

Now that I’ve been updating the blog I realize of course that each entry would not have taken me that much time, it’s more that mentally there is only so much I can “carry” at a time. Something to work on, to not make it like such a huge deal, to realize it would take only a few minutes to post an update and not have it carry so much bandwidth in my head that it feels like a burden… but in the meantime I’m glad I took a mental break, and I come back to it refreshed…

Best wishes in your photography adventures,

Susan

Milestone – Accepted to AAWA Spring 2016 juried show!

Another update, that Big Blue, one of the photos I had exhibited at the BluePrint magazine exhibit was accepted into the Ann Arbor Women Artists‘ 2016 juried show, which took place March 13 – April 29 at the Ann Arbor District Library Malletts Creek Branch

Glacier Lagoon icebergs on shore — JOKULSARLON, ICELAND – JUN 18: Icebergs reflect on Jokulsarlon, Iceland on June 18, 2015. The icebergs calved from the nearby Vatnajokull glacier.

I had a great time at the opening reception talking to some of the artists and learning from them, so glad I became a part of this generous group!

I encourage you to seek out local artists group in your area.

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