A bunch of roses

Following on from the idea of love and hearts, I went out and bought a bunch of roses from a supermarket. Cheap, pretty, should be good for a couple of days.

Let's see what we can do with them.



© Photographer: Jeanette Teare | Agency: Dreamstime.com


Another quite successful image, using led wire fairylights:



© Photographer: Jeanette Teare | Agency: Dreamstime.com

Working to a theme

Inspiration and frustration

On a cold wet January morning, all freelancers seem to fall into two camps - the frustrated and the really frustrated. You'd have to be seriously inspired as a street photographer or landscape photographer to go out on a day like this. Winter wonderland? I don't think so.

My first love is travel photography, but apart from a short trip to Venice for the start of the Carnivale, for family reasons I'm going to be confined to home environs for the next few months. No, I'm not pregnant, the husband is having hip surgery, and will need some TLC.

Shooting to a theme

This means I can focus my efforts on conceptual photography for a while. Thinking seasonally, I've decided to try shooting on a theme of "Love and Hearts" thinking Valentines Day is approaching, and I may be able to get some onto the stock libraries in time for a few quick sales. Its a subject which easily lends itself to props -

Anything heart shaped eg cookie cutters, wooden heart, heart bowl

Anything that can be shaped into a heart eg fruit, food, flowers,

Anything with the word "love"

Here's one I did earlier. I bought the letters in a charity shop, my lovely husband insists on re-arranging them into "VELO" as his first love is cycling. Do you think he really deserves that TLC?




© Photographer: Jeanette Teare | Agency: Dreamstime.com

New Year, New Start

A brand new year - 2017!

A lot of people are saying 2016 was a terrible year - but thats just about their point of view.

Certainly a lot of celebrities seemed to die in 2016, but they were mostly getting on a bit . Even David Bowie was 69, and let's face it, the rock and roll lifestyle doesn't really lend itself to living to a ripe old age!

There may seem to have been a lot of deaths, but thats probably because there are a lot more people in the public eye. Average life expectancy at birth in the UK, for people born in 1947, such as David Bowie, was about 67, so thats about par for the course, and very good for a rock'n'roller.

Photography directions

I'm hoping to do loads more photography in 2017, and quite a bit more blogging - so watch this space.

The key areas I want to concentrate on to improve my photography are about creating the images that simply can't be done with a smartphone.

1) Night photography

2) Capturing speed and movement

3) Macro - although this can be done with a smartphone

I haven't had any sales in 2017 yet, but 2016 was a record year and I took my first paycheck.

I'll post the sales here as they occur.

Some landmarks in stock photography

I've had some successes and some failures with the stock photography, and I'd like to share my findings.

The first success is selling an image on Alamy for $30 it may not seem much, and Alamy sales do seem a bit thin on the ground, but this one was my highest so far for one sale, so I'll count that as a success. I like Alamy and the way they work. I particularly like the way news editorial photos go live almost instantly if you get the format right.

This particular image has sold several times with Alamy.

The second success was total sales on 123rf.com now totalling over $100 so I shall reward myself with a payment request.

Here's the landmark image:

http://www.123rf.com/photo_40859219_photovoltaic-array-panels-at-solar-farm.html

Stock Photography

Theres going to be a bit of change in direction on this blog. 

My long term ambition, for about 20 years, is to shoot stock photography, especially travel and concepts. Way back before the days of digital, I got as far as putting together a collection of transparencies, (remember them?) but never managed to amass enough for a submission. The minimum requirement was in the region of 500 images, and they were seriously picky!

Last year I went to PTO and one of the speaker was the redoubtable Mr Dave Wall, who was talking about his stock images and experiences with libraries. He gave me enough confidence to dip my toe into the water, and I now have about 500 images with 3 different agencies.

There doesn't seem that much helpful information out there, and a lot of people seem to think its not worth bothering with. So this is my attempt to share a bit of what I have learned.

There's a great buzz from selling photos. Even a small sale of say $0.50 gives me a thrill. It doesn't even cover my costs yet, but I think about how much money I  would have to deposit in a bank to generate it, and suddenly the small sum looks a lot more! The buzz however, is priceless. It has given my photography a new lease of life, it gets me out of the house, and its a massive learning curve.

It wouldn't be a blog post without a gratuitous link, so have a look at my stuff on 123rf.com

And here's the most surprising sale yet. Rising damp. Yes, really!



 http://www.123rf.com/photo_41492456_rising-damp-and-salt-crystal-salination.html?term=rising+damp+salination

Microsoft Surface Pro4 With Pen Editorial Photo - Image: 64520476

Microsoft Surface Pro4 With Pen Editorial Photo - Image: 64520476



Anyone who has this new tablet will absolutely love the way it integrates with any existing windows workflow.



The touch sensitive screen and pen stylus also means windows 10 works as it should. The tablet has a detachable keyboard (available separately) which means it is also a very capable laptop.

2016 new year approaching, old years fade away.

2016 new year approaching, old years fade away.


© Photographer: Jeanette Teare | Agency: Dreamstime.com

Love this kind of work, but it means I'm thinking ahead of whats actually going on around me. Next images? Valentines day? Mothers day? The referendum? Anyway, if anyone sees this image, please give me a shout!

On losing ambition and getting a life

On bucket lists...

What's all this talk about bucket lists? What is the point? At the point of kicking the bucket, who the hell cares about ticking things off the list. The problem with giving up that sort of ambition is you're left living for the moment.
Is that such a bad thing.?

One key ambition I have left is to retire at 60. That's not such a grand ambition, up until about 10 years ago it was the normal retirement age for women in the UK until the government decided women should retire at the same age as men ie 65, and then to rub salt into the wound they put up the retirement age all round.

So anyway that means I've got a few years of work life left, then a fair few years of non working life to enjoy. Reaching my potential is possible, but does it matter? If I do my best all the time, I can't do any better.

Stock photography. Bland, uninteresting or a challenge?

I've spent the last few months seriously chasing a dream. For many years I've been talking about stock photography, shooting for stock, chasing the dream of unlimitted travel and excitement and opportunity. Great, you may think. I've been on the case for several months now, and as you may have gathered, I'm not inexperienced as a photographer, but it has been a massive learning curve for me.

Watch this space for a bit more on the adventures of a dreamchaser. Meanwhile here's one of my recent offerings to a stock library.


© Photographer: Jayemm | Agency: Dreamstime.com

More photography work!

Just when I say I'm hanging up my camera, I get even more photography work. Off to photograph stainless steel stuff tonight at www.cm-sol.co.uk Yes, its another glamour job for me. The next on the agenda is placentae. Hmmm...

It seems its a year since I did a blog post. Since then I have been a bit more active on twitter - microblogging, as they say. I do have to restrain my tweets sometimes as the temptation is to use twitter as a vent for anger and frustration. Anyway, if you want here more from me, you could follow me on twitter! @abbeydaleweb

Huuray! freedom

From a photography point of view, I'm now free at last, because I've pretty much given up on being a photographer in a professional capacity, and now I'm loving it more than ever!

January

January, I really don't like January. The low light, the cold, the wind, the short days.

So, good things about January
1) Its a good time to start new projects, beacuse there aren't are holidays about to rear up and put a halt on things.

2) Its a good time to have a clear out.

3)Its good when its over?

4) January sales?

5) I'm not fretting to go outside because the weather is nice.

Who are we kidding?

Who out there really believes that planet earth and the developed world can continue as we are?

I don't.

We have a planet full to bursting point, with 7 billion people, and the population is expanding very quickly. The politicians want growth to continue, but how can we? The third world is coming to a point where they want what the rest of the world has. The natural resources of the planet are being stretched to the limit: earth will run out of oil, minerals, and even water seems to be in short supply.

So how can we continue to grow? what we need is a sustainable and decent standard of living for everyone on this planet. This might need some hard facts to be absorbed. Such as, its just not OK to have a busload of children - 1 maximum, per person - ie you have a child allowance. China has managed the 1 child per family, its time the rest of the world learned from them.

November

This eurozone stuff is getting heavy. Th long term implications are nothing short of armageddon, just want to know if the US citizens are aware of whats happening. Think I'll look on CNN

Content Management System

Just a gratuitous plug for Mike's fantastic new software. Its a content management system for small businesses, designed from the ground up to be used by idiots. Maybe he had me in mind. I keep thinking of it as Pancake.

Off to a wedding tomorrow, half as guest, half as photographer.

21 years

Of being Russell's Mum.

If keep all blog posts this short I might as well be on Twitter.

October

Its that time of year, when the leaves start to fall and A-H calls to ask if I will be able to photograph her family again. It has become such a ritual for us both, I think. This year, I'm particularly looking forward to photographing Frederik with his new toy: an Aston Martin... woohoo!

End of days

There's change in the air. It can be painful. Accepting getting older isn't easy, but its not worth fighting. I did mention these are interstitial thoughts, didn't I?

Election night

I remember 13 years ago - I was so-o-o happy that the conservatives had been ousted. Now I can't wait to see the back of the party that got them out. I'm sure everyone who goes into politics does so with the finest, most honourable intentions. What a shame it never seems that way when they leave.