For the Love of Dogs

While most of my photography centers around wildlife and nature I also love to photograph dogs.  I love dogs.  They are one of the passions in my life.  I have five wonderful furry companions that my wife and I share our lives with.  They are amazing creatures.  They each have their own personality.  They each have their own quirks.  There is no normal with my dogs.  They each have some oddity about them.  I greatly enjoy photographing them and I have been able to create some amazing images of them.  They each respond differently to my attempts to photograph them.  I simply watch them as they roam our yard and wait until I see something that I find interesting or that I think will make a nice image.  I try to get the dogs to ignore me.  I just move around the yard to get the light right and the right composition. 

Sometimes trying to get lost in the background and be invisible to my dogs does not always work.  Some times while I am photographing one dog another dog takes an interest in what I am doing and come over to start jumping on me or leaning on me and trying to get my attention. As you can probably imagine this can make creating a nice photograph a little more challenging.  So I usually have to take a break from the photographing and show some affection to the dog now seeking my attention or I may never get peace to create another image.  Sometimes it looks as if crouching down to get closer to eye level with the dog will create a nicer image.  However, I usually try to avoid this with my dogs since I do not try to pose or otherwise control them and for a very specific reason.  When one of my dogs particularly the one I am photographing sees me crouch down they instantly take more interest in me.  They usually will come running to me even if they are laid out and completely relaxed.  While this may ruin the image I was trying to create it may, if I am lucky enough, allow me to capture a nice motion/action shot of the dog coming at me.

Fellow photographers don’t make the mistake I made.  There a lot of mistakes one can make as a photographer.  Some mistakes are made in the taking of the photo.  Other mistakes are made after the image is already created.  There are always was to avoid making mistake, but they invariably happen at some point.  It is critical to make sure mistakes do not become compounding.

When I started out in photography I concentrated on wildlife with some scenic landscape shots mixed in.  As I became more experienced I began to mix in other types of photography.  I began to photograph trees and flowers and insects.  As I did this I simply categorized them into broadly categorized folders of trees, flowers, and insects without regard to what species each individual was.  I did this because when I started out taking these types of photos I didn’t anticipate taking very many.  And I certainly didn’t envision a time or place where I would actually need to know what each species is.

Now I am in the process of beginning a career as a stock photographer.  My specialty is in wildlife and nature.  If I want to offer my services to editors I need a complete list of all the various subjects I have photographed.  Now because I had originally grouped all my photos of trees, flowers, and insects into broad categories I have to take on the daunting task of sorting through all of those photos.  I need to identify all the species I have photographed in those categories and create separate folders for all of them and move them to those folders.

My advice is whenever you take a photograph be meticulous in your categorization from the beginning.  Even if you don’t think you will ever have any need for it.  This will inevitably save you a headache in the long run.  Even if you never become a professional photographer it will still come in handy.  You will take great photos that you will want to share with friends and family.  If you have them meticulously categorized it will be fast and simple to find that photo and show it off.

Common Merganser

Ithaca_Jun102009_0149, originally uploaded by KRNaturalPhoto.

This photo of a common merganser was taken at a stream near where I worked in Ithaca, NY. I was out for a walk on my lunch and spotted her. While I was watching her she got up off the rock she was sitting on and jumped into the water. I was fortunate enough to capture this image.

Troubling Social Media 2

In regards to my previous post. I did hear back from the individual on Twitter that I was concerned I made upset. He was fine with what I had sent him.

So I guess, no harm no foul. But, I have learned a valuable lesson. It may be best practice to ask an individual if they would like to see something before sending it to them. Especially if it is potentially upsetting content.

I have also learned that it is easy to have a miscommunication when you cannot see or hear the person. Simply reading the words and punctuation leaves room for a lot of interpretation.

We can easily add our own context to someone elses type. I know that from here on out I will exercise more caution when sharing information directly with one individual, simply to avoid the potential for a possible incident.

Social media is a constant learning experience. I plan to learn from my missteps. Even though this interaction did not actually result in any negative consequences I still consider it an error in judgement from which I have gained invaluable insight. Hopefully others can learn from my mistake as well.

Troubling Social Media

There is an aspect to social media that I had never realy considered pertinet to me before. I consider myself a polite repectful individual who would never try to abuse the power of the internet or social media. These forces can be put to ill use as ways to harras others. This is something I would never do.

However, social media allows us to communicate with anyone, anywhere, at any time, instantaneously. Many of the people we communicate with we don't realy know. We only know then by their picture on their profile, the limited information contained in the profile, and what limited communication we've had with them. It's easy to forget that we don't actaully know these people. We don't know what is going on in there personal lives or how they may react to what we say or information we may share.

This point was driven home to me recently. I responded to an individual I follow on Twitter who had stated that they get choked up over ASPCA comercials. I also get choked up over those comercials as I have a huge soft spot in my heart for animals, dogs inparticular. So I thought it would be a good idea to share a writting which while very sad and tear jerking is one of my favorite of all time and I will never forget it. I sent "How could you?" by Jim Willis 2001. http://bit.ly/6myEv9 Every time I read this I want to cry.. To me this writting is a pertinate reminder of the responsability we have for those animals we bring into our lives. I thought this person who I do not realy know would also appreciate it as I do.

It turns out I may have made a mistake. The individu messaged me back on Twitter asking why I had sent them that. The punctuation used in the message left me with the impression that I may have unintentionaly upset my fellow Twitter user. I did not get the message back until the next morning because I had signed off for the night after sending it. I responded back to the person to appologize if I upset them, but I have not heard back yet. I have been thinking about it ever since. I am concerned that I may have purpotrated an injury on this individual by making assumptions about a person I do not realy know.

I hope to hear back from them soon, but its a real possability that I won't. Especially if I ha e hurt and offended them. They may choose to never read another message from me and discontinue all communication with me. I hope that is not the case. I hope they read my message and understand that I am sorry for my unintended transgression. I have learned a valuable lesson from this though. Do not make assumptions about those we do not realy know and becareful of what we share on the internet and through social media.

Take Advantage of Everything part 1

As a part time professional photographer who is currently working a regular full time job to pay the bills while I build and establish my photography business I understand many of the frustrations that a photographer just starting out may have to deal with.  When starting out there may be limited time to shoot photographs.  It may feel like there is no time to contact clients.  There is only limited time work on developing a business plan.  And the list goes on and on. 

The best thing one can do as a part time photographer is to take advantage of every opportunity that presents itself.  I am a stock photographer specializing in wildlife and nature photography.  For my specialty I need to be able to shoot on location.  It is also helpful to be familiar with my location.  So for me one of the most beneficial things is to shoot in locations that I am frequently in such as near my home or work.  One thing I try to take advantage of is using my breaks and lunches to photograph my surroundings near where I work.  Some of my best photography has been done that way. 

Unfortunately on occasion one may change jobs.  So now while the move may be beneficial for my job it may be detrimental to my photography.  I lose a familiar location where I was able to shoot photography and find interesting subjects and know what to expect. 

My goal is to turn this around and make it a positive.  I am going to take advantage of this change of location.  I will use this as an opportunity to explore new landscapes and find new subjects.  It will take some time but I will become familiar with this area as I have others.  I will learn what subjects are available and what the scenery is like.  Soon I will be able to get the same benefit from photographing this new location as I have others.  But in actuality it will be a bigger benefit because not only will I be able to continue shooting I will be able to enhance my stock list with new subjects and new locations.

Playing with Photoshop

I was just playing with Photoshop CS3. I combined a photo I liked of a bald eagle with one of my favorite phots of a glacier in Alaska. The glacier was in Glacier Bay National Park. I did it just for the heck of it to practice using some of the applications in Photoshop CS3.