Sunday, October 9, 2011

New picture

Almost missed the sun set in Pismo Beach and look what God saved for me!

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Entered a photo contest

So I placed three photos in a photo contest and I 'm taking a risk by investing a big whopping $10.00. What I find very amusing is that, the competition looked extremely odd. One particular photo entry was so stupid; someone cut out a photo of a little girl, and placed her in a wooded scene. It was very obvious that they photo shopped her in it. Other competitors took pictures of model cars placed on their beds, on soiled chairs and in cluttered dirty homes. Some photos were of a very creepy old dude wearing Nazi uniforms in his car, at home and God knows where else he was! Most of the photos look like they were taken with a disposable camera etc. I'm thinking, Oh my God, are they serious?

I have always wanted to do photography for a living and I wanted to do it right by learning the craft through any means that I could. There are many web sites on the internet that a person can submit photos to for free. I finally chose to dive into a competition thinking my skill was sufficient enough to be competitive. Those poor judges are going to have to sift through all the crap to narrow down the field.

Here is one of the photo's I submitted:


Let me know what you think about the quality of this photo and if you think I stand a chance? lol....be kind and honest, I can take constructive criticism!

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

We Remember

I was at the beach this morning and saw an awesome sand castle. Whilst taking a picture of it, a gentleman and his wife came up wowed by it. They are from Ontario Canada. Nice conversation sharing our thoughts of 9-11...they loved the tribute in sand. Enjoi from the West Coast Pismo Beach!

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Web design decision

So lately I have been experimenting with placing my work on my own web site or one that is offered on line. Not sure which direction I will be heading? Zenfolio is nice but I'm not sure I want to commit to them? I don't seem to have control of the web site in ref to where my prints will come from etc.

I received metal prints from Metalography and they are really great looking. When I walk around the small town of Pismo, many people are looking at my pier photo! Some guy crossed the street to see it up close and said he would wear a t-shirt with my pic on it. I'm not tied into any t-shirt companies to do that. I could start my own t-shirt company, but that's too much work since I'm involved with my own ventures. I guess I could check into other ideas to enhance my photo resale opportunities.

The other issues is that I'm not ready to commit to pay pal and the whole biz experience. I want to see if more people are interested in purchasing my work. It would be ideal if I had designers looking for my work on a consistent basis. That is another marketing issue that I need to consider.

Ok sweet heart one step at a time, find where you want your domain to be registered. Build the site and move on from there...

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Foggy day at the beach

I call this "Fog Bow" instead of fog rainbow...this was an early morning shoot. After the fog lifted, on my walk home, I passed photographers headed to the pier. If they had woke up earlier they wouldn't have missed this pic.

Photo tip: Make mental notes (Write it down if you have dementia, lol) of what you want to shoot; check the weather for sunrise and sunset times, surf conditions, etc. Practice, practice, practice using all your manual settings.


Are you looking at me?


Remember I said Practice, practice, practice? I was waiting for this pelican to fly down to the pier deck to fetch a fish. Wanting not to miss a great photo, I switched to the auto sport mode on my camera so I can capture the bird eating the fish. The picture turned out blurry because the lens was focusing too long. Lesson learned, use the manual setting and focus on the fixed object, like the fish waiting to be eaten. I believe that was one of my previous shooting tips. ;-) This is that picture:





Friday, August 12, 2011

Sun Set at Pismo Beach

Enjoi!!!




Birding for the right picture

Birding for the right picture can be time consuming, but the rewards last a life time. I was on the hunt to capture a humming bird...fast little buggers. To capture one you have to wait patiently for that one moment it comes into your lens. Here's what you need to do to be successful at this mission:

1. Sit and watch the flight patterns and feeding areas. Pick the spot most frequent with birds.
2. Tripod with your lens pointing where you expect to take your shot.
3. Place your lens in the manual mode to include focus. Practice what settings you want for shaded areas or sunny. Take several pictures to figure this out.
4. Focus on an object the exact distance you expect your shot to be.
5. Wait patiently...if you need to refocus on the bird it's easy to adjust with your hand. You can use a remote control to snap the picture.

Using auto focus is hard because the bird moves around too fast and your lens doesn't have the time to adjust to the movement. Check out my picture!




Good luck and happy hunting!


Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Changed name of my company

Yep, I have been away for a while working on my other business. Now that the business plan is complete, I can focus on my photography!

I changed the name to "It's All About You" because it really is all about you in photography. It's about catching you at your best and providing you the opportunity to have your memories become more than a file on your computer. It's more than just showing your friends small pictures of your last adventure on your phone without you in the picture!

So if I catch you in my camera, I will give you my business card and you can go online to view the picture I took of you! Order the picture you want professionally developed! You pay only for the picture you want! Isn't that how it should be? You can chose to have a traditional picture in a frame, have it mounted on canvas or have it infused on metal. It will all be done at a professional development studio and delivered to your doorstep! Next, all you have to do is smile at the memory for the rest of your life.

Soon I will have my website service open to everyone who wants to order my photography for their home, office or business. It will have scenic photography available for interior designers and other professionals. This month I will be traveling down to Temecula, CA. to visit the photography studio and photo developer who will be working with my customers and I; along the way I may partake in a few glasses of wine! ;-)

Look forward to getting everything finalized!

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Photographing Birds

Today I took beautiful pics of Va birds. Been on the East Coast for one week and heading back to Ca. Next I plan on visiting Temecula and hope to visit Metalography studio. I want to get back on track with the web site I'm developing. Looks forward to posting all pics up for sale ASAP.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Moving this blog

I'm checking out word press because it will allow me to blog and create various tabs to support my business....moving on hopefully?

Monday, June 27, 2011

My new business

Ok have you ever heard that life is a never ending education? That is my life. Why go through life only once to have only done a handful of things? For me that never works...I'm 53 and not done living. I'm not ready to roll over and die.

So far I have accomplished everything in life. I played High School basketball and softball. I played on five different teams in the summer and rode my motorcycle to other ball games to umpire. I played College level Field Hockey and Softball on two scholarships. We won the State Championship in Softball for three consecutive years. I graduated with a BS in Education.

After college I served in the Army active duty for 8 1/2 years as a commissioned Officer. Cutting that story short, I was a helicopter test pilot who never got to fly much because of too many additional duties to mention. My career ended after attending the Combined Arms Service and Staff School in FT Leavenworth Kansas thanks to Congress cutting military personnel.

Sadly my mother and father have passed and way. I have two beautiful children that I love to the max. I have a partner who loves my children and I; I'm so proud of all of them. It is my hopes to leave them a legacy with the businesses I'm now involved in. It's my intention to show them and others that life is worth living. No matter what walls pop up in our paths, that you can go around those walls, you can move on to better things always.

The past 4 years have been tough on me. I have been disabled and my ability to train people and to work full or part time is long gone. With the few hours I can get out of the house, I have been taking pictures with my trusty camera and tripod. The pictures are precious in that they record the beauty I see all around me. Since I have no source of income there is little much I can do these days. But, I'm not down. I can do this. I can also help a friend build the Lott group by volunteering as their COO.

This photography business is a dream for me. I have always wanted to do it...so here I am; doing it. I hope you follow me through this process?

Please note the widgets to the right. If you own a Kindle or any device that supports e-books and you order them from Amazon; you can do that through this blog. 10% of all my income will go to the Lott Group...yeah

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Keeping this blog as is

Hello readers: This blog will remain as is so new readers can read the valuable posts. I will not be adding additional posts in the future. I'm am now the new Chief Operating Officer COO of the Lott Group. I'm working on the new blog and on fund raising and it takes up all my time.

The Lott group will be training minority students to develop and maintain socially responsible businesses. Our first business will be a recycle project to raise money to clothe and train homeless people in the Little Rock Arkansas area.

Thank you to my followers of this blog. I will post later what my new blog is if you have an interest in the subject matter I just mentioned! ;-)