Archive for category Photography

How To Photograph Interesting Little Creatures- Yes, You Will Get Dirty!

I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t fascinated by animals. And not only the cute fluffy or furry ones that meow or bark, but ones on the ground that we don’t see very often. There’s nothing more fascinating than those little beings like grasshoppers, butterflies, baby birds, ants, beetles and bees.

This picture of this caterpillar coming out of its cocoon to become a butterfly was seen by accident. Call it sixth sense, call it just being obsessed by any photo opportunity, but I saw it.

I was doing ‘clean up’ on my computer a week ago. As I waited for the computer to do it’s ‘thing’, I looked outside and saw something moving slowly along the brick pavement. I could not see what it was so I wandered outside to get abetter look.

There he was. This little guy was struggling to come out of his cocoon that held him snugly for all those months and now he was emerging to greet the world. I couldn’t believe what fortune I had as far as a photographic opportunity had come my way. (That just seems to happen with me for some weird reason.)

I rushed back inside and grabbed my camera, my macro lenses and prayed to God I had a memory stick in the camera. I turned the camera on and it said I had memory available. Thank you God! I then leaned down and took a couple of shots, trying not to scare him away or back into his cocoon.

I got so close I accidentally breathed on him and that’s what he did. Pop! He was back in there faster than anything.

So I had to wait for about 5 minutes before he stuck his head out and continued his journey again. He dragged that thing around the back garden for about half an hour, not being able to free himself of it. The patience and persistence in this little guy was amazing.

Now, okay, he’s not going to win any awards for being the best looking creature in “Amy’s garden”, in fact he’s really ugly, but he would win first prize for perseverance.

You will find that a lot of creatures like this, photographed up close look like something out of a horror movie, but really they’re not bad at all. (Except spiders, now they’re downright evil and any one that likes to photographh them should see a shrink.) Caterpillers and other little creatures actually don’t care about us at all which gives us supreme photographic advantage. They don’t put their paws, wings, feelers over their faces saying “oh god, don’t take my picture, my hair isn’t right!”

This amazing guy was taken at first with no macro lens and the photo did not offer me any detail close up. When I applied the marc lenses I used 3 of them which magnified him x7. But the only problem was that because he was moving, he was out of focus many times.

So there I was, laying flat on my stomach following this guy around the garden for 15 minutes determined to get the “right” shot of him. So I got these ones.

I felt I was really lucky because it was an overcast day. And as you know overcast days create filtered light which is perfect for photography. Read the rest of this entry »

How to Get Your Photography Noticed, Gain Recognition and Start Making Money

The Questions

When a reader wrote, “Recently I have taken an interest in photography and am taking a photography class at a local community college.” She then asked, “How do I get my artwork noticed by someone who can do something about it?”
She added that her art, “… is something that I am very passionate about and I want people to see and hear my message through my art.” Questions like, “who do I show my art to?” and “How do I get my work out there?” are common to myriads of amateur and professional photographers and artists alike. Since “a picture can often be more powerful than someone giving a speech”, an important question for many is how do I get my work noticed?

Although photography is not my principal occupation, I do use it almost daily as a supplement to my university English EFL teaching and writing. I’d suggest trying these approaches to help get your photography “out there”. If your work is not on display it can’t get noticed by those who may be in a position to allow you to benefit from your skills, insight and vision.

Five Viable Approaches

1. First, try to get your work up on the web. Use your own website or a blog. Use a photo to introduce a short commentary on your specific topic.

2. Then, look into photo banks that accept freelance work. Do a Google search and you’ll come up with plenty of them. Read through their guidelines and submit accordingly. If you need specific recommendations on this do a targeted search inside the general search results. If you’re still really stuck, e-mail me and I’ll try to help.

3. Next, enter photo shows, competitions, media works display shows and contests. Winning or placing even in a small local event or contest can get your work noticed quickly and at high levels. Check local photo shops, schools and the media for listings of these events. Participate in as many as you possibly can. Each and every week, month and year have your work entered or displayed somewhere, somehow.

4. After that, try working with writers who could use your photos as art to accompany their articles, posts, reports, books, etc. and get some of your photos published. The more exposure by different means, in different media on and offline that you can get, the better. Try unique ideas for exposing yourself and your work to a broad-based public and focused groups. Print your business cards, flyers and brochures on the backs of selected photos. Offer them framed for display in company lobbies and reception areas. Use any other ideas you can come up with. Carefully read photography guidelines available online at newspaper and magazine websites. Follow submissions recommendations to the letter.

5. Fifth, Keep shooting. Keep practicing and growing in your craft. You’ll get better and grow. This will show in your work, but don’t wait until you’re “better”, start pushing, and showing your work now. It’ll be a great incentive for you to continue to forge ahead. I’d like to see some of your work myself. Let me know when and where you get your blog, website or other online display up and I’ll personally check it out and give you further comments. Read the rest of this entry »