Good Morning It's A Great Day to Be A Photographer

Some days are better than others. Today was certainly one of those that falls into the better category. My morning routine is to wake up in the morning, drink a nice cup of French roast coffee and check my emails and Facebook. I had been feeling a little blue about my photography lately and started wondering if I should continue to put so much energy into it since my sales had drastically dropped off. Well this morning the powers that be told me loud and clear to keep going! 

 I first saw a message from a friend on Facebook that said they had seen my photo on the Washington D.C.NBC 4 Weather News . I submit my photos to them when I get a pretty sunrise or snow scene and sometimes I'm lucky enough to have a photo shown during the weather segment. Thank you Tom Kierein! 

Then I got another message in Facebook from   Shenandoah River Outfitters requesting to use one of my photos for thier website in exchange for two free kayak trips on the beautiful Shenandoah River!  How could I refuse?  The photo above is the one that Shenandoah River Outfitters wants to use on their website. 

The photo below is the one that was shown on the Washington D.C.NBC 4 Weather News this morning. 

To anyone reading this blog, I hope you all have a great day too! :-)

The Reset Button

It's a new day. It's a new chance. It's a new opportunity. Yesterday didn't go like you wanted? Use this new day as an opportunity to start over and replace those negative thoughts of "I can't" and "I'll never get there" with "I will and I can!"  And remember to take the time to be more giving with your loved ones, more patient, more understanding and more loving and see what happens! :-) "Give and ye shal receive!"

The Colors of Winter

Winter is often devoid of color here in the Shenandoah Valley when all of the deciduous trees shed their leaves and the farmer's fields turn brown... but sometimes we are blessed with vivid colors in the middle of winter like this double rainbow that graced the valley yesterday.


 

 After the clouds parted we were blessed with this colorful sky. The sky appeared to be on fire with warm and welcome tangerine and orange hues. I'm so thankful for the colorful days of winter that give me hope that Spring really is just around the corner!










If you would like to support my photographic endeavors, please click below to purchase greeting cards or prints. I create my photography on a shoe string budget and do not pay for any advertising, so please feel free to help spread the word about my photography and share my blog or photos! Thanks for any help in allowing me to follow my passion, it's much appreciated! :-)


 

Beauty In The Ordinary

So I went down to the Hawksbill Greenway with my big lens hoping to see a kingfisher or a great blue heron...but there were none to be seen anywhere along the Hawksbill creek. BUT there were ducks everywhere! I didn't find the flashy king fisher or the regal great blue heron but the beautfiul glint of green in the sunlight caught my eye on this ordinary mallard duck.I guess beauty is where you find it.  :-)








 

Pay It Forward

I meant to write about this at the time but was too busy and never got to this so here goes. There is a pay it forward story that goes with this photo and one day I hope to do the same for someone when I have the opportunity and the lens. When you are a photographer you tend to have what is often referred to as "lens envy" when you see another photographer with a really impressive expensive lens that you don't have but wish you did. I met a really nice photogrpaher named Roy Woodford last fall and I made a comment about his big lens to that effect and to my surprise he said "would you like to try it?". I felt like I had won the lens lottery! In desbelief I asked "Are you serious?" and it turned out he was! He detatched his camera from the giant lens on the tripod and I very carefully attached mine to it. I think I heard my camera let out a "yippee!". Above is the photo I got with my camera attached to his big lens (a Nikon 600 mm 4.5 for those photographers reading this who are interested).I was amazed by the detail and brightness from the image. It was pretty hard to wipe the smile off my face and I thanked him serveral times. He said "somebody did this for me once". I hope I can do the same for somebody one day and make their day too. If you would like to contribute to my "big lens fund" to help make this happen plese buy one of my prints that would make a lovely addition to the nature lovers wall! :-)

Looking Forward 2015

I’m trying to keep my chin up and think positive but 2014 was a bit disappointing as far as sales go. When I started my website in 2011 I was very encouraged after I started making sales in just one month. Each year I sold a little bit more than the year before until 2014…when my sales went down from the previous year. Negative thoughts have been entering my mind: Are my photos just not good enough? Should I throw in the towel and stop wasting time and money on what’s really just a hobby? Can I really make this more than just a hobby? Am I just fooling myself calling myself a photographer? Can I really compete with the photographers that are selling? Have I lost my creative vision?

 OK so maybe it’s time to re-boot. What can I do to get moving in the right direction? Firstly I need to get my thoughts back on track and replace the negative thoughts with positive ones instead of hearing that voice from the movie scene in Wayne’s World “I’m not worthy”. Next I need to formulate some goals.

 Here are my 2015 photography goals, I’m not going to call them resolutions though since everyone knows that those only last about a month before falling back into the same old habits.:

1. Find new and better ways to market. Research online for other venues besides Face book for marketing/ networking. Since Face book went public in the Wall Street world , the site no longer seems to be very effective for sales for someone like me on a budget i.e. not spending money for advertising.

2. Write in my photo blog regularly to keep my creative juices flowing

3. Improve my photography skills by viewing/reading educational articles and videos and learning  techniques from photographer friends

4. Find my audience who wants to see and buy my photos

5. Create photos that inspire and instill an awe in the beauty of nature

6. Increase sales to be double or more of what they were in 2014

OK so that’s my plan for the New Year. One foot in front of the other…moving forward in to 2015. Wish me luck. :-)