Orchid Redux - Hillwood!

It's no secret that I love macro photography. I'd had a long week at work, and wanted to go out and decompress for a few hours. Naturally, I reached for what I love most - orchids. Where to see them? Hillwood Gardens.

Sure, I could have gone to the Botanical Gardens in the city, but what sealed the deal was the fact that Hillwood allows tripods, as long as they are not intrusive or disruptive. The website doesn't say so, but the nice man on the phone did, so off I went. The only issue was that there were far fewer flowers and orchids this time around. They aren't seasonal, per se (they're in a greenhouse), so I'm not sure what the situation was. I'll need to ask next time.

I've taken many pictures of orchids before, but have had to reject a large number due to camera shake, lighting, or issues with busy backgrounds. I decided to tackle as many of these issues as I could, but with a focus on the first item. Here are some of my hits:





Overall, I was pretty pleased. Here's what I liked:

1) I had much better control over my lighting.

2) The pictures are far more crisp, thanks to the tripod (though lugging the thing around was exhausting).

3) These pictures don't look like the ones I've taken in the past. They are original, for sure.

4) Composition has improved - given that I could keep my camera steady, it was far easier to work on that aspect.

Where I should have done better:

1) My saturated colors (the last two pictures) are still not as crisp or defined as I'd like. I think this is an exposure issue, so I need to do research on this for next time.

2) The backgrounds for these four pictures are still a little too busy for my liking. Here's an example of one that I took that turned out better:



Simple black - you can't go wrong.

As far as settings were concerned: ISO 10-200 most of the time. automatic white balance, f-stop at around 3.5 - also for the most part. I wanted to play with depth of field.

Next time - another tripod outing! I'm on a roll!

Part 3 - My Stock Photography Options

It's a new day, and a new stock photography site to evaluate. Today's choice? iStockphoto.com.

When I started reading the terms and conditions, I admit I was a little frightened. They are pages and pages (and pages and pages) long, or so it seemed. After calming down and taking a closer look, I realized that this site was simply more thorough than some of the other sites. This is not a bad thing.

On to the content:

1) Keyword "orchid": While most of the backgrounds are black or white, there are several multicolored backgrounds. There's potential here, but some of these arrangements are very "editorial", if that makes sense. Also, there isn't much experimentation regarding depth of field (where some flowers would appear sharp and in the foreground, while others are more blurred and in the background). I would likely prefer to go out and shoot new content before submitting any orchid shots to this website, except for:



2) Butterfly - Many of these shots are what I would classify as "cutesy". Some of my newer pictures could work here, including:



3) Abstract - not a fit at all.

4) Nature - I think my work is a little too "soft" for this category. So, I tried "flowers". Yeah, not so much, either.

5) Travel - Most definitely not.

Not willing to give up so easily, I flipped through some of the other categories. Architecture abstract? Maybe. Churches? Quite possible, something like this:



I didn't see any pictures like this at all. So, there's a chance there.

Overall, though, this was about a below average fit for me. I'd have to think about it.

Tomorrow - Shutterstock - did I save the best for last?

Getty Submissions

Back in October, I submitted my work to Getty's Call to Artists Flickr page. While my work was reviewed, it was not selected. The general advice is to try, try, and try.

So I'm back, and I'm going to try again! Here are May's submissions:



My evaluation process was much more thorough this cycle:

1) Can I see these pictures in a magazine?

2) How do they look on my iPad? Do they show well? Even when I zoom?

3) Does the collection provide enough variety? (I believe so)

4) Does the collection look nice as a group? (I think so)

5) Do I demonstrate technical skill and a good eye? (I think so)

I loved these so much, by the way, that I changed my iPad backgrounds to two of these - the leaves and the pink flowers. I look forward to when I can show more people my work, that's for sure.

Tomorrow - my difficult photo shoot on Saturday. I've tried to block it from my memory, but have decided that there were good lessons that I should share with you.

Macro Photography and Audience

Yesterday, I'd mentioned that I did not see any macro photography work at the art festival. I had seen several examples during the prior years, though. This made me wonder - am I targeting the right audience with this work?

Macro work is by far my strongest point. Consider these:









That's all well and good, but I haven't seen pictures like these hanging on people's walls - or anywhere else, really - except for in print ads.

Interesting, I thought to myself. I then went to Google a few search terms to see what audience I should target with my macro work. I had to dig through a lot of information, but I realized quickly that I've been missing the mark all along.

Macro photography is best used for marketing (ads), nature, science, and medical photography. I have been entering this work in general contests - not the right target most of the time. Certainly, there's a place for it in the fine art world, but it's not a natural and easy fit. As far as stock photography is concerned, though, it's a great fit - which is why I see macro work in so many ads.

Sounds easy, right? So why did it take me so long to come to this conclusion? I don't know, but I'm someone who looks for those small victories every day. This was a big one for me.

Tomorrow - equipment update!

Scrapping a Photo Shoot

On the same day as my Real Estate Challenge, I wandered around my neighborhood, and found some flowers that were planted in large planters. The planters were in this area called Bethesda Row. I took some pictures. However, I never posted them. Why not?

Well, for the first time in my existence, I scrapped an entire photo shoot. The pictures were fine, but not nearly as nice as my other shots. They weren't inspired. Nothing I took even remotely resembled these:





These shots were well thought out and well composed. My style of photography is one where I need to "get into a rhythm". If I don't, then the pictures don't work. It's not to say I can't be spontaneous, because I can - but if it isn't my best work, then it isn't. And it's fine with me. My macro shots, in my opinion, are my greatest strength - I don't need to dilute that quality with something I might find inferior. I'm here to chronicle all of my adventures and misadventures, and the last shoot was frankly in the latter category.

So, I'm looking forward to the next shoot. What will it be? Who knows. I'm traveling Wednesday and Thursday, and I may come across something at that time. Or, it might have to wait until the Kite Festival this weekend.

Tomorrow: Comparing my orchid shots to those on a stock photography site.

Contest - My Finalists

Yesterday, I decided that I was going to enter the NCCF contest, and that I would narrow down my choices to 15 pictures (I can only enter 3). I actually did better than that, I'm happy to say. Here are my seven finalists:




So there you have it! I'll decide in two weeks. In the meantime, next week, I'll shift my focus to other topics ... like the Cherry Blossom Festival and my plans! Have a great weekend!

My Printing Options

Yesterday, I mentioned a contest that I wanted to enter. I wasn't sure which pictures to use (and I'm still not, so please look at yesterday's post and give me your thoughts), but the bigger issue was what size was required. I found out that the entry only needed to be big enough to display in a slide deck. That takes care of that.

What about printing? I have a few options:

1) My friend Lele had a great idea about making a canvas picture of my work. That is best suited for abstract photography, I think - something "watercolory" and pretty. The following types of pictures would fit the bill (though I wouldn't enter either of these):



2) Standard mat and frame: An option for my more "precise work", I think. A few examples (none of which I'd enter in the contest, I don't think) are:



3) Metallic prints: I'd never heard of this concept before, but apparently it provides great saturation and depth of color. A few pictures I'd consider would be:



Now I feel like I have a lot to play with! I haven't decided which format to use, but I know I need to soon - the deadline is April 1. Tomorrow, I'll narrow my choices down to 15 pictures, and take it from there.

Did I Really do That?

As most of you know, I post my pictures on Flickr. I usually submit them to different Flickr groups for critiquing. Of course, I critique others' pictures, too. Some of the critiques have really helped me. Here's an example:

I cropped this, based on some critiques I'd received. The original version was this:

I definitely feel that the first one is better, and am grateful to the people who recommended the cropping.

Sometimes, I don't agree with the critiques. Here's an example:

I happen to love this picture, and I received less-than-good feedback on it. I didn't take it personally at all - it's still a picture that I love very much. I like the lines and the blurry background.

Rarely do I let such critiques affect my work. Earlier in the week, though, there was a notable exception to this. I really really love this picture:

It's soft, and it's almost maternal in look and feel. It's hard to explain, but that's my opinion. I received good critiques about it for weeks, but then last week, some less-than-favorable comments came in. Specifically, that the picture wasn't in focus.

So for some reason, I took it personally. I edited out a large number of greenhouse pictures because I over-scrutinized them. All of a sudden, 20+ pictures weren't good enough. How irrational is that?

Anyway, I caught myself doing this earlier in the week, so a few days later, I went back into Aperture, and I posted those shots. They were the following:

For many reasons, I really like these! To think that I almost didn't post them ... Well, if this ever happens again, I'll remind myself of this incident and blog post and how silly I was. And that's my advice to you - if you like your pictures, then you like them. If they're flawed for some reason, then that's one thing, but otherwise, it's not your issue. Not everyone has the same taste as you, but don't reevaluate your entire portfolio unnecessarily.

Oh, and before I forget, here is the full picture of yesterday's top half shot:

Nice, no? I almost didn't post this one, either - but changed my mind.

Till Monday!