Archive for the ‘photography’ Category

Danielle and I had some impromptu photo shoot good-ness yesterday evening, in what little light there was left for the day. We didn’t get to do much for that reason, but we’re going to do another shoot tomorrow. I particularly like this shot because it creeps me out, like something from a Stephen King novel. I keep expecting her to turn around and have no eyes or something.

And the dress! I love the dress. It was a recent thrifty find–I’ve had really good luck with those lately! You can get a better sense of it in this photo.

(Danielle also started her own Etsy shop for photography, so go see! My personal favorite is “in the doghouse.”

In other news, it’s been an upsy downsy kinda week, and I’m quite glad that it’s the weekend, finally! Is there anything better than a lazy Friday night?

I’ve been doing a bit of market research, and I think I may be changing my prices soon… raising them a little bit to be more in line with other artists with a similar level of skill. Most of the people I’ve talked to about this have told me I’m under-priced, but I can’t tell if they’re just being nice or if they’re serious.

Pricing has always been a tricky point for me. I never intended to make a living at photography, so I’ve always priced my work closer to the hobbyist end of the scale. At the same time, I don’t want to sell myself short. Confidence in my abilities plays a huge part… I have a tendency to underestimate my strengths, and I think my current prices reflect that.

So I’m turning to you, dear Internets. I put up a poll on my blog and I’d appreciate it if you’d take a couple minutes and answer it. It’s a very informal survey, obviously, but I’m curious to know what my audience here thinks. You can get a good sense of my prices at my regular shop or my Etsy shop (I’m not including Calobee Doodles in this decision, because I’m still a novice in that area!)

You can also leave a comment if you feel like expounding on your answer.

Thank you!

Holy crap! My stock agency e-mailed me this morning to tell me I’d sold a few photographs. I was surprised, considering I hadn’t actually sold anything through them before, and I was feeling kinda dejected about the whole stock thing, to tell you the truth. I was beginning to think my stuff was not worthy of publication outside my own little realm, which consists mainly of Etsy and smaller, independent art magazines that can’t afford to pay.

Thinking it would be $50 or so, I opened the attached statement and was shocked (quite literally–I nearly screamed out loud) to discover a payment amount exceeding $1200. That includes payment for two book covers (!) and four smaller European publications.

Book covers! I’m on book covers! Actually, my brother is on book covers, to be more accurate. Both books used images of him from the impromptu photo shoot we did in December of 2003. One of the books hasn’t been released yet, but the cover looks just as fantastic as this one, which was designed by Ervin Sorranno (the bottom photo is by Dennis Cohadon). I’m very impressed with the way they used the work. The overall effect is wonderfully eerie.

I’m floored. I’ve been walking around all day in a giddy fog. I have no idea what we’ll do with the money yet. Most likely it will have to go back into my business in some form or another. I have been eying a new iMac! Or we may include my office as part of our upcoming home renovations and re-do the floors in there, such that a portion of the cost will qualify as business expenses. The Scrooge in me is screaming to put it into savings and leave it there. I just don’t know!

What’s really funny? Tim saw this book reviewed several days ago on one of his favorite blogs, and didn’t recognize the photo. Silly goose!

This actually isn’t the surprise I was telling you about in my last entry, but it’s pretty damn good as far as surprises go.

I hadn’t even intended to post today (because I’m a bad, bad NaBloPoMo-er, and because I’m buried in work and a new Web design) but I had to unbury myself for a moment to brag: I have a photo in a recent Etsy Storque article about the Handmade Wedding series!

And how fitting… I don’t know about you guys, but I know that the idea of planning a wedding certainly makes me want to stick my head in the dryer. Hence, why our teeny  wedding ceremony was planned, organized, and over within 3 weeks.

(Many thanks to the lovely talented Jamie for pointing this out to me! I’m so behind on my blog reading that I never would have noticed otherwise. :))

NaBloPoWhat? OH, right. That thing I said I was going to do back in February and totally forgot about. Oops!

I’m getting a late start, but here’s a list for your reading pleasure, entitled “Last Saturday”:

• Farking snow
• Farking snow!!
• Danielle!
• Portland
• Food
• More food
• Even more food
• OMG stuffed
• Zzzzzzzzzzz

That pretty much sums it up! Alas, the Etsy Meet-up was canceled due to the weather (see the part about “farking snow”), but Danielle and I braved the storm and went to Portland anyway.

On Friday I went thrift shopping with Susan, and found lots of goodies:

• Brother Charger 651 sewing machine in robin’s egg blue, $5
• 2 funky serving platters with a neat mod design, $11
• Yet another clock to add to my growing collection, $3

I was especially pleased with the sewing machine, as I’ve been looking for one to use as a photo prop for a long time (and I couldn’t argue with that price!). This one is exactly what I wanted. It doesn’t seem to work, though, so I may have it serviced at some point in the future. It would be nice to have a functional sewing machine that I could practice with!