Dedicated blogger-not! and turkey hunt
I thought I would post at least once a week, but so far that hasn't happened. Maybe one of these days I will think I have something interesting enough to say that I will post something every week. Not that it matters much, as no one reads it anyway.
Since the last post I went turkey hunting-twice. In the rain. In the cold. Must be nuts!
And, I didn't even go to shoot them with a gun, but with a camera. I have come to believe that the photographer is as fanatical about getting that perfect shot as is the hunter.
I rose at 3 a.m., yes, that is correct, three o'clock in the morning. Drove 40 miles to meet the guide.
I had met him through my job at the newspaper. Maybe one of my posts will be about those interesting people, but, I digress.
He lives roughly 50 miles ne of me, is a hunter, and was at Lake Darling State Park for an antler measurement. I was there to take pictures of folks and their antler racks. Before the day was done I discovered he is also a turkey hunter and told him my tale of going last year with no luck. He later invited me to participate in the National Wild Turkey Federation Wheelin' Sportsmen turkey hunt at the end of april. This was sometime in february, or maybe even January. So, I said I would like to go.
I could write a lot about this event and the people involved, but I just might want to submit that story somewhere else, so you will just have to wait!
Wonderful weekend, wonderful people, no turkeys! Well, there were 3 hens on Saturday and 1 on Sunday. No toms. Sunday, it was actually pretty funny, a herd of cattle showed up.
Not one to miss an opportunity, I was thinking, "hey, self, we have a beef tab coming up in a couple of weeks, and maybe we can use some pictures for that."
I was on my own time with my own mileage, so these were not newspaper photos, although I shared them for the tab.
What is a tab? We publish MANY tabs each year, which is an insert in the regular paper that is tabloid size, not regular paper size. We do 2 a year honoring senior citizens, one for volunteers, 2 health ones, one each for beef, pork, soybeans and corn, 2 for the county fair, one home improvement, one softball/baseball and many others. As the only staff photographer, I do at least 95 percent of regular photos and probably 30-40 percent of the advertising ones. They contain stories, photos and lots of advertising.
Enjoy the cattle photos!
A time of change
One hardly knows from one week to the next where the road of life will take one.
I had been contemplating some changes regarding my job (working fewer hours) when my boss approached me last week and asked if I would be interested in going full-time.
One of our best ad designers is taking over the Lifestyles editor position and he wondered if I would be interested in continuing with part-time photographer and the rest of the time helping out in production. YIKES!
First of all, I was planning to cut hours, not add them. Besides, I have NO training in that area. Also, I have 2 nieces getting married this summer and fall and I am involved in dresses and such to help them and my sister. I really don't have time to work full time. Long story short, I told him the timing isn't very good, because of the weddings. He thinks maybe he will try to get a summer intern to fill in. I hope I didn't obligate myself, because now something else has come up which may necessitate that I quit altogether!
As I said, one never knows what is around the bend in the road.
I had planned to go to church Easter Sunday, but my timing was off and the dinner rolls were still rising when I needed to leave. I stayed home and took care of the bread. There were 25 of us for dinner. Everyone brought something. Wonderful gathering. And, it rained, and rained, so no egg hunt outside. We hid them in the house. This was the new great-nephew's first family dinner at 12 days old and he was pretty quiet. The 2 two year olds made up for him! Daughter Anne from Ohio phoned and talked to everyone, as did nephew Aaron. We missed their presence, but it was nice to talk to them.
Daughter Christine and hubby, Pat, left to go mushrooming. After everyone else left about 5:30 Abby called her mom who said if we wanted to go mushrooming to get to their house, pronto. Well, I don't turn down an offer to go mushrooming!
We found a dozen or so tiny grey ones. Too early I think. Maybe this weekend they found some.
Next weekend might be better, depending on how warm it gets.
Son-in-law Pat is a borderline morel fanatic. A couple years ago I gave him a calendar with my photos of mushrooms and you would have thought I gave him a million dollars. Now, he expects a calendar. Of course, if he expects a calendar he has to take me with them so I can get those photos! I really didn't give him the first calendar as a way to get to go mushrooming, scouts honor, although it did work to my advantage, didn't it!
Yesterday I had to take a camera and lens to the repair shop. It fell out of my truck onto the concrete parking lot at the grocery store. OUCH! Thankfully, I have another camera to use, and I have insurance, with a deductible, of course. I think it is fixable. Must be one of the hazards of being a news photographer with the camera always within arms reach and ready to shoot, not safely tucked away in a camera bag.
Have a great week! I plan to.
Arizona
I forgot to add these photos to my post last night. The flower is on a Barrel Cactus. There are several varieties of Barrels with different colored flowers, some are pink, some yellow, and this brilliant orange. The furry fellow was in a small tree beside the path as we were leaving Tohono Chul Park in Tuscon. I THINK he is a rock squirrel. He seemed to be totally unafraid of us and posed for several photos.
Safe Return
So much has happened lately, so I will try to catch up. I think from now on I will post at least weekly.
My sister-in-law and I went to Arizona to visit relatives and returned home last week. A week is too short a trip, but duty calls at home.
While in Tuscon we were privileged to go to Tohono Chul, a desert park on the north side of Tuscon with my nephew and family. We had a great day with everyone waiting while I shot away with my new camera.
Yep, I bit the bullet and purchased a Nikon D2X, a great digital SLR. I spent most of my time learning how to use it and still have much to learn. It is a pretty complicated piece of equipment.
I really enjoyed seeing and photographing the wildlife in Arizona which in many cases is quite different than what I see here in Iowa. It was a bit disappointing that the desert was not blooming due to the lack of rain over the winter. Maybe next year will prove to be better should I be fortunate enough to get to go again.
After our visit in Tuscon, we went to my other SIL's in Sun City for the duration of our stay. We spent part of one day at an Art Fair and part of another day at Hassayampa Nature Preserve where I got to see water fowl not seen at home-Green Winged Teal, Cinnamon Teal, Coot, and Ring-necked Ducks. All in all it wasn't the best trip from a photography standpoint, but it was wonderful in all other aspects.
Upon my return home while driving the two hours from the airport, my sister phoned me on my cell phone to tell me her daughter had delivered their baby the night before. Another boy has been added to the family. Upon hearing the news my eight year old grandaughter, Abby, said, "We need more girls in this family!" All are fine and the little guy is not so little really...he weighed in at 8#, 13 oz.
The photos are from the Arizona trip.
Exciting Times
Time really does fly!
Seems it was just yesterday I posted. Since the last post I have a local flower and gift shop carrying my work. She has taken several framed prints as well as notecards. It is very exciting to walk into a retail establishment and see MY images hanging there for folks to buy.
Also, last week we had a photo emailed to us at the newspaper to be used as we could. It ran in yesterday's paper and gave me some free publicity. The photo was of a local man presenting the framed piece he commissioned me to do to the director of Cultural Affairs for Iowa. This will be hung in her office.
I have taken Alyson Stanfield's
www.artbizcoach.com advice and done some shameless self promotion. However, these exciting events occurred because I took another piece of her advice, or was it 2? Anyway, I gave some of my notcards as gifts at Christmas which led to me getting in the store, and sent a thank you to the man who commissioned the piece he gave away. The thank you was not for the commission (I did that later), but for purchasing 25 of my cards which he used as thank you cards to donors. I believe taking the time to send the thank you to him led to the commission.
You just never know when it will pay to be nice.
This week my major assignment at work, other than the daily photos, is to take photos of springtime in Iowa, agriculturally speaking, although it isn't too springlike. We will be assembling and publishing a Spring Ag Report which will require several photos. If I can get a really good one it will become the cover. We are in an area where agriculture is the mainstay of the economy, so about 4 times a year we publish a tab directed toward Ag. This is in addition to the 2 (1 preview and one post-fair) we publish about the county fair, which is also primarily agriculture, 4-H and FFA.
As soon as the Ag one is done, we will publish a tab (a tab is a 13"x16" newspaper inserted in the regular daily) honoring 2 seniors from each of the 19 high schools in a 3 county area covered by our news service. Then, following that will be one directed toward good health.
One thing for sure about this job is that there is never a dull moment!
Arriving in the 21st century
Now that I am blogging I suppose that means I have joined the 21st century! I just think of it as journaling where anyone who wishes to can read my thoughts, random though they may be.
As a photographer I spend a lot of my time out of doors in all kinds of weather. Although I enjoy people, my day job requires me to be around people all day, frequently taking their photographs, and I treasure my time to myself. Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong century and wish I didn't live in such a busy, busy world. Tonight it is sleeting, cold and dark-a good night to be in my cozy home with a hot cup of coffee and some chocolate!
Most difficult for me is marketing my work which requires not only being around people, but letting them know who I am and what I do. While I have some recognition locally because of my work at the newspaper, doing the self-promotion is tough. I have had some help in this area from Alyson Stanfield
http://www.artbizcoach.com or I would probably still be wondering why no one knew about my work. Her classes and emails are really beneficial.
Another person who deserves credit for dragging me into the world of the internet is web designer Pat Velte
http://www.WhiteWingDesign.com . Both of them have encouraged me and given me the push I needed.
My immediate goal is to sell enough of my work to be able to quit the day job which would allow me more time to do the creative work (play) as well as take (better) care of business.
Working with Alyson I expect to soon have a marketing plan in place which will allow me to reach that goal.
It seems that most artists have difficulty in this area. If you have any helpful hints I would like to hear from you.
For diversion I read, knit, sew and spend time with my Red Hatted friends and an 8 year old grandaughter. She and I just returned from visiting my youngest child in Ohio. Abby had never flown so it was an exciting trip for both of us. She took her disposable cameras and was busy shooting (or telling me I should take this or that photo). The apple really doesn't fall far from the tree.
I also have a cat and a dog and feed my feathered friends. This morning I had a robin eating seeds on the ground under the feeder. I guess that means spring in Iowa can't be too far away.
